life and feare death Use 2 they prophecy to themselves a future bad estate the Sadduce is loath to die because he feares he shall not be the Epecure feares to die because he shall loose his pleasures the wicked feares to die because he knowes he shall worse be if it were a sleep who would feare to take his rest if it were an annihilation of the totum cumpositum as some thought or that it made men inseÌ„sible who would feare that which one cannot feele therefore this feare of death in the wicked doth presage some strange torment to those men whereof they have a taste already before they die like Saules spirit which vext him before his death To desire death but with these limitations 1 To resigne our will to Use 3 the Lords will 2 For the manner not to be out owne carvers but to embrace what Messenger the Lord will send for us 3 To be disburdened of the weight of sin 4 That we may enjoy the new Jerusalem Ob Is it not lawfull to desire death to avoide miseries here else why did Jonah desire to die and Moses to be razed out of Gods booke and Job and Eliah what availeth it me to live Sol. In Jonah it was a note of impatience yet I thinke these desires are not simply unlawfull if they submit themselves to the will of God thus I am troubled with a lingering disease or I am in prison I would be freed by death if the Lord saw it fit I suffer many troubles here I would faine go to heaven if the Lord would send his Embassador for me thus Job Elias others did Use 4 For comfort to them which have good consciences they may be willing to die he which knowes himselfe to have a grant of his life in the land of the living at his great Landlords hands I see no reason but he should desire death but he that hath no assurance by the Spirit of a better life hereafter he may leave the world grudgingly and feare this king of feares more then all the terrours of this life he had rather to be sicke and cold poore and hungry and beg then dy because he knowes what he suffers here but knowes not what he shall suffer hence he hath not learned Christ yet as Paul did for no man estemes this life when he relisheth the other to any purpose For then the love of this world fals from him as Elias mantle when he went up to heaven Paul indeed had seen many good things in his daies and was never satisfied being willing to dy he thirsted still but no water could quench his thirst but the water of life riches honors pleasures doe not make the elect willing to dy but their desires breed in them an unrest untill they be loosed which is my third part Part. 3 To be loosed Death hath among the ancients many descriptions it is called the privation of naturall life The Philosophers stiled it an eternall sleepe as they foolishly dreamed some oâ— them called it the feare of rich men the desire of poore men an inevitable event an uncertaine pilgrimage the robber of mankind a common fate the passage of life the departure of the living but Paâ— here calls it a dissolution for as life is nothing but an union or combination of the soule to the body so death is a parting betweene them observe that death to the elect is nothing but a loosing Doct 3 So Solomon Eccles 12.7 the body returnes to the dust and the spirit to God thâ—â— gave it thus Paul saith we know that if our earthly tabernacle be disolved we have a building made without hands eternall in the heaven 1 Because our bodies here are earthly houses whose foundation◠〈◊〉 Reas 1 not of marble whose walls are not of brasse whose gates are not 〈◊〉 iron but of clay which as they were quickly framed so are quickly disolved into their first principles Reas 2 2 Because then the godly is loosed from this life and hath no more society with them that are upon the earth he shall no more come to his house neither shall his place know him any more for the soule it 's loosed from the body till the day of resurrection then like old acquaintance they rejoyce together for ever yea death to the godly may be called a loosing or disolution in foure regards 1 Because the elect then are loosed from all their strong tempests and crosses and labours here they meet with blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord for then they rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 2 Because the day of their loosing is the day of receiving their wages Job 7.2 not of merit but of mercy then God will pay to every godly man his peny doth not the hirling long to receive his wages for his daies work 3 Because the day of their disolution is their birth day their day of freedome and coronation a birth day because it is the begining of their everlasting joy therefore it is miscalled when we say it is our last day besides it 's our day of coronation when we shall have Pauls incorruptible crowne and Peters crowne that never fades away put upon us it 's our day of freedome for then the soule is loosed out of a dungeon for the body in this life is but a lothsome prison of restraint wherein the soule cannot be free to the exercise of it selfe either in naturall or supernaturall things for the body so domineers by sences and so fiercely caries by appeties the same that the soule is compelled too often to satisfy bodily lusts yea the body is a darke prison shutting up the light of the soule as a darke cloud doth the light of the sun or as the interposition of the earth maketh it night which made Paul cry out Rom. 27. O wrethed man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin now death doth but as a strong wind dissolve this cloud that the Sun of Christs image in the Soule may shine clearly nay it pulls downe the walles of this stinking bodily prison that the soule may receive some fresh ayre in the open light of glory or else the liberty of the soule may appeare thus this world is a sea our lives are like so many galleys tost with continnuall stormes our bodies like Gally-slaves put to hard service by the great Turke the devill who tyrannically doth command hard things now the soule like the hart of some gally-slave may be free so as to loath that bondage inwardly to detest that tyrant but so long as it is fettered to the body it cannot get away now death comes like an unresistable Gyant and carries the gallies to the shore and disolves them and lets the soules the prisoners loose from their bodies Thirdly death as it is the dissolution of the body so it 's the absolution of the soule and in this respect it 's their solemne funerall day for death is the
