purchase it and when he had done to apply it to those for whom it was purchas'd If a rich Man buys an Estate for a Beggar the Beggar may justly call it his for he that had right and means and power and ability to buy it bought it for his Use. 2. Theirs by possession taken already in their Name The same Jesus that purchas'd this Kingdom for them he it is that hath taken possession of this Kingdom for them and in their Name For in my Father's house are many mansions If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you saith Christ John XIV 2. All the Christian World knows that Christ ascended into Heaven There he actually enjoys the Kingdom of Glory which he keeps for the humble He is the great Trustee that secures and manages that vast Estate for their Use So that it may juâ—â—ly be call'd theirs because of the forerunner Jesus who is enter'd into Heaven being made a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck as it is said Heb. VI. 20. There he appears for them as their Advocate and keeps their places for them against they come thither As a Guardian takes care and possession of the Orphan's Estate till the Pupil comes to Age so Christ takes possession of this Kingdom with an intent to deliver it up to the humble when they come in the Unity of the Faith unto a perfect Man in Christ Jesus to the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. IV. 13. 3. Theirs by promise for so we read Matth. XVIII 3 4. Except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Whosoever shall humble himself as this little Child the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven He hath promis'd it who is able to give it even God who cannot be worse than his word The humble Man may depend upon this Promise more than he can upon Bonds and Bills and Securities that Men can give him of an Estate in the World God cannot fail him he cannot disappoint him He not only will not but cannot as the Apostle saith He cannot lye Tit. I. 2. because that would imply an imperfection If a Man of Honour doth faithfully promise his Neighbour a living a place or an office in his gift the Man makes bold to call it his for he hath confidence in his honesty and word knowing him to be a Person that stands upon his credit and reputation and scorns to do any thing that 's base and mean How much more then may the humble Soul call the Kingdom of Glory hers since the God the Fountain of Truth and Truth it self hath peremptorily said it shall fall to her share and though such Persons do not actually as yet enjoy it yet they shall enjoy it as surely as if they did already walk through that Jerusalem and view the Towers and Bullworks and all because they have to deal with a God who changes not Mal. III. 6. 4. Theirs by way of earnest In humane Contracts men give earnest and that makes the Bargain sure and tho' the Covenant God makes with Men is not such a formal Contract as is betwixt Man and Man in buying and selling yet some resemblance there is in that God a most bountifull Master is willing to give earnest to the humble Soul to assure her that this Kingdom of Glory shall be hers This earnest is his Spirit which is therefore call'd The earnest of our future inheritance Eph I. 14. This Spirit is no fancy but a real thing which the humble Soul feels as much as other Men do the moving of the Wind by the effects This Spirit of God is discover'd by its operations which are kindly and great and powerfull and make a very wonderfull alteration in the Soul for the better This Spirit works Grace and that Grace is the earnest of Glory III. How and in what manner a Title to this Kingdom makes the poor in Spirit or the Humble blessed In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men that may rejoyce much or who have very great reason to rejoyce or as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men not subject to Death or Corruption the word answers to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imports a perfection or confluence of all good things The Isle of Cyprus was anciently call'd Macaria because of the mighty affluence and abundance of all good things that wer to be had there which was the cause why the Romans seiz'd it for their use But what is all this to the Kingdom of Heaven to the Kingdom of Grace and Glory Where all things that can make a Man truly and eternally happy do concur where there is no want of any thing that Reason can desire and all things that fill and satisfie the Soul are present where God gives himself the perfection of Beauty and Wisdom and Greatness and Love and Delight which gift as it is begun in the Kingdom of Grace so it shall be perfected in the Kingdom of Glory The humble Man is blessed 1. Blessed in himself 2. Blessed in the sight of God 3. Blessed in the Eyes of all good Men 4. blessed in the midst of all his outward Miseries 5. Blessed in the opinion of all Reprobates 6. Blessed because he hath a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven 1. Blessed in himself He hath reason to rejoice His humility gives him that content and secret Satisfaction that it may justly