Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A30729
|
A sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. James Lordel who was buried at St. Magnus Church March 27, 1694 by Lilly Butler.
|
Butler, Charles, d. 1647.
|
1694
(1694)
|
Wing B6279; ESTC R30263
|
10,864
|
31
|
common fruit or punishment of it So that were it possible to make their hearts as visible as their vices we should soon see what little reason there is to call the proud happy or to disbelieve the testimony of the Prophet That there is no peace to the wicked As for Good and Righteous men it cannot be imagined that they should be acquainted with rest and happiness where they are strangers and pilgrims at so great a distance from their Father's house and the inheritance prepared and reserved for them They are not of the world and therefore the world hateth them and is ready to say and do all manner of evil against them They are not perfectly free from Sin which is it self a heavy burthen to them and moveth their Heavenly Father to correct them They carry a body of flesh about them which lusteth and warreth against the Spirit They have an Adversary the Devil that continually assaults them And amidst all these disturbances who can be happy Most certain then is it that here is not our rest that amongst the Living Blessedness cannot be found but as we are taught in the Text it is the Portion of the Dead Blessed are the Dead And were this true of all that are so it were a comfortable doctrine indeed and Death would deserve some mild and gentle name instead of that frightfull character The King of Terrors But it is not every one that dies but only those that die in the Lord that are made Partakers of this happiness Which brings me to the other part of their character Who are Blessed and Happy men Secondly They are those Which die in the Lord. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. In speaking to this I shall shew First Who they are that die in the Lord and Secondly That these only are Blessed First Who they are which die in the Lord. Some instead of in the Lord read for the Lord taking the Blessedness of the Text to be pronounced of those that in the times of persecution lost their Lives for the sake of their Lord and Master Jesus Christ But I rather think the words are to be taken in a larger sense as signifying those which St. Paul calleth The dead in Christ 1 Thess 4.16 all those that die in the Fear of God and in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ Those that are faithfull unto death and keep the works of God unto the end or as they are described in the Verse before the Text They that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus They that do this and notwithstanding all the opposition they meet with persevere in doing thus unto the end These and which is the next thing I am to shew Secondly These only being Dead are Blessed The wicked is driven away in his wickedness saith Solomon but the righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14.32 When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth Whilst they live they may and often do flatter themselves with hopes of Happiness hereafter but Death makes a lamentable discovery of the vanity and deceit of all such presumptuous expectations The Son of God himself hath told us that If we will enter into life we must keep the commandments Matt. 19.17 that the Blessed are those that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city Rev. 22.14 The promises of eternal life glory honour and immortality belong only to them who by patient continuance in well doing are made meet to be partakers of them But to those that obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness God will render saith S. Paul indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil Rom. 2.7 8 9. Indeed if we do but seriously consider the refined and spiritual nature of true Happiness we should certainly think it a most absurd thing to imagin that those who die in their wickedness should be made Partakers of it Can you think that God will doe himself that which he hath forbidden us that he will cast pearls before swine or that he will throw his childrens meat unto dogs that he will prostitute the divine and spiritual Blessings of the world to come to those that have drowned their souls in the bruitish pleasures of flesh and sense But if we could suppose that God who is of purer eyes than to behold evil that cannot look upon iniquity should be willing to receive the obstinate workers of it to dwell for ever in his presence yet even there they would not be happy For there are many Sins which in their own nature include trouble as envy wrath malice covetousness excess with many others But they are all contrary to the pure and holy nature of God to his Image which is the Glory and Happiness of the Saints in Heaven and wheresoever they are they are always attended with a darkness of the Understanding a perverseness of the Will a disorder and depravation of the Soul And is it possible a man should be happy and at the same time incumbred with these the worst of evils such as corrupt and distemper the Soul the better part of Man and are most opposite to the greatest good to God the only enjoyment that can make us happy If then as the Tree falls so it lies If we must