funerall of all their vices sins and imperfections and the resplendent and orient spring time of all their vertues death was the daughter of sin and in death shall be fullfilled the daughter shall destroy the mother we shall never more then be infected with sin nor troubled with frantick humours nor molested with passionate jelousies and discontents nor puft up with the ulcerous tumours of pride death shall cure us perfectly of all maladies anguishes from which it's imposible to be cured in this transitory life yea then shall be a glorious resurrection of our graces our knowledge shall be perfect our love compleat but our faith and hope shall vanish away because then wee shall receive the end of our faith even the salvation of our soules Use 1 1 For terrour to the wicked whose death is not a loosing and therefore very fearfull for them they have most cause to mourne their birth was bad their life worse their departure worst of all for they shall seeke death and it shall flee from them for theirs is a death without a death Rev. 9.6 an end without an end a defect without a defect for their death shall allwaies live their end shall alwais begin and their defects shall never faile it will little availe the man out of Christ to cry on his death bed O lamentable state of mine now I am going to â— place where my eyes shall see but lamentable spectacles mine eare shall heare nothing but woe woe woe without end it shall be no-purpose for them then desperately to say O earth why didest thou not swallow me O mountains why did you not hide me from the presence of that Judge whose Gospell I have conteÌ„ned whose Ministers I have reviled whose Sabbaths I have prophaned whose patience I have abused O you bewitching pleasures how have you brought me to the torments of hell whence I shall never be freed where the worme never dies and the fire never goes out Ob. Wicked will say they have knowne many bad men die like Lambes and good men have died unquietly Mar. 9.44 Sol. What doe wicked dy like Lambs Nay rather Naball-like as slaves as they lived a sottish sencelesse life so a sencelesse death they died what though the godly went by the gates of hell to the kingdom of heaven by reason of the extremity of their desease fuminng up into their braine they might speake they knew not what but mans changeable tongue cannot alter Gods unchangeable decree touching the salvation of his peradventure the apprehension of Gods verity against sin might make them say my God my God why hast thou forsaken mee but know this he never dies ill that lives well we must judge men by their lives not any by their behaviour at their deaths To groane within our selves and to wait for the adoption of our Use 2 bodies looking for our Saviour who shall change our vile bodies Phil 3.20 and make them like his glorious body Ob How shall I be prepared for my loosing first in your life time take away the sting of deathe which is sin secondly thinke nothing more certaine then death though nothing more uncertaine for place time and manner fourthly learne to die by little and little that so when the Lord calls you may sweetly and comfortably depart this life saying Lord I am not afraid to die nor ashamed to live In my life thou hast protected me in my death thou wilt receive mee Ob Must I in my youth and strength learne to die will it not be time enough to have such thoughts when I am old But I demaund will you wound your selfe to try the Chyrurgions skill Will you sin in your youth that you may repent in your old age Shall the devill have the flowers of your time and the Lord the weeds Shall the devill have the wine and God the dregs as the fashion of many is when as some say a man cannot repent too late I am sure a man cannot repent too soone and wofull experience witnesseth late repenance is seldome true Here 's a three fold comfort to the elect concerning their loosing Use 3 First it 's putting of their old cloathes it s but to remove out of an old house it 's but as seed cast into the ground For the first in this life we are clothed with rotten soul-garments which death doth slip us off and cloath us with the garments of salvation more sumptuous then Solomons rich attire to desire to go to heaven and not to be disolved â—s to desire to put on new clothes without putting of our old Secondly the Apostle compares our bodies to old mudwalled houses to a rotten tent and our heavenly estate to a most glorious 2 Cor. 5.1 and Princely Palace made by the most curious workman that ever was it is such an edifice that will never be out of repaire Now for a godly man to die is but to remove from an old rotten house ready to fall to a stately Palace Doth that Landlord offer his tenant any hard measure that will fetch him out of his base cottage and bestow upon him his owne mannor house Noe other thing doth God to us when by death he removes us out of our