Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A26078
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A theological discourse of last vvills and testaments by William Assheton.
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Assheton, William, 1641-1711.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing A4046; ESTC R17297
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32,407
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122
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say unto them Depart in peace be you warmed and filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body what doth it profit Even so faith if it hath not works is dead being alone Jam. 2. 14 15 16 17. As if he had said Unless according to your capacity you are ready to do good and relieve those that are in want all your pretences to Religion are vain and hypocritical And this most important Truth which the Rich men of this World are so unwilling to believe is further confirmed by St. John The design of whose Epistles is to exhort us to the love of God and our Brother The latter of which as he largely shews us is the surest Mark and Evidence of the former If a man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a liar For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 4. 20. No man hath seen God at any time God is a Spirit and invisible and we do not converse with God as we do with one another How then can we pretend to this love of God or assure our selves that we have this Divine Grace Now St. John takes care to satisfy us in this matter v. 21. He who loveth God let him love his Brother also i. e. He who pretends to love God let him prove his love to God by the love of his Brother But how shall we evidence this love of God by our love to our Brother Of this the Apostle gives us a plain and convincing Proof cap. 3. v. 17. Whoso hath this Worlds good and seeth his Brother have need and shutteth up his Bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him i. e. He who relieveth not his poor Brother when it is in his power he neither loveth God nor his Brother And he that loveth not his Brother abideth in death v. 14. And because this may be censured as a very harsh and uncharitable Sentence the Apostle thus confirms it in the following verse v. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a Murderer and ye know that no Murderer hath eternal life abiding in him With such powerful Motives as these the Apostles of our Lord did recommend this most necessary Duty of Charity And as this was the Doctrine of the Apostles so also of our Blessed Lord himself Give Alms of such things as you have and behold all things are clean unto you Luk. 11. 41. Sell that ye have and give Alms provide your selves bags which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not where no thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth Luk. 12. 33. And I say unto you Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Luk. 16. 9. Love ye your Enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the Children of the Highest for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful Luk. 6. 35 36. But in no part of the Gospel is this Duty of Charity so effectually recommended as in Matth. 25. v. 31. c. The words contain the Process of the Great and Final Judgment punctually described by our Saviour and our Judge They are of infinite concernment to us all And therefore I shall transcribe them at large And the rather because in its proper Place I shall make some Remarks and Observations upon them When the Son of man shall come in his Glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his Glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats And he shall set the Sheep on his right hand but the Goats on the left Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in Naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me Then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and cloathed thee Or when saw we thee sick or in Prison and came unto thee And the King shall answer and say unto them Verily I say unto you In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye cloathed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not Then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or athirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in Prison and did not Minister unto thee Then shall he answer them saying Verily I say unto you In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me And these shall go into everlasting Punishment But the Righteous into life eternal From these words of our B. Saviour 't is pertinent to observe That though as appears from other Places of Scripture we must be judged for what we have done in the Body i. e. for all the good or evil that we have done in this World yet our Saviour in describing the Process of the Last Judgment makes no mention of any thing but Acts of Charity From whence you may be admonished how necessary it is to do all the good you can whilst you live and to improve all those Talents with which you are intrusted particularly your wealth to the highest advantage And as a further Confirmation of this necessary Duty I must not omit to observe That Charity to the Poor is not only commanded in the Gospel but also in the Law and the Prophets If thy Brother be waxen poor and fallen in decay with thee then thou shalt relieve him yea though he be a stranger or a sojourner that he may live with thee Lev. 25. 35. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy Brethren within any of thy Gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thy hand from thy poor Brother Thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because that for this thing
