it than the very shew and appearance Life is a more noble thing than we imagin when considered in its right notion and idea We talk of a vegetative and sensitive Life But if in Philosophy these must needs creep in as distinct species thereof Yet Divinity will refine our thoughts of it a little further For since Life is one of the glorious Attributes of the supreme Being who designs himself oft-times the Living God we must needs conceive somthing high and sublime therein And as God is the fountain of all Life to others so it is only in him that We live So that to speak properly we have no life in our selves our breath being in our nostrils and we depending every moment on God for new supplies thereof Therefore we find it the Property of God only to have Life in him-self yea and such a Property as is only communicable to Christ Joh. 5. 26. For as the Father hath Life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself And therefore this is spoken of with respect to Christ with a special mark of Observation Joh. 1. 4. In him was Life But I shall not run further than the Text for the Ground of my notion of Life For we may plainly perceive by the very Terms of Birth and Death in the words that there is some Life here imported with respect to which as plainly and necessarily presupposed these periodical terms are made use of Now this Life herein presupposed must either be the present Life or that which is to come If it be the present Life then it is apparent that Solomon had very mean and low thoughts of it since he prefers the destruction of it by Death to the commencing it at first by Birth And those very mean thoughts which he hath of it are a plain Indication that it doth not deserve the noble designation of Life as being rather a shadow thereof than the thing it self But if it be the Future Life that is here imported then it presents us with a noble Idea of true Life indeed as inclusive of true Happiness and Felicity and lets us see with what good Reason Death is here preferred to Birth But tho' this last sense gives us the fairest prospect of Life and the most solid ground of the wise Solomons determination of this case yet I think we are to include both these sorts of Life as presupposed clearly in the Text. For as Solomon runs the parallel expresly between Birth and Death So his doing thus doth manifestly presuppose that he had run the parallel also between the Present and Future Life for except the Periods of Birth and Death have respect to these they must be reckoned to stand as Cyphers here without any significancy But tho' it is indubitable that Solomon runs the parallel here between Life Present and Future Yet we are not to imagine that he compares them as being both included in the true notion of Life and so as species under the same Genus but rather as two Opposites so as to consider that which we call the present Life under the notion of a kind of Death or state of Death and so to vendicate the notion of true Life to the future only For as I said before when I explained the terms of Birth and Death that our Birth into this world was rather our Death in Sin and Misery Whereas our death out of this world is more properly our Birth into Happiness and felicity So I say now of the Present and Future Life that the Present Life is rather the state of the dead that we die into when we are born Whereas the Future Life is that only which deserves the name of Life as being that state that we are born into when we come to that period which we call death And tho' this invertion of Terms may seem strange at first to such who are so immersed in sense as not to reflect on things as they are indeed in themselves Yet if once we come to entertain genuine conceptions of time and eternity and what concerns these we will see sufficient reason for such a rectification of vulgar opinions wherein men are oft detain'd contrary to reason it self from a misapplication of meer words Wherefore since I take Life for that which either is proper to God or which derivatively is communicated to subjects capable of it I mean made so by himself it is therefore to be laid down as the basis of our ensuing reflections that Life and Happiness are the same thing tho' the words express this differently to us But it is only the consideration of true Life or Perfection as peculiar to the Saints that I am here to consider Which that it may the more distinctly appear it may not be amiss to run the Parallel a little between the present and future Life as we call them that we may the more easily admit of the Conclusion here in the Text as to the preferableness of the latter to the first Which methinks the Apostle expresses well when he calls the future Life by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Life assigning to the present Life the designation of Mortality only 2 Cor. 5. 