go into the other World in the same state we leave this and those that die unjust and filthy must be unjust and filthy still it is impossible that they should be happy who instead of being faithfull and obedient continue wicked unto death unless we can reconcile torment and bliss sin and holiness the image of the Devil and the image of God But on the other side Lift up your heads O ye Righteous and be not dismay'd at the thoughts of Death For as that approacheth so your redemption draweth nigh In your Father's house there are many mansions and the Blessed Jesus is gone before to prepare a place for you and yet a little while and he will come again and receive you unto himself that where he is there ye may be also In the mean time he hath not left you comfortless for he hath given the Holy Spirit to revive the humble and contrite soul to give invincible testimony to the truth of all his promises particularly to that of Blessedness to them that die in the Lord Which brings me to the next thing observed in the Text which is Secondly The certainty of their Blessedness who die in the Lord from the testimony of the Spirit Yea saith the Spirit Wicked men may think it in vain to serve God and count the life of the righteous madness but it were happy for them if they might die the death of the righteous and have their latter end like theirs For when a Good man dies then all his labour and sorrow is at an end and he
to make some seasonable application of the several parts of my Text which I have spoken to Since there is no happiness amongst the Living but only The Dead are Blessed First Let us reflect a little upon our selves and consider whether we live as becomes those that do in earnest believe these things Is there something here below that hath the strongest of your affections and the most vigorous of all your endeavours Is your care greater and your concern more lively for the things of this life than for the Blessedness of those that are Dead in Christ Are Riches or Honour or Pleasure the most frequent and delightfull matter of your desires and thoughts If these things are so you have certainly made a weak a miserable choice You have taken up your rest here and espoused that for your best beloved and most desired happiness which hath nothing to do which hath no being in the state of true Felicity If there be any here that find themselves guilty of this extreme and dangerous folly let me exhort you Secondly To make a better and a wiser choice Seeing there is no happiness but amongst the Dead see that ye live like men that are thus perswaded Tear the world out of your hearts and moderate your labour for the meat that perisheth Let your hearts be more in heaven and your desires and endeavours most earnest for the Blessedness of such as die in the Lord. If this be not our Rest let us labour for that Rest which remains Let us live as becomes those that profess themselves but strangers and pilgrims upon earth to be seeking after and travelling towards another a better an heavenly Country Alas What is there in this world that is worthy to be compared with that glory which shall be revealed and enjoyed in the other Do but look before you and there ye may see what a few years hence will be the condition of us all And when that day is come how little will all the pleasures riches and preferments of the world profit us In what then doth the Greatest Monarch excell the Poorest Beggar but in a little Funeral Pomp he is nothing sensible of a greater croud of Witnesses and a more lasting Monument of his return to Dust Why then should we doat upon and place our happiness in such mean and perishing enjoyments Let us live above the world whilst we are in it and contemn the petty and ignoble designs of the Children of it who expect a portion in this life only Let us lay our designs for Heaven and Eternity for that perfect Rest and that inestimable Reward which is above that so when the time of our dissolution is come it may be said of us They are Dead and They are Blessed Thirdly Seeing those only that die in the Lord are blessed let none of us flatter our selves with hopes of happiness 'till we are prepared to die thus There are few Persons we meet and discourse with but will profess some hopes of being happy hereafter and I would to God we had all ground for the most comfortable and confident expectations of this kind But if there be any amongst you that live after the flesh and fulfill the lusts of it that allow your selves in the practice of any known deliberate sin Ye are not prepared to die the death of the righteous or to have your latter end like theirs I say no more than what St. Paul tells us he had often declared Gal. 5.19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness Idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies Envyings murders drunkenness revellings and such-like of which I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God Fourthly The consideration of the Blessedness of those that die in the Lord their Rest and their Reward should moderate our grief for the loss of those Friends of whom we have good reason to believe that they thus die Such was this our Deceased Brother He was one that discovered an early disposition to piety and religion and remembred his Creator in the days of his youth He very much delighted in reading of the Best Books in a modest discoursing and recommending of them whereby he greatly improved himself and incouraged others He abhorred the common Vices of the Prophane Sparks of this age and could not be perswaded that the chief accomplishments of Men were to be learnt from Beasts or Devils He was not in another extreme morose or sow'r but exceeding affable and courteous winning and obliging chearfull and pleasant in his conversation as in obedience to and for the credit of his Religion a good man should be I believe he hardly ever provoked any man or under-went the censure of having done an evil or disobliging thing He was beloved and well spoken of by all that knew him He was a sincere and hearty Friend a zealous promoter of peace and unity amongst all his acquaintance an ingenious Advocate for any that were censured or accused of such a meek and quiet spirit as is of great price in the sight both of God and of Man In a word Whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report his life was richly furnished and adorned with It pleased God towards the latter end of his life to afflict him with very grievous pains which gave him an opportunity of manifesting a most exemplary patience and submission to the will of God and his improvement in the virtues of an afflicted state also I have not said these things to inform you who were most of you acquainted with them before from your own experience and observation but rather to bring them to our remembrance for the provoking our imitation abating our sorrow and incouraging our hopes of his happy state The manner of his death was very becoming such a life so quiet and composed so easy and comfortable that I believe all of us who were present at it could not but wish that we might so die as he died and that our latter end might be like his He is Dead and we may confidently hope he is Blessed too that to use his own words when he saw the time of his departure was at hand his soul hath taken wings is fled away and is at rest Lastly Let the consideration of the Blessedness of those which die in the Lord incourage and effectually perswade us all to keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus to make it the great concern and business of our lives to behave our selves so that at length we may be Blessed with all those that die in the Lord. Let the time past of our lives suffice to have done the will of the Flesh and let us resolve for the time to come to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Can any thing better deserve your care and labour than that everlasting Reward and Rest which God hath prepared for them that live and die in him Do the Commandments of God seem grievous to you But can you think them so whilst you have respect unto the recompence of the reward Will not Heaven make a sufficient amends for all Will not the Blessedness of the Dead abundantly out-weigh all the difficulties of a holy Life Are you afraid the World should deride and persecute you if you should be true to God and your Conscience and lead a Virtuous and a Christian life But why should this discourage you There is a day coming and it is not far off when if you do but endure and persevere 'till then you shall be exalted above the malice of ungodly men who shall admire your wisdom and envy your happiness for ever Are you loth to forego those sinfull delights you must needs forsake if you would prepare your selves to die in the Lord But is there any comparison betwixt these pleasures of sin which are but for a season and those pure divine and everlasting joys that are above Let us then contemn the frowns and trample upon the most inticing allurements of the Devil and the World and resolve to be stedfast and unmoveable diligent and abounding in the work of the Lord. God doth now call upon you by the motives and arguments of the Text and by this instance of Mortality before you that you would no longer delay the time but make hast to keep his commandments To day then even whilst it is called to day let us hear and obey the voice of God let us not dare to harden our hearts this one day more for who knows what a day may bring forth If you will not know in this your day the things that belong unto your peace your everlasting peace and happiness for ought you know they may henceforth be hid from your eyes for ever Oh! that we were wise that we did consider our latter end and so number our days as effectually to apply our hearts unto that holy and heavenly Wisdom whilst we live here which may in the end bring us to everlasting life to the Blessed Rest and the Glorious Reward of those that live and die in the Lord. Amen FINIS Advertisement NEwly printed the Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New with Annotations and Parallel Scriptures To which is annexed The Harmony of the Gospels As also The Reduction of the Jewish Weights Coins and Measures to our English Standards And a Table of the Promises in Scripture By Samuel Clark Minister of the Gospel Printed in Folio of a fair Letter the like never before in one Volume Printed for Brabazon Aylmer in Cornhill The Four Last Things viz. Death Judgment Heaven and Hell Practically consider'd and apply'd in several Discourses By William Bates D. D. Recommended as proper to be given at Funerals