we prefer Death to Birth and consequently to Life Since even Solomon himself ch 9. v. 4 5. Doth plainly give the preference to Life for a living Dog is better says he than a Dead Lion c. Answ It is not strange or uncommon for one and the same thing to come under different considerations at some times And when it does so it may be very proper accordingly to deduce quite different yea and opposite conclusions from thence And therefore it needs not seem strange that Solomon speaks of Life in ch 9. in another Dialect than he does here in my Text Since he reflects here and there upon the same things under quite different considerations For 1. in ch 9. he compares Life and Death in their own natures and therefore hath all the reason in the world to give the preference to Life as being so illustrious an effect of divine Wisdom and Power But here Solomon doth not compare these Opposites in themselves but in an accidental consideration only with reference to the troubles and miseries our Lives here are exposed to by reason of sin And therefore makes such an Inference hence as we have explained 2. Solomon in ch 9. does not only consider Life in it self but under the Notion also of being the way and means thorow the right improvement whereof men may attain to happiness hereafter Whereas those that are dead are put out of capacity of doing any thing further for their Soul For says he to him that is joyned to the living there is hope but the dead have no more portion in any thing that is done under the Sun Which therefore seems to be nothing else but that which he more clearly unfolds v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might because there is no work c. But now in this place Solomon speaks of life abstracting from its relation and use this way and considers it meerly in reference to its miseries and troubles And therefore his Inference here is nothing but what natively results from such a consideration thereof 3. Solomon in the 9th ch seems to me to speak of Life and Death with respect to wicked men chiefly if not only And in this respect it is certain Life is far preferable to Death since as he says v. 10. There is no preparation work to be done after death for the good of the Soul whereas whilst there is life there is still hope that wicked men may repent and reform before it be too late as he intimates v. 4. and according to the old saying Sperandum est vivis non est spes ulla sepultis But now as was said before it seems not obscurely to be hinted here that we are to understand the words of my Text as refering if not only yet specially to the Saints who thorow grace and holiness have attained worthily to deserve a good name And this leads me to a Transition from the first to the second and as I judge more native Meaning of the words which I lay down to be distinctly considered in the following Thesis Second Proposition The Day of Death is far preferable to the Day of ones Birth with respect to the Saints when the parallel is not only in reference to this Life but inclusive also of the Future I don't say that at all times and upon all accounts the day of Death is actually to be prefered to the day of Birth and to Life Since sometimes it may be our duty to chuse Life before Death For even Paul himself after a struggle with himself on this account whether he should prefer death or life Phil. 1. 23. 24. having impartially weighed the reasons on both sides concludes v. 25. That considering the usefulness of his life to the Church on earth it was for the present to be preferred to death Neither do I say here that the Saints attain always to prefer death to life No alas there are but few comparatively that get this length Even an Hezekiah will weep sâ—re at the thoughts of death and chatter like a crane or swallow and mourn as a dove on that account Isa 38. 3 14. And a David also will on this account at sometimes be made to cry out Psal 39. 13. O spare me that I may recover strength c. But that which I assert here in the Proposition laid down is That the Death of a Saint is preferable to his Birth because of the misery of this present Life and the happiness of the Life to come For if as we shewed before death be preferable to birth meerly because the comforts of this life are so over-ballanced and weighed down by the sorrows of time Then surely the conclusion is much more strong when we consider the glory and happiness of the future Life and lay it also in the scale over and above For who then can withstand the force of this Truth that the entry upon happiness which is by Death is much to be preferred to the entry upon a miserable life here which is by Birth And as this Proposition so expresly Asserted in the Text thus explained seems so clear in it self So a more distinct consideration of things will put it beyond all further doubt and controversy And therefore I came now to Prove the Point further Which being done I shall proceed to Improve it The Proof And now to Prove this Point I shall endeavour to do it by shewing the preferableness of the one to the other upon the account given and that in two things viz. 1. By explaining the Terms here used of Birth and Death 2. By considering more directly the Present and Future Life that these two Periods of Birth and Death enter the Saints upon And first I shall briefly reflect upon the Terms of Birth and Death And here as in many other things I find a lameness and defectiveness in Words by which the true Notions of Things are often clouded and almost lost And therefore tho' I take not upon me to rectifie these terms as vulgarly used Yet the present subject necessarily leads me to some rectification of the notions of the things themselves which we have it may be from education too easily imbibê°d For if in ordinary converse it be a Rule quod loquendum cum Vulgo I think we may well subjoyn in serious Inquiries into things quod sentiendum cum Dâ—ctis And tho' I pretend not to such rectified notions of things as others may have reacht yet since this falls in my way it may not be amiss to consider what estimate we are to make of Birth and Death with respect to a Saint And 1 as to Birth tho' we must consider a Saint as all other men to be made up of a Soul and Body as his two constituent parts Yet it is the Soul which chiefly denominates the man Whence it is that in Scripture our bodies are called our Tents or Tabernacles wherein we lodge for a time so that tho' the Body be
