from the lusts and affections of human flesh and made stiff nature yield and submit her self to God Seing now That our merciful and faithful High-Priest hath given up his Innocent holy Soul an Offering and a Sacrifice for all our Sins by suffering that ignominious Death of the Cross and since he victoriously routed all the Forces and loosed all the pains of Death and of Hell triumphing over them at his Resurrection first and Ascension afterwards all true Christians may for that Cause readily bear a part in St. Paul's joyful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Song of Triumph composed it seems for those very solemn Festivals O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory And forasmuch as the Merits of Christ the second Adam are as mighty to save Mankind as the Transgression of the first was powerful to condemn we may repeat the same words again with comfort of hope and in full assurance of our Faith in a cheerful Eccho to that heavenly Voice Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them These Words do plainly contain two general Parts 1. The first Part is a perfect express and affirmative Proposition wherein is peremptorily asserted The blessed unalterable State of all those Men who depart hence in the Lord Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord or according to the Grammatical Order of the Words The dead which dye in the Lord are blessed 2. The Second general Part affords the strongest Reasons imaginable to prove and confirm the aforesaid Assertion This Confirmation thereof is twofold 1. From the best Authority that may be for 't is evidenced by the most infallible Testimony of the blessed Spirit full of Grace and of Truth 2. From Reason which is double The dead which die in the Lord are blessed 1. Because They rest from their Labours and 2. Because their Works do follow them For the clearer manifestation of the Truth now laid before us in the Method and Demonstration of the Spirit the Terms of the Proposition would be first of all explained in our Answers to these two Questions 1. What sort of men they be which the Spirit reckons to be dead in the Lord And 2. What is here understood by their being Blessed To the 1. Question What sort of Men they be which the Spirit reckons to be dead in the Lord Our Answer is briefly thus They are such Men as have not lived unto Themselves nor to the World but like Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth having their Conversations and Hearts in Heaven That have mortifyed the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts being renewed in the Spirit of their Mind That have truly repented of all their Sins and subdued all the proud high Thoughts of their carnal minds in Obedience to Christ That have resisted and repelled the Devil in all his Attempts either by secret Suggestions or with open Force and have likewise renounced and overcome the World with all its Adherents Pomps and Vanities Now this Victory which all true Christians must obtain both over Themselves the Devil and the World before they can dye in the Lord is not otherwise to be gained than by sincere unfeigned Repentance manifest in all the Duties of self-denyal and mortification a lively persevering Faith in Christ and a constant hearty though not perfect Obedience to Gods Holy Commandments And seeing the best Men living are not able to perform that intire and exact Obedience which the Law requires at their hands to make them appear justifyed in the sight of a righteous holy God being judged of him according to their own Works but unprofitable Servants whosoever thinks to depart this Life in Peace with God with consolation to themselves must loath detest and abhor their past Wickedness like pious Job in dust and ashes and Jâ—b â—â—â— with S. Paul Phil. 3.9 cast off the polluted rags of their own imperfect Righteousness according to the Law to put on Christ by Faith and be found at last in the white robes of his Righteousness that was made perfect through Sufferings And there is no doubt but those Men who thus live unto the Lord by faith and perseverance in good works even unto their end may be sure of dying so too because they have discharged their whole duty so far as to render it an acceptable service unto God by Jesus Christ for having so duly testified both Repentance towards God and Faith working by Love in our Lord Jesus Christ they become thereby justifyed and obtain their peace and Reconciliation with God Whereupon they may safely cast the Anchor of their Hope on the promises which God once made unto their Fathers and then depart in peace according to his word in full assurance of an happy Resurrection from the Dead And having this hope what shall hinder Men from spending all their time their care and pains in exerting vigorously the powers and faculties of their Souls to purifie themselves from all filthiness of the Flesh and of the World that so they may grow still in Grace perfecting Holiness in the fear of God As the chased Heart pants after the Water Brook so these refined Spirits being wearied and heavy laden with all the frailties of their own Flesh tempted by Satan hated and persecuted by the World pant and groan earnestly for deliverance breathe and are athirst for their appearing before the presence of God where Mortallity shall be swallowed up of Life To the second Question what is here understood by their being Blessed who die thus in the Lord You may take this very plain yet apposite Solution notwithstanding Mens opinions about their Felicity present or to come have been as different numerous and irrational as concerning their very Gods themselves because one doth naturally presuppose and infer the other Felicity being nothing else but a close intimate Fruition of God in the notion of an All sufficient Immense Being that is absolutely good of himself and in his Nature and relatively too being the Fountain of all the goodness and pefection that can be met with amongst all the Creatures and Workmanship of his hands yet according to the common use and import of the word there have been always two things implied First a deliverance from evil and then a possession of something which is good And with regard unto the many kinds of good or evil which may befal the Sons of Men either in this present Life or in that which is to come so their happiness or misery doth both encrease and multiply And because every Man is naturally compounded of the Flesh and Spirit of an immortal Soul united with an earthly fading Body which nevertheless are by Gods infinite Power made capable of Life Eternal in dispight of Death or Hell it self therefore he may be counted happy 1 In respect of this present world and 2 with relation to the next and
us That if in this Life only there is hope in Christ his faithful Disciples are the most miserable Creatures in the World So then all that happiness which the dead in the Lord enjoy or the Living hope for cannot possibly fall out in this World but is peculiar to the next For at present as King Solomon hath rightly found by good Experience All things here come alike for all men there is one Event happens indifferently both to the righteous and the wicked both to the clean and unclean to him that sacrificeth and him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an Oath Hereupon we may resolve with confidence That Almighty God righteous in all his ways and holy in all his Works hath appointed a certain day known best unto himself wherein he will judg the world in Righteousness and make such a notable Discrimination betwixt the righteous and the wicked that all sorts of Men will be forc'd some with gladness of heart others with shame and sorrow to confess Verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is God that judgeth the Earth And that Reward is no doubt an everlasting State of infinite incomprehensible Felicities which blessed and happy State consisteth as far as mortals are able to conceive it First in a full and certain deliverance for all kinds of evils and mischiefs whether it be Sins or Judgments whether Tribulations in this World or Hell torments in the next To the which very joyful deliverance there naturally succeeds in the second place a compleat endless enjoyment of all imaginable good of goodness it self being even the Beatifick Vision of God face to face in the highest Heavens where there is joy unspeakable and full of Glory The 1 thing implyed in our being for ever blessed in the day of our death is a deliverance from evil According as Men take their course at present either in Vice or Vertue so life or death eternal ineffable happiness or misery will be made their end hereafter And as it is one part of moral vertues to shun the fair and flattering appearances of Sin so to be void of Misery will be their first stept to future happiness and a deliverance out of the Chains of darkness the next way to the glorious Liberties of the Sons of God in their inheritance with the Saints in Light Now this deliverance whereby Sinners are pluckt as Firebrands out of devouring Flames will be so full and compleat as 't is possible For the dead in the Lord are absolutely freed 1 from the guilt the polution and dominion of all Sin that is the greatest and first evil that ever came into the World for every Creature of God is good and sin is naturally bad being directly repugnant both to the nature and attributes of a Just and Holy God that is the circumference of all conceivable goodness and the very Center of all happiness and perfection Whatsoever then deprives Men of Gods Blessing in his gracious and favourable countenance is an abominable evil and a dreadful curse to boot odious in the pure Eyes of God and most injurious to themselves And if the proper effect of Sin be nothing less then eternal death and misery by the rule of contraries a freedom from sin is a sure preparative to the future happiness of our Souls in everlasting Life For take away the true cause and its natural effect will presently fall of its own accord cease from Sin first and then be sure neither the Law nor Death nor Hell can have any power over you therefore eschew evil and be still doing that which is good so shall you be for ever blessed in the recompence of your deeds blessed as to the first part of your deliverance from that infectious evil of Sin and also from the second that is the sore evil of punishment so grievous indeed that no man could ever express the pains thereof but only those who feel them and have learned the woful experience of their past wickedness from their present miseries how lamentable a thing it is for men to serve their own lusts and pleasures when they should honour and obey their God It is one part of Gods happiness that he cannot sin and it 's no small portion of ours that after we have sinned we can find a way to escape the punishment It is Gods perfection that his nature is invulnerable and it is one degree towards our own that our wounds are capable of a cure Now the malady which all sinners contract upon themselves by their own defaults is a complicate disease made up of all evils in the world that is their guilt and the punishment thereof which last thing is really the lesser evil of the two because it is but Relatively such in respect of those persons upon whom it is inflicted For punishment absolutely consider'd is not evil but rather good because Christ himself would have been found guilty by suffering and so the Course of Sin must have proceeded in infinitum or without end Nay God the Father should have pass'd for the first Cause and Author of Sin because he hath ordained the evil of punishment making his only Son to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him