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
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
of happiness a fulness of Glory both subjective and objective glory shining in them and glory shining upon and round about yea into them transfusing its bright beams through them a fulness of honour infinitely transcending all those fading Titles which advance one man so high above another in this lower World and a fulness of joy satisfaction and delight even those pure refined pleasures that are at Gods right Psal 16. v. 11. hand for evermore All this and a great deal more that neither our words nor thoughts can reach is summarily comprehended in that Eternal Life which all they shall certainly attain at the end of their course who by patient continuance in well-doing do seek for glory and honour and immortality Which will more plainly appear to us by considering that which follows in the next place in order namely III. That which remains in the last place to be spoken to is the connection between the qualifications imported in the foregoing Character and that glorious felicity unto which all that bear it shall at last be advanced between a Christians course and his crown between his seeking for glory and honour and immortality in the way here described and that eternal life in which he shall finally enjoy all that he sought for That there is a connection between them is sufficiently evident inasmuch as the one is attainable no other way but by the other And of what kind this connection is I am now to shew And in short It is easie forus to apprehend that this connection is not natural and necessary but ordinate not such as doth necessarily result from the nature of the things themselves that are here connected but such as hath its foundation in the gracious ordination and appointment of God For it is sufficiently evident to any one that doth attentively and seriously consider it That there is no just and adequate proportion between the most diligent and industrious Christians present service and his future eternal reward And so it is no less obvious for us to conceive that the connection that is between them is not founded in Merit but in Free Grace For when we have done all we must say we Luk. 17. v. 10. are unprofitable Servants we have done only that which was our duty to do And it is most absurd for any one to think to merit any thing by the payment of a just Debt And therefore the Scripture speaks of eternal life under the notion of a Gift as obtained only by the free donation of God and not as a possession accruing to us by any desert of our own whereas on the other hand that eternal death which is the just punishment of Sin is called Wages as being no more than what it doth most iustly deserve Rom. 6. 23. For the Wages of Sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so the Reward of the eternal inheritance is several times in Scripture under the Title of Mercy As the Apostle prayed for Onesiphorus 2 Tim. 1. 18. The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord at that day And so we are exhorted to keep our selves in the love of God looking for the Mercy of our Jude v. 21. Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life And therefore it is manifest that the connection that is between the Christians service and reward his Course and his Crown is not founded in merit but in the free Grace and undeserved Love of God in Christ to which alone that gracious Promise or Covenant is intirely owing whereby he hath been pleased to establish an immutable order between them so as that the one shall be infallibly consequent upon the other But the connection is never the less firm or certain for being so founded as it is but rather the more so For the Covenant of Grace which is the more immediate ground and foundation of it is an everlasting Covenant a covenant not 2 Sam. 23 v. 5. only ordered in all things but also sure Forasmuch as the divine eternal veracity is engaged to make good every Article of it to as many as have regularly laid hold upon it and by an hearty compliance with its conditions come to have a real interest in it For altho' God was unlimitedly free before he made the promise and established his Gracious Covenant with us yet that being once done he is obliged for the honour of his Truth and Righteousness to make it good And so though in strictness he can owe nothing to us he is a Debter to his own Promise And at the last day he will be glorified not only as the free and magnificent Donor of all the Treasures of Heaven but also as the God of Truth in fulfilling all the exceeding great and precious Promises that he 2 Pet. 1. v. 4. hath made unto his faithful Servants And therefore Vnto them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality he will not fail to render eternal Life And having thus with as much brevity as the Subject could well admit finished what I proposed to speak doctrinally from this Text of Scripture All that now remains is to make some application of what hath been said unto our selves And 1. From hence we learn with what magnanimity and nobleness of Spirit true living Christianity doth inspire those in whom it takes place elevating and raising their minds and hearts above this perishing World and all its fading transitory enjoyments Steadily inclining them to seek those things that are above Col. 3. v. 1. insomuch that nothing lower than heavenly glory and immortal honour can now content them or compose their Desires into a complacential Rest and satisfaction While others that are acted by the forbid abject and base Spirit of this World lie groveling in the dust of this earth drudging and toyling for what is only accommodate unto their mortal part the living Christian being made alive to God through Rom. 6. v. 11. Jesus Christ his Lord and having received not the Spirit of this World but the Spirit that is from God is continually 1 Cor. 2. v. 12. aspiring upwards in heavenly thoughts desires and aims ever seeking for glory and honour and immortality till he comes to the actual fruition of all in eternal life 2. What hath been said may serve also to discover to us the preposterous folly of their presumptuous hopes who think at last to obtain eternal life tho' they take no care to seek it in that way which the Gospel doth prescribe and in which only it is to be found even by a patient continuance in well-doing Heaven and eternal happiness are promised to none as an absolute irrespective Gift but as a Reward consequent upon service And therefore whosoever are careless and unconcerned about the duty and service of the present state will be sure to sall short of the glory and felicity of the future
And then the higher their presumptuous and groundless hopes have been raised the greater will their shame and disappointment be when they and their hopes shall perish together 3. The firm and certain connection which the gracious Promise and Covenant of God hath made and settled between a patient continuance in well-doing here and the enjoyment of eternal life hereafter may further serve for the comfort and encouragement of all his sincere and faithful Servants under all the difficulties and hardships afflictions and sorrows exercises and Tryals which they undergo here in the course of their obedience He that hath obtained a clear prospect by faith of the invisible World and of the glory honour and incorruption which are to be eternally enjoyed there by all that regularly seek after them here and is withal conscious to himself that he is one of that happy number can easily see through the darkest cloud and discern a comfortable end of all his present troubles And therefore his Faith mightily animating his Hope and his Hope proportionably strengthening his Patience he doth not faint in the day of Adversity nor is he weary of well-doing Prov. 24. v. 10. because he is sufficiently assured that the time is short and so that it will be but yet a little while before all Tears shall be wiped away from his eyes and all Isa 25. v. 8. grief and sorrow banished from his heart and endless Joyes succeed in their Rev. 7. v. 17. room 4. The same consideration may serve as a sweet and comfortable allay to the sorrows of such as are mourning for the death of such of their near and dear Relatives or Friends who in their life-life-time gave sufficient proof of their exemplary care and diligence to persevere in such a steady course of duty and obedience as hath eternal life and glory connected with it It is indeed very selfish and unbecoming our Christian hope with immoderate and unallayed grief and sorrow to lament the death of such For asmuch as altho' their absence and departure from us be very sensibly our great loss their presence with the Lord is in an infinitely higher degree their gain And therefore methinks even natural affection which makes us wish well to our dear Relatives especially when sanctified by Grace and assisted by faith should give some check to our immoderate grief for the Removal of such of them from us by the stroke of death concerning whom we have such comfortable and well-grounded hopes For why should we grieve at or regret their happy advancement unto that immortal glory and honour which they had been long seeking for but could never reach before 5. What we have heard may serve both for our direction and excitation unto such a regular and steady course of obedience here that we may all obtain eternal life hereafter Let us endeavour therefore to have that Truth which hath been this day suggested to us out of the Word of God so deeply impress'd upon our very hearts that the thoughts of it may continually dwell with us and have a constant influence upon us by the grace of God for the engageing us to the most strenuous diligence and constancy in prosecuting our present duty as that which hath by the divine ordination and appointment a direct tendency to our future eternal felicity Let us never forget that the only way to glory and honour and a blessed immortality is a patient continuance in well doing And so let none of us any longer indulge our selves in the neglect of that upon which our eternal welfare doth so evidently depend but let the time past suffice us to have wrought the Wills of the Flesh and to have misemployed the active strength and vigour of our Souls in minding only earthly things And now let us resolve by the grace of God to call off our hearts and affections from this lower World and all its perishing vanities and so set our selves in good earnest to seek those things that are above Minding the great Duties of Christianity with a more serious care than ever we have hitherto exercised about them Making True practical Religion more our business as it is what will turn to the best accompt unto us at last O let none of us be guilty of such preposterous folly in the great concernments of our immortal Souls as we would be ashamed of in the management of our secular affairs separating the Way from the End as if the one might be attained without a serious and due attendance to the other The Way in which we must seek for future glory and happiness if ever we would have it is plainly delineated to us in the Text And all those that are gone before us and have actually received the Reward of the eternal inheritance both sought and obtained it in this way and no other even by a patient continuance in well-doing It doth therefore concern us to tread in their steps that we also may in due time and in our appointed order come to the fruition of the same happiness with them And so my earnest exhortation to you is in the words of the Apostle Heb. 6. 