next verse Yet he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found He is soon wither'd root and branch all his pomp and bravery it does quickly end in dust and ashes Now in opposition to this the Prophet does here draw the Picture of a godly man and he gives us these two lineaments of him he calls him the perfect man and the upright That is the Picture of his Life And then he gives us the Picture of his Death too or of him dying and so his end is peace Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The observation or lesson I shall commend to you is this It is our duty to observe and take special notice of the good and godly man both in his life and death Such as are holy gracious and godly men it is good for us to observe them living and dying to mark how perfectly and uprightly they live and behold how peaceably and comfortably they dye Here are three things to be spoken too 1. The Life of the godly man 2. His Death And 3. Our duty with reference to him in both these First Let us a little view the Life of this godly man as 't is given us here under these two Characters of the perfect man and the upright The perfect man who is he or what is it to be perfect That is perfect in a strict sense to which nothing needs be added and so he only is a perfect man that hath nothing of imperfection remaining in him But then where shall we find this perfect Man For if Noah and Abraham had their imperfections if Elias is said to be a Man of like passions with us if Job and David were not without their defects where then shall we find this perfect man We must therefore distinguish Perfection is either absolute or comparative Absolute and so they only are perfect who are free from all sin and imperfection and thus the Angels in Heaven and the spirits of just men above are perfect And Secondly there is a comparative perfection and so the godly man may be said to be a perfect man if compared with the wicked who have no grace at all or compar'd with the hypocrite who hath grace only in appearance or compared with other Saints who have less grace than he Or secondly we may thus distinguish it Perfection is either Legal such as the Law requires or Evangelical such as the Gospel accepts of First Legal perfection That lies in a sinless obedience and an exact conformity to the Law of God and such a perfect man is not to be found amongst men in this World For the Scripture concludes all men under sin Job durst not avouch himself to be thus perfect Job 9.20 If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse And St. John durst not aver himself to be thus perfect John 1 Epist 1.8 If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us To find a Man that hath nothing of darkness or ignorance remaining on his mind that hath no evil thoughts or inclinations rising in his heart that hath no defects or imperfections in any of his duties and services you may as soon find a man that hath no ill-humours no seeds of sickness or death in his body But then Secondly There is an Evangelical Perfection such as the Gospel does accept of and thus the godly man may be said to be perfect and that these Two ways First Perfect as to his justification before God through Jesus Christ a godly man he is perfectly justified that is his sins are fully pardoned they are all blotted out and remitted as if they had never been committed he that truly repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ he hath the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to him and upon that account is perfectly justified he is acquitted from all his sin Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Rom. 8.33 We are compleat in Christ Col. 2.10 Compleat in him not in our selves 't is in him we have a perfect righteousness for our justification before God in our selves we have none but what is as a filthy rag and hath a Thousand bracks and cracks in it Secondly A godly man may be said to be perfect too as to his Regeneration and Sanctification and that in Two respects 1. Because he hath the perfect beginnings and seeds of all grace and holiness wrought in him even as a Child as soon as it is born hath the perfect limbs and lineaments of his Father eye for eye and hand for hand and foot for foot though he be still capable of further growth and increase in every member and so it is with those that are born of God they have all the lines of Gods image drawn upon their souls they have all the limbs of the new creature repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ love to God hatred of sin and so of the rest though they are still capable of a higher encrease and perfection in every grace so much the Apostle intimates 1 Thes 5.23 where he prays that God would sanctifie them throughout in Soul Body and Spirit Mark they are sanctied in the whole Man though not wholly they are sanctified throughout though not throughly there is no faculty of Soul that remains unsanctified no member of Body that remains unsanctified grace it doth extend it self as far as corruption did unto every part so that the godly man though he be Regenerate but in part for we know but in part and we believe but in part and love but in part yet he hath this perfection that he is regenerate in every part And 2. He may be call'd perfect in regard of the aims and intentions of his desires and endeavours for perfection is that which a godly man doth aim at and which he drives at as in 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Mark he speaks of it as a work that is continually a doing it is still in progress and in proficiency for there is no man that is made perfectly holy at the first as there is no man that is grown a perfect man the first day he is born and thus St. Paul Phil. 3.12 13 Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect But this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before I am pressing onward c. Thus now it is with every godly man there is no imperfection remaining in him but what he longs to be fully rid of and no grace and good thing wrought in him but what he desires to be fully perfected he would be emptied of sin to the very bottom and filled with grace to the brim and in this respect he may be called a
Oh my Brethren he is one that will be dearly mist by all His Family will miss him and his People will miss him the Countrey will miss him and the City will miss him too Saints will miss him to build them up in their Faith and Sinners will miss him to awaken and rouse them out of their sins the Poor will miss him to raise Collections for them to refresh their bowels and the rich will miss him to spur and quicken them up to be rich in good works The second thing I would say to you is this That you would live as those that have sate under the Ministry of so pious and worthy a Person how is that you will say first walk as Children of Purity Secondly as Children of Peace for he was a Friend to both First Walk as Children of Purity those pure heavenly and spiritual Exhortations that you have heard from him they do call for a pure and heavenly Conversation from you though he be dead and buried do not let his Sermons die and be buried with him the death of the Minister should indeed revive his Instructions and enliven and imprint the remembrance of them the more deeply upon the hearts of the people Secondly Walk as the Children of peace too and maintain Peace and Unity amongst your selves though the Shepherd be smitten yet let not the Sheep be scatter'd let not this breach that God hath made be the occasion of any more breaches amongst you Remember the words of David How sweet and lovely a thing it is for brethren to live together in unity Remember the words of Christ That blessed are the peace-makers And read over those words of Paul when you come home 1 Cor. 1.10 for I have not time to read them Take heed Brethren of walking so as to bring a dishonour and an evil report upon your Pastor and Teacher now he is gone O! think with your selves Did my Pastor teach me to be proud or to be covetous or to be unjust or to be censorious If he could return again upon the earth and see any of you such Would he not say to you Did you learn these things of me Lastly A word of Counsel in general and so I have done Do we desire to have peace in our end I that is it which we all desire Would we fain dye comfortably Who does not desire to do so Here is your way Two things I would leave with you 1. Mark the perfect and upright man to imitate his example 'T is the command of the Apostle Heb. 13.7 He would have them mark them that labour amongst them and follow their conversation O! it is a matter of great concernment whom you follow whom you imitate Alas if you live with the wicked if you follow vain persons you must dye with them do not think to live salsly and dissemblingly and yet to dye comfortably do not think to live with Pharoah and yet to dye with Moses to live with Judas to live with Demas and yet to dye with Paul No we must live with the pure with upright and perfect men we must make them to be our examples if we would dye with them we should make a good use of every good example that God hath given us A godly Man when he dyes bequeaths us this Legacy he leaves us the Picture of his Life to walk by 2. You must not only mark the perfect mans example and behold the upright man but you your selves must live so as you may give and leave a good example to others Brethren 't is not only the duty of those that teach you to give a good example as Paul exhorts Timothy and Titus to be examples to the believers in word in conversation in charity in faith in purity But it is the duty of hearers to give good examples one to another The Apostle exhorts aged Women Tit. 2.2 by their example to teach the younger Women and exhorts Wives to have their conversation so in fear 1 Pet. 1.3 that their Husbands beholding their good conversation may be won to the truth it may be thy Husband is not won by the hearing of the Word but thou shouldst labour to be so holy humble loving and obedient in thy conversation that hereby thou maist convince him What knowest thou O man whether thou shalt save thy wife and what knowest thou O woman whether thou shalt save thy husband Are there not many Husbands that have cause to bless God for their godly Wives Are there not many Wives that have cause to bless God for their godly Husbands Are there not many Children that have cause to bless God for their godly Parents There are many in Heaven who will be blessing God to all eternity that ever they saw the faces of such and such persons by whose holy conversations they were won to the love and liking of the ways of God Now then Labour to imitate the examples of the godly that have gone before you and to live so your selves that you may be an example to those that are round about you this is the way to have your end peace and then this Epitaph may be written upon your Graves Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace FINIS
abundantly in the work of the Lord so God prospered and blessed his labours abundantly He did not run in vain pray in vain preach in vain God made him a blessed Instrument of good of Eternal good to many Souls And he did as little mind the praise and glory of this World as he did the profits and gain of it He sought his honour in God only and was carry'd forth with pure aims and respects to his glory I have sometimes heard him profess that he scarcely knew what it was to lie under the temptation of desiring the praise and commendations of men in what he did He saw such an emptiness in all humane applause and had his eye so fixt upon his Masters glory that it put out all vain humane glory in his estimation I have often admir'd him for the good things of the Spirit of God that I saw in him for that spirit of Faith that dwelt in him he liv'd in as firm and lively belief of the Eternal and invisible things of the other World as any man that ever I knew For that Spirit of Adoption that rested upon him for he was as much above the spirit of Fear and Bondage as any man that ever I knew For that Spirit of Heavenly-mindedness that he liv'd in continually He had his heart and conversation in Heaven as much as any man that ever I knew For that Spirit of holy Courage he was fill'd withal for he was one that would stand for God in the worst of times and when he judg'd that the Cause and Truth of God required it he would not be daunted and driven from his Duty by the fear of men But above all his glory and Excellency lay in this the uprightness and integrity of his spirit that he serv'd his Lord and Master with such a single eye and such a single heart I have sometimes seen him rejoyce in spirit and speaking of the great comfort that he found in his Soul upon this account that his Conscience did bear him witness that he sought the glory of God in what he did above all the world and expected his reward from God only I have often thought that if ever I saw an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile he was one And as he was thus perfect and upright in his life so his end was peace and blessedness I saw him only the Evening before he died and asked him how he did He answered me That he had been under a very sharp rod But it was that which my heavenly Father said he hath laid upon me for as many as I love I rebuke and chasten that is a Paradox said he to the world but everlasting Arms are underneath me and I bless God he hath taken all the terror of Death quite away from me And when another asked him If he had not the restimony and witness of a good Conscience he would say Truly I have served God in sincerity and can truly 〈◊〉 I have believed and therefore have I spoken then those that were about him pitied him because of his great pains and Agonies You know not said he what my pains are and you know not what my Consolations are Oh how sweet will my glory and triumph be after these sharp pains And when his Relations wept about him he would be displeased with them saying What are you troubl'd that God is calling home his Children If you think I am afraid of Death you are mistaken for I have no fear of death upon me He had not the least Cloud upon his spirit in all his sickness that could be perceived by those about him And in the midst of the sharpest pains which could not but be very sharp by a large stone in his bladder and kidneys one of them being wasted and the other extreamly swoln under all his pains no other language came from him but Father pity thy Child But I see I must break off for the clouds return again after the rain the waters are ready to overflow the banks and I would not have you drown'd in tears What shall I say my Brethren precious in the sight of God is both the life and death of his Saints the memory of the righteous shall be blessed the name of holy men it is as a precious Ointment poured forth and so is the name of this holy man We need not bring any Spices to embalm him we need not raise him up any Tomb or Monument he hath a better Monument erected in the hearts of Gods people and of God himself than any we are able to erect unto him This I must say and this is all that I will say I verily believe there are few men that have been more belov'd whilest they lived or more bewail'd when they died Though the day of his Funeral was a clear Sunshine day without any Clouds yet I am sure there were many showrs of Tears that fell by the way as he was passing to his grave I should have spoken something to those that are left behind 1. To his Relations a word to them Do not you mourn as those that are without hope why should your eyes be pouring out tears for him when all tears are wip'd from his eyes he is with God and Christ and the innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect he is before the Throne triumphing and if you could hear him he would say to you Weep not for me shed not one tear for me but weep for your selves You have not one doubt not one fear concerning his everlasting happiness and Oh what a quieting consideration should that be to you 2. To you that were his Church and People I should have spoken a few words to you 1. Be you sensible of your loss lay to heart the breach that God hath made amongst you and such breaches as this should not be look'd upon with unbroken hearts You know how they lamented Samuel when he died and how they lamented Aaron and Stephen when they died and you have great cause of lamentation You will say We have wept again and again I but weep not only for your loss but for your sins we can many times pour out floods of tears upon our losses when we can look upon Sin that was the true cause of all with dry eyes all the while I tell you if your heads were Fountains of waters and your eyes Rivers of tears you could never enough bewail those sins by which you have sinned so many godly Ministers into their graves of late for when faithful and pious Ministers are going off so fast from us 't is a sad sign of some severe judgment that is coming on apace therefore lay this loss to heart To lose such a painful pious faithful Labourer as he was it is no little loss He had a large heart as the sand upon the Sea-shore for the doing of good he was one that did bestir himself to do good and did much work in a little time