Amos 3.6 The Prophet Amos demands therefore in this very Sense no doubt Is there evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it And God hath said of himself Jer. 45.7 by the mouth of another Prophet I form the Light and create Darkness I make Peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things And again 't is plainly spoke to the same effect that when God saw the Ninevites return from their evil ways or sinful courses Jonah 3. Non est per se malum sed malum videtur he compassionately repented of that evil or punishment which he before had threatned and he did it not upon which words 't is observed by St. Jerom that evil which God hath sometimes only threatned against his people or else brought actually to pass is not evil in its nature and of it self but meerly with regard unto those persons which feel the smart of it and undergo the pains and anguish Now this brief account of the matter in hand will be found most agreeable and consonant both to the nature of Almighty God and also to the general conceptions of mankind which are more visible in the common practise of the World then with any shew of reason to be denied For it is daily seen how much men do love and lust after notorious Crimes whereas they dread and abhor the punishments upon which ground I dare say the Scaffold and Gallows do conduce almost as much to the peace and good order of our state that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty as even Religion it self Because men for the most
A FUNERAL SERMON Upon the much lamented DEATH OF Col. Edward Cook Who died in LONDON Upon January the 29th and was Buried in the Chapple at HIGHNAM near GLOVCESTER on February the 2d 1683 4. By Edmond Thorne Master of Arts and Fellow of Oriel College in OXFORD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 1.21 LONDON Printed by T.B. for Walter Davies in Amen-Corner 1684. A FUNERAL SERMON Upon the much lamented DEATH of Collonel EDWARD COOK c. Revelations 14.13 I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them THE two several readings of this Text in our English Bibles and in the Common Service of our Church for the burial of the dead though different in words yet are the same in sense for let the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be spoken either in Composition or Disjunction place it either at the beginning or end of the proposition to which it most emphatically belongs nevertheless it will have the same signification or importance in the scope and meaning of the words And as for that other seeming difference one Translation of the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being that they may the other for they do rest from their Labours there is in truth no real difference at all but only so far as one and the same thing may be rightly stiled either a good effect or a prosperous event This Categorical Assertion that the dead are blessed proceeding from the command or impulse of the Spirit is the first thing which here offers it self and worthily bespeaks a serious observation which may the rather expect a favourable Audience as well for the great Improbability thereof whilst Men of all sorts have itching Ears after novelties as for the good tidings which it brings of eternal happiness for that is indeed the mark at which all Men level their affections though too too many do foolishly mistake and loose their aim Upon this account St. Paul may 't is like be much encountred as he was of old with some Stoicks and Epicureans of our evil days accused and condemned also for a Babler a Setter forth of strange Doctrine because he Preacheth unto them a state of Bliss and everlasting life in the very gates of Death for at first hearing 't is a Paradox incredible tedious and irksome to flesh and bloud contrary to the natural Sentiments of meer human Reason to the tendency of all Creatures and also to the received principles of true Philosophy for by those principles enforc'd with common experience it is every where observed that self preservation is the continual endeavour and one chief end of all things in the World nay the first principles of Religion it self do seem to countenance and abet the Charge for death was first of all threatned afterwards inflicted upon Adam Ro. 5.12 Gal. 3.13 and all his Off-spring as a punishment for their sin a curse only due because of their Transgression For as by one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin so Death passed upon all Men for that all had sinned and therefore 't is affirmed That Christ hath Redeemed us and all mankind from the curse of the Law being himself made a Curse for us And that was compleatly done when he fulfilled the Law by his hanging on a Tree being obedient unto Death even the shamful death of the Cross wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities In Missali Rom. The Romanists to my best remembrance are ingenious even to that impious contradiction of applauding Adams transgression for its happiness in disserving such a mighty Ransom that no Sacrifice but only the Son of God himself could any way redeem the Criminal and expiate for his gilt O faelix Culpa Quae talem ac tantum habere meruit Redemptorem It would surely better become us all sadly to bewail our selves and imprecate with indignation the malicious nature of the fact which hath deserved so great and severe a Judgment so terrible indeed that without infinite Mercy should have rendred all mankind obnoxious to the dismal Curse both of Temporal and Aeternal Death beyond all hopes of any mitigation and releases and certainly be the Scene laid where it will either in the bottomless pit or no lower then the Grave each part will be very tragical grievous and full of horrour there is no question to be made as Origen did once in favour of the Devils themselves concerning the perpetual and