Grapes may be gathered from these Thorns and some Figs from these Thistles some Honey may be lick'd off these Briars for God's Rod like Jonathan's hath Honey at the end Sensible we must be of this Providence as doubtless Aaron was at his two Sons deaths but discontent we must not be God complains that Righteous persons perish and no man lays it to heart and merciful men were taken away and no man considers it Isa 57.1 Some use of such Providences we should make and get some benefits by these Tryals Now among the many Lessons this Providence holds out to us I shall only point out these seven following which if you and I can learn by it it will be happy for us Lesson 1. From this Lecture of Mortality your dead Daughter we may learn the cursed Nature of sin which was the cause of her Death and how little beholding we are to it that thus rends one Friend out of the Arms of another for whatever Distemper our deceased Friends dye of sin lies at the bottom and sets the Disease on work but for sin 't is probable we had never dyed For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life By one man's offence sin came into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all for as much as all have sinned Now shall we love the Tree and hate the Fruit Love the Cause and hate the Effect Shall we be like foolish Children that hate the smarting Plaister and consider not the Ulcerous Sore that makes it necessary We would have the Wound cured and yet not have the Weapon drawn out for fear of a little smart Had not Sin gone before Death had not followed many Men love the Drunkenness and hate the Surfeit But did we see sin in its own Colours it would be worse than the Effects for 't is the only Object of God's infinite hatred for he hates nothing but sin or for sins sake and yet sin seems lovely when we behold it in the Devil's Glass or through his Spectacles If we could strip the Devil himself of his vicious Qualities he would return to his former Angelical Glory yea into God's Favour for he hates nothing he hath made Man in his first Creation was made Holy and Happy and had Power given him so to continue and though by his Constitution he was Mortal yet by God's Blessing he had been Immortal for ought we know â—s the Soul is But by eating the Forbidden Fruit Gen. 2.17 in all probability he had suddenly dyed had not Christ interposed and become a Surety to his Father and so gained a longer Lease and paid the Fine however Man became obnoxious to Death and dye he must See how dangerous it is to play at the hole of the Asp and to ask Counsel at the Devil's Mouth for so Eve did and for that Offence all her Posterity must eat bread in the sweat of their brows till they return to the dust out of which they were taken No Greatness can excuse us no Wisdom can prevent it but the most dangerous Death is to dye in our sins Sin it is that makes us uncurable otherwise we had been so armed Death could never have entred or pierced the heart Rom. 5.12 And shall we hug this Viper in our Bosom that will sting us to Eternal Death For sin is the very sting of death without which Death were not so formidable Adam's Offence diffuseth it self to all his Posterity as Poison doth to every part of the Body and shall we love the Work and hate the Wages Actual Sin is the Fruit of Original Corruption and springs from this bitter Root and 't is the cause of all our Misery and shall we like the foolish Dog bite the stone and let the Passenger that threw it go free Let us turn therefore all our sorrow into sorrow for sin for all is little enough to run in this Channâ—l And let this be your Motive though not one of the greatest sin was the cause of your dâ—ar Daughter's Death and will ere long be the cause of yours also and happy will it be for you if this bitter Pill have this Operation upon you to make you hate sin with a perfect hatred 2. Nay 't is not only Death but also all the Miseries that accompany Life and are the fore-runners of Death which are the direful Fruits and Effects of Sin Could we see Sin in its own proper shape it would appear most hateful and detestable but the Devil hides its Deformity from us what he can and to this end lends us his Spectacles in which it appears lovely and amiable but we may best see it in the Effects It was this that turned Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice and many thousands into Hell and can the Tree be good that brings forth such unsavoury Fruit This raced out the Image of God and engraved upon the Soul the very Image of Satan The Devil knows well enough that if we saw Sin in its own Colours we must needs hate it for who can fall in Love with Deformity it self And therefore misrepresents it as a deformed Hag paints her Face and covers her Deformity thereby to take her Prey and allure unwary Youth So the Devil deals by Sin and represents it in Vertue 's Colours but the Glass of the Word would shew it in its own shape Indeed there is nothing in the World that can fully resemble it yet in the Scripture 't is represented by the foulest things imaginable to filthy Ulcerous Sores James 1.21 To the Mire that Swine wallows in the Vomit of a Dog to filthy Rags Menstruous Cloathes deadly Poison a fretting Cancer or Gangreen 't is so infectious none can escape the Infection it infects the whole Man like the Leprosie in the Head the Thoughts Words Desires Affections and Actions are all polluted and unclean and smell of the Cask and stink in the Nostrils of God our Eating Drinking Buying Selling Trading yea Plowing is sin Prov. 21.4 And all our Religious Duties if not performed with the Incense of Christ's Righteousness are defiled Isa 1.11 c. and 66.3 Why Those Duties though commanded by God yet proceeding not from a right Principle directed to a right End and done in a right manner must needs be faulty Now sin though looked upon as a harmless innocent thing and when Men have put a fair Mask upon its soul Face looks lovely and the Devil hides its soul Visage as 't is said the Panther doth his deformed Head purposely to take his Prey yet still it remains ugly Pride covers it self with the name of Cleanliness Drunkenness is taken for Good-fellowship and Covetousness for Good Husbandry c. But the Effects are not so lovely let the Devil and his Instruments say what they will to the contrary for 't is the occasion of all the Miseries that ever befel Mortal Man We had never had aking Head or aking Heart or Loss or
my design and desire is to prevent immoderation which will hinder and not further you in the Work and unfit you for your Duty you may you ought do mourn but not as those without hope for those that sleep in the Lord 1 Thess 4.13 Ingenious Children when one is beaten the other will cry but they must take heed of murmuring and repining against their Father Lute-strings when one is touched the other sound and 't is one of those Dues which we owe to our deceased Friends to lament at their Funeral 't is those usually that live undesired that dye unlamented It was a Judgment threatned against Jehoiakim that when he died he should not be lamented Jer. 22.18 But we must not Water our Plants so as to drown them and that Sorrow that disables us for our present Duty in our general or particular Calling is doubtless our sin Our chiefest care for our Relations should be while they are living and that is to make provision to our power for Soul and Body but for the Soul especially for alas what is a moment of time to Eternity But when God manifests by his Providence that 't is his Will to transport and transplant these Flowers into a better Soil though we should not be insensible of the stroak we should not murmure or repine under it or accuse the Hand that gave it but submissively resign them up to him who gave them or rather lent them to us David did what he could for his Son while he was living but ceased mourning for him when he was dead Our Tears though they may be shed upon other accounts yet 't is pity they should run profusedly in any other Channel but for sin It being the true penitential Tears that are the Holy Water that God affects and the Devil hates for if any â—oss or Cross that befalls us deserve one Tear our Sins deserve a thousand for sin is the cause of all our Losses and Crosses that befal us and without Repentance will be the destruction of Soul and Body and when we see such direful Effects and tast such bitter Fruits we should bewail the Cause and root up the Tree If our Sin lay heavy our Crosses would seem light if we bathed our Sins in our Tears we should not have so many left to pour out upon these Occasions Sin is the occasion of the Death of your dear Daughter and will be of your own Death for had it not been for sin she had not dyed By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed ever all for as much as all have sinned the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Nay sin it was that put our sweet Saviour to death these were the Nails that pierced his Hands and his Feet the Spear that pierced his Side his Betrayer Accusers Judge and Executioners and can your Daughter be more dear to you than God's only and beloved Son was to him He laid down his Life for her and her Life is not too good to lay down for him he laid down his Life to purchase for her a Mansion of Glory and she laid down her Life to go to take Possession for there is no other way to enjoy it Madam In my present Address to you there are two things designed by me The first is to abate the swelling Tide of your Sorrow and to bring those Waters within their proper Bounds and Banks which I shall endeavour to do by giving you some few Considerations to Meditate upon that so when the violent Storm of Passion shall be allayed Reason may be spoke with which cannot many times be heard when Passion is raging and after that my intention is to point you out some of those many profitable Lessons which this Providence seems to hand out to us which if we can learn doubtless we shall gain by this loss or our gains will be greater than our loss for God's Rod hath a Voice and 't is our Duty to hear it Micah 6.9 Nay 't is like Jonathan's Rod 1 Sam. 14.27 it hath Honey at the end and if we taste of it it will open and enlighten our Eyes If God with Correction give Instruction we may well say as David It was good for me that I was afflicted before I was afflicted I went astray but now I learn to keep thy commandments Psal 119.67 Quae nocent docent is a Proverb and that Lesson is best learnt that is set on with whipping and best remembred Correction is seldom a sign of God's hatred many times of his love For whom he loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth If we endure chastening God dealeth with us as with sons for what son is he that his father chasteneth not And if we be without chastening then are we bastards and not sons Heb. 12.6 7 8. Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for your iniquities God will be sure to plow his own Ground whatsoever becomes of the wast and to weed his own Garden though others are let alone to grow wild the punishing Angel must begin at God's Sanctuary Ezek 9. And it was no sign of Love when God said Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Hosea 4.17 Since he hath made a match with Mischief let him have his belly full of it When Ignatius was thrown to the Wild Beasts to be devoured Now saith he I begin to be a Christian for Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels with which God doth adorn his best Friends they are Pledges of our Adoption and Badges of our Sonship so that they are no signs of his disinheriting us and though he may seem to hide his Face yet 't is no sign of his forsaking us But now for the quieting your Spirit under your present Suffering and this dark Providence I beseech you ponder well these few following Considerations which well weighed may through God's Blessing quell those tumultuous Thoughts that swell in your Breast and I desire the Lord to bless them to this end 1. Consider who it is that hath done you this supposed Injury to take away your Daughter without your consent And here you may consider not only who it is but also what Interest he claims in her and then consider whether your Plea will hold good against him Is it not the great God of Heaven and Earth whose Power no Creature is able to resist whose Will is his Law and whose Glory is his End Is it not he that is called Omnipotent that doth what pleaseth him in Heaven and in Earth and none can resist him And is he a fit Match for you to grapple with Is it not he that measureth the water in the hollow of his hand and meteth out Heaven with his span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure that weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance To whom all
Cross or any thing to molest us had it not been for sin yet are we apt to over-look it and yet have our finger always upon the Sore we cry out Oh my Back my Belly my Bones my Heart but seldom Oh my Sin we are like hâ—m that complains of the pain in his Foot but not of the Shooe that pincheth him of the Gout Stone Strangury Surfeit but not of the Intemperance that is the cause Pharaoh cries out Take away the Frogs the Lice the Darkness let there be no more Hail but not take away the Sin the hardness of Heart that brought them God when he threatens Death for sin threatens also all the Causes and Fore-runners of Death and all the Evils which accompany a sinful Life for these are the Natural Productions of sin and much worse Fruit it bears if Repentance prevent it not and like a mighty Wind blows it not down before it come to Maturity otherwise it will be bitter Fruit We have far greater cause to cry out Oh my filthy Sins Oh my Pride my Passion my Covetousness my Deadness Dulness Formality Hypocrisie c. than Oh my dead Father my Husband my Son my Daughter We should cease quarrelling God and turn the edge of our Anger Sorrow and Indignation against Sin and against our selves for our sin and so our Quarrel will be much more just 'T is a stubborn Child that when corrected for a known fault will rather quarrel his Father than acknowledge his own Guilt We are apt to cry out Oh my Loss Oh my Cross than Oh my Sin my Infidelity my inordinate Affections which forces God thus to Correct me Let us remove the Cause and the Effect will cease Thus you see whether we consider sin in it self in its pestiferous infectious Nature or whether we consider it in its direful Effects the Miseries that attend it we have more cause to bewail it than any Loss or Cross that can befal us for sins sake as the Cause is worse than the Effect 3. But this is not all for sin procures Spiritual Judgments as well as Temporal and these are far more deadly and dangerous for these Distempers reach the Soul when the other touch only the Body or Estate Sin defiles and deforms all the Powers and Faculties of Soul and Body Sin is so Infectious and Contagious and the Effects thereof so Malignant that the greatest and most dangerous Plague-sore even that which rendeth the Soul from the Body is not so dangerous 'T is sin that hardens the Heart and turns it into the Nature of a stone We read of a stony heart and of all the Plagues that fell upon Pharaoh this was the worst and a greater than this cannot befal a Mortal Man in this Life God complains of this That the house of Israel were impudent and hard-hearted Ezek. 3.7 c. And the great Gospel-promise is To take away thâ— stony heart and give them hearts of flesh And as it hardens the Heart so it blinds the Mind which by reason of sin is Naturally Judicially and Wilfully blind the Image of God consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness these by the Fall were lost and Ignorance Wickedness and Profaness the very Image of the Devil were engraven in their stead 1 Cor. 3.14 And Men walk in Darkness till the Scales of Ignorance are wiped from their Eyes and Christ's Spiritual Eye-salve applyed Rev. 3.18 A natural maâ— cannot perceive the things of the spirit for they aâ—â— spiritually discerned Many also are Judicially blind God in his just Judgment giving them up to strong delusion to believe lies Mat. 13.13 c. They are Wilfully blind and God will not Cure them like Hagar they cannot see the Well of Water that is before them They are wilfully Ignorant that they may sin the more freely The God of this world hath blinded their eyes 2 Cor. 4.4 He draws a Curtain between them and the Light and holds his black hand before their faces and were they anatomized his Image would be found â—ngraven upon their hearts Light is come into â—â—e world and men love darkness rather than light â—ecause their works are evil They are willingly â—gnorant of what they are not willing to know â—hey have also cauterized Consciences seared with 〈◊〉 hot Iron and reprobate minds Rom. 1.28 And â—istempered and disordered Affections set upon â—rong Objects loving what they should hate â—nd hating what they should love fearing Men â—nd their threatnings and despising God and his â—hreatnings being given up to vile affections Rom. â— 26 1 Tim. 4.2 Yea they are given up to â—tubbornness of Will Judges 2.19 And of this â—e have Pharaoh for an Example that was beâ—ome Cannon-proof that all the Judgments â—rought upon Egypt could not work upon him â—uch are mentioned Jer. 44.19 that would bake â—akes to the Queen of Heaven let God himself say what he would to the contrary they will set up â—heir Post by God's Post and prefer their Dagon â—efore the Ark therefore God gives up such to â—trong delusions to believe lies Rom. 1.24 The Memory also though strong enough to retain what is bad yet 't is like a leaking Vessel that cannot retain any thing that is good In a word â—ll the Powers and Faculties of the Soul are polâ—uted and the Members of the Body are the unhappy Instruments to act the wickedness the Soul contrives So that a Toad or Serpent is not fuller of Poison than Man's heart is naturally of Sin and Wickedness and of noxious Qualities the Fruits and Effects of which if timely Repentance prevent not will be the loss of God's Favour which is better than life in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasureâ— for evermore Psal 16.11 The loss also of an Interest in the Blood of Christ will follow which is of more value than the World it self for such trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 Yea they do despight unto the Spirit of God and put themselves from under the favourable Protection of God and thaâ— Guard of Angels that God sends forth as ministring Spirits for the good of those that love him and makes Men uncapable of the sweet Communion of Saints which David made his chiefesâ— Delight on Earth Psal 16.2 It deprives them of the Peace of Conscience a Jewel of inestimable worth and brings many times such a Storm there that all the World cannot allay aâ— in Cain Judas Spira and many more that Bird in the Bosom when it sings sweetly makes better Melody than all the World can do Sin also deprives Men of all true Interest and Spirituaâ— Right to all our outward Enjoyments a Civiâ—â— Right we may have but a Covenant-Right we cannot have in a Natural condition for these things are not given but lent to a wicked Man and an Account will be required to the utmost Farthing In a word unrepented sin deprives Men of an Interest in God in
the world they 〈◊〉 meet with tribulation 't is in Christ they shall 〈◊〉 Peace John 16.33 The World to Believ◠like the Streights of Megallan to the Passenger which way soever they bend their Course the Wind is always against them Though Wicked Men like Dogs worry one another yet like Herod and Pilate joyn both against Christ and his Church which ever is uppermost they are sure to be under for while there is a Devil in Hell or a Wicked Man upon Earth they can expect no Peace Blessed are the dead therefore that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.3 Here they are with the Apostle in Prisons often but a Goal-delivery will come when they shall be freed and their Enemies be sent to a worse Prison then shall all tears be wip'd away from their eyes and sin and sorrow shall be no more 'T is here they have a Principle of Grace in them to direct their Course aright but Corruption like a Byas to the Bowl draws them aside they are like the Stars whose Natural Course is from the West to the East but by force of the Primum Mobile they are hurried from East to West Regenerate Mens Course is Heaven-ward but they are many times like the Stars Stationary and too often Retrograde They are like the Bird of Paradice with a Clog upon her heels her Nature is to mount up but the Clog plucks her down again when they mount up in their Contemplations to get a view of Christ they are like a Man that looks at a Star through an Optick-Glass held with a Palsie Hand sometimes but 't is seldom they get a sight of him but they shall have a clearer Vision ere long They cannot deal with their Corruptions as Abraham did with his Servants leave them behind when they go to Sacrifice no they say as Ruth did to Naomi Whither thou goest we will go and where thou lodgest we will lodge and where thou art buried we will be buried and nothing but Death shall part us Ruth 1.16 But 't is but a while and a Believer shall be everlastingly separated from his sin and will triumph over all his Enemies Oh Death where is thy sting Oh Grave where is thy victory c. 'T is true here the best have no pure Beauty they have their form freckles yet their spot is the spot of God's people which will wash out and not like the Leopard not only in the Skin but in the Flesh also but then they shall appear without spot or wrinkle Here all their Comforts are mixt and there is no fire but there is some smoak 't is not so there Here they lye among the Pots but there they shall shine as the stars for ever and ever Then shall they exchange Earth for Heaven Misery for Majesty and a Crown of Thorns for a Crown of Glory but what this Glory is we know not but shall then have occasion to say of it as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomon's Wisdom Much I have heard of it but the one half was not told me Paul that had a Glimpse of it saw more than he was able to utter for no word in Humane Language could express it We can no more set out Heaven's Happiness than we can take the Dimensions of it with our Span or empty the Sea with a Spoon All we can do to get out of this Labyrinth is by a clue of Scripture-thread and here 't is but shadowed out to us according to our Capacity so much as may set us a longing after the enjoyment of that which eye never saw ear never heard neither can the heart of man conceive what it is Now the Eye hath seen much the Ear heard of more but the Heart can conceive of more than that as that the Earth is a Globe of beaten Gold the Sea of liquid Pearl every Grass to be a Diamond and every Sand a Ruby the Air to be Crystal and every Star to be ten thousand times bigger and brighter than the Sun c. for what can bound our Fancy Now if all these were realities alas it falls short of Heaven's Glory these things fall under our Senses but Heaven's Glory cannot here is Joy without Sorrow Light without Darkness and Grace is here without Corruption Here is a mixture of the one with the other and many times an Ounce of Joy hath a Pound of Sorrow we get sometimes a Pisgah-sight of Canaan and suddenly are hurried back into the Wilderness if not into Aegypt now Health then Sickness now Ease then Pain now Poverty then Plenty But in Heaven it will not be so our Wine there shall not be mixt with Water the Storm there will be over and the Weather always calm and serene But to come nearer to our business our Happiness there will be partly privative partly positive I shall speak to those apart and shew you first what we leave behind us and then what our Enjoyment shall be and all but as in a Glass darkly 1. At Death and not before we shall be freed from all our Sin and Corruption which is the greatest trouble a Believer hath in this World and indeed the cause of all other troubles but at Death it shall never trouble them more they may say of it as Moses of the Egyptians in the Red Sea Those you see to day you shall see no more for ever And is not this cause of Rejoycing Sorrow follows Sin as the Shadow follows the Substance but the Cause being removed the Effect will cease This it is that spoils all our Duties and makes them unsavoury unto our God for the Fountain being defiled the Streams cannot be pure this is the Make-bate between God and the Soul and this hides his face from us We can never have Peace with God or any assured Peace with our selves or the Creatures till we break our Peace with Sin for when God is offended our own Consciences and all the Creatures wait but for a Commission to molest us or destroy us The Waters of the Flood drown'd the whole World the Red-Sea Pharaoh and his Host the Fire burnt up Sodom and Gomorrha and the Cities adjacent the Earth swallowed up Korah and his Complices the Walls of Aphek slew twenty seven thousand of God's Enemies 1 Kings 20.30 The Stars fought in their Courses against Sisera the very inanimate Creatures take God's Part so do the poor Insects the Flies the Lice the Caterpillars what Plagues were they to Egypt As also the Frogs the Hail c. And would have destroyed him and all his Army had not Moses interceded And Histories tell us that sometimes a Fly an Hair a kernel of a Grape a prick with a Pin have brought Great Men to their end Hence it was that Augustine saith he would not be in an unregenerate Man's condition for one hour for all the World lest God in that time should take him hence by some Judgment and send
him to Hell Now though Sin have a Mortal Wound in the Regenerate which cannot be cured yet it will have a Being in them while they are in the Flesh and these Sons of Zeruiah are sometimes too strong for them but at Death these Anakims shall be overcome Death will give them their Deaths-wound the same stroak that separates the Soul from the Body shall divide between Sin and the Soul Now it sticks as close to us as the Skin to the Flesh or as the Flesh to the Bones or rather as one Bone to another and much closer for these may be separated but the other not 't is like as the spots of the Leopard not only in the Skin but in the Flesh also nay 't is in the very Heart and not only in the Body but in the Soul also yea in the very Power and Faculty of it yet at Death a separation will be made and this must needs be good News to a Believer when his deadly Wound is cured which is the cause of all his Maladies Oh happy day will it be to him when he shall shake hands with his Corruptions and give them a Bill of Divorce and bid them an Everlasting Adieu when he shall never have a proud vain sensual or ungodly thought more to trouble him or any that shall be unbeseeming God or Godliness Now he cannot serve God without distraction but then it will be otherwise no sin shall stand then as a Cloud to Eclipse the Sun of Righteousness or cloud him from us Now Sin makes a Godly Man a weary of his Life and causeth many a sad and sorrowful Sigh and many a Prayer it doth cost him and many a struggling for the Victory but then it will be had and the War will be ended and the Triumph obtained when all Tears shall be wip'd away and Sin and Sorrow shall be no more and for a Crown of Thorns they shall have a Crown of Glory There is nothing now but sin that hides God's Face from us when these Clouds are removed we shall see him as he is and shall never see one frown in his face nor one wrinkle in his brow for Sin and Corruption which are the only Make-bates shall be left behind for no unclean thing shall ever enter into Heaven for though the Serpent did wind himself into Paradice none of the Serpentine Race shall ever enter into Heaven their place shall no more be found there Rev. 12.8 And if he be cast out his Works shall follow him then the Saints will be Saints indeed without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Ephes 5.27 Their robes will be wash'd in the blood of the Lamb and they shall no more delight to wallow in the Mire Heaven that spewed out the fallen Angels will not admit of any unclean thing sin to the Godly is their greatest Trouble here but what would it be should they be troubled with it to Eternity I have read of the Indians that enquired where the Spaniards would go after their Death And Answer being made To Heaven protested they would not come there among so Blood-thirsty and Cruel a People This was their Ignorance but this I say should a Godly Man know his sin should accompany him to Heaven it would be great cause of sorrow Anselm affirms he had rather go to Hell Innocent than to Heaven with a Guilty Conscience 'T is a greater Mercy to be freed from Sin than to be born Heir to a Kingdom but at Death they shall have the Priviledge of both now 't is their daily Complaint O this hard this proud this hypocritical Heart how shall I get it softned humbled and reformed But then it will be done it will then be better than now we can desire or expect here the Understanding is clouded with Ignorance there the scales will fall from our Eyes Many a Man would ride a Thousand Miles and give many Hundred of Pounds to have a clear insight into some of the Mysteries held forth in the Scripture as of the Trinity the Incarnation Predestination Redemption Free-will c. And of some obscure Passages Prophesies and Promises recorded in the Scripture But there all shall lye open and God's whole Contrivance in the work of our Redemption made apparent to his Glory and our Eternal Admiration In a word there shall no sin or any thing that implies a defect enter Heaven for no such Weeds grow in God's Garden there will be no imperfection of our love to God our desire after him or our delight in him neither any distempered Passion or Affection for the Affections that there shall remain shall be set upon right Objects and agreeable to the Will of God Oh happy time when shall it be when we shall be rid of all our sins that now keep us so low and God at such a distance from us 2. As at Death we shall be freed from all sin so likewise from all the Causes Occasions and Provocations to sin from the Temptations of Satan and Allurements of the World for as there will be no Natural Inclination to it within so there will be no Provocation to it from without for Temptation without now proves the Bellows to blow our Corruption up into a Flame it being as Tinder to the Fire ready to catch upon all occasions The Devil is a Powerful Politick Subtil and Malicious Enemy lying upon his lurches to betray us 1 Pet. 3.8 He is always fishing for Souls and suits his Baits according to our Inclinations he hath such an Enmity against God that he hates his Image where ever he sees it and though he cannot race it out yet he will always oppose it and seek to deface it he is like the Scorpion his sting is always out and what Opposition either he or his Instruments can make against it they will be sure to do it but at Death we shall be out of his reach and in a place of safety where he cannot throw one Dart at us nor shake his Chain to affright us Now he gives us many Alarms and if he finds us out of our Trenches or neglecting our Watch he is sure to surprize us and to make a Prey of us and were we not kept by the mighty power of God to Salvation we could not escape being devoured by him Now we have no quiet Day nor Night nay in our very Addresses to God but he molests us with his Temptations sometimes stops our Mouths and oft-times steals away the Heart in the time of Duty and lays Snares for us where ever we go or whatever we do but the more Spiritual the Duty is so much the greater is his Opposition He spoils our Duties purposely to make God hate them he takes great Advantage indeed by our own Corruption and we shall never be rid of the one till we are free from the other Our Senses are the Cinque-Ports that lets in the Occasions and Provocations to sin into the Soul and he sails in with the Tide
VERA EFFIGIES EDVARDI BURII EVANGELII MINISTRI AN. AETAT SUAE 66 ANo. DOM. 1682 Inventiue art dame-natures curious ape You see can counterfeit the bodyes snape Yet can noe more describe the mind then we Heavens glory by the spangled Canopy This shaddows out the house who there doth dwell Aske in the booke the picture cannot tell DEATH IMPROV'D AND Immoderate Sorrow FOR Deceased Friends and Relations REPROV'D WHEREIN You have many Arguments against Immoderate Sorrow and many Profitable Lessons which we may Learn from such Providences 1 Thess 4.13 14. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope For if we believe that Christ died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him By EDWARD BVRY formerly Minister of Great Belas in Shropshire LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside 1693. TO THE Vertuous and truly Religious The Lady Wilbraham the Pious Consort of the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Wilbraham of Weston under Lizard Barronet one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Stafford E. B. wisheth all Happiness External Internal and Eternal MADAM IT fares with me as 't is fabled of Pan that pretended Rural God who being admitted into Apollo's Presence to shew his skill upon his Oaten Pipe at the first he was bashful and timerous but being uncontrouled he grew bolder and Pip't louder This was my Case when I wrote the ensuing Letter which was in a dark and gloomy Day my Bashfulness and Sense of Vnworthiness when it was finish'd had like to have strangled it in the Womb and to have kept it from your sight fearing what Reception it might meet with but knowing what ever was wanting a good Meaning and an Intention to do good was not wanting and after some conflict in my self I resolved to put it to the venture and send it I did but your â—ind Acceptance beyond my Expectation made me Pipe louder and without your privity I sent it to the Press thinking that having past this Test and you approving of it others also might possibly do the same but had you past it by with a Check or Disrespect you had spoiled my Musick yet durst I not prefix your Name to it as thinking it unworthy of you But your kind Acceptance of it when it was Printed and Approbation doth make me yet bolder to prefix your Name and tell the World to whom it doth of right belong and this will be some excuse for me that you did not manifest your dislike nor forbid me to do it the Reasons why I did this and do now again Publish it were given you then there were many worthy Friends then and since that time that lay under the like Dispensation of Providence that you did viz. That had parted with their near Relations to whom I was willing to give a Word of Advice and Comfort but my Occasions would not permit me to Speak or Write to all neither was I able to do it to all that needed my Advice I therefore imagining what doth one good may benefit another also I made it publick this Letter may speak my Mind when I am absent even to those to whom I cannot come for I see Grace itself will not wipe off immoderate Tears but they sometimes flow like a mighty Torrent without Bank or Bottom and tho' here be some things peculiar to your Condition in the Letter yet in the general 't is of publick concern the Disease is common and the Receipt I hope will not be useless Most People first or last are concerned in parting with Relations here are Considerations to quiet them at least they see the Death of others as well as of their Relations and here are profitable Instructions to improve that for their own good and Direction how to prepare for their own Death These Considerations made me make that publick which at first was intended for private use and I hope this second Edition will give your Ladiship no Offence nor to read your Name in the Front when I sent the Letter to you I did foresee that I must shortly come into the Furnace again and so I did the very Week I received the printed Book I Bâ—ried my eldest Son as you had done your eldest Daughter and how soon I may have another Trial I know not The Lord grant I may learn the Lesson my self I am teaching others some Additions I have made at the Request of several which may be more needful to others then to you I hope they tend towards the perfection not imperfection of the Book But I forget my self the whole being but a Letter and that to your Ladiship I must not make the Gate too wide for the Building I shall cease further to trouble you when I have committed you and your dear Relations into the Hands of him that never leaveth his and subscribed my self MADAM Your much Obliged Servant EDWARD BVRY THE CONTENTS THE Introduction Five Arguments to quiet the Heart at the Death of Relations 1. Consider who did it that great God whose they are 2. Consider Who we are that are discontented Dust and Ashes 3. What wrong is done to us or our Relations 4. What Benefit are we like to have by mourning 5. Our own Condition is mortal and shall suddenly follow Seven Lessons To be learnt by the Death of Friends if all must die 1. Lesson How little we are beholding to Sin 1. It brought Death into the World 2. It is the cause of all the Misseries we suffer in the World 3. 'T is the cause of all Spiritual Judgment we meet with 4. It lays us under the Wrath of God and makes him our Enemy 5. T is the cause of eternal Death and eternal Damnation Second Lesson How little Good the world can do us in our greatest need 1. It cannot prevent Death tho' we had never so much of it 2. It cannot procure us a happy Life or give Content 3. The things of the World are uncertain and momentary 4. It can do us little good in our great Concerns here or hereafter 5. It exposeth us to a great deal of danger Third Lesson Of how great concern Grace and a good Conscience is 1. It helps exceedingly to bring us through the World with Comfort 2. It fits us to leave the World and takes away the Fear of Death 3. Without it we can neither please God nor enjoy him 4. It will procure us a good Name to succeeding Generations 5. It will bear up the Heart at Judgment and usher us into Heaven Fourth Lesson If all must dye then the Godly have nothing to Suffer 1. The Saints at Death shall be freed from all their Sins 2. From all the Causes of Sin Temptations of Satan and the World 3. From all the Devil's Instruments Persecutions and Tryal 4. From all the Effects of Sin Losses
than a piece of rotten shining Wood to the Sun in its Splendour And do you think that Twenty Years in Heaven will not make amends for Twenty Years on Earth which she possibly might have lived 4. Cons In the next place it will not be amiss to consider how little good your immoderate Mourning will do in this case And truly in the upshot you will find it will do much more hurt than good even to your self and all about you for by this means you perplex your self in vain so that you can neither enjoy your self nor any thing you have with that serenity of Spirit as otherwise you might do and spend that Holy Water those Tears to no purpose which were designed for a better use and should be spent upon another Account and would do more good did they run in a right Channel You bewail the Effect but 't is much better to bewail the Cause for were that removed the Effect would cease Non valet medicamentum dum ferrum invulnere Sin deserves all the Tears we can shed and 't is better weep for living Sins than dead Children if the latter deserve one Tear the other deserves a thousand And it is not for your own sins alone that this Flood-gate should be opened but for the sins of the Times our National sins for from the greatest to the least all have gone astray and if there be not a Reformation we may expect a Desolation and God expects some to stand in the Gap Ezek. 22.30 to turn away his wrath from the Nation and although there be so few that they cannot prevail for the Nation yet their own Souls shall be saved as God said of Noah Daniel and Job Ezek. 14.14 Yea in a common Calamity before he gives Commission to the Destroyer he marks all that are mourners in Sion to be past by Ezek. 9.4 Here Tears will do good for the fire of God's Indignation is only to be quenched with the Tears of True Repentance But I fear there will be in the day of Visitation few of those Mourners found few to stand up in the Gap though many that make the Breach wider This way may do good to your self and others Thus Job concerns himself more with his Children when alive than when dead Job 1.5.21 Now which way can you imagine that the abundance of Tears which you pour out upon this Account of your Daughter's Death can benefit either you or any one else In reference to God 't is neither pleasing to him neither will it prevail with him not pleasing for he hath forbidden it We should not sorrow as men without hope for them that sleep in the Lord. For if we believe that Jesus dyed and rose again even so also them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess 4.13 14. And it reflects some dishonour upon him when his People are so unsatisfied with his dealing and repine under his Dispensation of Providence It makes the World believe they take him for a hard Master yea and question his Justice in the Act. It is no Credit to a Master when his Servants quarrel at their Diet their Lodging their Work and their Wages Others imagine there is something in it that makes them complain Now God's Glory is his End in all his Actions and it should be ours and to preserve that in the sight of the World we should never hang down the head but for sin our own sins and the sins of others because God is thereby dishonoured and his Laws violated And then that they cannot be prevalent with God is as evident You are offended that your Daughter is gone Hinc illae lachrymae but 't is an impossible thing to bring her again and what else can you be satisfied with You can never prevail with him to alter his immutable Decrees which are as firm as the Pillars of Heaven and the Foundations of the Earth and the Sun and Moon in their courses And then again I am sure you are not benefited by it the present vexation you lye under must needs make your Life uneasie yea make you a burden to your self thus to spend your time inter suspiria lachrymas between Sighs and Tears when the most miserable Bond-slave can do no more And hereby you also disable your self for your Duties to God and Man both in your general and particular Calling and Relations Discontent in the Heart makes a Christian like Jonah instead of praying to God quarrels him Jonah 4.2 3 4. What Communion can you keep with God when there are such tumultuous Thoughts arising in the heart Doubtless in this pet you cannot serve God without distraction neither attend your Worldly Concerns and that Sorrow is never pleasing to God that thus disables you for your Duties or hinders you in Heaven's way Neither can there any benefit arise to your Friends and Relations for while you are under such discomposure of Spirit the whole Family must tast of the Effects of it for what comfort can you give others that refuse comfort your self Or how can you Counsel them that will take no Advice your self You have been long in the School of Christ and he expects that being converted you should strengthen your Brethren But doth not your carriage put a block in others ways to comfort This makes you that you can take little delight in your remaining Relations nay to overlook and undervalue all your other Mercies and cannot read Love in any of God's dealings with you your finger is still upon the Sore and this one Cross hides from your Eyes a thousand Mercies It had such an effect upon David though it was no doubt his failing when God had given him a Signal Victory and by that means brought him back again into his Throne yet all this was nothing to him because Absalom was dead and neither God nor Man was thank'd for the Victory So 't is with you the lives of your Husband Children Friends Relations your Health Peace Plenty Liberty Sense and a thousand more seem little in your Eyes All Haman's Honour Wealth Promotion Children were nothing to him so long as Mordecai the Jew would not bow to him Esther 5.13 And though God hath given you abundance of these outward things yea himself and promised you Heaven and Glory into the Bargain yet all this seems not satisfactory your Daughter is not Now would not this make a Man suspect she was youâ— Idol and therefore God took her out of the way that your Affections might run in the right Channel Well but seeing no living Creature can be benefited by your Tears let us see whether your deceased Daughter may and here is least ground of all to imagine it Indeed were the Papists Doctrine of Purgatory true and that Souls might be redeemed by Dirges Masses and such other Fopperies then your Money may do something but this Fire that was kindled to warm the Popes Kitchen can never be extinguished by your Tears but by the
terrible he may hum but not hurt strike but not sting kill a Believer yet not hurt him the worst is to send him to his Father's House the sooner But what is this to those in whom sin not only lives but raigns It will bring sad tidings to such 't is indeed the cause of all the Crosses and cross Providences they meet with here in this World but brings forth far bitterer Fruit which will not be ripe in this World which Reprobate Wretches must feed upon to Eternity Whatever we suffer here we may thank Sin for it haply we have laid some Creature-Comforts too near our hearts Well the Achan must be removed or God will not be pacified But if we dye while â—in is alive our present Suffering though to the â—oss of our Relations Wealth Honours Pleaâ—ures yea and Life it self is but a Flea-biting â—o our future Torments Then sin how pleaâ—ant soever it look now will be found our greatest Enemy All Men in the World and the Devil â—o help them can but kill the Body 't is Sin onâ—y that kills the Soul and God casts both Soul â—nd Body into Hell for sin the loss of which is more than the loss of the World Matth. 16.26 The loss of it is incomparable and irreparable â—he Rich Glutton could not with all his Wealth Purchase one drop of Water to cool his tongue Luke â—6 24 c. The Soul it self is a Precious Piece next the Angels the most precious that ever God made being made in his own Image and the greatest and richest Purchase that ever was made â—nd cost the greatest Price the Precious Blood of the Son of God 'T is that which is most like â—nto God himself and fitted for Communion with him and of Enjoying him for ever 'T is â—ndued with excellent Faculties the Understandâ—ng Will Affections Conscience Memory and many more which make a Man differ from a Beast and resemble an Angel And for duraâ—ion it runs parallel with the days of Heaven with the longest times of Eternity neither is â—here any thing in the World to be compared to 〈◊〉 and there is nothing but sin can hurt or wound it and this alone makes it subject to Eternal Torments and rents it out of the hands of God and the arms of Christ when nothing else can do it Sin makes Men in a worse condition than the Beasts that perish which were in the Creation little lower than the Angels the one is thrown into the Ditch and so ends their Misery the other into Hell with the Devil and his Angels where they are ever dying and never able to dye ever suffering those insufferable Pains out of which is no hope of Redemption for when they have been there as many thousands of Years as there are Grass-piles upon the Earth Stars in Heaven Sands upon the Sea-shore and Hairs upon their Heads they are never the nearer going forth than they were the first day they were cast into it for a thousand thousand Millions substracted from Eternity doth not lessen the Account Oh the horrible Nature of Sin which plucks the Soul from the Eternal Embraces of her dear Redeemer and from those Rivers of pleasures at God's right hand for evermore and lodges it among the Devils and the Damned in those Eternal Flames to all Eternity in those Rivers of Brimstone kindled by the Wrath of God Isa 30.33 Here we may behold the deadly Fruits of Sin and shall we bewail the Death of Relations which indeed is the Fruit of Sin and shall we not bewail and prevent its more deadly and dangerous Effects when without Repentance our Souls as well as our Bodies are like Eternally to perish Lesson 2. From this Lecture of Mortality before us is this It may plainly shew us how little good the World will do us when we have most need and by this we may take a true estimate of its Worth or rather of its Vanity We use to say that is good that will do us good and 't is a Friend that will help in time of need I am sure the World will not cannot do it 't is true if we look upon it through the Devil's Spectacles it will look fair and so will an Old Hag in her Paint and Plaister but this is the way to be egregiously deceived but that there is really little worth in it observe with me these following Considerations 1. Consid Riches Honours Pleasures or whatever else the World can brag of cannot prevent Death though sometimes it doth hasten it The truth of this is evidently seen in this Providence for had it been a vast Estate sumptuous Buildings costly Apparel Men or Means Food or Physick that could have preserved her Life doubtless she had not dyed but this could neither prevent the Disease remove it or take away the Malignity of it For when Death comes and come it will it will neither be bribed nor baffled Diseases are God's Servants when he bids them go they go and when he bids them come they come and what he bids them do they do it like the Centurion's Servant Mat. 8.9 Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis If God strike the Creature cannot heal God hath the Keys of Life and Death at his Girdle and our way is to go to him and neither trust to Physicians as Asa or to Witches as Saul 'T is he that kills and makes alive and brings to the gates of death and back again Deut. 32.39 'T is he that passed that Decree more firm than the Laws of the Medes and Persians That all men should once dye and after death come to Judgment Heb. 9.27 By force of this your Daughter dyed and so will you ere long All that the Rich Man had Luke 12.19 20. could not bribe Death one Night neither can any Man Ransom his Brother from Death The Rich Cardinal Beuford found it true to his sorrow Though Money be the greatest Commander in the World it will be out of Commission in the World to come Death is a perfect Leveller it will Lodge the Poor and the Rich the Fair and the Foul the Young and the Old the King and the Beggar in the same Bed without Respect of Persons let the World say what it will to the contrary and Happy be those that are prepared or otherwise it will prove but a Trap-door to Hell Death regards not any however dignified or distinguished the King then must leave his Robes and the Beggar his Rags behind him the Scull of the one retains no impression of a Crown nor of the other of his Slavery Now great Men are like Capital Letters they take up more room and be more gorgeously adorned and clad commonly go before others but signifie the same thing So the greatest signifies no more than a Man and the meanest signifies no less Or like unto Counters some in the Account signifie Pounds some Shillings some Pence and some less but when they are in the Box they
Sin was Witness of his Sorrow also But did our Lustful Gallants pay as dear for their stoln Waters as he did they would take more heed God hath various ways to embitter the World to his People when they let out their Affections upon it he whips them home when they are playing in the Dirt. Some lye long languishing under Bodily Distempers yea in much Tormenting Pain as the Cholick Stone Strangury Gout and such like the best of Men the choicest Ministers are not always free this makes them weary of their Lives and with Paul desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ and to cry out Come Lord Jesus come quickly How many may we hear crying out Oh my Head Oh my Heart my Back my Bones my Bowels c. These Bodies of ours are subject to a Thousand Infirmities Diseases Distempers and Casualties and by which Door Death will enter we know not And some poor Creatures have few waking hours free from pain for Grace it self cannot prevent Bodily Distempers though it enables Men better to bear them Yet all this is but a needful Potion prescribed by a loving Father and a tender-hearted Physician Oh Sin how dreadful a Distemper art thou that needest such bitter Pills and unsavoury Potions And how bewitching a Hag is the World that needs so much Gall and Wormwood to wean us from it and needs so much whipping before we are willing to leave it These dusty crazy Bodies of ours are tender Pieces soon out of Order and like curious Instruments soon out of Tune or like a Clock or Watch if one Wheel be out of Order nothing is in or like brittle Glasses they are soon broken then the Water of Life runs out at any little hole There are multitudes of tender Veins and tender Membranes Fibres Muscles Arteries Bones and Sinews in the Body of Man and all obnoxious to Obstructions Dislocations Extentions Contractions Hurts or Dangers all which will cause Pains Aches Griefs and Troubles to the whole Body and were it not that these were preserved every one in its proper place and enabled to do their appointed work by an Omnipotent God 't is wonder that one day passeth and not many of them out of order but however many are the wearisome Nights and Days many poor Creatures endure and are like to do till Death put a period to their Miseries These Pains are but Death's Darts and how soon he will hit us at the Heart we know not and then Death it self shall be swallowed up in victory And yet how loath are most Men to take Death's Receipts though it be an Universal Cure of all Maladies Now if we have some lucid intervals 't is but like as in an Ague-Fit to enable us to bear the next Fit In these Earthly Tabernacles there are so many Doors that some of them will be left open to let in Distempers and Death it self but in Heaven they can never enter Here is a mixture of Joy and Sorrow like Chequer-work of black and white but the most part black but there will be unmixed Joy and pure Comforts Heaven is an Healthful place and no Sickness a Joyful place and no Sorrow a Happy place where will be no Cross a Holy place where will be no Sin Holiness to the Lord will be writ upon the meanest Subject Death at his coming will cure the Blind and the Lame Mephibosheth shall not be lame nor Leah blear-eyed But Death cures not only Bodily but Spiritual Distempers also which are much more dangerous than the former as Hardness of Heart Blindness of Mind Stubbornness of Will Disorder in the Affections c. These cost good Men many a Prayer and many a Tear and many an aking Heart these Sons of Zerviah are too hard for them and these Anakims dwell in their Land these rise up and lye down with them and they cannot be quiet for them they cannot go into God's Presence but they enter with them and spoil their Duties But in Heaven the whole Soul and Body shall be made conformable unto God's Will and no Distemper shall be found in any of our Faculties In this World also the sins of others as well as our own are our Trouble and help to add to our Grief we can neither open our Eyes or our Ears but we see or hear something that offends God and therefore should trouble us We may daily see and hear God's Commands broken the Gospel slighted his Messengers abused his People persecuted and all manner of Wickedness committed Here may we hear the Sacred Name of God blasphemed his Worship scorned all manner of Ribald Bawdy Lascivious and Wanton Discourse promoted Wickedness defended pleaded for tolerated and practised and is this no Trouble to a Gracious Soul The Stews it self is fuller of obscene Discourse than many Companies are with whom yet we have necessary Converse and Commerce This made David's Eyes shed rivers of tears Psal 119.136 it clouded his Countenance furrowed his Cheeks and grieved his Heart and vexed Lot's righteous soul 2 Pet. 2.7 every Wicked Man was an Hazael to his Eyes an Hadadrimmon to his Heart cause of weeping and lamentation for Guilt and Grief are all we are like to get by such Company but the Lord will take notice of those that are mourners in Sion Ezra 9.4 But in Heaven there is no cause of Sorrow because there is no Sin the Laws of God there are never broken Here Relations sometimes prove Thorns in our Eyes and Goads in our Sides some Yoak-fellows that should prove Helps prove Hindrances not only in Heaven's way but as to the World also Oh what a Grief 't is to see a Wife or Husband prove a Drunkard or a Debauch'd Person Yet many a Godly Person hath been thus yoaked The like I may say of Children or other Relations Or were it but Bodily Pains and Tortures which our dear Relations groaned under it must needs be a Corrosive to our Hearts to see them under Tormenting Distempers Some also prove like Job's Wife Tempters So Holy David may have a scoffing Michal and a Wise Abigail a churlish Nabal Children often-times prove Crosses good David may have an incestuous Amnon or a rebellious Absalom Many good Children have bad Parents and this is a trouble to see them going out of the World before they knew why they came into it Good Servants many times have bad Masters and likewise good Masters bad Servants and all this administers cause of Sorrow But in Heaven these Tears will be dryed up for all the Inhabitants there will be perfectly Holy and Righteous and no Wicked Man among them Many in this World are pinch'd with Poverty and know not how to maintain their Families with Bread their continued labour and daily pains moiling toiling carking caring rising early and lying down late is all too little to provide for a numerous Family and to satisfie an oppressing cruel Landlord ready to drink up not only their Tears and Sweat but their very