be call'd the Philosopher's-stone Content which surpasses all the Satisfaction that the luxurious the proud the voluptuous the sensual the carnal part of Mankind boasts of He hath Riches within and Pleasures within and a new Name within him even the white Stone which no Man knows save he who receives it Nor is he subject to corruption for when he dies he dies into an immortal life There is nothing of him dies but the garment of flesh nothing of him corrupts but the Clay and Dust he wears about him the earthly Tabernacle in which his Soul that noble Inhabitant lived decays and moulders and falls but his Soul at his Death is born again gets new life new light new irradiations nay and his Body must at last follow his Soul to Glory and therefore blessed blessed in himself for he feels that Bliss within which all the Gold of Ophir cannot purchase So true is that saying of our Saviour He that believes in me shall never die Joh. XI 26. 2. He is blessed in the sight of God God counts him so God looks upon him as happy and he must needs be so whom God judges to be so God cannot be mistaken He cannot be out in his Verdict He sees his heart sees the lovely the amiable the charming Vertue he is most enamour'd withal a Vertue very agreeable to his Divine Nature a Vertue which very much resembles the
And that matter relating to this Bliss and Happiness of the Soul are matters of the greatest moment and consequence will appear from the following Particulars 1. Name me any one Concern in the whole World that is so great or of that Moment The Prosperity of a Kingdom is a great Concern but you cannot reap half the Comfort and satisfaction from that Prosperity which you can do from the Bliss and Happiness of your Souls The welfare of a Family is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is much greater for the want of the former may be sweetned by Arguments but the want of the other cannot be excused or qualified by all the Logick in the World Health is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is greater the former makes you robust and fit to bear Burthens but the latter enables you to conquer Sin to overcome Temptations and to vanquish Lusts and vain Desires A livelihood or competency in the World is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is greater The former indeed may give you credit and reputation among your Neighbours but the other is a motive to God and his holy Angels to respect and honour you A good Name is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is greater for if you be deprived of the former you are still in a capacity of being loved of God and enjoying the light of his Favour but wanting the other God can have no kind thoughts no favourable inclinations towards you 2. Matters which concern the bliss and happiness of your Souls relate to Eternity and therefore must needs be the weightiest Concern whatever is in this World fades perishes and dies Nothing is firm or stable or permanent and therefore what lasts but for a few moments cannot be comparable in Excellency to that which lasts for ever The happiness we speak of hath indeed a beginning but knows no ending it is a Bliss which doth not fade with your Death nor expire when the Breath goes out of your Nostrils but a happiness which as the end of your days qualifies you for the embraces of Angels and these deliver you into the Arms and Care and Protection of an Omnipotent God who will love you with an everlasting Love and whereas your Comforts here were in the Nature of dim-burning Candles he 'll increase that shine into a light equal to that of the Sun and the light of that Sun he will multiply seven times and make it as the light of the seven days in the first Creation The things which are seen are all Temporal saith the Apostle 2 Cor. IV. 18. but the things which are not seen and such are our Souls and the Bliss they are design'd for they are Etergal and then it is soon decided which are the weightiest Concerns the Temporal or Eternal 3. The very Heathen have look'd upon the things belonging to the Bliss of their Souls as things of the greatest moment It is enough to astonish the considerate Reader what Pagans and Infidels have done for their Bliss more than they would have done for Father and Mother for Brethren and Sisters for Wife and Children for Women and Concubines It 's granted that with all this they have retain'd their customary Sins and Vices yet the Punishments and Acts of Justice and Revenge or Cruelty rather they have sometimes inflicted upon themselves Punishments they would not have undergone for the dearest Friends they had sufficiently shew in what esteem the things belonging to the Bliss of their Souls were with them Time was when they sacrificed their dearest Children unto Moloch and caus'd their Sons and Daughters to pass through the Fire to the Honour of that God or Devil And at this day in Japan and China some starving themselves to Death others shutting themselves up in Caves and Dens and receiving Air thro' some hollow Canes or Pipes others charging themselves with heavy Iron-Chains others