4. And in doing this I must first consider what those Qualifications of Life are that denominate it excellent happy and desirable And as to this I shall express my self in words common and known to all that the impressions may be the more clear and cogent And now as to this matter I cannot think of any Conveniency or true Qualification of Life wanting where these seven Things Concur viz. 1. Perfect Health 2. Full enjoyment of all Good 3. Vnmixed and undisturbed Peace and Joy 4. The most pleasant place of abode 5. The most excellent Company 6. An untainted Good Name 7. The perpetual Duration of all these Wherefore let us consider these Qualifications or Properties of Life with respect both to the Present and the Future that we may see whether our Passage by Birth into the one or by death into the other be to be preferred 1. Perfect Health By this we understand perfect rectitude both of Soul and body and all the faculties and powers of them And if so our Inquiry must be where this rare Jewel is to be found without which all our other comforts are insipid and tastless Surely it cant be acquired in this miserable World either as to Mind or Body For as to our Minds how uncultivated are our judgments as to our apprehensions of spiritual things How vain are our thoughts How perverse our wills How irregular our affections How treacherous our memories And how lame and defective are our actions and performances even to the most spiritual duties And as to our Bodies do we not carry about with us the Principles of Diseases and the seeds of death it self And what innumerable pains and maladies are we here subject to every day to most bringing along with it some new exercise or other
indeed an Essential part of man yet it is the less principal part since the Soul can act and live as well out of it as in it And therefore it is from the Original of the Soul that the birth of man is chiefly to be reckoned rather than from the formation of the body Now if accordingly we compute the birth of a Saint we are led to a Threefold Birth which results from the Consideration The 1st is by Creation when the Soul of Man is at first created and placed in the body Which indeed carries along with it the formation of the body also for we can't conceive the body to be formed as to its due perfection with respect to union with the Soul till the moment of the Souls infusion therein if with the Schools I may be admitted to use such a word who tell us of the Soul that creando infunditur insundendo creatur But that the Soul derives its original from Gods immediate creating it and not ex traduce I speak with all deference to learned and worthy Persons of another judgment may seem plain if it were but from that one Scripture Zech. 12. 1. especially if we duely consider its connexion with what precedes I say then that the first birth of man to speak properly is to be reckoned from the union of the Soul and body in the womb which as to priority of time seems to be instantaneously upon the Creation of the Soul rather than from the Egress of the child from thence But since we are most taken with what is most sensible to us I shall not contend about words if the thing be understood Especially seeing the Scripture is so calculated in its Expressions as to use words commonly in use understood by the lowest form of Christians Only howsoever we use words I am confident to say that the Birth of Man may very well be reckoned from the Vnion of Soul and Body in the womb For whatever hath these two constituent parts of man can be assign'd to no other class but that of Mankind The 2. Birth of Man according to the Soul is in Regeneration or Conversion Of which Christ speaking Joh. 3. Calls it the birth of a man from above v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 3. Birth is in Glorification And this admits of a Twofold Period viz. 1. As to the Soul only at Death when it separates from the Body and becomes from that moment perfectly freed from sin and misery and admitted to the enjoyment of true happiness above For the Souls of just persons even then are said to be made perfect Heb. 12. 23. 2. As to Soul and Body when re-united at the Resurrection which is called the Adoption and Redemption of the Body Rom. 8. 23. Now from all this we may arrive to make some tolerable Estimate of that which we commonly call the Birth and Death of a Saint For 1. that which we commonly call Birth is nothing else but mans Egress from the womb and his Ingress into the Society of Mortals here Now what is this but a kind of Death since we being our selves Mortal see and converse only with Mortal Objects as all things external here are Whence it is that all mans time on earth even from the Evening of the Worlds Creation to the Morning of the Resurrection is esteemed but as one Night as is imported Psal 49. 14. When the Resurrection is Emphatically Termed the Morning both with respect to the night of time preceding and the day of eternity about to succeed And hence also our Life on earth is called a Sleep wherein we rather dream of things than really apprehend them and out of which we are first thorowly awaked by Death We may see this plainly hinted Psal 17. 15. Whereas 2. that which we call commonly Death is nothing else but the unpinning our mortal Tabernacles and the manumitting us into the immortal Regions of Light Love and Liberty Of which the great Saints in Scripture speak no otherwise than in the familiar Dialect of putting off a suit of old Apparrel for new and more glorious ones Thus Paul calls it a being unclothed as to the Body and clothed upon by having Mortality swallowed up of Life 2 Cor. 5. 4. And Peter calls it a putting off this his Tabernacle 2 Eph. 1. 14. Again 2 let us consider Death the right notion whereof will become more facile to our apprehensions by what we have said of Life All therefore that I shall say of it is that besides that which we commonly call so there is a Twofold Death in a Spiritual sense which falls under consideration here The 1. is a Death in Sin which is entered into at our Birth into the world For then it is that we come to enter upon the Stage of a sinful world We are shapen in sin and conceived in iniquity And our Birth into the world is rather a kind of Death than Life since we are exposed thereby to sinning and suffering to vanity and vexation of Spirit The 2. is a Death to Sin which is entered upon at the dissolution of the tye between Soul and body upon which account it is called Death But tho' it disunite soul and body for a time yet it may rather be called the Birth of the Soul in as far as it translates it from all manner of sin and misery It is true indeed as was said before Regeneration is a kind of new Birth to the Soul in as far as it delivers us from the death of sin in a great measure Yet since that is but a deliverance in part therefore it is by death only that we come totally to dye to sin Tho' I grant that this death to sin comes to be more illustriously display'd at the great period of the Resurrection When the last enemy Death comes to be Totally destroyed and swallowed up in Victory 1 Cor. 15. 54. So that from hence we may see that our Birth into this world is a Death in Sin whereas our Dissolution or the separation of soul and body is properly a Death to Sin or a manumission and freedom given us both from Sin and misery Wherefore from all that hath been said in the Premises as to both these Terms of Birth and Death we may not injustly invert the notion of them with respect to the Saints and say That the day of our Birth into this world was the day of our Death in sin ignorance vanity and misery Whereas the day of our Death may be justly reputed to be the day of our Birth into the world of purity knowledge light and rest But 2dly I come now to consider what that thing we call Life is which the two Periods of Birth and Death enter us upon and with respect to which we can only pass a right judgement of the preferableness of either of them And truely as to this matter we are very much in the dark taking that to be life which hath little more of
Gods sight they have it may be more right to than many others who can talk better and more as well as there ought to be a just caution in the admitting Persons who may be vitious and scandalous However for my own part I must say that I would in this case be under a great Dread and Fear to reject any poor Soul in whom I think I see tho' in a small degree and as a grain of mustard seed Aliquid Christi any thing of Christs Image For I judge we err more safely on the side of Charity if indeed it be possible so to err than on the side of a precipitant and presumptuous judging of ones state and fitness from Rules of our own prescribing when none can tell me what the least degree of sincerity and grace is which God doth accept and which gives one right to participate of all Ordinances She was a careful and impartial Searcher of the Scriptures which she read with great judgment and observation with the use of the best helps she could have for that end But though she studied to understand every part of Scripture yet she was most conversant in the more spiritual parts thereof She took many a mental walk in the delicious Garden of Davids Psalms and sat oft with great pleasure under the close Arbour of Solomon's song which as she learned over by heart as to the Words in her Childhood so attained in a great measure both to understand and experience in her riper years And together with the Scriptures she read with great pains and judgment many of the most solid and practical English Writers as her Books she hath left behind will witness to such as have them when they see the many Marginal Writings wherewith she hath filled them according as she was edified and affected her self with what she read And tho' her Characters be such as none can well understand yet the consideration of those Truths that she thereby points at will discover both the judiciousness and seriousness of her spirit And I hope these very hints though it may be not distinctly apprehended may be a leading Example of seriousness and piety to her surviving Relatives She was laborious and almost unwearied in Duty especially Fasting and Prayer which last Ordinance seemed to be the very food she lived on and the air she breathed in She hungred and thirsted after God as the hart after the water books and would often pleasantly reflect on an expression of Mr. Rutherfoords to that purpose in his Book of Letters which she greatly delighted in and say I think God feeds me with hunger viz. After the enjoyment of God and manifestations of his Love She was zealously bent to advance Gods Honour and propagate the Gospel which I hope others will imitate her in and used to say For what else hath God given me life and any share of worldly things And upon this account her Temper being naturally timerous she would oft with great earnestness complain of her self That she feared her fears were such as might dishonour God and disparage her Profession in the eyes of such as are without though yet her fears were more visible to her self than any else However this fearful Temper did represent Death to her oft in Melancholly Ideas Yet she would commonly say I fear not to be dead but only to dye neither do I fear Death so properly as the very fears thereof Upon which account she would oft chide her self as acting so irrationally and unchristianly But God gave her in a great measure the Conquest over such Fears before her Death However this Temper of hers made her oft say That for her own part she could never joyn with that Prayer in the Service-Book From sudden Death deliver us For she feared a lingring rather than a sudden death which God in some measure did satisfie her in In the midst of her Complainings on whatever account she would