God's dearest Children Jacob was sick Gen. 48.1 So was Hezekiah 2 King 20.1 So Job was smitten with a sore Boyl from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot Job 2.7 8. He was so loathsome a Creature none would come near him he was fain to be his own Chyrurgeon and his dressing Instrument was a piece of a broken Pot see likewise Job 7.3 4 5 13 14 15 16. So David was sick nigh unto death read Psal 6. Psal 38. So under the New Testament we read Dorcas that Woman full of good Works and Alms-deeds which she did fell sick Acts 9.36 37. So Paul himself saith We had that Sentence of Death in our selves c. 2 Cor. 1.9 He means the great danger he was in by reason of his Adversaries or by reason of sickness or both Thus he was in deaths oft i. e. in deadly dangers 2 Cor. 11.23 So before this you read of some in the Church of Corinth that were chastned of the Lord by some violent sickness that they might not be condemned with the World 1 Cor. 11.30 32. Timothy had but bad health which made the Apostle to give him this advice To drink no longer Water but to use a little Wine for his Stomachs sake and his often infirmities 1 Tim. 5.23 So we read of Trophimus the Ephesian Paul's Disciple and Companion in travels Acts 20.4 21.29 left of Paul at * This Miletum or rather Miletus Act. 20.17 was a City famous for Wool and Cloathing Nec Miletus erat vellere digna tuo Martial Miletum sick 2 Tim. 4.20 But we need not light up a Candle at noon-day and seek for that which is neither hid nor lost This truth is confirmed or Proposition verified by daily experience I therefore pass on to the Reasons of the Point which may be taken from three heads 1. From their natural constitution The Godly though they be the Sons of God by the grace of Adoption yet they are the Sons of Adam by natural production And as the Wood breeds a Worm that eats it the Garment a Moth that frets it and Fruit that which doth corrupt it so natural bodies produce Diseases to destroy them The bodies of the best are earthly houses 2 Cor. 5.1 which moulder away of themselves The Apostle calls the body even of the best men a vile body because Tot miseriis obnoxium subject amongst other miseries to sickness and distempers Calv in Phil. 3.21 If the humours of the body be but a little stirred they turn to the nutriment of a Disease Our very blood as Dr. Taylor saith wherein our life dwells is the scene under which nature acts many sharp Feavers and heavy Sicknesses Many men saith another * Mr. Byfield on 1 Pet. 2.24 p. 883. Divine that for the present are free from the pains of Diseases yet have their enemies in their bodies in divers parts of them laid as it were in Garison which may and will break out upon them at a time they know not 2. From inherent corruption The best besides original corruption have many actual provocations 1 King 8.46 Psal 19.12 Psal 143.2 Prov. 20.9 Eccles 7.20 1 John 1.8 If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us If the best of us saith he hath no sin he sins in saying so De vero cultu lib. 6. c. 13. for this is sin in the best Nemo esse sine delicto potest quamdiù indumento carnis oneratus est Lactant. Now sin is the procuring cause of sickness Had not sin entred into the World there had been no sickness Had our first Parents continued in a state of holiness they had continued in a state of health and happiness everlasting but their eating the forbidden fruit brought Diseases upon them and their posterity It is sin that brings all mankind even the best to the Grave Rom. 5.12 And no wonder if it cast them upon a sick-bed Sin is the Pandora's Box that filleth the World with innumerable diseases and calamities Like another Jonah it raiseth storms and aestuations in the Body as he did in the Sea Jonah 1.4 7. compared What saith David Psal 31.10 My life is spent with grief and my years with sighing My strength faileth because of mine iniquity and my bones are consumed It was sin that weakned him and brought as it were his body into a consumption So Psal 38.3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger Agnoscit morbi istius causam esse iram Dei propter selera sua in se accensam Muscul in loc neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin So vers 5. My Wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness So Psal 39.11 God with rebukes doth correct man for iniquity Diseases are properly the Rod of the Lord and the Rod for the fools back seems to have been a Proverb amongst the Jews Prov. 10.13 26.3 Hence the Psalmist allusively tells us Psal 107.17 Fools because of their transgressions and because of their iniquities are afflicted The best of men are no wiser than they should be nay they too oft play the fool as David did 2 Sam. 24.10 and no wonder if God chastise them with sickness 3. And lastly From Divine Ordination 1 Thes 3.3 The Devil cannot smite us with sores or sickness without God's Commission or at least without his Permission as you may see in the case of Job Job 2.6 Whatever may be the instrumental or material cause of any affliction yet God himself is the supream efficient Job 5.6 as Eliphaz said Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground By this proverbial Speech he would have us look higher than to secondary causes