Soul is pierced by the Arrows of the Almighty What comfort has he then in thinking he is the Master of so many Acres or so many Bags that his Table is loaden with Delicacies and his House bedeck't with no common Art that he is a Person of Name and hath been the talk of the World 2. Consider this Life as it appears on the Day of Death Imagine that a Summons being sent you for a speedy Removal an Hour or two were all the time you could further expect in this World and then consider what thoughts you must needs have of this present Life as you thus lookt back upon it from the brink of Eternity Certainly Brethren tho' we are now apt to put so great a value upon it it will then appear a wretched impertinence when all the Treasures of the East and West will not bribe us to a Smile When Ceremony and Attendance become nauseous When there shall be no Taste in Meat oâ— Drink neither will the Ear hear the Voice of Singing Men or Singing Women When the Soul is preparing for its everlasting Flight and the Body to go down to that Earth out of which it was taken But that you may know how the World looks to a Person on the Day of his Death I will give you the Thoughts of two dying Men Dâ—ing and Dead Mens Words by Dr. Lloyd â—ond 1673. both of our own Nation as we have them amongst other very good things in a late Collection One as great a States Man almost as ever was Sir John Mason Privy Councellor to four Princes whose Declaration on his Death bed was this I have seen the most Remarkable things in Foreign Parts been present for thirty Years together at most Transactions of State and have learnt this after so many Years Experience That Seriousness is the greatest Wisdom Temperance the best Physick and a good Conscience the best Estate And were I to live again I would change the Court for a Cloyster the bustles of State for an obscure Retirement and the whole Life I liv'd in the Palace for one Hours enjoyment of God in the Chappel All things else forsake me besides my God my Duty and my Prayer The other a Man of as much Reading as Mr. Selden any our latter Ages have afforded who when he came to die amongst all the Learning of the Sons of Men which he had survey'd amongst all the numerous Books and Manuscripts he had perus'd and was Master of could not meet with any thing that gave the satisfaction to his Soul which he found in these words of St. Paul The Tit. 2. 11 12. grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared â—o all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and â—odly in this present world 3. Consider too what this Life will appear â—t the Day of Judgment That is the time when â—ll Disguises shall utterly vanish and every thing â—e seen in its proper Colours Think therefore â—hat you now stood before the Tribunal of the â—ord Christ and there it were required of you to judge of that for your esteem and use and abuse of which you your selves shall then be judged In such Circumstances as these doubtless your Opinions of things would be very different from what they too commonly have been What will Greatness and Honour and Fame signifie when there shall be no respect of Persons when the obscure Slave will be upon the same Level with the Crowned Head when there shall be no distinction known but that of the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left Mat. 25. 33. What will the having been the Possessor of a great deal of Gold and Silver many Houses and much Land be then accounted of when the whole Frame of the World is cracking and dissolving the earth burning up and the elements melting 2 Pet. 3. 10. with fervent heat Finally What will the Memory of past Pleasures amount to the Deliciousness of this Fare oâ— the Sumptuousness of that Cloathing or the Sweetness of the other Enjoyment Yea how glad would many be if no such things had eveâ— been then when a strict account is to be given of every thing that hath been done in the flesh But 2 Cor. 5. 10. 2. If our Condition is so vain a thing then hence also let us be stir'd up to vigorous and hearty endeavours after a better Tho' our present Habitation or rather Place of our Pilgrimage be nothing else but Vanity yet there is a Country which we have heard of abounding with substantial things Those that have seen it and known it and came from it have made relations of what it is They have spoken much of the Joys and the Glories of it have told us that nothing there is Dark or Frail or Transitory but all things Pure Clear and Admirable of a Goodness more extensive than our very Desires Brighter than ten thousand Suns and as Lasting as Eternity yea they have assur'd us that the things of it are unspeakable beyond the power of Words or Description We have too sufficient ground to believe that this blessed Condition is not such as cannot belong to us but that we are capable of it and were even Originally design'd for it that as the Author of the Book of Wisdom speaks God created man to be immortal Wisd 2. 23. and made him to be an Image of his own eternity Yea more than all this Solemn Overtures have been made Messages have been sent to us We have been directed enabled invited perswaded with the greatest earnestness to come and to secure to our selves this blessed Habitation And Oh my Brethren shall we not now think it worthy of our thoughts and our care Shall we any of us neglect any longer to comply with those methods which Heaven hath found out for transplanting of us from Vanity and Trouble into Bliss and Immortality It is not indeed any light performance which will fit us for that better state not a little Outside Service or a little Lip-devotion no nor now and then a pious Warmth or a melting Temper not a listing our selves in this or that Party or being reckoned under such a Denomination The passage through the strait Gate is not so easie as these things But it is a faith that worketh by love a due conformity to all the Evangelical Proposals a working continually with fear and trembling a having our Minds above the World using it so as if we us'd it not In short a being Religious Sober Just and Charitable in our Conversation These are the Terms which the Angel of the Covenant requires and shall we stand at the difficulty of them since they lead to real and lasting Good Shall we be discourag'd in an undertaking that will advance us above the Vanity of this present Life add some solidity even to these fleeting things converting our perishing Riches into an Heavenly Treasure and at
