the mutiny of our Passions sends up such Vapours as thicken into a Cloud which sitting on the Understanding do so confound the Apprehension both with regard to the actings of these Graces and the Objects upon which they are to terminate that they are like a musical Instrument that is unstrung and so unfit for use Indeed there is no time more proper for the acting our suffering Graces than a day of gloom and thick darkness But alas this cannot be perform'd while the Mind is under Confusion and Horror and the animal Spirits exhausted by continual sighing Therefore when we give so large a vent to our Sorrows as to impair the health of our Bodies and impede the exercise of our Graces we sorrow like those that have no hope 3. When our Grief for our deceased Friends is greater than for those Sins which might be the occasion of God's removing 'em so suddenly from us There is hardly any afflictive Providence but is properly a Reproof and Correction for Sin Now if the smart of our Afflictions gives a deeper accent to our Sorrow than the guilt of our Sins if we are more griev'd for the loss of our Friend than for the visible tokens of the Divine Anger then our mourning is criminal Indeed that Person must be very Stoical that can bear the loss of an agreeable Friend without dropping a few Tears and sending some Sighs after him but he is no less to blame that can conceive a greater Sorrow in his Soul for the loss of an outward Comfort than for Sin the sad cause of God's snatching it from him Moreover 't is a certain sign that God was not valu'd by such a one as the supreme all-comprehending Good if any temporal loss does more afflict his Soul than the Sins that occasion'd it 4. We sorrow as those without hope for our departed Friends when our Grief is more pungent and afflictive for the loss of them than for God's withdrawing his gracious and quickning Presence and hiding his Face from us in an angry Cloud The Smiles of God are better and more to be valued than the best Life of any Creature therefore to be less concern'd when he frowns upon our Souls than when he removes from us the Comforts of Life does not only discover the disorderly excess of our Grief but the defect of our Judgment in setting a higher value on a dying Creature than an everliving God But I hasten to the second Head Secondly They may be said to sorrow as those without hope that exceed in the continuance of their Sorrows rejecting all solid grounds of Comfort as did several whose Names are inrol'd in sacred Story I 'll instance in a few Good old Gen. 37. 34 35. Jacob upon the apprehension of Joseph's death rends his Clothes puts Sackcloth upon his Loins and mourn'd for his Son many days his Passion so got the start of his Reason that he refus'd to be comforted and resolv'd to mourn till he died abandoning himself to Jer. 31. 15. the most desperate Sorrow And thus Rachel is describ'd by the Prophet as weeping for her Children and refusing to be comforted because they were not And Rizpah continued 2 Sam. 21. 10. by the dead Bodies of her Sons and would not willingly be remov'd from ' em And there are not a few Christians who are too apt to slide into these Excesses upon the death of their near Relations as if all their Happiness was vanish'd and gone when the delight of their Eyes is sunk into a Grave out of their sight which immoderate Sorrow is a continu'd Reflection on the Divine Attributes as if a God of infinite Wisdom and immense Goodness were uncapable of making up the loss of a mutable mortal Creature Moreover let me remark that the invincible Patience and profound Submission of some Heathens under the most afflicting Providences condemn the Practice of those Christians who incessantly mourn for their departed Friends and refuse to be comforted I 'll mention but one in the room of several and 't is that of Stilpon the Philosopher who when the City where he liv'd was reduc'd to Ashes and his Wife and Children buried in the common Ruins himself escaping alone from the Fire being ask'd whether he had lost any thing replied * Senec. Epist 9. Omnia bona mea mecum sunt Justitia Virtus Temperantia Prudentia hoc ipsum nihil boni putare quod eripi possit All my Treasure 's with me Justice Virtue Temperance Prudence and this inviolable Principle not to esteem any thing as my proper Good that can be ravish'd from me An Instance that very much upbraids those Christians that are intemperate either in the degree or duration of their Grief Some time is necessary and decent for our funeral Sorrows but to walk softly all our days in deep mourning and anguish of Spirit because our Friends are taken from us and made more happy than ever they were with us is to grieve like stupid Jews or hopeless Heathens both which disbelieve the Resurrection of Christ which is the Foundation Model and Pledg of ours Therefore that this Disswasive of the Apostle may make a sutable Impression upon our Minds let us now consider the Arguments he uses to inforce it which is the III. General Head and here are two things to be insisted upon First The nature of their Death who die united to Christ 't is represented under the soft Character of a Sleep Secondly The great advantage that follows their Death such as sleep in Jesus will God bring with him First The nature of their Death who are united to Christ 't is call'd a Sleep Those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him An excellent * Dr. Bates Author on this Text observes how the Apostle varies the Expression Jesus died but the Saints sleep in him for he sustained Death in all its Terrors that it might be a calm Sleep to his People Under the Old Testament we find the Death of the Saints frequently set forth by this soft and gentle Character David and Solomon Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah are represented at their Death to be fallen asleep And under the New Testament our Lord uses this Phrase upon the death of one whom he lov'd Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Joh. 11. 11. And 't was St. Paul's usual Idiom to call Death a Sleep as appears from the Scriptures in the Margin * 1 Cor. 15. 6 18 20 51. Some indeed have been so weak as to imagine that this Sleep did equally seize Soul and Body and have asserted that at death the Soul passes into a state of Inactivity and sleepeth with the Body till the Resurrection an Opinion so repugnant to the true Principles of Philosophy and Divine Revelation that 't is seldom espous'd by any but Atheists Socinians and very ignorant Pretenders to Religion Our Souls are of an immortal nature they neither die nor sleep but immediately upon the death Eccles 12.
speak of the Resurrection of the Body I assert that there shall not only be rais'd the same specifical but the same numerical Body not only the same Body for kind but for substance not that I affirm that every individual Particle that compos'd the Body when it died shall be rais'd up again but so much of the Matter that made up the necessary constituent parts of it Now of what is necessary I think an ingenious Modern gives a very probable account his words are these By necessary Dr. Hody Parts says he I mean those which remain after the utmost degree of Maceration without which the Body would not be integral but imperfect And these are chiefly the Bones the Skin the Nerves the Tendons the Ligaments and the substance of the several Vessels As long as these and all that are necessary to Life remain the Body is truly whole tho never so much macerated But before I go off from this Head I would make a remark upon one Phrase which is within the compass of my Text and I think proves the Identity of the dying and rising Body and that is Death's being set forth by Sleep which would be very improper if the very Bodies that sleep in Jesus and are dead should not be awaken'd and reviv'd in the morning of the Resurrection There is but one thing more I shall stay to mention farther to support this important Article and 't is the instance given by the Apostle of those that shall be alive at Christ's second coming 1 Cor. 15. 51. he tells us they shall not all sleep but they shall all be chang'd Now this Change must refer to the qualities of their Bodies not to the substance of 'em we cannot imagine that by being chang'd he means that the whole substance of their Bodies should be annihilated and that they shall have quite new Bodies form'd out of other matter Moreover let me observe that should those very Bodies be destroy'd and new ones united to those Souls the destruction of the Body and the breach of the union would be Death whereas the Apostle asserts all shall not die So that upon the whole I argue thus That if those Persons that are found alive at Christ's second coming shall retain their old Bodies only with new Qualities then those that are rais'd from the Dead shall have the same Bodies which were formerly join'd to their Souls only with the addition of new Qualities For what reason can any man assign that the Saints that shall be alive when Christ shall come to judg the World should be caught up into the Air with their old Bodies only ennobled and refin'd and those that died should have Bodies intirely new and such as were never united to their Souls before such as never were the Instruments either of sinning or serving of God Now the Apostle do's not barely tell us of the Saints being brought with God our Saviour at his appearing and Kingdom which implys their Resurrection but he shews that their Resurrection depends upon the Death and Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour for says he If we believe that Jesus dy'd and rose again even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him Heb. 2. 14. First Upon his death for thrô death Christ hath destroy'd him that had the power of Death that is the Devil When men were doom'd to death for the breach of the Law Christ changed conditions with 'em and offer'd up his precious 1 Pet. 1. 19. Blood as a Ransom to God for 'em so that our Saviour was victorious in dying and conquer'd as he expir'd on the infamous Tree He bruis'd the head of the old Serpent and silenc'd the Anathema's of a broken Law when in the sharpest Agony and amidst a thousand torments he bowed his head and gave up the Ghost I confess that his own Exaltation and Triumphs began with his Resurrection but if there had not been an infinite satisfying Merit in his Death he had been so fast fetter'd with the bonds of Death that he could never have burst 'em but having offer'd a Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to God which was of infinite worth and consideration the pains of death Acts 2. 24. were loos'd for 't was impossible he should be held by 'em naturally impossible because of his irresistible Power as God legally impossible because he had paid the full Demands of the Law and Justice Secondly Our Resurrection from the Grave depends on the Resurrection of Christ Christ's Resurrection from the dead proves that ours is not only possible but infallibly certain And this St. Paul reasons upon in a very convincing manner Now if 1 Cor. 15. 12. Christ be preach'd that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no Resurrection of the dead q. d. How can any deny either the possibility or certainty of the Resurrection of the Body since Christ has evidenced both by his own Resurrection from the Dead Christ has remov'd both the moral and natural impossibility of our revival after death the one by his abundant Merit and the other by his own triumphant Resurrection for having taken away the guilt of our Sins which is the cause of Death Death which is the consequent of Sin shall be destroy'd and swallow'd up in victory And our Lord declares That he is the Resurrection and the Joh. 11. 25. Life he that believeth in me says he tho he were dead yet shall he live q. d. I am and shall be the principal cause of the Resurrection my voice shall break the silence of the Grave and cause those that sleep in the dust to awake and live again He is also said to be the first fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor 15 20 â—â— 22. And says the same Apostle For since by man came death by man came also the Resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive From all which we may collect that our Saviour's Resurrection is the Pledg and Assurance of ours Rom. 8. 11. For if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that rais'd up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you In a word Christ rose from the dead as a publick Person as the Surety and Head of his Church and because he lives we shall live also And being called the first-born among the dead he owns all that have dy'd in the Faith as his Brethren who shall be restor'd to Life according to his excellent Pattern for his Resurrection is not only the Pledg but the Model of ours Therefore we are expresly told That he shall change Phil. 3. 21. our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself How glorious our Lord is in his
7. of our Bodies return to God that gave 'em and are fix'd in a state of Happiness or Misery Had not the Apostle believ'd this we cannot imagine that he would have esteem'd Death to be gain to him or that he would have been in any strait to determine and fix his choice for present Death or longer Life for the latter would have been much more eligible if he had believ'd that his Soul at death would have been as insensible and unactive as his Body and no doubt but he would rather have desir'd to continue in this World where he had enjoy'd Communion with Christ and often seen him by a steddy eye of Faith than to be hurried out of it by Death and render'd utterly incapable of any enjoyment of his Redeemer till the Resurrection But 't is yet more evident from another Expression of our Apostle that he was very far from the Opinion or rather Dream of the Soul 's sleeping with the Body till the Resurrection His words are these We 2 Cor. 5. 8. are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. q. d. We have good courage and are well arm'd against the fears of Death being well assur'd that we shall have upon our Dissolution an immediate admittance into the Presence of our glorified Lord for the Apostle supposes not only that the Soul is capable of existing while separated from the Body and of exercising her Faculties and Powers in such a state but that so soon as she leaves the Body she shall enter into the presence of Christ and behold his Glory But I pass on and shall briefly represent the force of the Apostle's Arguments against immoderate Sorrow for the dead The first of which is taken from the nature of their Death who die in the Lord 't is describ'd by the soft Character of a Sleep which as you have heard refers only to the Body Now the death of the Righteous may be thus set forth on the following accounts 1. Because the Body is then eased of all its Pains and freed from all Fatigue and Toil to which it was expos'd while animated with the Soul And therefore as Death is compar'd to Sleep so the Grave is compar'd Isa 57. 2. to a Bed where the righteous are said to rest In this Life the best of Men are frequently made uneasy by acute Distempers and corroding Pains and Death is frequently sought for because Life is a burden You that have frequently visited the Chambers of the sick cannot surely have forgotten the sighs of those Prisoners who have groan'd upon Beds of Down as if every part of their Bodies had been violently extended on a Rack It would be endless to reckon up the vast number of Diseases that affect the Children of God in this World for being tainted with original Sin as well as the vilest of the People they may expect the same Distempers and tho they tarry here but a few days they are ordinarily full of trouble and if their Bodies are not often indispos'd yet thro the Malice of Enemies and the Miseries and Unkindnesses of their Friends they are frequently made to bow towards the Grave before they drop into it For indeed the best of our earthly Comforts have their hidden stings but they shall give us no more pain and uneasiness after we are fallen asleep in Job 3. 17 18. Jesus For in the Grave the wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest there the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor 2. In Sleep no labour is expected from the Body so when Believers are overtaken with a mortal slumber Christ expects no Service from their Bodies While the Soul continues united to the Body we are oblig'd to yield the Members of the one as well as the Faculties of the other Rom. 6. 13. as Instruments of Righteousness unto God but in a state of separation there is expected neither Service nor Suffering from the Body So that while we continue on the Stage of this World the Advice of the wise Man is very proper Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do Eccles 9. 10. it with thy might for there is no Work nor Device nor Knowledg nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest All our vital and animal Operations shall cease when our Spirits return to God and our Bodies are reduc'd to Dust The one is fix'd in an unalterable state of Happiness or Misery and the other put into an incapacity for Action A middle place betwixt Heaven and Hell for departed Spirits is a groundless Imagination for it could not be said with truth that such as die in the Lord rest from Rev. 14. 13. their Labours if they were to pass into a refining Fire equally tormenting in degree but not in duration with that of Hell as those of the Roman Faction assert Therefore let us rather attend to the words of our Lord and follow Joh. 9. 4. his Example I must work the Works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no Man can work 3. Death to the Righteous is disarm'd of its sting and being alter'd in its nature it may sutably be set forth by the notion of Sleep St. Paul tells us that 1 Cor. 15. 56. the sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law Death receives its destroying Power from Sin and Sin from the Law Sin being a Transgression of the Law which discovers its odious nature and denounces Damnation for it But Death approaches Believers without its sting Christ having yielded an indefective Obedience to the Law and suffer'd the penalty of it in the room and stead of Believers Hence says the Apostle There is therefore now no condemnation Rom. 8. 1. to them which are in Christ Jesus Christ hath redeem'd 'em from the Curse Gal. 3. 13. of the Law being made a Curse for ' em And the Apostle represents Believers as triumphing over Death in such terms as these O Death where is thy Sting O Grave 1 Cor. 15. 55 57. where is thy Victory Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Christ has remov'd the scandal of Death by dying and perfum'd the Grave by lying in it and passing through it 4. The Death of the Righteous is compar'd to a Sleep on the account of what shall follow thereupon for as men do awake after Sleep so they shall revive after Death as we are assur'd by a very remarkable Prophecy Hos 13. 14. and Promise I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy Destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eyes In which words we must consider the Prophet as personating of Christ and uttering the Triumphs of a mighty Conqueror which contain a glorious Promise
And indeed all men have just reason to fear Death who have nothing but a gloomy prospect beyond it the terrible apprehensions of an angry God and a tormenting Tophet But such whose guilt is remov'd by the Blood of Christ and their Souls renew'd and cleans'd by the Spirit of Christ have no reason to fear Death for it approaches 'em without a sting Thirdly From the Doctrine I have establish'd we learn of what necessity it is to be united to Christ for 't is only such that shall have part in the first Resurrection over whom the second Death shall have no power 't is only such as die in the Lord i. e. united to Christ by the Spirit and Faith that are said to sleep in Jesus and that God our Saviour will bring with him I know that some men think themselves very witty when they ridicule the Doctrine of Union with Christ but I am sure they are very miserable if we may take the word of an Apostle for it who says that if any Rom. 8. 9. Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Now none but such as belong to Christ shall attend his Triumph at the last day and reign with him in his immoveable Kingdom Fourthly How great are our Obligations to our Redeemer who hath alter'd the very nature of Death by dying in our stead and given us assurance of our Resurrection by his own rising from the dead O the heights the depths the lengths the breadths of the Love of God in Christ Jesus O shall not our Hearts burn with a grateful flame and shall not his unexampled Love render him exceeding precious to our Souls and cause us to strike up with the Church Triumphant Rev. 5. 12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing for ever and ever Fifthly How little reason have those that are united to Christ to desire any long tarry in this World which is a sink of Sin and Sorrow a place of gloominess and darkness where we constantly suffer and are always in danger of sinning Moreover while here we are kept from our Inheritance and our Father's House Therefore it better becomes a true Member of Christ's Mystical Body to desire rather to depart and to be with Christ which is best of all Sixthly How great is the difference betwixt the death of a Believer and that of an Infidel Mr. Cruso They may both fall by the same diseases and their Dust be mingled in the same Pit but their immortal part will be everlastingly divided There is a great Gulf fixed between the Spirits in Prison and the Souls in Paradise We read that when the rich Man died in Hell be lift up his Eyes being in Torments Luke 16. 22 23. but when the religious Beggar left this World he was carried by Angels into Abraham 's Bosom An impenitent Sinner at death loses the very Shadows that he courted for Happiness but the Saint heightens his Felicity into Perfection Mark the perfect Man and behold Psal 37. 37. the upright for the end of that Man is peace Lastly If such as sleep in Jesus God will bring with him then let us not sorrow like those without hope when God removes our Relations and Friends by death especially such whom we have good ground to believe are fallen asleep in Jesus as blessed be God we have of that excellent and worthy Gentleman Mr. ABBOTT whose Death has given the sad occasion to this Discourse And is he dead Well but his Name lives and will be fresh and fragrant to Posterity And I cannot do Justice to his Memory without taking notice of those Graces and Virtues that eminently shin'd in his Conversation and Conduct for the Memory of the just shall be blessed and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance I am not now to give the Character of one that dwelt in a shade but of one whose publick Imploys expos'd him to a continual view so that I doubt not of a crowd of Witnesses to attest the truth of what I shall say I confess to collect all that was excellent and imitable in the deceas'd Gentleman is too big a task for so unskilful a Person as I am who can but lay the dead Colours of his Character and must leave the finishing strokes to more artful Hands to Men of better Judgment of greater compass of Thought and exactness of Stile I must own I am at a loss where to begin and what part of his excellent Character I shall insist upon but I think his Piety towards God may properly enough be spoken of in the first place He began very early to be religious devoted to Heaven the flourishing bloom of his Youth the first and best of his time he had well studied and digested the great Articles of the Christian Faith and had right Notions of the Person and Mediatory Work of Christ which had a mighty influence into his whole Conversation for tho he liv'd in a crowd and hurry of business yet he lost not his Religion in the midst of it but kept close to the private and publick Duties of Divine Worship With what seriousness and diligence did he attend on Sermons and what Pains did he take in the writing and repeating of ' em which was the more extraordinary because his publick Imploys engag'd him in writing even to toil and fatigue He was not a Gentleman that affected Singularity or pretended to more Purity than other Christians but there was a native gracefulness that attended his acts of Piety and Devotion which he manag'd without Pomp or Noise this was an evidence of his great Humility a Grace very conspicuous in him as some of the poorest in this place cannot but have observ'd to whom he carried it as if they had been his Equals which added a mighty lustre to the rest of his Virtues His Zeal for spreading the great Truths of the Gospel was strong and regular bright and flaming for notwithstanding his many necessary Avocations he would redeem time to advise and assist in the promotion of substantial Godliness His Sincerity was very extraordinary and visible for he appear'd always with great freedom simplicity and plainness in Conversation he detested all Reserves and Disguises 't was too mean for him to appear in Masquerade tho Alamode Integrity preserv'd him from the meanness of Flattery and he preserv'd his Integrity amidst a thousand Temptations He was a true Nathanael who by the Grace of God abating the common frailtys of human Life might be said to keep himself unspotted from the World for he acted like Joseph in the Court of Pharaoh only with this difference that he had not learn'd to swear by his Life In his Family he was very exemplary gave great encouragement to the beginnings of Piety but deeply resented the negligence of Servants or Children that should absent themselves from Family-worship The Company
Mordecai Abbot Esq. Receiver Gen t. of his Ma ties Custom s. Obijt 29 Feb. 1699 Aetat 43. A Funeral Sermon Upon the sad Occasion of the DEATH OF Mordecai Abbott Esq Preach'd the 17th of March 1699 1700. By JOHN PIGGOTT Psal 89. 48. What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death Shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave Selah London Printed for Dan. Brown without Temple-bar A. Bell in Cornhil E. Tracy on London-Bridg and M. Fabian at Mercers-Chappel in Cheapside 1700. To the Mournful Relict of Mordecai Abbott Esq MADAM THE following Sermon which was compos'd in a little time and when a great many other things of importance lay on my hands had never been expos'd to publick view had not You more than once press'd it upon me from the Affection I bore to your deceased Husband my very worthy and most agreeable Friend whose Name will be ever dear to me But tho I am conscious it has many defects yet being design'd to celebrate his Memory I thought my self bound by the Laws of Friendship as well as the Obligations of Duty to inscribe it to Your Name from whom I have receiv'd the most liberal and undeserv'd Favours And tho it may in some sort renew your Sorrows yet I hope with the Blessing of God it will tend to restrain 'em from excess Madam You have all the assurance that you can have in this World of your late Consort 's Happiness in the next he having only chang'd your pleasing but temporary Society for the endless Felicities of Abraham's Bosom He has run his Christian Race and receiv'd his unfading Crown he has pass'd through an ill-natur'd World with an unspotted Name for Envy it self could not stain his Character May his Virtues live in his Childrens Memory and his Example in their Lives May all the tender Branches of your hopeful Family become Plants of Renown may they tread in their Father's steps and serve their Father's God And that You dear Madam may long continue with 'em to awe and guide their Youth and to shed the Influences of your Virtues among 'em is the unfeign'd desire of Madam Your very humble and oblig'd Servant JOHN PIGGOTT 1 Thess iv 13 14. But I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him THE melancholy Air that sits on every Countenance and the sad Solemnities that attend our meeting at this time give sufficient intimation of what I am come about I need not tell you that 't is to preach a Funeral Sermon and whose Death has given me the sorrowful occasion for the deceased Gentleman's Worth was so well known and the want of him is so much felt that the Court the City and the Church of God are not a little sensible who 't is that is ravish'd from ' em This sudden and surprizing Providence represents the frailty of Human Nature and the necessity of an early and constant Preparation â— Cor. 7. 31. for the other World For this World and the fashion of it passes away It s Glory and Inhabitants vanish in the twinkling of an eye Lord how vain a thing is Man how little is he to be accounted of seeing his Breath is in his Nostrils and may be stopt by a thousand Accidents and his Soul let out at the least pore of his Body Yet so great is the Stupidity that has seiz'd on the World that most People are for putting the evil day far from 'em as only fit to be thought on by the sick and the aged tho they know not what a day may bring forth and tho they cannot but be inform'd by the Records of the Grave that there are more drop into it in their full strength while their Bones are Job 21. 24. moistned with Marrow than there are that arrive to a good old Age before they make their Bed in darkness Indeed there are none so wretchedly sceptical as to deny or disbelieve that they are mortal or that seriously think they shall never go to the House appointed for all living yet the generality of the World live as if they were never to die and I confess of the two it seems to me a greater instance of Madness and Folly to think we shall die and not prepare for it than to imagine we are immortal and so uncapable of dying So that upon the whole a Man cannot give a better Evidence of true Wisdom than by making his Preparation for Death the great business of his Life for Death we are sure will come but at what time we know not therefore 't is the most reasonable thing in the World that we should be always ready I little thought that he who was worshipping of God in this place this day month would so soon have sunk down to the Dust of Death and indeed God only knows which of us shall take the next turn to the Sepulchre I know 't is impossible to mention this but there will be a very strong Emotion in most Minds to calm which a recourse to my Text is the most proper Remedy that I know of For I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren c. 'T is not improbable but that the Death of some Persons in the Thessalonian Church might occasion St. Paul to address himself to the Survivors as in the words of the Text that he might arm 'em against the fears of Death and moderate their excessive mourning for the Dead In the words I observe these three Parts I. The Apostle's extraordinary care to inform the Thessalonian Christians concerning the state of their dead Friends But I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren concerning them that are asleep II. A Disswasive from immoderate Sorrow upon the Death of those that are pious That ye sorrow not even as others that have no hope III. The Arguments the Apostle uses to prevent excessive mourning for the dead in Christ The first is taken from the nature of their Death 't is described under the soft Character of a Sleep The second is fetch'd from what shall follow this Sleep they shall be awaken'd in the morning of the Resurrection those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him which the Apostle not only asserts but proves For says he if we believe that Jesus died and rose again q. d. If there be any solid reason for our believing the Death and Resurrection of Christ then we have an infallible assurance of the revival of all that die united to him Those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him I shall briefly treat of these three General Heads and then make some Application sutable to my Text and the solemn and sad occasion of discoursing from it 1. The Apostle's extraordinary care to inform the Thessalonian
Christians concerning the state of their deceased Friends But I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep These words seem to import that the Apostle apprehended divers of these Christians to be under some mistakes with respect to their dead Friends And 't is thought that their Persecutors had shock'd 'em in their Faith about the Resurrection of the Body For we know that the Greek Philosophers as well as the Sadduces among the Jews did explode and ridicule this great Doctrine which they perform'd with so much art and subtilty that some Members of the Primitive Church doubted whilst others affirm'd there was no Resurrection And this seems to be the occasion of their excessive Sorrow they looking upon their dead Friends not only as remov'd out of the World but as lost for ever as to their Bodies at least And their Persecutors that they might increase their Infidelity and their Sorrow at the same time when they put the Christians to death for the Cause of Christ did it in such ways as might have the appearance at least of destroying and annihilating the Matter that compos'd their Bodies Sometimes committing 'em to the Flames and scattering their Ashes in the Air and in Rivers that their surviving Friends might conclude it was impossible they should ever rise again At other times they were devour'd by wild Beasts or else thrown as a Prey to the Fish of the Sea and all this to suppress the belief of the Resurrection Now whether these Enemies to the Christian Doctrine did imagin by these methods to annihilate the Matter of the Human Body or so to scatter or confound these Particles of Dust as to render it impossible for God to recollect and range 'em in their due place and order so as to compose the same Human Body 't is equally absurd The former is very unphilosophical for 't is impossible by any method in the World to annihilate Matter indeed its form may be destroy'd and it may receive a variety of new Figures it may be differently modified ten thousand times but cannot be annihilated by the Arts of any Creature under Heaven With respect to the latter 't is impious and atheistical for it supposes a defect either in the Knowledg or Power of God or both which is as vain as to say there is no God for we cannot frame a becoming Idea of a Deity without conceiving him clothed with every Perfection and as possessing of 'em infinitely So that allowing there is such a Being as God that is Omniscient and Almighty 't is as rational to believe he can recollect these dispersed Atoms again as unite 'em in their first Production for all things are possible to God who can if he please impress a kind of natural force upon the disunited Parts and cause 'em to move to one another as readily as the filings of Iron to a Loadstone tho mingled with millions of Particles of Sand. The infinite Knowledg together with the irresistible Power of God answers all Objections against the Resurrection of the Body the same Being having plighted his Faithfulness for this Event promising that the Dead shall be raised And this is one great Doctrine which St. Paul in the Text aims to set in a clear and certain light that the Thessalonians who seem'd to be shaken might be confirm'd in their belief of this important Article of the Christian Creed Brethren I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them that are asleep for them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him q. d. 't is true your Friends are fallen asleep but 't is not an eternal one for they shall be awaken'd from it they are dead but they shall revive and rise again for God our Saviour shall bring them with him when he comes in the Clouds of Heaven Here I might make several very profitable Remarks upon the Apostle's care to correct and remove the Mistakes those Christians had imbibed to whom he wrote but my time will not suffer me to stay upon this Head I proceed therefore to the II. General which is a disswasive from immoderate Sorrow upon the death of those that are pious I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others that have no hope The design of these words is very obvious viz. to temper our Grief to regulate and bound our Sorrows for those religious Friends that are snatch'd from us by Death St. Paul does not disswade from all kind of mourning but from that which is excessive a moderate Sorrow is due to the Memory of our deceased Friends And we find some whose Characters shine brightest in the Scripture-History under a Cloud of Sorrow when their Relations have been remov'd by Death yet 't is no where that I know of charg'd upon 'em as a Crime that they wept for the Dead Abraham who has an honourable mention among the Old Testament-Worthies for his great Self-denial as well as the strength of his Faith in being ready to offer up his only Son at the Divine Command yet gave a vent to his Grief and pour'd out a flood of Tears when Sarah the delight of his Eyes was taken away with a Gen. 23. 2. stroke and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and wept for her Job 1. 7. And Job that mirror of Patience and Probity that had none like him in the Earth as God himself testifies to Satan yet as Ver. 20. we read rent his Mantle shav'd his Head fell upon his face to the ground when he heard of the death of his Children these were the Ceremonies then in use as the signs of a deep mourning yet we are Ver. 21. told that in all this he sinned not nor charged God foolishly But that Instance which is best suted to my purpose and free even from the suspicion of a Crime is that of our blessed Saviour who tho never guilty of the least Excess yet joins with the Jews in their Sorrow for Lazarus for when he saw Mary and those that attended her weeping for her dead Brother the Text says he groaned in the Joh. 11. 33. Spirit and was troubled but when he came nearer to the Grave his Grief flow'd out at his Eyes for the blessed Jesus is said to have Ver. 34. wept Now whatever might be the occasion of his Grief whether his love to Lazarus or the Jews Infidelity or any other reason 't is plain that those that stood about the Grave took it in the first sense therefore they presently cry out Behold how he loved him Ver. 36. Thus you see from the brightest Examples in Scripture that a moderate Sorrow for the dead is allowable Moreover let me remark that the contrary Carriage under the loss of our Friends would look like a Contempt of the Divine Hand for as we are not to faint under the Rebukes so we are not to despise the Chastening of the
to all the Elect of a Victory over Death which shall be partially accomplish'd at the time of their Dissolution but finally consummated in the day of the Resurrection for Death hath not such a power over the living nor the Grave over the dead as Christ hath over both to destroy the one and swallow up the other in victory These several things laid together compose a very solid Argument to disswade from immoderate sorrow for those that sleep in Jesus But this leads to the Second Argument which the Apostle urges upon the same account which is drawn from the great advantage that shall follow the death of the Righteous such as sleep in Jesus will God bring with him Which either supposes or implys these several things First That Jesus Christ who is God-man will make his second appearance or coming at the end of the world I understand God in my Text personally for the Son To them that look for him says the Heb. 9. 28. Author to the Hebrews shall he appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation There is a double coming of Christ mentioned in Scripture the first in the Form of a Servant the second with all the Glory of an Incarnate God at his first coming he was despised and rejected of Men but at his Phil. 2. 9 10 11. second every knee shall bow to him of things in Heaven of things on Earth and things under the Earth and every Tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father At his first coming he conceal'd his Glory by the Veil of his Flesh but at his second he designs to manifest and display it in the most bright and majestick manner At his first coming into this World he was entertain'd in a Stable and when he went out of it he expir'd upon an infamous Tree but when he comes again he will appear in the Clouds seated on a great white Throne the Emblem of his unspotted Holiness and regal Authority At his first coming he was reproach'd and despis'd of the People but when he comes a second time his Enemies shall be struck with a defenceless silence And tho some may be ready to say our Lord delays his coming because he has been conceal'd from their sight for several Ages by the Curtains of Heaven yet know it will not be long e're he that shall come will come and will not tarry the Curtains shall shortly be drawn and the Scenes of Glory shall open 't is as certain that he will come as if the Event was past or as if we now saw the Heavens open and he moving towards us in the Chariot of a bright Cloud But Lord what will his Enemies do in the great Day of his Wrath how will they bear the lightning of his Eyes the smoke of his Breath the thunder of his Voice the weight of his Arm and the terrors of his Wrath who have despised his Grace blasphem'd his Person and spurn'd at the sounding Bowels of his Love Secondly It implies the Resurrection of their Bodies who sleep in Jesus Christ cannot bring them with him in the Clouds of Heaven unless he first fetch 'em from the bowels of the Earth and the bottom of the Sea for at the sound of the last Trump all the Elements shall give up their Dead Believers shall not always continue under the power of Death but shall be reviv'd incorruptible and immortal Indeed to Reason not improv'd by the supernatural Light of Divine Revelation it seems an Acts 26. 8. incredible thing that God should raise the Dead Pliny reciting those things which he thought not to be in the Power of God mentions these two Mortales aeternitate donare aut revocare defunctos Lib. 2. cap. 7. And tho there are various things in Nature which are shadows of the Resurrection yet I am inclined to think they would never have convinc'd us of it had not the Scripture reveal'd it to us The Earth has been represented as a kind of Grave or Sepulchre to the vegetable World where as one Mr. Beconsal observes the vital Powers are sealed up and stifled all the Winter and yet at Spring are actuated expand and send forth a lively Verdure So a grain of Corn is not quicken'd except it rot and die Our sleep every night is the Image of Death and our awaking in the morning a shadow of the Resurrection Now altho from these circular Revolutions of Nature a probable Argument for the Resurrection may be drawn yet those that are certain and concluding are only to be fetch'd from the Fountain of Truth The sure Word of Prophecy And if it should be said that several Heathens believ'd the Resurrection of the Body that may be accounted for two ways either Tradition might hand it down from Noah or they might gain light in this Doctrine by conversing with the Writings of the Old Testament for I think nothing is more evident than that a great many Heathen Authors have borrowed the brighter Notions that adorn their Books from the inspir'd Writings of Moses and the Prophets as several Learned Men have abundantly prov'd So that I say the only infallible assurance we have of the Resurrection of the Body is founded on Divine Revelation It will therefore be necessary that I recite a few passages of Scripture before I proceed The first I shall mention is the words of Job I know that my Redeemer Job 19. 25 26. liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And tho after my skin worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my eyes shall behold and not another tho my reins be consumed within me Which Text tho by some understood of a providential Resurrection yet I think not without some force upon it for I cannot see any necessity of taking it in a figurative and improper sense I am sure that St. Clement who was not only contemporary with St. Paul the Apostle but his Companion and Fellow-labourer in his first Epistle to the Corinthians cites this Text to prove the Resurrection of the Body and understands it in a literal proper sense But that passage which is yet more plain and full is the words of our Blessed Saviour John 5. 28 29. Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of Damnation Which Text is so expressive of the Resurrection of the Body that it needs no Comment It also proves that the very same Body that fell by Death shall arise again for if it be not the very same Body which was laid in the Grave that is call'd forth by Christ's powerful Voice 't is not properly a Resurrection but a new Production of the same specifick Being But when I
exalted humane Nature cannot fully be represented by the most graceful turns of Language and lofty figures of Speech therefore we must be content with very imperfect Idea's of his Glory till we have the happiness to see him as he is Yet we have enough reveal'd concerning it to invigorate our desires and raise our wonder His eyes are represented Rev. 1. 15. like a flame of fire his voice as the sound of many waters his feet like to fine brass as if they burn'd in a furnace his countenance as the Sun shining in its full strength Now after this bright Pattern shall the Bodies of the Saints be form'd in the Resurrection O what proportion of Parts what agreeableness of Colour how radiant an Air shall sit upon their Countenance Mark 1◠43 〈…〉 for they shall shine with a lustre exceeding the brightness of all the Lamps of Heaven The Apostle also assures us that tho they are sown natural they shall be rais'd spiritual Bodies i. e. the Matter of 'em shall be exalted and improv'd to an extraordinary degree of fineness for Matter is properly enough said to be spiritual when 't is much refin'd And how great a difference may we observe in material things for instance betwixt the animal Spirits in the Brain and the grosser parts of the Body betwixt a lump of Clay and the refin'd matter of the Air betwixt the Earth and the Sun that shines upon it yet all material Substances from which we may collect what Christ can do to exalt and refine our bodies in the Resurrection But farther they may be called Spiritual in that they will be much better fitted to serve our Spirits than they are now Here our Bodies are oftentimes a clog and a hindrance to us but in the Resurrection they shall be like Wings to our Souls or to use the Phrase of the Antients They shall be as a Celestial Chariot to the Soul they shall neither be the cause of our ignorance nor of our sinning as they are now they shall not hinder but rather help forward our Devotions In a word they shall never suffer nor die more for they shall be rais'd immortal and incorruptible the one respects a deliverance from Death the other a freedom from Diseases so that Incorruptibility is an addition to the happiness of immortal Creatures for if Persons should never die yet if they were often diseased their happiness would be incompleat but the rais'd Bodies of the Saints shall never know any more sorrow sickness or death it shall not be in the power of any Creature to disorder the curious Contexture of the rais'd Bodys Mortality then will be swallowed up of Life This corruptible shall 1 Cor. 4 15 53. put on incorruption and this mortal immortality Thirdly The Saints being brought with Christ at his second coming does not only suppose their Resurrection but that with their rais'd Bodys they shall ascend up into the Air. And so much the Apostle asserts a little 1 Thess 15 17. after my Text For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep For we shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Whether those that are rais'd from the dead and those that shall be chang'd who never died shall be caught up into the Air by the immediate attractive Power of Christ or by the ministry of Angels I will not determine but that they shall ascend in order to their coming with him is beyond all dispute and probably their Bodies may be so refin'd that they may be capable of treading Air and mounting upwards as easily as they now move upon the Earth Fourthly Being brought with Christ at his second coming shall be to illustrate the Glory of our incarnate God and to advance the happiness of his redeemed ones They shall attend their Lord's Triumph and make up a part of his magnificent Retinue for as he shall come to be admir'd 2 Thess 1. 10. in all those that believe so they shall all share in his Glory they will then know by experience what riches of Glory is comprehended in that Promise and Privilege of being Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Jesus Christ O what a glorious Procession will this be through the Air when he that suffered upon the infamous Tree shall appear at the head of so long and bright a Train when all that the Father gave to him shall appear with glittering Crowns and spreading Palms the Rewards of Grace and the Tokens of Victory I proceed now to make some improvement of what I have said And First This Doctrine that I have deliver'd discovers to us the excellency of the Christian Institution Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel All that has been said by Heathen Poets and Philosophers concerning a Future State was but obscure Conjecture to the shining Revelation of the Gospel They understood not that the sting of Death was remov'd by the sufferings of the Redeemer or that the Body should be rais'd with a transcendent Lustre and Dignity to receive a Reward with the Soul Yea under the Mosaick Oeconomy a future State was but obscurely reveal'd but under the Dispensation of the Gospel we have a most charming Landskip of Heaven and the way to obtain it is set in the most clear and certain light Secondly This Doctrine may be improv'd to guard good men against the slavish fears of Death Why should the Righteous be afraid to repose upon a bed of dust Death is but a sleep from which we shall be awaken'd in the morning of the Resurrection and Christ as you have heard hath disarm'd Death of its Sting and alter'd it in its very nature to the Righteous I confess I do not wonder that the wicked and profane are afraid of Death for they know it puts a period to their Pleasures and begins their Torments it snatches them from the joys of Life and fixes 'em under the agonies of the second Death So that some not only fear Death it self but the very name of it is terrible which occasion'd a Prince that I have read of to forbid the mention of it in all his Court Yea so enslav'd are some by the fear of Death that they conceive an abhorrence at the sight of a Coffin the dress of Mourners and the solemnities of a Funeral which as one says are only the Outguards that make up the Retinue of the King of Terrors 'T is reported of Alexander who had often encounter'd the numerous Armies of the Asian Monarchs and despis'd the terror of Battels yet when he was seiz'd with a mortal Disease in Babylon he was so afraid of Death that his Court was fill'd with Diviners and Victims and all the little arts of Superstition were us d to preserve his Life