indeed an Essential part of man yet it is the less principal part since the Soul can act and live as well out of it as in it And therefore it is from the Original of the Soul that the birth of man is chiefly to be reckoned rather than from the formation of the body Now if accordingly we compute the birth of a Saint we are led to a Threefold Birth which results from the Consideration The 1st is by Creation when the Soul of Man is at first created and placed in the body Which indeed carries along with it the formation of the body also for we can't conceive the body to be formed as to its due perfection with respect to union with the Soul till the moment of the Souls infusion therein if with the Schools I may be admitted to use such a word who tell us of the Soul that creando infunditur insundendo creatur But that the Soul derives its original from Gods immediate creating it and not ex traduce I speak with all deference to learned and worthy Persons of another judgment may seem plain if it were but from that one Scripture Zech. 12. 1. especially if we duely consider its connexion with what precedes I say then that the first birth of man to speak properly is to be reckoned from the union of the Soul and body in the womb which as to priority of time seems to be instantaneously upon the Creation of the Soul rather than from the Egress of the child from thence But since we are most taken with what is most sensible to us I shall not contend about words if the thing be understood Especially seeing the Scripture is so calculated in its Expressions as to use words commonly in use understood by the lowest form of Christians Only howsoever we use words I am confident to say that the Birth of Man may very well be reckoned from the Vnion of Soul and Body in the womb For whatever hath these two constituent parts of man can be assign'd to no other class but that of Mankind The 2. Birth of Man according to the Soul is in Regeneration or Conversion Of which Christ speaking Joh. 3. Calls it the birth of a man from above v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 3. Birth is in Glorification And this admits of a Twofold Period viz. 1. As to the Soul only at Death when it separates from the Body and becomes from that moment perfectly freed from sin and misery and admitted to the enjoyment of true happiness above For the Souls of just persons even then are said to be made perfect Heb. 12. 23. 2. As to Soul and Body when re-united at the Resurrection which is called the Adoption and Redemption of the Body Rom. 8. 23. Now from all this we may arrive to make some tolerable Estimate of that which we commonly call the Birth and Death of a Saint For 1. that which we commonly call Birth is nothing else but mans Egress from the womb and his Ingress into the Society of Mortals here Now what is this but a kind of Death since we being our selves Mortal see and converse only with Mortal Objects as all things external here are Whence it is that all mans time on earth even from the Evening of the Worlds Creation to the Morning of the Resurrection is esteemed but as one Night as is imported Psal 49. 14. When the Resurrection is Emphatically Termed the Morning both with respect to the night of time preceding and the day of eternity about to succeed And hence also our Life on earth is called a Sleep wherein we rather dream of things than really apprehend them and out of which we are first thorowly awaked by Death We may see this plainly hinted Psal 17. 15. Whereas 2. that which we call commonly Death is nothing else but the unpinning our mortal Tabernacles and the manumitting us into the immortal Regions of Light Love and Liberty Of which the great Saints in Scripture speak no otherwise than in the familiar Dialect of putting off a suit of old Apparrel for new and more glorious ones Thus Paul calls it a being unclothed as to the Body and clothed upon by having Mortality swallowed up of Life 2 Cor. 5. 4. And Peter calls it a putting off this his Tabernacle 2 Eph. 1. 14. Again 2 let us consider Death the right notion whereof will become more facile to our apprehensions by what we have said of Life All therefore that I shall say of it is that besides that which we commonly call so there is a Twofold Death in a Spiritual sense which falls under consideration here The 1. is a Death in Sin which is entered into at our Birth into the world For then it is that we come to enter upon the Stage of a sinful world We are shapen in sin and conceived in iniquity And our Birth into the world is rather a kind of Death than Life since we are exposed thereby to sinning and suffering to vanity and vexation of Spirit The 2. is a Death to Sin which is entered upon at the dissolution of the tye between Soul and body upon which account it is called Death But tho' it disunite soul and body for a time yet it may rather be called the Birth of the Soul in as far as it translates it from all manner of sin and misery It is true indeed as was said before Regeneration is a kind of new Birth to the Soul in as far as it delivers us from the death of sin in a great measure Yet since that is but a deliverance in part therefore it is by death only that we come totally to dye to sin Tho' I grant that this death to sin comes to be more illustriously display'd at the great period of the Resurrection When the last enemy Death comes to be Totally destroyed and swallowed up in Victory 1 Cor. 15. 54. So that from hence we may see that our Birth into this world is a Death in Sin whereas our Dissolution or the separation of soul and body is properly a Death to Sin or a manumission and freedom given us both from Sin and misery Wherefore from all that hath been said in the Premises as to both these Terms of Birth and Death we may not injustly invert the notion of them with respect to the Saints and say That the day of our Birth into this world was the day of our Death in sin ignorance vanity and misery Whereas the day of our Death may be justly reputed to be the day of our Birth into the world of purity knowledge light and rest But 2dly I come now to consider what that thing we call Life is which the two Periods of Birth and Death enter us upon and with respect to which we can only pass a right judgement of the preferableness of either of them And truely as to this matter we are very much in the dark taking that to be life which hath little more of