putting themselves to most uneasie and tormenting Postures and continuing in them a considerable time and all this for the Bliss of their Souls is an Argument that they look upon the Concerns relating to the Bliss of their Souls as Concerns of the greatest weight and moment 4. The wisest Men in all Ages have thought so Who wiser than Solomon He hath God's own Testimony that none was so wise before him and none should be so wise after him It 's true in his Old-age be plaid the fool but while his Wisdom was vigorous and in its Prime and Glory he was fully perswaded that these Concerns were of the greatest Importance and made it his business to draw others into the same Belief and what is the Book of Proverbs and the other of Ecclesiastes but a Demonstration of this Truth Nay men of all Conditions have been of this Judgment how different soever in other matters If Divines and Preachers of the Word only had spread this Doctrine the profaner Sort would have imagin'd that it was Interest which made us cry up these Concerns as the weightiest of all but men of divers Callings Employments and Professions have judg'd so David a King Sergius Paulus a Governour of a Province Cornelius a Captain the Souldiers that addressed themselves to John the Baptist Zenas a Lawyer Luke a Physician Lydia a Purple-seller Simon a Tanner Stephanas a Jaylour Aquila and Priscilla Tent-makers Zachaeus a Publican Nicodemus a Ruler Joseph a Rich man Lazarus a Beggar and when Men of various Professions do all concurr in this Assertion their Testimony deserves to be valued 5. Even wicked Men either in some great Affliction or upon their Death-beds do look upon the things belonging to the Bliss of their Souls as the greatest and their Testimony is the more considerable because it is press'd and forc'd out of them as it were Take them in their natural bent and inclination or in their Prosperity they profess nothing less than this but at such times by a secret instinct or strong impulse which they are not able to conquer they are compell'd to acknowledge so much A wicked Man ordinarily is a profess'd Enemy of this Truth viz. that the Concerns relating to the Bliss of his Soul are of any great importance for he labours hard and doth what he can to ruine the Happiness of his Soul but upon a Sick-bed or Death-bed sometimes he is not able to smother this Truth and now you hear him cry out O how have I hated Instruction how hath my Heart despised Reproof O that I had obeyed the Voice of my Teachers O that I had inclined mine Ear to instruction O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Now he would give all he is worth for the Bliss of his Soul This was the Sense of Manasseh when the Iron enter'd into his Soul This was the Judgment of the Prodigal when he was denied so much as the Husks that the Swine did feed on this is the Sentiment of thousands
The ablest Physicians were consulted and they consulted and advised upon his case and attended him with great diligence and tenderness but without success On Sunday Morning January 31st he was worse than ever he had been insomuch that those about him thought him dying about eleven in the Morning I was then at Westminster-Abbey and was sent for out of the Church to pray with him I found him very sensible I asked him if he were sensible that he was dying he replied that he was I asked him if he were also resigned and willing to die he replied very readily that he was willing to die I asked him if he had considered the words Heb. II. 14 15 and whether or not he found himself delivered from all the slavish fear of death he replied very quick looking up to Heaven that he was delivered from that fear He was in an excellent frame and joyned with the Prayers which the Church appoints on such occasions with great expressions of Devotion Sometime after this I found him delirous and not long after speechless After some few hours Groans he expired viz. at Eight a Clock that Evening being then about the 56th year of his Age His Body was opened and it appeared quickly what was the cause of his Death Both his Ureters were stopped One of them was stopped as a Bottle with a Cork with a Stone that entered the top of the Ureter with a sharp end the upper part of which was thick and much too big to enter any farther The other was stopped also with Stones of much less firmness and consistence than the other His Body was interred on Feb. 4. in the Abbey Church of Westminster with great Solemnity and a vast number of Attendants Several of the Lords the Bishops very many of the most eminent Clergy about the City and an incredible number of other Persons were present on that occasion And it must be said that the Church of Westminster shewed the great kindness they had for him by the great care they took of his very decent and solemn Interment Before I proceed any farther I shall reflect upon his undaunted Courage when Death look'd him in the face 'T is certain that there were a great many considerations that might have disposed him to desire a longer life at that time I well knew his circumstances and those of his Family