Abraham's being gathered to his People to his Soul and from thence assert the Existence and Immortality of it And whereas some affirm that in all the Books of Moses there 's nothing said to prove the Soul's Immortality * In Loc. Cajetan confutes them from this very Text And many †Vatab. Pererius in Gen. 25 Tom. 4. Disp 8. pag. 789 c. Ainsworth Theodoret Q. 109. in Gen. others concur with him therein 2. The Advancement and Felicity of the Soul upon its Separation from the Body which consists in this that it is presently joyned with and admitted into the Society of the glorified Souls that are with God in Heaven I must not engage in the discussing of these Heads in brief take this Observation That whenever the Godly die immediately they are translated unto the Society of the glorified Saints in Heaven We cannot ground this merely upon the Phrase of Abraham's being gathered to his People but we must also take in the Grace and Holiness of the Subject It 's said of Ishmael here ver 17. He was gathered to his People but how not as Abraham was because he was a bad Man The Sence of the Words must be stated according to the * Ad foelicitatem per se â—on peâ—tiner sed tantum pro Subjectorum ra ioâ—e intellecta Rivet Subject to whom they are applied When the Wicked die they are gathered to their People i. e. they are thrown into the Company of the Damned in Hell But when the Godly die they are gathered to their People i. e. taken up into the Company of the glorified Saints in Heaven It 's foretold and promised Mat. 8.11 That many shall come from the East and West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Hebr. 12.22 23. But ye are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaketh better Things than that of Abel The first Intendment of the Apostle in this Scripture was to describe the Gospel-Church as 't is here on Earth in the Glory and Priviledges thereof One of which is this that under the Gospel Saints on Earth have Communion with the Saints in Heaven all making up but one Body or one Assembly But yet so as that the Things here spoken have their fullest Accomplishment in the Church triumphant When any are taken up into that Church they go indeed to the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem an innumerable Company of Angels the Church of the First-born the Spirits of just Men made perfect And this is the Portion of all that fear love and obey God whenever Death removes them hence Luke 16.22 And it came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom And is it thus Vs 1. then 1. What an incentive is this to Godliness Abraham died in a good old Age an old Age which succeeded a pious and well-spent Life what followed upon it he was gathered to his People admitted into the Society of the Blessed in Heaven Now as we desire to partake of his happy End we must conform to his holy Course Let us shew our selves to be his Children by the doing of his Works Joh. 8.39 Let us believe obey live as he did and then we shall be Heirs with him of this and all that other Blessedness which he now possesses To be with all the glorified Saints in Heaven much more to be with the blessed God there what Tongue can express what Heart can conceive how great a Thing this is But how is this to be attained only by being good and doing good Heb. 12.14 Without Holiness no Man shall see God nor any who are with God Oh let the Age be what it will old or young see that it be good and gracious and then this happy Gathering will follow upon it but otherwise 't is not to be hoped for Pray tell me you that live as Antipodes to the Saints on Earth can you hope to be imbodied with those in Heaven You that hate and persecute the Saints on Earth can you hope ever to be joined with them that are in Heaven You that are all for the Society of Sinners below can you expect to be admitted into the Society of Saints above surely you cannot so grosly impose upon your selves At death there is a sorting of all Men into their several Companies the Wicked go to the Wicked the Godly to the Godly the former to their Predecessors and Companions in Sin the latter to their Predecessors and Companions in Sin the latter to their Predecessors and Companions in Grace and Holiness Oh let the Consideration hereof prevail with us to put away Sin and to engage in all serious Piety Be Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Heb. 6.12 that you may be gathered to them when you die psal 125.5 and not rank'd amongst the Workers of Iniquity 2. It may be improved Vse 2. to support against the Fear of Death How are many through this Fear all their Life Time subject unto Bondage Hebr. 2.15 But if ye be Abraham's Seed and Children why should it be thus with you Here are in the Words of my Text three notable Antidotes against this Fear 1. What is Death 't is but the giving up of the Ghost the expiring of the Breath and that 's all to the Sanctified and holy And is this a Thing so much to be feared Every Breath that comes from thee is a kind of Death when 't is the last Breath then it's Death there 's all the Difference â— Thess 4.14 Isa 57 2. 2 Cor. 5 4. phil 1.23 Elsewhere 't is but a Sleep a lying down in Bed an uncloathing a Departing Oh what mollifying Expressions doth the Scripture set forth Death by and all to keep down our inordinate Fear of it 2. All sooner or later are subject to it 'T is not we alone that die all are Companions with us in this The Patriarchs Prophets Apostles nay Christ himself all died and shall we be afraid to walk in that Path which so many have trod before us When Phocion saw one who was to die with him afraid to die What says he art thou not glad to fare as Phocion does Plutarch in Apoth So when Abraham gave up the Ghost and died with innumerable others shall we be overwhelmed with Fear when it shall be our turn to die 3. After the Dying comes the Gathering That Death that breaks our Company below advances us to far better Company above It takes the Key of Heaven as it were and lets us into
Abraham's Death THE MANNER TIME and CONSEQUENT of it Opened and Applied IN A FUNERAL SERMON Preached upon the Death Of the Reverend Mr. THOMAS CASE Minister of the Gospel June 14th 1682. With a Narrative of his LIFE and DEATH By THOMAS JACOMB D. D. LONDON Printed for Brabrazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1682. To Mrs. Anne Case Wife to the Reverend Mr. THOMAS CASE Minister of the Gospel lately deceased Much Honoured Friend IT was the reiterated Request of your Dear Husband and my worthy Friend that I would perform the last Office of Respect to him in the preaching of his Funeral Sermon when-ever it should please God to take him hence And this Request of him whilst living your self was pleased to back after his Death I have again and again publickly testified my Averseness from engaging in Services of this Nature and possibly as to engaging in this there were some special Reasons and Considerations to heighten my Averseness Yet considering how I was pressed to it by the Desires both of the Dead and of the Living I thought I should be disingenuous and defective in the Obligations of Friendship if I did not comply with them which therefore accordingly I did Having discharg'd the Preaching Part you further desired me to publish what I had preached To gratify you in that I was the more inclinable because I had left things in the Sermon so imperfect and unfinish'd for I had not time to go through a considerable part of what I had to say both upon the Text and also upon the Occasion The Truth is while I graspt at too much I did nothing to purpose and therefore was willing to do what you desired that I might have an Opportunity of filling up what then was wanting I am very sensible what a Captious and Litigious Age we live in how Divisions and Animosities do abound amongst us how hard a matter it is for One to commend One of his Party especially if he be of any considerable Eminency therein but some or other of a differing Party will be finding fault and picking out something to be the matter and ground of severe Censures If this shall be my lot I must submit but I have done whatever I could to prevent it For I have so commended the Person discoursed of as not in the least to reflect upon any others of a different Perswasion And as to the commanding of him too I have not done is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but all along to the best of my Knowledg 〈◊〉 haâ—â— kept with in the strict Bounds of Truth and Justice Yea to avoid Partiality and Flattery the too common Attendants of Funeral Sermons I have with all due Modesty taken notice of his Infirmities as well as of his Excellencies If all this will not 〈…〉 I hope I shall bear them with Patience if not with Contempt How many Funeral Sermons did your dear Husband live to preach for others here is now one preached for himself and God knows how soon some may do that for me which I have now done for him We live in a fluid State and have no Abiding hare No sooner had I dispatch'd what I had to do upon the Death of this Friend but God threatens me with the Death of Another a most Eminent Person of another Profession Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity The Lord bless you and yours and grant you all to reap the Benefit of those many many fervent Prayers which he who is gone sent up to the Throne of Grace daily for you All that I shall further say it but to assure you that now you are deprived of the Prayers of the Dead you shall ever have the hearty Prayers of him who whilst he lives shall be ready upon all occasions to shew himself Your Servant and Friend in Christ Tho. Jacomb July 21 1682. Abraham's Death GEN. 25.8 Then Abraham gave up the Ghost and died in a good old Age an old Man and full of Years and was gathered to his People THE Words give us a brief Historical Account of the Death of the Patriarch Abraham A large Description we have of his Genealogy Birth and Life from the close of the 11th Chapter to the beginning of this 25th Chapter But as to his Age Death and Burial the History of them is contracted within the short Bounds of three Verses here the 7th 8th and 9th Verses 'T is the Death only of Abraham that I shall discourse of Concerning which here 's as much said in a little as could well be expected or desired upon such an Argument The Occasion of our present assembling is That we may pay our last Respects to the Reverend and Worthy Mr. Thomas Case Minister of the Gospel lately deceased With whom the Text does so well suit as that mutato Nomine we may read it thus Then CASE gave up the Ghost and died in a good old Age an old Man and full of Years and was gathered to his People In the managing of the Work in hand I will first speak to the Instance here mentioned and to the Matter asserted of him and then bring that down to our precious Friend upon whose account we are come together this Day As to the first observe 1. The Person spoken of ABRAHAM 2. What is spoken of him here he Died. 3. The Amplifications about his Death 1. From the Manner of it He gave up the Ghost 2. From the Time of it In a good old Age an Old Man and full of Years 3. From the Consequent of it And was gathered to his People 'T is the Third Head that I design to stay upon the Two First I 'll put together and briefly dismiss Then ABRAHAM Died. This Abraham was a great Man a great Saint who in the whole Catalogue of Saints bears a greater Name than He He was a Prophet Gen. 20.7 the Friend of God Jam. 2.23 The Father of the Faithful Rom. 4.16 One who was and for ever will be renown'd for those two unparallell'd Acts of Obedience and Love to God his forsaking of his own Country and his readiness to offer up his dear and only Son Well! what became of this eminent Person Surely his extraordinary Grace and Holiness that high Rank of Faith and Obedience wherein he stood exempted him from that Death which we poor Striplings are exposed unto No 't was not so he Died went the way of all Flesh under-went the Stroke of Death just as we do Saints themselves the highest and choicest of them Observ the Servants of God they who are most eminently useful and faithful even They are subject to Dying as well as others 'T would be tedious and unnecessary in so plain a Case to heap up parallel Instances That great Servant of God Moses he died that great Prophet Samuel Deut. 34.5 1 Sam. 25.1 Zech. 1.5 he died all the Prophets of the Old Testament all the Apostles of the New all died as we have
