loved my soul and asked mee why I would die must come in as a witnesse against mee and justifie God in my condemnation why should I slight Gods message or slight him who brings it Now hee is for ought I know entring into the joy of his Lord now God so values him as to reward him Surely this arguing is rational and might easily enter into any mans minde who observes but common experience though hee had nothing else to prompt him I hope all of you will reap this advantage from the present occasion to value the persons and the Sermons of all consciencious preachers better idolize them not was our first advice that is one way to lose them Gustavus the renowned King of Sweden prophesied truth when hee said God would take him off because men too much admired him yet scorn them not for Ambassadors are soon called home when it is desperate to prevail so far as to get fair audience but howsoever you deal with us do but practise godliness and we shall rejoyce for I question not but holy men can heartily present Pauls petition Now I pray to God that yee do no evil 2 Cor. 13.7 not that wee should appear approved but that yee should do that which is honest though wee bee as reprobatâ—â— Experience tell us that good thoughts of the Physitian facilitate the cure and the good health of a sickly patient brings credit enough to the Physitian 3 Moses his death Chargeth you not to be confident of long life your selves if Palaces crack and fall sure weak cottages must if Moses die aâ—private Israelite must not live alwaies All flesh is grass Isa 40.6 7 8. Homo cum sis id fac ut semper intelig as The Heliotrope may pride it self at the Suns presence the pretty flowers may open all their heads and welcome the salutes of the grand beauty of this visible world but the Sun will set and a night must be found every four and twenty hours in Summer but at length comes a cold Winter a tedious absence of the warm beams and then the leaves drop and the roots perish we are far nearer sickness and death than wee think wee are Soul take thine ease that the man said This night shall thy soul bee taken away from thee that God said Is not this great Babel that I have built for the honour of my name The great King hath no sooner said it but hee hears a voice that speaks something of a different nature like the noise of a thunder-clap that swallowes up the melody which his secure pride made him The Kingdome is departed A remarkable check you have to mens vain presumption of life in 1 King 16.8 9. Elah is drinking himself drunk and his servant Zimri comes in and kills him Well Zimri will bee King promiseth himself much happinesse in his royalty but it hastens his death Omri besiegeth him and when the City is taken 1 King 16.18 the poor King goes into the Palace burns the house over him with fire and dies The Israelites like not Mannah they must needs feed more delicioussy they shall but while the meat was in their mouthes the wrath of God fell upon them and slew the mightiest of them wee are blinde if wee see not that man groweth up as a flower and is cut down Job 14.2 hee fleeth as a shadow and continueth not Every thing in nature tells us of changes our very Table is but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bier whereon every dish of meat stands as a dead corpse I could weep sometimes and drop my tears as the dew of the morning when I see a young man in the pride of his strength Quis pacturientem rosam papillacam corymbum anteqâ—â—m in calarnum fâ—andatur orbis totâ ruben ium foliorum unbitione immature demesium aequis oculis mai cessere videat Hieron ad Pammachiam super obit Paulinae uxoris in the acuteness of his parts in the blossome of his beauty whilst hee is the delight of friends and his society the ambition of spectators hee sits still and thinks no hurt when a rude passion stabs him or hee is innocently merry but his juvenile blood is inflamed hee is sick hee groans hee sighs hee dyes But I resolve to stop the flood-gates and blame my folly for it is folly to forget that it is as natural for the grass to wither and it is as ordinary for it to bee cut down as it is to creep out of the womb of the earth Bee as careful as wee can good fruit will perish because it is worm-eaten and that which eats it is bred within it Just when Pharaoh will have bricks made and build Pyramids leave Monuments of his greatness to posterity then is God about to break him and pluck down the plumes of Aegyptian pride And surely if an Israelite cannot presume that long life shall bee his portion an Aegyptian cannot if a Moses cannot then not an Israelite but this fond self-flattery this great disease of besotted humane nature whilst I perceive so much reason as a medicine proper for its cure and yet so little of it received makes mee sad and bewail the delirium that hath deprived us of all sober understanding And indeed who can think of Jonathans great integrity and read his great mistake without some degree of this passion 1 Sam. 23. hee said to David Thou shalt bee King over Israel and I shall bee next unto thee Alas good man who knew not that hee was to dye in the next battel and shall not the tares bee cut up when the wheat is Shall not the dust bee blown away when pearls are Whether I or you shall bee deaths portion next I know not but that wee shall all bee is certain for Moses is dead neither humility nor meekness power and greatness neither the love of God to him nor the love of Israel gives a dispensation from deaths claim 4 Moses his death Commands you to prepare for death nothing will secure from it therefore provide for it Art thou great or small in prosperity in adversity the way may differ it may bee fairer to thee fouler to another but the journies end is the same the debt is due the day of payment not expressed and therefore it may bee demanded presently What have you to say when death comes Will you speak to Time as Joshua to the Sun Stand still that I may bee avenged of all my adversaries that I may murder and crucifie those sins and lusts which have robbed mee of God and Heaven Alas you cannot Times Chariot runs post hee will not hear or is the grim visage of death and the thoughts of eternity and a day of judgement so little formidable that thou canst look steadily without amazement on them Alas thy heart fails thee at the thought of them What cordial then hast thou Moses my servant goes before Death comes after bee Gods servant and thou art well
prepared for this charge bee the Devils servant and have the Devils curse bee Gods and the gift is eternal life Aaron goes up willingly to Mount Hor and dyes Moses when hee sees it is Gods will is satisfied Nothing like the testimony of a good conscience that a man hath been faithful in Gods service though every one in Gods family bee not a steward a publick officer as Moses was yet every one is a servant hath some work to do oh why do you neglect it Is that a fit time for man to dress himself in a dark night when the dreadful cry astonisheth him that his house is on fire about his ears the poor man stands naked amazed and is either burnt or runs down the stairs with fears not to bee conceived by any body but himself so it is when death fetcheth the sinner and conscience cryes aloud that the fire of hell will scorch him and the great Judge infallibly condemn him Is this a time now for him to put on the ornaments of grace when hee is putting off the body No alas that is too great a work to bee done so soon and hee is too much amazed to go about it The fear of a danger past kills Nabal and makes his heart like a stone within him There are sad instances that make it evident that the time which men allot to make preparation for death is generally useless and ineffectual for that purpose A learned Doctor of our own hath collected three sad examples which give sufficient restimony to our last assertion Great Exampl 3. Part. p. 144. the first of them he met with in S. Gregory who reports of Chrysaurius a Gentleman in the Province of Valeria rich and vitious witty but lascivious covetous proud that being cast upon his death bed he fancied he saw evill spirits coming to arrest him and drag him to hell hee fell into a great agony shreeked out And when his disease grew desperate hee cryed out Give mee respite but till the morrow And with those words he dyed His second example is of a drunken monk whom Bede mentions who upon his death-bed seemed to see hell opened Lib. 5. c. 15. Hist Gent. Angloium and a place assigned him near Caiaphas and those which crucified our Saviour The Religious persons which stood about his bed called on him to repent of his sin to implore the mercies of God but hee answered this is no time to change my life the sentence is passed upon mee it is too late His third example is one Gunizo a factious and ambitious person of whom Damianus reports that the Tempter gave notice to him of his approaching death but when any man preached repentance to him Biblioth F. Pp. Tom. 3. out of a strange incuriousness or the spirit of reprobation hee seemed like a dead and unconcerned man in all other Discourses hee was awake and apt to answer Divers now in Cambridge will quickly perceive that these three instances call to their mindes a fourth of a woman that lived there who on a sick-bed being visited by divers persons of piety and entertained with holy discourses used to say nothing but this Call Time again It is true wee have not every day such remarkable instances no more is every murderer hanged upon the Gibbets yet so many suffer this dreadful punishment as to make acts of baseness formidable and to shew the sore hatred which a good and compassionate Magistrate hath against them so the former examples demonstrate that Gods grace though of absolute necessity to our happiness yet then when wee should need it wee may either forget or else not finde it wee thought wee should at the command of our wishes But what is the design of poor besotted man Let a sickness arrest us a Physitian is sent for an estate a great revenue shall bee parted with for Time get but health and then any man shall have it for a trifle Nay wee are weary of it if it must bee spent in the thoughts of God and eternity then this short very short life is too long for us Men that are full of business in the world talk like Augustus Aliquande se victurum sibi sperabat he hoped he should sometime live to enjoy himself and they long passionately for a great Vacation but when it may bee in their power they act like Turannius who after the ninetieth year of his age having received a discharge from Caesar and got liberty to bee freed from Court attendance Componi se in lecto velur exanimem a circumstante familia plangi jussit Seneca de Brevitvitae cap. ult will needs bee laid in his bed like one that hath breathed his last and all his family must bewail the old mans death The God of heaven will tel us at the day of judgement how little wee knew what to do with our selves and our time when we had fair opportunities to prepare for death and to work out our salvation God will easily convince us that it was our wilful prosecution of our own lusts which ruined us and that wee would not come to him that wee might have life If any one shall ask mee what should bee done to make preparation for death I would beg of him first Nihil minus est hominis oecupati quam vivere idem cap. 6. That hee would bee so much at leasure as to bee a while serious if hee can but prevail so far with himself as not to bee turned out of doors by his own thoughts hee will answer his own question himself and soon resolve that to live is the best preparation to dye Haec quae vides ossa circumvolura nervis obductam cutem vultum que ministias manus caetera quibus involuti sumus vincula animorum tenebraeque sunt Seneca Consol ad Marciam c. 24. For it is one thing to bee in the world another thing to live To bee a man in the due use of all powers and faculties in the just command of all passions to bee a Christian in the exercise of all Divine graces this is to live otherwise men are dead in sins and trespasses and their souls are buried in a lump of flesh I perswade my self in this point men need more to bee awakened than instructed for who knows not that hee ought to repent and who understands not that by repentance God means that which hee himself means when hee charges a son a friend a servant to repent viz. That hee should bee heartily sorrowful for what is past S. Augustinus sibi jussera Psalmos Dividicos de paenitentia scribi ipsosque jacens in lecto contra paretem Posito Jegebat jugiter ubertim flebit Posidonius and do so no more why then is not the Catalogue of sin read over till thy heart bee melted with godly sorrow and a constant antipathy against iniquity make thee watchful That thou sin no more lest a worse thing come Reader tell mee
Wouldest thou not do this this week it thou thoughtest thou shouldest dye the next but remember this day cannot bee too soon because to morrow may bee too late It was a good saying of a wise Rabbi It is every mans duty to repent one day before hee dyes and hee that knows not but that this day may bee his last had need begin to day and so make every day a continued act of repentance Do this to purpose now for since nothing makes enmity betwixt the holy God and us but sin practise this duty daily by surveying all thy life by continuing resolutions of obedience by holy watchfulness that when the hour of death comes thou mayest have this by thee as a never failing cordial And dost thou not know that thou wilt then need a strong beleef of this great truth That God hath mercy for a repenting sinner That the case of man is not desperate That wee have liberty for second thoughts by the New Covenant That there is a great glory hereafter and a certain resurrection to eternal life why is not this point studied by thee till thy soul bee fully confirmed in this great Article Or art thou ignorant that thou shalt be unwilling to dye if thy treasure be not laid up in heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Phaed. you may pull off a glove with ease but not the skin you may easily see a soul go hence that hath none on earth that it desires in comparison of God Whereas a soul immersed in body used to nothing but eating and drinking and the pleasures of the belly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sc that is bewitched by the body faln in love with it and imbraceth it Oh how willing it is to catch at and clasp about every thing that might make it stay in its beloved tabernacle Oh be sure to inure thy minde to things heavenly and spiritual for inordinate consent to the pleasures of our outward man do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the noble Philosopher speaks strangely unite our souls to our bodies that they cannot go from that which they count their happiness without infinite torment and vexation That day wherein the vanity of the world the emptinesse and dissatisfaction of all corporal delights are not so far studied as to preserve our love for God that day did nothing for our provision for death Reader all this thou art perswaded of practice it yet for thy comfort and quiet at the hour of death remember to familiarize death to thy thoughts in life a Mariner is not afraid in a storm at Sea when a childe or a timorous woman quakes for fear in a fair day on a shallow river Think thy Saviour the beloved Son of God died and lay in the grave remember if thou art Christs all things are thine life and death seriously read and duly consider Heb. 2.14.15 1 Cor. 3. last Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood hee also himself likewise took part of the same that through death hee might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Did wee thus practice and thus anticipate death by thoughts wee should finde our childish fancies apt to converse with that grim visage which at the first they ran away from By this means wee should bee worthy that character of those valiant people Lucan Animaeque capaces Mortis Men not transported with the love of life nor inslaved with the fear of death Men fit to live fit to die men that could triumph and sing that glorious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh death w where is thy sting Oh grave where is thy victory Fifthly and lastly I speak here only of good men that make provision for death by a pious life Moses death chargeth you to bee satisfied quiet and contented when you die your selves when your friends when good Magistrates good Ministers die before you for sure wee and they may bee sick and die and yet bee beloved of God so was Moses Yea behold a greater than Moses Jesus Christ hee that heard the voice from Heaven this is my beloved Son hee felt the pains of death and lay three daies in a Sepulchre deaths face looks more lovely ever since and may bee beheld with less astonishment Now wee may chearfully say come let us go and dye also sure though the Bee humme and make a noise though the Serpent hiss yet the sting is gone Blessed bee God for the satisfaction wee have in this great case by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour when our pains are next to intollerable though wee should sweat as hee did drops like blood yea when wee feel the stroak of death and finde the face besmeared with a cold clammy moisture the eyes are dimme the hands stiffe the friends stand by and weep they speak but can receive no answer there is no liberty for a thought of any thing but pain and sadness grief and sorrow yet may a sober Christian now by this Gospel-knowledge of the death of Christ make this happy conclusion this may bee my case and yet I not bee hated but so far beloved of the holy God as that I may hereafter shine as the Sun in the firmament Mat. 13.43 and may for ever bee as the Angels beholding the face of my Father in Heaven Go then yee useful exemplary persons who speak much to the World when you say nothing who by good works Est aliquid quod a magno viro vel tacente proficias Seneca those unanswerable syllogismes those invincible demonstrations convince spectators who by the beauty of holinesse steal away the hearts of gainsayers and win their affections almost against their wills go lay yâ—â—r heads upon a cold stone or a soft turfe wee are satisfied if wee weep it shall bee for our selves not for you Our Saviour when he died charged his disciples they should not let their hearts bee troubled his death hath prevented the cause of trouble wee are no more Scepticks whether the grave bee the way to glory or not no more scrupulous whether it bee best for you to die Fine Apologiae or live It is not now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Socrates speaks a thing known only to God whether the Scales turn for the advantage oâ— the dead or living and since the Son of God and the best oâ— Gods servants ever since the creation have walked through this dark vault wee will never expect a better way foâ— our selves that is to be proud nor will we be amazed wheâ— wee come at it for after this Gospel knowledge it is to 〈◊〉 nothing but play the fool or to fear where no fear is And if ever I needed this understanding I do now for if ever I had reason to resent deeply the loss of any man I have reason now to bee affected at the losse
wee 'l say Thou rann'st the faster to have wonne so soon Thou wroughtst the harder to have done by noon Such Lamps as are not niggards of their light Soon spend their Oyle and bid the world good night Wee 'l not compute thy time by daies and years But by thy labours then thine age appears Double let actions bee the Sands that run And then thy glass runs long when much is done But fate what makes thee hard to us alas Thou needs not shake or break the Pulpit Glasse Is this thy cunning there to send the stone Where it may hit a multitude in one Are Pulpits Butts because they stand so high Preachers the marks at which thou lettest flye And is the Lawrel that was counted free Now sooner struck than any other tree Wee see when sentence is pronounc'd by fate Then Beneficium Cleri's out of date On the Death of his very dear Friend Mr. Edward Bright Fellow of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge O Death I cannot skill thy arts How thou could'st by thy power win And by thy Method kill that man That 's dead unto the world and sin It seems it is not hard to put to flight That soul that 's fledg'd for it's eternal light Sure wee are mistaken hee but sleeps Or if you rather call him dead I 'me sure you mean no more but this That hee 's unto his kindred fled Then let us dress ourselves against hee come Who shall bee sent to call us also home So may wee meet and joyn in one Wreath'd in an everlasting love Breathing our joyful praise to him Who only wrought us this remove For so wee see rejoycings in a Quire Redoubled where all meet and all conspire This may suffice then here lies one Whose life was upright and whose end Was like his life But yet wee weep Because bereav'd of such a friend That man whose life was just example rare Shall never need a verse nor want a tear Rich. Kidder A. M. Fel. of Emmanuel Coll. Upon the frequent Death of Ministers divers young of Mr. Brights in particular and the manner of it HOw is' t the span of life so little showes Sith th' hand that measures it no shorter grows The grants of life in Character are writ Death findes some fault with Time and now thinks fit To date its strokes after the modern stile Anticipating Natures debt a while All Times proportions wee by sem briefs rate Into th' imperfect mood are shrunk of late The vital shadow doth too nimbly haste And th' famous Temple-clocks go much too fast Sure God's incenst wee treat with such delay Hee takes Ambassadours so soon away Or his revenewes don't to th' summe amount Hee calls so many Stewards to account Or 't is to screen his Seens eyes from fire By Deaths thick shade hee 's kindling in his ire Th' Promethean Games more sacred now revive Where Lights run races and so ardent strive Which shall bee first kist out by that pure Sun To whom their divine flames as tribute run ' Mongst which our Brights extinct the reason why My thoughts are tinctur'd with this mourning dye And put on black teaching my hand to wear This Elegie griefs Phylactery here All lives are lines drawn to the point of Death Of which some upward tend some end beneath Some long some short some crooked some more straight This centred line was shorter cause 't was right A line made up of points emphatick light A sprightly ray reflected out of sight But in some deeper waters broken first Or through a duskie cloud Meanders â—hâ—â—st A silver thread uâ—t wined at the end Coin of diviue impresse but with a bend A Theam which reconciles integrity With a dis-jointed judgement where wee see In lifes last page Reasons errata cast A Chaos to another world prefac't A twist of night and day a polar guide Or fiery Pillar but with a dark side A living Sermon but of one use lame Gods Image seen inverst a vigrous flame Panting with often assaies to assoil It self with dimness charg'd by grosser oile Deaths penumbra his setting Sun 'ore cast While vapours rais'd did reasons twilight haste His tongue then rang his senses funeral Which was the Curfeu that to rest did call Those jarring sounds so harsh to tender ears Were but while hee was tuning for the sphears His souls Reveile struck at the dawn of glee The Prolegom'na of eternity Whose speech sometimes yet flow'd in nobler sort Like spirits rectifi'd in a retort His heavenly Master laid his hand on 's head And turn'd him round to manumit him dead A sacrifice to God his body meant Hee to consume a fire a feaver sent Hee was an interlined Text whereon Heavens bestow'd a gloss the world needs none Hee was not so obscure to hint his fame Whom to commend's to comment on a name With Glow-worms that is writ with beams or teach B' our breath a Star to shine or light to bleach This pen shall only be the Tube to set His lustre this short draught on Paper set Zeal gave his words their accent piety Figur'd his life grace 't with simplicity Whom faithfulness advance't to richer case Being call'd from Christ-Church to a better place Which countermands our tears bids joyful bee Hee 's gone from Christ Church but to Trinity John Reyner M. A. Em. Col. In Obitum Edvardi Bright Col. Emanâ— Socii NIl opus esse Deo quis uti saepius ipse Dignatur studios hominum nil arte manuque Auxiliatrici quicquid discernit agendum Nos tua sed quantum deflenda Vir optime fata Immatura docent quo non iustructior alter Extitit interpres divina mentis alma Pandere summa pot is mysteria religionis Qui tam flexanimi Suadâ nervoque potentis Eloquii traheres mortalia pectora sacra Leg is in obsequium rigidas impellere mentes Doctus artifici dextra formare sequaces Nempe hoc illud erat captiva scientia rebus Caeter a divinis aderat ratiâ—que modestè Ancillabatur fidei prudentia zelo Temperieni dabat coelesti plenus amore Humanas miserente vices tibi Spiritus intus Ardebat flammis non luce carentibus instar Lampadis heu nimium radiis lumine donec Impertis alios oleum vitale liquescit Haec quoties animum subeunt geminata recursat Maestitia veluti laniâ— praesente cadaver Caede recente madens ebullit sanguine vulnus Triste recrudescit dolet immedicable vulnus Nos imprudentes numeris qui stringere paucis Quaerimus luctus pedibus metirier arct is Immensos remurque animos eludere tandem Carmine posse brevi tanti moment a doloris T. L. In Exequiis Edoardi Bright nuper Collegii Emmanuelis Socii QUis dabit ut liquidas oculi vertantur in und as Et fluat in madidis lachryma multa genis Sic tua perpetuâ— deflerem funera rivo Non requies flendi non modus ullus erit Sed mens obstupuit nimio
their Lord whom at his comming hee shall finde watching Verily I say unto you that hee shall girde himself and make them sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Moses cryed out passionately Lord shew mee thy glory God will now answer that prayer Honorem illis novum habebit atque insolitum Grctius in loc but then his desire of life must be denyed for no man can see my face and live upon which words Saint Augustine meditating cryed out Moriar Domine ut te videam Let mee die Lord that I may see thee And indeed Paul told him that he must be dissolved if he would bee with Christ A soul that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 winged with divine love is like a poor bird in a cage sits often sad because imprisoned Chrysost In Acts 26. looks through the wires sings when the Sun comes at it but alass it sets by and by and a cloudy dismal night follows it The souls clear visions of God are too glorious for this state here it is rara hora brâ—vis mora as Bernard phraseth it the man whose piety is steddy and industry great sees here through a glass darkly there face to face and then hee shall know even as hee is known When you therefore wonder why good men die you forget too much the trouble of life and the glory after death Jacobs Motto agrees well with their experience Few and evil have been my daies So great are the exigencies and necessities of the present state that it requires the skill of the wisest man and most self-observing to give a catalogue of those imperfections which all persons feel and groan under the happinesse of infancy is that wee feel only the trouble of what is present and wrack not our selves with fears of what is future when we get up to understanding there are boisterous lusts like cruel Pyrates setting upon us that we cannot quietly sail to the Haven of peace and rest What it is to be wise and live in the enjoyment of God and a mans self-busy-passions scarce suffer the Juvenile age to make enquirry If a man come to old age hee is an Imperious Infant or a childe in authority If a man bee good the Devil sets on him Waspes are busie where the honey is If hee cannot bee hindred from doing good which is the Devils first design hee shall bee Fly-blown with pride which is the second and as dangerous Upon due thoughts it will bee found that for us to serve God here is our great wisdome for us to dye when God pleaseth is Gods great mercy Labour in the Lord shall not bee in vain but the reward of Labour in the Lord is when wee dye in the Lord For then wee rest from our labours Rev. 14.13 and our works follow us Hitherto our Discourse hath tended to give satisfaction to this enquiry why Moses dyed It remains that wee draw some Corollaries and so make application to all your consciences 1 The death of Moses speaks something to all that stand in the same relation to God that hee did viz. that are his servants publick instruments for the doing of his work 2 The death of Moses speaks something to all those who are in a capacity of losing persons so eminently usefull and beneficiall to them as Moses was to the Israelites I begin my Discourse with all those that are in publick imployment and are sincerely faithful to the trusts committed to them whether they be Magistrates or Ministers Two things are proper advice from all that wee have hitherto spoke upon this Text. Corol. 1. Promise not to your selves long life One would have thought if any man in the world might have bee confident of his life sure Moses might till hee had carried the people through the Wilderness and brought them into the Land of Canaan this business was that which God set him about It was the fulfilling of the ancient Promise made to Abraham Gods glory was ingaged to perfect it that his Name might not bee dishonoured by the heathen round about who had seen or heard of all his Miracles Moses knew the people and was much honoured by them and so one would imagine the fittest man in the world for it yet Moses dyeth Know therefore that when you are about the best work the most excellent design most honourable for God most usefull for others yet then death comes with commission the shadows of the evening stretch themselves upon you it is no longer day And when this night comes no man can work When first thou didst entice to thee my heart I thought the service brave See Herberts Poems Philosophers observe that a very great calmness usually goes before a mighty Earthquake Such folly and madness hath spread it self upon the hearts of men that generally they promise to themselves what God never promised them and promise not to themselves what hee hath promised them God never perswaded men to bee Christians by constant health by long life by applause and honour but hee hath told us of a providence about us that shall make all things work for good Wormwood wee may drink but it shall turn to health that wee shall not dye or that wee shall not dye at thirty as well as at threescore God hath not spoke one syllable but hee hath told us of a great glory hereafter and that our labour shall not bee in vain in the Lord. If ever a good man might have hoped for exemption from such sore calamities sure Job might then when they fell upon him Immensi praeconii est bonum eriam inter malos extitisse Gregor Mag. though hee lived not among the Jews but in the land of Uz yet hee was perfect and upright hee feared God and esehewed evill The Sun-shine of outward plenty put not out the fire of his devotion hee did but fear that his sons might sin It may bee that my sons have sinned vers 5. and hee must send for them and sanctifie them and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all Did not ' Job hope for a happy life from hence Yes When I looked for good Job 30.26 then evill came unto mee and when I waited for light then came darkness Was hee not one that acted the part of a good Magistrate Yes Hee was eyes to the blinde and feet to the lame hee was a father to the poor Job 29. and the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him But the conclusion which hee made did not follow from the premises Job 29.18 Then I said I shall dye in my nest and I shall multiply my dayes as the sand Long life and peace were things presumed but you will finde it a sad mistake if you peruse the next Chapter vers 15. Tâ—rrâ—urs are turned upon mee vers 23. Job Chap. 30. I know that thou wilt bring mee to death and to the house appointed for all living His
harp was turned to mourning and his organ into the voyce of them that weep In the time of our Saviours greatest joy Luke 9.28 29 30 31. when the fashion of his countenance was altered and his rayment was white and glistering and Moses and Elias appeared in glory they spake to him of his decease I could wish all persons of worth and excellency in their mutual converse in their contribution of assistance for the promoting of the most pious interests would sometimes entertain one another with a discourse about their decease for that would pluck up the weeds of vain hopes and fond imaginations which are apt to grow in the hearts of good men And though some men whose thoughts are so immersed in secular and worldly affairs that they are scarce at leasure to consider whether their strength bee the strength of brass or clay Though they bee guilty of this mistake whose lives meet with few hours of pain and their little sadness is but like vinegar put into sweet sauce makes it taste better or like a harsh note in musick that goes before a sweet one forcing the ear to bee more covetous and making the harmony more grateful yet it is wonderfully strange that they who by long study and serious thoughts have macerated their bodies and made them sickly who are like a flower exposed to the violence of the North wind and have no shelter that such as these should forget their death seems to bee incredible Did not sad experience tell it was too true I would not bee as the Screech-owl a messenger of death to any one much less to my beloved brethren in the Ministry I would gladly bee as the Crow on the Capitol who when shee could not say It is well said It shall bee well I cannot say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is well with us when Mr. Vines Mr. Frost Mr. Bright Sueton. Domit. are carried to their graves I would say It shall bee well and the next year shall produce no such sad spectacies But neither my Text nor the occasion of this solemn Assembly make mee able to promise it In the former you finde a Prophet that never had one like him till the Son of God appeared dead before you By the latter you may bee informed that a holy man may have his Autumu even in his Spring and his leaves may drop asunder before hee bee well ripe When the Sons of the Prophets came forth to Elisha they said to him Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy Master from thy head to day hee answered Yes I know it hold you your peace 2 King 2.3 If I should tell you that your Saviour is dead I might say Know you that your Master lay in the grave and the servant must not bee better than his Lord. But now I say Know you that God hath taken away from you your fellow-servant I presume you will answer mee Wee know it hold you your peace Yet I am ready to urge that Question thrice as the Sons of the Prophets did for I am sure that which you know quickly you may forget hastily It is not hasty showers but soft snow that soaks deep whilst the former runs off as fast as it comes the latter gently creeps in at every chink of ground Let mee humbly therefore beseech you to think again and again to look wishly upon the Text and upon the Grave of that usefull friend whom God hath now taken from us And then I question not but you will bee prepared for the second thing which the Text recommends to your practice Corol. 2. Then it is good reason you should do your work as fast and as well as you can It is good reason 1 Because you are servants 2 Because you are dying servants 1 Consider you are servants If you bee asked Why stand you idle and go not down into Gods Vineyard you cannot answer God hath not called us Shall servants loyter It was Moses commendation that as a servant hee was faithfull in all Gods house Let it bee yours Suffer mee to propound a few Queries Let all your consciences answer them Query 1. Is it not your Justice Is not your service a debt Ought you not to discharge it Have you a right to your selves Did you make and redeem or do you now preserve your selves Hath God no way ingaged you Did God give you your parts and talents to bee laid up in napkins or doth hee expect his own with due improveâ—â—ent or were not your gifts given you for others sake as the mothers breast for the childes advantage Mr. Gurnals Christian Armour Part. 1. p. 333. A most accurate Preacher hath said truly If the Minister labour not to increase his stock hee is the worst Theef in the Parish It is wicked for a man trusted with the improving of Orphans estates to let them lye dead by him much more for a Minister not to improve his gifts which I may call the Town stock given for the good of the souls of both rich and poor Or have you a minde it shall bee said at your death There is gone the unjust servant that called God Master but served the Devil Quer. 2. Is not faithful service the expression of your ingenuity Are you not beholden to God Do not mercies make thee resolve to present thy self to him Rom. 12.1 which is thy reasonable service Can you forget how passionately the bleeding Saviour said If thou lovest mee feed my sheep Lovest thou mee feed my lambs Have divers lusts and pleasures which you have served too long Tit. 3.3 Done you greater favours than God Quer. 3. Is it not your security The Coward that runs away in this service shall certainly bee killed If Jonah will go to Tarsus a storm must follow him and overtake him Do wee provoke God to jealousie 1 Cor. 10. â—â— are wee stranger than hee Oh remember often those dreadful words of our Saviours Take the unprofitable servant and câ—st him it to everlasting burning The servant that had work to do and began to drink and bee drunken His Lord will come in a day when hee looketh not for him and will cut him in sunder Luke 12.46 Mâ—s crat dominorum nomen servis in fronte scribere Ariâ—ophanâ—â— Babylonios sâ—rvos cum fronte inscriptâ introduxit in Scenam Grot. in loc and will appoint him his portion with the unbeleevers None were safe when the earth was hurt Rev. 7.3 but the servants of God who were sealed in their fore-heads Do you think you shall alwaies live at Gods table to delight in the Devils drudgery No at length you must have their portion too Depart yee cursed I know you not Wee may flatter and deceive men but wee cannot that God who will not bee mocked who tells us That hee will require the blood of others at our hands Quer. 4. Doth not your compassion to others force it You that are Gods Stewards have this for