and how desirable his life was upon many accounts But yet this pious man was not only willing to die but was entirely delivered from the fear of it and did with great cheatfulness and alacrity receive the tidings and sentence of Death St. Hierom tells that Hilarion just when he was expiring spake these words Egredere quid times Egredere anima mea quid dubitas Septuaginta propè annis servisti Christo mortem times i. e. Go out O my Soul why dost thou fear Why dost thou doubt Thou hast served Christ near seventy years and art thou afraid to dye There was it seems some fear and some doubt in Hilarion This Servant of God was by his Grace delivered intirely from all such fear or doubt I say by the Grace of God he was delivered and special Grace it was Very good Persons when they come to die have their doubts and their great fears too It is an easie thing to discourse wisely and Philosophically of the Contempt of Death but they which do so have not the same Presence of Mind when Death looks them in the face We have a famous story to this purpose concerning the Father of Clinias who was wont to despise Death in his Health and was in great dread of it when it drew near to him as Plato relates it It must be confessed that this good Man had taken the right course to be freed from the fear of Death by leading a very painfull and laborious a very usefull and charitable a very devout and pious Life His Life was very painfull and laborious Few men ever took the Pains which he did He was mortified to all worldly Pleasures and sensual Satisfactions and used himself to great Labours and most exemplary Diligence There is nothing renders us more afraid to die than a soft and voluptuous Life Oh Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth in rest in his possessions Ecclus XLI 1. We have an example of this in Agag He came delicately and was pinguissimus tremens i. e. very fat and trembling and no wonder then that he should comâ—â—â—in of the bitterness of death For so certainly he does however our Interpreters come to render his words Death must be bitter where voluptuousness makes life sweet His Life was also very usefull and very charitable Multitudes they were that received relief and advantage by him And there is a particular promise to such men that God will strengthen them upon the bed of languishing and make their bed in their sickness Psal. XLI 3. Our Saviour wouâ—d have his followers pray that their flight might not be in the Winter or on the Sabbath One of the Fathers accommodates the words to my present purpose Happy is that man that does not when he leaves this World lead an unfruitfull life nor yet an idle one The Winter is the barren time of the year and the Sabbath was a time not of Labour but of Rest. His Life was also very devout and pious of which more afterward I mention only in this place his very devout and frequent receiving the Holy Communion which is a great Preparative to a comfortable Death I will repeat the Doctor 's own Words which many years ago fell from him to his hearers at the Savoy and which were verified in him many years after A worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper says he is the best preparative for death No man can die uncomfortably that makes it his business as often as he comes to this Table to receive worthily Death cannot hurt him c. for by his worthy receiving he hath laid up a good foundation for the time to come c. I shall now more particularly give the Character of this excellent Person and the kindness I had for him shall not prevail with me to exceed in his commendation First I shall begin with his Religion and Piety towards God of which he was a very conspicuous Example His Religion had its full power and force upon him it transform'd him into the image and likeness of God It hath always been esteemed safe advice imitare eum quem colimus i. e. to imitate him whom we worship On this account some of the Heathens excused their vices because their Poets and men of the Stage represented their Gods as having practised the same things He worshipped the true and living God the holy and mercifull the God of truth and righteousness and not only the greatest and most powerfull but the best of Beings He was a follower of God and his Divine Image was fairly
love and affection to the World c. may be gone that God would arise and that these Enemies may be scatter'd they use means they enquire what they must do to mortify these unruly desires they deny themselves they fast they are angry with these Corruptions yet ever and anon before they are aware they fall and imprudently yield to Temptations of this nature they would feign be Masters of those vertues accomplishments and perfections which did shine so bright in the primitive Saints but cannot as yet arrive to that excellent Temper for this they mourn and are dejected and sorrow seizes upon their hearts and minds yet still blessed are these mourners 5. Such as mourn because their stay in this World is long because they are kept out of Heaven and from the perfect enjoyment of God because they are obliged to continue in this barren Wilderness of the World where they must see their God dishonoured his Name profaned his Creatures abused his Ordinances derided his Providences disregarded his Precepts slighted his Promises undervalued his Threatnings scorned and Charity grow cold and Iniquity abound This draws from them David's complaint Wo is me that I must dwell in Mesech and have my habitation in the Tents of Kedar Ps. CXX 5. Indeed such mourners are but few most Men being desirous to enjoy the World as long as they can yet some there are that have made their Calling and Election sure and long to be gone long to be dissolved and to be with Christ and to be cloath'd upon with their House from Heaven long to join the Quire of Angels long to be freed from this Earthly Tabernacle and all this upon the excellent Principle of the love of God not from impatience under their pain and sickness or frowns of the World or their mean condition here but because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts and because they are kept from enjoying their desire because the amorous Needle is with-held from clinging to the beloved Magnet they mourn blessed mourning But what You 'll say do no mourners under Temporal losses and crosses come into the Number of these blessed Men I answer yes 1. If the cause for which and in which they suffer losses of their Goods or Friends be great and noble if they sulfer for the Gospel's sake upon the Account of Righteousness and a good Conscience in this case their mourning under their Temporal losses may intitle them to blessedness provided that their mourning be mingled with faith and hope and a holy self-resignation and that they mourn more for the wickedness of the Person who are the instruments of their Persecution than for the want of their Corn and Wine and Oil and the Garlicks and Onions of Egypt 2. If under their Temporal losses they mourn chiefly for their sins which have both caused and deserved these sufferings Sorrow barely for Temporal losses and for being deprived of the satisfactions of the flesh cannot be reconciled to that Spiritual life the Gospel presses something there must be to sweeten that sour Sop as it stands alone it comes under the notion of sorrow of the World and that we are told works death 2 Cor. VII 10. And consequently happiness cannot be the fruit or effect of it The Soul therefore that mourns under such outward Calamities must look off from the Calamity to the cause of it or Sin which hath procured it and that sanctifies the sorrow and makes the mourner blessed Yet to prevent mistakes I must necessarily add these following cautions 1. We are not to think that in order to arrive to this Blessedness a Man or Woman must do nothing but mourn There is a time for every thing and there are other things to be done besides mourning even the particular Duties and Vertues and Self-denials required and commanded in this Chapter so that when it is said here blessed are they that mourn the meaning is blessed are they that do so as they have occasion to reflect either upon the Spiritual Evils which are present or upon the Spiritual Blessings that are absent from them It 's enough that there be a disposition or aptitude to mourn which exerts it self whenever any opportunity offers it self to consider and to think of such Objects as deserve and require our mourning else Spiritual Joy would be no Duty and if our lives were to be fill'd with mourning the Apostle's Exhortation had been useless Phil. IV. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord always i. e. upon all occasions and again I say Rejoyce Neither 2. Must the stress be laid upon the bare mourning as if the mourning and weeping and sadness alone were pleasing to God and groans were the only livery of Heaven but this mourning must be in order to a greater end even to establish our Souls in the love of God to strengthen our graces to corroborate our repentance and aversion from sin and to purifie our outward and inward Man more and more and therefore it is emphatically call'd sorrowing to Repentance 2 Cor. VII 9. Nor 3. Are we to think that a certain degree of mourning is always necessary even mourning expressed in so much weeping and sorrowing as we find in other Christians of our Acquaintance All men's conditions are not alike a Person that hath been profane and lewd hath reason to mourn more than he whose Sins have been of a lesser size not but that it was commendable to weep bitterly even for infirmities but the obligation of mourning is greater certainly upon a rapacious Publican than upon the pious Couple Zacharias and Elizabeth Besides all men's Constitutions are not alike some being of that tender Complexion that the least touch or sense of things makes them weep others of a hardier make who may be astonish'd and concern'd at great things but cannot make that outward shew of mourning that others can It 's enough therefore that the sorrow be rational and that the mind be so affected with the object that causes or deserves mourning as to work in us a willingness to mourn more if we could and an indignation against the Spiritual Evils which are present and an earnest longing and endeavour after the Spiritual Blessings which are absent and we stand in need of Having set down these cautions I proceed to the second Part to acquaint you II. Wherein the Blessedness of such mourners consists 1. This mourning is the Character of Saints Ezek. IX 4. 