earthly tabernacles to settle us in his everlasting habitation Thirdly our boddies are as seed a man which had never seen the experience of it perhaps would have thought that the seed cast into the ground had been spoiled but nature having shewed the returne of the graine with advantage a man can easily be cured of this folly the bodies of the Saints are Gods choicest seed and what doth death more then cast it into the earth We may be assured as the grain so our bodies shall rise more flourishing and beautifull then before For six things shall befall them 1 incorruptiblenesse 2 immortality 3 spiritualnesse 4 splendor 5 immunity from weakenesse 6 enjoyment of happinesse in every member In all these respects Psal 116.15 we may then say with David precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints their death is no death but a loosing a dissolution for immediatly upon the separation of the soule from the body they are with Christ Pat. 4. To be with Christ a Christian cannot chuse but by faith be assured that death being a dissolution will open a gapp for him to come into the sweet embracements of Jesus Christ Paul knew that immediatly upon his departure his soule should be transported into Christs armes Here observe that the Godly immediately after their departure are with Jesus Christ thus Job in significant termes could prognosticate saying I know that my Redeemer liveth and that lie shall stand the last day upon the earth Job 19.25.26 and though wormes devoure my flesh yet I shall see God in my flesh not with other but with my owne eyes What donative could Christ better bestow upon the penitent Theife then this day thou shalt be
pure in heart Mat 5.8 for they shall see God and David was ravished with this meditation blessed are they that dwell in thy house Psal 84.6 Because this is absolutly the best good otherthings are good as they Reas 2 have reference to this onely good many things are good only in appearance because men in their deluded judgments imagine them good but his is best of all quia omne bonum terminatur in hoc bonum Bern. quod est amabile supra omnia bona other things are good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some respects but this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without any exception this is the one thing only necessary It 's best of all Because there is no intermixtion of dolorous effects Reas 3 or soule wounding temptations for there wisdome shines without ignorance memory without forgetfulnesse understanding without errour and reason without obscurity there the elect shall have certaine security without dispossession secure tranquillity without interruption happy eternity without the intervenience of dismall occurrents or crossing accidents to affright them Reas 4 Because the soule shall then shine most gloriously which here in the body is obscured the lustre whereof I will adumbrate by this comparison as a candle while it is in the Lanthorne it gives a good light and enlightneth the Lanterne it selfe and if it be taken out though the Lanthorne be left darke yet the candle shines more clearly then it did before so while the soule is in the body Lactantius it is the light and governer thereof and when by death it bids the body adiew although the body be left dead and insensible yet then the soule enjoyes her proper vigour and brightnesse then the Image of God shines perfectly in it for then the understanding is replenished with the knowledge of God which is immediatly revealed unto it then the will also perfectly obeyeth God and all the affections are so purified that there is a sweet melodious harmony betweene the faculties of the soule to praise the Lord for evermore It 's best of all in respect of the variety and perpetuity of the Reas 5 Elects joy which they shall have with Christ which neither eye hath Rea. 5 seen nor eare hath heard neither entred into the heart of man to conceive the good things that God hath layd up in store for them that love him the eye hath not seen it because it is noe colour the eare hath not heard it 1 Cor 2.9 for it is no sound the heart cannot comprehend it because it must comprehend the heart it cannot be fully apprehended by faith nor attain'd by charity because it transcendeth our desires To condemne us of foolishnesse which thinke here in this life to find contentment O noe this life is a wildernesse where be Serpents Use 1 that will sting us this life is a gaole where is a dungion and irons to excruciate us this life is a time whrein sin and Satan play their part here we are Mariners our haven is heaven here we are Souldiers our conquest is death To wait with Job all our appointed time till our change shall come O let 's sigh and long to be carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome Use 2 to the coelestiall paradice to the company of enumerable Saints Patriarchs Job 14.14 and Prophets and Martyrs and to Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new Testament and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaks better things then that of Abell Heb. 12.24 you will say this is best of all when you enjoy your inheritance immortall and undefiled which fadeth not which is reserved for you when you rest from your labours and behold the glory of God all the Arithmeticians in the world are not able to number the joyes of the Elect all the Rhetoricians are not able in fitting termes to expresse them when you shall be arayed in white having Crownes on your heads and Palmes in your hands when all teares shall be wiped from your eyes and all sorrowes removed from your hearts when you shall serve him at his table and eate in his kingdome and with the foure and twenty Elders say blessing and glory and honour and power and might be given to him that sitteth upon the Throne for evermore I have done with the words now a few words of this sad occaon and then you shall be eased of me Touching now this Revered Genteleman even now interred before us he was borne in Somerset-shire and had his first education in the then famous Schoole of Taunton-deane whereby Gods blessing having made a commendable progresse in learning proportionable to his age to the best there he was by God's good providence translated to Lincolne Colledge in Oxford where being Master of Arts and being knowne to be exquisitly learned was chosen Greek Reader to the Uuniversity and not long after proceeded Batchelour in Divinity From Oxford by God's providence he was disposed to be Rector of this Church where he hath continued this fifty yeers how he hath lived here clouds of witnesses can testifie very painfull in his Ministry very pious in his family it being a little Church wherein he constantly called his people to prayer twice a day besides his owne private devotions besides his times which he observed duely in his study he had an excellent faculty which with great labour and delight he tooke in breeding up many young Gentelmen in his house in good literature all his time how many Scholers hath he of his owne cost first bred-them up in his house afterwards helpe to maintaine them in the University and incurrage them for and in the Ministry my selfe who have knowne his life and conversation for above forty yeers must thankefully acknowledge and blesse God for him besides many other Ministers borne not farre from this place that have reaped the fruits of his love in this kind it could have been wished that this last service to him might have been performed by some more able and eminent Person then my selfe But tennitatem ingenii mallem declarare quam officium percharissimo maecenati detrahere it being the last charge he gave me a little before his loosing What shall I say now to you of his charge as wee of the Ministry have lost a worthy Oracle for learning and piety so you have lost a loving Pastor his deare Wife a tender Husband his Children a provident Father the poore a great Benefactor the godly-disposed here have lost a good helper that way but certainly say praetiosissimum monite perdidimus yet he is not lost whom Christ hath found praemititur non amittitur while he lived all his desires was the Curch might thrive It 's true his judgment was for Bishops but yet before these times he would to his freinds bewaile their abuses and usurpations upon the Church and his frequent option was that the Church might thrive O that Sion might flâ—urish a great lover of lectures he was by his presence while he was able and drawing his Neighbours along wtih him as well as his family and by his practise having borne a part in Marleborough lecture for above thirty yeeres a great peace-maker too not only in his owne parish but in the country yea he often payd money out of his owne purse to prevent suits in law and to make men be friends such an ingenious mildnesse he was indued with his gravity that he was honoured of the best and feared of the worst but loved of all For you my loving freinds of Chilton I hope and feare I hope though this body be dead his memory shall live with you yea his preaching shall live in you yea his example and good workes shall live in you But I feare you and the poore among you and the perplexed consciences among you will misse him more seven yerars hence then yet you doe But I see the floud-gates are open and the sight of your affecttionate teares moving my sluces too cause me to retrahere vela orationis to contract my speech though I can never speake enough of this subject of our imitation I shall therefore speake a few more words to whom this losse more spcially concernes Thes 4.13 and then I have done not to be sory as those that have noe hope for them that sleep in Christ I doe not forbid you to mourne for the dead for it s the signe of a reprobate to be without naturall affection but beseech you to afford your selves the comforts of faith and take heed of immoderate greiving which is forbidden in nature which teacheth all things in reason which teacheth all men in Religion which teacheth all Christians in nature for the eye is as Anatomist observe full of twice as many dry skins like sluces to damme up the course of teares as it hath moist chrystiline humorus like channels to let them forth for if all the eye were all a moist humour Prov. 27. there would be no seing Secondly in reason for every too much is a fault First it 's not good saith Salomon to eate too much hony sure then it 's not good to eate to much gall for what 's greife imoderate but gall Prov. 17.22 and wormwood Thirdly in Religion for trew sorrow drieth up the bones for why doth God give the holy spirit which is the onely comforter a good conscience which is a continuall feast the holy Scripture which is a second paradice a lively faith whereby we have peace with God but to inferre that they have no spirit no conscience no Scripture no faith in them that pierce their hearts with too much greife I must not forget neyther can you with what Job like pacience he indured his sicknesse nor what excellent counsels he gave to all that were about him how willing he was to resigne himselfe into his redeemers hand it s the unfayned desire of my heart when the Lord shall call me that I may dye the death of this righteous one and that my latter end may be like to his You have hard what I have said and the Lord give you understanding in all things LAVS DEO FINIS