11 12. That every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises And here for your further excitation I shall now on this solemn occasion set before you the illustrious and worthy Example of our deservedly honoured and lately deceased Friend whose immortal part is now with Christ For She was indeed One upon whose Heart and Life the divine Spirit and Grace had in most conspicuous and shining lineaments drawn that excellent and noble Character by which the Heirs of Blessedness are described in the Text And to that in the several parts of it I shall principally confine my self in the following Account that I shall give you of her Wherein my more immediate design and aim is to shew you how eminently this Text of Scripture was exemplified in her that you may thence be the more confirmed in your comfortable and well-grounded assurance of her being now happily possessed of that Eternal Life which by the divine designation and appointment belongs to all that bear that Character And therefore not to say any thing of her natural endowments either intellectual or moral altho they were such as made the Grace of God to shine with the greater lustre in her discreet and well-ordered conversation I shall speak only to those that were manifestly divine and supernatural And for as much as my happy acquaintance with her did commence too late to capacitate me to give you any particular account of the more early impressions of the Divine Grace upon her Soul or the more distant Passages of her pious Life and that I may keep my self as remote as may be from all suspition of flattery and falsehood in the payment of this my last solemn
saw meet to lay upon her Yea in the very midst of her weariness and pain when her eyes have been held waking and her sleep hath fled from her she would often express the grateful sense which she had of the singular Mercy of God towards her in the many instances wherein it pleased him to intermix it with her Affliction Considering how much better it was with her under her severest exercises than with many others of Gods dear Children who by reason of their mean Circumstances in the World could not be furnish'd with those external helps accomodations which by the distinguishing Goodness of God she enjoyed Which she would often speak of with great compassion to others and no less thankfulness to God upon her own account and especially in the late cold and pinching season wherein such were exposed to very great hardship as had sickness added to poverty And thus the excellent Character that the Apostle gives us of the Heirs of Heaven in the Text was in every part of it eminently found in her who was indeed One who by patient continuance in well-doing sought for glory and honour and immortality And then I may add That 5. Agreeably hereunto her Faith and Hope were for the most part strong and lively except at such times as she was under clouds of Melancholly arising from bodily distemper which made all things look dark unto her while it prevailed But most perceptibly did she improve in their strength and vigour for some months before the expiration of her Time whereby she did not only obtain a comfortable victory in a great degree over the Fear of Death which had formerly been a very grievous exercise unto her but was also greatly supported and encouraged under her continued remaining Troubles of Life For as there were many comfortable Words in the Holy Scriptures whereon God had caused her to hope so by strengthening and encreasing her Faith he enabled her more closely to apply them to her self and so to take the comfort of them when she needed it most As under one of the last Returns of her Distempers she did very frequently revolve in her mind those words of afflicted but believing Job Chap. 23. v. 10. When he hath tryed me I shall come forth as gold And God inabling her to mix that word with faith made it both at that time and afterwards very useful to her And so in her last sickness even the night before her death after she had been exercised with grievous pain the whole night and day preceding having a short interval of â—ase for a few moments while I was with her I observed her to repeat unto her self several times with great complacency as I apprehended from the pleasant tone of her voice tho' but low those encouraging words of the devout Psalmist Psal 42. 