Imprimatur Novemb. 28. 1692. Carolus Alston A SERMON PREACHED At the Funeral OF THOMAS SHADWELL Esq LATE Poet-Laureat and Historiographer-Royaâ— who was Interred at Chelsea November 24. 1692. By Nicholas Brady Minister of St. Catharine Cree-Church and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Ormond Published at the Earnest Request of the Friends of the Deceased LONDON Printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul ' Church-Yard MDCXCIII Mr. BRADY's SERMON PREACHED At the Funeral OF THOMAS SHADWELL Esquire REV. XIV and part of Verse 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. The whole Verse runs thus 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 labour and their Works do follow them IS Death then a Blessing Is that King of Terrours an Object of Desire Is the common Aversion of human Nature a thing fit to be courted and embraced Can the first Curse of God upon Sin and Disobedience become a just Matter of Interest and Advantage Is Blessedness the Companion of Rottenness and Corruption And does it dwell so meanly and retiâ—edly How much mistaken then are the Generality of Mankind who seek for it in the noisy Tumults of a busie Court amongst a glittering Collection of Gold and Jewels in the divertive Society of the Witty and the Beautiful when it is only to be found within the silent Chambers of the Grave amongst a ruinous Heap of Dust and Ashes with mouldring Bones and putrifying Carcases This is a Paradox so strange and so surprizing so hard to Flesh and Blood so contrary to the Notions which are generally entertained and so seemingly contradictory in its self that it needed no less than a Divine Authority to usher it in and a Celestial Herald to Proclaim and Recommend it And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead But is there no Distinction in the Grave no sort of Difference between the Godly and the Wicked Is Blessedness the common and indifferent Lot of both In vain then do we wish or endeavour to die the Death of the Righteous and to have our latter end like his Death will most certainly arrive and if this Supposition be true Blessedness will as certainly attend it and the foolish Epicure may be justified in his Saying Let us eat and drink for to morrow we die This is an Opinion too loose to be admitted and draws after it a Train of Consequences too fatal to be allowed and therefore we find a necessary Condition specified and annexed by which the Dead must be qualified for Blessedness Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. To die in the Lord is to die in his Fear and in his Favour to die with the Testimony of a good Conscience in relation to ones self and with a well grounded Confidence in respect of God to have the happy Entertainment when he casts his Eyes backwards of a well-spent Life and the comfortable Prospect when he looks forwards of a Blessed Immortality to have those Words continually ringing in his dying Ears of Well done good and faithful servant as a due Character of his Life past and enter thou into the joy of thy Lord as a happy Draught of that which is to come to fall asleep as it were in the Arms of his Redeemer and to be lulled to his long Repose in the Embraces of his Saviour to lay down his Life with a certain Assurance of taking it up again as knowing that it is hid with Christ in God to go out of this World with a firm Persuasion of entring into a better to have a lively Faith within a dying Body and a Hope that flourishes under the Decays of Nature to have an intire Resignation to the Divine Will and to put his Death as well as Life into the Hands of God This is the full and persect meaning of that short but comprehensive Expression To die in the Lord and since we find Blessedness annexed to that Condition it should forcibly engage us to endeavour its Attainment Blested c. In my following Discourse therefore upon this Solemn Occasion I shall insist upon these two Particulars First I shall lay down the proper Method which we ought to make use of in order to attain to the happy Condition of dying in the Lord. Secondly I shall prove the thing affirmed in my Text that Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. First then I shall lay down the proper Method which we ought to make use of in order to attain to the happy Condition of dying in the Lord. 1. To die in the Lord is a thing so valueable in it self and attended with Circumstances so precious and considerable that we cannot suppose its Purchase to be easie but must allow the Price of such a Blessing to bear some Proportion to the Greatness of its Advantages We cannot therefore promise our selves with any manner of security that it shall be the Reward of a few sick Prayers or a Death-bed Repentance they who would be certain of dying in the Lord must stedfastly resolve to live in him and that whole Life is happily laid out by which we are assured of so blessed a Conclusion Some perhaps may flatter themselves that a happy End is not inconsistent with a wicked Life that the Mercy of God will work out their Salvation even in their own despight that they may enjoy the World here and Heaven hereafter that they may live to the Flesh and yet die in the Lord But let us not thus deceive our own Souls God is not thus mocked his Mercy is truly infinite but so are also his Justice and his Truth nor will he so far be swayed by that tho his beloved his darling Attribute as to forfeit or forego the other two there must be some satisfaction made to these before we can enjoy the Refreshings of the former otherwise this God of Mercy will laugh at our Calamities and mock when our Fear comes He who totally applies himself to the Enjoyments of this Life and manages his time as if there were no other can never expect any Comfort or Satisfaction when he is entring upon a State that he so little thought of he is tied and wedded to the things of this World and it is a tearing him from all that he values or esteems to bring him to that Passage which leads into another To such a Man Death comes arrayed with all his Pomp of Terrour if he looks upon that World which he is about to take leave of he finds that he is parting with his dearest Companion the delight of all his Senses and the Comfort of his Soul if he looks upon that World which he is about to go into he has made no Acquaintances there secured no Interests engaged no Friendships to render his future Abode delightful and agreeable if he is so stupid and
