Predicate do not live for ever There is a threefold life whereof we read in the holy Scripture viz. A Temporal life or a life of nature a Spiritual life or a life of Grace and an Eternal life or a life of Glory In the two latter sences the faithful Prophets of God shall live for ever The life of grace which they are partakers of here shall never be destroyed but will terminate in a Life of Glory and that Life of Glory which the Saints shall live above will be of an everlasting duration But the Spirit of God in the words of my text speaks of a Temporal Life or a Life of nature to which a Period must be put In this sence the Prophets do not live for ever From the words thus explained I shall present you with the following observation Doct. That they who minister about holy things are not exempted from a Temporal Death Or That ministers are liable to and must undergo a Temporal Death The Prophets do they live for ever If they do not live for ever they must certainly die I need not Insist long upon the Proof of such an undeniable Proposition Have not all God's Ministers who lived in Preceeding ages fallen by the stroke of Death Is not Moses gone to the House appointed for all living who is stiled the Prophet by way of eminence Hosea 12.13 Who was the Prince of the old Testament Prophets an eminent type of the Great Apostle of our Profession with Respect to his Prophetical Office as appears from Deut. 18.18 Compared with Act. 3.22 What is become of that famous Prophet who came in the spirit and Power of Elias who was the Morning Star that ushered the Sun of Righteousness into this World did not he set in a Gloomy night of Death Where are the Apostles of our Lord those Heraulds that first Proclaimed the glad tidings of Peace to the Rebellious world are not they gone down to the dark and silent grave Do not we frequently see the King of terrours hewing down those who are Pillars in Jehovah's Temple with his fatal Ax. In the farther Prosecution of this Point I shall proceed in the ensuing method 1. To shew you more particularly what that Death is which they who Minister about holy things are liable to and must certainly undergo 2. To assign some general Reasons why they must die as well as other men 3. To assign some particular and special Reasons of their death 4. To give you some Account of the time when God usually calls them out of this world 5. To make some Improvement and Application of the whole 1. I shall shew you more particularly what that Death is which they who Minister about holy things are liable to and must undergo 1. Negatively Neither they nor any of the Children of men are liable to or shall undergo a natural death of the Soul Though the Souls of wicked men are subject to a Moral Death which Consists in a Privation of felicity and blessedness yet they are not subject to a Physical Death which Consists in a Privation of Existence or Life when men die their Souls depart from their Bodies they do not die or sleep with their Bodies When their Bodies return to the Earth from whence they came Their Souls return to that God as a Judge from whom they came forth as a Creatour Otherwise it would be in the Power of man to kill the soul as well as the Body which our Saviour denies Math. 10.28 Fear not them which can kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul Death's fatal dart cannot pierce this Immortal Being Death may break the Cabinets but cannot touch that rich Jewel which is Inclosed therein It dissolves that earthly Tabernacle wherein the Soul resides but cannot destroy it 's noble Inhabitant The Soul is a spiritual Immaterial and therefore an Immortal Everliving substance If the Soul sleeps with the Body I know not how our Lord's Promise to the Penitent theif This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luk. 23.43 could be accomplish't nor what Reason can be assign'd for the Apostle Paul's desire speedily to depart out of the world Phil. 1.23 I might produce many Arguments to establish this assertion But I cannot enter upon a large discussion of this controversy at this time 2. Affirmatively There is a two fold death which they who Minister about holy things are liable to and must undergo as well as other men viz. A death of the man and a death of the Body 1. A death of the man Which Consists in a separation of the Soul from the Body As the union of the Soul with the Body is the Life of the man So the separation of the Soul from the Body is the death of the man When the Soul is Joyned to the Body we begin to live when it is divorced from the Body then we die Death's fatal stroke breaks in sunder the Ligament wherewith the Soul and Body are tyed together and Rends these Intimate Companions from each others Embraces 2. A death of the Body This is inseparable from a death of the man The Soul is the Principle of the Bodies Life and Motion while it continues in it and therefore when it takes it's flight from it it ceases to be a living Creature and becomes a lifeless lump of clay This death of the Body consists in a Cessation of the Circulation of the Blood and Spirits which are the Animal Soul of man Thereby the Body is deprived of it's strength and vigour of it's Motion and Activity and of it's comeliness and Beauty Death makes a great alteration in this Curious structure It tyes the most voluble tongue fetters the most active and nimble hands and feet It introduces paleness into the most ruddy face and dimness into the most sparkling eyes 2dly I Proceed to assign some general Reasons why Ministers must die as well as other men In general because it is appointed for all men once to die Heb. 9.27 This is a statute Law of Heaven which never was never will be repealed but shall be fully executed The Law is universal and therefore none can plead an exemption from the execution of it They who give Laws to men are subject to this Appointment of God No Priveledges either Temporal or spiritual can give the Children of men a Protection from death's arrest If it be objected that some have past by not through the Gates of death for Enoch was Translated and Elias mounted up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot and they who remain alive upon Earth at the coming of the Lord from Heaven shall not sleep but be changed It may be replyed that some Particular exceptions do not destroy a general Rule besides the foremention'd Persons either did or shall undergo a change equivalent to a Death But more Particularly Ministers must die as well as others 1. Because they as well as others descended from the first Adam by whose transgression death was entailed upon all
A SERMON On the Decease of Mr. Hanserd Knollis Minister of the Gospel Preached at Pinners-Hall Octob. 4. 1691. By Tho. Harrison Rev. XIV 13. And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their Works do follow them LONDON Printed for H. Barnard at the Bible in the Poultrey 1694. THE Epistle to the Reader Courteous Reader I Do not Intitle the following Discourse Mr. Knollis's Funeral Sermon because that was Preach't to his own Congregation by a Person far more eminent than my self But it was a Sermon which I voluntarily Preached upon the occasion of his decease in that morning Lecture at Pinners-Hall which was first erected by him and wherein I have ground to hope he Labour'd with great success as well as acceptance Soon after this Sermon came from the Pulpit some were desirous that I would send it to the Press But I was not then willing to appear in so publick a manner upon the stage of the World It is at last brought out of my study wherein I design'd that it should have lain all my days with the rest of my unpolish't Papers by the request and encouragement of some Friends to publick view I must expect the Common Lot of such mean Authors as my self and which sometimes hath been the Portion of others of a higher rank to have both my Person and my Book Censured and Condemn'd But however if God shall be Pleas'd to bless this little piece to the good of one Soul I shall have no cause to repent its publication That thou may'st reap some spiritual advantage therefrom is the Prayer of Thine in the Lord T. H. A SERMON On the Decease of Mr Hanserd Knollis Zech. l. v. 5. latter part And the Prophets do they live for ever WHat frequent Conquests doth the King of Terrours gain over the Children of Men Man goes continually to his long home and the Mourners walk about the streets Men of all ages ranks and degrees are led away into Deaths gloomy Territories One would think that if any could plead an exemption therefrom it should be they who are in the highest place and office in the Church of Christ That if any could be discharged in this warfare it should be they whose work it is to subdue Rebellious sinners unto Christ That if any could be delivered from going down to the dark grave it should be they who are the lights of the World That they if any should escape the house of silence who are to convey the Joyful sound of the ever blessed Gospel to the ears of men But yet they must dye as well as others for the Prophets do they live for ever Before I come to the words of my Text I shall give you a brief account of the occasion of them When God had wrought out an unexpected and Miraculous deliverance for the Jews from their Babylonian Captivity and brought them again into their own Land from whence they had been exiled seventy years He was pleased to send the Prophet Zechariah having not long before sent Haggai to them to excite and stir them up to those duties which were at that time Incumbent on them In v. 3. of this Ch. the Prophet gives a summary account of that message which he was Commanded to deliver from the Lord of the Prophets to them Thus saith the Lord of Hosts return unto me which Command is enforc't with a gracious Promise that if they did so God would return unto them Our return to God in a way of duty is the most likely means to obtain his return to us in a way of grace and mercy And for as much as this People were very prone to Imitate the evil examples of their Progenitours and to follow them in those crooked ways which they walked in he verse 4. Cautions them against an Imitation of their Forefathers in their Impenitency and Contumacy And this he enforceth by an Argument taken from the dreadful event thereof in the former part of this 5th ver Your fathers where are they q. d. they are not for they are said not to be who are departed out of the Land of the Living and made free among the dead Jer. 31.15 v. q. d. Your fathers have been Consumed and destroyed by fire sword and Pestilence they have been made dreadful examples of God's displeasure against stubborn and impenitent sinners and their ruine should be a warning to you least treading in their steps ye should undergo the same punishment with them And says he in the words of my Text the Prophets do they live for ever The scope and design of these words is and according to the Judgment of expositors to distinguish between the Persons of the Prophets and those things which were in the name of God delivered by them He here speaks by way of Concession for this Interrogation carries a negation in it and amounts to a Negative Proposition q. d. the Prophets do not live for ever But tho they dye it may be before their Predictions are fulfilled yet they shall certainly be Accomplished as you may see if you compare these words with the following verse But I shall no farther consider the words relatively with respect to the Context but absolutely in themselves as they are a negative Proposition wherein we may consider First the subject the Prophets Secondly the Predicate do not live for ever 1. The subject The Prophets with respect unto which expositors are divided in their opinions 1. Some hereby understand the false Prophets who came when God did not send them and delivered those things in his name which they never received from him Who endeavoured to please rather than to profit the People sowing Pillows under their Elbows and crying Peace Peace when destruction was hastily marching towards them But Secondly With others I conceive we are hereby to understand the true Prophets who received their mission from God and acted according to that Commission which he had given them God at sundry times and in Divers manners spake by the Old Testament Church by the Prophets Heb. 1.1 v. He made great Revelations and discoveries of his mind and will unto them which they by virtue of their office were obliged to declare unto the People But under this title are comprehended not only the extraordinary but the ordinary Ministers both of the old and new Testament Thus Mat. 10. 41. He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward Luk. 11.49 v. Though the ordinary Ministers of the new Testamentâ— are not now to exercise that part of the Prophetical office which consisted in the Prediction of Future events yet there are other parts of this office viz. More clearly to unfold and explain the mind and will of God contain'd in his word to Reprove for sin and excite to duty which appertain to them Secondly the
his natural off-spring and Posterity In this one man all sinned and therefore death passed upon all men Rom. 5.12 That apple which our first Parents ate in Paradise hath brought a fatal surfeit upon all their Posterity Tho the Godly are delivered from a spiritual and eternal death yet they are liable to a Temporal death Tho they are delivered from Temporal death as a Penal evil yet they are liable to it as a natural evil Death is not the effect of nature but the fruit of sin Had man Persevered in his holiness he should have continued in a state of Immortality Sin opened the door to let death into the world for death enter'd by sin Rom. 5.12 Yea it is observable that the sentence of Temporal death pass't upon man Immediately after a deliverance from spiritual and eternal death by the seed of the Woman was promised to him And this sentence began Immediately to be executed with respect to that necessity of Dying which man was brought under and those Bodily distempers the seeds of which were then Introduced to him 2. That they may appear before the Judge of all the Earth to give an account of the Actions of their Lives to him That Judgment which will ensue upon death is one Reason of our Dying We must depart out of Life that we may appear before the Divine tribunal in the next Life Ministers are the subjects of the heavenly King and therefore they must give an account to him as well as their hearers We who declare and expound the Divine Law to you press you to yeild obedience to it must be Judged by this Law our selves and come under a strict examination with respect to our observation of and obedience to it We who perswade you have or ought to have some knowledge of this part of the Lords terrours even the future Judgment as that which we are liable to our selves Cor. 2.5 10 and 11. 3. I proceed to assign some special and particular Reasons why Ministers must die And they will be such as have a peculiar reference to their station and employment 1. They must die that they may give an account how they have discharged that office which they are called to and that trust that is Reposed in them Ministers are stewards of the manifold grace of God and therefore must give an account of their stewardships They have peculiar gifts bestowed upon them to fit and qualifie them for their work therefore they must give an account how they have Improved and laid them out in the service of that Lord from whom they received them Ministers are Christ's Embassadours whom he sends to deliver the message of Life and salvation unto Rebellious sinners and to treat with them about a Reconciliation to their offended Soveraign They must therefore Return unto their Lord to give an account how they and their message were received and entertained in and by the world how they have managed and behaved themselves in the execution of their office and what success their Embassy hath had They are Labourers sent to work in the Church which is God's vineyard and Husbandry and therefore they must return to the master of the vineyard and the Lord of the harvest that they may give an account what work they have done therein They are the shepherds wherewith Christ the great shepherd of the sheep hath intrusted his little flock therefore they must give an account what care they have taken of them They are Gods Watchmen whom he appoints to watch over Souls and therefore they must be accountable for 'em Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as those that must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you Tho all men have a great account to give yet Ministers have the greatest 2. They must die that they may be eased of those burthens that lie upon them and delivered from those Troubles and Afflictions which they are frequently exercised with in this life Indeed they are so many and great that well might the Apostle say 1 Cor. 15.19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable We Christians of all men we Ministers of all Christians I shall mention some of them that you may see what cause you have to pity and pray for your Ministers 1. The laboriousness of their Work Know them who labour among you and admonish you 1 Thes 5.12 they who labour in the Word and Doctrine 1 Tim. 5.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who labour to weariness It is a work that is attended with much inward pleasure and delight to those whose hearts are duly engaged in it but yet much study and much preaching too is a weariness to the Flesh It is a labour that spends the Vitals and consumes the Oil which should preserve the Lamp of Nature It is such a labour as makes Old Age and Youth often meet together The Jews took Christ to be about 50 years Old when he was little above 30 Joh. 8.57 and some assign this reason for it that he had so enfeebled his body with his laborious exercises that he seemed older than he really was Other Callings are but Exercises to Nature but the Ministers work debilitates Nature The Minister like the Candle wastes while he shines But at death he rests from his labours 2. The discouragements which they meet with in their work 1. From themselves How often have they aking hearts and weeping eyes when they consider the weight importance and difficulty of their work and their own insufficiency for it Says the Apostle Who is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2.16 It is true God hath promised to assist them but their faith is sometimes at a low ebb as well as the faith of others When their faith is so unactive that they cannot with this spiritual Eye behold an Omnipotent Arm stretcht forth for their support they are ready to sink under their pressure 2. From others Even those who are professed Friends to that work which they are engaged in How often are they reflected upon for their fidelity in the discharge of their duty How often are Professors ready to account Ministers their Enemies because they tell them the Truth How apt are they to fly in their Faces if they do but touch any of their Lusts with the Sword of the Spirit How often are they deserted by men for declaring the whole Counsel of God! We have an instance of this in the great Apostle of our profession because he preached a Doctrine which did not lie level with the carnal Reason of his Auditors Joh. 6. Many of his Disciples from that time went back and walked no more with him 66. v. It is a great discouragement to labour hard and not to have our labour accepted It is true we should look above the dispraise of men to the praise