2 Cor. XII 21. Why what Blessedness is there in this will some say How no Blessedness in being a Saint what 's the reason then that Kings and Princes wish they were so what 's the reason that most wicked Men when they come to die would fain be of that Number Nay what 's the reason that in your Creed you believe a Communion of Saints Is it not in this Creed that you profess the greatest Blessings that were ever bestow'd upon the Children of Men And if the Communion of Saints be one must it
of the mourning makes the difference you have mourn'd for such a sin but how Is the sin gone is it vanish'd is it dead is it mortified is it likely to die upon this mourning do you act like Men that are resolv'd to subdue and master it I grant some sins are not so easily vanquish'd as others are The secret sins of the Soul such as pride passion vanity of mind love of the World backwardness to self-denial irresoluteness impatience peevishness c. and such are not easily taken notice of without a diligent search are not so soon beaten down as gross outward sins such as drunkenness keeping ill company swearing cursing fornication extortion c. yet let the conquest be more facile or more difficult if you mourn for such a sin some good effect will appear Doth your mourning put you in a striving or wrestling condition do you swim against the stream do you cut the hair as soon as it grows again do you give the sin no quarter when you see it appear again do you allow the dangerous Guest no harbour do you hugg it embrace it caress it no more If your mourning produces not such effects as these it 's nought and they are counterfeit Tears you shed If your mourning does not make you groan and long to be rid of your sins if it doth not make you watchfull against Temptations if it doth not make you cry out with the Apostle Who shall deliver me from the body of this death If you smile upon these Children of Hell again after you have mourned if you grow careless and admit them into your Bosom again you betray the falshood and hypocrisie of your sorrow and God will answer you as he did the Jews Zech. VII 5. When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month did you at all fast unto me even unto me If your mourning be right it will make you hunger and breath after God God's favour will be better than life to you you will look upon sin as the greatest evil you will be griev'd for the sins of others and for the effects of other Men's sins under which good Men groan you will run to Heaven with Prayers and Confessions in your Mouths if you have wronged any Man you will make him restitution or satisfaction It will moderate your sorrow for losses Temporal prevent needless sorrows in a word it will work an Universal Reformation II. Carnal mirth is not such a happiness as some imagine Paul in his Chains is happier than Dives in his Purple Mourners are far happier Men in Christ's Account and Peter in a Prison is in a better State than Herod on a Throne By carnal Mirth I do not mean a natural Joy or Complectional which is a modest well-composed rejoycing in the Blessings God bestows upon us and our Neighbours this is both lawfull and a Duty but by carnal Mirth I mean sinfull Mirth such as rejoycing in iniquity laughing at our Neighbour's infirmities being glad at the misfortunes of our fellow Christians making a mock of offending God taking pleasure in the follies and extravagancies of others being merry with ill company breaking Jests upon Religion and being pleased and tickled with any thing that favours of wantonness lightness frothiness of mind abusing of our Neighbours Voluptuousness or unlawfull Sports and Recreations or Luxury c. Such merry Men the World counts happy strange Happiness which God frowns upon and is abomination in his purer Eyes such Mirth makes a David weep and what good Man can forbear mourning that beholds Men making sport with Fire-brands The mourners at this are infinitely happier than such Players and though he can rejoyce in little but Trifles may for a while pass for a blessed Man among Fools and Sots and Persons as very Beasts as himself yet Men whose Senses are exercised to distinguish betwixt Good and Evil must ever look upon him as a very miserable Man for his Joys are false deluding Joys which will end in sorrow and such sorrow as will grieve all the Veins of his Heart To such Joy a Man may truly say as Solomon did Thou art mad or rather as Christ Luke VI. 25. Woe to you that laugh now for you shall mourn and weep as if he had said Woe to you for you have your reward you desired a merry Life and you have it but when that is done you must give God leave to fulfil his Threatnings to be as good as his word and to bring that black and dismal Cloud upon you which fell upon and crusht the jolly Man in the Gospel that cloathed himself in Purple and far'd deliciously every Day Son remember that in thy life time thou receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luke XVI 25. III. But these are not the Men that I am at present concern'd to speak to They are the mourners I am to comfort and therefore step forth ye mourners of Sion you that either mourn for your own sins or for the sins of the Nation or for the sins of your wicked Neighbours and Relatives or mourn for the absence of God's joyfull Communications or mourn under your Corruptions and Temptations because you cannot yet totally subdue them or mourn because your Graces are not stronger or because you must sojourn so long in this Valley of Tears Fear not ye of little Faith for ye shall be comforted The Son of God assures you of it Believe not a lying Devil that would break your Confidence and dissuade you from laying hold on this gracious Promise It must stand it must come to pass Comfort is promised you and Comfort shall be your Portion Search your Hearts consult your Experience and see what God hath done for you already Look back and reflect what Comforts you have felt formerly what Joys in the midst of Tears what refreshments in your Sorrows what Gales of Peace what Characters of God's Goodness what Marks of his Favour These are Item's that a more plentifull Harvest is to follow Verily verily I say unto you that you shall weep and lament but the World shall rejoyce and you shall be sorrowfull but your sorrow shall be turned into joy saith Christ John XVI 20 And he adds immediately this Comparison A Woman when she is in Travail hath sorrow because her hour is come but assoon as she is deliver'd of the Child she remembers no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born into the World This admirably expresses both the Nature of your sorrow for sin and the Nature of your Joy which will be the Consequence of it A Woman in Travail hath pain so your mourning for sin or for the absence of Spiritual blessings causes throes and pangs and anguish but your sorrow is usefull and profitable As a Woman in Travail brings forth a Man-child that 's the effect or result of her sorrow so your mourning produces the Fruits of
Proportionable The Solitary good Man saves himself but he that is Religious in Society is in a way of saving both himself and those that see him In so wicked an Age as this is good Men had need shew themselves to the World to do something toward the Amendment and Reformation of it And without doubt some good they do and though it is to be wisht that the World were better yet that it is not worse they are beholding to such Examples which shews that some good is done by their Living and Conversing in Babylon III. Were I to speak to Princes to the Nobles to the Gentry of the Nation to Magistrates Ministers and to men in Authority this should be my Text. All such Persons who make some Figure in the World are like a City set upon a Hill to such the nether World the Plebeians the Commonalty and the Ordinary sort of People look up Their Example they take Notice of and these Examples they Ordinarily follow I would tell them that as God hath raised them above the Common level so God expects they should be eminent in Goodness and be as much above all Vice as they are above the common Rank I would tell them that their Sins are spreading and like the Plague destroy whole Cities and Towns I would tell them that in this Case they are more Barbarous than the Tyrants Mankind cries out upon for they lay several mens Consciences waste by their ill Practices which is more than sacking Towns and burning Cities All ye that are advanced to some Government and surely Parents and Masters of Families are so Behold your selves in this Glass according as your Examples are so will your Inferiours be I do not say it is so always but this is ordinarily the Effect of your Behaviour As you are so will your Children and Servants be at least there is Reason to think that so they will be for your Example strangely influences those that are under your Charge and Protection If you sanctify the Lords day both in Publick and Private by letting the Word of God dwell richly among you in all Wisdom Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in your Hearts unto the Lord your Inferiours in time its possible would do so too If you are enemies to Pride to Intemperance to Drunkenness to Swearing there is hopes that your Inferiours will learn of you If you are Grave and Modest and curb your Passions and deny your selves for Heaven and Gods Service it is not improbable that your Inferiours will be wrought upon to make you their Patterns We see they do so in evil Things why should we despair of their following you in that which is good At least you have this Satisfaction that by your Example you shew'd them the Way to the Land which flows with Milk and Honey You will have this Comfort that your Example did not lead them into the Chambers of Death nor make them fling their immortal Souls away All ye that are Professours of Religion that pretend to be holier than ordinary the Eyes of the World will be upon you The least false step you make will be taken notice of See then that you walk Circumspectly as wise Men redeeming the Time because the days are Evil. IV. Such of you whom the Spirit of God hath made free from the Law of Sin you are not only a City set upon a Hill but behold you are come into mount Sion to the heavenly Jerusalem unto the City of the living God and to the innumerable company of Angels as the Apostle saith Heb. XII 18. Behold God hath called you to be Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem called you to be Companions of Angels called you to dwell on the Hill of God on the everlasting Hill How high is your Calling How excellent your Vocation How great the dignity God intends you Your conversation is to be in Heaven and will you mind the Trifles of the Flesh and so mind them as to set your Affections upon them Will you who are Born new Born I mean to an everlasting Kingdom will you be fond of this pitiful transitory World you that are intended for the highest Imployment will you do as the Children of the World do They are from Beneath you are from Above Do Eagles catch Flies and you that are intended to soar above the Clouds will you disgrace your Pedigree and and set your Affections on things Below God intends you as Conquerours and will you suffer your selves to fall a Prey to filthy Temptation and expose your selves to the Contempt and Scorn of the Fowler who Flatters you till he draws you into the Net and then Punishes you for being taken Behold the glorious City the City of our God the City set upon a Hill indeed the City which hath Foundations whose builder and maker is God! Do you hope to be Members of that Community and will you disparage your selves by Actions that will certainly exclude you from that Republick At the Gates of it no unclean Thing shall enter A clean Heart and a clean Life must give you jus Givitatis make you free Denisons of that City and will not you prepare your selves for the Honour of that Naturalization Except you imitate the Manners of the Citizens above you can never hope to be Partners with them in their Glory and what are their Manners Why They love Love is their Trade their Employment their Business their Pleasure their Delight their Satisfaction They love nothing but God or if they love any Thing besides him they love it for his Sake and love God in it Love is their Principle their End their Mark and their Entertainment Love is their Meat and Drink and their Recreation They love Dearly they love Constantly they love Eternally God is love and he dwells in them and they in God To be like them see that ye love him that hath begotten you again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently See that your love be without dissimulation See that ye love not in Word nor in Tongue but indeed and in truth and when the Thred of your Life shall break that Love which dwelt in you will exalt you to the Regions of perfect Love where the Inhabitants speak of Love and think of Love and sing of Love and tell one another how Christ hath loved them and wash'd them from their Sins with his own Blood To him be Glory forever Amen FINIS * Anno 1641. †So call'ed as some think from Bacchi ara Vid. Misson's Trav. Tom. 1. Lett. 6 * An. 1665. †The Rectory of Doulton in Devonshire ‖ An 1669. * Charles Lodowick Elector Palatine †An 1671. * Plin. l. 1. ep 12. * Varen descript Japon †The learned W. Sclater us'd to call this Distemper to which he himself was much subject Studiosorum flagellum * Before this last Illness of which he died he fell in the year 1678 into along and languishing Sickness occasioned through his indefatigable Application to the Duties and Functions of his Ministry It brought him well nigh to his Grave The good Man ascribed his Recovery under God to the tender Care of his vertuous Wife with whom he always liv'd in great Concord and Union and to the Prayers of pious People put up to Heaven on his behalf as appears from some devout Meditations which he compos'd on that Subject and which have been found since his Decease among his Papers In Thanksgiving to God for his Preservation at that time which he himself look'd on as next to miraculous he kept a Day Monthly in his Family ever after and preach'd yearly a Commemoration Sermon to his beloved Congregation at the Savoy wherein he rehearsed God's Mereies to him and excited others to hope and trust in him in the like Extremities He also distributed largely to the Poor upon that Day This was his constant Method to treasure up God's Providences to him and to sanctifie and improve them not only to his own Use but to the Use and Benefit of others * Hieron vit Hilarion * Platon Axiochus * Vulg. lat in locum †Theophylact on Matth. 24. Crucific Jesus p. 557. †Socrat. Apolog. * Jul. Celsus de vit J. Caesaris * He commenc'd Doctor at Cambridge in the Year 1681. This is mention'd here it having thro'inadvertency been omitted in its proper place Vid. Grot in Loc. Vid. Cornel à Lap. in Luc. G. Leti Vid. Cornel. à Lap. in Jacobi 1. v. ult Pliny