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A86062 A funeral sermon preached at Deptford June 3. 1688 Upon the occasion of the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Kilbury, late wife of Mr. John Kilbury. By Henry Godman, minister of the gospel. With allowance. Godman, Henry, 1629 or 30-1702. 1688 (1688) Wing G940A; ESTC R229589 20,575 42

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a far higher degree than yet we have attained unto 1. We should verily be less earthly than we are did we ponder this more in our hearts than we do We should not be so much concerned about the Body and the things thereof as we are did we seriously consider this Certainly men would not spend their days waste their lives prostitute their Consciences in making provision for their Flesh and in getting supplies for their Bodies did they seriously consider that this Fabrick of the Body this Tabernacle of dust this House of clay is falling down about their ears and then what profit will they have of all that they cared for and laboured after under the Sun Were this well considered we should not be so like the Serpent as we are which goes on its Belly and seeds on Dust Mens Souls cleave unto the dust as David speaks though in another sense Psal 119. 25. Adhaerent pavimento They are as if they were all Flesh and had no Spirit to mind at all as if they were all Body and had no Soul which would not be if this were well considered by us 2. We should be surely more heavenly than we are if we did meditate more on the failing of our Flesh and our Heart We should be more heavenly in our Conversations in our Communications in our Hearts and Affections in our Labours and Indeavours This would cause us to groan to be delivered out of this failing Tabernacle and to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven Here we have no continuing City saith the Apostle Heb. 12. 14. There is not a House in it but what is failing decaying and even ready to drop down Therefore we seek one to come even a City that hath Foundations and will never fail whose Builder and Maker is God. VSE III. Let 's from hence learn to hate sin to a greater degree than yet we do This is the evil of evils the greatest evil of all evils and the evil that is the cause of all our other evils It 's this that doth us all the mischief All our Consumptions our Pains Diseases Distempers Failings come from this cause It 's strange indeed that men should be in love with their deadly Enemy that they should entertain it in their Bosoms that they should lodge it so near their Hearts That they should nourish this Viper which will gnaw out their very Bowels and will assuredly feed upon the slaughters and ruins of its dearest lovers Oh if we love our sins we are cruel unto our own Souls If any man among our selves should take away our Money should fall upon us and beat and wound us or deprive us of any worldly accommodation how easily can we hate such a Person and how hardly be reconciled to him Oh learn to hate sin all ye that love the Lord hate evil all ye that love your selves that love your Souls hate sin There 's nothing more prejudicial and destructive to us This is the Enemy that robs and wounds us this weakens and debilitates our Bodies and ruins our Souls This is the Enemy that separates the Soul from the Body and God from the Soul. Thus we have done with the Psalmists complaint My Flesh and my Heart faileth there 's the dark side of the Cloud We pass on now to the bright side thereof which is the Psalmists comfort But God is the strength of my Heart and my portion for ever Thus as in 1 Sam. 30. 6. he encouraged himself in the Lord his God and in the view and apprehension of the failing of his flesh and his heart these consolations did refresh and delight his Soul. Here I shall only glance a little upon these three particulars which may serve for so many Doctrinal Observations 1. That God is the Believers strength 2. That God is the Believers portion 3. That God is the Believers everlasting portion Every one of these is a Well of Salvation out of which with the Bucket of Faith we may draw out abundance of the Waters of Consolation to chear our Hearts withal in our greatest troubles 1. God is the Believers strength From God he hath strength 1. To bear his burdens Alas without the strength of God we should faint in the day of adversity because our strength is small God puts underneath his everlasting arms and enables them to bear He strengthens them with all might by his Spirit in the inward man and helps to undergo the miseries infirmities and burdens that are upon the outward man therefore by Faith we should cast all our burdens upon him for he hath promised to sustain us Psal 55. 22. He will give us shoulders suitable to our burdens or else suite our burdens to our shoulders 2. From God he hath strength to do his Duties As he gives shoulders for every burden he hath for us to bear so he gives hands for every piece of work he hath for us to do Alas Without him we can do nothing as the Hand can do nothing without the Head the Body can do nothing without the Soul no more can we do without the strength of God Therefore where ever there is a command that finds us work there is always a suitable promise to find us strength I will cause you saith God to walk in my ways my grace shall be made sufficient for you God doth not deal with us as the Egyptian Taskmasters did with the Israelites who required Brick but would give them no Straw God doth not require Duty and Service of us and leave us to get strength to do it where we can no but is pleased graciously to promise that he will give what he doth command and that his Spirit shall help our infirmities and that he will strengthen us unto the performance of every good work 3. From God he hath strength to overcome his corruptions Were it not for the power of God resting on them and working in them these Sons of Zerviah would be too hard for them these mighty Philistines would certainly vanquish and overcome them Therefore he goes out against them in the Name of the Lord as David did against that Philistine Giant 1 Sam. 17. 45 knowing that in his own strength he cannot prevail therefore he begs of God to teach his hands to war and to strengthen his fingers to fight that he may be avenged on the Enemies of God and of his Soul and be made more than a Conquerour in and through the strength and power of Christ Jesus It 's from the Spirit and strength of Christ that any Soul is enabled to mortifie the deeds of the flesh without this strength instead of mortifying our lusts our lusts to be sure would mortifie us and lead us captive as it were bound hands and and feet and triumph over us 4. In God is his strength to stand it out against to resist and to overcome Satan's Temptations The Tempter is strong and we are weak he did overcome Man when he had no
other he will then will our Beauty consume away as a moth and this blow of his hand will make our flesh to fail 2. Mans heart will fail This heart of man which is that part that is primum vivens and ultimum moriens in him which is first alive and dies last this heart will fail grow cold and die away It dies last but die it must This strong hold in man will be assaulted and forced nolens volens whether it will or no to surrender to the power of sickness and death Sickness will come and closely besiege it one Disease and Distemper or another will give it a Summons then Death will come that Mighty Conqueror and break the very strings of it and so quite subdue it Thus as you read Eccles 12. ver 6. This golden bowl will be broken and the pitcher will be broken at the fountain and the wheel will he broken at the cistern that is the heart of man with all the instrumental and subservient parts whereby supplies of Blood and Spirits are conveighed from it into the several parts of the Body will break and fail and the Offices of these parts will cease and be performed no more 3. We are to shew from whence this failing doth proceed The answer to this Question hath occasioned many serious thoughts amongst the Wise men of this world I mean amongst many Sage Heathens and Profound Philosophers these evils and miseries they were sensible of and complained of them but the rise and original of them they could not come to the knowledge and understanding of This wisdom and understanding was too deep for them to sound with their line of reason and too difficult for them to attain unto Therefore they looked upon death and all the failings and tendences thereunto to be a common Tribute laid upon every Creature to pay to be an Universal Law that all Mankind must obey and submit to And to have the same reason that other mutations and changes have which they did see in the course of nature every day And they could render no other reason but the same which they gave when they saw other things dissolved into their Elements This is a common fate Sic fata volunt It 's so appointed by the Higher Powers but the reason of the appointment they could not find out And because they did apprehend no farther it 's no great wonder why they did fear death and dissolution no more than they did but rather expected or desired it as a rest from their labours and an end of all their sorrows and miseries But God hath shewn in his Word unto us the true cause of all our woe and the original of our failing and dying that all proceeds from mans sin Hinc illae lachrymae from this cursed root of bitterness doth spring and arise all our Worm-wood and Gall. Rom. 5. 12. By one mans disobedience sin entred into the world and death by sin Death with all its appurtenances with all that leadeth to it and all the miseries that follow after it all are the issues and products of sin There had been no sickness no death no failing of heart or flesh had there been no sin Man hath sown unto the flesh and therefore of the flesh must reap corruption Gal. 6. 8. Sin as naturally produceth these evils as every Seed doth produce and send forth its own Herb It 's this that hath opened the Sluce and let in that Inundation of miseries that we poor Creatures are assaulted and over-whelmed withal It 's storied Of a Person travelling in Germany and beholding the ruins and desolations which the Wars had made there that he said Haec sunt peccata Germanorum that is these ruins and desolations are the Germans sins meaning that their sins and provocations were the procuring causes of all their mischiefs and miseries James 4. ver 1. The Apostle proposes a question and gives the resolution of it From whence saith he come wars and fightings with all their mischievous and destructive attendances He tells us they come from the lusts of men that war in their members against the Lord and against their own peace comfort and tranquillity There had been nothing but good Seed in the whole Creation which would have brought forth good fruit had not man by his sin sowed tares There had been no pricking bryar nor grieving thorn there had been nothing to hurt or destroy in the whole Universe had it not been for mans sin Man hath sowed the wind and reaps the whirl-wind We will now make some brief Application and so dispatch this point VSE I. Let 's all look to this that all be well within with our Souls and Spirits because these failings and failures will certainly come upon our slesh and our hearts Oh look to your Souls and ask them often how they do And whither they are not in danger of failing too I mean of being lost and undone for ever Oh it 's sad to have a failing Body and a perishing Soul to have a pained and languishing Body and to have a pained and dying Soul troubles without and terrors within this must needs be doleful and dismal The spirit of a man will bear the infirmities and failings of the Body if that be but sound and in a good condition but if that be wounded and galled with the guilt of sin and apprehensions of wrath what is there then to help us to bear VSE II. Let 's think seriously of this failing Make me to know how frail I am Psalm 39. 4. Help me to ap●rehend and consider what a poor failing Creature I am saith David those of you that have Bones full of Marrow and Breasts of Milk that are in your Health and Strength and seem to slourish like the green Bay-tree Oh consider this and lay it to heart that your Flesh and your Hearts must fail before it be long The Lord help us so to consider it that we may apply our hearts to Wisdom Oh that there were such an Heart within us Eccles 11. 8. If a man live many years and rejoice in them all yet let him remember the days of darkness for they will be many Oh don't let us forget the days of darkness let us not put away from us the evil days of failing of trouble and affliction because they will assuredly come upon us Some Heathens accounted it true Wisdom and sound Philosophy to meditate often of Death To be sure this would be of excellent use and would much conduce to the promotion of Piety and true Religion if we would be much in meditation on this Subject Let it be much in your thoughts in your lying down and in your rising up in your going out and in your coming in at home and abroad Oh consider that your Flesh and your Heart must fail in a little time This frequently considered on and often revolved in our minds would by the assistance and operation of the Spirit of grace doubtless better us to