even to God himself as the Author for so he is Isa 45.7 so Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it It is not to be understood of the malum culpae sed poenae evil of sin but of affliction and punishment God then sends sickness to his Children or he is pleased to exercise them with sickness and such like afflictions for good ends I 'le name two especially 1. For the purging out or preventing of sin Psal 119.67 71. so Isa 1.25 Isa 27.9 so Heb. 12.10 11. God sends sickness as he sent an Angel with a drawn Sword in his hand to Balaam Numb 22.32 to divert us from sinful courses God takes away corporal to recover spiritual health he weakens thee in body to weaken the body of sin in thee If he cast thee into a Feaver or burning Ague it is to refine thee and make thee a Vessel unto Honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work as expressions be 2 Tim. 2.21 I have somewhere read how Basil the Great that holy Man being much troubled with the Head-ach prayed to God to remove it and was at length
and tost upon the Waves of a troublesome World Is not this World like a round Ball stuck full of Pins so that upon what part soever the Godly are cast they meet with trouble and misery According to that of our Saviour John 16.33 In the World ye shall have tribulation So that to have his life prolonged what was it but a prolongation of his misery and an adjournment of his happiness Tiberius Caesar said to one that requested death rather than long imprisonment Sueton. Nondum tecum redii in gratiam he told him He had not such a favour for him The like favour God here denies for the present to Epaphroditus and can this be truly call'd a Mercy Answ It cannot be denied but death is better than life to the Godly and rather to be chosen for it frees from sin sickness Satans temptations c. Yea it brings them to the happy vision and fruition of God to the society of blessed Saints and Angels and puts them into possession of everlasting happiness Calvin in Phil. 2.27 Longum esset enumerare omnia quae faciunt ut mors fidelibus potior sit vitâ optabilior Yet for all this as that learned Author saith Vita per se aestimata est praeclarum Dei beneficium praesertum qui Christo vivunt iis vitam lucro esse dicimus Life considered in it self is a choice mercy of God and advantagious to the Godly And to glorifie God in this bodily life is Non parva dignatio no little savour which God vouchsafeth to us so Calvin And Musculus Muscul in Phil. 2.27 saith Mors ipsa quatenus est peccati stipendium horribilis naturae in seipsâ considerata capax est misericordiae tà m corà m Deo quà m corà m hominibus Death as it is the wages of sin and terrible to nature is capable of mercy both before God and Man Besides as the same Author observes there were several circumstances which would have rendered his death in a sort miserable and no doubt did then trouble his mind Desolatio videlicet perturbatio Ecclesiae as the too much dejection of his people at the sad news of his death and the desolation that might follow upon it and withal the consideration that he could be no longer serviceable to them and to the Apostle in his bonds which he much desired Besides we may farther add that the continuance of a good mans life is a great blessing in this respect that the longer he lives the more good he doth and so his reward will be the greater 2 Cor. 9.6 He that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully There are degrees of glory as may be gathered from 1 Cor. 15.41 42. 1 Cor. 3.8 Secundum non propter opera The most gracious here shall be most glorious hereafter Those that do most for God here shall receive most from God hereafter So that had Epaphroditus died he had had his reward the sooner but living he makes it the greater For those of the longest standing and greatest proficiency in the School of Grace here shall take the greatest degrees of Glory hereafter I end this with the words of that truly pious and learned * Doctor Hammond in Phil. 1.22 Divine Life in it self and for the advantages of serving God and encreasing our Crown is a desirable thing Use and Application Vse 1 1. This may serve to confute or reprove the Manichees or any others that hold this present life in it self is evil Heming in Phil. 1.17 Manichei hanc praesentem vitam ut malum per se damnarunt Heming Surely God would never have made prolongation of life a motive to obedience as you find Deut. 6.2 30.16 c. so Prov. 3.16 4.10 22. 9.10 11. and elsewhere nor would the Apostle here have reckoned Epaphroditus's recovery amongst the mercies of God if this present life had been evil This is such a mercy we ought to bless God for Psal 66.8 9. O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard who holdeth our soul in life Muscul in Psal 103.3 4. Nè umbrâ quidem corporis nedum vivo ac sano corpore dignus est c. He is not worthy of the shadow and shape of a body much less of a living and healthful body that doth not look upon life and health as mercies Vse 2 2. This consideration should make us patient under afflictions that befal us So long as we have life and health we have no cause to complain as though God dealt hardly with us We read Gen. 19. that Lot had most of his Goods which he had not time to