insufferable pains of Hell as comprizing all the torments which an Omnipotent angry God is able to bring about or immortal Souls can possibly sustain for in the Scripture language Jude 6. Mat. 25.41 46. Isaiah 33.14 it is the vengeance of Eternal Fire and Everlasting punishment prepared for the Devil and his Angels In this respect Almighty God is termed a consuming Fire and his Judgment upon all impenitent Sinners are set forth in those lively but fearful Emblems devouring Flames and everlasting Burnings nor yet is even the first kind of death however common both to the righteous and the wicked a thing much to be desired but rather avoided were it not for the blessed hope of a future enduring and more happy state for doubtless 't is a bitter Potion a Cup of Wrath being the wages of Sin sharper than a two edged Sword more piercing and corosive to the vital Spirits then Vinegar and Gall And although some heathens have been highly valued by themselves and others for their brutish and almost senseless contempt of Death running first out of their wits and afterwards of their lives yet Aristotle passed a better judgment on it more like a Philosopher and a sober Man when he termed it the frightfullest of all Evils or the King of Terrours And certainly it is no small trouble and vexation of heart when as Christ himself in the substance of our mortal flesh toucht with feeling of our Infirmities hath left it on Record as one part of those bitter Agonies which preceeded his Crucifixion for notwithstanding his perfect innocency being altogether free from sin yet he prayed earnestly three times in the same words That if it were possible that Cup might pass from him insomuch that nothing else but a filial obedience and submission to the good will of his Heavenly Father could make him drink it without reluctancies and regret from which passage two things are easily Collected 1 the certain truth of our Saviours manhood with the malignity of sin that could make so pure a soul exceeding sorrowful even to death atd 2 the truth and reality likewise of his Godhead for without all peradventures it was that alone which enabled him to resist and withstand all the Powers of darkness even to bloud that was it which baffled all the Temptations of the Devil and the World confuted all the oppositions raised by sense
hath alone declared and exhibited Remission of Sins by the Death and Passion of an Holy Jesus who gave his Life a Ransom and a Propitiation for the sins of the whole World This conclusion follows immediately thereupon that no moral Philosophers among the Gentiles with all their very good and commendable precepts nor any the straightest Sects amongst the Jews with all their external Rites and Ceremonies and their exactest skill and observance of the Mosaic Laws could therewith appear justified before God Ps 32.1 2. or be consequently Blessed for briefly those alone are truly Blessed whose Transgressions are forgiven whose Sins are cover'd and St. Paul interprets Almighty Gods non-imputation of our Iniquities Transgressions and Sins to be the ready way for Blessedness Rom. 4.7.3 20. the most effectual means of being accounted Righteous rather by Faith in Christ then by the deeds of the Law It appears now That every man at his very best Estate in this mortal Life is altogether Vanity no better to be accounted of in the greatest affluence of worldly Goods than the fading Grass or Flower of the Field For he withereth as Grass and like the Flower thereof He quickly falleth away for all his Wealth and Riches cannot possibly save him from Death or in the least redeem his miserable Soul from the destroying hand of Hell The Crown shall then be taken from the proud Monarchs Head his Honour laid in the Dust and his fatted Carcass lamentably fall a Prey to Putrefaction Stench and rottenness Then his feeble macerated Soul will be freed it 's true from the weight of his abominable Flesh but loaded still with his Transgressions For she must appear in that instantly before the Judgment Seat of God and receive her endless doom either of Bliss or misery proportionable to the Works done of her in the Body whether it be good or bad In that horrible Day of Retribution wherewithal may the Wise the Scribe and the Disputer of this World appear For their Wisdom and their Knowledg will be counted Madness their Laughter will be then exchanged into Mourning and their Mirth for Heaviness If they boast of Prophesies they shall fail If they plead their Skill in Tongues they shall cease and if Knowledg in all Arts and Sciences it shall vanish away But then you 'l ask what shall become of those Men at last which have lived zealous and strict Observers of Moral Precepts contained in the Law with a good Conscience both towards God and Man May not their good Lives in this present World assure them of Blessedness in the next Will not their Obedience to Gods Commands in the Law of Moses afford them a just and full Title to the Promise For however it be true Jam. 2.14 17. That Faith or Knowledg cannot save any Man without good Works being dead and alone yet when it is made perfect in bringing forth wholesom Fruits worthy of Repentance are not their Persons thereby justifyed in Gods Account and so blessed in their Deed Ro. 2 1 2. Jo. 3.17 For not the Hearers of the Law are just before God but the Doers of the Law shall be justifyed and Christ himself hath said That if ye know these things happy are ye if you do them where it seems Obedience joyned with Faith or Knowledg has the Promise of Eternal Felicity with God in the Kingdom of Heaven which Position is not so strang a thing as true being frequently delivered as well in the Gospel as in the Law For answer to this very plausible Objection we must needs take notice of a considerable difference between Legal and Evangelical Dispensations and that under the first nothing else but only perfect intire Obedience even to the smallest Jot or Tittle of the Law could ever acquit Men from the guilt of its Transgression or afterwards rescue them from the Curse Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the Words of this Law to do them And although St. Paul quotes the same Text as if it were of like force under the Gospel too however 't is observable that he makes use of it with a special Eye to Christ whose Obedience to the Law both Active in that he did the will of his Father without sin and likewise passive in suffering the full Viols of wrath on behalf of the Transgressors was most perfect and intire in every particular For which cause Men are now to be justifyed not by the Deeds of the Law but merely through free Grace and a lively Faith in Christ Jesus and their Faith must be shewed in their good Works not as the meritorious Cause of their Acceptance with God but as the genuine effects the signs and symptoms tokens and witnesses of the sincerity of their hearts and the Truth of their Belief So that you see Faith in Christ and Obedience to Moral Precepts are both of them indispensable Duties incumbent upon all Christians even under this Oeconomy of the Gospel according to the most rigid Interpretation of the Law that is enlarged by Christ unto the very Thoughts and Intentions of our Hearts with the same Curse retained still because of its Transgression whether in thought word or deed howbeit there is reserved a full Treasure of Grace not in the merits of Saints or Angels but in Christ's absolute Righteousness neither at Rome but in the Court of Heaven to perfect and fill up our inevitable Failings and Imperfections For according to that Parable in the 17th of St. Luke's Gospel the professed Servants of Christ are strictly bound for to perform all his Commandements and yet having done at last all they can they must never think of pleading their own Deserts but with meekness and lowliness of mind acknowledg themselves Vnprofitable Servants And whatsoever becomes the final recompense of Reward be sure to give Almighty God All the Praise and Glory that God in all things may be glorifyed through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our Answer to the Question hath been hitherto Negative by shewing That many things which are good enough and convenient in their kind but not absolutely such being Evil in excess are therefore ineffectual means for compassing that happy Design which all men would gladly propose unto themselves Now 't is very certain That our adequate real and lasting Happiness consisteth not in those mundane transitory Goods that we possess Because this World and all that is in it shall one day be dissolved whereas our Souls are of more enduring substance to continue for ever Upon which ground the Poet hath truly said ultima semper Expect anda dies homini est dicique beatus Ante obitum Nemo supremaque funera debet The Roman Oratour is quoted also by Lactantius who concurs with him in the same Opinion * In hac vita virtutis praemium nullum est sed praemium virtutis post moâ—tem mors non extinguit Hominem sed ad praemia virtutis admittit Sen. de Vit. Beat. nay St. Paul himself hath told
any more then with his own good will So that he which first gave the Soul by the might and power of his bare word may so take it again whensoever he shall please and we need not fear the good will of our Heavenly Father to give his obedient Children the Kingdom prepared for them from the beginning of the World 1 Cor. 6.20 Eph. 1.14 For his infinite Goodness Mercy Love and Justice too stand all of them engaged for instating of holy Souls in their purchased everlasting Habitations For we truly suppose Divine Justice to be fully satisfied by that All-sufficient Sacrifice which our Saviour made upon the Cross for the Redemption of Mankind If it were not so then our Preaching would be vain our Faith were also vain we should be still in our Sins without Hope and without God in the World But if divine Justice were duely satisfied and when Christ made his Innocent soul an Offering for sin by which means he perfected for ever them that are sanctified certainly there now remains no more sacrifice nor any future satisfaction to be made for sin for it is not possible with God or any good and honest Men to demand further satisfaction after all their Debts are paid And St. Paul hath affirmed that God in Christ hath forgiven us all our Trespasses Colos 2.13 14. blotting out the Hand writing that was against us and hath takâ—n it out of the way nailing it unto his Cross Moreover it is not in mans power to satisfie God in any measure for the least offence or violation of his Holiness because the demerit of every sin is infinite being a trespass against Almighty God that is infinite in Goodness and in Truth in Righteousness and Holiness of purer Eyes then to behold Evil or loâ—k upon our iniquities Hab. 1.13 but with Indignation and Wrath. For this cause what man soever goeth hence without Repentance for his part and forgivness upon Gods as he hath liv'd without Fear so shall he dye without Favour and void of remedy for Purgatory flames will never extinguish those of Hell where the Worm dyeth not and the Fire is not quencht The time would fail me to tell at large how strangely the Papists have outstript their forerunners the Scribes and Pharisees nay Pagans themselves in folly 't is clear enough how basely they have adulterated the pure Doctrine and Commandments of God with filthy dross of their own absurd inventions Magisterially imposed on the credulous multitude as Articles of their Creed thus crucifying Christ afresh and putting once more the Lord of Glory to Reproach and Blasphemy Let it suffice in short that all the Doctrines which they have taught and obtruded on the World concerning those imaginary pains of Purgatory do make void in great measure Christs real sufferings upon the Cross their propitiatory sacrifice of the Mass with Prayers and Oblations for Souls aggrieved with Purgatory torments do very much diminish and vilifie the price of our Saviours Blood and lastly pardons and indulgences for all Trespasses and Sins past present and to come granted mercinarily from the Popes Chair do throw down the Mercy-seat and exalt the Man of sin to the Throne of God All this Abomination of Desolation craftily brought into that Holy place the Church or Temple of God rightly weighed in the Ballance of the Sanctuary will prove lighter than Vanity worse then nothing full fraught with Falshoods Contradictions and Blasphemies against God even to their denying the Lord that bought them and the bringing down upon their own Heads very swift and sure destruction That Vexata Questio or Ball of Contention I mean Christs descent into Hell stifly bandied on all sides without any final determination whether it were only Vertual as some Learned men would have it or also â—ersonal real and local as others may be well spared and let alone for once 'T is enough to my purpose that he which descended was the same that ascended the man Christ Jesus and that he was made perfect through sufferings which in truth were all finisht when he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost For he then led Captivity captive in a pompous Triumph spoyling Principalities and Powers and making a shew of them openly And seeing now that Christians are like faithful Souldiers to follow the Captain of their Salvation by treading in the same steps at least in a spiritual sense if they are made conformable to Christ in his death by mortifying their sins or crucifying their Flesh with its Affections and Lusts and also partake with him in the power of his Resurrection by rising again to newness of Life in a constant course of Grace and Holiness to their end what shall hinder them from Ascending triumphantly to the same Kingdom and seat of Glory For be sure the Almighty God is more just and righteous then to demand any thing more of sincere Converts in requital for their Trespasses and Sins then what Christ once paid when he was delivered for all our offences and was raised again for our justification Rom. 4.25 Eccl. 9.10 5.6 To conclude the point in this difficult case betwixt an offended God and poor guilty Sinners how can they possibly relieve either themselves or others For there is no work nor device nor knowledg nor wisdom in the Grave whether then goest therefore whatsoever thy hand findeth to do be sedulous and careful in doing it with all thy might 2 Cor. 6.2 Jo. 9.4 Ps 115.17 For the dead have no more a Reward nor any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the Sun But now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation before Night cometh when no man can work For the dead praise not the Lord neither any that go down into silence To day then if you will hear the voice of God and live harden not your hearts but repent in time and return unto the Lord with Oyl in your Lamps before the doors are shut Isa 55. Seek the Lord whilst be may be found call upon him whilst he is near Come now to Christ in this time of Visitation labouring and heavy laden Mat. 11.29 with broken contrite Hearts and having on the clean Wedding garment that is the Righteousness of Saints that when the Bridgroom shall appear ye may go into the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and there take refreshment or find rest unto your Souls For those men who so live in the true faith and fear of God shall die with comfort and be really blessed in their end Because thâ—y shall rest from all their labours Rom. 8.2 being free both from the law of sin and of death which can have no more dominion over them for the guilt of sin as also the condemning power of the Law will be quite and clean abolisht by the righteousness of Christ Rev. 21.4 which by faith is imputed unto them and abundantly rewarded as if it were their
own All tears will then be wiped from their eyes there will be no more death neither sorrow nor crying nor any more pain for the righteous men are in peace at the last being taken away from all Evil that is to come either of Sin or Judgment Death is then swallowed up in Victory the powers of Hell are all vanquisht and overcome and albeit they cease from all their Labours yet their works do follow them For amongst their Acquaintance of all sorts Enemys or Friends their Memories will survive their persons and preserve the Fruits of their own hands to praise them in the Gates And above all God Almighty will then call to Remembrance all their good works and recompence them for all their pains with full wages and above their deserts in those Heavenly Mansions where they shall for ever celebrate his holy Name with Hallilujahs or Songs of Triumph Honour Praise and Glory to Father Son and Holy Ghost one God World without end ALthough I have already wearied your Attention with a tedious very jejune Discourse and may therefore presume on your forgiveness of the Sermon for want of its Application Yet I will rather trespass more upon your patience then expect your pardon For however I am conscious of many Failings in this weak performance yet I don't fear the Censure nor seek the savour of this illnatur'd captious World but am sure of comfort and satisfaction to my self in that I have done it in Obedience to some irresistable Commands with singleness of heart as unto God and out of good will to the vindication of the Truth Everlasting Happiness consisting in a full immediate fruition of Almighty God the Cause and Author of every good and perfect Gift is a subject so very suitable and pleasing to the natural desires and propensities of our immortal Souls that whoever stupidly neglect the Message and like the deaf Adder stop their dull Ears to those ravishing Charms will prove themselves to be men of little understanding nothing better nay worse than the Beasts that perish And because ordinary prudence will engage Men upon the use of those means which appear most likely for obtaining of their ends whilst every one at his departure out of this World earnestly seeks for an Assurance of being ever Blessed in the next I see no cause to fear a kind reception of wholsom Exhortations to the practice of a good life at present so long as it is accounted a reviving Cordial at the hour of Death and the day of Judgment For I suppose there is no man of sufficient sense and reason to believe the Joys of Heaven or the wofull conditions of damned Spirits in Hell and is perswaded also that both sorts are Eternally decreed by the most Righteous Judge of all the Earth to be the certain Wages of all those good or evil Deeds which are transacted in the Flesh but he could wish with all his heart like Balaam to dye the death of the Righteous and that his latter end may be like his But alas what can such faint wishes avail without answerable Endeavours in the progress of our Lives For whoever yet won the prize before he set out upon the Race or else hath tired and sluggishly thrown himself down upon the way What Souldier yet hath gain'd the Victory with honour and good success which hath not held out and maintained the Fight unto the last Now that all Christians might happily finish the Race here set before us and accomplish their designs in that Holy War obtaining a Brabeum or Crown of Righteousness for all their pains and everlasting Rest after all their Travails in the ways of Holiness and Righteousness the Scripture abounds with Precepts and Examples Admonitions Promises and Threats for that purpose And seeing the Precepts of the Gospel seem difficult and grievous to the men of this World that walk by sight more than Faith and are sooner carried away with some Visible Example then with any troublesome Commands I cannot think of a readier way to beget their good liking to the Christian Precepts then by giving them some instance of their practice nor can I possibly remember for several years a better Example that what lies now before us Wherefore that we may take this Worthy persons Upright Life as a pattern for the well-framing of our own I most humbly beseech your leave to present some Lineaments thereof in this rude imperfect draught such as it is for want of a more skilful Hand that would polish and compleat the piece If Hercules could be seen at full stature by the demensions of his Foot and Historians are not thought much the worse for describing vast Empires with all their Periods in a few sheets 'T is hop'd you 'l pardon the Composer of these Lines though very short of that ample subject whereunto they do pretend And also that you will supply those defects you cannot choose but meet with from your own better knowledge or at least with a charitable interpretation of his audacious but well intended enterprize And if you please to cast a favourable Eye 't is believ'd the full measure of a Man will soon appear in the Perspective-glass that is here put into your hands 'T is true the person whose Funeral we are come hither to celebrate was enriched with many rare Accomplishments not easie to be discern'd by vulgar Eyes and hardly to be matched by those of greater advantages and higher stations in the World nor can they be set forth to their highest pitch by those mean parts that have undertook so difficult a task For which cause they must needs appear like the Stars twinkling and obscure by reason of their distance or like to the Sun it self when it strikes the silly Gezar blind with too much Light Nevertheless we may chance make some Discoveries by tracing out the course of his life in a few passages thereof in regard both of Himself his Neighbour and his God As for his own Person his Body was of a temper and constitution most healthy vigorous and active the strength whereof was not so much the good effect of Nature though descended from the Loins of Honourable and Virtuous Ancestours as the product of his better temper'd Mind which govern'd as Queen Regent of that little World and manfully subdu'd all his carnal Affections and Lusts to move in their proper Sphere and serve like Handmaidens unto Reason The sensitive Appetites that Beast with many Heads could never so much prevail as to dismount his Reason from the Saddle or so ride the Man as it often does in some others till they become like Brutes for Intemperance and Lust Now 't is truly said Animus cujusque is est quisque The Mind is indeed and effect the man because it is that alone which makes an essential difference betwixt him and the Beasts of the Field which being void of Reason do live and Act without knowledge or discretion and are uncapable of Commendation or
thereupon Mans happiness may be considered either as it is Temporal or Eternal Those Temporal and Earthly Blessings which are but equivocally good or profitable unto Men that are Creatures made for Eternity Philosophers have drawn out upon their Ethick Schems into the distinct parts of bona Animi bona Corporis bona Fortunae the first rank of these erroneously stiled Beatitudes are properly seated in the Soul the second pertain especially to the Body but the last are the poor Largesses of blind chance the treacherous Donatives of deceitful unconstant Fortune They are all summed up in three words Honour Profit and Pleasure which like Cyphers can signifie nothing by themselves and yet will enhanse our Accounts at the General Audit according as they have been superadded for the good use and improvement of better Talents 1 John 2.16 17. but after all St. John the Divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath set a true Gloss upon that false Text by comprizing all that is in the World under the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life And then for the confusion of all vain Philosophers and wretched Miscreants who fix their affections and all their happiness on such pittiful empty things He concludes they be not of the Father but of the World that passeth away together with all the Vanities and Lusts thereof And what Men having but so much reason as to know themselves and their eternal Interests can be so very Brutish in the great business of Religion or so careless of their own precious and immortal Souls as to set up such gross and ridiculous Idols in their Hearts to fall down worship and serve the Creature instead of their Creatour that is God Blessed for ever Do not those unreasonable Men exceedingly deceive their own Souls who trust in their uncertain Riches and foolishly vaunt in those very things that perish even in their use and will certainly come to naught Are they not the most absurd Idolaters in the World that make their own Belly their God Who sacrifice to their own proud imaginations and ambitiously court other folks for the vanishing breath of popular applause Are any Men so mad or beside themselves as they be who count their happiness more or less by the numbers of their Flocks and Heards their large Fields and full Coffers Or as others who forsake the living and only true God and place all their Devotion upon the Service of their own Luxurious Tables and that for no better end but only the pampering of those fleshly Lusts that war against their Souls Believe it such worldly carnal Wisdom is but Foolishness with God it is not from above but from beneath it is earthly sensual devillish absurd and irrational in its nature destructive and pernicious in its end Eccles 5. For in short Riches may be kept unto the owners hurt because they can yield no real content or satisfaction but are the cause of much trouble and vexation of spirit both in their persuit and fruition too For as they will not suffer the greedy wretch to sleep or take his rest so they will certainly one time or other make themselves wings and fly away What confidence also can be reasonably fixed upon the strongest Arm of Human Flesh What true joy what comfort can arise from Gorgeous Apparel even to Crowns and Scepters Purple Robes and precious Jewels with a numerous train of obsequious hungry Servants wherein lies the delight and pleasure of the riotous Livers which are truely burdens to the Common-wealth and also to themselves being loaden with their Sins and miseries at once having their Brains besotted and their whole bodies infected with disease and surfeit from the spoils of nature and fopperies of art For when those voluptuaries have industriously ransackt all the Elements for the nourishment of their lusts having drawn up several courses in rank and file and made their assaults against the works of nature and of Art with fierce and keen Appetites rushing like wild Horses into the Battle and engaging all before them like those old Andebatae blindfold without either fear or wit it hath often come to pass the most unsatiable Assailants have been wounded shamefully with their own Weapons The preserving remedies of Health and Life were turned into the most unhappy Instruments of Sickness unto Death in spight of Nature and of God himself their Tables were become snares unto them and those very things that should have been for their wealth were unnaturally misused for the sad occasions of their fall There now remains of all things under the Sun but only one Blessing more that hath any pretence at all to the present or future happiness of Mankind namely the rare endowments both of intellectual and moral habits which at once enrich and adorn our Souls These were the best means whereby the Philosophers ever dreamt of attaining happiness with all their pains and studies But though knowledge and morality be two Pearls of no small price even with Christians and are both difficult in their acquisitions requiring the most accurate endeavours of our Hearts and Heads and also very profitable in their use being the most likely means for gaining that happiness which is in truth our end yet these things are insufficient of themselves till quickned by the warm influences of Gods Holy Spirit For the subtlest Polititians the most profound Scholars in the World could never come up to the knowledge of the Truth or of Gods reconciling the World unto himself by Jesus Christ with all their otherwise excellent abilities void of Divine Grace for the Gentiles or meerly natural men 1 Cor. 2.14 receive not those deep things of God which are foolishness unto them neither can they know them because they are spiritually discerned For the same reason the most learned Rabbies amongst the Jews also lived ignorant of those obscure mysteries which lay hid in Christ notwithstanding that unto them were committed the first written Elements of Religion those choice Oracles of God for had they known the great mystery of Godliness in Christ Jesus they would not have crucified the Lord of Life and Glory Wherefore it is manifest that neither Jews nor Gentiles remaining still ignorant of Christ and his Gospel could be made wise unto Salvation For Acts 3. 1 Cor. 2.8 Joh. 17.3 Lu. 10.22 This indeed is Life Eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent And no Man knoweth who the Son is but the Father and who the Father is but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him From hence 't is plain That Mans eternal Redemption from the jaws of death his peace and reconciliation with God in Christ Jesus could never have been discovered by the wise Men or Princes of this World that come to naught but meerly by the demonstration of the Spirit and Power of God as it is revealed in the Gospel And since the Gospel