another shall be opened He was therefore called to preach as Lecturer at Alderman-bury and at St. Giles Cripplegate In which Congregations he continued preaching Christ and the Gospel till he was sent Prisoner to the Tower where he was confined about six Months The Grounds of this Imprisonment wherein several others of Name and Worth were Companions with him to Two of which it ended in more than bare Imprisonment in Death it self I say the Grounds of this are well known to all that know any thing of the Transactions of the late Times We then thought they suffered for their Loyalty and Fidelity to their Soveraign if the present unkind Age have other Notions of it we must submit After his Release he was invited to be Lecturer at St. Giles in the Fields Mr. Moline then Rector there dying he was chose in his Stead And so continued till upon his Majesty's Restauration the ancient Incumbent was readmitted In the Year 1660 he was one of the Ministers deputed by his Brethren in this City to wait upon his Majesty at the Hague to congratulate his Restauration With respect to which I may confidently say as none in his Sphere did more cordially endeavour to promote it before it was accomplished so none did more cordially rejoice in it when it was accomplish'd When that black and fatal Day Aug. 24. 1662. came he fared as the rest of his Brethren did who were not satified to conform Here his Ministry in Publick was at an end yet as God gave Opportunity he ceased not in Private to be doing all the good he could And in this Diligence he held on till the Infirmities of his great Age wholly disabled him for any further Ministerial Work One remarkable Passage of his Life must not be omitted I hope the Recital of bare Matter of Fact will give no Offence He was a Member of that Assembly which in the Year 1643 was called by the Parliament as then sitting to advise in Matters of Religion And I think he liv'd to survive all of that Body one only excepted I have gone over the several Turns and Motions of his Life and led you from one Stage to another of it 't is the last only that remains yet to be spoken unto It pleased God the great Arbiter vitae necis to lengthen out his Life to a very old Age He lived to * Tully's Age. Quartum annum ago octogesimum Lib. de Sen. 84 Years and then died On May 30th last past he finished his Course and on June 14th was decently interr'd in Christ Church in this City And now how is my Text exemplified in him as well as in Abraham He gave up the Ghost and died how willingly did he resign up his Soul to God! Death found no Resistance from him alas he had been long desiring and waiting for it he quietly and readily yielded to it And what an easy Death did God bless him with The Oil was spent so the Lamp went out There was no Sickness no Pain no Groans or Agonies at the last he just breathed out his last Breath and that was all It 's said of Jacob when he had made an end of commanding his Sons he gathered up his Feet into the Bed and yielded up the Ghost Gen. 49.33 Just thus it was with our deceased Father for rising from Dinner he desired some repose upon his Bed where as soon as ever he was laid he gathered up his Feet and so yielded up the Ghost This facil Death he had much desired and often prayed for and he had it Sortitus est facilem exitum qualem semper optaverat as the Historian of Augustus And he died in a good old Age. Good as to the Greatness of it Good as to the Health and Strength of it a few Years indeed before his Death his Limbs were much enfeebled his Memory much impair'd but till then he had as much Vegetenes and Vigor every way as could be expected in one of his Years Good in the best Sence as it succeeded a well-spent Life and as it was fill'd up with gracious and holy Actings to the Last He began with God betimes and he kept close to God to the End And now he is gathered to his People translated into the blessed State gone to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born to the Spirits of just Men made perfect Taken up to his People to those now in Glory who by his Ministry were converted and oh what rejoicing is there in Them to see their Spiritual Father in Him to see the Children that God has given him He has now a view of all the glorified Saints and is one of them Yea he has now the Vision of God himself and of his dear Redeemer What he wrote in his Pisgah about Heaven he has now the experimental Knowledg of He that died in Abraham's good old Age now lies in Abraham's Bosom He that was a decay'd and decrepit Man here on Earth with what Strength and Vigour is he loving praising adoring God in Heaven Holy was his Life and happy was his Death He is with God and so shall be for ever Thus I have given you a short Narrative of his Life and Death but a more particular and distinct Account of him as to what he was must be further added And in order to this I will consider him in a fourfold Capacity I. As a Man II. As a Christian III. As a Minister IV. As standing in such and such Relations In the Characterising of him under these Heads I will keep close to the Truth and say nothing but what I apprehend to be truly so And as I would not diminish his Merit and any way lessen his real Worth which would be disingenuous towards him so neither will I advance it above its just Pitch and Measure for that would be injurious to my self I. Let 's consider him as a Man So he was one whom God had endowed with excellent Parts Natural and Acquir'd some I know are not of my Opinion in this be it so they have their Liberty of judging and I have mine He was very happy in a good and quick Invention which first furnish'd him with smart Notions upon all Occasions and then with apt Expressions to utter them and this too was attended in a good Proportion with a solid Judgment It 's very rare for one and the same Person to be eminent in all the Accomplishments that are proper to the several Faculties Strength of Reason Depth of Iudgment Quickness of Fancy Retentiveness of Memory seldom concur in the same Subject we value him who is eminent in any One of these though he be not so in the Rest too I speak very modestly of our deceased Friend when I make this to be his Case but of the two I chuse rather to go too low than too high Towards the Close of his Life when the Infirmities of a great Age were upon him there was a sensible Decay
it in Scripture-Record All the Exemption from Death that the Best can claim or hope for is to be exempted from Eternal but not from Natural Death Grace does free Believers from the former Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Joh. 11.26 Verily verily I say unto you If a Man keep my Sayings he shall never see Death Joh. 8.51 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the Second Death hath no Power Rev. 20.6 but it does not free from the latter It may indeed and does as to this Death exempt from the Curse and Sting of it O Death 1 Cor. 15.55 where is thy Sting but not from the Stroke of it not from the thing it self Naturally considered as it consists in the dissolving of the Vnion 'twixt Soul and Body Christ has unstung Death for every Believer the Serpent now may hisse but it cannot hurt yet it may sting so far as to put a Period to the present Life Doe Abrahams die must they die Oh happy Necessity blessed be God for it This is grounded not only upon their Natural Frame and Constitution as they are Flesh and Blood as well as others and made of the same brittle Materials Nor only upon their having Sin as well as others and where that is Death must follow upon it Nor only upon that Vniversal Statute It is appointed unto Men once to die Heb. 9.27 But also upon the special Love and Grace of God to his People He has prepared an Heaven for them they are designed to a future State of Blessedness shall be rewarded above for their Service below Now that they may be put into the actual Possession of all this they must die Death to the Saints is but their Transition into their everlasting Blessedness and so 't is not their Misery but their Felicity that they die This to the Wicked is in Judgment but to the Godly in Mercy The former die because God will glorify his Punitive Justice upon them in another World but the Other die because God will glorify his free Grace and Mercy upon them in another World Death shall come to an Abraham but it comes to him as a Friend not as an Enemy Whilst he is paying the indispensible Tribute due to Nature God is carrying on the glorious Designs of his Grace towards him But this I pass over I proceed to the threefold Amplification or to the three Specialties observable in the Death of Abraham The first of which points to the Order and to the Manner of his Death in this Branch Then Abraham gave up the Ghost and died In the Syriac Version 't is infirmatus est he was debilitated and weakened so he died In the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he fainted and so he died thus also the Chaldee Paraphrast the Vulgar Oleaster and divers others * Malè in 70 Interpretibus additum est deficiens Abraham mortuus est quia non convenit Abrahae deficere imminui Qâ—ast Heb. in Gen. Hierome objects against this Rendring the Words as if it did reflect upon such a Person as Abraham to faint But what Disparagement could it be to him at such an Age to lie under bodily Fainting so long as he was not weak in Faith but strong in Faith giving Glory to God Rom. 4.19 20. meer Natural Weakness could not at all reflect upon him or be unbecoming to him The Samaritan Version renders it by Expiravit he expired breathed out his last Breath or his Soul and Spirit his Breath and Soul went out of him so he died This Reddition is most generally followed by Expositors The giving up of the Ghost is the usual Expression to set forth Death by so it s used as to Isaac Gen. 35.29 as to Jacob Gen. 49.33 as to our Saviour Joh. 19.30 passim We 'll consider it as 't is expressive not only of Abraham's simple Dying but also of some Adjuncts and Circumstances about his dying It notes 1. The Order of his Dying and what was the Antecedent to it Abraham first gave up the Ghost then he died First the Soul departs and then we die and when that is once gone out of the Body Death immediately follows That being the living vital quickning Principle in Man when that is once separated from the Body this must necessarily be turned into a dead Carcase a dead lump of Clay So long as that stays with us we live but when it takes its Flight from us into its higher Mansion forthwith we die The dissolving of the Union 'twixt Soul and Body as it necessarily antecedes Death so Death necessarily succeeds upon it This is the Order of Nature as to what goes before and what follows after in that which I am speaking of By the way let such who believe and who thereupon are united unto Christ rejoyce in this spiritual and mystical Vnion inasmuch as it does secure to them the Perpetuity of their Spiritual Life The Natural Vnion of the two Constitutive Parts of Man is dissoluble and so the Natural Life that results from it may cease But the Spiritual Vnion between Christ and the Believer being indissoluble consequently the Spiritual Life resulting from it is and shall be Abiding and Everlasting The Soul may leave the Body therefore that may die but Christ and the Animating Spirit will never leave the Soul therefore that shall never die How may Believers comfort themselves from this 2. It holds forth the Manner of Abraham's Death 1. As to the Speediness and Easiness of it 2. As to his ready and willing Submission to it 1. His Death was quick and easy He was not long in Dying did not stand out any long Siege Death did but summon him and he presently surrendred up himself he breathed out his last Breath and the Work was done Neither did he grapple with those sharp Pains those grievous Agonies and Conflicts which many feel in a dying-hour no he just expired just gave up the Ghost and that was all The Hebrew Word used in the Text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the * Dictio expiravit egressionem Spiritus è Corpote significat quae sit subitò sine Dolore Morâ Aben-Ezra Putant Rabbini 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esse mortem quae Homini accidit absque ullo praevio morbo dolote Munster Expirando mortuus est mortis quadam facilitate usus quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vatab. Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Hebiaeos dicitur de Morte sine Dolore Grot. so Oleaster quamplurimi alii Calvine rejects this Exposition Rabbinical Doctors and many Interpreters after them make to import a quick speedy and easy Death But others observe Vid Fagium in Loc. that we can lay no great Stress upon the Word as importing and easy Death to belong to good Men at least not so as to be appropriated and limited to them because else-where we find it applied to wicked
Men in their Dying As it is to those that perished in the General Deluge Gen. 7.21 to Ishmael himself in this Gen. 25.17 And for the Thing it self Abraham might have this easy Death but we cannot from him conclude that all Saints and they only shall have it This is wholly at God's dispose who orders every Man's Death to be easy or painful as he pleases Even the Godly sometimes have a rough Passage to Heaven while the wicked have a calm Passage to Hell Do we not see this verified in daily Experience the Good dying with sad Groans sharp Conflicts acute Pains and the Bad dying like Lambs having a very serene and placid Death As to this all things fall alike to all and there 's no Knowledg of the Love or Hatred of God by it All that I can say upon it is this An easy Death is a great Mercy Observ There can hardly be a parting of the two old Companions such a Violence offered to Nature but there will be some Pains and Difficulties attending this but the less there is of These the more there is of Mercy This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suiton in V. â—ng was passionately desired by the Emperor Augustus for Himself and all his Friends And indeed it is a Blessing much to be desired provided that this be done with due Submission to the Will of God We must not be our own Chusers as to the Circumstances either of Life or Death but in both entirely refer our selves to the Sovereign Pleasure of God And Christian comfort thy self in this whatever thy Pains may be in Dying thou art secured from those worser After-Pains that will succeed these to the ungodly and unbelieving That Death which is so painful to thee for a few Minutes Hours or Days when it has done its Work will put an end to all thy Pains and to whatever here is afflictive to thee 2. It imports Abraham's readiness and willingness to die He gave up the Ghost when God called for his Soul he freely gave it up there was in him no striving strugling or reluctancy nothing but a quiet and willing Resignation of himself to die 'T would have been strange had it been otherwise He that was willing at God's Command * Gen. 12.1 To go out of his own Country from his Kindred and Father's House to a Land that God would shew him †Heb. 11.8 though he knew not whither he went ‖ Acts 7.5 had no Inheritance in the Place no not so much as to set his Foot upon I say it would have been strange that he who so readily complied with this Command of God when as to his Earthly Interest things were no better Circumstantiated should have been backward to have complied with God's Will as to his removal from Earth when he knew upon this he should be taken up into Heaven This was in his Eye in his removal from his Country here for he looked for a City which hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God Heb. 11.10 But surely he might have and had a more immediate and proximate view of the Heavenly Inheritance in his Departure by Death which would put him into the present Possession of it No wonder therefore he should be thus willing to die A good Pattern for our Imitation Saints should be willing to die Observ Thus it was with Abraham himself and thus it should be with his Seed also We must with the greatest Readiness give up the Ghost whenever God demands it Not die out of Force or Necessity because we cannot help it but out of Choice and ready Resignation of Life to God's Will Sapientis est exire non ejici Sen. Ep. 30. a wise Man is not forced out of the World but he spontaneously goes out of it The wicked Oh how averse are they from Dying and can we blame them for it Their Souls are pull'd out of their Bodies whether they will or no they do not give them up but they are taken from them Thou Fool this night c. Prov. 14.32 The wicked in driven away in his Wickedness it 's an Allusion to things that are hurried away by some tempestuous Winds quite contrary to their own Natural Inclinations but the Righteous has hope in his Death and upon this Hope he dies willingly Certainly they who duely consider the Miseries of the present Life the true Nature of Death the Gain and Advantages of it to the Upright the * Quam praeposterum est quamque perversum ut cum Dei Volun atem fieri postulemus quando evocat nos accersit de hoc Mundo Deus non statim Voluntaris ejus imperio pareamus Cyprian de Mortal Serm. 6. Soveraignty of God over Men as to Life and Death cannot but be ready and willing to die Ripe Fruit how easily does it fall into the hands of him that gathers it Oh such who are fit to die ripe for Heaven how readly should they fall into God's Hands when by Death he comes to gather them The Truth is 't is not enough for such barely to be willing to die but this they should passionately yet not impatiently desire and pant after Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 1.23 In this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our House which is from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.2 4. For we that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burdened So much for the First Amplification in the words about Abraham's Death The Second is taken from the Time of it Then Abraham gave up the Ghost and died in a good old Age an old Man and full of Years In a good old Age 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sym. in an hoary Age like that of Samuel I am old and gray-headed 1 Sam. 12.2 This God had promised before to Abraham Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in Peace thou shalt be buried in a good old Age Gen. 15.25 and here it was made good to him The same is said of David 1 Chron. 29.28 of Gideon Judg. 8.32 It may here be queried Object How is Abraham said to die in a good old Age when if we compare his Age with those who lived before him it comes much short of theirs What 's an 175 Years to those several hundreds of Years that the Fathers before the Flood arrived at according to what is recorded of them Gen. 5. And in the Computation of the Lives of the Fathers after the Flood Gen. 11. we find all of them one excepted viz. Nachor who lived but 148 Years to be older than Abraham was Some answer He is said to die in a good old Age Answ an old Man Senex dicitur non spatio dierum Temporum cùm junior obierit omnibus Avis suis sed quia sensu Fide Sanctimoniâ Vitae profecerat in immensum not as to the measure of his Life by Days or
an hour a moment longer Not because its bitter to us to live but because 't is unnecessary for us to live 'T would be an Act of * Singularis est Dei Gratia vitae saturiâ—as ut ex eâ migrare parati sumus cum Animi Tranquilitate c. Rivet in loc singular Grace from God if by his Spirit he would bring us to this blessed Temper I have dispatch'd the two first Amplifications about Abraham's Death from the Manner and the Time of it let me add a little upon the Third viz. the Issue and Consequent of it He died what became of him after that why He was gathered to his People This like the preceding Expressions of giving up of the Ghost dying in a good old Age being full of Years does often occur in Scripture 'T is used of Isaac Gen. 35.29 of Jacob Gen. 49.33 of Aaron Numb 20.24 of many otheres Sometimes 't is expressed by being Gathered to their Fathers I will gather thee to thy Fathers says God to Josiah 2 Kings 22.20 And also all that Generation were gathered unto their Fathers Judg. 2.10 David was laid unto his Fathers Acts 13.26 The Promise to Abraham was Thou shalt go to thy Fathers Gen. 15.15 We read again and again of sleeping with their Fathers 1 Kings 11.43 1 Kings 2.10 passim It 's an usual Hebraism to set forth entring into the State of the Dead There 's a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in it it being a more soft and pleasing Description of that State instead of that which is more rough and harsh The Grave being the common Receptacle of all that die All go unto one place Eccles 3.20 I know that thou wilt bring me unto Death and to the House appointed for all living Job 30.23 therefore though Abraham died and was buried in Canaan where * Gen. 25.10 Sarah only was buried and none of his Progenitors yet upon his Death and Burial he 's said to be gathered to his People or Fathers The Papists Gloss upon it is he went to the Limbus Patrum Their Doctrine is that the Fathers and all the Old-Testament-Saints who lived and died before the Incarnation Passion and Resurrection of Christ were not immediately taken up into Heaven but shut up together in some secret Recesses or Cavernes of the Earth till Christ should come and suffer and rise again and then they were to be admitted into the Heavenly Glory And they tell us that these Fathers and others in this State did not feel any Paena Sensus as they in Purgatory do but only Paena Damni in their not having the immediate Presence of God and the Beatifick Vision And amongst other Proofs that they give of this my * Apponi ad Populum suum est consociari Non in majorum Sepulturâ juxta corpus sed perduci juxta Animam ad consortium Animarum Patrum illius quae erant in poenis tenebrarum usque ad discensum Filii Dei ad Inferos c. post Salvatoris Domini Resurrectionem transferendus ad Paradisum faelicitatis aeternae Lipem in loc So Lyranus P. Burgensis in Gen. 49.33 Bellarmin de Animâ Christi Cap. 11. Pet. Galat. Arcan lib. 6. c. 7. Text with other parallel Texts is insisted upon for one Abraham was gathered to his People i. e. he was not presently translated into Heaven but for a time shut up in a common Cell with the rest who died before him as only an Expectant of Heaven And hence they observe a Variation of Words in the setting forth of the Death of those who died since Christ came and of those who died before Christ came The former are said to die in the Lord to sleep in Jesus and the like but the latter are said to be gathered to their People to sleep with their Fathers and so on This Opinion we reject as having no solid Foundation in the Word of Truth And hold that as all Believers who now die do immediately enter into Glory for the Spirit returns to God who gave it Eccles 12.7 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 23.43 We know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 So that all who lived before Christ and believed in him did also upon their Dying immediately enter into Glory See this Limbus Patrum refuted and the Protestant Doctrine defended in River in Gen. Eâ—ercit 151. Idem summa controv Qu. 42. Rainold Censura libr. Apochryph Prael 79 c. Chamier Panstrat 〈◊〉 3. l. 25. c. 5 c. Christ being the same to Them that he is to Vs Heb. 13.8 his Merit extending to Them as well as to Us he being the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13.8 and They believing in the Messiah to come as well as we believe in him as come what reason can be assigned why they should not partake of the same Blessings the same Happiness that we now partake of and consequently upon Death be put into the immediate Possession of the Glory of Heaven even aswe are But blessed Abraham was it thus with thee was this thy gathering to thy People to be shut up in some dark Caverns of the Earth God knows where and to be kept out of Heaven God knows how long In thy Life at God's Command thou wentest thou knewest not whither and at thy Death too didst thou go thou knewest not whither Wast thou the great Instance of Faith Rom. 4.3 the Father of the Faithful and yet does it fare better with the meanest of thy Seed now than it did with thy Self Was Heaven so much in thy Eye didst thou look for a City which had Foundations Heb 11. â—0 whose Builder and Maker is God and yet so long kept out of it and thrust into some Recluse whöse Builder and Maker is Man Is thy * So Austin expounds it Qâ—eâ— Evang. l. 2. c. 28. in Ep. ad Evodium So Muldonate in loc who yet to save himself is fain to say Non quod Abraham in Coelo esset sed quòd ita loqui singarur quasi esset in Coelo Bosome made use of to represent Heaven and that before Christ died and yet wast thou not as yet in Heaven Blessed Saint these things we poor dim-sighted Protestants know not how to understand The Adversay has led me out of my way I return to the words which I shall consider not only as a Periphrasis of Death or of the dead State that follows upon it but as holding forth something of a far higher nature As namely that Abraham's Soul as soon as Death had seized upon his Body was forthwith translated into the Fellowship and Society of the glorified Saints who lived and died before him Two things Expositors infer from them 1. The Existence of the Soul in its separated State from the Body They apply
Ministry in Publick and in Private about forty Years as that it will be superfluous for me to say much about it In short therefore he was an excellent Minister of Christ who if he be not to be rank'd amongst the first three 2 Sam. 23.23 the most famous and eminent of our Preachers in England yet he may well be look'd upon as more honourable than the Thirty His Ministerial Abilities were very considerable He was another Apollos an eloquent Man and mighty in the Scriptures a Scribe instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven in whom the Word of God dwelt richly out of which Treasure he ever brought things new and old He was as Scriptural Preacher had a singular Happiness in citing of Texts pertinent to the Matter he was upon and then in the opening and applying of them And as his Preaching was solid and judicious so it was acute too fill'd up with quick and nimble Invention He would sharpen plain practical Doctrines with considerable mixtures of Ingenuity and Fancy His great design in his Ministry was not to perplex his Hearers but to edify them not to fill them with quaint Notions and Speculations but with serious and important Truths not to please their Ears but to better their Hearts and awaken their Consciences not to advance his own Reputation but the eternal Salvation of them who heard him So long as God spared him Strength none more constant and frequent in Preaching than he and when God laid him aside that he could preach no more what an Affliction was that to him And his Frequency in it did not lessen his Pains in due preparing for it his Sermons were well weighed and studied he not daring to offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing What a great Man he was in Prayer all they can testify who ever joyned with him therein Indeed God had endowed him with an admirable Gift as to this I firmly hope it was something more than a bare Gift He was severely Orthodox sound in the Faith to a degree of Rigor a thorough pac'd Calvinist a firm Adherer to and Assertor of the Doctrine of our Church though he differed as to some Rites and Ceremonies imposed in it And herein he stood stedfast and unmovable to his last Breath God blessed his Labours where-ever he came with considerable Success In all Places whither the Providence of God carried him he had the Seals of his Ministry in the Conversion of many Souls There are many now in Heaven many yet remaining here on Earth who with Comfort can call him their Spiritual Father He has not published much of his Labours but what he has * His Pisgah Corrections Instructions Sermons upon particular Occasions published shows him to be an able Practical Divine 4. I come to the fourth and last thing to consider him in his Relative Capacity In which he was as praise-worthy and does as much deserve Imitation as in any of the foregoing Considerations of him God blest him with a pious and prudent Consort I must say no more of her because she is yet living And what an high degree of Love was there betwixt them Indeed they may be Patterns and Examples of Conjugal Affection and Concord to all who knew them They lived together near 45 Years and how often have I heard him say In all that time there had been no Contention betwixt them except in this who should love one another most He had no Children of his own but his Wives Children he was as tender over and as affectionate unto as if they had been his own His Love to them and Care of them was scarce to be parallell'd sure not to be exceeded And how he pray'd for them instructed them us'd all means for their Spiritual Good I hope they will never forget He had other Relations of his own some of which by Providence were cast upon him for his Care and Relief And he was a Father to them at once caring for their Bodies and Souls too And as to his whole Family he was ever careful of the Souls of all that came under his Roof in instructing them in the Principles of Religion in helping them to understand the Scriptures which were read in his Family Morning and Evening And his Method was to cause every Child and Servant to remember something that had been read which he would then in a plain and familiar way open to them and so proceed to Prayer He had many Servants who lived with him that bless God that ever they came into his House I have parallell'd him with Abraham in his Death I might with a salvâ distantiâ also parallel him with Abraham in his Life as they died alike so they lived alike I 'll go no further than the thing last mentioned Abraham is famous for his Zeal about his Family God himself has put an high Character upon him for this Gen. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him And just thus it was with our Reverend Father allowing the Disparity betwixt Person and Person Well I have shewn you what a Man he was who died in a good old Age an old Man full of Years and is now gathered to his People Nothing now remains but a word of Exhortation 1. To Christians to you who move in a private Orb. Many things might be suggested to you upon the death of this aged and faithful Servant of God but I shall commend this only to you Prize good Ministers while you have them and be afflicted when you lose them How many Mercies do you deprive your selves of by your undervaluing them And particularly how many good Ministers are removed from you because you do not put such a value upon them as you ought When God takes them away then you see the worth of them but not till then Did not some of you sit under the Minstry of him who is now dead and gone Pray was his Person Ministry Labours prized and estimated according to what they deserved True he lived to a great Age but I fear the Lives of many others are shortened by that slighting of them which they meet with from their People Wherefore I beseech you to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them highly in Love for their Work 's sake And further so prize them as to improve them so as to thrive and profit by them Do the Prophets live for ever your faithful Guides and Teachers do they not die Now you have them in a few days they are taken from you does it not then concern you to make the best of their Labours whilst you partake of them How many Ministers have you worn out and spent and are you not at all the better for them The better the Minister is under whom you are placed the worser it will be with you if you be barren and unprofitable under him And then Be afflicted for bewail and lament the loss of good Ministers Indeed this is a great loss whether ye consider the Benefits ye percieve by them or the Evils that this does presage and boad and therefore should it not be laid to Heart Indeed as to our deceased Brother his great Age and Circumstances being considered you have more reason to rejoyce for that he lived so long than to mourn that he died at last Ah! but how many eminent Instruments are cut off when they are young in their * Mr. Charnock Mr. Stockton c. best State or when they are but just †As lately that useful Minister and faithful Servant of God Mr. Richard Fairclough entred upon a considerable Age Oh when such die with what grief of Soul should that be resented by all serious Christians 2. To Ministers My Brethren you see how your number is lessened day by day the ancient Oaks and Cedars are almost all cut down and what is the Duty now of you who survive Surely to double and treble your Diligence in your Lord's Work the fewer Hands are left the more laborious those must be that are left when other Pillars are removed the more Weight does lie upon those which stand the fewer there are to preach the everlasting Gospel the more industrious they must be in this who are yet spared The Antient die where are the Young Ones to succeed them to stand in their stead and to fill up the Vacancies made by their Death Blessed be God for it some such there are and they too Persons of excellent Accomplishments for the Work of the Ministry God increase their Number and double the Spirit of his old Elijah's upon them that still there may be a Succession of faithful Labourers in the Lord's Harvest 3. To Relations the near and dear Relations of the Deceased What shall I say to you shall I press Patience and Submission upon you under this loss Certainly his Condition being considered even his nearest Relation though she has the greatest share in it needs no Excitation to Patience Had he been taken away when he was in the Prime of his Days then the Affliction would have been very great then all Motives to quiet Submission to God's Will had been little enough but when it was otherwise I hope there 's not the least rising of Impatience in you Your Duty is Thankfulness and Imitation Thankfulness that ever you had him and that you enjoyed him so long Imitation so as to tread in his Steps and to write after that excellent Copy that he has set you And you that are Young pray remember the Tears he shed for you the holy Counsel and Admonition he gave you that great Love that he expressed to you and let all prevail with you to love God the People of God and to engage with your whole Heart in serious and universal Godliness And then if you be Followers of him as he is gathered to his People to his God and Saviour so whenever your Dying time shall come as God alone knows how soon it will come you shall be made Partakers with him of the fame Felicity FINIS