Thraciae Herodotus lib. 5. §. 4. Remedy of evils the Desire of the afflicted others consider'd it as a thing which rights all Wrongs levels all Inequality and inspires with generous Resolutions And by the custom of a whole Nation the Funerals of the Dead were perform'd with Songs and other expressions of â—oy whereas the new-born Infant was received by them into the World with Sorrow and Lamentation We have thus sufficiently seen how Solomon's declaration in the Text holds true as the things it concerns are view'd by natural Men. And I have been the longer in shewing it because as it is the Opinion of several Expositors and as methinks is manifest from the foregoing and following words by such Measures as those the wise Man was now conducting his Enquiries To prove that the great pretenders of the World are mistaken in their thoughts of Felicity hâ— walks along with them a little in their own Path to search it out He that spake of trees from thâ— 1 Kings 4. 33. cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the byssop thâ— springeth out of the wall that spake also of beastâ— and of fowl and of creeping things and of fishes seems here to take Man for the subject of hiâ— Philosophy considering him and his Happiness as to be known by the help alone of mâ—er unenlightened Reason 2. The first thing propos'd being finish'd 〈◊〉 now come to the second to shew the advantageâ— of the Dead above the Living as they are to be discern'd by the Eye of Faith A cloudy and corrupted Reason can afford but very doubtful aâ—counts of what shall be hereafter but the dâ—fects of that are abundantly supplied to thâ— Church by Revelation from above The Greaâ— God who is the Lord of Death and whose Commands it always obeys hath been pleas'd to acquaint us with the things which he himself hath appointed to succeed it All the sorts of mankind come you know under one or other of these two denominations Righteous and Wicked Now the words of Solomon in the Text being indefinite and the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Interpreters having render'd them by such as are expresly Universal Some of the Fathers have apply'd them as to the former so to the â—atter also asserting that even to Reâ—robates themselves a speedy Death is Gravius est enim ad peccatum vivere quam in peccato mori quia impius quam diu vivit peccatum auget Si moriatur peccare desinit S. Ambr. de bono Mortis c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S Chrysost Tom. 1. p. 734. Edit Savil. Simile quiddam habet divinus ille Philosophus Boetius lib 4. Pros 4. Si nequitia miseros facit miserior sit necesse est diuturnior nequam â—etter than a prolonged Life For so â—heir Iniquity which is the only cause of Infelicity is cut off and consequently the degree of their future â—ufferings somewhat lessen'd He that â—inks under the transgressions of a â—ew Weeks or Months being likely to â—nherit more easie torments than they â—at have gone on in a course of Impenitency â—or many Years And this Opinion is not withâ—ut ground from other places of Scripture The â—postle tells us that they who despise the riches of Rom. 2. 4 5. â—od's goodness forbearance and long suffering that â—e hard and untractable a great while under the continued calls of unwearied Mercy do treasure up wrath against the day of wrath do encrease the Measures of Vengeance according to the proportions of their Crimes And saith our Saviour to Capernaum It shall be more tolerable for the Matth. 11. 23. land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee that is the obstinacy of those who contemn'd the preaching of Lot was not to such a height as theirs who rejected the many Overtures and Miracles of the Messiah himself and as there was such a difference in the guilt so there shall be hereafter in the punishment In such a sense as this Death to the impenitent is to be prefer'd before Life but it is all the while a sad preference A Sinner hastily snatchâ— away 't is true inherits the lesser evil yet that lesser evil is greater than can be conceiv'd it is still dreadful as the Flames which the Breath of the Almighty hath kindled and which are to burn for ever Concerning such a Person as this the words following my Text may be fitly said Better yet is he that hath not been better is the condition of him that died from the Womb and gave up the Ghost when he came out of Mortuus praefertur viventi quia peccare desivit Mortuo praefertur qui natus non est quia peccare nescivit S. Ambros Exposit in Psal 118. Serm. 18. vid S. Hieronym in Ec cl 4. the Belly or as our Saviour said of Judas Iâ— had been good for that man if he had not been born Without a miserable limitation or abatement we see these words of the Preacher are not to be applied to Sinners but then to those that have been sincerely conformable to the Precepts of the Holy Jesus and have secured an Interest in his Mediation they fully agree Happy infinitely happy is the condition of such Persons being dead beyond what they themselves or any other were or are being alive Death which is the product of Sin by a Divine and Wonderful Skill is chang'd to them into the greatest of Benefits Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord Rev. 14. 13. for they rest from their labours and their works do follow them To declare the Advantages of such as these being dead above those of the living is the great business of most of the Evangelical Promises I shall put you in mind of some of them these two ways viz. by shewing you a little 1. What Death delivers the righteous from 2. What it gives possession of 1. The Death of the Righteous is to be prefer'd to Life because of the things it delivers from namely much trouble and affliction God hath not design'd for his Servants while on Earth serene and Halcyon days but leaves them even to more than the ordinary inconveniences of a mortal condition When that strange Plague in the time of Gallus and Volusianus passing through Arabia and Egypt and destroying mightily as it past came at length into Africa some of the Christians there wonder'd that it made no distinction between the Professors and the Enemies of the True Religion At enim quosdam movet quod aequaliter cum gentilibus nostros morbi istius valetudo corripiat quasi ad hoc crediderit Christianus c. Cyprian de Mortalitate p. 158. Edit Oxon. But their excellent Bishop in that admirable discourse he wrote on that occasion earnestly reprov'd in them so gross an ignorance of the Nature and Designs of the Gospel they pretended to as if says he a Christian did believe for no other purpose but a present security and it were not appointed
Two Funeral SERMONS PREACHED IN St. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH IN DARTMOUTH Together With a PREFACE giving some account of the reasons why they are now made publick By HUMFRY SMITH M. A. and VICAR there LICENS'D Feb. 23. 1689 90. Z. ISHAM LONDON Printed for Charles Yeo Bookseller in Exon. 1690. THE PREFACE TO THE Inhabitants of Dartmouth in Devon Grace Truth and Peace be multiplied My Friends and Brethren YOU that know me and the occasions of the two following Sermons will I doubt not easily believe that I was far at first from designing they should ever become more publick than the Preaching of them made them As the space allowâ—d for either can hardly be called Days so I am very sensible that performances of this kind on which I have bestow'd more time and labour have little in them to recommend them in an Age which God be praised abounds with Practical Discourses of the greatest Excellency They do not therefore come abroad on a conceit of any thing extraordinary in the Contrivance but only to stand the Charges which have been drawn up against them That some who could not and others who would not hear them may perceive at length as I hope they will that amongst the real imperfections to be found in them there is however nothing at all of a spiteful humour I am sure I can truly say that in those few Years I have liv'd amongst you I have labour'd as to give no just offence to the Church establish'd of the Lawfulness of whose Constitutions I am heartily perswaded so neither to any of those who have been drawn to dislike her Communion and separate from her I do not remember that the Regard I have and the particular Obligations I am under to the former have made me forgetful of a befitting Candour towards the latter especially in the publick discharge of that Holy Offâ—ce I am regularly call'd to But alas you very well know the cry hath been frequently otherwise such representations having been made of me as if I were guilty of malicious Reflections and did not only with those the Apostle speaks of preach Christ Phil. 1. 15. of envy and strife but preach even Strife and Envy themselves The discourses which have been singled out as the chief Foundation of such Reports are these two now printed which I put into your Hands without any material alteration from what they were in the Pulpit Indeed some things which were then omitted I have here added but whatever was spoken you have as near as may be as it was spoken and in those passages which I am told have given occasion of offence I am secure I think of exactness even to the least word And now let me beseech those who have been pleas'd to censure me to consider whether the things are so faulty as they have represented them Or rather whether they did not seek for cause of displeasure where none was given whether some have not thought fit to make reports not so much of what they heard as of what they expected and others supplied the defect of Intelligence by a fruitful imagination The first of these Sermons was preach'd Octob. 24. 1687. at the Funeral of an aged Gentleman to whom I was obliged for much civility and whom by reason of his coming sometimes to the Publick Worship his absence at other times being easily accounted for from much sickness and infirmity I thought no â—onconformist to the Orders of the Church of England Indeed a little after his Death I was inform'd that the Preacher in a separate Congregation had put in a claim to him and withal that at the same time he was pleas'd at least plainly to insiâ—â—â—te that this discourse of mine preach'd but two or three days before was envious and reflecting The Crimes which soon after I was commonly â—ensur'd for not only in this but several other places you may remember were principally these two Reflection on the Person interr'd in what I said about Riches in the middle of my Sermon and a spiâ—eful Character of him at the latter end of it From both these faults I hope the discourse it self will now sufficiently purge me For as to the first can it be with the least shew of reason concluded that what was said of the Worldling in compliance with a subject which the Church her self hath recommended on such occasions should be meane by me as a description of the deceased I spâ—ke likewise of the Voluptuous the Ambitious the Learned c. And why should it be thought I aim'd at him in one more than in any of the other Yea is it possible for any reasonable Person to think that when I consider'd the vaâ—ity of Riches and an immoderate love of them I design'd to brand him for a Mâ—sâ—r whom in the very same Discourse I expresly commended for a Just an Upright and a very Charitable Conversation This account of him was a part you will find of that other thing I am censured for The Character at the latter end which being too sensible of the inconvenience and sometimes mischief of Rhetorical Harangues in such cases according to my custom I did not intend should be long or contain any thing in it which had not the support of manifest truth But as it is I dare deâ—ie my veriest Enemies to shew any thing in it in the least measure reflecting For my part I think it might have been appli'd without offence to any Man that ever was at least beneath the Eminence of a Martyr or an Apostle I declar'd that on his death bed he was frequent in the acts of a Duty which as it is extremely unsafe to begin on it it is neither safe to give over on it Repentance at which passage some I know have been displeas'd As if a penitent frame were not proper at such a time as that is or it were a reproach to the memory of a Christian to say he waited for the coming of his Lord with an humble sense of his own unworthiness I know not what Rules may be given by some for conducting the Devotions of a death-bed but sure I am that very excellent directors advise Repentance at that season even to Persons of the highest attainments as a Duty still agreeable Repentance for sins which have been committed through error and inadvertency for sins which are the constant attendants of Mortality as also for those which were long before consider'd and lamented St. Augustine was a Person who for above Twenty years before his death shone as one of the brightest Stars in the Christian Church and his Scholar and dear Friend that wrote his Life did not surely design to lessen his Praise in the place where he tell us That Possidius de vitâ August c. 31. the Good man more than a week before his departure would not have his Eyes or Thoughts diverted from David's Penitential Psalms but only now and then when his Physicians came to visit him or his Friends to