it than the very shew and appearance Life is a more noble thing than we imagin when considered in its right notion and idea We talk of a vegetative and sensitive Life But if in Philosophy these must needs creep in as distinct species thereof Yet Divinity will refine our thoughts of it a little further For since Life is one of the glorious Attributes of the supreme Being who designs himself oft-times the Living God we must needs conceive somthing high and sublime therein And as God is the fountain of all Life to others so it is only in him that We live So that to speak properly we have no life in our selves our breath being in our nostrils and we depending every moment on God for new supplies thereof Therefore we find it the Property of God only to have Life in him-self yea and such a Property as is only communicable to Christ Joh. 5. 26. For as the Father hath Life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself And therefore this is spoken of with respect to Christ with a special mark of Observation Joh. 1. 4. In him was Life But I shall not run further than the Text for the Ground of my notion of Life For we may plainly perceive by the very Terms of Birth and Death in the words that there is some Life here imported with respect to which as plainly and necessarily presupposed these periodical terms are made use of Now this Life herein presupposed must either be the present Life or that which is to come If it be the present Life then it is apparent that Solomon had very mean and low thoughts of it since he prefers the destruction of it by Death to the commencing it at first by Birth And those very mean thoughts which he hath of it are a plain Indication that it doth not deserve the noble designation of Life as being rather a shadow thereof than the thing it self But if it be the Future Life that is here imported then it presents us with a noble Idea of true Life indeed as inclusive of true Happiness and Felicity and lets us see with what good Reason Death is here preferred to Birth But tho' this last sense gives us the fairest prospect of Life and the most solid ground of the wise Solomons determination of this case yet I think we are to include both these sorts of Life as presupposed clearly in the Text. For as Solomon runs the parallel expresly between Birth and Death So his doing thus doth manifestly presuppose that he had run the parallel also between the Present and Future Life for except the Periods of Birth and Death have respect to these they must be reckoned to stand as Cyphers here without any significancy But tho' it is indubitable that Solomon runs the parallel here between Life Present and Future Yet we are not to imagine that he compares them as being both included in the true notion of Life and so as species under the same Genus but rather as two Opposites so as to consider that which we call the present Life under the notion of a kind of Death or state of Death and so to vendicate the notion of true Life to the future only For as I said before when I explained the terms of Birth and Death that our Birth into this world was rather our Death in Sin and Misery Whereas our death out of this world is more properly our Birth into Happiness and felicity So I say now of the Present and Future Life that the Present Life is rather the state of the dead that we die into when we are born Whereas the Future Life is that only which deserves the name of Life as being that state that we are born into when we come to that period which we call death And tho' this invertion of Terms may seem strange at first to such who are so immersed in sense as not to reflect on things as they are indeed in themselves Yet if once we come to entertain genuine conceptions of time and eternity and what concerns these we will see sufficient reason for such a rectification of vulgar opinions wherein men are oft detain'd contrary to reason it self from a misapplication of meer words Wherefore since I take Life for that which either is proper to God or which derivatively is communicated to subjects capable of it I mean made so by himself it is therefore to be laid down as the basis of our ensuing reflections that Life and Happiness are the same thing tho' the words express this differently to us But it is only the consideration of true Life or Perfection as peculiar to the Saints that I am here to consider Which that it may the more distinctly appear it may not be amiss to run the Parallel a little between the present and future Life as we call them that we may the more easily admit of the Conclusion here in the Text as to the preferableness of the latter to the first Which methinks the Apostle expresses well when he calls the future Life by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Life assigning to the present Life the designation of Mortality only 2 Cor. 5. 4. And in doing this I must first consider what those Qualifications of Life are that denominate it excellent happy and desirable And as to this I shall express my self in words common and known to all that the impressions may be the more clear and cogent And now as to this matter I cannot think of any Conveniency or true Qualification of Life wanting where these seven Things Concur viz. 1. Perfect Health 2. Full enjoyment of all Good 3. Vnmixed and undisturbed Peace and Joy 4. The most pleasant place of abode 5. The most excellent Company 6. An untainted Good Name 7. The perpetual Duration of all these Wherefore let us consider these Qualifications or Properties of Life with respect both to the Present and the Future that we may see whether our Passage by Birth into the one or by death into the other be to be preferred 1. Perfect Health By this we understand perfect rectitude both of Soul and body and all the faculties and powers of them And if so our Inquiry must be where this rare Jewel is to be found without which all our other comforts are insipid and tastless Surely it cant be acquired in this miserable World either as to Mind or Body For as to our Minds how uncultivated are our judgments as to our apprehensions of spiritual things How vain are our thoughts How perverse our wills How irregular our affections How treacherous our memories And how lame and defective are our actions and performances even to the most spiritual duties And as to our Bodies do we not carry about with us the Principles of Diseases and the seeds of death it self And what innumerable pains and maladies are we here subject to every day to most bringing along with it some new exercise or other
