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
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
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
for such to enter through the greatest Adversity here into future Joy Our Saviour seems indeed once to have given his Disciples Mark 10. 30. a Promise of Temporal Felicity that those Houses and Lands which were lost for the sake of him and the Gospel should be made up again by an extraordinary Providence But if the things mention'd have not as it is thought by some a Spiritual meaning the Promise however was attended with a bitter exception it should be fulfilled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a reserve of Trouble with a certain mixture or alloy of Persecutions As for this present Life if Happiness is to be measur'd by the outward appearance the followers of Jesus are ordinarily the greatest Wretches in the World for so the Apostle in effect tells us If says he in this life only we have hope in 1 Cor. 15. 19. Christ we are of all men most miserable Besides those troubles which as we have seen are natural to Mankind there are other labours and sorrows belonging to them that follow a Leader who conquer'd through Sufferings Even the gracious expressions of his peculiar Love to them do as it were mark them out for a large portion of trouble and he so engageth his Servants to difficulties as if he this way design'd to approve Invenitur cui corona debetur non invenitur qui idoneus certamini non probatur S. Ambros Expos in Ps 118 Serm. 18. their fitness for the Crown he promiseth This will sufficiently appear from the view of some few of those particular evils which are the Portion of Christians and from the Bondage of which Death is the only rescue 1. Death is the thing which delivers the Christian from the burthen of his natural Corruption utterly puts an end to that which keeps him now almost perpetually restless and uneasie The sense of much pollution of a constant deficiency which hath frequently too betray'd him into grosser sins perplexeth the penitent and humble Soul and fills him often with terrors and remorse till at length Death brings him an happy quiet dissolves his substance and throughly purgeth out the inherent dross gives his Soul the purity of an Angelical Nature and prepares a corruptible Body to be rais'd hereafter in incorruption Indeed pollution belongs to wicked Men in a degree vastly higher However they have commonly little sense of this misery A kind of Lethargy renders them stupid under a weight which is sinking them down into destruction whilst the Servant of God perceives the pressure of much less guilt and bitterly complains of it His impurity and transgressions are the things which cost him so many Sighs and Tears these employ him in much Grief and Lamentation There is no rest in my bones because of my sin Mine Psal 38. 3 4. iniquities are gone over my head as a heavy burthen they are too heavy for me says the Psalmist in his Repentance And as the Prophet represents the condition of an humbled People he cries out saying Wo◠unto us that we have sinned for Lam. 5. 16 17. this our heart is faint for these things our eyes are dim 2. Death is that which rescues the Christian from the constant importunity of temptations 'T is as St. Cyprian calls it his Peace his only De Mortalit p. 157. Peace and Tranquillity his sure and firm and perpetual Security Here we are as a City continually besieged expos'd every Minute to the Battery and Assaults of Enemies yea there is treachery also within the Walls we are liable still to the suddain Violences of untractable Passions and Lusts and the wickedness of a deceitful Heart No wonder therefore that so many of the Gospel-Precepts are deliver'd to us as to Soldiers and Combatants by which we are commanded to all the difficulties of a Militant state to stand fast to watch to strive to fight to put on the whole Armour of God and use it with all the Skill and Courage we are able O the sweetness of Peace after the hurry and uncertainties and fatigue of War after the hunger and thirst and cold the hazards and sometimes wounds of such a state for many Years O wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me said St. Paul under the sense as some think of such difficulties as these The question imply'd the greatness of the Bondage and the proper answer to it seems to be this one word Death 3. Death is what delivers from the spitefulness of this present World from the opposition it maintains to Innocence and Holiness The Apostle recommending to the converted Jews the Example of our Lord presents him under the following Character A sufferer of the contradiction Heb. 12. 3. of sinners a Person set out as the common mark of Contempt and Obloquy And the Lot of the master belongs to the Disciples for so h◠himself expresly told them If ye were of th◠world the world would love his own but because John 15. 19. ye are not of the world therefore the world hateth you Most of the ancient Apologists for Christianity observe that tho' the Religion they defended was of the meekest most friendly and obedient Temper fitted beyond all things that ever were for the Peace and Advantage of Mankind ye◠it was the thing which the World was most enrag'd against and pursued with the greatest Cruelty All other People said one of them to the Athenagor Legat. pro Christianis p. 2. Emperours Antoninus and Commodus enjoy and admire your Clemency and Lenity but we Christians are those alone whom you are pleas'd to cast out of Protection and expose to Sufferings And tho' a miraculous Providence over the Church put an end at length to the Heathen Persecutions of it yet all its sufferings of this kind will not be concluded whilst any of the Members of it are on this side the Grave the World still declares its malice against the followers of the Lamb true Religion being often treated with scorn and gain-saying and sometimes worse usage by the Heretical and Hypocritical by the Atheists and Profane And then 4. Death is that which delivers from the malice of the Devil secures for ever from that envious Spirit which if he despairs of the final overthrow of the Righteous yet will not fail at least to be active in contriving their present misery Nothing is so grievous to him as the Ease and Tranquillity of Mankind and therefore when he is held from making a prey he will yet run to the very end of the Chain to Plague and Torment If thou come to serve the Lord said the Son of Sirach prepare thy soul for temptation temptation Eccl. 2. 1. seems to signifie there as it does sometimes in Scripture a trial by Afflictions and such a one as this he that comes unto God must expect from the Enemy of Mankind so far forth as the execution of his Malice is not restrain'd by the Hand of Omnipotence The most High for