the Society of Saints and Angels yea of God himself and the blessed Iesus And shall we then * Ejus est morieim â—imere qui ad Christum nollâ—tâ—lrâ—â— Cyprian fear to die Oh let 's get above this 3. Let all God's People rejoyce in the Thoughts of Heaven Vsm 3. What a Place and State will that be to such when you shall be gathered into the Fellowship of the glorified Saints shall see Abraham Isaac Iacob with all the rest of that vast Body shall converse with them and have Communion with them in the praising admiring and magnifying of God for ever what a transcendent Happiness will this be Here your Company is mixt there none but Saints shall be with you Here your Company is often afflictive to you there it shall be wholy rejoicing to your Souls Here the Best you converse with have their Infirmities there all shall be perfect Here you see this and that Saint scattered as a little good Grain in the midst of a Field of Tares there you shall see the whole Body of Saints from first to last The Sight of one St. Paul would be a blessed Sight but to see all the Apostles all the Martyrs and Confessors all the great Instruments of God's Glory ancient and modern Lord what a transporting and ravishing Sight will that be How should the serious Sense of this both fill up our Joy and also inflame our Desires after Heaven How divinely does the Oratour speak O blessed Day when I shall go to that divine Society and Convention of Souls O praeclarum diem cù ad illud di inum Animarum Concillium coetumq e proficiscar cùm ex hac turba colluvione disâ—edam Tul. de Sen. and shall be freed from those Crowds filthy Persons that are here had he such Notions of a future State and of the Happiness thereof what Notions should we have of it And yet that which I have been upon is but the least of Heaven To be gathered to the glorified Saints is very good ah but to be gathered to God to Christ to be admitted into the immediate Presence Vision and Fruition of these surely this is incomparably better This is the Heaven of Heavens the very Top and Zenith of Glory And this shall be the Felicity of all who are sincere with God 1 Thess 4.17 So shall we ever be with the Lord Having a Desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Philip. 1.23 In thy Presence is Fullness of Joy at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 Oh therefore you who fear God and walk with him as the great Instance in the Text did how may you comfort your selves in this and what cause have you to say My Soul doth magnify the Lord Bless the Lord ô my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name THe first part of my Work is dispatch'd I go on to the second The Example which the Text propounds I have done with I come now to that Example which the Providence of God sets before us this day You all expect I should say something of that Antient Faithful Eminent Minister of Christ and Servant of God Mr. Thomas Case whose Funerals in the Religious Part of them we now solemnize Concerning him therefore I will 1. Give a brief A count of his Life and Death 2. Then give a more particular Narrative of him in his several Capacities Not to instance in the Time and Place of his Birth he was the Son of a Minister in Kent a Person eminent in his time for Parts and Piety This he testified as in all other things so in his great Care to give this his Son a pious and religious Education which he was the more excited and encouraged unto upon his perceiving of those more than ordinary buddings and blossomings of Grace and Ingenuity that were in him in his Childhood When he was grown up and sit to be sent abroad he was put to School first at Canterbury then at Merchant-Taylors School in this City And there he was continued until his Father meeting with Troubles and Embroy Iments in his Estate by Law-Suits and other Occasions was forced to remove him from these Nurseries and to take him home to himself where he gave him all that Instruction in the Arts and Languages that his many Diversions would admit of Having arrived at a Competency of Age and Learning Adde pâ—ssent alij haud pauci ab eruditione merito celebrandi quales crediderim Thomam Case c. Antiq. Vniv Oxon. l. 2. p. 283. he was sent to the University admitted in Christ-Church in Oxford that Famous Society where his Industry and Proficiency was such as that by the Dean and Canons then being he was unanimously elected Student of that House There he resided till he had commenc'd Master of Arts and a Year or two after From thence he now being in a considerable measure fitted for the Work of the Ministry by the great Importunity of Mr. R. Herrick his most intimate and affectionate Friend he was prevailed with to come to him and to be with him at his Benefice in Norfolk After some short stay with him he was called to the Exercise of his Ministry at Erpingham a Town in the same County There he continued eight or ten Years indefatigable in his Work preaching twice every Lords-day expounding the Holy Scriptures catechising the Younger repeating in private what he had delivered in publick Hither many resorted to him to partake of his Labours and God wonderfully succeeded them to the Conversion of many Souls But meeting with Troubles in that Diocess under Bp. Wren he was forced to remove out of it His fore-mentioned Friend being made Warden of Manchester took him into Lancashire with him there in a short time he was presented to a Place in the Neighbouring County But great Revolutions happening in the Nation a little after he was by the Urgency of some Persons of Quality perswaded to accompany them to London So Providence first brought him hither and then fixed him here Here he was chosen first Lecturer then Pastor at Milk-Street where how laborious and faithful he was in his Lord's Work many yet living can testify Besides his Lord's-day's Pains in this Place he preach'd a weekly Lecture every Saturday in order to Persons being the better prepared for the Sabbath And here he first set up the Morning Exercise which has been kept up in this City from place to place ever since it too having lived to a good old Age and not as yet given up the Ghost And not confining his Labours to this Parish he also preached a Lecture at St. Martin's in the Fields every Thursday which he kept up above twenty Years In those days the Engagement being vehemently urg'd and he refusing to take it he was put out of his Place at Milk-Street But God would not have him to be idle if one Door be shut upon him