Respect unto her Memory I shall only speak of what I have had the peculiar advantage of observing my self for the space of almost seven years that I have in two distinct periods lived in her Family And I must have been very inobservant indeed if in all that time I had not taken notice of what was so visible both in her habitual Temper and constant carriage exactly answering to every part of that descriptive Character of the true Christain which I have been this day unfolding to you of which I shall give you a distinct and impartial account in the following Particulars And 1. Her habitual heavenly-mindedness was such a shining Excellency in her as could not be hid under that Vaile of Humility and Modesty which was her constant ornament but did discover it self in an holy contempt of this lower World and all its perishing Enjoyments in a steady Aim directed unto higher and more noble Objects and in a continual aspiration after glory and honour and immortality The divine Grace had inspired her with that true magnanimity and nobleness of Spirit that her Desires and Hopes could by no means be confined within the narrow limits of Time nor be long together held down to sublunary and terrene objects And therefore her Soul would be often mounting upward upon the Wings of Faith into the bright Regions of light and glory above to contemplate the eternal and glorious Objects that are there And more especially toward the end of her Time having been observed for some months before her Death to have her thoughts much exercised about the State and Enjoyments of Heaven And particularly about separate Souls mutual knowledge of and converse with one another taking occasion very frequently to discourse upon that sublime Subject when in company with such as she apprehended might be assistant to her in her endeavours to attain more distinct and clear notions about it Of which she now understands more than any one here could tell her 2. The earnestness of her desires after heavenly glory and felicity was no less conspicuous than the steadiness of her Aims principally directed that way She did not only set this glory honour and immortality before her as the great Mark at which she aimed but was continually pressing forwards toward it seeking after these things with the most close and strenuous application of mind And that more espeically in fervent prayer wherein she was wont to breath out her very Soul to God every day For as her natural Temper inclined her to the love of Solitude so Grace had taught her to make the best improvement of her Solitary hours which she was careful to employ not only in diligent reading and devout meditation but especially in secret prayer whereby she maintained and kept up a continual commerce with Heaven which many a time brought her in very rich Returns in divine communications and manifestations Nor was she content to seek alone for such great things as Grace and Glory are and therefore would often with earnest importunity be-speak the joint-assistance of her more intimate Christian-friends and especially of such Ministers of her acquaintance as she could be most free with in managing this work that so her Addresses to God might be the more solemn by others assisting her therein and Dedicating several hours together unto that sacred service as hath been frequently done at her Request and principally upon her account in her own house 3. She was no less careful about the regular way of seeking for glory and honour and immortality than she was earnest and zealous in the work it self For she was better instructed in the great Doctrines and Duties of Christinity and in the Method of obtaining Salvation by Jesus Christ as it is revealed in the Gospel than to separate the Way from the End or foolishly to think of attaining the one without an heedful walking in the other And therefore it was her daily Study and sincere Endeavour in every thing to walk by rule not abusing the Grace of the Gospel as an encouragement to licentiousness but learning from it to deny all ungodliness and wordly lusts and to live Tit. 2. v. 11 12. 13. soberly righteously and godly in this present World so looking for that blessed hope c. Labouring to have her conversation such in all respects as might Phil. 1. v. 27. become the Gospel and her behaviour answerable to her hope And therefore it was her conscientious care and earnest endeavour to be seriously diligent and constant in performing all the Duties of a Christian both in her personal and relative capacities And whereas in the latter she sometimes found some difficulties under such concurrent circumstances as need not be mentioned which did unavoidably discover such of her Infirmities as otherwise might have been hid I have this to add from certain knowledge that they were by none more deeply resented or more sadly bewailed than by her self For when at any time upon some slender provocation the natural quickness of her Temper did on a suddain betray and hurry her into some more hasty passionate or indecent expressions they were soon followed with such an indignation against her self as did more than bear proportion thereunto and therefore might very justly as I doubt not but it did in a great measure make atonement for them unto such as were most nearly and sensibly touched by them All which I should have passed over in silence had I not considered that what I have mentioned on the one part might perhaps have been observed by many unto whom what is said on the other in her just vindication may be altogether unknown And what I have thus impartially hinted amounting to sufficient evidence that her Infirmities of this kind were no other than were very well consistent with sincerity and a good conscience both toward God and toward Man I must after all in justice to her Memory give her this general Character which all that knew her more intimately will say she justly deserved That she was a loving discreet and prudent Wife a careful affectionate and tender-hearted Mother a faithful compassionate and beneficent friend and in all these respects and many more a most exemplary Christian And then 4. To complete the Character her Patience and Perseverance were no less eminent than her care and diligence in well-doing She was not only unweariedly active and constant in doing but eminently submissive and patient in suffering the Will of her heavenly Father And therefore under all her painful and frequently renewed Exercises and Tryals which indeed were very grievous especially for the last twelve Months of her Life she did with unrepining submission and as much chearfulness as was consistent with her acute pains bow to the Soveraign disposing hand of God resigning her Will to his so as never to have been heard all the time to charge him foolishly in any the least murmuring complaint against him under what in his paternal wisdom he