8. The Lord will command his loving kindness in the day-time and in the night his Song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my life Adding in the close Lord thou art the God of my life natural life spiritual life yea eternal life and therefore my prayer is unto thee After which her pain and sickness again returning she grew more and more apprehensive of her near approaching dissolution and after a short space said to me as I stood by her bed-side I have a dark valley to pass through Whereupon encouraging her to hope in God I said to her The Father of lights will be with you there and he will enlighten your darkness to which she very sweetly replyed and turn the shadow of Death into the morning And not long after she spake to me in these or the like words I bless God I do not at all doubt my eternal Interest but it is some trouble to me that I have yet so little of the Joy of Gods Salvation As at another time which whether it were before or after the former I do not exactly remember she said with some apparent Concern to a dear Friend standing by What! Come so near to the confines of a glorious eternity and yet have no clearer prospect of the glory of it But altho' that unspeakable and glorious Joy which doth sometimes attend the lively exercises of Faith in the children of God in their last hours was as you may perceive by these hints withheld from her She was not without Solid and great peace in believing which of the two the more substantial tho' not the more delectable enjoyment And I make no question but that now she hath the other also in a better way as well as in a greater proportion than ever any had it in this World even fulness of Joy in the divine presence and pleasures for evermore For faith and patience having both had their perfect work in her she is now gone to inherit the promises in Eternal Life And now my Christian Friends the greatest honour and respect that we can pay to her blessed Memory which I hope will yet live among us is to follow her Worthy Example every one seeking for glory and honour and immortality in that way wherein she sought and hath now obtained all Let me therefore earnestly recommend this unto you all as I desire also to charge it upon my self And more especially to you her nearest surviving Relatives who had a greater advantage than any others by your nearness to her most exemplary course of life as an excellent pattern for you to imitate And therefore as she hath done worthily in serving God and her Generation according to his Will and now Rev. 14. v. 13. Heb. 4. v. 9. rests from her labours in that everlasting Sabbatism which remaineth for the People of God into which she entred on the close of that day of the week which is not unfitly called by us the Christian Sabbath Let it be your care every one to do likewise And more particularly let me address my self unto you her hopeful Off-spring her dear Children for whom she put up many a Prayer to God that he would make you all his Children And let me earnestly exhort you never to forget what a Mother you had what excellent instruction and wholesome counsel she often gave you and what a teaching Example she set before you by which being now dead she yet speaks to you And surely it is your great Concern as you love your souls to hearken to the Voice to understand the Language of it There are some things which Actions do speak out louder than any Verbal Expressions and certainly if you have the heart attentively to consider and understand it you cannot be unapprehensive that your Mothers Example calls aloud upon you all to mind the great Concernments of your Souls with serious care and diligence as she did to get your thoughts and affections abstracted and drawn off from this World and fixedly set upon things above as hers were to be diligent and industrious in the careful and conscientious performance of all Christian Duties
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
his Soul is otherwise wholly propending Heaven-ward 3. Seek to have your Souls admitted to Converse with God here For if we are not admitted to this happy Society wholly yet let us endeavour after this Blessing here below in as far as God may be pleased to priviledge us with it Alas that we should be satisfied with the Society of shadows and vanishing things here below whilst we may have communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ It is this blessed Fellowship alone that can sweeten and familiarise Death and dissolution to us and make separation appear rather a change of our Place than of our Company But 2 I must also subjoyn some more special improvement of the Doctrine with respect to our Practise in relation to the sad Occasion of our present Meeting together at this time And here tho' what I am to say further may be of use to all yet I address my self more particularly to You whom this Dispensation of Providence doth more nearly respect and concern And what I have to say here I shall comprise in a Threefold Counsel or Advice 1. Couns Submit your selves cordially to Gods correcting hand in this stroke Remember the Patience of Job under greater severity and say with him the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the Name of the Lord. All the Providences of God are the Effects of the highest wisdom and with respect to the Saints they all flow from love and mercy also Nothing falls out casually in such matters however they appear to us For if a sparrow fall not to the ground without our Father which is in Heaven then surely a Friend a Relative and Child of God cannot be removed hence without his special providence for are we not of more value than many sparrows 2. Couns Moderate your sorrows as to the Person deceased from the consideration of the place and company she is gone to and the happiness she now enjoys For blessed be God we sorrow not to day as those that have no hope For we have not the least shadow of doubt as to her happiness and glory But if we have any thing to bewail this day it is as to our selves that we are left behind Indeed we have reason to lament her removal as a loss to her Relatives a loss to her Friends yea and a loss to the Country But otherwise with respect to her self we have rather cause of joy than sorrow If I may be so bold as to suppose the Lord speaking to us in the words of Jerom who to comfort a pious Matron named Paula upon the death of her daughter brings in the Lord speaking to her may we not think that the Lord speaks by this dispensation unto you to this purpose I have made this your Relative and Friend mine But what Do you envy my possession Where can she be better than with me Would you bring her back from Rivers of Pleasures to the valley of Tears From Health to Sickness From a Throne to a Drageon May we not therefore in this case allude to our Lords expression Joh. 14. 28. If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I go to the Father And I suppose could we now hear her speak to us it would be in words of such an importance 3. Couns Imitate what was Good Valuable and Praise-worthy in her Imitate her in her Faith in her Charity in her Assiduity in Religious Duties in an impartial scrutiny into the state of her own Soul in her closet retirements and publick walk and conversation in a sincere design to honour and please God in a chearful delight in doing good to all and in patience and submission under affliction and this Leads me to a Transition from the Doctrine to the Person in whom we may see a Laudable Example which may serve to back the Preceding Precepts as being at least to many of us here an ocular Demonstration thereof The Character And here give me leave to present you with a few hints of this worthy Saint which I have either known from her self immediately or from an impartial observation of her Life and walk And I am the rather emboldned to do this because although many others knew her much earlier and longer than I yet there were few she was pleased to condescend to be more free with in the concernments of her Soul But since my Brother who hath already preceded me on the same occasion hath besides a General Character of her given you some succinct narrative of her last Hours I shall therefore only present you further with some account of her Christian Life and Conversation that may be of further use with respect to Imitation by others as well as condusive to make her Memory further precious Her natural Temper was Retired and serious and altogether averse from crouds of Company and the hurries of the world Yet no way Morose and Sullen but Pleasant and Affable to All and becomingly Free also with her Friends And such she specially reckoned so who were truely Pious and Religious For it might justly be said of her as of David that all her delight was in the Saints whom she esteemed the excellent Ones of the Earth And such Persons she valued according to the degree of worth that she see in any without regard to the discriminating name of a Party For she was careful besides her regard for all pious and vertuous Persons duely to ponder the super added Qualifications that she see in any that might entitle them to a more particular share in her Friendship And as her Temper was naturally serious so God blessed her very early even in her childhood with true seriousness and Piety as she hath been forced oftner than once to confess with grateful Acknowledgments of Gods mercy to her on that account as well as comfortably to reflect upon the Blessing she had in being descended from eminently Religious Parents and brought up in true Christian Education A natural Modesty attended her in all her Actions even the most serious An eminent instance whereof was this that tho' she was educated in the Congregational-way very strictly yet she could never be induced as is usual with such to give any open or formal account of her Souls concerns before others and upon that account she had been wholly debarred from the most spiritual of ordinances had not God by providential acquaintance imprest that just Character of her upon the mind of the Reverend Dr. Jacomb as upon an inquiry into such things to admit of her notwithstanding this to all ordinances with intire satisfaction This I speak not with the least design to reflect on any Party or Way especially since God hath been pleased of late to cement the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah in so great a measure by an happy Vnion but I mention it only by way of Caution both to Ministers and Churches that we may see what tenderness is required in debarring poor modest Christians from what in
Gods sight they have it may be more right to than many others who can talk better and more as well as there ought to be a just caution in the admitting Persons who may be vitious and scandalous However for my own part I must say that I would in this case be under a great Dread and Fear to reject any poor Soul in whom I think I see tho' in a small degree and as a grain of mustard seed Aliquid Christi any thing of Christs Image For I judge we err more safely on the side of Charity if indeed it be possible so to err than on the side of a precipitant and presumptuous judging of ones state and fitness from Rules of our own prescribing when none can tell me what the least degree of sincerity and grace is which God doth accept and which gives one right to participate of all Ordinances She was a careful and impartial Searcher of the Scriptures which she read with great judgment and observation with the use of the best helps she could have for that end But though she studied to understand every part of Scripture yet she was most conversant in the more spiritual parts thereof She took many a mental walk in the delicious Garden of Davids Psalms and sat oft with great pleasure under the close Arbour of Solomon's song which as she learned over by heart as to the Words in her Childhood so attained in a great measure both to understand and experience in her riper years And together with the Scriptures she read with great pains and judgment many of the most solid and practical English Writers as her Books she hath left behind will witness to such as have them when they see the many Marginal Writings wherewith she hath filled them according as she was edified and affected her self with what she read And tho' her Characters be such as none can well understand yet the consideration of those Truths that she thereby points at will discover both the judiciousness and seriousness of her spirit And I hope these very hints though it may be not distinctly apprehended may be a leading Example of seriousness and piety to her surviving Relatives She was laborious and almost unwearied in Duty especially Fasting and Prayer which last Ordinance seemed to be the very food she lived on and the air she breathed in She hungred and thirsted after God as the hart after the water books and would often pleasantly reflect on an expression of Mr. Rutherfoords to that purpose in his Book of Letters which she greatly delighted in and say I think God feeds me with hunger viz. After the enjoyment of God and manifestations of his Love She was zealously bent to advance Gods Honour and propagate the Gospel which I hope others will imitate her in and used to say For what else hath God given me life and any share of worldly things And upon this account her Temper being naturally timerous she would oft with great earnestness complain of her self That she feared her fears were such as might dishonour God and disparage her Profession in the eyes of such as are without though yet her fears were more visible to her self than any else However this fearful Temper did represent Death to her oft in Melancholly Ideas Yet she would commonly say I fear not to be dead but only to dye neither do I fear Death so properly as the very fears thereof Upon which account she would oft chide her self as acting so irrationally and unchristianly But God gave her in a great measure the Conquest over such Fears before her Death However this Temper of hers made her oft say That for her own part she could never joyn with that Prayer in the Service-Book From sudden Death deliver us For she feared a lingring rather than a sudden death which God in some measure did satisfie her in In the midst of her Complainings on whatever account she would still break out with a Caution to her self But what do I I must praise as well as pray for my mercies are more than my wants yea even my wants may be my mercy And therefore she would beg the assistance of others in this work and say I desire you to praise as well as pray on my account Yea which may seem strange notwithstanding her fears as to her self she was of a bold and confident Temper in the publick Concerns of Religion and would not easily be shaken in her resolutions that way whatever Opposition or Reflection she might meet with on that account from an ignorant World And if there were any that thought or spoke contemptuously of serious piety she could not but with generous pity and compassion reflect upon them She had a very particular regard for her Relatives and Friends especially as to what might be conducive to the real profit of their Souls And I may say That she travelled as it were in birth for her Children a second time that she might see Christ formed in them And I hope that as God was pleased to give her much satisfaction in this before her death so her Prayers may come to be yet further answered in due time this way She had attained a well-grounded Assurance of her Interest in God and Christ which to my observation she never actually doubted of even in the midst of Temptations Although her natural Temper being suspitious and not easily satisfied in such a grand concern she would oft put up Questions as to this matter to such as she could be free with in such a way as if she seemed to doubt thereof and would oft say If it be so and so with me why am I thus Yet as she hath intimated to some this was rather that she might be further satisfied from the Reasons of others as well as from her own Evidences for she thought she could never be too sure of this weighty and concerning Business She had several times some unusual Impressions of things upon her Spirit especially in Dreams which though she was cautious not to lay too great a stress on for she founded on a surer word of Testimony yet she could not but take particular notice of At one time said she for I give this in her own words as near as I can remember I dreamed that I saw the representation of two Humane Bodies but so glorious above what our frail Bodies are here as admits of no comparison They were to my Apprehension like the finest and purest Amber with Rays proceeding from them like the shinings and glances of Diamonds or Rubies and so transparent that the beautiful contexture and motion of the internal parts appeared no less plainly to me than the external figure Which whilst with Ravishment I looked upon methoughts it was suggested to me Such shall the Bodies of the Saints at the Resurrection be This extraordinary Dream she would speak of sometimes in these or the like words but never without a sensible emotion and emphasis which added to
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.