inconsiderate as to have no prospect of the Misery that attends him yet at best he sees nothing before him but Darkness and Confusion a Land of Silence where all things are forgotten It is therefore absolutely necessary that we live here as Probationers for Heaven and Happiness if we expect hereafter to be partakers of that Blessedness which is the Portion of those dead who die in the Lord. You have been told already that to die in the Lord is to die in his Fear and in his Favour But how shall he die in the Fear of the Lord whose Days have been consumed in the Contempt of his Commandments Or how shall he die in the Favour of the Lord whose Life has been full of rebellious Provocations He may die indeed under the Terrours of the Lord but not in his Fear or perhaps flatter'd by his own deceitful Heart but not favour'd by the Almighty In deed could we all know our End and the Number of our Days and were every one of us certified how long he has to live it might seem tolerably safe to devote some part of our Life to Sin and Folly reserving at the same time a considerable Portion for the After-Exercises of Piety and Devotion we might then for some years indulge our sinful Appetites and set by so many more for the working out our Salvation But alas we know not how soon Death may seize upon us his Arrest may be sudden surprizing and unlooked for we ought therefore to live in the constant expectation and be conversant perpetually in our Preparations for it Watch ye therefore says our Saviour for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh And what will become of us if our Lord when he comes shall find us sleeping It will then be in vain to ask when he will be no more entreated in vain to seek him when be will not be found in vain to knock when the Gate is shut against us then if we cry never so much Lord Lord open unto us we shall receive no other Answer but a positive Denial Verily I say unto you I know you not Depart from me ye workers of iniquity This Life is the Day wherein we must work the Night of Death is drawing on apace wherein no Man can work and besides the great Danger of being surprized by that how madly does he proceed that squanders away the Morning and the Noon of Life and sets not about his Days work until the Evening How comfortless every night must that Man lie down to his necessary Repose that knows not but he may wake in another World and yet finds himself to be unprepared for it Can any Man be secure of dying in the Lord that takes no care to go to Bed in his Favour and yet cannot tell but he may die before he rises He that would make sure of so blessed a Condition should live every Day as if it were his last be always disintangled from the Cares of this World as if he were then upon taking his leave of it have his thoughts still fixed upon a Blessed Eternity as if he were just launching out into it for our Lord may come in a day when we look not for him and in an hour that we are not aware of and therefore the only sure Way not to be taken unprovided is to be every hour prepared as if that were it It is an easie thing to say I will repent to morrow I will consider my ways and fit my self for my end but are we sure that to-morrow is our own And may not our Case be like the rich Man 's in the Gospel whose Soul was required of him that very night The Disappointment in this Case is so very dreadful being not only the loss of a few hours which we proposed to our selves here but of a joyful Eternity in the World which is to come that it will highly concern every reasonable Man timely to provide against so dismal a Misfortune and this can be done no better a way than by a stedfast Faith and an uniform Obedience 1. Then a stedfast Faith is an excellent Preparative to qualifie us at all times for dying in the Lord. Faith says the Apostle is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen by this we depend upon the Promises of God and settle to our selves a firm assurance of them this discloses to us the Secrets of the invisible World and makes us familiar with that Land of Spirits it sets Heaven and Happiness before our Eyes it lifts up the Heads of those eternal Gates and sets wide open the everlasting Doors it gives us a Relish and Antepast of that Glory which shall one day be revealed and makes us taste and see how good the Lord is By this Stephen saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing on the Right Hand of the Almighty by this St. Paul was rap'd into the third Heaven and heard and saw such things as were unspeakable through this he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ this made all the Sufferings of Martyrs and Confessors easie to them and delightful this supports the Faithful in the Agonies of Death and makes up in a very great measure the Blessedness of those dead which die in the Lord. But 2. An uniform Obedience is an excellent Preparative to qualifie us at all times for dying in the Lord. This secures to us those precious Advantages which Faith but reveals and entitles us to the Treasures which that only discloses this fits us for the Enjoyment of a Blessed Immortality and applies to us the Promises of eternal Felicity that indeed shews us what Heaven is but this assures us that it is ours that gives us a View of everlasting Happiness this puts us actually in possession of it For Christianity my Brethren is not a bare Speculation it is defined to be a Practical Science and the main intent of it is to regulate our Actions It is true indeed in order to that it must inform our Understandings but if it operates upon us no farther it only enhances the Heinousness of our Transgressions by making every offence become a sin against Knowledge And therefore we find the Holy Apostle when he compares together the three great Christian Graces giving the Preference to that which is Practical to the prejudice of the others which are chiefly Contemplative Now remain says he Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity He then who is always conversant in the Duties of his Profession always employed in the Exercises of Devotion and keeps a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man he is the Man who let Death come when it will is never found dejected or unprovided Blessed is that wise and faithful servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing he takes the surest and most infallible way to secure to himself whenever he shall die the
