to Life He hath brought sweetness out of the Strong and meat out of the Eater 1 Cor. 3.21 and therefore Death as well as Lise is reckon'd in the Inventory of the riches of the Saints All things are yours because you are Christs and Christ is Gods 2. His Resurrection and Exaltation his rising from the Dead not only discovers the possibility of our Resurrection and gives us a pledge and assurance of it as declaring the sufficiency and acceptation of his Sacrifice that therefore the Dead in Christ shall live and with his Dead Body arise Rom. 8.14 Isa 26.19 But being punctually effected according to his prediction and promise it confirms the Truth of all his Word and seals the promise of eternal Life unto all Believers He hath open'd the Prison doors and loos'd the bands of Death and roll'd away the heavy Stones from the Graves of his people he is now become the first fruits of them that sleep in Jesus And hath the Keyes of Death and Hell Rev. 1.18 even the two most formidable enemies are under his Dominion who though once he were dead doth now live for evermore And for this very end did God raise him up that our faith and hope might be in him in reference to the Blessedness of another Life 1 Pet. 1.21 Yea saith the Apostle concerning that he raised him from the dead no more to see corruption Act. 13.34 God said I will give you the sure mercies of David or an Everlasting Covenant which Death shall not dissolve Isa 55.3 And his being risen is the Ground of our Faith and Hope that the Promise shall be fulfill'd For the Resurrection of Christ is the evidence of the validity and efficacy of his Death and Sacrifice and a sufficient proof that his precious Blood shed upon the Cross was the blood of an Everlasting Covenant Heb. 13.20 Establishing a Covenant of Grace and making it truly Everlasting for we know that he is a Priest for ever after the power of an endless Life Heb. 7.16 And therefore know to our unspeakable Satisfaction Incouragement and Joy in whom we have believed and that he is able to keep unto that day what we have committed to him 2 Tim. 1.12 to perfect what he hath begun Phil. 1.6 and at last present us blameless before the presence of his glory with exceeding Joy Jude 24. v. For our Life being hid with him in God we are fully assured that when he who is our Life shall appear we shall appear with him in glory Col. 3.3 4. and because he lives we shall live also and when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 4. Let us consider Whence it comes to pass that notwithstanding the Blessedness of being with Christ and our assurance of it by his Death and Resurrection that yet we are so backward and unwilling to depart What is the true reason why so many of those who acknowledge it far better to be with Christ yet cannot say with the Apostle That they desire to be dissolv'd that they may be with him 1. The weakness of Faith concerning the Invisible World and the future Glory of the Saints is the reason why so many Christians are unwilling to dye They are very sensible of the inconveniencies of their present abode they complain to God and men of Corruption Temptation and Sin and they hear of a blessed Deliverance from all these by Death and a perfect Felicity in the presence of the Redeemer after their dissolution but unbelief makes them stagger at the Promise They are not fully satisfied that such a transcendent Glory will be consequent to Dying Did they but soundly believe the Testimony and Revelation which God hath given in his Word concerning it they would choose to be absent from the body Some of the Ignorant Heathens have been desperate in their Choice of death only as the Period of present Calamities but others who were doubtful of the Consequence have yet entertained it with an hearty Welcome As Socrates for instance who profess'd That he ought not to fear death because he could not tell whether it were good or evil And shall not we who understand the Grounds and Principles the greatness and certainty of a future Blessedness after Death be as willing to depart A confirmed Faith is therefore necessary and adviseable in the present case and the rather that thereby we may quench the fiery darts of Satan who if he cannot hinder us of our Crown would rob us of our Joyful Prospect of it if he cannot prevent out future Glory would render us dejected in our passage thither if he cannot prevail to exclude and banish us for ever from the Presence of Christ would darken our present comfort by the desire and Hope of it but more especially at the prospect and approach of Death for that is his hour and the power of darkness But by this shield of Faith we may be able to stand even in that evil day of our dissolution Eph. 6.11.16 2. The Pains of Death They pray that God would hasten his Glorious Kingdom and bring them to it and believe it to be most eligible to be with Christ yet are loth their own Prayers should be answered and the end and object of their Faith obtain'd through the discouraging apprehensions they admit of a dying hour Would we not be with the the Lord and know him better and Love him more and enjoy him fully and shall we stick at a little pain as introductory to so great a Happiness A Pain that will speedily convey us to Eternal ease and rest which thousands of Holy Souls in Glory have indur'd more of than we can fear But suppose the Agonies of Death are ne're so frightful to Flesh and Blood hath not our Redeemer a Rod and Staff to comfort us in the dark Valley Ps 23.4 Doth he not know what it is to dye and how much we dread it doth he not understand our weakness remember our frailty pity our infirmities and bid us ask for support and Strength yea hath he not promis'd that when Heart and Flesh shall fail that he will be the Strength of our Hearts and our Portion for ever Psal 73.26 Shall ignorant hopeless Heathens without God in this world without the expectation of being with Christ in the next be so desirous of Immortality as to dispatch themselves and be their own Executioners to force an escape from the Body And shall we resist and struggle draw back and fear object and be unwilling when our Saviour calls us to endless and unspeakable Felicity Is not this the last Experiment of our Faith and Patience and holy Resolution the last essay of our Christian Courage Are not the antecedent pains of dying the fruit of sin no less than the throws and pangs of Travelling Women and are the latter tolerable in hopes of Children and their own deliverance and may we not support the Former by the assistance
he was perfectly indifferent to Live or Dye v. 19 20. For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain v. 21. His Life he hop'd might advance the Honour of Christ and his Death would be subservient to the same design By his further service if he live and by his sufferings if he dye by his Ministry supposing his Life and by his Martyrdom in case of his death But if I live in the flesh this saith he is the fruit of my labour v. 22. or it is worth my Labour to glorsie the Redeemer by continuing in this World Yet what I shall choose I wot not For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better To Depart or be dissolv'd The Original word is used both by Christian and Heathen Writers for a departure from any place to return home Luke 12.36 And when the same Apostle speaks of his approaching death he tells us that the Time of his departure was at hand 2 Tim. 4.6 Having a desire to depart a vehement and earnest desire as the word imports and to be with Christ to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.8 with that merciful Saviour who had compassion on me when as an ignorant Blasphemer I persecuted his Members who call'd me to be an Apostle and enabled me by his Grace to own his Truth in the face of Dangers and hath hitherto comforted me in all my Tribulation I desire to depart that I may be with him With him not with the blessed Angels or departed Saints though their Society will make a part of the heavenly Joy Not the former they are but ministring Spirits and menial Servants employed under him and though they shine as Stars yet he is the enlivening Sun from whom they derive their Lustre and borrow their glory Not the latter they have no Blessedness but by his Donation and Purchase no Crowns of Life but what He puts on Therefore 't is not to be with them only or chiefly that made them thus groan to be dissolv'd thus earnestly desire to depart but to be with Christ Which is far better simply and in it self more desirable by much more better the Comparative being double in the Greek Text and yet I wot not what to choose for I am in a strait betwixt two On the one hand his Love to the Philippians who needed his presence many false Teachers being at that time crept in among them made him willing to abide in the Flesh and deferr his own Felicity for a time upon their account v. 24. But the Glory of Christ's presence on the otherâ— and his own unspeakale advantage by it made him desirous of a Departure and therefore though he determines for the former and was content to live and 't is probable had some secret intimation from Heaven that all his Work in this World was not yet sinish't yet he grants the latter to be simply more eligible having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far Better Which words are not more suitable to a Funeral Solemnity than expressive of the dying Thoughts and Temper of our deceased Friend and were chosen by her as the Subject of my present Discourse That I may comprehend the Substance of the Text according to the desire of the Dead for the Benefit and Instruction of the Living let us consider 1. When and how far it is Warrantable for a Christian to desire Death 2. In what respects to depart and to be with Christ is far better than to abide in the Flesh 3. On what Grounds and Principles a Christian may expect a future Blessedness with Christ after his departure so as to encourage and excite his desires after it 4. Whence it comes to pass that even those who acknowledge it far Better to be with Christ than to continue in the Body are yet Vnwilling to depart in order to it and what Remedies are proper to the case of such 5. The Application of the whole particularly with respect to the sad Occasion of our present Meeting 1. When and how far is it Warrantable for a Christian to desire to be dissolv'd This Inquiry may be answered in the following Propositions 1. Our Dissolution and Departure as a natural or penal evil as contrary to Nature or as the Punishment of Sin cannot possibly be the Object of a rational Desire If God hath promised a long Life as the Encouragement and Reward of our Obedience and threatned an hasty death as the punishment of Impiety If it be universally true that the Soul of Man desires Union with the Body and unavoidably dreads a separation from it If torturing pains and loathsome Diseases are the usual Antecedents of dying If the Corruption of the Body and it's Imprisonment in the Grave till the general Resurrection be the certain Consequent of our dissolution We cannot but think of Death as a matural Evil and as such decline and fear it Much less desirable will it appear if considered as the Wages of Sin and the fruit of Gods Displeasure and the Just Sentence of his Vindictive Justice but how far our dissolution in this latter Notion of it is changed by the death of Christ in reference to Believers is another question and will more properly be considered under the third Inquiry 2. Our dissolution and departure ought not to be desired Only as a freedom from Temporal Evil as preventive of present suffering or delivering us from it The Apostle doth not mention the uneasie Circumstances of a Prison or the continual hardships to which he was exposed from the malice of his Adversaries as the ground of his desire to depart but to be with Christ He knew very well that a Christian may serve the end of Gods glory and be useful to others in a state of suffering and therefore when he saith in another place We that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burden'd he adds the limitation in the following words not to be uncloth'd but cloth'd upon that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life not meerly to avoid the inconveniencies of our abode in so poor a dwelling but to come to the possession of the Building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.3 4. Not meerly to find relief and deliverance from our present burdens when through melancholly or discontent we are weary of Life Job 7.13 Jon. 4.3 when we have set our Hearts on somewhat we cannot obtain or struggle with some Difficulties we cannot master or are impatient under bodily Pains or quite dispirited by the sad prospect of approaching Calamities in such a case to wish for Death and desire to depart is unbecoming the Character the Encouragement and Hopes of a Souldier of Christ Much Iess will the Gallantry of a Roman or a Philosopher legitimate the desire of Death only to prevent Slavery or avoid Disgrace or miss the sight of an unwelcome object As
Cato resolv'd to dye that he might not behold Victorious Caesar whom by all means possible he had endeavoured to ruine And * Cicero in Tuscul quest lib. 1. Cicero saith expresly of him that the reason of his Choice was just and that Cato ought to dye rather than see the face of a Tyrant But we have not so learn'd Christ for 3. We must not designedly precipitate or hasten our Departure nor wilfully neglect any probable means to preserve our Lives how desirous soever we are to be with Christ We acknowledge God as the Author and Owner of our Lives and shall we presume to dispose of what is his without a declaration of his consent and order to authorize us Are we bound by the sixth commandment to preserve the life of our Neighbour and may we be negligent and careless of our own Is not every man nearer to himself than any other can be And is not self-murder a violation of the Law of Nature and condemned by a general suffrage And can we suppose it a sufficient Justification of our selves that we profess a desire to be with Christ whereas we may not do this or any other evil though the greatest good may come of it He that hasteth to be rich even in this sence shall not be innocent Prov. 28.16 We must be intirely devoted to serve and glorisie the Redeemer as long as we live and rather dye upon the Spot than quit our Station without the order of our General and yet we must not shipwrack our Health or expose our Lives to hazard without a Warrant from Heaven 4. A Sincere Desire to be with Christ is consistent with some Fear of Death and a reproveable Vnwillingness to depart and be dissolv'd The Example of Christ himself is usually urg'd in vindication of a natutal sensitive fear of Death viz. the discovery thereof which he made in his Agony and Prayer in the Garden A Socinian only will assert that therefore he was more affected with the fear of Death than many of the Martyrs have been because of the exquisite Temper and tender constitution of his Body and that there was nothing but what was natural and ordinary in his case Whereas he was to conflict with the Wrath of God and bear the Curse and be wounded for our Transgressions c. otherwise his own Innocency and perfect Resignation to the will of his Father and the prospect and assurance of Victory and Reward would certainly have prevented his Terrible Agony and bloody Sweat and importunate Cries that if possible the Cup might pass from him However I doubt not but a Timerous Temper may render some Persons extreamly apprehensive of the pains of Death and on that account unwilling to depurt though they are truly desirous to be with Christ Others through the weakness of Faith or overmuch concern in the Affairs of this Life c. though they grant it unspekably better to be present with the Lord and have chosen it as their Portion and sinal Happiness may yet be loth to pass through the dark Valley They cannot joyn with the Apostle in desiring to be dissolv'd though they can speak it from their very hearts that they desire to be with Christ And that desire is so far prevailing as to keep them upright and yet not efficacious so as to conquer the fears of interposing Death How unwelcom was the message of Death to an upright Hezekiah even then when he could plead his Integrity before the Lord he turn'd his face to the wall and wept and besought the Lord that he might not dye as is evident by Isa 38.3 5 v. compar'd But I dare not say his unwillingness to dye at that Time was a sinfull weakness because he might well be concern'd for the Kingdom after his decease least the faithful should be staggered and the People revolt to Idolatry there being no visible Successor to advance the Reformation so hopefully begun for Manasses was not then born being but twelve years old when he began to reign and we know that Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his Life 2 Kings 20.6 5. Though we desire to be with Christ we must not be Peremptory as to any determinate Time but referr our selves to Gods good pleasure for the season of our departure Though with Job we should be ready to answer when God doth call yet with humility and Resignation we must expect his summons and wait till our change come Job 14.15 though the dayes of our appointed Time should be longer than ordinary Although in a dutiful observance to our Heavenly Father we should be willing to return home as soon as he shall please to call us and the felicity of his Presence should render it desireable yet his Soveraign will and unerring wisdom must be practically acknowledg'd in reference to the Season He alone of whom and to whom are all things is fit to determine how long we shall tarry or how soon we shall depart even the Light of Nature may teach us this And therefore when ever we pray Thy Kingdom come we must not limit the Holy One of Israel by prescribing the Time Seneca Epist 24 61. but immediately subjoyn with respect to that Thy will be done 6. Not the Time only but the Kind and Manner of our Dissolution must be referr'd to God Some have wisht for a Sudden Death and others have pray'd against it Some have desired to dye by one disease and others by another Some holy persons of a timerous Temper and a tender Body would choose to depart by a Consumption not only as allowing them a longer Time to prepare for Death but as an easier kind of Death than several others Whereas besides the uncertainty and deceitfulness of that disease 't is more than possible that the Languishment of that pining sickness may be as irksome and insupportable as the shorter pains of more violent distempers But God is the Judge to whom we must submit as the wise disposer of all events not only of the Time but the Manner of our departure not only how long we shall sojourn in this earthly Tabernacle but what shall dissolve and pull it down 7. Our Desire to depart and to be with Christ must not be Rash and hasty but the result of many Serious and deliberate thoughts comparing both states together and understanding the difference The Apostle knew his duty in compliance with the Will of God and therefore for the service of his Master and the advantage of the Philippians was willing to Live But he knew withal it was far better in it self to depart that he might be with Christ and as such he desired it And a due Comparison between our present and our future life our inconveniencies and sufferings in this world and our Felicity in the next is proper to regulate and quicken our desires to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Therefore 2. In what respects is it far Better to be with Christ
and our beloved Saviour How often is an unactive Pity vouchsafed in the room of Succour when they need our Assistance or we intercede for theirs We know if they are unholy they shall for ever be banish'd from the Presence of Christ and we may well be ashamed to be unwilling to die on their account And if they are holy tho' we shall not return to them yet we know that they shall shortly come to us And cannot God instruct them in his Fear order their Conditions dispose of their Affairs provide for their Comfort and answer all our Prayers in reference to them after our departure yea hath he not often done so Have we any Friends on Earth that are every way so accomplish'd as alway to delight and please us Or are we so perfectly wise and good as never to disgust and disoblige them Is there not some Selfishness Design and private Interest some Hypocrisie Flattery and Dissimulation some Inequality Unsuitableness or Inconstancy in our Friendships here Are not the Best of those we love Ignorant and Mistaken Erroneous Deceived Weak and Impotent and as likely to desile and grieve us by their Corruption as to edifie and rejoyce us by their Grace But hereafter when that which is imperfect is done away they shall all have suitable Qualifications to recommend them to our most sincere and constant Affection and be every way more fit for our Content and Joy We shall then be never weary of each others Company we shall fully understand one anothers Mind we shall live in perfect Harmony and full Satisfaction without the dread of Absence or fear of Separation Now if we have some Friends we have many Enemies but in the presence of Christ there shall be none but Friends and such as shall for ever be so their Persons being more amiable and their Society more desirable than now it can be Now if we are pleased with their Converse we may quickly lose it and the desire of our eyes be taken from us by a sudden stroke Ezek. 24.16 that we know not how to value or love them till 't is too late And shall we be unwilling on their account to depart and be with Christ since they are hastning after us and after a few days absence we shall meet them again and dwell with them for ever 5. The Application remains which shall be only in Four Particulars as Inferences from what hath been said 1. We may hence take notice of the great Efficacy and Power of the Christian Faith and Hope That notwitstanding our fondness and affection to the Body and the contrariety of Death to our sensitive Inclinations that yet this Faith and Hope can urge us to desire a Dissolution in order to it 2. We may hence inferr That the Soul doth not sleep in the Grave with its Companion the Body until the Resurrection but immediately pass into a state of Bliss For the Apostle to abide in the Flesh was more expedient for the Philippians For him to live would be Christ Ver. 21. i.e. For the advancement of his Glory How then was it better to depart or in what strait could he be whether he should choose a longer Life or a present departure if no Blessedness were expected till the Final Judgment And why doth he mention his being with Christ as that which made Death desirable Is not the Presence of Christ with us on Earth and our serving the Ends of his Glory in this World much more eligible than to sleep in the Grave till dooms day 3. Is it better to depart and be with Christ than abide in the Body Then the Fable of Purgatory is hereby Exploded Were we to be transported by our Dissolution only from lesser Pains to greater or from a Life of Sorrow to a State of Suffering such as the Romanists imagine their Purgatory to be equivalent to the Torments of Hell in the Extremity of them though different in Duration how were it far better to depart that we may be with Christ 4. Is it the Object of a Christians desire to depart and be with Christ And is that far better than to continue in the Body Then let us not Grieve immoderately at the departure of those who have obtain'd their wish and enjoy their desire Did they long to be with Christ and choose to be dissolv'd in order to it And is it their unspeakable Satisfaction that they are so And do we express our Love and Kindness to them by repining at their Felicity Shall their desired Repose and Rest and Happiness be our Torment Grief and Sorrow Would we that contrary to their own well-grounded Inclinations they should continue longer here on Earth or return back again from Heaven meerly to gratifie our fond Affections Have they obtain'd a speedy Victory after a short Conflict and receiv'd the Crown of Life as soon almost as they begun their Christian Race the glorious Recompence of Reward though they had wrought but one hour in the Vineyard when others must labour twelve And shall we mourn like utter Strangers to the Christian Faith and Hope Would we delay the Glory of God in their Salvation and deser their Felicity in the blessed Presence of the Redeemer and be content that a Voice should be wanting in the Heavenly Quire rather than we be Sadned by their departure Would Parents have their Children continue in their Swadling-Cloaths Or when advanc'd to riper Years wish them back again to Infancy and hinder their Possession of that Inheritance which they are born to and dispos'd to enter on and enjoy Are not you your selves hastning to the Grave and hope e're long to be with Christ And is it not a refreshing Thought to consider that your Treasure is there before you with their Father and your Father with their God and Saviour and yours I mean your Holy Clidren and Friends whom you dearly Love The Primitive Church was wont to Solemnize the Funerals of Holy Persons with singing Psalms and Hymns of Praise to God for their Deliverance and Felicity obtain'd by Dying And shall we refuse to be comforted for the Death of those who sleep in Jesus and desired to do so as if in this Life only we had Hope in Christ Something 't is true of Grief and Sorrow must be allow'd to Nature Duty Custom and Contracted Friendship and the Honour of the Deceas'd for they are reckon'd to die miserable who are hurl'd into the Grave without the attendance of a Sigh or Tear or Funeral Lamentation But our Assurance of the future Glory they possess with Christ which they themselves preferr'd to a longer abode on Earth should wipe our Eyes and prevent Excess We mourn that they are gone and desire their Company but we know they do not wish themselves back again for the sake of ours no they are gone to better Friends above than those they have left below And were it not for the weakness of our Faith and Hope in reference to the Invisible
But tho he would not heal and recover sick Lazarus he sends a most excellent Remedy unto his Sisters to cure their mistakes to ease and heal their minds which was the intention of this Reply unto their Importunate Message This sickness is not unto Death but for the Glory of God c. In which we are called to consider 1. The Manner 2. The Design 3. The Import of this Answer I would make a few Reflections upon the two former and then shall insist upon the last as most suitable to our present Affair I. As to the Manner of this Answer 'T is easie to perceive the obscurity and dubiousness of the former part This Sickness is not unto Death For the Event did at least seem to contradict the literal meaning of this Declaration which expresly denies that the sickness of Lazarus was unto Death and yet Laxarus dyeth This seeming contradiction must render this part of the Answer dubious and dark unto those to whom it was sent Indeed notwithstanding this obscurity there was a most certain Truth in this part of the Answer which speaks of such a Death as truly answers that Character viz. Such a Privation of Life as puts a final Period unto it on which account it can truly be said of the Dead That their places know 'em no more and that they go the way whence they shall not return Job 8.10 c. 16.22 As also That they see corruption Acts 13.36 The Body quite losing that Organization that makes it a fit Habitation for a humane Soul This is the primary and proper notion of Death and under which the Spirit of God speaks of it See Rom. 5.12 14. 1 Cor. 15.21 26 54 56. Not to mention several other places Unto such a Death the sickness of Lazarus was not his Death was not a final Period but only a short interruption or cessation of Life which like some Rivers which run under ground for a space only for a while disappear'd and then was again brought to light This being granted we cannot deny that there is some darkness in the manner of expression Had it so pleased the Redeemer he could have spoken in a much plainer Language he could have said Tho this sickness shall deprive Lazarus of his Life yet it shall soon be restored to him again tho' he shall truly die yet he shall not long remain under the power of Death for I design to work a Miracle to raise him from the dead Thus could the Redeemer have expressed himself had it so pleased him but he chooseth to speak obscurely not only to these Sisters but afterward to his Apostles when he said Our friend Lazarus sleepeth v. 11. Which Metaphorical and dark way of speaking led them into a mistake as we read v. 13. Many other instances of this kind might be produc'd as that which this Evangelist relateth Ch. 16.16 17 18. And as the Language so the Carriage of Christ hath obscurity in it his ways are unsearchable and his footsteps are not known both with respect unto visible Providences and invisible dealings with the Soul Many there are whom Christ really loveth who walk in darkness are brought into a kind of a Labyrinth where they are strangely perplext and are tempted to conclude that their Lord hath quite forsaken and cast 'em off when he retains the kindest and most gracious purposes toward ' em As God did toward Abraham when he commanded him to go out of his Countrey and yet did not acquaint him with the Place which was design'd to be his Inheritance Heb. 11.8 Thus was Abraham try'd and so are the Children of Abraham as indeed this conduct of God is admirably suited unto the state of Probation in which we now are All that darkness and perplexity which at any time we are brought into are design'd by God to try and discover the sincerity and constancy of our obedience And 't is our grand concern to stand out this Tryal to undergo this Probation aright and then whatever darkness there is now in the dealings of Christ he will after a while scatter every Cloud and will be an everlasting Light unto us 'T were easie to make large Reflections upon this Subject but your own Meditation can supply this defect Nor may I dwell long upon the II. Observable in the Text The Design of this Answer made by Christ which was to afford present Support unto the dejected Sisters of Lazarus He whose Eye discerns the most hidden and distant Objects knows how their tender Hearts were disquieted and that such a Spectacle as a deceased dying Brother must wound and afflict their Souls and the more when their Expectations were disappointed as to the speedy visit of Christ What! might they be apt to argue not make so charitable so seasonable a Visit to one whom he loveth to one who needs his help and must perish without it Is this Kindness to neglect a distressed Friend till Life and all be gone Such disquieting Thoughts would begin to rush into and disorder their Minds Now 't was to still this Tempest that the Redeemer sends this Reply to ' em This Sickness is not unto Death but for the Glory of God c. q. d. Though the Danger and Progress of this Sickness joyn'd with my seeming Neglect of their Brother will be an Occasion of Trouble unto them Sorrow and Fear will take hold of their Spirits yet let not their Hearts be troubled there is no just ground of disquieting Fear notwithstanding the dismal Appearances this Matter will have a happy and honourable Issue When our Lord Jesus doth not grant the expected Relief yet he always provides Support and Consolation for his faithful Followers When He determin'd to send away the Multitudes who had followed him into the Wilderness he resolves that he will not send 'em away fasting lest they should faint by the way Mat. 16.32 Though they must for a time be deprived of his Presence yet he takes care that they might not faint and perish This was his Carriage toward his Apostles in general and more particularly toward the Apostle Paul who when he besought the Lord thrice that the Messenger of Satan might depart from him tho' this Request was not granted tho' the Thorn in the Flesh was not removed yet this most supporting Answer was given to him My grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12.9 Sometimes the Carriage of Christ bears an Aspect of Unkindness and Neglect but even at such a time his Heart is fill'd with Love and his Hand is employ'd to Support 'T is worthy our notice what care the Spirit of God hath taken to remove the Suspition of Unkindness in the Redeemer toward his Friend Lazarus whom he refus'd to Visit and Recover as his Sisters requested and expected for in the Verse which immediately follows this Answer of Christ the Evangelist adds this cautioning Remark Now Jesus loved Martha and her Sister and Lazarus His not complying with their intimated Desire of
one time he complain'd of his Service and Burthen and desired rather to die than bear it any longer Num. 11.14 15. At another time he spoke with indecent Passion unto the Israeltes and then God pronounc'd the Arrest which you read Num. 20.12 That he should not bring the Israelites into the Promised Land Now the executing of that Sentence did glorifie God because it manifested his Holiness which could not behold the desiling Blemishes that were in Moses who was one of the most eminent Favourites of God 3. The Divine Sovereignty and Dominion are honour'd by the Obedience and Resignation of Sick and Dying Believers When a Christian exercises that Submission unto the Orders of God that he willingly drinks the bitterest Cup which his Father gives him how Honourable must this be unto God I This last act of Obedience Crowns the whole Christian course certainly there is no Spectacle more grateful unto God than a Christian chearfully yielding back his Soul unto him who gave it 'T was a resigning Obedience that rendred the Death of Christ a Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour unto God who was in a most eminent manner glorified by it Though a Dying Christian cannot offer an Attoning Sacrifice yet he is a kind of Holocaust when his Death is perfum'd with a chosen Submission unto the disposing Will of God On this Account the Death of the Saints or as the Hebrew word imports the Favourites is precious in the sight of the Lord Psal 116.15 4. The Powerful Grace of Christ is honour'd by the inward support and refreshment which sick and dying Christians receive from him at a time when the Daughters of Musick are brought low and all the Pleasures of Life are without relish then to feel an invigorating strength which renews the inner Man when the outer decays and is salling down this magnifieth the powerful Grace of God who giveth power to the Faint and to them that have no Might encreaseth Strength Isa 40.29 A Principle of Natural Courage will afford some Support but 't is Divine Grace alone which can enable a Christian to triumph over the Pain and Danger of a Mortal Sickness 2 Cor. 5.6 5. Especially God and Christ are glorified in the Victory which a Christian gains over Death This last Enemy is a very Formidable one An Alexander who could Encounter the vast Armies of Asian Monarchs who had despised the Terrour of Battels in his last Sickness was so afraid of Death that his Court was sill'd with Diviners and Victims and all imaginable Methods were try'd to preserve his Life When therefore a Christian though of the tender fearful Sex is raised above the Fear of Death is confident and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 6.5 This doth highly Honour the Grace and Power of the Redeemer through whom alone it is that a Christian is more than a Conqueror Rom. 8.36 37. 6. The Redeemer is glorified in that Blessedness which he immediately confers upon the Souls of his deceased Friends No sooner had the Israelites pass'd the Red Sea and got upon free Land but they send up their joyful Praises and mention how gloriously God had Triumphed over their Enemies What Heart can conceive the Songs of Praise which Celebrate the Lamb and him who sits upon the Throne when one believing Soul is set free from the House of Bondage and transplanted into the Heavenly Countrey when a Soul that is Imprison'd and Fetter'd in a House of Clay is received into the heavenly Habitations which the Redeemer hath prepared Surely if those who heard of the Conversion of Paul glorified God in him or on his account those who were Witnesses and Spectators of a far more surprizing Change could not be wanting in their Admiration and Praises of that God who Crowns with unfading Glory 7. The Death of a Christian brings glory unto the Redeemer as it is the Occasion of that astonishing Operation which will raise the dissolved Body and transform it into the likeness of his own most glorious Body The sinal Conquering of the last Enemy must be exceeding glorious unto that Power which effects it The Raising of Lazarus and re-instating his Body in a perishing Life did glorifie the Redeemer and this he had his Eye upon in making this Answer What then must be the Raising of a Corrupted Body unto a blessed Immortality By which the Children of the Resurrection are made like the Angels of God Read and consider that memorable passage 2 Thes 1.10 Let us now briesly reflect upon the 2. Evidence which I propounded viz. How the Sickness and Death of Christians glorifie God with respect unto them who survive whether they be more nearly or distantly related And 1. God is thus glorified on such Occasions because he manifests his Divine Power in compensating and supplying that Loss When useful and serviceable Christians are removed by Death nothing but Almighty Power can fill up such a void empty space and raise up others to carry on his Work so that the Church resembles that Poetical Tree in which as fast as one Branch was broken off another did spring in the same place Thus when Moses dies God finds a Joshua who was qualified to succeed him When a David is laid unto his Father's and sees Corruption God sills his Throne with a Solomon 2. The Exercises of Graces in surviving Relatives or Acquaintance doth glorifie God on such Occasions When holy Job upon the surprizing Death of all his Children at the same time doth Adore the Sovereignty of God and blesseth his Name when he took his dearest Comforts away this did effectually refute the reproaching Accusation of Satan and brought a singular Honour to God who is also 3. Glorified in the Comforting of those who are troubled and cast down by such Providences This is one glorious Character of the blessed God That he comforteth those who are cast down 2 Cor. 7.6 Did not his Hand bind up the Wound no other could do it all the Consolations which a Creature can present are weak and ineffectual things but the supports of the heavenly Comforter are never more sensible than under the sense of afflictive Providences 2 Cor. 1.3 4. In the 4. And Last place The Sickness and Death of Christians bring Glory unto God as they are serviceable unto the Souls of them who survive As those Fruits that fall from the Tree and lye about it make the Soyl more fruitful such sorrowful Providences being excellent Instructions about our Duty and powerful Arguments to excite us unto our great Work What the Apostle saith concerning his Bonds was equally true concerning his Death They were for the furtherance of the Gospel Phil. 1. How many have owed their Conversion and Establishment unto the Counsels and Examples of dying Christians The Histories of every Church abound with such Instances I should now have shewed 3. On what accounts this Consideration is sufficient to Quiet and
THE Mourners Companion OR Funeral DISCOURSES ON Several Texts BY JOHN SHOWER ECCL vii 2. It is better to go the House of Mourning than to go to the House of Feasting for that is the End of all Men and the Living will lay it to heart LONDON Printed by J. A. for J. Dunton at the Raven in the Poultrey and A. Chandler at the Chyrurgeons Arms at the Entrance into Bartholomews-Close in Aldersgate-street 1692. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER 'T Will be generally granted that Funeral Discourses are more like to affect than ordinary Sermons because of the fresh Instances and Examples which give occasion to ' em If the matter be Instructive and Awakening Practical and Serious they may be of singular Advantage to the Relations and Acquaintance of the Deceased and of some unto other Reders because the Living know that they shall dye I am not without Hope that these may be of some use to the Friends and Relatives at least of the Deceased Persons This is sufficient to satisfie me whatever Censures I may incurr that I do well to publish ' em I know this Nation abounds with good Books of practical Divinity beyond any other in the World and I rejoyce in it Methinks it ought to be a real Pleasure to a Good Man to see the various Editions of some plain practical useful Books because we may conclude that there are many thousands in England who relish and read such Books or so many would never sell It might be expected that I should have said somewhat more particular of the Person whose Death occasion'd the first Discourse Her Acquaintance may think many things Praise-worthy in her Character and Conversation will accuse my silence But my Relation and Affection according to the common Custom and Usage of the Word made it unfit for me and my Brother Spademan by his Funeral Sermon which is here added hath made it now less needful thô I must say that Custom hath this Inconvenience attending it that the only way almost by which we can attain to the true Knowledge of any Persons Character is thereby become an Argument against the publishing it I shall only request of him that Reads as a Friend who desires thy Salvation as ever thou hopest for the Comforts of a Dying man or wilt answer it to God and Conscience at last that thou learn by these Discourses to Retire now and then seriously to bethink thy self of thy own Death which is as certain as the Death of any of those whose Funeral thou hast attended or whose Funeral Sermon thou hast heard or read And beg of God the Wisdom to consider thy Latter End and Prepare to follow And then be true to God and thy own Conscience resolvedly to Act and Live in that manner that such thoughts shall suggest to be wisest and most necessary Do not refuse or deny me this as thou wilt answer it to thy Judge who may summon thee before his Bar in an hour which thou thinkest not of Farewell J. S. THE CONTENTS Disc 1. OF Mourning for the Dead from Ezek. 24.16 Son of Man I will take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a stroke and thou shalt not mourn or weep neither shall thy tears run down Since enlarged Disc 2. Prepare to Follow from Mat. 24.44 Therefore Be you also Ready In two Sermons Disc 3. The Saints Desire to be with Christ from Phil. 1.23 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far Better Disc 4. Sickness and Death for the Glory of Christ from John 11.4 This Sickness is not unto Death but for the Glory of God that the Son of Man may be glorified thereby The Reader is desired to correct a few of the most considerable Errata PAge 8. l. ult t. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 91. l. 21. after haue r. or p. 40. l. 7. 〈◊〉 reckon r. upon p. 45. l. 24. for Change r. Chance 〈◊〉 p. 46. l. 28. for Disease r. Decease p. 61. l. ult for deca r. decima p. 63. l. ult for Knowledge of God r. Divine Life OF MOURNING FOR THE DEAD OR A DISCOURSE FROM EZEK 24.16 17 18. Son of Man behold I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep neither shall thy tears run down Forbear to cry make no mourning for the dead bind the tire of thine head upon thee and put on thy shoes upon thy feet and cover not thy lips and eat not the bread of Men So I spoke unto the people in the morning and at even my Wife dyed By JOHN SHOWER Being the first Sermon he Preacht after the death of his Wife Mrs. Elizabeth Shower Who departed this Life Aug. 24. 1691. LONDON Printed for J. Dunton and A. Chandler 1691. Of Mourning for the Dead How far allowable c. FROM EZEK 24.16 17 18. Son of Man behold I take away from thee rhe Desire of thine Eyes with a stroke yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep neither shall thy Tears run down Forbear to cry make no Mourning for the Dead bind the Tire of thine head upon thee and put on thy Shoes upon thy Feet and cover not thy Lips and eat not the bread of Men. So I spake unto the People in the Morning and at Even my Wife dyed COnsidering what I have Formerly preach't and publish't for the Assistance of other Mourners you will easily believe that since the late Providence which occasions this Discourse that passage of Eliphaz to Job hath often been suggested to me Chap. 4. v. 3 4 5. Behold thou hast instructed many and hast strengthened the weak hands Thy words have upholden him that was falling and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees But now it is come upon thee and thou faintest it toucheth thee and thou art troubled Thro' the Mercy of God I hope I do not murmur or faint but should it be thought strange that I am Troubled when the Desire of mine Eyes is removed by a sudden stroke Would it not be faulty and provoking to be otherwise affected to disregard the Hand of God despise his Chastening or be unconcerned at the Voice of his Rod How far and how long and to what degree to mourn I confess is a matter of some Difficulty to keep within the Christian limits so as neither to offend God nor lay a Stumbling-block before the less judicious or less candid Observers And of like difficulty is it rightly to understand and use the proper grounds of support under such an Exercise For Experience will attest that divers things are wont to be offer'd for our Relief in such cases that will by no means administer it but are weak and ineffectual to any such Purpose Thô thanks be to God the Gospel doth not leave us destitute of sufficient Instructions to direct our Mourning to regulate our Funeral Sorrows and sustain our Souls in an humble submissive Adoration of the Divine Good Pleasure Some of these I shall
like Calamity before-hand is in some sence true but does not that inflict as much of the Evil before as it takes off afterward For such * Parker's Demonst of the Law of Nat. part 1. §. 28. a fore sight and Expectation cannot be without Anxiety and many sad and melancholly thoughts I mean upon Principles meerly Philosophical it cannot And therefore it is a Disputable point among that fort of men whether it be best to be surprized by an Evil or to pre-meditate and foresee it's approach Both grant we are condemned to be miserable Think upon it before-hand says the one sort that you may feel it the less Never think of it before says the other with equal reason that you may not feel it twice But others more plausibly and with some Weight will be ready to say You knew a Parting Time must come You knew the Matrimonial Union might easily and suddenly be dissolved and broken by Death What did you not know that you and your Relations must Die or did you not live together with this design to help and prepare one another for Death And the Providence of God continued such a suitable Relation to you for so many years might he not have made this breach sooner you ought to be thankful for such a blessing so long Besides it may be added as to the manner of their Disease they had what Art and Care could do to preserve their Lives and earnest prayer to God was added if it did consist but with his Holy Pleasure that they might be longer spar'd And after all they Died quietly on their Beds and went to the Grave in peace and died Lamented and the last Offices of Friendship were perform'd at their Funerals c. Moreover you know not but they are taken away from the evil to come for notwithstanding the beginning and progress of National Deliverances thus far some of us may live to see the Cup of Trembling that our Neighbours and Brethren have drank of come round to us so that the dead may be accounted more happy than the Living As the Prophet speaks Jer. 22.10 Weep not for the Dead but weep for him that goes forth and escapeth Death You know not but such a Calamity may befall this Land this City or their own Family or Dearest Friends as would have made their Lives bitter and miserable if they had been prolong'd And were nothing of all this to be consider'd it might yet be said It is in vain to weep and mourn you cannot call back the Desire of your Eyes to Life again You only torment and hurt your self for heaviness in the Heart of Man makes it stoop it dries the bones and deadens the Spirit and very much unfits for the Duties and Comforts of Life Yea which is worse Immoderate sorrow for your departed Friends does but prove that you love this World too well it shews too plainly that your Faith concerning the Invisible Future World is very weak that you your selves as yet are too unprepar'd to die or count upon tarrying longer here than it may be God intends you shall These and such like considerations have all their influence and use in their proper place to contribute somewhat to our support but of themselves are not sufficient There are four things among others that a Christian Mourner ought to consider for his Relief 1. Whose Hand it is that gives the stroke who it is that does it 2. The Faithfulness of God to his Covenant Promise notwithstanding any such Providences 3. The Gain of those who Die in the Lord by our loss of their Company 4. Our Belief and Hope of meeting them again with all the Children of the Kingdom and being with them for ever with the Lord in Glory And let me add our Expectation of knowing them there for that to me is more than probable First We should not Grieve immoderately when Dear Relations are remov'd by Death because it is the Lord that doth it he who hath a Soveraign Authority and unquestionable Right to dispose of us and them as seems him good I take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a stroke I have done it saith the Lord. We mistake our Tenure if we think he may not call for for his own whensoever he pleaseth The Lord gives and the Lord takes we must adore and bless his Holy Name in both He is not responsible at our Bar or Accountable to us for every thing he does He hath not given us an account of all his matters He does not think fit to answer all our Questions or say all he can to vindicate the Righteousness and Wisdom of his present proceedings therefore why dost thou strive with him Job 33.13 Asa Ruler it is true he hath shewed us reason enough in the general for such Providences but as our absolute Lord and Owner he need not It may be we importunately prayed for their Recovery that God would spare them longer But if we did not pray with a humble submission to his holy Will our very Prayer was a Provocation and we need to repent and mourn for our selves And do not all holy Parents pray more earnestly for the Salvation of their Children and yet you know they are not all answer'd in kind if they were all the World would be saved for doubtless holy Noah prayed for all his Children and they if they were holy would do so for them c. But do we not daily supplicate for the honour of Gods Government for the Glory of his Name the accomplishment of his Councels and the fulfilling of his unerring Will and shall we Repine and Murmur when our prayers are answer'd Consider then whose Hand it is It is He hath taken who gave thee that and all thy other Mercies and prolongs innumerable ones which thou hast forfeited And shall we not receive evil at the hand of God as well as good Job 2.10 Especially since he may have the same kind and merciful design in taking as he had in giving and hath promised that all things this not excepted shall work for good It is He hath done it who is Infinitely Wise and Gracious who loves and pities and spares us as a Father does a Child And shall we not drink of that Cup which our Heavenly Father hath put into our hands His Soveraignty might justly silence us but his Goodness Righteousness and Wisdom should calm and settle our Hearts and make us resign our Will to his It is He hath done it who hath purchased a people out of the World and is collecting them one after another so soon as they are ready and have served the ends of his Glory upon Earth And how shall the many Sons and Daughters be brought to Heaven for which end the Son of God was incarnate and dyed if we and others should have our wish that God should take whom he would and when he pleased but our Relations should be excepted It is He hath done it who told us
much otherwise it was with them not long ago And can we wish them back again while we sigh and weep and mourn we know all Tears are wiped away from their Eyes and they are singing the Song of the Lamb. They are now seeding on the pleasant Fruits of Paradise and would we have them back again to eat the Bread of Affliction and drink the Waters of Affliction Would we they should return from the state of Triumph after Victory to engage again in new Combats From the Port and Haven of Eternal Rest to be tost again upon a Tempeltuous Sea And this because they were 〈◊〉 Kindred and our Relations for you do not mourn that the Prophets and Apostles 〈◊〉 all the Faithful mentioned in Holy Scripture or since in former Ages that they are gone to Heâ—â—â—n The ancient Christians kept Days of Thanksgiving for the safe Departure of such But how dear soever they were to us we shall go to them they shall not come to us We are very unkind if we desire they should have Tarryed longer when God hath made them ready they are gone to better Friends than those they have lest behind And if you Loved me said Christ you would rejoyce that It said I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God The Friends they have left are imperfect Sinning Sorrowing troublesome and unsuitable compared with those they meet above And there only our Friendship and Affections to one another will be without any mixture of Grief or Sin without any Infirmity Suspicion Discontent or other allay by their Weaknesses Sins or Sufferings There shall we have all our Wishes and Desires for our Friends as well as for our Selves and converse continually together without being weary of one anothers Company they had once such a vile Body as we have and such disorderly Passions such Errors and Mistakes and Actual Sins as we are guilty of they were troubled with such Temptations Doubts and Descrtions as we complain of but their probationarry State is now over their Warfare is accomplish'd their Work done their Race ended their Course finish'd and they are enter'd into the Joy of the Lord Oh let us remember that they are so while we Weep and Mourn partly for their Departure and more it should be for our unfitness as yet to be with them But we have the same God and Saviour the same Way and Rule the same blessed Recompence of Reward propos'd and promis'd and prepar'd the same Grace and Assistance offered to enable us to Persevere and Overcome It is but a little while since they had as malicious Enemies to oppose and conquer and as difficult a work to mind as we and were as unlikely to hold out as some of us their inward and outward Troubles were like to ours their bodily Weaknesses and Spiritual Distresses like to ours but they have overcome them yet a little while and we hope we may do so too And it is but a little while let us not then grieve immoderately being our selves to follow so soon after to partake we hope in that Blessedness with them for ever which we have often joyned together in Prayer to ask of God for them and for our selves And this we need not question if we choose the same Felicity * Mr. Baxters Life of Faith ch 26. as our End and Christ as the Captain of our Salvation to direct and lead us in the way thither if we build on the same Word of Promise and follow the Conduct of the same Spirit of Holiness if we live in the exercise of the like Grace and are conform'd to Christ our Head in Spirit Purpose and Behaviour and hold on in doing and suffering his Will with constancy to the Death If we do thus we shall shortly be with them and because we were wont to mourn with them when they mourned and to take part in their Afflictions let us do so in their Joys also Thanking God for their Deliverance and Rejoycing in their Felicity Fourthly The last Argument for our Support is the Belief and Hope of the Resurrection of the Dead when we shall meet them and all the Children of the Kingdom in the presence of the Lord. We know that those who sleep in Jesus he will bring with him and openly absolve and own them before all the World and give them the full possession of the promised Inheritance We are bid to Comfort our selves and one another with such joyful words 'T is Comfort that there is a Redeemer and that he is their Redeemer as well as ours that he Lives and will come again and that we know this on certain and infallible grounds and that when he shall appear we shall be like him by seeing him as he is It is Comfort that even these Bodies that must be buried out of sight and putrifie in a silent Grave shall be raised and enlivened and made like the glorious Body of our Redeemer Thô Death devour their Beauty and the Grave hold them Prisoners for some thousands of years tho they should be burnt to Ashes or devour'd by Worms Beasts or Fishes however crumbled and divided into little parts and these scatter'd and dispers'd into a thousand distant places yet he will raise and re-unite and restore them fresh and spritely beautiful and glorious That Power which at first did form and fashion them in the Womb hath engaged to do it This Corruptible shall put on Incorruption and this Mortal put on Immortality and Death be swallowed up in Victory What was sown in Weakness shall then be raised in Power our Bodies shall then be Active and Nimble quick and free easily passing in a little space to a great distance and readily obeying the Motions of our Glorified Spirits What was sown a Natural Earthly Body shall be raised Spiritual suited to the spiritual State and Life and work of Heaven not needing the supplies of Food or Physick or any of those things which now employ so much of our Time and Care in reference to the Body In a word they shall be raised in Glory however vile they now are as the Bodies of our Humiliation And shall shine brighter than the Sun in it's Meridian Splendor with a Glory suitable to the Excellency of that Power exerted in their Resurrection suitable to the Dignity of our Glorified Souls suitable to the Glory of that Place where they are to inhabit and of the Noble Services wherein they are to be employed and especially suitable to their Excellent Exemplar the Glorious Body of Christ whose Resurrection and Exaltation is the Cause Pattern and Pledge of ours And this we may depend upon for our Lord hath not only left us the Earnest of his Spirit to assure us of the Resurrection that our Mortal Bodies shall be quicken'd by the same Spirit that raised him from the Dead but he hath carried the Earnest of our Flesh into Heaven with him to assure us that all his Friends Favourites and
Truth Yea to be able to say This was the Person with whom I lived and so journed in yonder World whose sincere Affection I so much valued whose delightful useful Company I so much prized whose Sickness and Removal I so much lamented c. But lest I run too far let me draw to a Close Let us therefore after what hath been said resolve to have Communion with them though they are Departed by Contemplating what they are and where they are and what they do and what they possess and by Rejoycing in their Blessedness more than we would have done for their Temporal Advancement in any kind on Earth Let us desire and endeavour to be as like 'em as we can by imitating their Temper and Work above in the Love of God and the delighful thankful Praises of the Redeemer When we look up to Heaven let us think they are there When we think of Christ in Heaven let us remember they are part of his Family above When we think with hope of entring into Heaven our Selves let us think with Joy of meeting them there Oh welcome welcome happy meeting with Christ and them Never more to Part never more to Mourn never more to Sin O Happy Change O Blessed Society shall we then cry out with whom we shall live for ever to Know and Love Admire and Praise and Serve our Common Lord We formerly Sinn'd together and Suffer'd together But this is not like our old Work or State Our former Darkness Complaints and Sorrows are now vanisht This Body this Soul this Life this Place this Company these Visions these Fruitions these Services and Employments are not like what we had in the former World And yet which is the Quintessence and Spirit of all this Happiness shall last to all Eternity and after Millions of Ages be as far from ending as when at first began Fit us Lord for such a Day and Come Lord Jesus Come quickly Amen THE END Prepare to Follow OR THE SECOND DISCOURSE FROM MATTH XXIV 44. Occasion'd by the DEATH OF M rs Eliz. Gearing Prepare to Follow A Funeral Sermon Occasion'd by the DEATH OF M rs Elizabeth Gearing Late Wife of Mr. Henry Gearing who Departed this Life the second of July 1691. By JOHN SHOWER 2 SAM 12.23 But now he is Dead wherefore should I fast Can I bring him back again I shall go to him but he shall not come to me LONDON Printed for J. Dunton and A. Chandler 1691. Prepare to Follow OR A DISCOURSE FROM MATTH 24.44 Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not of the Son of Man cometh UPON a like Exhortation of our Blessed Lord to Watchfulness and Prayer to Faithfulness and Diligence in Expectation of his Coming the Apostle Peter makes bold to ask the Question whether it concern'd only the Apostles or was spoken to all Luke 12.41 The answer whereto doth sufficiently express the Universal Obligation of such a Duty For our Lord replies Blessed is that wise and faithful Servant who when his Lord comes shall be found doing his Masters Work And yet more expresly by another Evangelist where the like Parable is apply'd with this addition What I say unto you I say unto all Watch Mark 13. last which Watching is the general Comprehensive word for being Ready This is the repeated Voice of Christ in his Word where-ever he speaks of his Second Coming This is the distinct and loud call of his Providence unto this Congregation by the Death and Funerals of one of our number you know I mean our Friend Mrs. Gearing which speaks the same language to all of us Be ye also ready And being desired on this Occasion to preach from these words I shall reserve the mention of some things that were Instructive and exemplary in the Deceased for the close of my Discourse and in the mean time consider this seasonable Admonition of our Blessed Lord Therefore be ye also Ready for the Son of Man cometh in such an hour as ye think not of This and the foregoing Verses are part of the Answer which our Saviour made to the Disciples question in the beginning of the Chapter v. 3. Tell us when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the World According to the common Apprehensions which the Jews had of the alteration of the present state of things among them by the coming of the Messiah and that general destruction of the World and the State of Eternity which would thereupon follow they enquire of both to gether as reckoning his Coming and the End of the World would be at once And throughout this Chapter we find our Lord's Answer to both Questions are intermixed some whereof referr to the destruction of the Jewish State and his coming to execute judgment upon that Nation and others to the end of the World whereof the former was but a figure It is plain that some passages referr to the Jewish State several of the signs of his coming were literally fulfilled a little before their destruction by the Romans as Josephus and Tacitus and others mention particularly the 15. and 16. verses When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet stand in the Holy place whoso readeth let him understand then let them which be in Judea flee into the Mountains And again 34. v. he says This Generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled There is yet no reason to confine the whole of this Chapter to the Calamities which befell the Jewish Nation which was but as a Type and Representation of the general Judgment preceding the final Doom of the World for some passages do as plainly referr to the end of the World As when he speaks of â—â—s coming in the Clouds with power and great glory and of the Angels sounding the Trumpet and of two men in the Field and of two Women grinding at the Mill one taken and the other left referring to the great Discrimination of persons that shall be made at the end of the World as when it is said in the 36. verse Of that day and hour no man knoweth no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only And by another Evangelist the Son himself is excluded from knowing that hour Mark 13.33 But did not Christ know the time of the destruction of the Jews their Temple City and Nation when he himself foretells the time when it should be And therefore those words in the 35. v. Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away seem to be a transition from answering the first Question concerning the Destruction of the Jews to answer the other question about the End of the World whereupon follows the Exhortation in the 42. v. Watch for you know not what hour your Lord will come But know this or you do know this as the Original word will bear and may better be
affecting manner to the faithful discharge of his Duty by that Consideration I charge thee before God and before the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and dead at his Appearance and his Kingdom or when he shall appear in his Kingdom 2 Tim. 4.1 The Jews knew and granted that the Messiah was to come as a Judge by the Traditional Prophecy of Enoch which began with those words The Lord shall come This they understood long before the Incarnation of our Saviour So that they were wont to begin their Writs or Instruments of the Greatest Excommunication with those words of the Prophecy of Enoch The Lord shall come As if besides all other Punishments they bound over the Excommunicated Person to the last great Assize to be Judged by the Messias And the Apostle seems to allude to this 1 Cor. 16.22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha i.e. Accursed with that great and terrible Excommunication The Lord shall come For so they call it from the first words as we often give Names to Writs and other Instruments by reciting the first words of them He shall come again he shall be revealed from Heaven in slaming sire with his mighty Angels to render vengeance to them which know not God and obey not the Gospel c. 2 Thes 1.7 9. We shall all be made to stand before his Judgment-Seat 2 Cor. 5.10 14. Rom. 14.10 And every one shall then give an account of himself to God and receive according to what he hath done in the body whether it be good or whether it be evil He is delegated and appointed by God for this Work and every way fitted and qualified to undertake it Acts 17.31 II. The Suddenness and Vnexpectedness of his Coming again The hour of it no man knows no not the Angels of God in Heaven It will surprize Mankind as the Deluge did the Old World in the days of Noah The time of it is lock'd up in the Treasuries of Heaven and we have no Key that will open it Neither the time of Christ's coming to Judge the World or the time of his calling us by Death to come to him is certainly known Behold I know not the day of my death we may every one say with Isaac Gen. 27.2 The Knowledge of this time and Season he hath reserved in his own power it belongs not to us it is no part of our Priviledge to know it Acts 1.7 If it had been fit and becoming adviseable and expedient for us to understand it if it had been for our Advantage to know the precise time of our own Death or of the Final Judgment if it would have added any whit to our Spiritual Stature and Growth in Grace if it would not have much better promoted our Watchfulness and serious Diligence and forwarded our Preparations to have remained Ignorant he would not have drawn such a Veil over that Day and Hour But would have left it written in fair Characters But he every way consulted our Interest and the general Good of the World by hiding this Knowledge from us God's Government of the World and the Magistrates influence under God for the Good of Men would very much be weakned if every Man did certainly know before-hand the time of his Death Our Usefulness to others would be very much check'd and the necessary Preparation for being so if we knew we should not out-live such a Year or such a Stage of our Lives Our Joys and Sorrows with respect to our Relations and Friends would then be immoderate our Carriage in Prosperity and Adversity would be more unbecoming our Dependance upon God and his Providence the Redemption of our Time the Contempt of this World and the Preparation for another would all be very much hindred by the certain knowledge of the time of Christ's Coming to call us to Judgment Therefore he tells us That in an hour we think not of the Son of Man cometh It shall be suddenly when he is not expected and therefore All should be Ready It is sometimes represented by the travailing Pangs of a Woman with Child which may over-take her at a distance from her own House when she looks not for it 1 Thes 5.3 'T is set forth by the surprize of a Thief entring the Window of a House by Night when the good Man of the House little expected him Rev. 16.15 Behold I come as a Thief blessed is he that watcheth And again we are told As a snare shall it come upon all that dwell upon the face of the earth Luk. 21.35 When Men are careless and secure and confident of Long-life when they are busie in pursuit of great things for themselves in this World when they are big with mighty Projects and Designs for hereafter when they enlarge their Imaginations to contrive the Satisfactions they shall have for many years to come in the Pleasures and Dignities and Wealth which they count upon before-hand when they say in their Hearts Our Lord delays his Coming I have yet time enough to get ready Then shall this day overtake them when they think not of it The Lord of that Servant will come in a day that he looked not for him and in an hour that he is not aware Luk. 12.46 III. The Necessity and Obligation of being Ready because of the Certainty and Suddenness of the Coming of Christ Where I shall First Consider the Nature of this Readiness and Explain something of it Secondly Shew the Force of the Argument and amplifie it in several Considerations to urge it the more effectually upon All to make Ready I. What is the Nature of this Readiness In the general it is expressed by Two or Three Evangelists under the term of Watching Which as the summary Preparation for the Coming of Christ takes in all the Duties of a Christian with respect to the Affairs of his Soul and the Everlasting World as awaking out of Security foreseeing our Danger providing against it carrying it suitable to the Expectation of the Appearance of Christ from Heaven Looking for Waiting for Praying for Hastning to or hastning of the Coming of the Day of God It comprehends an awaken'd Heart an active Faith a lively Hope a diffusive Charity and persevering Diligence in all the Fruits of Righteousness That we may perfect Holiness in the Fear of God lay up a good Foundation against the time to come and at last lay hold of Eternal Life That we may have Confidence at Christ's Appearance and be able to stand before the Son of Man with exceeding Joy This in general under the Name of Watching and being Ready is the Duty of all 2. Besides this General Account we may consider some of the Particular Metaphors under which our Lord represents himself or is set forth in Scripture when he comes again First As a Bridegroom And so our Readiness consists in our Accepting him and Choosing him in such a Relation I have espoused you
to one Husband even Christ 2 Cor. 11.7 And we read of the Marriage of the Lamb and the Readiness of the Wife cloathed in fine Linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints Rev. 19.8 9. Now if you think you are ready for the Coming of Christ under this Notion ask your selves Hath there been any such Agreement between Christ and your Souls which the Scripture represents by a Marriage-Covenant Have you penitently and thankfully Accepted him for Yours and given up your selves entirely to be his To as many as have thus Accepted and Received him He gives Power and Priviledge to become the Sons of God Do you renounce all other Lovers Do you prefer Him alone abandoning all Competitors and Rivals so as not to be for another but for him Hos 3.3 The like we read Psal 45.10 11. Hearken O Daughter and consider and encline thine ear forget also thine own people and thy Father's house So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty for he is thy Lord and worship thou him Is there a Supream Superlative Correspondent Affection on your part to him who hath said That as a Bridegroom rejoyceth over a Bride so will He rejoyce over Thee Isa 62.5 Is this express'd by an entire Subjection to him as the Head of his Church and the Saviour of his Body Eph. 3.23 And this not for a time only but for ever Hos 2.19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in lovsng-kindness and in mercies The publick Solemnity of this Marriage will be at the Resurrection of the Dead when he shall come again to conduct his Spouse to his Father's House and more fully to evidence his Love by the Manifestation of his own Glory Our Readiness therefore for the Coming of Christ implies our hearty Choice of him and Consent to be his to Love Serve Honour and Obey him with Faithfulness Diligence and Perseverance to the end Secondly Christ is represented as a Housholder and Lord who is gone into a far Countrey and hath intrusted his Servants with various Talents which they are to employ according to his Order and trade with for his Service expecting to be accountable to him at his Return Luk. 19.23 Though our Lord be gone to Heaven he hath left a Family upon Earth and committed a Trust to every of his Servants Now our Fidelity and Care in the Improvement and Use of our Talents will be our Readiness for the Coming of Christ under these Considerations we are to be Responsible to him for all the Blessings Natural or Spiritual that he hath committed to our Trust and we have no Right in them any other way We are but Stewards He is the Proprietor and Absolute Lord. And according to the number and kind of our Talents he expects proportionable Care and Diligence as good Stewards to manage and improve them For to whom much is given of them much will be required Every one hath some Talents some Trust our Reason and our Health our Time our Parts Reputation Estate Interest Authority Power All the Blessings of any kind that we have are Talents to be used for the Service of our Lord And Blessed is that wise and faithful Servant who at his Lords Coming shall be found to have done so Our Faithfulness and Care herein is our Readiness for his Coming For he may demand an Account of our Stewardship when we expect it not Luk. 16.2 Therefore if we would be Ready we must be Diligent in his Work and not bury our Talents in a Napkin or waste our Lords Goods but be sound faithfully doing his Business in the Places and Relations he hath set us In this consists that Readiness for his Coming that will intitle us to the Blessing Luk. 12.43 But lest it should be said Who can come up to this Who is able to be always thus diligently Employed Who then can be Ready Let us therefore Thirdly Distinguish concerning this Readiness There is an Habitual Readiness and Actual The one of our State and the other of our Frame 1. An Habitual Readiness which concerns our State When our Peace is made with God so that she shall be found with him in peace at the Coming of Christ 2 Pet. 3.14 When we have so put on the Lord Jesus as at the Great Day we shall not be found naked 2 Cor. 5.3 When we are interested in the attoning Sacrifice of Christ so as to be reconciled to God and shall find Mercy of the Lord in the Great Day Rev. 3.17 Persons of this Character will manifest in their Course and Carriage that they expect the Coming of Christ by walking in all holy Conversation and Godliness 2 Pet. 3.10 Denying all Vngodliness and worldly Lusts they will live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this World as those that look for the blessed Hope and glorious Appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Tit. 2.12 13. But because all that are Ready as to their State and as to their general Course are not so as to their Frame therefore Consider 2. There is an Actual Readiness as to the Disposition of the Heart which upon the near Prospect and Approach of any Messenger of Christ to call us out of the World is a Christian Duty This Actual Readiness we should all endeavour after That we may have greater degrees of that Readiness of Mind and Preparedness of Spirit to Obey the Summons and Call of Christ tho' it should be with very little Warning being Prepar'd and Willing to go to him whensoever he shall call I am ready saith the Apostle to be bound at Jerusalem yea to Die there for the Name of Christ Acts 21.13 All holy Persons though Habitually ready do not reach this Some cry out with David Lord remove thy stroke from me spare me a little longer Psal 39. Or as Hezekiah when he received the Message of Death turn'd his face to the wall and wept Isa 38. But if we have Warning of the Approach of Death we ought to stir up our selves actually to Prepare to trim our Lamps and set our Souls in Order reviewing our Lives renewing our Repentance exercising our Graces exciting our Hopes recollecting our past Experiences getting our Evidences ready and the Promises on which we may venture our Souls in a dying Hour that we may say with old Simeon Now let thy Servant depart in peace And with the Apostle Paul I have finish'd my course henceforth a Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me And with our Lord himself Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Or with Holy Stephen Lord Jesus receive it Christians Are we not too Unready the best of us as to Frame and Actual Preparation Do we sit as loose from this World and all the Personal and Relative Comforts of it that accommodate the bodily Lise as we should Have we conquer'd the Fears of Death and familiarized the Thoughts of the Grave to that
degree as we ought Is our Love to Christ so sprightly and vigorous that we could heartily welcome any Messenger to call us to him Be the Instrument what iâ— will and the Manner and Circumstances of our Departure as God shall please and the Warning never so short and sudden Are we ready to go presently at the first Call That were it not for doing Service in our Places which God who needs not our Help can do by other ways we should rather choose to be with Christ as far better Could we Answer to such a Call of God as Samuel Lord here I am thoudidst call me O let me pass through the dark Valley that nothing may keep me longer at such an uncomfortable distance from my Lord and Saviour that where he is I may be to behold his Glory This Readiness Habitual and Actual we have need to look after because the Son of Man comes in a time when we think not of him And therefore II. To urge your Diligence and Care to be Ready for the Coming of Christ let me amplifie and enforce the Argument in this Text by several Considerations As I. That whether Ready or not Ready e're long our Lord will come Our particular Judgment by Death which shall confine us to the eternal and final one is at no great distance We are hastning to this Day of God whether we believe and mind it or no As Passengers in a Ship to the end of their Voyage whether they sleep or wake whether we be wise Servants or foolish faithful Stewards or unfaithful whether we expect the Coming of our Lord and Prepare for it or do not He will shortly come and call us to an Account O how soon shall you and I be gone What a Change will a few days make in this City and in this Congregation We may judge of it by what it hath made in few years past In less than Twenty Years what Changes in Families and Churches and Cities and Nations Husbands and Wives parted Parents and Children Friends snatch'd away out of the Bosom of their Friends Those we loved and lived familiarly with Called before us and gone home And we are hastning after a pace whether our Readiness and Preparation do or do not answerably hasten One Relation and another Acquaintance drops into the Grave Some are ready and some unready One Pastor after another is removed to Heaven and the Pulpits where they preach know them no more and others will start up in our rooms and are preparing to fill our Places who succeed any of those whose Funerals you Remember And after a sew Lords's-Days more and at most after a few Summers and Winters more you and I shall be called likewise whether we be Ready or not Ready 2. When once thou art called to thy particular Judgment by Death nothing more can be done to get Ready for the Coming of Christ Eccl. 9.10 John 9.4 What if you were now leaving this World and how near and sure is such an hour You would then be sensible that now or never is the time to prepare and get Ready Awake therefore and Mind it without delay that you may not cry for more Time when time is gone and for the mercy of God when it is too late O how shall my unprepared Soul Appear before my God! How shall I pass into Eternity unready What shall I do to meet my Lord with Comfort as if you had never heard till that time that you must dye and come to Judgment O what Hearts of stone have Sinners that can hear these things so often and not resolve without delay to get Ready That will not consider the Judge is at the Door his Vengeance at their back his Wrath pursues their sins and woe be to them if it overtake them Before their Friends have laid their Bodies in their Graves or wrap'd them in their Burying cloaths their Souls shall feel that God is in earnest and that now is the only time to get ready for Judgment 3. When men think not of it and least expect his Summons the Lord doth often come When thou art most regardless of Death thy Head and Heart taken up with other things the Hand-writing on the Wall may appear and strike thee into a sit of trembling a Voice from God may be heard Come away Man or Woman Come away thy Time shall be no more this Evening or the next Morning this Night or the next Day thy Soul shall be required of thee Believe it no Place no Age no Time no Portion of thy Life is certainly exempted Do not then put off thy being Ready lest thy Resolutions for hereafter should bare longer date than the time of thy Life 4. All the Time of our Lives is little enough to get Ready for the Coming of Christ 'T is little enough to learn to Live says the Moralist it is short enough be sure to learn to Dye Ask those who have taken most Pains and spent most of their Time to get Ready Yet after all their Prayers and Tears after all their Watching Striving Running and Preparedness they complain they are Vnready still unready for the Spiritual Coming of Christ when they are to meet him at his Table much more Vnready for his last Coming Therefore let us give Diligence that we may be found of him in Peace without spot and blameless And if the question be seriously ask'd of all of you one after another ARe you prepared for Death are you Ready for the Coming of Christ or are you not How few will have the Heart or Face to say they are The best will say they need further Preparation But what must they think and say of themselves who own they are habitually as to their State unready no way sit to Dye I cannot say my peace is made with God I have not yet enter'd into Covenant with him I have not subjected and yielded my self to Christ I have not taken on his Yoke or I have cast it off after I took it on I am yet a Stranger to him or I have shamefully left him after some Acquaintance And will you put it any longer to the venture when your Lord may call within an hour 5. God is now ready to Assist you by his Grace if you will awake and Mind your Work but if you delay he may justly refuse and withdraw it And if once the case comes to that you can no more make Ready for Death and Judgment than if you were already dead it being as possible for us to Repent without life or after we are dead as to Repent without Gods Grace while we are living Therefore they that promise for themselves that they shall Repent and Prepare for the coming of Christ some time hereafter they resolve they will they must not only promise for themselves but for God too that he will wait their leisure and dance attendance after them through all the Stages of their Delays and yet be as ready to
assist them hereafter as now otherwise it is as uncertain whether you shall Repent hereafter if you live as whether you shall live to that hereafter wherein you say you intend to Repent 6. Consider How great and Important a thing it is to Dye and to meet the Lord our Judge It is so even for good men that are habitually Ready after such a life of sense and the deep Impressions we are under by sensible Objects after our many Backslidings and actual Sins to look into the House of darkness and think of lodging there to lay down these Bodies to corrupt and Putrifie there to bid adien to all our Relations and take a solemn leave of all our Friends to think of passing thro' this dark Entry through which as we go right or wrong we are made or undone for ever to think of the Majesty and Holiness of God his Truth and Justico to consider the strictness and Spirituality of his Holy Law and the awful Solemnity of the Tryal and Judgment that all Mankind must come under These and such things consider'd which are obvious to any considering man make it no easie matter to dye even for the best But for an unprepared Soul that is Unready as to his State who hath done little or nothing ever in his whole Life of such Work no Expressions can describe the Terrors of that mans case especially for careless carnal Professors that attend the preaching of the Word and are deceived by the Devil to think they are in the way to Heaven while yet they live in secret Sin and are Enemies to God what killing disappointment will they meet with one moment after Death when they expect with the foolish Virgins to enter Heaven and find the door to be shut Sirs believe and tremble If you are not ready for the Coming of Christ you are ready for his condemning Sentence and ripe for Ruine If you are not ready as Vessels of Mercy prepar'd for Glory you are ready as Vessels of Wrath fitted for Destruction That Place and Portion which you are fit for you shall have at Death If you are not fit to be with Christ if you are not made meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Life if you are not formed and wrought by the Spirit of Christ for this self-same thing you shall have another Place and Company and Portion with the Devil and his Angels in unquenchable Fire where is weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth for ever 7. You need not fear that you shall hasten your Death by Thinking of it and being Ready Christs Summons will not be hastened tho' thy Preparation be The stroke of Death will not be sooner but the easier and make Life and Death it self sweeter by now endeavouring to be Ready You will not then be afraid of every Sickness and threatning Danger that brings you to the borders of the Grave They were the foolish Virgins who were affrighted at the Midnight cry The Bridegroom cometh because their Lamps were out and they had no Oyl they were struck to the Heart their Hope 's dyed and they presently sunk into Despair But of such as are Ready we find them speak of Dying as of an easie sleep I must put off this Earthly Tabernacle shortly saith one Apostle The time of my Departure is at hand and I am ready to be offer'd up saith another 2 Pet. 1.14 2 Tim. 4.6 But as Christ will not delay his Coming tho thou be unprepared so neither is thy Readiness for Death a likely means to shorten thy Life 8. Consider It is for this end that our Lives are continued and all the mercies of our Lives that we may be ready What have you Life given you for why were not you cut off many years ago but that you might have Time and space to Repent and Prepare for the Coming of Christ How many years have some of you been spared It may be twenty thirty forty fifty years and yet after all you are not ready What have you been busie about all this while How have you employed your Time What is the end of God do you think in all the merciful helps He concinues you Such as Ministers and Books Ordinances and Providences your own Sickness and others Funerals You lose the benefit and use of all your Mercies of Life Health and Time and some of you of Wealth and Honour c. of all the Sermons you have heard of all the Providential warnings of God to Awaken you you have lost them all if they have not furthered your Readiness for the Coming of Christ And if you shall live many years to come you must say it was all lost Time and wish you had never had an hour of it while this preparation for Death and Judgment is neglected 9. Consider the unspeakable Difference between a prepared and unprepared Soul in a dying Hour The one is going to see the things he hath Believed and possess that which he hoped for and hath the promise of God that he shall enjoy The other is going to feel what he would not in time believe to endure the threatned Wrath he would not Fear so as to escape The one is come to the end of all his Prayers and Patience Labours and Sufferings The other to the end of all his Ease and Pleasure Mirth and Joy The one hath the promised Felicity with God and Christ and all the blessed Spirits above in view before him the other hath Death and Hell the Judgment of Christ and an Eternity of Misery before him ready to overwhelm his Soul The one can look back with Comfort and reflect upon his upright Holy persevering Obedience mixt with Repentance for many Sins and Failings and yet can hope in God for his acceptance thro Christ the other must review his Heart and Life with horror and regret and read over the black Items of his careless Impenitent Course with Bitterness and Torment and the fears of greater The one is leaving this World where he spent his days in preparing for Eternity thô he heartily laments that he began no sooner and minded it no more the other is passing into the invisible Eternal World for which he hath made no provision The one by Death shall be translated to a blessed State of Holinefs Love and Peace in the everlasting joyful Praises of God his Maker Redeemer and Sanctifier the other sort are passing into the Regions of Darkness and Despair among Devils and unholy miserable Souls with whom they must dwell under the Hatred and Curse of God and the unspeakable Terrors of his Wrath for ever O the difference between one that is ready and one that is unready when the Summons from Christ shall come to call them both away Consider this endeavour to be Ready for the difference between one mans Death and anothers depends on the difference between Heart and Heart Life and Life Preparation and Unpreparedness 10. Consider that all the Readiness you now can get
will be little enough to support your Souls when Christ shall call Our utmost Diligence to Prepare will not be too much to enable us chearfully to commend our Souls into the Hands of Christ in expectation of all the great and glorious things which he hath Purchased Revealed and Promised Then all the Grace you have treasured up will be little enough for that is a time to use it not to get it Our strongest Faith will hardly be sufficient the clearest Evidences of our Acceptance with God will be no more than needs the most apropriating particular applicatory Faith saying I know that my Redeemer liveth will be little enough to give us confidence in a dying Hour You know of none can help you if then you cannot look to Christ with hope If the Devil say this sinful Soul is mine and Christ disown thee and say so too what shall overcome the fears of Death No wonder if Doubts and Fears arise from the weakness of our Grace our Negligence and Remisness in the service of God our Folly and Offences and manifold Backslidings our familiarity with this World and natural Love of Life no wonder if it be difficult to conquer all these And how can that be done if we be not now diligent to get Ready 11. Consider for your Encouragement that Vprightness and Sincerity shall be acceptted as your habitual Readiness We are under a merciful Covenant and serve a gracious Redeemer we find by the parable of the wise and foolish Virgins that tho the former who had Oyl in their Vessels had many faults for they slumber'd as well as the Foolish when they should have been actually waking and Watching yet they were not shut out of Heaven and then your conformity to Christ shall be compleat and your weak imperfect Graces shall be perfected 12. Remember this also that if your diligent Preparation be a difficult Work it is but for a little while The allotted season to Watch and Work and Wrestle to strive and run and use all Diligence to be Ready is not long And Christ may say Will you not watch with me one hour that you may lift up your heads with Joy at my appearing and then dwell with me for ever O how soon will the labour of Repentance and humble self-denying Diligence in our preparatory Work be all over Soon will all the Affairs of humane Life be over all these little things which men call Business be past and gone those I mean of Trade and Money of Farms and Merchandize they will all be over e're it be long So will the Difficulties and Trouble of holy serious Diligence in making ready for the Coming of Christ be over too Now we must Fight and Wrestle and hold on unto Victory but the time of Triumph is approaching Now we must watch and stand upon our guard but the promised everlasting Reward and Rest is not far off Now our Life is or should be a Life of Prayer e're long we shall receive the full Answer of all our Prayers and all our Enemies be under our feet never to Disturb or Tempt or Disquiet or Indauger us more for ever It all depends upon our sincere and persevering Diligence to get ready for the Coming of Christ The Improvement which may be made of this shall be First To Lament our great and manifest unpreparedness for this Coming of Christ 1. Many such as are truly sanctified and have Oyl in their Vessels are yet too Vnready for want of frequent believing Consideration concerning this Coming of Christ and for want of Actual Preparation for it How many are intangled with the Cares and Hurry of worldly Affairs to that degree that they do not take Time enough to retire and bethink themselves of the glorious Appearance and Revelation of Christ from Heaven and so their Faith is weak and their Preparation flow Alas we are but too unready our unmortified Affections to earthly things and unbecoming Fears of our lust Enemy do plainly prove it The many breaches between God and our Souls by particular backslidings tell us we are Vnready The vanity of our Minds and Spirits discovered by an undue conformity to this World shows that we are Vnready The excess of our Passions upon Worldly Losses and Disappointments attest it too plainly The declension of lively Hope unto which we are begotten and born by Regeneration the grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Adoption and Earnest of our Inheritance show that we are yet too unready The Promises on which we must venture our Everlasting Hopes are not studied and understood digested and applyed as they should be and therefore we are not Ready Our Desires of the Coming of Christ our Prayers for the hastning of it our anticipated Joy in the fore-thoughts of it are so low and so imperfect to what they ought to be that they prove we are Vnready We do not Labour and Watch Pray and Hope with a resolved persevering Zeal and Constancy for the Grace that is to be brought to us at the Revelation of Christ as those that are Ready for his Coming 2. 'T is further to be bewail'd that multitudes fancy and suppose they are ready when indeed they are not O how great is the number of such who imagine themselves to be too well prepar'd already to learn to Prepare And therefore all the Warnings and Exhortations of the Word make no impression on them because they think themselves not concern'd tho they have never accepted Christ as the Bridegroom of their Souls by an humble penitent unfeigned Dedication of themselves to him to love please and obey him above all And their own Consciences if they would consider reflect and search must tell them that they are not Faithful Stewards of their many Talents as expecting to be call'd to an Account 3. The general Vnconcernedness of the most about any such thing as this being Ready ought greatly to be Lamented The most reckon it at that distance they will not trouble themselves to enquire whether they be prepar'd or no. Others are conscious of their own Unreadiness and therefore do not care to think of Dying Tho they know not how soon they may be called for many younger and more likely to live have dyed this last Year Parents may survive their Children and lay those little parts of themselves in the Grave before they make their own Beds there Yet such is the powerful craft of Sathan to befool the Sinner and such the deceitfulness of Sin to harden the Heart that some of the most unprepared make a shift to live in peace tho they cannot tell but Death may open the Door into Eternity the next moment They will not yet consider it and apply it to their own case they will not know that their Judge is at the Door that their Day of Reckoning is at hand that they are hastening to the Tribunal of Christ that their Judgment lingereth not and their Damnation slumbereth not
their Deaths too if we be not awakened to prepare for our own But alas How soon do the Impressions wear off of such awakening Spectacles It may be the ghastly looks or dying groans of dear Friends or departing Relatives gasping out their last breath and just passing into the other World for the present may affect us a little It may be when we see an open Coffin in our own House or a Grave gaping to receive the Body of one we knew and loved and lately conversed with this may move and startle us a little It may be when we behold the mournful Looks and Habit the Funeral Pomp and Solemnity that attends them to the House of Darkness some serious Thoughts are excited our Minds are aw'd into some reflections upon our own Mortality But when the Ceremony is over and we are gone from such a Spectacle when the Dead are buried out of our sight and we engag'd among the living World again how soon alas is all this forgotten and how few are Gainers by such a Loss in the manner they should be i. e. To take the Warning to be Ready and Prepared for the Coming of Christ to us which is as sure as if we were already dead One Help to get Ready our Selves for Death and Judgment is to consider and improve the Death of Others Either of such who were called and not Ready whose case speaks loudly to us not to delay and trifle as they did or of such as were Prepared and fit to Dye their Death hath also the like voice of that in the Text Be you also Ready Our Deceased Friend Mrs. Gearing I am perswaded was of this latter sort § 1. I Know very well that the praising of the Dead hath been scandalously abused as a more close way of flattering the living Relations and therefore would be cautious what I speak on such Occasions But the Honour of Gods Grace is not a little concern'd in the Honour of those in whom it did remarkably appear and he hath promis'd that they who serve and follow him shall be honoured To mention what was really imitable and praise-worthy needs no Apology or Excuse the matter carries its own Justification § 2. You of this Congregation could not but observe her Diligence and Constancy in attending on the Publick Worship of the Lords Day and to show forth the Lords Death every Month in the other Solemnity of the Supper Her early Attendance here before the publick Worship began thô she liv'd at a more remote distance than many of you is not unworthy of your Imitation § 3. Her strict Seriousness in Family-worship and Closet Duties by which the Life and Vigour of practical Godliness is to be kept up they who knew her best were well acquainted with § 4. There was one thing in her daily Course which should shame and awaken most Professors viz. the Conscientious daily practice of Self-reflection and Examination reviewing and calling over the passages of every Day in the Evening She made Conscience every Night to look back on the Duties she had performed and the Manner of 'em on the Mercies she had receiv'd on the Errors Weaknesses and Omissions she had been guilty of c. in order to Repentance or Thanksgiving Oh that there were more of such concerning whom this may be truly said We should be more Ready for the Table of the Lord every Month and more Ready for the presence of Christ at the Hour of Death if we did thus review the Actions of every Day at the close of it § 5. Not to insist upon her Faithfulness and Prudence Tenderness and Affection Affability and Friendly Carriage in every Relation with divers other things very Commendable in her Life I shall only take notice of a few things concerning her last Sickness which after ten days determin'd in Death § 6. Her Patience Submission and Resignation was answerable to the other part of her Character and Deportment that is truly Christian When sometimes by intervals her Distemper did affect her Head as soon as she recovered the use of her Vnderstanding and a composed mind very pertinent and earnest Supplications to Heaven discovered the holy Seriousness of her Heart and Frame When she could hardly speak more than Yes or No yet she did sufficiently signifie her Assent and cordial Approbation of any seasonable Religious Discourse that was made to her § 7. She owned her Hope and Trust in the Mercy of God thro' Jesus Christ for Pardon and Eternal Life and under the disorders of so painful and violent a Feaver yet acknowledg'd she had Peace within § 8. The day before she dyed she told a near Relation that she had a great work to do on the morrow And when it was replyed that 't is true It is a great and difficult Work to dye yet one moments Enjoyment of God in Heaven will make amends for all She very affectionately cries out I so it will I know that my Redeemer lives and that I shall go to him and be with him § 9. The Evening before her Departure after I had prayed for her in the presence of several Relations and Friends and seriously endeavour'd to commend her Soul into the hands of Christ I ask'd her Whether Jesus Christ were not the Chiefest of ten thousands to Her whether she did not desire and prize him above all whether she had not given up her self to him again and again with all her Heart and Soul entirely and without reserve and endeavour'd humane Infirmities and Backslidings repented of excepted to walk and live as a Follower of Christ under the Conduct of his Spirit and according to the Rule of his Word and some other such Questions that might assist her to discern the Truth of her Grace c. She answered in the Affirmative with extraordinary Modesty Humility Thankfulness and Affection And gave me her hand at Parting with thanks for my Prayers and Assistance begging of God the best of Blessings for me and mine which were her own words § 10. After which in a difficult struggle with the King of Terrors we hope and trust she was supported by the Everlasting Arms of that Powerful Grace of Christ who hath conquer'd Death and him that had the Power of it the Devil So that we may now say O Death where is thy Sting c. God grant those lively impressions of Death and another World which the Relations then present seem'd to have on that occasion may not easily wear off or lose their proper Influence And now Christians let us mix our Sorrows for our Deceased Friend with the Joys of Faith on the account of her being made meet and ready for the Presence of Christ Some Sorrow is allowable were it but as Death enters into the World as the fruit of Sin But she being Prepared for Death and made meet for the Promised Blessedness beyond the Grave that ought to be the matter of our Joy which we believe is so of hers
And do we not our selves Hope and have we any better greater Thing we hope for than to possess that Happiness with Christ which we believe she is possessed of Is it not then unreasonable to make that the Subject of immoderate Mourning and excessive Lamentation as to our departed Friends which is the principal matter of Hope and Comfort as to our own Souls And shall we for the sake of a lesser good which we suppose to our selves by their living longer desire to deprive them of a Greater which they cannot attain but by dying Let us rather be awaken'd edifi'd and encourag'd by their Examples who by Faith and Patience and Perseverance are gone to inherit the Promises and by their Funerals be excited to foresee and make Ready for our own Oh that the Call of God by this Breach among us may be understood and obeyed For this it speaks to every one in particular Be you also Ready Amen THE END The SAINTS Desire to be with CHRIST A SERMON PREACHT Upon the DEATH OF M rs Ann Barnardiston DAUGHTER of Nathanael Barnardiston Esq late of Hackney A SERMON PREACHT Upon the DEATH OF Mrs. Ann Barnardiston DAUGHTER of Nathanael Barnardiston Esq late of Hackney Who Departed this Life the 30th of Decemb. 1681. at the Age of Seventeen With a brief Account of some Remarkable Passages of her LIFE and DEATH By John Shower Minister of the Gospel Psal 103.15 As for man his dayes are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth V. 16. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more The Second Edition LONDON Printed for J. Dunton and A. Chandler 1691 TO The much Honoured M rs Elizabeth Barnardiston MADAM THe sad Occasion of the Sermon and your Relation to Her whose Dying Request was fulfilled in my Preaching it doth style the Dedication yours Though what I have mention'd of your Excellent Daughter is less than others would have said on the same Subject yet having given an Account of her Preparedness and Willingness to Dye methinks that should be considered as a sufficient Argument to mitigate your Sorrow and prevent its Excess 'T is the Apostles Instruction concerning them who sleep in Jesus that we ought not to sorrow as do others who have no hope Such were the Aegyptians and 't is observ'd of them that they mourned longer for the death of old Jacob than his own Son Joseph did I know the Time of her Death gives an Accent to the Calamity That before your Mourning Weeds were laid aside for one of the best of Husbands who hath a good Report of all Men and of the Truth it self you should be forced to continue the same or put on more for the Loss of such a Child in the Prime of her Youth and Strength and Beauty A Loss for which you do not mourn alone since many others are partners of your Grief not by sympathy only as pittying you but from a due Respect and Affection to her and their own Concern at her Departure But as your Afflictions abound God can make your Consolations by Christ abound much more And such Losses as these though some of the smartest and most afflictive to humane Nature may turn to your Spiritual Gain And even this Rod like that of Aaron may blossom and produce the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness If in the want of their Company God himself be more depended on as your All in all If their removal out of this World promote your Mortification to it if their being taken up to Heaven assist your Preparations and excite your Desires to follow God hath already made good his Covenant Promise in a very peculiar manner to those whom he gave and hath taken from you and I trust will do so as to those who remain that they may know and serve the God of their Fathers with a perfect Heart and see the Felicity of his Chosen That they may tread in the steps of their departed Relatives and bear up the Name of God in their respective Stations to his Glory and your Comfort and their Salvation And if God should not make your House to grow yet he hath made an Everlasting Covenant with you well ordered in all things and sure 2 Sam. 23.5 I wish the following Discourse may contribute any thing to your Support or at least be accepted as an Expression of my Obedience in complying with your request thus to make it publick And as a Testimony of my unfeigned Respect to the Memory of the Deceased with a serious desire of some benefit to others also by such a remarkable Instance of an Early Piety of an Exemplary Life of a peaceable Death Which God grant who alone can bring Good out of Evil all whose Works are perfect and whose Wayes are Judgment I am London Jan. 25. 1681 2. MADAM Your most Affectionate Humble Servant John Shower TO THE READER Reader I Being Earnestly desired both by the Relations of the Deceased Gentlewoman and by the Preacher of the following Funeral Sermon to Testifie what I knew of the Gracious and wonderful workings of the Holy Spirit upon the Heart of this Person during Her Life I could not but yield to their Importunate Requests And upon this Occasion I must declare That having Known her from her Childhood and having very much observed her Conversation of late and being called to give her several Visits in her sickness I do believe upon the whole that God did give her a sound Repentance for and a Full Remission of all her sins through the Mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I can assure thee Reader who ever thou art that she had an awakened sight of her sins accompanied with a great measure of Godly Sorrow for them I discerned also in her a deep Humiliation and I heard her open her self-Condemnation thereupon I found in her also a clear Knowledge of the Nature of the Now Covenant together with a Right Apprehensionof the Nature of that Faith which is required of all men and is through Grace bestowed upan some Penitents whereby the Soul doth attain to an Interest in that Covenant It being thereby united unto Christ and consequently doth partake of the Benefits of his Merits and doth receive the Fruits of his Atonement with the Inhabitation of his Spirit Saving Faith and True Repentance are alwayes inseparable and their Conjunction doth evidence and speak them to be true and saving both These I do believe were united in the Soul of this deceased Person And therefore I have very great Hopes of her State All Faith which is pretended to where Repentance is wanting I account to be nothing but a presumptuous Confidence and all seeming Repentance which is not Accompanied with some Faith in the Divine Goodness and in the promises made thereof by our Lord Jesus is no other than the Repentance of a Cain or a Judas his despair Our Lord Jesus did as it were Epitomize the
but such as are Taught of God and have their spiritual sences exercised so as to be acquainted not only with the form of Godliness but also with the Power thereof these men do say that the Character which the others do give of this eminent persons teaching are most true and they do further also say that it is extraordinary Clear and convincing most Evangelical and Scriptural greatly practical and profitable and yet very Sublime and Spiritual Now Reader consider whether many if any such have finally miscarryed whose Natures were gentle and easie to be entreated whose hearts were Soft and Tender who had the Benesits of such Education and such Example who enjoyed such Teaching abroad as well as such Counsel at home and all accompanyed with fervent Prayer unto God for a Blessing which I am sure that she did not want it being reported of her Father that his Custom was with the Psalmist 119.164 Seven times a day to pray unto the Lord and to praise him Moreover I am informed that this deceased Gentlewoman was observed to spend much time in Closet Prayer of late consider then I say whether we may not hope considently that the Grace of God had savingly and effectually wrought upon her who was both visibly in Covenant with God and whose heart also God had disposed and prepared by such special Means of Grace which he had bestowed upon her And this is yet more evident if we reflect upon God's dealing with her in her last Sickness whereby God did seem to seal Instruction deeply upon her Soul Her distemper was one of the worst sort of Small Pox At her first being taken she had strong apprehensions that she should dye she therefore did fall closely upon the work of Examination desiring the assistance of some Ministers therein and she was visited by many she opened her case to us all and God was pleased to make her to suspect and be jealous of the worst and to confess and condemn herself for her Sins both of Omission as well as Commission and humbly to inquire after the only way of Pardon And it pleased God so to bless these last helps as that none of us who visited her do doubt but the same Spirit who convinced her of Sin and of Righteousness did at length seal her up to the day of Redemption The Alpha the first Beginning and Foundation of all practical Religion is that act whereby a Soul doth deliberately resolvedly freely and expressely dedicate and devote it self unto God and his Service Thus the Saints in 2 Cor. 8.5 The Omega the last concluding and consummating work of a devout Soul is to commit and commend its Spirit into the hands of God as to a faithful Creator thus did Stephen Acts 17.59 Yea thus did our Lord Jesus himself Luk. 23.46 Thus also did this blessed Person she did I hope begin well in an early Consecration of her self to God I am sure she did end well and 't is the end that Crowns the work she did reckon that she had not fully Finished her Course nor rightly laid the Top-stone of her spiritual Building so as to cry Grace Grace unto it untill she had most devoutly and humbly offered up her Soul to God in Prayer by the assistance of some Friend and Minister Accordingly although it were midnight and although my Habitation was far from hers yet in the very last Agonies of her Death she did send for me and with the clearest use of her Reason and the most servent desires of her Soul she did entreat me that I would in her Name solemnly and expresly furrender and give up her Soul into the Arms and Bosom of her Saviour in whose precious Blood she did hope that all her sins were now fully washed away I did readily obey the Call and did comply with her desire for I did and do judge that this desire of hers proceeded from some extraordinary Impulse and work of the Holy Ghost And Reader thou walt think as I do if thou shalt read and observe the effect and consequence hereof as it is related to thee in the close of the following discourse Almost such another extraordinary Impress as it may be thought was made upon her Spirit on occasion of this Author 's presenting her with a * Exhortation to Touth to prepare for Judgment 11 Eccl. 9. Funeral Sermon which he had preached but a little kefore she was taken sick which Sermon she having received and read and diligently considered she was heard to say That she did think that her own change would not be far off and that she could wish that the Author might preach her Funeral Sermon also and she then named the Text now insisted upon and said That she hoped that God would make her Funeral Sermon as profitable to other young Ones as the Former Sermon had been to her self Her Prognosticks were too true as to the shortness of the time which she lived after those words were spoken by her God grant that her hopes be not frustrated but that all her dying words may prove truely prophetical and especially those which related to the profitable success of the Sermon here before thee The Author hath done his part like himself as well in this as in the former Discourse Oh that he might find as diligent and as considering Readers as she was many excellent Considerations very subservient and conducing to thy Conviction and Salvation are proposed herein but all will be in vain and to no purpose without thine own Meditation and the Spirits application Concerning the Discourse I must say no more and I can do no less than to allude to the words of the Holy Ghost Eccl. 12.9 And moreover because the Preacher was wise therefore in this Discourse he hath Taught the People Knowledge and hath given good heed and sought and set in order many Arguments for thy preparing for Death and moreover for preferring of Death before Life The Lord convince thee by them and also carry thee comfortably through all Time to Eternity My Paper is short and my Time shorter I must therefore conclude for the Sermon is wholly Printed and stops only untill I have told thee that I am Thy Friend and Souls Servant S. Fairclough THE SAINTS DESIRE TO Be with Christ PHIL. I. 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better SAint Paul writing from Rome to the Church at Philippi in this Chapter acquaints them with his Bonds and other Discouragements which he tells them by their Prayers and the Assistance of the Spirit of Christ obtained thereby would turn to his Salvation and the furtherance of the Gospel and had already been attended with some considerable success in that kind V. 12 13 14. to fortifie and confirm the Professors of the Christian Faith and to propagate and promote it even in the Court of Caesar and in other places And if Christ might be magnified
than to abide in the flesh what is the difference between What we are and What we shall be that the expectation of the Latter should even make Death and dissolution desireable in order to it And here it will be necessary to consider 1. The Expression of our Felicity after death here used by the Apostle Being with Christ 2. In what respects 't is far better to Depart and be absent from the Body that we may be present with him 1. The Expression of our future blessedness by being with Christ Till we are present with the Lord and see him face to face and know as we are known we must content our selves with such Representations of it as God is pleas'd to reveal in his Word Such as our ignorant earthly minds can bear and may be most affected with But when once the vail of darkness is remov'd by death we shall see him as he is and all our Faculties be purified and inlarg'd and suited to the blessed company and work above We shall see him whom our Souls love and reap a Happiness by doing so bigger than our present Hopes and far above our highest thoughts about it For in his presence is fulness of Joy and at his right hand are Everlasting pleasures And can we imagine that a Blessedness purchas'd by infinite Merit contriv'd by infinite Wisdom and prepared by infinite Power and bestow'd at length through infinite Grace will in any thing be defective Doth not our Apostle describe it best by assuring us it cannot be describ'd that 't is greater than we ever saw beyond what we ever heard and far above what we can ever think Doth not the very hopes of seeing him revive our drooping hearts Oh what will be the Glory of that blessed sight is not the pledge and Assurance of it by the Harbinger of his holy Spirit exceeding comfortable Oh what transcendent Satisfaction will his presence give us We now comfort our selves with the Contemplation and one another with the Discourse of it and if our dark Faith and our faint Hopes can give us such a Joyful prospect of what shall be consequent to our dissolution into what ravishing Joy shall we enter by the open Vision and full enjoyment Is the encouragement and support of a Christian now from his presence with us here and will it not be far better to to be present with him above to be for ever with the Lord When we shall never question his Love to us or doubt of ours to him but have a full assurance of the one and a glorious exercise of the other And because our knowledge will be still encreasing our flames of Love shall still rise higher But what additional bliss the Soul shall have by the Resurrection of the body and the great Transactions of the Judgment Day we know but in part Blessed be God we know so much in this imperfect state enough to excite our desires and quicken our preparations and encourage our Perseverance And let 's bless him more that he hath prepared such a glory for us in the presence of the Redeemer as we cannot fully understand till death convey us to him But to be with Christ is not only eligible in it self as expressive of our future Glory but much rather to be desired if considered comparatively Therefore 2. In what respects is it preferrable to an abode in the flesh so as to make us rather choose to depart that we may be with him than continue in the Body and be absent from the Lord 1. Is not a state of Rest and Joy much more desireable than to be continually harrass'd with Trouble and Sorrow We ordinarily begin this World in Tears and solemnize our own Nativity as we do the Funerals of our dearest Friends as if we were then sensible of that universal Curse which hath afflicted Mankind since the first Transgression and had a clear prospect of the miseries we are born to and must afterward suffer And in all the Portions of our little time what and how many do we every where encounter How many things are there which we find are wanting both as to our Accomplishments and Enjoyments and how much are we disappointed if we look for satisfaction from the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life which saith the Apostle is all that is in the world 1 Joh. 2.16 Earthly Pleasures Wealth and Honour Do we not find that what doth rejoyce and please us one day appears with another Face when we view it next or if we think it would please us still 't is gone e're we are aware and with all our skill and power we cannot protract it's duration Do not evil accidents overtake us on a sudden and our most probable designs miscarry in the birth as if all things were governed by Chance and there were no Intelligent Director to oversee and regulate the Affairs of the World and the Actions and Conditions of men Insomuch that the Race is not to the swift nor the Battle to the strong nor Bread to the wise nor Riches to men of understanding nor Favour to men of skill but time and chance happens to them all Eccl. 11.9 Our Pleasures flatter and deceive us and our Afflictions trouble and disquiet us We are imposed upon by our Senses and misguided by our Passions cross'd in our Desires and frustrated in our Hopes griev'd by present evils or perplext with the sears of future and our Spirits for the most part discompos'd either by personal or relative Calamities Some rueful Spectacle is ever now and then presented before our Eyes some evil tidings or unpleasant sound doth grate our Ears We bewail the wants of the poor which we cannot supply or envy the prosperity of the Wicked which we cannot hinder or grieve at the Afflictions of the Righteous which we cannot remedy We have some suffering Friend with whom to sympathize some distressed or deceased Relation to lament some unhappiness of our own or of those we love to be concerned for Besides the Treachery and unfaithfulness of our seeming Friends the Hatred and Malice of our open Enemies the scandalous Actions of professing Christians their Divisions and Animosities among themselves and their despiteful usage and entertainment from the World the Complaints of the miserable the Groans of the Sick the Cries of the Oppressed and our own bodily infirmities weaknesses and pains c. enough one would think to make us desire to depart and render us extreamly willing to lay down and dye if God think sit that we may be at rest especially having the expectation of being for ever with the Lord. For otherwise even * M. Anton. lib. Arr. Epict. lib. 4. c. 10. Boâ—th Consol Philosâ—â— Heathens have spoken excellently of the Advantages of Death as the period of our present Sorrows 2. Is not a state of Holiness and Perfect purity far better than a Life of Temptation Corruption and Sin How are we now buffeted