both relative and personal as she was to be constant and serious in attending upon Ordinances there seeking the appointed food of your Souls where she both often sought and found it to dedicate some part of your Pretious Time every day to reading the Scriptures and other good Books devout Meditation and secret Prayer which you know was her constant Course as long as her health and strength would permit in a word to make serious Religion your main business as it was most manifestly hers And if you will hearken to this Call in conjunction with the Calls of GOD's Word and that Monitory Providence that you are now under so as heedfully to tread in your pious Mothers steps as Dear Children following her in those things wherein shew was a follower of God and persisting in this Course to the end of your Life Then let me tell you for your Comfort that altho' Death hath at present made a separation between her and you it shall be but for a short season and then you shall again live together in the glorious and bright Mansions of Heaven and in the beatifick Vision and Fruition of God and Christ for ever and ever Amen FINIS A Funeral Sermon By Robert Fleming V. D. M. Preach'd in the Afternoon Eccles vii 1. Better is the Day of Death than the Day of ones Birth AS all the Faculties of Mans Soul are become miserably depraved and corrupted by reason of Sin So in particular the leading and directive Faculty the Mind or Intellect is signally so For besides the blindness and ignorance of men in things natural there is nothing more apparent than that universal darkness and stupidity which they are under as to their apprehensions of things spiritual and eternal For altho' there seems to be remanent upon the minds of all men naturally some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or imperfect râ—dera of the true impressions of good and evil and some secret Perswasions of a soveraign Being to which all things owe their original and continuance yet alas what sad Conceptions do men entertain of things of an immaterial and and spiritual nature as appears not only from the Writings of the more learned and ingenious Heathens but from innumerable and dayly Instances even in the midst of the Meridian Light of the Gospel So that constant Experience doth in this matter sufficiently confirm Scripture-Testimony that the natural man knows not the things of the Spirit of God as requiring a subjective as well as objective spiritual Light to discern them by However this is one of God's ends in Revealing his Word to us that we may thorow his Blessing upon pains and industry attain to rectified Notions and Idaeas of things so excellent in themselves and so momentous to be rightly known by us And as this is the scope of the whole Scripture to bring Life and Immortality to Light unto us so particularly of this Book of the wise and in quisitive Solomon who having undertaken a speculative Journey into all the Regions of sublunary Enjoyments returns an experienced Ecclesiastes or Preachers of those things that he thought might be of universal use to be known And therefore having rubbed off the fine Varnish and gaudy Paint of Earthly Objects with which they insinuate themselves at first view as beautified to our vain imiginations he here represents them impartially to our Reason as they are in their own natures and usefulness to us Of this we might adduce many instances if need were But we go no farther than the Words before us wherein we may observe a Rectification of a twofold Mistake that we are apt to fall into For first whereas men usually prefer Riches to a good Name we are here instructed that a good Name is better more valuable than precious ointment i. e. than the fatness of the world and the affluence of all earthly wealth and riches For thus I take the word according to Prov. 22. 1. which seems to be a comment on this or a plain account of what is here figuratively imported For precious ointment was esteemed of old amongst the most valuable things of the Treasures of Princes as we see Isa 39. 2. And hence it is that Prov. 15. 30. A good name is said to make the bones sat And again whereas Men generally prefer Life to Death Solomon here tells us that we are greatly mistaken in the Case for that upon the contrary the day of Death is much to be prefer'd to the day of ones Birth According to which Position he goes on to shew that the house of Mourning is better than the house of Feasting and sorrow preferable to Laughter v. 2 3 c. It is the second of these only that I am directed to consider at this time viz. That the day of Death is better than the day of ones Birth A strange Paradox and enough to amaze the minds and thoughts of all such as mind earthly things and who have not attained to have their interior Senses spiritually exercised to discern spiritual things Nay I am apt to think that many even serious Christians may find it difficult to reconcile their thoughts to this Doctrine And therefore on all hands I foresee Objections What! will the Atheist and Antiscripturist say is it better not to be than to be Is it possible will the carnal Philosopher and Rationalist object that the destruction of nature it self should be preferable to its Being and Continuance Nay even many poor Christians will be ready to tell me that it seems very strange to them to prefer Death which owes its Original to Sin and is our enemy and the last to be destroyed to prefer I say this to Life it self wherein we have opportunity to serve God and do good to our selves and others And methinks I hear a multitude cry out at the hearing of this and many such Worldlings there are What! Death better than Life Here 's strange Doctrine indeed What! Leave all our Earthly Comforts Friends and Possessions and that for Death and the Grave who can have Faith to believe such Doctrine as this Well Friends here 's that which may silence all your Doubts and answer all your Questions as to this matter if you will give ear to God himself that Death is preferable to Birth But I must supersede the satisfying you as to your particular Scruples in this matter till I shall have come to the Improvement of the Doctrine which I must now lest I act preposterously previously inquire into And here though the Words are in themselves so very plain that I see no momentous Variation among Criticks in the translating of them Yet I find some considerable difference in the Sentiments of Expositors as to the meaning of them For some understand the Text of all Mankind with respect only to this present Life laying aside all Consideration of the future State as many Passages in this Book are undoubtedly to be understood And if so then the meaning only is That
we here converse with are also Or 2. If the carnal Rationalist and Philosopher further object and argue against this Doctrine from the consideration of Deaths being the Destruction of nature I Answer 1. that to speak properly there is no such destruction of nature by Death as many imagine For the Soul is not destroyed by it but acts and lives more nobly than before Neither is the Body properly destroyed but only reduced into its first Principles in order to be new moulded and more gloriously re-edified than before And therefore since the two Essential constituent parts of man remain in being man can't be said to be destroyed For tho' the immediate Tye between Soul and Body be loosed yet it is for a time only and in the mean time the relation they stand in to one another continues even when the actual union is suspended And besides all this it being the Soul that is principally the Man we are therefore to reckon that the man is in being still even when unbodied But 2. let it be considered that Death is not preferred to Birth or Life meerly as it is the dissolution of nature as now existing but the formal Reason of this is upon the account of the excellency of the future Life which death is the passage into For upon this account only is it that the Apostle prefers death to life 2 Cor. 5. 4. Not for that we would be unclothed says he but clothed upon that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life But 3. as to what many poor sincere-Christians are apt to object against this Point from the expressions that sometimes Death goes under in Scripture of its being as the punishment of sin our enemy and to be destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. I would for Answer propose to them besides what hath been already said this one consideration That tho' Death be indeed our enemy as it is inflicted as a punishment of sin since the fall Yet it has now altered its nature and end with respect to Saints since Christs death especially Christ having slain death and him that had the power thereof Indeed Death passeth still upon all men but in very different respects For to the wicked death is still continued as a grim Messenger and King of Terrours But as for the Saints Death is now become Christs servant to convey home the Souls of his own to himself Therefore as Christ is said to have abolished death 2 Tim. 1. 10. So he is said also Rev. 1. 18. To have taken into his custody and keeping the Keys of Hell and Death Upon which accounts we may perceive what little reason we have to fear Death when he acts only in commission under our dear Lord and Saviour and when also so blessed a Guide as he leads the way And 4. As to the Objection which the vulgar sort of groveling Mortals are apt to make against Death that it robbs them of and separates them from all their comforts friends possessions enjoyments and hopes I Answer that where the case is thus with any I must needs grant they have reason to prefer life to death If thou hast all thy portion in this life I shall not wonder to see thee prefer earth to heaven and dust to gold But O poor wretch art thou not ashamed of such an objection which militates indeed against thee but not against this Doctrine For the Saints of whom we here speak will tell thee that whereas death separates thee from all thy comforts it is in that way alone that they expect to reap the full harvest of all joy and comfort for at the right hand of God there is fulness of joy and in his presence there are pleasures for evermore 3. Infer We may see hence also the folly and ignorance of the generality of men as to their notions and conceptions of Life and Death Who seem to think that all comforts are to be found only in this Life and therefore give way to strange and melancholly apprehensions of death and what follows it As there are many poor Creatures in the world living in mean celles and cottages in some obscure corner whose low minds having never travelled from the smell of their native thatch and turff represent the world to themselves no otherwise than according to the ideas which a barren spot of earth of a few miles circumference hath afforded them So the generality of mankind seem to be so pre-occupied with the prejudices of sense and custom as never to have suitably reflected on those things which right Reason may not obscurely conclude from Scripture Premises concerning the glory and excellency of the future state of the spirits of just men made perfect For if our thoughts were more inured to such Divine Meditations we would dispise the vanities of a fading life more since we converse here but with imaginary comforts and joys tho' with too real griefs and miseries 2d The Regulation of our Practise As Practise is the end of Knowledge so my design in all that hath been said was to bring you to a sincere conscientious Performance of those Duties that the Doctrine handled doth call for from you And therefore suffer me to lay them impartially before you at this time And in doing this since not only the Doctrine in it self but the present Occasion of this Discourse calls for a particular and becoming Consideration this way I shall therefore endeavour with what succinctness is convenient to do these two things here viz. 1. to Improve the Doctrine Practically with respect to that Duty that is incumbent upon all from hence as to the good of our Souls 2. to Improve it also specially with respect to the sad occasion of this present meeting and concourse And 1 I shall endeavour to Improve the Doctrine in the General so as may be of use to all of you And what I have thus to say to you I will comprise and summ up in these three Directions or Rules 1. Direct Take heed how you carry with respect to your Spiritual state and Interest in God thorow Christ Which Advice I will take up in these three Parts which I am sure you are all concerned seriously to mind 1. Examine and Try your selves if God be your Portion and Christ your Saviour What are you secure whilst you remain at uncertainties as to this matter What ground have you to believe that Christ is yours Have you renounced Sin Satan the world and sinful self Have you accepted Christ wholly in all his offices and have you laid hold on him as your alone Saviour Be careful my friends that you found not your hopes on a mistake and thus build on the sand Religion is more than a name and Conversion more than a notion Therefore Judge your selves impartially as to this matter lest you be judged to condemnation by God for your neglect to do so 2. Be sure what ever you do to lay the whole weight and stress of your Salvation in the
merits and righteousness of Christ and fancy not that your own inherent Righteousness must go Partner with the Righteousness of Christ in the point of Justification lest thereby you impeach the all-sufficient Merits of Christ of defectiveness and claim the priviledge to be accounted your own Saviours But endeavour with the Apostle Phil. 3. 9. To be found in him not having your own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith 3. Mind the concernment of your Souls Salvation with all earnestness and diligence For what profit will it be untoyou to gain the whole world if you lose your Souls or what can you give in exchange again for them if once they be lost Therefore trifle not away precious time and golden opportunities in doing nothing or it may be things worse than nothing lest you be forced at length to cry out as the great Grotius did when dying Ah vitam perdidi operose nihil agendo Be not so besotted as to lay the stress of your hopes upon an imaginary Death-bed Repentance But since now you have a price put into your hands to get wisdom with beg and endeavour after that happy Part and Lot that shall never be taken from you when once attained 2. Direct Take heed how you carry with respect to your Bodies And as to this matter I will give you a tast of my Thoughts in these three things 1. Watch against your Bodies that they prove not snares to your Souls as they are I fear to many in more than one respect For 1. how oft do our senses deceive and cheat the Soul and presenting it with innumerable objects to distract and disturb it from the pursuit of more noble things And 2. the Fancy and unruely Imagination doth no less oft discompose the Mind and Reason by innumerable Chimera's in the forming and producing of which it is for the most part strangely fruitful Yea 3. the wants of the Body prove oft-times a great Remora to the Soul in its spiritual operations by giving occasion to sollicitude and anxious cares about what we shall eat and drink and wherewithall we shall be clothed and how we shall prevent such and such evils and troubles c. In all which respects we have great reason both to watch over and to watch against our Bodies 2. Live above your Bodies Let not your thoughts and cares terminate only there What! Shall a mortal fadeing Carcase swallow up our thoughts and inhance our affections when the time is coming that Death will at one blow cut down the same whereon we have bestowed so much pains in vain Yea the time is coming when this beautiful outside will stink and turn to corruption And then worms must nestle in those holes where sprightly eyes did once shine and all our graceful and well proportioned members and parts moulder down into deformity and rottenness Therefore let us hence learn to live above our Bodies 3. Be content to be unbodied for a time It is this way alone that we can expect to see God fully and to reach the happy Life and therefore it is our Duty to work up our hearts to an hearty contentment in and satisfaction with this way method and ordinance of Gods own appointment in order to consummate our felicity Nay let me say further that we ought to endeavour not only to be content to die but to be willing and desirous to depart that we may be with Christ which is best of all This was Pauls attainment Phil. 1. 23. And not his only but that which was very common to the Saints in those more heavenly times Rom. 8. 23. 2 Cor. 5. 4 5. Yea the very inanimate Creation hath an earnest propensity this way groaning for a dissolution as to its present form that it may be restored to its pristine glory and splendour before it became the stage of sin and theatre of misery This we may see Rom. 8. 19 21 22. Which is a consideration that may well shame us out of our earthly frame that we have sunk into for the most part in these depraved days I know indeed that we are apt to reckon it a great attainment in a Christian and comparatively indeed with the frame of most it is so to be content to die in submission to Divine good pleasure yet desirous to live But the excellency of the Christian attainment and frame of spirit in this matter stands in the inversion of the common order viz. In being desirous to die yet content to live in submission to Gods will and in regard of service to be done for God further And indeed when a Christian hath once tasted of the pleasure and delight of communion with God and thus been admitted to some fore-tasts of the future glory he can scarce any longer contain himself the love of God in Christ constraining him from crying out O Time be gone O Eternity make hast Why art thou so long a coming to those that are ready to burst with longing after the immediate sight and fruition of their God and Saviour forever Don't the Spirit and the Bride both Eccho forth with a sweet pathos come Lord Jesus And shall not our Souls joyn in the consort and ingeminat Amen even so come Lord Jesus come come 3. Direct Take heed how you carry with respect to your Souls Which Advice I take up also in these Three Things which I shall but very briefly propose First Be careful to cultivate your Souls that so you may grow dayly in a meetness and preparedness for Heaven and Glory And as there are two principal Faculties of the Soul the Vnderstanding and Will so accordingly let it be your great study to adorn these with what tends to render them more and more excellent And 1. Improve your Vnderstandings by dilating and enlarging them by further degrees of true spiritual Knowledge Grow in the Knowledge of God and Christ of the Vanity of the World and Excellency of Heaven and of the Worth of the Soul and in summ of all Gospel-Truths and Promises and the legal Precepts and Duties that are revealed as needful to be known 2. Improve your Wills and Affections also by more and more Grace that the Habits thereof may be strengthened by repeated Acts and that so these habits thus strengthened may be exerted put forth the more sweetly and freely in the out-going of the Soul in all its acts and operations 2. Employ your Souls always in Gods service This is and ought to be your chief and constant work and business Let us with complacency and chearfulness imploy our selves this way that it may be our meat and drink to do the will of our Father who is in Heaven What is our business in the world if it be not this For it is an opportunity to serve God here that alone can make a Saint content and willing to stay below in this Dung-hill world when
Preaching the Everlasting Gospel And would not this make us both more servicable in our several stations and capacities to glorifie God which is the great end of our Lives and I hope the great desire of our Souls And therefore I know nothing more worthy of our most earnest wrestlings and greatest importunities For since I hope God hath given us an interest in himself thorow his dear Son and our great Mediator and so hath accepted our Persous in Justification thorow the imputed righteousness of Christ I think the next work we have to do is to be dayly interceding for the Influences of the Spirit in order to carry on the great business of sanctification that so we may grow in a fitness for every duty and a meetness for the future state that we are hastning into It were long to produce all or many of the Expressions of this nature that might be given And therefore I shall only add one more in a Letter to a Friend upon a Reprieve from Death that she had providentially got beyond expectation for a time and which she was apprehensive he had some hand in with others as a Return of Prayer Now methinks says she I have been saying to you whom I believe to have been instrumental in this matter is this your kindness to your Friend When I seem'd to have got so near to the harbour of an hoped for rest to use all your force and strength to bring me back again into this stormy and troublesome Sea where I must expect to be tossed with new Tempests before I get to shore of which I have now a much clearer Prospect than of any service I can do here in this world Did I ever desire you to pray for Life Or was it not rather that I might be carried thorow the dark valley of the shadow of Death But I must submit since I know you think you have acted Duty in this and since all things of this nature are ordered by a wise and gracious God for good to us And this does abundantly satisfie me in this and I hope in all other dispensations concerning me And now from these few Expressions as well as from what hints have been besides given of this pious Person we may easily perceive what Spirit she was of and what her great work and Business in the world was She wisely chose the Better part which none could take from her The whole of her Life being one continued declaration that she sought a better Country as knowing that we have no continuing City or place of abode here Thorow a patient continuance in well-doing she sought for honour and glory and immortality both in Health and Sickness And tho' an universal Decay of Spirits in Gods wise determination did incapacitate her in the hour of Deaths approach from having that sensible joy and ravishment which somtimes the Saints then have from the prospect of the nearness of Glory yet that Faith and Affiance that Reverence and Love and that Resignation and full satisfaction which she then expressed were such clear Evidences of her Grace and such happy Prognosticks of that Happiness she was entering upon the Possession of that we may justly admire Gods Mercy in all this both to Her and Us. And now my Friends obey the Instruction and imitate the Pattern that I have at this time set before you Which that we may do let us fervently implore the divine Grace and seriously improve the Gospel-Means And then I question not but we shall come in due time to find this Doctrine verified in our own Experience That better is the Day of Death than the Day of Birth Amen TO THE MEMORY of the Truly Religious Mrs. Susanna Soame WHO Departed this Life at Thurlow in Suffolk Feb. 14. An. Dom. 169 1 2. ART thou then gone thou sweet and humble Mind Leaving thy Friends thus sorrowing behind And can our Thoughts within our breasts be pent Since sorrows double are that have no vent No! No! My weeping Muse shall drop a Verse And offer at thy much lamented Hearse Thy Piety and Worth deserve no less And if my Lines be in an humble Dress It yet may Mourners suit since 't is requir'd That such in Black not Gold should be attir'd Had I a Pen drop't from an Angels Wing Or could I hear the Anthems thou dost sing Since thou art joyn'd unto the Quire above And swallow'd up in Raptures high of Love My Thoughts might then 't is like my Pen inspire with such like Notes as mov'd Wise Sol'mons Lyre When he did sing the Mystick Loves between Heav'ns Glorious Darling and his Purchas'd Queen For now that Song thou lov'dst so here is known To thee since thou hast reach'd the Heavenly Throne Yet when I think how Holy Paul before Tho' thus rapt up to Heaven could do no more But only tell he saw Things Glorious Which he nor could nor durst express to us I 'me therefore left in silence to adore That Hand which casts a Veil such things before And wills us to believe they are too great For this Imperfect State where we await Until we also from our Corps remove And mount all Earthly Dust and Shades above Wherefore I 'm left to muse on what is past And on thy by-gone-Lise some Thoughts to cast And here methinks as present still to day I see thy Face and hear thee thus to say An Acrostical Character of her Life S oar fain I would above each earthly thing V nto my Lord of all my Joy the Spring S uch is my study but alas I find A ll my Attempts too weak too dark my Mind N ow Clouds bemist me Grief o're-pow'rs my Soul N ow Fears alternate like the Waves do rowl A nd all my Comforts Joy and Hope controul S weet Glances from my God yet now and then O blidge my Soul from Sorrow to refrain A nd blast my Griefs and cause my Fears to fly M y Case thus changeth too and fro whilst I E ach day for Heaven long yet fear to dye Yet tho' all is but Folly that is said By Living Mortals of th' Immortal Dead Yet since we justly do conclude thou' rt blest And now from Pains and Sorrows all at rest Methinks I hear thy Voice from Heaven high Drop silent to my Ear thus through the Sky An Acrostical Character of her Death Soar now I do above each earthly thing Vnto my Lord of all my Joy the Spring Such was my Aim below but then did find All my Attempts too weak too dark my Mind No Cloud bemists me now and on my Soul No Grief or Fear alternately doth rowl As an Allay my Comforts to controul Sweet Sights of God and Christ I do obtain O sweet my Life Sweet Place where I remain Angels and Saints are now my Company My Friends below I 'd pity did not I Expect to see them to Eternity The Epitaph UNderneath this Stone doth lye Dust precious for the Memory Of a sweet Saint who once did dwell In such a fadeing Mortal Cell Who having got Gods Pass took wing Upwards to Heaven to live and sing Triumphant Hallelujahs there And breath more free in Sweeter Air. An Acrostical Memorial Since Vpwards Soar'd All Notions New Attend Seen Objects Ancient Molestations End. As the last Expression of Friendship on Earth These Lines are Offered by R. F. BOOKS Printed for John Harris at the Harrow against the Church in the Poultrey and John Salusbury at the Rising Sun over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1. ANgliae Metropolis Or The Present State of London with Memorials comprehending a full and succienct Account of the Antient and Modern State thereof First Written by the late Ingenious Tho. De Laune Gent. and continued to this present Year by a careful Hand 2. The Life and Death of that Old Disciple of Jesus Christ and Eminent Minister of the Gospel Mr. Hanserd Knollys who dyed in the Ninety Third Year of his Age. These Two Printed for J. Harris 3. The Certainly of the Worlds of Spirits Fully evinced by unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts Operations Voices c. Proving the Immortality of Souls the Malice and Miseries of the Devils and the Damned and the Blessedness of the Justified By R. Baxter 4. An End of Doctrinal Controversies which have lately Troubled the Churches by Reconciling Explication without much Disputing By R. Baxter These Two Printed for J. Salusbury CORRIGENDA SErm 1. pag. 7. lin 20 after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 insert and. p. 17. l. 20. after follow insert that p. 28. l. 10. after Scripture insert expressed p. 45. l. 1. for she read they p. 47. l. 14. after which insert is p. 48. l. 8. after her insert to observe her Serm. 2. p. 55. l. ult after must insert not p. 72. l. 7. for Eph. read Ep.