Blessedness of those dead which die in the Lord. 2. And this leads me to the Consideration of my second General namely to prove the thing affirmed in my Text that Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Death is to be considered under a double Notion either as it is a Passage out of this World or as it is an Entrance into another and under each of them it appears to the unwary Examiner a matter of Terrour and of Trouble To leave all the engaging Entertainments all the agreeable Societies and Diversions to which we have been accustomed and familiar from our Cradles and to pass into a place that we never yet frequented to go into a Land that we never before travelled and to enter upon a condition that we never yet experienced these Reflections I say to such as only dwell upon superficial Appearances and never pry into the Bottom of Affairs are strangely frightful and discouraging but if we will give our selves the useful Labour of considering Matters more strictly and deliberately we shall find that let us take it which way we will to such as die in the Lord death is a Blessing First Then let us consider Death as a Passage out of this World and in relation to that Notion of Death we shall find That blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. A considerable Instance of their Blessedness or that wherein as to this particular it especially consists is assigned by the Holy Ghost in the Words immediately consequent to my Text 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 For the Life of a good Christian is a Life of Labour he is born to it as the Sparks fly upwards he is every where beset with Difficulties and with many Enemies must he encounter the World hates him because he is not of it God often tries him with Temptations and Afflictions and his Conscience is always keeping him to his Task of working out his salvation with fear and trembling he is obliged to be constantly upon the Watch to bear the Shocks of Satan and the Contradictions of Sinners so that if in this life only he had hopes he were of all men the most miserable But how joyfully does he welcome the Approaches of his End by which he shall be freed from the forementioned Troubles Death appears to him as pleasing and desirable as Health after a dangerous and troublesome Distemper as Rest after a toilsome and laborious Journey as Sleep after a tedious and uneasie Watching as the Port after a stormy and tempestuous Voyage He had no such intimate Engagements with the World as may render it unsupportable to part with it he has nothing of Earth to hang heavy upon his Soul to clog its flight or weigh it downwards to this dull Centre of Corruption it is long since that the World and he took leave of one another he has a long time been dead to that having mortified his Members which were upon the Earth he can have no Regret for parting with that of which he never entertain'd any tolerable good Opinion all whose Advantages he has found to be but Vanity and all its Entertainments Vexation of Spirit Nay further he reflects upon what he is to leave with Comfort and Satisfaction he parts with nothing but an inveterate Enemy who has all his life long been endeavouring to destroy him has still put stumbling Blocks in his Way to Heaven and Happiness and been misleading him from the Paths of everlasting Felicity Those few good Men which he leaves behind and to whom his Soul is chiefly linked on this side Heaven 〈◊〉 hopes to see again with ineffable Delight and is but going as a Harbinger to prepare then Way No Ties of Nature or of Blood can biass him since they are all swallowed up in the Love of his Creator and in the near expectation of the Fruition of him Thus the World and the Flesh hang loose about him his active Soul is just upon the Wing and he parts from hence as an industrious Traveller from a sorry Inn where the ill Accommodation made his Stay uneasie and the opportunity of leaving it welcom and agreeable Blessed therefore are the dead which die in the Lord if we look upon Death as a Passage out of this World for they rest from their labors But since the Word which is here render'd to rest does more properly signifie to ease or to refresh and consequently this Resting does not mean a bare and unactive Cessation from Labour but a State of perfect Complacency and Satisfaction I therefore proceed to consider Death Secondly As the entrance into another World and in relation to that Notion of Death we shall find that Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. A considerable Instance of their Blessedness or that wherein as to this particular it especially consists is given us by the same Holy Spirit in the last Words of this Verse whereof my Text is part 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 According to the Works which we have done in the Body so shall we be dealt with in the World which is to come then shall we receive a suitable Retribution according to our Actions whether good or evil The Judge of all the Earth will then do Right and be justified in all his Doings and his Sayings Indeed the ordinary Dispensations of Providence are here so unaccountable that they scarcely suffice to justifie the Ways of God to Man common Blessings are dispensed indifferently and his Sun shines upon the Just and the Vnjust nay sometimes and generally the Ungodly prosper and the Men that work Rightcousness are miserable and oppressed But in that World which is to come eternal Happiness will be entail'd upon the Righteous and everlasting Tribulation shall be the Portion of the Wicked Then shall God's Justice appear to act regularly and either stop the Mouths of all Gainsayers or open them to confess That verily there is a reward for the righteous Doubtless there is a God that judgeth the Earth Certainly all the Blandishments and Flatteries of this World can have nothing so delightful in them nothing that can so truly affect a rational Soul as the Prospect of those Joys which are laid up for them which die in the Lord and the Sound of those Words ringing in their dying Ears Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Then shall their Saviour enumerate their good Actions and set before their Eyes those works which follow them laying them down as the Reasons of their blessed Entertainment For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye
gave me drink I was naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and in prison and ye visited me How pleasing and agreeable must the Surprize then be when they find every Instance of Charity and Compassion which they formerly extended to their distressed Brethren accepted and rewarded as fully and effectually as if it had been performed to Christ himself Verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done it to the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Then every Action of Piety and Devotion every Advancement in Godliness and Holiness every Christian Combat and Struggling with Temptations every single Act of Faith and Resignation shall have its due Commendation and particular Regard How delightful and ravishing will the Prospect be when all their Virtues shall be thus ranked in order and attend them jointly to the Throne of Grace and there present themselves in their Favour and Behalf as so many Offerings of a sweet smelling savour Then shall their Redeemer know his own by these their Fruits and confess them before his Father which is in Heaven and they shall see face to face the Holiest of Holies in whose presence is fullness of joy The Scene is so glorious and so transcendently inviting that it needs no â—oil no Painter's Art of Shades and darker Colours to give these brighter ones more Splendor and Vivacity and therefore it needs not to be set off by comparing it with the miserable condition of such unhappy Wretches whose Works are said to go before them unto Judgment Sense cannot reach the Beauty of it nor Imagination figure any Resemblance to it for eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the heart of man to conceive the things which God has prepared for them that love him Blessed therefore are the dead which die in the Lord if we look upon Death as the Entrance into another World For their Works do follow them Into this happy State and Condition I hope our deceased Brother is already enter'd with whom my Acquaintance was so intimate during my short Familiarity with him that it qualified me to know him as well as those who had conversed with him much longer and I cannot but do his Memory that Justice to declare that during the time of my Acquaintance with him I found in him a most zealous Affection to the present Government a great deal of Honesty and Integrity a real Love of Truth and Sincerity an inviolable Fidelity and Strictness to his Word an unalterable Friendship wheresoever he professed it and however the World may be mistaken in him a much deeper Sense of Religion than many others have who pretend to it more openly His natural and acquired Abilities made him sufficiently remarkable to all that he conversed with and cannot be unknown to any here present very few being equal to him in all the becoming Qualities and Accomplishments which adorn and set off a complete Gentleman His very Enemies if he have left any behind him will give him this Character at least if they knew him so throughly as I did and therefore it is but cold Justice in a Friend who received from him during his Life all the Marks of a true Affection which shall make his Memory dear to me when he is nothing else but Dust and Ashes His Doath seized him suddenly but could not unprepared since to my own certain knowledge he never took his Dose of Opium but he solemnly recommended himself to God by Prayer as if he were then about to resign up his Soul into the Hands of his faithful Creator These Considerations give me good Grounds to hope that this dead man is blessed because from thence I have reason to believe that he died in the Lord. I should enlarge farther upon his Character but that he always in his life time disapproved of that Custom upon these Occasions and most especially in relation to himself nor should I thus far have infringed his Will in this particular but that I was willing to inform the World how much some People have erred in their Opinion of him Let us then in the Name God so manage our selves during the Course of this Life that we may be qualified for the Enjoyment of a better that when we shall go hence and be no more seen we may rest from our labours not enter upon greater Miseries and that our works which shall follow us may recommend and not impeach us that so we may have a just Title to that Blessedness which is the portion of those dead which die in the Lord. To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us all through the Merits and Mediation of our Blessed Saviour to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all Honour Power Might Majesty and Dominion henceforth and for evermore Amen FINIS Books newly Printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard THE Design of the Book of Ecclesiastes or the Unreasonableness of Mens Restless Contentions for the present Enjoyments Whereunto is added a Paraphrase with some Notes on part of the Book of Ecclesiastes In Octavo Directions to a Holy Life In Three Parts I. The Benefit of being truly Religious II. The Necessity of Good Works III. The Exercise of the Love of God By a Divine of the Church of England In Octavo A Guide to Eternity Extracted out of the Writings of the Holy Fathers and Ancient Philosophers Written originally in Latin by John Bona and now Done into English by Sir Roger L' Estrange The Third Edition In Twelves An Earnest Invitation to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper By Joseph Glanvill late Rector of Bath and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty