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A65350 A sermon preach'd at the funeral of Mrs. Abigail Costivell, widow, in the Church of Little Brandon in Norfolk by Jessop Webb ... Webb, Jessop, 1647 or 8-1711. 1695 (1695) Wing W1200; ESTC R13540 7,932 16

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A SERMON Preach'd at the FUNERAL OF Mrs. ABIGAIL COSTIVELL Widow In the Church of Little Brandon in Norfolk By JESSOP WEBB M. A. Rector of the same Church Printed as directed in her Will. LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCV A SERMON preach'd at the Funeral of Mrs. ABIGAIL COSTIVELL Widow REVEL xiv 13. And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them IN this Chapter we have the Lamb come to the Destruction of Babylon who is described by his Company and Attendance and the Success of his Advent which is either the Ruine of the Enemy ver 10 11. or the Happiness of his Friends as in ver 13. In the Text we have a Promise of Consolation wherein I shall observe 1st The Promiser God set out by his Nature He is said to be a Spirit 2dly The Recorder John who is set forth by his Effect I heard a Voice from Heaven 3dly The Thing promised Blessed are the Dead With two Reasons why they are so 1. Because they rest from their Labours 2. Their Works follow them I shall not have time sufficient to run over all these therefore omitting them I shall fix my Discourse as this present Occasion requires Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord. In which we have this Observation That it is a blessed thing to die in the Lord. Now to die in the Lord is to die in the Faith and Fear in the Favour and Love of Christ It is opposed here to Backsliders who begin well but end ill who begin in the Spirit but end in the Flesh As if he should say it is a good thing to begin well but better to end so It is well that we have made a Profession but better that ye hold it out to the end He is not blessed that begins in the Lord but blessed is he that dies in the Lord. In Eccles 7.1 Solomon saith that the Day of ones Death is better than the Day of ones Birth which I know not know to make good unless we understand it either of the Flesh which thinketh Death to be the end of all Evils or else that this corporal Death is the entring into Life everlasting This must be understood of the Children of God for the Death of wicked Men is worse than the Day of Birth It were happy for them if they should never die as it had been for Judas if he had never been born Some Antiquaries have given some Reasons why the Day of ones Death is better than the Day of ones Birth 1. Because the Day of his Birth is the beginning of his Miseries but the Day of his Death is the End thereof A Man is born to suffer as Sparks fly upward saith Job but when he dies his Miseries end for then should I have lien still and been at Rest Job 3.13 The Grave is the Receptacle of those Souls to keep them from the Oppressor and Avenger it secures them from the Blows and Stripes of the Persecutors they sleep quietly from the Noise of Slander or Scandal When they once lie in the Dust their Bodies are freed from Sickness and Diseases Hunger and Thirst dwell not there neither is there any fear of any malignant Humour to make it look pale and wann only that Corruption that Mortality gave it and Putrefaction which nothing escapes There the Righteous rest from their Labours 2. Because in the Day of our Birth we are born in Sin and brought forth in Iniquity That Original Filth that was moulded up in the Clay of our first Father sticks close to our Bones and renders us as miserable as that can make us But in the Day of our Death we die in the Lord our Sins and our selves then shake Hands and bid an eternal Farewel to one another The Gave saith to our Sins as God to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come and no further It is the blessed Dying in the Lord that makes that Day better it is their departing in Peace dying with a good Conscience in the Fear Faith and Favour of God that renders that Day happy whereas the Day of the Death of the Wicked is more bitter than the Day of their Birth For I may say of the Wicked whom the Son never kissed that when they die they go to the Damned That Day is the Beginning of Evil for as Christ said to the penitent Thief This Day thou shalt be with me in Paradise So he may say to the Wicked This Day shall ye be with the Devils in Hell As the Righteous die to live for ever so the Wicked die to die eternally From this Day of Death of thine infinite Mercy good Lord deliver us Blessed are they that die Why then so is Judas and Caiaphas Herod and Pontius Pilate blessed Why then it is no matter how we live if Blessedness will crown our Death No cursed are all those that die if they die not in the Lord. It is the dying in the Lord that makes our Death blessed Which Blessedness is nothing else but an Accumulation of many good things together which concur in the Death of the Godly First It renders his Death sure and safe Secondly Sweet and comfortable Thirdly Good and honourable Fourthly Advantagious and beneficial First Sure Whereas the Death of the Wicked is uncertain they are to seek when they die as for Example it is said of Nero that wicked Tyrant when he died Whither wilt thou go my Soul or what will become of thee I know not But the Souls of the Righteous when they die are committed into God's Hands Into thy Hands I commend my Spirit faith Christ The Viper nor the Adder shall not hurt them If God takes our Souls into his Custody and Charge they are safe and sure Secondly The Death of them that die in the Lord is sweet and comfortable Death at worst is but a grim Servant a lean pale-fac'd Messenger to let the Child of God into his Father's House or like the Breathing of a tumified Sore there may be a little Smart but there follows a great deal of Ease So the Death of the Godly may be full of Agonies and Grief full of Dolours and Tortures but there follows as much Ease and Tranquillity as before was Grief and Misery 1. It is called as Sleep for the great Refreshment it brings them for as Sleep was ordained to cherish the Bodies after their Labours so was Death to deliver the Righteous out of Troubles In the 7th Chapter of the Acts we read St. Stephen in the Shower of Stones fell asleep which was strange he should rest so quietly with the Noise of Stones about his Ears Although sometimes they die in great Agonies yet they die sweetly that die in the Lord. 2. It is called a Departure in Peace Luke 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace