bodies of these Saints their Bodies shall be restored by vertue of the warm animating dew or influence of his Resurrection Obj. But the marvellous change which the Resurrection makes up on glorified Bodies and the long separation of many Ages betwiâ—â— us and them seems to make it in possible for us to know them 〈◊〉 those that were once related to 〈◊〉 upon Earth and if so then thaâ— comfort which resulted from them as in relation to us is perisheâ— with them at death Sol. Whatever change the Râ—surrection shall make on their Bâ—dies and the length of time betwixt our parting with them 〈◊〉 Earth and meeting them agaiâ— in Heaven shall be neither thâ— one or other seem sufficient to iâ—form the grounds of our hope thâ—â— we shall know them to be the verâ— persons that were once so dear tâ— us upon Earth There may remaiâ— â—ome lineament or property of inâ—ividuation whereby the acute â—lorified eye may possibly discover â—ho they were or if not yet â—one can doubt but it may be disâ—overed to us by revelation from God and that one way or other â—t will be discovered is highly proâ—able because nothing will be denied to that perfect State which may contribute to or compleat â—he joy and happiness thereof as â—e cannot but think this knowâ—edge will do If Adam knew Eve to be flesh of his flesh and â—one of his bone in the state of â—nnocence and if the Apostles knew Moses and Elias upon the Mount yea if Dives in Hell â—new Abraham and Lazarus in Heaven sure we may well allow â—hat knowledge to the glorified â—aints in Heaven which we find â—n the State of Innocence or in â—he sinful State on Earth or in â—he State of the Damned in Hell. And if so then the Covenanted Parents shall be able to say in that day This was our Child for whoâ— we prayed and travelled again tiâ—â— Christ was formed in him thâ—â— is he whom we educated for God and trained up in the Nurture anâ— Admonition of the Lord and now we see the fruit of our Prayers Counsels Catechisings 〈◊〉 Child of so many Prayers perisheâ— not And the Covenanted Chilâ—â— shall say This was my pious â—â—â—ther who took such care for my Soul and this my tender Mother who like another Monica was zeâ—â—lously concerned for my eternâ—â— happiness These are they thâ—â— sowed so many Prayers which God gave them not time 〈◊〉 reap the fruits of on Earth bâ—â— now they shall reap the fruit anâ— comfort of them for ever O joyâ—ful meeting in the Kingdom oâ— God! The joy of such a meeting abundantly recompences for aâ—â— the tears and groans of a dolorouâ— parting Now put all this together anâ— value the Arguments produced to make good the first thing proâ—pounded namely the sufficiency of the Covenant to relieve and remedy all the sorrows and losses of Believers be they never so many or so great this cannot be doubted since it hath been proved that it Disarms all their Afflictions of the only sting by which they wound Alters the very nature and property of their Afflictions turning them from Curses into Blessings Ranks and Disposes them into their proper class and place of service so as the counsel of men and Angels could never lay them better to our advantage Engages the gracious and special presence of God with you in all your troubles Secures all your essential and substantial Mercies from all hazards and contingencies Discovers a consistency yea a connection betwixt the Rod and the Love of God and Assures you that whatever temporal Mercy you ever enjoy'd in and by vertue of the Covenant shall be restored to you again with an admirable improvement and singular advantage It is by all this I say abundantly proved that the Covenant is a soveraign and effectua Remedy to all the sorrows oâ— Gods People and that it was noâ— Hyperbole in David's Encomium when he call'd it his Salvation and all his Desire But then as I hinted before II. It must be able to do these things at all times and in all Ages or else it will be but a temporary relief to some only and not to all Now that the Covenant hath this ability in all Ages and is as able to relieve us now as it was to relieve David in his day fully appears by the Epithet given it in the Text it is an EVERLASTING COVENANT Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant Time is the measure of other things but Everlastingness is the measure of the Covenant When the Lord espouseth a People to himself in Covenant he betroths them to himself for ever Hos. 2.19 and from that day forward they may say on good grounds This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide even unto death as it is in Psal. 48.14 Nothing in nature is so firmly established as the Covenant is Hills and Mountains shall sooner start from their basis and centre and fly like wandering Atomes up and down in the Air than this Covenant shall start from its sure and stedfast foundation Isai. 54.10 The Causes and Reasons of the immutability of the new Covenant are 1. The unchangeable purpose of God which is a sure and stedfast foundation 2 Tim. 2.19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth who are his The first act of Gods love to the creature is that by which he chuseth such a one to be his and is therefore called the foundation of God as being that on which he lays the super-structure of all other Mercies And this stand sure there can be no vacillancy or slipperiness in such a foundation for he knows who are his he knows them as his Creatures and as his new Creatures in Covenant with him as his by Election and his by Covenant Transaction and Compact The purpose of his Grace before time gave being to the Covenant of Grace in time and is the foundation of it 2. The Free Grace of God in Christ is that which gives immutability to this Covenant It is not built upon Works but Grace Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed This Covenant is not founded as the first was upon the variable and inconstant obedience of man but upon Grace which is a steady and firm foundation 3. The suretiship of Christ gives everlasting stability to this Covenant Heb. 7.22 He was made the surety of a better Testament or Covenant for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both he struck hands or engaged himself for the whole Covenant and every condition in it and that both on Gods part and ours to undergo all our punishments to pay all our debts and to work in us all that God required of us in the Covenant of Grace and all this under the penalty that lay upon us to have undergone And this not as other Sureties who enter into one and the same