by Satan by his Sinful suggestions his subtile devices and snares and his siery darts and by that means our Integrity assaulted our peace of Conscience unsetled and our Perseverance indangered Our Conflict with him is so difficult and the issue of the Battel as to what depends on us so very uncertain that we are often ready to throw down our Arms and give up all as Lost For though he be a conquer'd and baffled Adversary through the Victory which our Captain hath obtain'd against him yet we cannot now Triumph over him as hereafter we shall And is it not far better to abandon this world of which he is the God 1 Cor. 4.4 and get above that Air of which he is the Prince Eph. 2.2 that we may be with Christ Moreover how doth our depraved Nature continually cast forth mire and dirt what remaining Filthiness is there yet to be purg'd what powerful Lusts to be mortified and subdued which indispose us for Spiritual duties and derive a damp and deadness upon all our Religious Exercises which cool our Zeal and abate the servour of our Spirits in the service of our Redeemer which weaken our Considence in Prayer and shame our faces before the Lord in secret And is it not far better to part with the body of Flesh that thereby we may be rid of this body of sin and death Rom. 7.24 and be like our Saviour in perfect purity Do we not complain of our Ignorance of Divine Truths and the blessed Mysteries of the Gospel notwithstanding all our means of knowledge of our earthliness and unbelief of unbecoming Thoughts of God and holy things of proud Imaginations and carnal reasonings against his Works and Word of languishing and imperfect Graces to be recovered and perfected c And is it not better to be with Christ where that which is imperfect shall be done away Is not God dishonour'd and provok't by our frequent Omissions and slight Performances of Duty do we not resist and quench and sadden his Holy Spirit and are we not often griev'd by God's rebukes and frowns by the wounds and smart regrets of our own Conscience so that we remember God and are troubled and cry out in the bitterness of our Souls Hath he forgotten to be gracious and will he be merciful no more Are not our holy Purposes inconstant and our best Resolutions wavering and unstedy and very quickly very easily shatter'd by the breath of a small Temptation Have we not a constant Watch to keep over our Hearts and wayes a perpetual War to manage with the infernal Trinity the World the Flesh and the Devil and do we know his rage and malice and serpentine policy with the Multitude Strength and Power of his Temptations How often we have been foil'd already and how soon we we may be so again and shall we not be desirous of a sinless state in the presence of Christ where no Tempter no Temptation shall ever be admitted Yea had we no corruption or Sin of our own to be delivered from yet our concern at God's dishonour by the sins of others should make us willing to depart as much more desireable than our abode on earth Job 24.9 Which is given into the hands of the wicked and defiled by it's Inhabitants Isa 24.4 Where the very Air is infected with Oaths and Blasphemies prophane discourse and filthy talk Where the very Being of a God is question'd his Providence deny'd and his Authority mockt Where the Gospel of Christ is disparag'd and despised his Laws contradicted his Worship polluted his Institutions subverted and his holy Name made a cloak for Licentiousness and his faithful Servants trampl'd on by the soot of Pride and scorned by men at ease and forc't to own his Truth with the peril of their Lives And can we say It is good to be here or is it not not far better to forsake such a Place and Company that we may be with Christ 3. Let us consider what are the grounds and Principles by which a Christian is assured of this Blessedness in the presence of Christ after his dissolution This Inquiry is necessary because the discourse of our future bliss with Christ cannot be supposed to have any effect or influence upon us to make us desire our departure while we disbelieve or make a doubt of the matter I hope it were needless to prove the Possibility of the Souls existence in a state of separation from the Body Whether in the Body or out of the Body 2 Cor. 12.2 would not have been a doubt to this great Apostle if he could not possibly have liv'd but in it neither could he desire to depart that he might be with Christ if after his departure he should not be at all And supposing the existence of the Soul notwithstanding the dissolution of the Body we have as full an assurance as the nature of the thing is capable of that holy Souls shall be present with the Lord in glory when absent from the body 1 Thes 4.17 Joh. 17.24 Mat. 24.25 Rev. 3.22 c. But because the Text hath a special relation to Christ and to be with him is that Blessedness on the account whereof 't is desireable to depart I shall only mention his Death and Resurrection as a sufficient ground to confirm our Faith in the certainty of being with him and to excite our Desires of a departure in order to it 1. The Death of Christ He hath cancell'd the Hand-writing against us and put away Sin which is the sting of Death by the Death of the Cross Eph. 1.7 A way is now open for us into the holy of holies by his blood Heb. 10.19 not for our Prayers only but our Persons He hath wounded the Head of the old Serpent even by permitting him to bruise his Heel by crucifying his humane Nature which was only Vestigium Deitatis As Benaiah slew the Egyptian with his own Spear 2 Sam. 23.21 Having destroyed death and him that had the power of it and delivered those who were all their Life-time subject to bondage through the fear of death Heb. 2.15 He hath set his foot on the neck of this Adversary disarm'd it of it's weapon and rob'd it of it's sting and abolish't the ugliness and poyson of it He hath dismounted Hell and Damnation from behind him that sat on the Pale-horse Rev. 6.8 Whether the first Adam were buryed in Calvary where the second was crucified as some affirm I need not enquire we know that his Death was our Victory and his Cross may be our Triumph since the Devil is conquered and death Sanctified and the Grave perfum'd by his burial so that we need not be afraid to lodge in a Sepulchre where our Lord himself hath slept Yea since the effusion of his Blood there is an amiable ruddiness in the Face of Death for that which was the Instrument of Justice is now the messenger of Peace and Joy that which was the gate of Hell is the way
of a greater and better Hope Are they at all considerable and worthy our fear if put in the ballance with the promised Salvation to sollow on our departure Are they comparable in the Nature of Evil to the blessed Life they lead us to in the Nature of Good or comparable to the gripes of Conscience which unpardon'd Sinners meet with in Life and Death yea do we not think them greater and make them worse by our foolish fears than most do find them Is not the Sting of Death remov'd and the Heavenly Mansions prepar'd and promis'd And is it a reasonable Request that God should vary from his settled Course and sixed Law upon our sole Account Will nothing else content and please us but that Heaven must descend to Earth or we be in a moment translated thither to prevent our Pain and supersede the necessity of our Dissolution which we fear will be so attended As a proper Remedy in the present Case let us samiliarize the Thoughts of Death by frequent serious Meditation Let us view it oftner in our way that it may not meet us with so much Terror at our Journeys end Let us admit the Thoughts of a Departure with particular Application to our selves and improve the Funerals of our Friends as a seasonable memento that our own is near Let us lay open the Picture of Death naked to our view and urge it to our Hearts with the infinite Glory that immediately succeeds and take in the Death and Promise of Christ as our assurance of it And this will reconcile us more to a Departure and help to overcome our unreasonable fears of Pain and Sickness antecedent to it 3. The weakness and declension of our Love to Christ is another ground of our Unwillingness to depart and to be with him To a degenerate Soul that is destitute of the Love of Christ an Everlasting Distance would be more desireable than a Local Presence For that could not make him happy he would still be as far remov'd from Bliss by being with the Lord as the Centre of a Milstone in the bottom of the Sea would be from moisture But the Company and Converse of those we Love must needs be Eligible and the more we love them the stronger will still be our desire of being with them and the more impatient shall we be of every delay And is it not the sease and secret language of our Hearts Whom have we in Heaven but Christ And are we not desirous to forsake this Earth to enjoy his Presence Certainly the growth and strength and exercise of Holy Love to Christ would even render our Dissolution grateful in order to it and make our Hearts rejoyce at the approach of Death as it did old Jacob's to see the Waggons that are sent to fetch us to our beloved Jesus who is Lord of that Countrey whither we are going 4. Immoderate Love to this present World and our Temporal Life Were we crucified to fleshly Pleasures and sensual Joys to worldly Honours and earthly Riches we should less regret the Thoughts of Dying and more heartily desire to be with Christ For as the Pangs of Death are not ordinarily so violent and intolerable to one whose strength is wasted by a pining Sickness as to him who is Arrested suddenly in his full strength and vigour so will he more easily leave this World who for some time past hath been dying to it Were we more crucified to the World and the World to us by the Cross of Christ Gal. 6.14 we should not so affectionately hug the Carkass of a dead Enemy whom we our selves have crucified and slain but wait for the Time and long for the happy Hour when we shall leave it and be gone to our Eternal Rest Let us therefore make use of all the Christian methods of Mortification and look on this World as a strange place and our selves as Pilgrims and Strangers here as Exiles from our own Countrey and hastening to it And we cannot but wish our selves at home and desire a departure as necessary thereto and in the interim sigh to think of the vast disproportion and difference between the slender Entertainments of our Inn and the plentiful Provisions of our Father's House 5. Blotted Evidences and the want of Assurance concerning our Title to the Heavenly Glory And this we all pretend as the reason of our Unwillingness to Die A Sadducee is loth to die lest he should not be at all an Vnprepared Sinner for fear of being Miserable and a Doubting Christian because he knows not whether Happiness or Misery shall be his Portion after his Departure For were we well assured we should be with Christ for ever we could not be so backward and unwilling to be dissolv'd Had we any better grounds to hope that Sin was pardon'd and God our Covenant-Father that Heaven would be our Inheritance and we should not come into Condemnation we might rejoyce to think of our departure when and how it shall please God to call us When the Psalmist could say The Lord is my Shepherd he could boldly venture upon Death and walk through the Valley of Darkness without fear of evil Psal 23.4 6. But when Distress had brought his Sin to remembrance and made him doubt of his Condition he cries O spare me a little longer that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more seen Psal 39.13 Could you say with the Spouse of Christ in the Canticles My Beloved is mine and I am his Cant. 6.3 you might chearfully joyn your Amen when you hear the Spirit and the Bride say in the Revelations Come Lord Jesus come quickly Rev. 20.22 Therefore Try your State and Examine your selves a-fresh and endeavour with your utmost Care and Diligence to obtain a well grounded Assurance founded on the Testimony of a good Conscience by comparing the Promises of Remission and Eternal Life with the requisite Qualifications and Conditions of them For if our hearts condemn us not we shall have considence towards God 1 Joh. 3.21 even in a dying hour To which end let us endeavour by daily Acts of Repentance to obtain a daily Pardon Let us sum up our Accounts at the foot of every Page I mean reflect every Night on the Passages of the preceding Day that we may rest on our Beds with the sense of a daily Pardon and be as sit to die as we are to sleep 6. Our fond Affections to our Friends on Earth may make us loth to die though we hope to be with Christ in Heaven But is not his Bosom more desirable than the Arms and Embraces of our dearest Friends and nearest Relations Must we not abandon and hate them all for his sake Luke 14.26 i. e. use them as contemptible and hated things if they keep us from him Have we not solemnly engag'd to do so by our Covenant with God and shall we not stand to our Agreement Is there no difference between our Friends on Earth
Support a Christian under such sorrowsul Providences Of this I shall give this Threefold Account 1. That Love which a Christian bears unto God and Christ makes their Honour dearer unto him than any Interest of his own and consequently the advancing of that will sweeten all the Crosses that can oppress him When Jeptha's Victory over the Amonites had got him more than ordinary Honour this was so pleasing to his Daughter that she was willing to endure the harsh Effects of her Father's Vow Judg. 10.36 Such a temper there was in the Apostle when he could declare that his chief Expectation and Design was that Christ might be magnisied in his Body whether by Life or Death Phil. 1.20 2. A Christian knows that when God and Christ are glorified then the grand Purpose and End of God are attained We are sure that the blessed God cannot design any Gain or Prosit to himself in his Actings but his design is to get himself Glory and it must be very delightful unto God when this Councel of God is accomplish'd 3. A Christian obtains his own chief Request when God is glorified all his other Petitions are subordinate unto this He remembers that the Hallowing or Glorifying of God's Name stands in the very first place in that Exemplar Prayer which Christ hath left unto the Church and therefore when God doth glorifie himself though in a way that is grievous unto the Humane Nature yet a Christian Rejoyceth And now it were easie to draw many instructive Inferences from this Answer made by Christ As 1. It will follow from hence that the surprizing Death of the most holy and useful Persons Applicat is no Objection against the Providence and Government of God 'T was usual among the Heathens to Accuse their Gods yea some of 'em proceeded to deny the Existence and Providence of a Deity because some excellent and vertuous Persons were taken away by a surprizing Death The Epicurean who disputes against Providence thought his Queries unanswerable when he ask'd Why if there was a Providence the two brave Scipio's were Routed and Slain by the Carthaginians Cicer. de N. D. l. 3. with several such like Questions which were more tolerable in the Gentiles who knew not God but it is inexcusable in those who have the Oracles of God committed unto them to think or speak at such a rate 2. What adorable Wisdom belongs unto the blessed God who can glorifie himself by those very events that seem most dishonourable unto him 'T is observed by the Apostle that the foolishness of God is wiser than men 1 Cor. 1.25 i. e. In those very events which seem inconsistent with Wisdom wherein God seems to act foolishly yet in them he infinitely surpasses all the skill and Wisdom that are in men The Divine Wisdom can build Trophies upon those very places which seem to swallow it up The cutting off the natural Branches the casting away the Body of the Jewish Nation at the first view appear'd dishonourable unto the Truth and Fidelity of God but the consideration of this event draws from the Apostle that admiring Exclamation Rom. 11. v. 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 3. How vast is the distance between the Thoughts of God and those of Men Isa 55.8 The subject of the Text gives a memorable instance The Sisters of Lazarus might be apt to conclude that their Brothers Sickness and Death would be on various accounts dishonourable unto Christ 1. As they seemed to import Unkindness or Impotence in Christ who on this occasion carry'd it as if he either neglected his Friend or was unable to help him And 2. As they seem'd to argue the unprofitableness of Christs Service When Lazarus was Dead and laid in his Grave those who knew the Friendship of the Redeemer unto him would be tempted to speak on this manner How little advantage hath poor Lazarus got by his Acquaintance with and service unto Christ who if he had Power to Recover and prevent the Death of his Sick Friend has been guilty of strange unkindness But in the conclusion the Sickness and Death of Lazarus did bring a far greater Honour unto Christ than his recovering would have done That Miracle which was wrought in raising him from the Dead did exalt the Name of Christ and encreased the number of his Followers take heed therefore of leaning unto your own understanding but whenever the ways of God have a perplexing obscurity in them imitate the Practice of the Psalmist Psal 73.17 Go into the Sanctuary and view them in Scripture light this will discover a refreshing brightness in those Events which have the most horror in them 4. How real and great a difference doth Converting Grace make between a Christian and the unbelieving World The latter are wholly insensible unto the consideration us'd in the Text the glory of God and Christ have no efficacy to quiet and support their minds Arguments taken from their own Reputation or Interest have some force to moderate Sorrow and keep it from excess but the glorifying of God by their Crosses is an Argument which hath no strength with them whereas it hath the greatest with a Christian to whom nothing else need be represented Our Saviour well understood to whom he made the Answer in the Text they were his sincere Disciples who were capable of perceiving the force of this Consideration which afterward our Saviour repeats unto Martha v. 40. Thou shouldest see the glory of God Unto a Martha this would be a grateful and transporting spectacle when a Judas had far rather see thirty pieces of Silver than this glory of God Let us try our selves by this Rule this will discover our State and our Character and whether our Patience under Tryals be a Christian Grace or but a Philosophick Virtue this latter groweth from other Principles when therefore our Minds are quieted under dejecting Providences without having recourse unto the support of the Text 't is a sad evidence that we are alienated from the Life of God If the consideration of his Glory cannot over-ballance the Pain and Loss that we are expos'd to we are very unlike to our Redeemer whose troubled Soul was composed with this Thought that his Fathers Name would be glorified by his accurs'd Death John 12.27 28. 5. Let us whom this sorrowful occasion hath drawn together and all who but hear of it give diligence to correspond with the design that God hath in this severe Providence Surely he hath not made this breach only to open a passage unto Sorrow and Compassion much less to furnish us with new matter of discourse No he designs that we should glorifie him in our Hearts and Lives more than we have formerly done And this leads me unto that particular Application which I propounded to spend some time in and which will assist us in making that Improvement of this Providence as will bring glory unto God All that I