more I have it ready for you V. Append. to Mr. Mede's Life p. 37. The same as to the Dedication of a Tenth Part is reported of the Lord Harrington Dr. H. Hammond Mr. Joseph Mede Mr. John Parker with several others PLEA VI. Pray do not suspect my Charity but have a little Patience with me Give me leave to enjoy my Estate whilst I live and those who best deserve it shall have it when I die Amongst other Items in my Will there is so much left to the Poor and this I hope may excuse me from any further Importunities ANSWER Though it seems you are resolved to part with nothing whilst you live but to keep the Staff in your own hand as you phrase it yet you fairly promise to do some good at your Death And thus far 't is well for better late than never but let me be so faithful to my Office to remind you That the Charity you intend at your Death must not excuse you from being Charitable in your Life-time for to give you a true State of the Case 't is with Charity as with Repentance You must repent at your Death For Repentance as well as other Graces must be exercised upon your Death-Bed But 't is much hoped you do not then begin to Repent For a Death-Bed Repentance is neither comfortable nor safe Repentance then is the work of your whole Life For Daily Sins must have Daily Repentance However though there will be occasion for Repentance all your life long yet when you come to Die you then revise and finish your Repentance i. e. you then exercise these Penitential Acts with all the vigor that you can and most earnestly beg pardon for your imperfect Repentance And thus it is with Charity You ought indeed to be Charitable at your Death whereby you may supply your former Defects and may still be doing Good when you are removed into another World but this Death-Bed or Testamentary Charity doth not exclude but suppose the Charity of your preceding Life As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men Gal. 6. 10. Now this Expression As we have opportunity denotes Two Things 1. Life and Time to do Good 2. Wealth and Power to do Good And both these may be wanting if you neglect the present season 1. You may resolve to be very Charitable at your Death by Bequeathing such and such Legacies to the Poor but either Death prevents you and your Will is never made or else you are diverted by the unseasonable clamours of others who will be very importunate to discourage your Charity But 2. Suppose you are fixt and firm in your Resolution of doing Good at your Death it may then possibly not be in your Power for Riches make themselves Wings And the Wealth of an Age may be gone in a Moment For to omit Modern Instances he who this Day hath the Wealth of Job may to Morrow need his Patience And therefore Withhold not Good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thy hand to do it Prov. 3. 27. PLEA VII I have both Ability and Inclination to be Charitable But am troubled to observe How Gifts and Legacies are abused and how often the Intentions of Pious Donors are Perverted ANSWER That this may not discourage your Charity please to Consider That there is nothing fixt and certain in this World and if you dare not be Charitable because your Gift may be abused for the same reason you must neither Purchase nor Bargain because you may be cheated Use therefore the best Caution and take the best Advice you can and when you have so done leave the Success to God And then though the Wickedness of others should pervert your Charity yet God who is faithful will Reward your good intention And the better to avoid Abuses Finish your Charity in your Life and depend not too much upon Executors and Trustees But lest you should not Personally settle your Charity in your Life make choice of such Executors as are of Ability as well as Integrity and in Modern Language who are Responsible as well as Honest And if your Charity is not so large as to raise a Foundation of your Own there are then several eminent Foundations in this Kingdom upon which you may safely Superstruct and securely place your Charity without the least hazard of its being perverted viz. The Colledges and Halls in our Two famous Universities Oxford and Cambridge The Five noted Hospitals in London and Southwark viz Christ's Hospital St. Bartholomew's Hospital St. Thomas's Hospital Bridewel-Hospital Bethlem-Hospital Besides these there is another late Foundation which because as yet not so generally known I shall more largely describe and with a most Affectionate Concern thus Commend to your Charity ALL those Honourable and Worthy Persons who are inclined to Dedicate and Bequeath some part of their Estates to Charitable Uses They are most humbly Petitioned To Remember Poor Widows and Children of Clergymen And the better to promote so Pious a Work it was thought fit here to Publish An Abstract of the CHARTER Granted by his late Majesty King Charles the II. of ever Blessed Memory for Erecting a CORPORATION for Relief of Poor Widows and Children of CLERGY-MEN Dated July 1st 1678. HIS said late MAJESTY having taken notice That divers Charitable Persons had appeared very forward in contributing to the relief of such of the Widows and Children of Loyal and Orthodox Clergymen as were poor and of the good effect the same hath had and taking into his Princely Consideration the great Sufferings of many of the Clergy in England for their Loyalty Was graciously pleased by his Charter under the Great Seal of England to Ordain Constitute and Grant That the Persons therein named and their Successors to be elected as is therein expressed Be one Body Politic and Corporate by the name of The Governors of the Charity for Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergymen And that by the same name they should have perpetual Succession and be capable to purchase have or take Mannors Lands and Hereditaments c. not exceeding the yearly value of Two thousand Pounds and all manner of Goods and Chattels and to dispose thereof And by that Name to Plead and to be Impleaded in All Actions c. And to act all other Matters and Things as fully as any other Body Politick in this Realm can do And that the said Governors should have one Common-Seal And his said late Majesty did further Grant to the said Governors That There should be a President a Vice President three Treasurers and forty two Assistants Members of the said Corporation and that they or any five of them whereof the President Vice-President or one of the Treasurers to be one should be called The Court of Assistants of the said Corporation who should have the management of all the Affairs of the said Coporation and should make Laws and Ordinances for the good Government