remove and his Sons in Law consumed in a fearful fire from Heaven and his Wife turned into a Pillar of Salt before his eyes a sad spectacle yet he counted it a mercy amidst manifold miseries that God had spared his life Vers 19. Behold now thy Servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life It is a mercy thou hast thy health but if this be gone after loss of Goods and Children as in Job's case yet it is a mercy thy life is spared that thou art on this side the Grave and a sad eternity Lam. 3.22 23. It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not they are new every morning great is thy faithfulness Therefore as he adds vers 39. Wherefore doth a living man complain A living man hath cause to be thankful but none to murmur life and health being the choicest of outward mercies 3. and last Vse 3. And lastly Let us not if life and health be such choice mercies provoke God to deprive us of them Sin as I told you before is the procuring cause of sickness yea and of death too Rom. 5.12 so Rom. 6.23 Death both Temporal and Eternal is as due to sin as wages to him that earns them Temporal Death 't is true sooner or later will seize on us all yet many by sinning impair their health and shorten their dayes as these places shew Job 15.32 Psal 94.23 Prov. 10.27 Eccles 7.17 But more particularly I shall name several sins some of which in their own nature tend to impairing of health and shortening a mans dayes and others of them God hath threatned with destruction I pray you observe them and learn to avoid them as you love prolongation of health and life 1. Disobedience to Superiours See Exod. 20.12 This fiffh Commandement of honouring thy Father and Mother is said to be the first Commandement with promise Ephes 6.2 It is the first Commandement that hath this special promise annexed to it viz. Prolongation of dayes By Father and Mother we understand Political Ecclesiastical and Natural Parents Take heed then of an irreverent and disobedient carriage towards the King and those that are in authority under him You read Numb 16.
Psal 36.7 8. and 37.3 So Prov. 28.25 So Jer. 17.7 8. Ruth did rely upon the Lord Ruth 2.12 and God did wonderfully provide for her as you may read in that Book which bears her name because she is the chief subject thereof Learned and godly Musculus was very poor and when his Wife and Children beg'd bread of him to divert his cares he fell to making of Verses Est Deus in coelis qui providus omnia curat Mr. Fuller's Serm. on Mat. 4 4. Credentes nunquam destituisse potest A God in heaven for all things care doth take And such as trust in him he 'l ner'e forsake Therefore as the Psalmist saith Psal 55.22 Cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee And as the Apostle saith Cast all your care upon him for he careth for you 1 Pet 5.7 The ready way to want maintenance is to distrust Providence as you may see Jer. 17. and 6. Rely then on the never-failing Providence of your heavenly Father 4. Direct Give something to the poor This may seem a riddle to some how giving away should be a means to encrease our estate Yet so it is Prov. 11.25 The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself Alms to the poor as one faith is like powring a pail of water into a dry pump that fetcheth up a great deal more See for farther proof Prov. 19.17 and 22.9 and 28.27 So Luke 6.38 Give saith our blessed Saviour and it shall be given you good measure prâ—ssed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom I have * See Mr Clark in his Serm on Heb. 10.24 read how there was a certain charitabe Bishop of Millain who journying with his servant was met by some poor people that begg'd an alms of him The Bishop commanded his man to give them all that little money which he had which was three Crowns But his servant thinking to be a better husband for his Master gave them but two Crowns reserving the third for their expences at night Soon after certain Noblemen meeting the Bishop and knowing him to be a liberal man commanded two hundred Crowns to be given to the Bishops servant for his Masters use The man having received the money ran with joy and told his Master of it Ah! said the Bishop What wrong hast thou done both to me and thy self Si enim trees dedisses trecentas accepisses If thou hadst given those three Crowns as I appointed thee thou shouldst have received three hundred as Melancton relates it Never any were poorer for discreetly relieving objects of charity St. Basil saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wells that have their water drawn spring ever more freely And Salvian Salvian ad Eccl. Cath. lib 3. p. 413. tells us Pecunia quae pauperibus dispensatur augetur cum usuris absque dubio Deo redditur quicquid egentibus erogatur Money given to the poor is put out to use as it were into the hands of God and it shall bring in a great encrease Giving to the poor is called a dispersing Psal 112.9 2 Cor. 9.9 It is a Metaphor taken from an husbandman that scattering his seed in the ground hath a plentiful encrease Obj. But it may be thou sayest thou art so poor that thou hast little to give Answ That little thou givest is much in Gods account if chearfully given Mark 12.41 c. The poor widows two mites were accepted And