thy self before me and didst rend thy cloaths and weep before me c. He was not so intent upon his own pleasures though in the sprightly vigour of Youth nor on the weighty concerns of the Kingdom as to forget the interest of God and the greater concerns of his Glory Fourthly He was exceeding careful to propagate the interest of Religion and spread it far and wide among his People Though he could not infuse the inward Principle that was the work of God yet he did enjoyn the external practice of it upon all his Subjects which was his part and duty ver 33. He made all that were present in Israel to serve even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the God of their Fathers But yet good Iosiah had his mistakes and failings The best of men are but men at best He was too rash and hasty in resolving and too stiff and obstinate when resolved and this was the occasion of his ruine The case was thus Pharoah Necho King of Egypt was at that time making War upon Charchemish a place that belonged to him but was taken from him by the King of Assyria so the War of Necho was a just War and Iudah lying between him and Charchemish and being at peace with Iudah he requests leave of Iosiah to march his Army peaceably through his Country to the seat of the War Iosiah takes an Alarm from this Message and arms against him Hereupon Necho send Embassadours to Iosiah chap. 35. ver 21. saying What have I to do with thee thou king of Iudah I come not against thee this day but against the house wherewith I have war for God commanded me to make hast forbear thee from medling with God who is with me that he destroy thee not Expositors conceive Necho had this discovery of the mind of God from the Prophet Ieremiah Per oraculum non scriptum sed viva voce editum even by word of mouth If so no doubt Ieremiah also disswaded Iosiah from going out against him However this is clear Iosiah did not consult the mind of God about that expedition as he ought and was too hasty and resolute therein ver 22. Nevertheless Iosiah would not turn his face from him c. By this means this excellent man came to a tragical end and that in the very flower of his days He dies in that unhappy Expedition from which he would not be diverted is brought home to Ierusalem in the second Chariot dies and is buried in the Sepulchre of his Fathers to the universal sorrow of all good men in Israel as you read in the Text wherein we have these two parts to consider I. The Nature and Quality of the Lamentation II. The Cause and Ground of it 1. For the Lamentation here made it was extraordinary never such cries heard before in Israel at any Funeral whether we consider it either 1. Extensively 2. Intensively or 3. Protensively 1. Extensively all Iudah and Ierusalem that is City and Country mourned that day not every Individual but all that had any sense of the worth of the man the good that he did or the evils that followed upon his removal No doubt the Priests of Baal their Abettors and Associates secretly rejoyced at his fall but all good men mourned But among all the Mourners one only is specified by name and that is Ieremiah the Prophet in whom all the faithful Ministers of God were included To them he was a true and faithful Friend and in him they lost a Father and a famous Instrument of Reformation 2. Consider it Intensively as to the degree of the sorrow it was a bitter Lamentation so pungent intense and deep that the Mourning of the Iews for Christ at the time of their conversion to him is compared to this Mourning for Iosiah Zach. 12. ver 11. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Ierusalem â—s the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon This Hadadrimmon was a little Town in the Valley of Megiddon near the place of this fatal Battle whose Inhabitants receiving the first tydings of the fall of Iosiah made the Town ring with doleful Outcries and Lamentations 3. Lastly Consider it Protensively in its continuance and duration it was made an Ordinance in Israel and accordingly the singing-men and singing-women spake of Iosiah in their lamentations to this day i. e. Whenever any solemn Funeral or publick Calamity was solemniz'd in Israel those persons that were skilful in Lamentations brought in the story of Iosiah's death as the burthen of that doleful Song or Funeral-Elegy II. Let us consider the Cause and Ground of this Lamentation which certainly was great and weighty enough to justifie that sorrow as great and bitter as it was for in him they lost a faithful publick useful zealous and tender-hearted Instrument whose Life had been eminently useful to the Church of God and whose Death opened the gap to all the following Calamities upon Iudah Now considering Iosiah here especially in his religious capacity as so faithful industrious and useful an Instrument for the Church of God rather than in his political capacity as a King the Note from it will be this Doctrine That faithful active and publick spirited men in the Church of God should not be laid in their Graves without great Lamentations When Iacob was buried a man famous for Religion a great and sore lamentation was made for him Gen. 50. v. 10. And when Aaron died all the House of Israel mourned for him 30 years Num. 20. v. 29. When Stephen the Proto-Martyr died devout men carried him to his Grave with great lamentations Acts 8.2 and indeed for any good man to be laid in his Grave without lamentation is lamentable The living Saints have ever paid this respect and honour to dead Saints as men sensible of their worth and how great a loss the World sustains by their removal I know the departed souls of Saints have no concernment in these things yet respect is due to their very Bodies as the Temples wherein God hath been served and honoured as they are related to Christ who will one day put great glory and honour upon them In the Explication and Confirmation of this point I will shew you 1. Negatively on what account the death of good men is not to be lamented 2. Positively on what account Tears and Lamentations are due to them with the grounds and reasons thereof 1. Negatively there is not a Tear or Sigh due to the death of any good man upon the account of any real loss or detriment that he sustains thereby No no in this case all Tears are restrained all Sorrows prohibited by the Principles and Rules of Christianity 1 Thess. 4.13 14. Religion differences the sorrows as well as the joys of its Professors from the common joys and sorrows of the World. Dead Saints are better where they are than where they were to be with
Christ is far better Death to them is gain and infinite advantage Phil. 1.21.23 This World is the worst place that ever God designed his People to live in for if a state of perfect Holiness and Purity be better than a state of Temptation and Corruption if a state of Rest and Peace be better than a state of Labour and Sorrow if it be better to be triumphing above than sighing and groaning beneath then it 's better for departed Christians to be where they are than where they were And could they now communicate their minds to us by words as they lately did they would say to us as Christ said Luke 23.28 Daughter of Ierusalem weep not for us but weep for 〈◊〉 selves and for your children Or as he spake to his Disciples under their sad resentments of his departure Ioh. 14.28 If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I go to the Father So then no tears or sorrows are due to them or becoming us upon the account of any real loss or detriment they receive by death 2. Positively But the true grounds and causes of our Lamentations are upon divers other weighty accounts as First Because so much of the Spirit of God as dwelt in them when amongst us is now recall'd and gather'd up from this lower World. Those precious Graces which they exercised among us in Prayer Conference and other beneficial Duties are now gone with them to Heaven The Church had the benefit of them during their abode with men but now no more except only what the remembrance of their holy Words and instructive Examples whereby they still speak to us though dead may afford unto us There are choice effusions of the Spirit at the time of our Sanctification of which the Church reapeth the benefit whilst we live but all these are recall'd at our dissolution and thenceforth we can be no farther useful in this lower World for as the Soul is the subject in which these precious Graces inhere so they accompany and go along with the Soul into glory Now as it is a real loss to a Company when any Merchant withdraws a great Stock he had running in Trade out of the Bank so certainly it is a great loss to the Church of God when the precious gifts and graces of the Spirit dwelling in the Saints are drawn out by Death so as the Church can have no farther benefit by them their Prayers for us and with us are now ended Abraham knoweth us not and Israel is ignorant of us Secondly The death of the Saints deserves a bitter lamentation because thereby a breach is made a gap opened to let in the Judgments of God upon the Remnant that is left It is said of Moses Psal. 106.23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach lest he should destroy them A Metaphor from a besieged City when a breach is made in the Walls and an Enemy ready to enter but some Champion stands in the breach to defend the City Such a Champion was Moses who by his constant and fervent Prayers put a stop to the inundation of God's Judgments against Israel And such another was Lot Gen. 19.22 whose Prayers for that wicked place he lived in bound up the hand of Judgment insomuch as the Lord told him I can do nothing till thou art gone But when the Lord by death removes such men he thereby makes a way to his anger as the expression is Psal. 78.50 Hence the death of eminent Saints especially when many are taken away at or near the same time hath been ever look'd upon as a direful Omen and dreadful Presage of ensuing Judgments and that not without good Scripture-authority Isai. 57.1 The righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come Thus Methusalah whose very Name signified a Flood cometh died the year before the Flood Augustin a little before the sacking of Hyppo Pareus a little before the taking of Hydelberg And Luther before the Wars brake out in Germany Death as a Pioneer clears the way to a Troop of Miseries following after This therefore is a just and weighty ground of our lamentations for the death of useful and goodly men Thirdly The beauty and ornaments of the places they lived in is defaced and removed by their death they look not like themselves when the godly are removed out of them for as wicked men are the spots and blemishes so good men are the beauty and ornaments of their Country A good man was wont to say of Mr. Barrington of Barrington-Hall in Essex Methinks the Town is not at home when Mr. Barrington is out of Town How desolate and dismal doth a Family look whatever other Ornaments be about it when the Religious Governour of it is gone Take away good men from their Families and Country and what are they but like a Vineyard when the Vintage is past as the Prophet speaks Micha 7.1 Fourthly The death of good men deserves a bitter Lamentation because thereby the passage of the Gospel and propagation of Religion is obstructed in the places from whence they are removed Of how great use in a Country may one zealous publick-spirited man be Hundreds may have cause to bless God for such a man. It was the Apostles desire to the Thessalonians To pray that the word of the Lord may have its free course that it might run and be glorified 2 Thess. 3.1 The removal of such a person as naturally took care for the souls of those that were about him to provide food for them is no small loss nor lightly to be passed over Fifthly The consideration of the time in which good men die aggravates the loss and justly incenses the sorrow of them that remain and that upon a threefold account 1. That it falls out in the declining state of Religion when the Spirit and power of Godliness is so much weakned and impoverished This is like the loss of good Bloud in a consumptive Body which must bring it very low 2. That it falls out also in a time when the numbers of the Godly are so much thinn'd and lessen'd not when the Churches Children say in her Ears The place is too straight give place that we may dwell but when they are every-where lamenting the paucity and scarcity of good men as the Psalmist did Psal. 12.1 Help Lord for the godly man ceaseth for the righteous fail from among the children of men At a time when they are bewailing themselves in the language of the Prophet Micah 7.1 Wo is me for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits as the grape-gleanings of the vintage there is no cluster to eat my soul desired the first ripe fruit Alluding to a hungry man that goes into a Vineyard to refresh his spirits with the fruit thereof but alas there is
his Spirit on them to your wounded Spirit and to all other godly Families groaning under the like Stroaks of God with you and remain MADAM Tour most faithful Sympathizing Friend and Servant Jo. Flavell THE Balm of the Covenant Applied to the BLEEDING WOUNDS OF Afflicted Saints TEXT 2 Sam. 23. v. 5. Although my house be not so with God yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow THese are part of David's last words The last words of dying Saints but especially of dying Prophets are ponderous memorable and extraordinarily remarkable and such are these acknowledged to be by all Expositors 't is a golden Sentence a divine Oracle fit to be the last words of every dying Saint as well as of David They are called his last words not simply and absolutely as though he breathed them forth with his last breath for he spake many things afterwards but either they are the last he spake as a Prophet by divine inspiration or because he had them often in his mouth to his last and dying day They were his Epicedium his sweet Swan like Song in which his Soul found singular Refreshment and strong Support amidst the manifold Aâ—â—â—ictions of his Life and against the Fears of his approaching Death The whole Chapter is designed for a Coronis or honourable Close of the Life of David and gives us an account both of the worthy Expressions that dropt from him and of the renowned Worthies that were employed by him but all the heroick Atchievements recorded to the honour of their Memories in the following part of the Chapter are trivial and inglorious things compared with this one divine Sentence recorded in my Text in which we have two things to consider viz. 1. The Preface which is exceeding solemn 2. The Speech it self which is exceeding weighty 1. In the Preface we have both the instrumental and principal efficient Cause of this divine Sentence distinctly set down ver 1. and the Efficient or Author of it v. 2. The Instrument or Organ of its conveyance to us was David described by his Descent or Lineage the Son of Iesse by his eminent Station the man that was raised up on high even to the top and culminating point of Civil and Spiritual Dignity and Honour both as a King and as a Prophet by his Divine Unction The anointed of the God of Iacob and lastly by the flowing sweetness of his Spirit and stile in the divine Psalms that were penned by him whence he here gets the Title of The sweet Psalmist of Israel the pleasant one in the Psalms of Israel as some read it The principal efficient Cause of this excellent passage is here likewise noted and all to commend it the more to our special observation and acceptance The spirit of God spake by me and his word was in my tongue This stamps my Text expresly with divine Authority The Spirit of God spake by David he was not the Author but only the Scribe of it Thus the ensuing Discourse is prefaced Let us next see 2. The Matter or Speech it self wherein we shall find the Maxims and general Rules of Government prescribed and the Felicity of such a Government elegantly described He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God. Princes being in Gods place must exalt the Righteousness of God in the government of men and when they do so they shall be as the Light of the Morning when the Sun riseth even a morning without Clouds c. What Halycon days shall that happy People see whose Lot is cast into such times and places All this is typically spoken of David and those pious Princes who succeeded him but mystically and eminently points at Christ who was to rise out of David's Seed Rom. 1.3 and to sit upon his Throne Acts 2.30 So that in this he was raised on high to an Eminency of Glory and Dignity indeed He was so in his ordinary natural Seed a Royal Race deriving it self from him and sitting upon his Throne in a Lineal Succession till the Babylonish Captivity which was about four hundred and thirty years And after that the Iews had Governours of his Line at least rightful Heirs to that Crown till the promised Messiah came But that which was the top of David's Honour the most sparkling Jewel in his Crown was this that the Lord Iesus was to descend from him according to the Flesh in whom all the glorious Characters before given should not only be exactly answered but abudantly exceeded And thus you find the natural Line of the Messiah is drawn down by Matthew from David to the Virgin Mary Matth. 1. and his Legal Line by Luke from David to Ioseph his supposed Father Luke 3.23 Now though the illustrious Marks and Characters of such a righteous serene and happy Government did not fully agree to his day nor would do so in the Reigns of his ordinary natural Successors his day was not without many Clouds both of Sin and Trouble yet such a blessed day he foresaw and rejoyced in when Christ the extraordinary Seed of David should arise and set up his Kingdom in the World and with the expectation hereof he greatly chears and encourages himself Although my house be not so with God yet hath be made with me an everlasting Covenant c. In which words four things are eminendy remarkable 1. Here is a sad Concession of Domestick Evils 2. A singular Relief from Gods Covenant with him 3. The glorious Properties of this Covenant display'd 4. The high esteem and dear regard his house had unto it 1. Here is David's sad and mournful Concession of the Evils of his House both Moral and Penal Although my house be not so with God i. e. neither so holy nor so happy as this description of a righteous and flourishing Government imports alas it answers not to it for though he was eminent for Godliness himself and had solemnly dedicated his House to God as soon as it was built yea though he piously resolved to walk in the midst of it with a perfect heart and not to suffer an immoral person within his Walls yet great miscarriages were found even in David's House and Person which God chastized him for by a thick succession of sharp and sore Afflictions Tamar was defiled by her Brother Amnon 2 Sam. 13.23 Amnon was barbarously murthered thereupon by the advice of Absalom 2 Sam. 13.28 Absalom unnaturally rebels against his Father David and drives him out of the Royal City and perishes in that Rebellion 2 Sam. 15.1 Then Adonijah another Darling-Son grasps at the Crown setled by David upon Salomon and perishes for that his Usurpation 1 King. 2.25 O what an heap of Mischiefs and Calamities did this good man live to see within his own Walls besides the many forreign Troubles that came from other hands How many
in the Covenant of Grace before your souls as your own God even our own God shall bless us Psal. 67.6 When you feel your hearts wounded with such a thought as this I cannot embrace my Children in my arms they are now out of my reach then bless and admire God that the arms of your Faith can embrace so great so glorious a Saviour and that you can say My beloved is mine and I am his Consideration II. Consider what evil days are coming on and what a mercy it is to your dead that God hath taken them away from the evil to come Isai. 57.1 2. There are two sorts of Evils to come viz. Evils of Sin and Evils of Suffering and 't is no small favour to be set out of the way of both The Grave is the hiding-place where God secures some from the dangers of both We are apt to promise our selves times of Tranquility and then it cuts us to think that our dear Ones shall not partake with us in that Felicity but if we wisely consider the sins or the signes of the times we have more cause to rejoyce that God hath set them out of harms way All things seem to conspire and work towards a day of great Temptation and Tribulation Now as Christ told his Disciples who were so dejected because he was to leave them Ioh. 14.28 If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I go to the Father so truly you would much better express and manifest your love to your Children in your satisfaction in the will and appointment of God in taking them into rest and safety than in your dejections and sorrows for their removal Surely they are better where they are than where they were whom God hath housed in Heaven out of the storm and tempest And could your dead Friends that are with Christ have any more intercourse with this World and see your tears and hear your sighs for them they would say to you as Christ did to those that follow'd him wailing and mourning Weep not for us but for your selves and such as remain in the World with you to see and feel the calamities that are coming on it Consideration III. Consider how near you are to that blessed State your selves where God shall be all in all and you shall feel no want of any Creature-comfort 1 Cor. 15.28 Creature-comforts are only accommodated comforts to this animal life we now live but shortly there will be no need of them for God will be all in all that is all the Saints shall be abundantly satisfied in and with God alone As there is water enough in one Sea to fill all the Rivers Lakes and Springs in the World and Light enough in one Sun to enlighten all the Inhabitants of the World so there is enough in one God eternally to fill and satisfie all the blessed Souls in Heaven without the addition of any Creature-comfort God is compleat satisfaction to all the Saints in the absence I cannot say want of Wives and Children Meats and drinks Estates and sensitive Pleasures There will be no more need of these things than of Candles at Noon-day You shall be as the Angels of God who have no concernment for Relations Your fulness of years infirmities of Body and I hope I may add your improvements in Grace speak you not far short of this blessed State and though you may seem to need these comforts in the way your God shall supply all your wants Consideration IV. To conclude whatsoever your troubles wants fears or dangers are or may be in your passage to this blessed State the Covenant of Grace is your security and by vertue thereof your troubles shall open and divide as Iordan did to give you a safe passage into your eternal Rest. Look as when the Israelites came near the Land of Promise there was a swelling Iordan betwixt it and them which seemed to forbid their farther passage and progress but it 's said Iosh. 3.17 The Priests that bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on the ground in the midst of Iordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Iordan Just so it is here The Covenant of Grace stands on firm ground in the midst of all the deep Waters of Tribulation you are to pass through to secure unto you a safe passage through them all Rejoyce therefore and triumph in the fulness and firmness of this blessed Covenant and whatsoever Affliction your God shall please to lay upon you or whatsoever Comfort he shall please to remove from you still comfort and encourage your selves as David here doth Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow FINIS A SERMON Preached for the Funeral OF THAT Excellent and Religious GENTLEMAN IOHN VPTON OF LUPTON Esq LONDON Printed for I. Harris at the Harrow against the Church in the Poultrey 1688. TEXT 2 Chron. 35.24 25. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had and they brought him to Ierusalem and he died and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers and all Iudah and Ierusalem mourned for Iosiah Ver. 25. And Ieremiah lamented for Iosiah and all the singing men and the singing-women spake of Iosiah in their lamentations to this day and made them an ordinance in Israel and behold they are written in the Lamentations IN this Context we have the History of the Pious Life and Tragical Death of good King Iosiah The History of his Life gives uâ— an account of both what he was and what he did As to his Personal Endowments and Qualifications they were singular and eximious as appears by the fourfold Character by which he is described in the Context for First He espoused the interest of Religion betimes even in his Youth cap. 34. ver 3. For in the eighth year of his reign while he was yet young he began to seek after the God of David his father And that under the great disadvantage of an ill Education such a Morning promised a glorious Day Secondly He hated all corruptive mixtures in the Worship of God and was answerably zealous for Reformation ibid. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Iudaâ— and Ierusalem from the high places and the groves c. as knowing well he and his people might expect no more of Gods blessing on the Ordinances than there was of his presence in them and no more of his presence can rationally be expected than there is of his own Order and Institution Thirdly He was of a very tender impressive heart mourning for publick sins and dangers ver 26 27. Because thy heart was tender and thou didst humble thy self before God when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof and humbledst
not one pleasant bunch to be found none but sower Grapes to increase his Hunger and set his Teeth on edge 3. And that which much more aggravates the loss is this when it falls in a time wherein the spring and succession of good men is obstructed In this case Death like a storm of Wind overturns the fairest pleasantest and most fruitful Trees in the Orchard when there is no Nursery from whence others may be taken to plant in their rooms Lastly There is just cause to lament the removal of publick and pious men when we consider what influence our sins and provocations have had upon those Judgments and Calamities our unworthiness of them unthankfulness for them and non improvements of such mercies have bereaved us of them I look upon every good man as a good Book lent by its Owner to another to read and transcribe the excellent Notions and golden Passages that are in it for his own benefit that they may remain with him when the Owner shall call for the Book again but in case this excellent Book be thrown into a corner and no use made of it it justly provokes the Owner to take it away in displeasure Thus you see upon what account our sorrows for the death of good men are restrained and upon what accounts and reasons they are due debt to the death of eminent and useful Instruments for God. What remains is the Application of this point And First The Point before us justly reproves three sorts of men 1. The worst of men such as secretly rejoyce and are inwardly glad at the removal of such men they took no delight in them while they lived and are glad they are rid of them when they are dead Those that persecuted and hated them when alive may be presumed to be pleased and gratified with their death But alas poor Creatures they know not what they do The innocent preserve the Island Except the Lord of hosts saith the Prophet had left us a small remnant we had been as Sodom we had been like unto Gomorrah Isai. 1.9 It 's a Proverb among the very Jews Sinè Supplicationibus non staret Mundus The World stands by the Prayers of the godly Let the World think what they will of them I tell you these men are a Screen a Partition-wall betwixt them and destruction 2. It reproves the insensibleness of good men who are apt too slightly to pass over such tremendous stroaks of God for this it was that God reproved his own People Isai. 57.1 No man layeth it to heart Where the want of affection is charged upon the want of consideration none considering their worth their use or the consequences of their fall Such Rebukes of God do certainly call for a deeper sence and sorrow than is found in most men 3. It reproves the very best of men who though they do bewail and lament the loss of such men yet they do not lament it in the due manner They lament it one to another saying Alas alas such a Worthy is fallen such an eminent Instrument in the Church or State is dead but they do not lament it in Prayer to the Lord they mourn not over the matter to him as David did Psal. 12.1 Crying Help Lord for the godly man ceaseth Help Lord the remnant that is left help Lord to repair the breach made by their death let the God of the Spirits of all flesh raise up a Man to fill the room and supply the want Alas how insignificant are the Lamentations of most men upon this account Secondly This point invites us all this day to bewail the stroak of God that is upon us I could wish that he that looks upon this Text and then upon the countenance of this Assembly might be able to discern the agreeableness of the one to the other in such a sad and solemn occasion O let all that love Sion lament this day the fall of one of her true Friends and Lovers I know Funeral Panegyricks are apt to be suspected of flattery but as I want a Rhetorical Tongue for such a work so if I had it it should never be saleable for so base a use and purpose I am sure by sending the generality that die to Heaven many are confirmed in the way to Hell. Nor can I but think of that serious Line in Chrysostom What a poor comfort is it to be praised where a man is not and to be tormented where he is But yet the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance Psal. 112.6 Expect nothing from me on this occasion but what may be spoken with greatest assurance of truth and that intended for the benefit and imitation of all that hear it Some may think it a strain too high to compare a private person with such a glorious King as Iosiah was but if Christ compared and preferr'd the very Grass of the Field to Solomon in all his glory I know no reason why we may not compare and parallel the precious Graces of a private person with a royal Saint especially since the comparison is only made in the religious not in the civil capacity I am sure the Graces and gracious Performances of David Hezekiah and Iosiah with all the other dignified Saints were intended and propounded as Patterns for our imitation and no doubt but private Christians may measure by their Pattern Beside it is abundantly more safe to relate the Vertues of the Saints when they are dead than whilst they were alive for now there is no danger of provoking pride and vain-glory in them that are praised but much hope of provoking an holy emulation and imitation in them that hear them Well then Absit invidia verbis Suffer me this day to erect a Pillar to perpetuate the Memory of this deceased Worthy to pay the tribute of my Tears due to that mournful Hearse and to engage you to imitate those Excellencies of his which I shall with equal truth and modesty display this day that we also may be duly affected with the Rebuke of God upon us and mourn over it before him If when an eminent Commander in any Army falls the whole Army is affected and concerned with his death The mourning Drum the Lance and Ensignes trail'd The Robes of Honour all in Sables vail'd Let it not be thought much Christians should express their sense and sorrow in sighs and tears for so useful and worthy a man as God hath this day removed from among us whose Character I shall give you in the following immitable particulars 1. That worthy man whose fall we lament this day was seasoned with Religion in his Youth by God's blessing upon his pious Education in this he had the advantage of Iosiah His Progenitors were men of Piety and himself a Child of many Prayers and as Monica said of her Son Austin it was not likely that a Child of so many Prayers should perish How importunately did they request the fervent Prayers of their
a man with due qualifications for the service of the Church and Common-wealth England doth not so abound with pious zealous and faithful Gentlemen at this time but that it may sensibly feel the loss of such a man. Secondly More particularly let the Ministers of Christ lament his fall as Ieremiah did the fall of Iosiah in the Text. He was a true Friend to Christ's faithful Ministers and had them in honour for their work sake 'T is true he hath no more need of us he is now wiser than his Teachers but we greatly need him and men of his Spirit in such a dull degenerate Age as we live in Thirdly And most particularly I shall apply and close all with a few words of Counsel to the dear and now desolate Relict of this Worthy Person whose sad lot it is this day to over-live the mercies and comforts she once enjoyed in him Madam God hath this day covered you with Sables written bitter things against you broken you with breach upon breach Your sorrows need not be excited but regulated 'T is my trouble that I cannot discharge my duty to the memory of your dear Husband without exasperating your Griefs which alas were too acute before but Rods have their voices Blessed is the man whom God correcteth and teacheth him out of his Law. Hear you the Rod and who hath appointed it and oh that your Soul may this day take in these necessary Counsels and Cautions without which your Afflictions cannot be sanctified to the advantage of your Soul. And 1. Learn from hence the vanity of the Creature the emptiness and nothingness of the best things here below How hath God made your best comforts on Earth to shrink up and vanish into nothing How do our fancies varnish and guild over these empty Bubbles What great expectations are we apt to raise from them How apt to fall asleep in the bosoms or laps of earthly Enjoyments and say with Iob I shall die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand When loe in a moment the projects and expectations of many years are over-turned Oh what a difference will you find betwixt hope founded in Christ Comforts drawn out of the Promises and the flattering Comforts and vain hopes founded in the Creature whose breath is in its Nostrils 'T is time for you and for us all to wean off from this vain World mortifie our Fancies and Affections to it and place them where they shall not be capable of disappointment 2. Guard carefully I beseech you against those Temptations which probably may accompany this Affliction It may be Satan will suggest to your heart what he once put into their lips Mal. 3.14 What profit is it that we have kept his ordinances and walked mournfully before him Where is the fruit of Prayer What good have I seen of Fasting What hath Religion availed Do not prayerless and ungodly Families thrive and prosper Beware of this Madam I doubt not but you will acknowledge there have been sins and provocations within your walls yea within your heart for which God may as justly and severely judge your house as he did Ely's Remember the rewards of Religion are not in this World and should we speak thus we shall offend against the generation of his Children All we must expect from Religion is to save our souls by it 3. Call not the love of God into question to your self or yours because of these severe stroaks of God upon you and them You know Iosiah was dear to God yet he died in the prime of his days by a violent hand remote from his own home and was brought home in the second Chariot to Ierusalem a Spectacle of far greater sorrow than your dear Husband was and yet notwithstanding all these sad circumstances of his death the Promise of his God was punctually performed to him that he should die in peace and not behold the Evil that was to come There is a vanity saith Solomon which is done upon the earth that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked again there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous Eccles. 8.14 But then remember that it is but in the Earth here or no-where God must chastize his Children 4. See that you maintain that holy course of Religious Exercises in your Family and in your Closet wherein he walked so exemplarily before you Let Religion live though he be dead and convince the World I pray you that it was Gods influence and not your Husbands only which was the Spring and Principle of this holy Course 5. Strive not with your Maker nor fret against the Lord under this irksome and painful Dispensation Remember there is a Woe hanging over this sin Isai. 45.9 10. Woe to him that striveth with his Maker There is a twofold striving of men with God one lawful and commendable when we strive with him upon the knee of importunity in Prayer thus Iacob wrestled with God and prevailed Hos. 12.4 the other is highly sinful and dangerous when we presume to censure or accuse any of his works as defective in wisdom or goodness He that reproveth God let him answer it i. e. at his peril be it This sinful striving with God is twofold either Vocal or Mental 1. Vocal when men in bold blasphemous language arraign the Wisdom Power Goodness or Faithfulness of the Lord at the bar of their own Reason and there condemn them setting their mouths against the Heavens Psal. 73.8 9. this is the sin of the wicked yea of the first-born sons of wickedness 2. Mental in inward frets murmurs repinings against God Prov. 19.3 The foolishness of man perverts his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord. The heart may cry out impatiently against God when the tongue is silent And if the frets and murmurs of the heart be as indeed they are interpretatively no better than a striving with our Maker then this sin will be found more common among good men in the Paroxisms of Affliction than we imagine It will be necessary therefore for your sake and the sakes of many more in a like state of Affliction with you to stay a while upon this head and consider these following Queries Query 1. How far we may enquire expostulate and complain in times of Affliction without sin Query 2. Wherein lies the sinfulness and danger of exceeding these bounds Query 3. What Considerations are most proper and powerful to restrain the afflicted soul from this sinful excess Query 1. How far we may enquire of God expostulate with him and complain to him in time of Affliction without sin 1. We may humbly enquire into the causes and reasons of Gods displeasure against us not to seek matter for our Iustification but Direction in the work of our Humiliation So David enquired about the three years Famine and the Lord inform'd him for whose sake and for what sin it was 2 Sam.