yet empty having nothing more in it but only to cover us with darkness Man whilst here below is in a Region of obscurity â—ona R. 〈◊〉 Daâ— per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exp â—enebris â—ulat 〈◊〉 Cl. Caâ—i Lexic â—taglot in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wanders in a dark uncertainty a place infected with the mists of Ignorance and Error He cannot look into the nature and events of things he stumbles up and down without any knowledge of his way unless guided and directed by an extraordinary Light sent down from above By others the word is thought to signifie an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Image accordingly that rendring is added in the Margins of some Bibles Verily every man walketh in an image He goes on in a life which seems 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—doret â—cum indeed to be something to him but he is cheated all the while such degrees of death are blended with it that it may justly be called only a Picture or faint resemblance of Life And then he converses with things that seem to be very shining but yet they are a kind of Phantômes like the Colours of the Rainbow which are only the Image of the Sun broken and return'd back by the drops of a Cloud or like that representation of our selves appearing in the Glass which however delighted in is nothing else but emptiness Another variety is to be found amongst Inâ—erpreters occasion'd by a different reading 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—ot unfit perhaps to be mentioned For as some â—ead Man walketh in a vain shew so others have it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—s a vain shew according to the usage of Scriâ—ture in some places applying this Shadow not â—o the Scene of his motion but to the Man â—imself Man passeth on as a Shadow as a shaâ—ow Psalm 102. 11. Job 14. 2. that declineth or fleeth away Or understandâ—ng the word to signifie an Image it agrees to â—im also to wit a thing that according to â—hat seems the meaning of an Ancient Writer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apollinar Metaphras â—n this place is acted for the most part like â—e Figures in a Pageant which look as tho' â—ey mov'd and spake whereas the whole is â—ue to the Skill and Management of an invisible â—rtist But Fourthly and lastly We have in the words the â—onfirmation of this Sentence of David Surely â—e declares it with great assurance having doubtâ—ss consider'd the reasons which support it and â—en it ratified by much experience 'T is the â—sult of a very diligent Enquiry and exact â—bservation The things we find in the Text being thus â—articularly noted the summ of what it aims at â—ppears to be this That this mortal life is a very empty thing That our condition here in this present World is great vanity This Truth with the Divine assistance I shall briefly illustrate and so go on to the uses of it Whatever Opinions my Brethren we are apâ— to take up about our present abode it will certainly be found upon a due examination aâ— Condition very unsatisfactory void of every thing that is a solid Foundation of Happinesâ— or Contentment The greatest Pleasures of iâ— are but Delusion the greatest Advantages buâ— Shew and Appearance You are to observe however that this is aâ—serted concerning humane life as humane abâ—stracted from those Spiritual things which givâ— it something of Being without the Improvements of Grace which add some solidity eveâ— to the most fleeting things and bring in somâ— imperfect Felicity where was nothing else buâ— Misery Origen 't is true in one of his Homilies oâ— Orig. Hom. 1. in Ps 38. this Psalm makes no doubt of applying thâ— Sentence of the Royal Prophet even in somâ— sort to things Spiritual That is as comâ—paring their present imperfection with what promis'd and shall be reveal'd If Moses hiâ— self says he were alive again he would knoâ— in part and prophesie in part he would see but darkly through a Glass and teach us Figures so that tho' he must be said to live it would be only a life of vanity And would you know the reason continues he why we ought to call it Vanity It is because such things are to have an end For when that which is Perfect is come then that which is in 1 Cor. 13. 10. part shall be done away Indeed it must be granted that this present â—ife tho' it may yield some real Happiness to â—hem that seek it in the ways of God cannot yet afford a perfect Happiness Something of substantial good such Persons will be able to find very low however in the degree and having in its composition a large portion of different things to lessen or allay it But then as this mortal life is divided from the considerations of Religion as it commonly pretends highest and is so apt to draw the Eyes and the Hearts of Mankind it is nothing at all but an empty and deluding appearance To it in this sense the sense I shall only consider it in the Verdict of David is universally applicable 't is vain without reserve or exception Declarations of this kind are frequently to be met with in Holy Writ As St. Paul endeavour'd to take off the Corinthians from too great a concern foâ— worldly things he added this reason of his advice for the fashion of this world passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 31. The Fashion of this World saith the Apostle making use of an expression borrowed as somâ— learned Men have observ'd from the Theatre to the Scenes of which he compares the several states or changes of our life Things that may please surprize or amaze according to the different Designs of the Contriver but in the mean time are only shew or representation The things which are seen saith the same Apostle to the same People are temporal They are measured by Time and partake of the Affections or Properties of it and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haec S Basil plura ejusmodi homiâ— 1. in Hexaemeron vol 1. Oper. Bas p. 7. Edit Paris 1618. that is such a thing as you cannot grasp or discern the least substance in That part of it which is gone is already become nothing that part which is to come is as yet nothing and the present Minute ere you perceive it to be vanisheth away Of this nature is Time and of the same are all Temporary things They are either growing or else perishing having nothing at all in them which may be depended upon as stable and certain We need instance in no other places of Scripture but that which purposely treats of this argument the Book of Ecclesiastes Solomon the Author of it was the Person who made the most diligent search into the things of this life he proved them by very curious too curious experiment He saw all the works that are done under Eccl. 1. 13 14. the Sun he gave his heart to know wisdom
length bring us to a glorious Eternity Thirdly and Lastly our Estate at present being vain let us account the possession of that better one we have been speaking of no evil Let us not be unwilling to enter when God's time shall come upon these never fading Enjoyments our selves or seem to envy the fruition of them to our departed Friends Indeed for those who are without the Pale of the Church or for the negligent within it to be amazed at the Apprehensions of death is but what is natural is but what is too reasonable But for Christians to be so affected shews that something is yet amiss with them that though they are Israelites travelling for Caâ—â—aan they have not quite forgot the things of Egypt that some remains are still in them of the Love of this present World or else some Tincture of Infidelity Certainly Brethren if we are as we ought to be if the Sacred Truths of the Gospel are throughly assented to in our Minds and the Power of Religion has new form'd oâ—â— Hearts we shall be ready to say under the expectation of our own deaths with an humble Confidence in the Merits of our Redeemer Come Lord Jesus come quickly and at the departure of our Christian Friends The Lord hath taken away blessed be the â—ame of the Lord. As for our Neighbour and Friend whom we have now committed to the Grave as I am not fond of such a Task in this Place so I am not sufficiently qualified to give you the perfect Character of him Our Christian hope is that he hath exchanged a Scene of Vanity for eternal Glory He hath long been exercised with a troublesome a painful Disease a Sacred Discipline sufficient to instruct him in the Vanity of the World and we hope he was not unfruitful under it Yea he manifested that he was not by an upright and just and as I am inform'd a very charitable Conversation His Death-bed shew'd him Devout and Pious and he was frequent in the Acts of a Duty which as it is extreamly unsafe to begin on it it is neither safe to give over on it Repentance But I shall conclude all with that advice which I have often given on such occasions because it is some of the best I can give on such occasions The Failings the Defects that you observ'd in him for the best of us are infirm and fallible learn to avoid The things that were Virtuous and Holy Comely and of good Report resolve to transcribe and imitate The Second SERMON ECCL 4. 2. I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive PLato in his Apology for Socrates tells us Plat. Oper. p. 360. that That excellent Person made it his business for some time to find out a prudent Man He diligently search'd amongst the several Ranks of People to discover if it were possible one truly Wise A Task somewhat like it is that which a more excellent Person by a much more excellent Spirit is engaged in here in this Book of Ecclesiastes He gave his heart to seek and to search out by Eccl. 1. 13. wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven he made a very strict enquiry and the thing he lookt for was Felicity what sort of People are in the Condition most desirable and blessed He seeks for these amongst the Gay and the Pleasant those who give themselves up to the gratification of all their irregular Appetites but here he cannot find them He continues his enquiry amongst the Industrious and the Careful and with the same error and disappointment He searcheth amongst the Knowing and the Great the Plodding and the Active the Men of Design and Business yea he runs through the several Orders of the World but his labour is still fruitless all the discovery he is able to make being only this VANITY AND VEXATION OF SPIRIT His search being unsuccessful above Ground he tries withal a little what can be met with under it views the hollow Eye-pits the shatter'd Bones and mouldring Ashes in the Grave And of this enquiry behold the result I praised the dead says he which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive The general Design of the Preacher in these words seems plain enough they being a declaration that in the accounts of Happiness the Condition of the dead is to be prefer'd to that of the living The former of these two states is what he lately examined and tho' as he thought fit to govern himself he met with nothing in it but corruption and uncertainty yet returning and considering the Calamities of Life Death appear'd desirable and he began to praise it Like one amaz'd with many grievances before his Eyes he cries out and seems to say such words as these Death is the tying indeed which humbleth the Pride of the highest Mortal down to the level of the meanest Slave yea some curious researches have afforded us but imperfect relations of the difference it leaveth between the Man and the Beast however we cannot easily imagine it to be more â—ntolerable than the present Bondage Tho' the House we must all go to at last be so dreadful to us that we are apt to recoil and shrink and not â—ield at any rate to be willing to enter it yet is â—t possible to conceive more unsufferable things â—n it than the Labours and Sorrows which now â—lmost perpetually oppress the Sons of Men A very ancient Commentator disâ—overs a mystical Sense in this place Si renunciâsti seculo si abjecisti vitia si jam non moveris ad peccatum sed mortuus es ad peccatum melior es illo qui vivit peccato â—rit in te mors ista laudabilis Oâ—igen in Num. 12. Homil. 7. â—nd would understand by the dead â—uch as are dead to sin and by the â—ving those that still go on in it An â—nterpretation which contains a Truth a very great Truth but not I think what is agreeable here I shall consider the words according to their literal meaning which I take to be this That the miseries mankind is expos'd to in this present Life are sufficient to make them consider Death as a thing of advantage Man saith Job lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more He goes into the Region of Death but he does not return and make discoveries of the place The evils of Life are things of Sense we see them we very often feel them but of what shall be hereafter the only information we can receive is by Reason and Revelation In the following discourse I shall therefore endeavour to shew the advantages of thâ— dead above the living both these ways as they are to be discern'd 1. By meer Natural Eyes 2. By the Eye of Faith 1. The benefits of Death as consider'd by natural Men are but mean and low yet something we know they have been able to perceivâ—â— in it preferable to the Evils of this
reasons of Wisdom and Mercy gave the Enjoyments of his Servant Job into the power of Satan and so the next news we hear of that good Man is that he is stripâ— of all things and become as a Leper on 〈◊〉 Dunghil The Dragon being cast into the Earth persecuted the Woman and made her fly into the Wilderness and since he might not follow her he sent a Flood after out of his Mouth to drown her The Almighty indeed hath promis'd to defend his Chosen to set an Hedge about them and even a Guard of Angels to secure them from the power of the Devil However the Protection we are thus assur'd of relates principally to Spiritual things as for Temporal we find Satan put in a Claim to them in his attempts against the Lord of Life by whom too he was not directly contradicted alâ— these things said he are delivered unto me Luke 4. 6. Having thus particularly mention'd some of the evils which being the Portion of the Christian whilst alive he is only freed from in Death I doubt not but you will easily grant this last state to be for his Interest above the former Happier certainly happier is his condition then when all these Labours are at an end all these Cares and Fears and Sorrows are done away and as one of the Fathers speaks no Tear at all darkens the Eyes of him who now beholds the Beauty of the Glory of God And yet these Negative Benefits are not all or the chief part of what we are enabled to speak of For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Basil Homil. in Ps 114. 2. I am also to put you in mind of the Advantages of Death with respect to the things it gives possession of But on this head being not so suitable to what was the Preacher's design in the Text I shall say but very little and so pass to the Application Precious in the sight of the Lord saith the Psalmist is the death of his Saints upon which place St. Basil some of whose words I but now mentioned has this following Comment Those Stones amongst the Homil. in Psal 115. lovers of Riches are called Precious which shinâ— with fresh and delightful Colours How much more precious then is that thing which adorns the Soul being now purg'd from all its stains and spots with a Luster beyond that of all the Jewels or Precious Stones in the World Indeed Death is the thing which turns a poor imprison'd Spirit wearied with the confinement and sullied with the filthiness of an Earthly Tabernacle into a thing Bright as the Firmament and the Stars yea glorious as the Sun it self for ever and ever Imagine a little what the Happiness must bâ— of a Soul received into Heaven with the Applauses of ten thousand times ten thousand Angels and Saints with the Embraces of an All-glorious Redeemer and the Euge of the Great God Think what the Joy must be of Seeing and Praising and Adoring and Enjoying him that died for us of sounding out perpetual Anthems and Hallelujahs of dwelling in Eternal Light and beholding the Face of that God in whose Presence is fulness of Joy and at whose right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore Think upon these and such things as these which Death gives the Christian possession of and then certainly in respect of such Persons you will be â—eady to joyn with the Preacher and praise the â—ead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive And yet after we have thus fill'd our Minds with the most Glorious Idea's and form'd a Noâ—ion of the highest Happiness which can be imagined we still know but in part and see through 〈◊〉 Glass darkly We cannot possibly reach the â—hings we aim at or have any just conception of those ineffable Pleasures As it doth not yet â—ppear what we shall be so Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive the things which God hath prepar'd â—or them that love him The preference which Solomon gives the dead â—efore the living being to be allow'd that which 〈◊〉 have farther to do Brethren is to perswade â—ou to a Practical as well as a Speculative belief of this so to behave your selves and to act upon all occasions as if you were in good earnest â—onvinc'd of it Particularly to manifest the Faith of those Advantages the true Christian â—inds in Death beyond those of Life for that is â—he sense I shall chiefly have regard to now â—n the Application in the three following Inâ—tances 1. A contempt of this present Condition 2. A comfortable expectation of a Discharge from it 3. Contentment on the Departure of our Christian Friends 1. A contempt of this present Life We have great reason you see to think very meanly of it since its Excellencies which tempt and allure us and that we are apt so passionately to court cannot vie with the Grave We have had a description of some of the troubles this state brings upon us both as Men and as Christians And consider I pray you now a little whether any thing mixt with Ingredients of so much bitterness can indeed please our Taste or draw our Affection Was ever the Prisoner in love with his Dungeon or the Gally-slave with his Chain Can Men long for Affliction or desire to make Tears their Meat No sure one would think such things should not raise our Appetites or become very Inviting And can we then Christians doat upon our present Condition be so hugely solicitous so full of Endeavour to prolong our Torment and continue yet a little while more in that Life which is our Misery Take the Wings of Meditation and with the Dove sent out of the Ark fly through this Tempestuous World See whether there be any Hillock to rest upon any Spot which the Deluge hath not covered Observe how all things are overflown with Cares what a strange maze of Uncertainties and Disappointments we always walk in how deceitful all Earthly Pleasures are like the Apples growing on the Banks of the Lake of Sodom only well-coloured Ashes Think thus on the condition of things here below and then tell me whether this be a state to be desir'd Whether here it is that we should be willing to set up our rest Cicero brings in the wise Cato being now near his end looking back on the Years he had liv'd and thus declaring his Opinion of them If Cato Major sive de Senectute sub finem the God above should make an offer to me to grow young again and to be once more an Infant I would with all earnestness refuse it I would by no means be set back to the beginning of the Race I have run and live the Years that are past over again For what has this Life of Benefit What has it not of Labour c. Could a Heathen be thus sensible of the troubles of living how much more must the true Christian
He whose Life hath not only been expos'd to the common Lot of Humanity but to the Labours the Difficulties the Watchings the Fastings the Strivings the Conflicts the Groans the Tears of a Condition of Temptations of a Self-denying Religion If according to the saying of an ancient Father it be allowable for that Person to be desirous of Life whom the World fawns Ejus est in mundo diu velle remanere quem mundus oblectat quem seculum blandiens atque decipiens illecebris terrenae voluptatis invitat S. Cypriâ—â— de Mortalit p. 165. upon whom a flattering and deceitful Age allures with the Baits of Earthly Pleasures yet certainly the labouring the panting Christian is under no such Temptation A Person in his Circumstances one would think should be so far from being in love with this mortal Condition that did he not know it to be his Duty not to deliver up this Fort of his Body which the Great King hath entrusted him with till a Summons comes from him he would earnestly desire to be rid of it as soon as may be Had he not learnt with S. Paul in every state to be content he would be even impatient in that request of his to depart hence and to be with Christ which is far better 2. The next thing I am to perswade you to from the Consideration of the Advantages of Death above Life is a comfortable expectation of a Discharge from it To put off those Fears of an approaching Dissolution which are apt to disquiet us and to meet it with evenness of Temper and a holy Chearfulness The Preacher's declaration being indeed not to be appli'd to some but only with the sad Exceptions and Limitations already noted I cannot direct what I now say to every one Yea I do advise you my Brethren not to be overhasty in arrogating to your selves Comforts of such a nature as this is Strong assurances of Infinite Happiness in another World are the rewards of strong Christians and to obtain them meddle not with the unsearchable Decrees of God Almighty but enquire into your Lives past and try whether you can find there that you are the Persons to whom the Promises are made He alone hath ground for such a Comfortable dependance whose Conscience witnesseth to the Truth of this that his Faith hath been active that he hath endeavour'd and doth still with all his power to be void of offence towards God and towards Man And now to you all you that are thus Christians not in name or profession alone but in deed and in truth To you I say be not discouraged when Death shall begin to look you in the Face to use our Saviour's words which he spake on a different occasion look up and lift up your heads Luke 22. 28. for your redemption draweth nigh Socrates who tho' a Heathen suffer'd for a great Article of our Faith and whom therefore Justin Martyr doubts not to call in part a Christian Just Mart. Apol. 1. pag. 48. it Apol. 2. p. 83. Edit nuperae Colon. is said to have refresh'd himself with such Meditations as these which follow between his Condemnation and Execution I would have you believe said he to his Friends that I hope to go to those good Men already departed However tho' this be not positively asserted by In Phaedone p. 377. me yet that I am hastning to that Divine Being who is the best Master in the World is what I most stedfastly affirm And hereupon it is that I am not afraid of Death as otherwise I should be but am prepar'd to meet it with a cheerful mind And Cato before-mention'd cry'd out saying O the happy day when I shall be admitted to the Assembly of departed Souls being freed from the present hurry and corruption To such a greatness of Mind have some few been raisâ—d by the dark and uncertain speculations of natural Reason but the Triumphs of Christianity have been much beyond it in answer to its greater Light and Encouragements S. Ignatius as he was carried in Fetters to be Meat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist ad Ephesios for wild Beasts at Rome call'd the Bonds they put on him Chains of Pearl And S. Cyprian exhorting those under his Episcopal Care in that Tract I have so often made use of to a resolution De Mortalit p. 161. becoming them whilst the Pestilence raged amongst them reckons up the fatal Symptoms of that strange Disease and tells them they were design'd to manifest the Excellency of their Faith to discover to the World a Constancy unshaken amidst those Ruines of Mankind Indeed this was almost the ordinary Spirit or Temper of the Primitive and persecuted Church tho' Time and Ease and a prevailing Impiety have render'd it now in too great a measure degenerate and fearful Christians then were not discompos'd on the apprehensions of Death when in despite of the greatest opposition they made it their only business to fit and prepare for it But 3. The last thing I am to recommend to you from what hath been now consider'd is contentment on the departure of our Christian Friends If they better their Condition let us not be impatient at it let us not mourn and lament because of their happy Change from Misery and Trouble to Freedom and Glory Something indeed is to be allow'd to the sense of our own loss and the tendency of our imperfect desires but to be immoderate on such occasions is our grief is to contradict our own Faith and to make our selves like those unaccountable Worshippers whom Plutarch mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quaest Roman Tom. 2. p. 277. who as they pray'd to their Deity bestow'd a good name upon the Dead but withall desir'd that they might have none of them in their Houses I would not have you ignorant saith the Apostle concerning them that are asleep that you 1. Thes 4. 13. sorrow not as others who have no hope An extravagant sorrow might be reconcilable to the Opinions of some ignorant Heathen but are a perfect contradiction to the knowledge and hope of a Christian Accordingly the Office of Burial in our Church in conformity to the Customs of the Primitive contains not Lamentations but is a kind of holy Triumph a publick declaration of Joy and Thankfulness for the Blessedness of the Dead When we join'd in it but now at the Interment of our departed Brother we did in effect say such words as these Now the time the happy time of Release is come when a Christian expos'd to Griefs and Sorrows Weariness and Temptations enjoys his everlasting Freedom At length he is deliver'd from all the hurry and noise of a troublesome World from all the strivings and bustle and contentions of it particularly in the present case from that part which it was the good Pleasure of Providence he should act from that Office of Magistracy which I doubt not he very unwillingly engaged in and which he consider'd as his burthen and unhappiness He is taken away from all the evil to come from all uncertainties of event from all fears and fatal issues of things To conclude his Prayers are heard his cry is come up into the Ears of the Lord of Hosts all his Cares and Pains are at an end and he hath found as our hope is Peace Quiet and Eternal Rest THE END
miserablâ— Life and that with relation both to the Bodâ— and the Soul 1. As for the Body they could see nothing in the dissolution of it but what is common to Brutes That which befalleth the Sons of Men befalleth Beasts All go unto one place all are of the Dust and all turn to Dust again so the Preacher seems to speak their Sentiments Chap. 3. verse Vid. Notat in vitam Dionysii per Petr. Halloix Dionys Oper. Tom. 2. p. 269. Grot. de verit Relig. l. 2. c. 7. 19 20. Some of the Greek Philosophers fell indeed upon the Opinion of a Resurrection but the Tenet we find had but slender entertainment for when St. Paul Preach'd at Athens it was treated as an impossibility But tho' the wiser Heathen for the most part could not hope for a return of the Body from the Grave they could however consider it there as silent and at rest they could perceive an end of all the Labours Pains and Grievances of it How often does a Man throughout the course of no long Life complain of Hunger and Thirst and Weariness How often is he scorched with burning Heats How often are his Sinews his Bowels pierc'd through with unsufferable Pains so that he roars like a distracted Person because of the violence of the torment Now Death puts an end to all these disorders Sighs and Complaints and Cries are not heard in the Pit The fatal thing comes as an Universal Remedy for all kinds of Diseases and Miseries and therefore the approach of it hath been sometimes desired with much impatience Wherefore says Job is light given to him that is in misery and life unto Job 3. 20. the bitter in soul Which long for death and it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave 2. Concerning the condition of the Soul after Death there has been much uncertainty in the Opinions of natural Men. Who knoweth saith the Preacher Chap. 3. verse 21. the spirit of a man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward Who by the Light of Reason can be certain for so some understand the place of any such difference Or according to others who is able to state the difference right declaring the things of each Some of the learned Heathen fancied that the Soul immediately as Vid. Ciceron Tuscul Quaest lib. 1. Plutarch de placitis Philos lib. 4. cap. 7. the Body becomes unfit for it vanisheth into the soft Air and the greater number who were convinc'd of its Immortality were yet full of doubt about its future Condition and Employment However amidst all this darkness they were able to discern somewhat more valuable than the present Slavery To be even nothing at all they thought was not to be miserable and whatsoever abode the Soul in case it survives is to have after Death it could not easily be believed more inconvenient than the Prison it now dwels in It was observ'd by Eliphaz that trouble is the Job 5. 7. Birthright of Man that it is as natural for him to undergo it as for the Sparks to fly upward The sense is somewhat different in the Septuagint Haud absimile est istud Comici apud Athenaeum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deipnosoph l. 6. p. 223. Haec S. Chrysostomus similia ferè Olympiodorus in Catena in Job but it occasions the following Paraphrase of an excellent Father Humane Nature says he is inferior to the Productions of the Earth and the Mountains which know no sorrow either in their beginnings or increase Yea the Birds are allow'd to make their Motions without pain and to gather their Meat without trouble but Man in all these things is very miserable And declarations of the same kind are often â—et with in the Books of the Gentiles Seneca considering the wretched Circumstances of humane Life wonder'd at Non videmus quam multa nos incommoda exagitant quam malè nobis conveniat hoc corpus Hoc evenire solet in alieno habitantibus Seneca Epist 120. â—he disproportion between the Inn and â—he Guest thence concluding that so Noble a Being could not be design'd â—or so vile an Habitation And Pliny writing the History of living Creaâ—ures Plin. Nat. Hist lib. 7. begins it with a complaint That Nature â—ath been more unkind to Man than to any â—ther Beings He is says he at first the â—eakest and always after the most sickly thing Other Animals are acquainted with necessary Arts without the trouble of Instruction but Man knows not any thing till he is taught unless it be how to cry To him alone among all living things belong Mourning and Luxury and Ambition and Covetousness and Superstition As the Life of nothing else is more frail so no other Appetites are more insatiable than his None are so apt to be terrified and confounded None more disposed to Rage and Fury Other living Creatures of the same kind live Peaceably together we see them joyn and oppose those that oppose them The fierceness of Lions is not engaged against Lions neither do Serpents bite one another but Men alas are the greatest Enemies to Men the Kind is perpetually at Waâ— with it self and one seeks the Mischief and Ruine of the other Indeed he that duly considers the Thraldom of an Intellectual Being as it is now fetter'd iâ— this Prison of Earth made liable to so many Impressions discomposed and agitated by so many Passions and enslav'd to Corruption musâ— needs conclude that Man is the only thing whicâ— something extraordinary hath befall'n that eâ—ther God who made him design'd him at firsâ— for greater Misery than the rest of the Creatureâ— or else which is indeed the truth that he is tumbled down from his Original Perfection and become only the Ruines of what he was And now it was the view of such disorders and perplexities of Life which gave the chief occasion to those Heathens themselves to bestow so frequently their Commendations on Death O how ignorant says one of them are those People of what they suffer who do not magnifie Death as the best of things Some call'd it the O ignaros malorum suorum quibus non mors ut optimum naturae inventum laudatur Senec. de Consolat ad Marc. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aeschylus apud Plutarch Tom. 2. 〈◊〉 106. Multi extitêre qui non nasci optimum censerent aut quam ocyssimè aboleri â—liâ— Secundus Nat. Histor in Praefat. ad lib. 7. ad ea ut videtur respiciens quae dicta sunt de Sileno Alcidamo pluribus aliis à Cicerone Tuscul quaest lib. 1. Haec ubi res fortuna malè divisit exaequat omnia Haec est inquam quae effecit ut nasci non sit suppliciâ—m quae efficit ut non concidam adversus minas casuum Seneca ubi supra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haec de â—rausis populo