we read how the Apostle by the example of the Macedonians would stir up the Corinthians to a liberal contribution for the poor Saints at Jerusalem 2 Cor. 8.1 2 c. The Macedonians in the depth of poverty abounded in liberality Yea beyond their power they were willing of themselves However if you be not able to hold out your hand to them yet draw out your soul to the hungry as the expression is Isa 58.11 If with Peter you have neither silver nor gold to give Act. 3.6 give such as you have Have pitty on them Prov. 19.17 pray for them give them good counsel stir up others to relieve them If there be first a willing mind it is accepted 2 Cor. 8.12 by doing thus you may give them that which at least is as good as silver for Prov. 10.20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver Thus the Apostles though very poor yet made many rich 2 Cor. 6.10 I end this with that of the wise man Prov. 11.24 There is that scattereth and yet encreaseth and there is that with-holdeth more than is meet and it tendeth to poverty 5. Direct Take heed of impoverishing sins Sin lived in brings a curse upon us and all that belongs unto us as you may see Deut. 28.15 16 c. It is said of those Psal 106.43 They were brought low for their iniquity Any sin wittingly and constantly lived in may cause God to blow upon our labours and blast all But there are some sins have poverty more especially entail'd upon them and what these sins are you shall hear out of Gods Word I pray you observe them to avoid them Impoverishing sins Impoverishing sins are such as these 1. Unthankfulness for what we have See Hos 2.8 9. She did not know i. e. thankfully acknowledge that I gave her corn and wine and oyl and multiplyed her silver and gold which they prepared for Baal therefore will I return and take away their corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness 2. Rashness Prov. 21.5 The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness but of every one that is hasty onely to want q. d. The diligent man that doth his business discreetly shall prosper but he that doth it rashly and unadvisedly shall come to want We have two Proverbs agreeable to this of Solomons Haste makes waste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pauper And The more haste the worse speed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ash in Hebrew signifies poor I think rash men seldome die rich men 3. Making too much hast to be rich Prov. 28.22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye that is a covetous eye and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him Covetousness brings little home at last as we say Proverbially All covet all lose 4. Refusing reproof and instruction Prov. 13.18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured 5. Oppressing the poor and giving of bribes Prov. 22.16 He that oppresseth the poor to encrease his riches and he that giveth to the rich shall surely come to want Most Interpreters that I have met with understand the words as spoken of one man and then the sense is this He that oppresseth the poor and bribes the rich that he may do it more securely a thing oft practised by men of no conscience such a person shall
belying of God so to eye second causes as to forget the first Jer. 5.12 They have belyed the Lord and said It is not be Let not therefore loss of Friends be imputed to chance or secondary causes but to God the supream efficient For as Eliphaz saith Job 5.6 Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground He looks too low that under loss of Earthly-Friends looks lower than the Hand of Heaven Use 2 2. Have good thoughts of God and his wayes under such losses Many at such a time have hard thoughts of God as though he dealt hardly with them and strange thoughts of his wayes as though it was in vain to serve him They have little mind to pray read hear the Word c. some refraining the Church as though they had cast off all care of Religion Satan who hath his devices to ruine souls and rob them of spiritual comfort is very busie at such a time to suggest that God intends their ruine endeavouring by this means to drive them to despair of God's mercies and withal he tells them It is in vain to serve God Hence it is that many are ready to say with that wicked King in a time of Famine 2 King 6.33 Behold this evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer and as they said Mal. 3.14 It is vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts Even Job that eminent Servant of God lying under sad afflictions the saddest of which were the loss of his Children though you read Job 1.21 That in all this or hitherto Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly so the like you read Job 2.10 Yet afterwards when affliction did lodge with him and he began to be wet to the skin we find him uttering many unsavoury speeches In the third Chapter you find him cursing the day of his birth And Chap. 6. ver 8 9. he wisheth God would destroy him and cut him off And chapt 16.9 he said God hated him and chap. 30.21 he said God was become cruel to him So David lying under much affliction whilst the wicked prospered had much ado to keep his feet in the wayes of Godliness Psal 73.2 As for me said he my feet were almost gone my steps had well-nigh slipt and ver 13 14. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency for all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning But though God's Children through the prevalency of temptation have spoken unbeseeming things of God and his Ways yet upon second thoughts which are ever †Secundae cogitationes meliores better they have humbled themselves for such speeches So did Job Job 42.3 6 compared And the like did David Psa 73.22 he confesseth there that in speaking dishonourably of God and his wayes he had played the fool and acted the part of a Beast rather than a Christian and ver 28. he concludes That it was good for him to draw near to God It is good for us under greatest losses to draw near to God and to have good thoughts of him and his wayes for as Azariah said to Asa Judah and Benjamin 2 Chron. 15.2 The Lord is with you while you be with him And if ye seek him hee 'l be found of you but if you forsake him hee 'l forsake you So Ezra 9.22 The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him Heb. 10.38 God's Soul hath no pleasure in such as draw back they that draw back do it to their perdition v. 39. O then part not with your Religion when you part with your Friends neither have hard thoughts of God Look upon him with Scripture-Spectacles which represent him to be as indeed he is a most wise just holy faithful and merciful God Even in his terrible Acts there is abundance of his Goodness and Righteousness appears Psal 145.6 7. His end and design is as you heard in the former Treatise to purge out sin to implant holiness in thee and so to fit thee for future happiness Therefore let God be exalted in his Judgments Isa 5.16 Sing a part in that Heavenly Hymn Rev. 15.3 4. Great and marvelous are thy Works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name for thou only art holy Use 3 3. Labour to find out the particular sin that hath provoked God to deprive thee of such a Friend or Relation and having found it confess it be deeply humbled for it pray for pardon thereof and be careful for the future to avoid it This Use I shall divide into three parts which I shall speak unto distinctly 1. Labour to find out the particular sin that hath provok'd God to deprive thee of such a Friend or Relation Nos coelestis ira ignem accendimus et excitamus incendia quibus ardeamus Salvian lib. 8. de Gub. Dei p. 288. as Salvian speaks We kindle the sparks of God's wrath that burn up all our comforts Isa 50.11 We are the cause of our own calamities Nos calamitatum nostrarum authores sumus Ibid. And he adds a little after A Deo punimur sed ipsi facimus ut puniamur Cum autem punire nos ipsi facimus cui dubium est quin ipsi nos nostris criminibus puniamus Salv. Ibid pag 288 229. quia quicunque dat causam quâ puniatur ipse se punit Our sins procure our sorrows That Cloud of Calamity that hangs black over our heads and is rained down in Judgment upon us was first raised by the ascending vapours of our sins Jer. 2.19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backslidings shall reprove thee know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God We find in a great tempest the Heathens said every one to his fellow Come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is come upon us Jona 1.7 They concluded it was sin that caused that fearful tempest so as a worthy * Dr. Abbot on Jonah 1.5 6. p. 77. Divine saith if any cross befal us let us straightway with fear and trembling examine our selves and enter into our consciences and sift them in sincerity as in the sight of God what sin it is that plucks this cross upon us God's People have enquired of the Lord by Prayer and deep Humiliation when disasters have befaln them as you may read Judg. 20.26 so 2 Sam. 21.1 so Jer. 16.10 Lam. 3.40 Job looked upon his sins as the procuring cause of all his miseries Job 13.23 How many are mine iniquities and my sins make me to know my transgression and my sin And before
yearning in his bowels with bitter grief that he should be the cause of bringing this destruction upon his dearly beloved People So should we when our sins have been a cause to hasten the death of our dear Friend confess them unto God be deeply humbled for them and pray heartily for pardon thereof And then Thirdly and lastly Let us be careful to avoid these sins for the future This God expects Job 36.9 10. He shews them who are holden in the Cords of Affliction their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded he openeth also their ear to discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity This the Church hath practised in times of great distress Lam. 3.40 Let us search and try our wayes and turn again unto the Lord. Oh! how should our hearts rise against such sins as rob us of our dear Friends If any mortal man had murdered our Father or Mother Son or Daughter Brother or Sister or any other near and dear Friend or Relation We would not endure that man but prosecute the Law on him to the uttermost and we would rejoyce to see justice done upon him Our hand would not spare our eye would not pitty him Oh then take an holy revenge upon your Lusts which have provoked God to take away such or such Relations let your hearts be transported with infinite indignation against them 2 Cor. 7.11 Say in the Language of Elihu Job 34.31 I have born chastisement I will not offend any more nor provoke God in this manner by my sins to take away my Friends Mortifie therefore your earthly members fornication uncleanness inordinate affection c. Coloss 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kill or make dead Pursue these sins with a deadly implacable hatred not only odio aversationis but inimicitiae Oh! let not your sins survive any longer but as they have killed your Friend so let them be buried with him in his Grave Use 4 4. Imitate deceased Friends in what is good There is no Friend so universally bad but there is something of good in him worth imitation some good might be distil'd from him if we put under the fire of Charity Who so deeply buried * Refined Courtier p. 58. saith a learned man under the rubbish of his own ruines that something of goodness may not be discerned by a charitable Surveyor We find David commending Saul in that Panegyrick or Funeral Oration mentioned 2 Sam. 1. Do not like the silly Sheep leaping off a Bridge follow one another in irregular wayes to your destruction Nequaquà m facere nos improbos improbitas debeat aliena Salv. Salv. de Gub. Dei lib. 7 p. 241. What you find in any materially good follow it but chiefly imitate your godly Friends Phil. 3.17 But in as much as they have their failings as pure Gold hath its dross and the purest Wheat its Chaff follow them so far onely as they follow Christ 1 Cor. 11.1 Make then your godly Parents your Paterns as * Mr. Dugard in Epist deâ—icat to his Sermon on Ps 89 48 Constantines Sons are said to resemble him to the life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Write after those good Copies which deceased Friends have set you Jerom having read the Life and Death of Hilarion who died Christianly as he lived Religiously Well said he Hilarion shall be the Champion whom I will follow Zeno Cilliaeus consulted with the Oracle how he might live well and he received this answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If he was of the same colour with the dead This he interpreted to mean That he should get and read all the antient Books that he could hear of and then steep and die his mind in those sacred Notions A * Mr. Patrick in his Serm on Psal 90.12 Reverend Divine saith of this Sentence what St. Paul did of Epimenides's Sentence Tit. 1.13 This testimony is true If you would live well Look as like to the dead in the Lord as ever you can and labour to turn your Souls into their shape As living Examples are to be followed so the dead are not to be forgotten Heb. 6.12 Be not slothful but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises It is said of Abel Heb. 11.4 That being dead yet speaketh which as it may be understood of his blood calling for Vengeance Gen. 4.10 Heb. 12.24 So likewise of his example calling for our imitation Heb. 12.1 Well then was thy Friend a strict observer of the Sabbath a constant frequenter of the Ordinances a diligent reader of God's Word a faithful Instructer of his Children and Servants Was he a lover of good Ministers a reliever of good People a reprover of Vice an encourager of Vertue Was he much in praying laborious in his Calling Was he serviceable to his Neighbour faithful to his Friend a forgiver of his Enemies In a word Was he temperate meek patient peaceable humble honest heavenly-minded c If these and the like vertues were conspicuous in thy Friend Go thou and do likewise Luke 10.37 Though your Friend be dead and buried yet let his vertues live in your practice Use 5 5. Admire Gods goodness who as yet continues thee in the land of the Living Life is a mercy that we ought to bless God for Psal 66.8 9. O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard who holdeth our soul in life So Ps 103.1 2 3 4. The Psalmist there amongst other mercies blesseth God for healing his Diseases and redeeming his life from destruction Indeed God's delivering our Soul from Death is an effect of his bounty as ye may gather from Psal 116.7 8. It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed Lam. 3.22 For God to maintain that radical moisture that Oyl that feeds the Lamp and Light of thy Life is as * Mr. Goodwin on Rom. 2.4 5. one saith as great a miracle as the maintaining the Oil in the cruse of the poor famished Widow 1 Kings 17.16 When thou therefore hearest of the death of any Friend Neighbour or Relation consider with thy self it might have been thine own case thou art made of no better Mould then he was 'T is God only that preserveth the House of Clay from falling to the ground As thou accompaniest him to the Grave to pay the last office of Love consider thou mightest have been carried forth and others have accompanied thee Is it not a miracle of mercy that the Dart of Death should kill many round about thee and yet miss thee Conclude that the Hand of God guides it and it is his meer mercy that thou art yet spared When Lot as I told you before had his Wife turned into a Pillar of Salt and his Sons in Law swept away by a fearful showr of Fire and Brimstone he took it for a great favour that God had spared his life Gen. 19.19 Behold now thy Servant hath found grace in thy sight and