still break out with a Caution to her self But what do I I must praise as well as pray for my mercies are more than my wants yea even my wants may be my mercy And therefore she would beg the assistance of others in this work and say I desire you to praise as well as pray on my account Yea which may seem strange notwithstanding her fears as to her self she was of a bold and confident Temper in the publick Concerns of Religion and would not easily be shaken in her resolutions that way whatever Opposition or Reflection she might meet with on that account from an ignorant World And if there were any that thought or spoke contemptuously of serious piety she could not but with generous pity and compassion reflect upon them She had a very particular regard for her Relatives and Friends especially as to what might be conducive to the real profit of their Souls And I may say That she travelled as it were in birth for her Children a second time that she might see Christ formed in them And I hope that as God was pleased to give her much satisfaction in this before her death so her Prayers may come to be yet further answered in due time this way She had attained a well-grounded Assurance of her Interest in God and Christ which to my observation she never actually doubted of even in the midst of Temptations Although her natural Temper being suspitious and not easily satisfied in such a grand concern she would oft put up Questions as to this matter to such as she could be free with in such a way as if she seemed to doubt thereof and would oft say If it be so and so with me why am I thus Yet as she hath intimated to some this was rather that she might be further satisfied from the Reasons of others as well as from her own Evidences for she thought she could never be too sure of this weighty and concerning Business She had several times some unusual Impressions of things upon her Spirit especially in Dreams which though she was cautious not to lay too great a stress on for she founded on a surer word of Testimony yet she could not but take particular notice of At one time said she for I give this in her own words as near as I can remember I dreamed that I saw the representation of two Humane Bodies but so glorious above what our frail Bodies are here as admits of no comparison They were to my Apprehension like the finest and purest Amber with Rays proceeding from them like the shinings and glances of Diamonds or Rubies and so transparent that the beautiful contexture and motion of the internal parts appeared no less plainly to me than the external figure Which whilst with Ravishment I looked upon methoughts it was suggested to me Such shall the Bodies of the Saints at the Resurrection be This extraordinary Dream she would speak of sometimes in these or the like words but never without a sensible emotion and emphasis which added to
of happiness a fulness of Glory both subjective and objective glory shining in them and glory shining upon and round about yea into them transfusing its bright beams through them a fulness of honour infinitely transcending all those fading Titles which advance one man so high above another in this lower World and a fulness of joy satisfaction and delight even those pure refined pleasures that are at Gods right Psal 16. v. 11. hand for evermore All this and a great deal more that neither our words nor thoughts can reach is summarily comprehended in that Eternal Life which all they shall certainly attain at the end of their course who by patient continuance in well-doing do seek for glory and honour and immortality Which will more plainly appear to us by considering that which follows in the next place in order namely III. That which remains in the last place to be spoken to is the connection between the qualifications imported in the foregoing Character and that glorious felicity unto which all that bear it shall at last be advanced between a Christians course and his crown between his seeking for glory and honour and immortality in the way here described and that eternal life in which he shall finally enjoy all that he sought for That there is a connection between them is sufficiently evident inasmuch as the one is attainable no other way but by the other And of what kind this connection is I am now to shew And in short It is easie forus to apprehend that this connection is not natural and necessary but ordinate not such as doth necessarily result from the nature of the things themselves that are here connected but such as hath its foundation in the gracious ordination and appointment of God For it is sufficiently evident to any one that doth attentively and seriously consider it That there is no just and adequate proportion between the most diligent and industrious Christians present service and his future eternal reward And so it is no less obvious for us to conceive that the connection that is between them is not founded in Merit but in Free Grace For when we have done all we must say we Luk. 17. v. 10. are unprofitable Servants we have done only that which was our duty to do And it is most absurd for any one to think to merit any thing by the payment of a just Debt And therefore the Scripture speaks of eternal life under the notion of a Gift as obtained only by the free donation of God and not as a possession accruing to us by any desert of our own whereas on the other hand that eternal death which is the just punishment of Sin is called Wages as being no more than what it doth most iustly deserve Rom. 6. 23. For the Wages of Sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so the Reward of the eternal inheritance is several times in Scripture under the Title of Mercy As the Apostle prayed for Onesiphorus 2 Tim. 1. 18. The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord at that day And so we are exhorted to keep our selves in the love of God looking for the Mercy of our Jude v. 21. Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life And therefore it is manifest that the connection that is between the Christians service and reward his Course and his Crown is not founded in merit but in the free Grace and undeserved Love of God in Christ to which alone that gracious Promise or Covenant is intirely owing whereby he hath been pleased to establish an immutable order between them so as that the one shall be infallibly consequent upon the other But the connection is never the less firm or certain for being so founded as it is but rather the more so For the Covenant of Grace which is the more immediate ground and foundation of it is an everlasting Covenant a covenant not 2 Sam. 23 v. 5. only ordered in all things but also sure Forasmuch as the divine eternal veracity is engaged to make good every Article of it to as many as have regularly laid hold upon it and by an hearty compliance with its conditions come to have a real interest in it For altho' God was unlimitedly free before he made the promise and established his Gracious Covenant with us yet that being once done he is obliged for the honour of his Truth and Righteousness to make it good And so though in strictness he can owe nothing to us he is a Debter to his own Promise And at the last day he will be glorified not only as the free and magnificent Donor of all the Treasures of Heaven but also as the God of Truth in fulfilling all the exceeding great and precious Promises that he 2 Pet. 1. v. 4. hath made unto his faithful Servants And therefore Vnto them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality he will not fail to render eternal Life And having thus with as much brevity as the Subject could well admit finished what I proposed to speak doctrinally from this Text of Scripture All that now remains is to make some application of what hath been said unto our selves And 1. From hence we learn with what magnanimity and nobleness of Spirit true living Christianity doth inspire those in whom it takes place elevating and raising their minds and hearts above this perishing World and all its fading transitory enjoyments Steadily inclining them to seek those things that are above Col. 3. v. 1. insomuch that nothing lower than heavenly glory and immortal honour can now content them or compose their Desires into a complacential Rest and satisfaction While others that are acted by the forbid abject and base Spirit of this World lie groveling in the dust of this earth drudging and toyling for what is only accommodate unto their mortal part the living Christian being made alive to God through Rom. 6. v. 11. Jesus Christ his Lord and having received not the Spirit of this World but the Spirit that is from God is continually 1 Cor. 2. v. 12. aspiring upwards in heavenly thoughts desires and aims ever seeking for glory and honour and immortality till he comes to the actual fruition of all in eternal life 2. What hath been said may serve also to discover to us the preposterous folly of their presumptuous hopes who think at last to obtain eternal life tho' they take no care to seek it in that way which the Gospel doth prescribe and in which only it is to be found even by a patient continuance in well-doing Heaven and eternal happiness are promised to none as an absolute irrespective Gift but as a Reward consequent upon service And therefore whosoever are careless and unconcerned about the duty and service of the present state will be sure to sall short of the glory and felicity of the future
both relative and personal as she was to be constant and serious in attending upon Ordinances there seeking the appointed food of your Souls where she both often sought and found it to dedicate some part of your Pretious Time every day to reading the Scriptures and other good Books devout Meditation and secret Prayer which you know was her constant Course as long as her health and strength would permit in a word to make serious Religion your main business as it was most manifestly hers And if you will hearken to this Call in conjunction with the Calls of GOD's Word and that Monitory Providence that you are now under so as heedfully to tread in your pious Mothers steps as Dear Children following her in those things wherein shew was a follower of God and persisting in this Course to the end of your Life Then let me tell you for your Comfort that altho' Death hath at present made a separation between her and you it shall be but for a short season and then you shall again live together in the glorious and bright Mansions of Heaven and in the beatifick Vision and Fruition of God and Christ for ever and ever Amen FINIS A Funeral Sermon By Robert Fleming V. D. M. Preach'd in the Afternoon Eccles vii 1. Better is the Day of Death than the Day of ones Birth AS all the Faculties of Mans Soul are become miserably depraved and corrupted by reason of Sin So in particular the leading and directive Faculty the Mind or Intellect is signally so For besides the blindness and ignorance of men in things natural there is nothing more apparent than that universal darkness and stupidity which they are under as to their apprehensions of things spiritual and eternal For altho' there seems to be remanent upon the minds of all men naturally some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or imperfect râ—dera of the true impressions of good and evil and some secret Perswasions of a soveraign Being to which all things owe their original and continuance yet alas what sad Conceptions do men entertain of things of an immaterial and and spiritual nature as appears not only from the Writings of the more learned and ingenious Heathens but from innumerable and dayly Instances even in the midst of the Meridian Light of the Gospel So that constant Experience doth in this matter sufficiently confirm Scripture-Testimony that the natural man knows not the things of the Spirit of God as requiring a subjective as well as objective spiritual Light to discern them by However this is one of God's ends in Revealing his Word to us that we may thorow his Blessing upon pains and industry attain to rectified Notions and Idaeas of things so excellent in themselves and so momentous to be rightly known by us And as this is the scope of the whole Scripture to bring Life and Immortality to Light unto us so particularly of this Book of the wise and in quisitive Solomon who having undertaken a speculative Journey into all the Regions of sublunary Enjoyments returns an experienced Ecclesiastes or Preachers of those things that he thought might be of universal use to be known And therefore having rubbed off the fine Varnish and gaudy Paint of Earthly Objects with which they insinuate themselves at first view as beautified to our vain imiginations he here represents them impartially to our Reason as they are in their own natures and usefulness to us Of this we might adduce many instances if need were But we go no farther than the Words before us wherein we may observe a Rectification of a twofold Mistake that we are apt to fall into For first whereas men usually prefer Riches to a good Name we are here instructed that a good Name is better more valuable than precious ointment i. e. than the fatness of the world and the affluence of all earthly wealth and riches For thus I take the word according to Prov. 22. 1. which seems to be a comment on this or a plain account of what is here figuratively imported For precious ointment was esteemed of old amongst the most valuable things of the Treasures of Princes as we see Isa 39. 2. And hence it is that Prov. 15. 30. A good name is said to make the bones sat And again whereas Men generally prefer Life to Death Solomon here tells us that we are greatly mistaken in the Case for that upon the contrary the day of Death is much to be prefer'd to the day of ones Birth According to which Position he goes on to shew that the house of Mourning is better than the house of Feasting and sorrow preferable to Laughter v. 2 3 c. It is the second of these only that I am directed to consider at this time viz. That the day of Death is better than the day of ones Birth A strange Paradox and enough to amaze the minds and thoughts of all such as mind earthly things and who have not attained to have their interior Senses spiritually exercised to discern spiritual things Nay I am apt to think that many even serious Christians may find it difficult to reconcile their thoughts to this Doctrine And therefore on all hands I foresee Objections What! will the Atheist and Antiscripturist say is it better not to be than to be Is it possible will the carnal Philosopher and Rationalist object that the destruction of nature it self should be preferable to its Being and Continuance Nay even many poor Christians will be ready to tell me that it seems very strange to them to prefer Death which owes its Original to Sin and is our enemy and the last to be destroyed to prefer I say this to Life it self wherein we have opportunity to serve God and do good to our selves and others And methinks I hear a multitude cry out at the hearing of this and many such Worldlings there are What! Death better than Life Here 's strange Doctrine indeed What! Leave all our Earthly Comforts Friends and Possessions and that for Death and the Grave who can have Faith to believe such Doctrine as this Well Friends here 's that which may silence all your Doubts and answer all your Questions as to this matter if you will give ear to God himself that Death is preferable to Birth But I must supersede the satisfying you as to your particular Scruples in this matter till I shall have come to the Improvement of the Doctrine which I must now lest I act preposterously previously inquire into And here though the Words are in themselves so very plain that I see no momentous Variation among Criticks in the translating of them Yet I find some considerable difference in the Sentiments of Expositors as to the meaning of them For some understand the Text of all Mankind with respect only to this present Life laying aside all Consideration of the future State as many Passages in this Book are undoubtedly to be understood And if so then the meaning only is That
we here converse with are also Or 2. If the carnal Rationalist and Philosopher further object and argue against this Doctrine from the consideration of Deaths being the Destruction of nature I Answer 1. that to speak properly there is no such destruction of nature by Death as many imagine For the Soul is not destroyed by it but acts and lives more nobly than before Neither is the Body properly destroyed but only reduced into its first Principles in order to be new moulded and more gloriously re-edified than before And therefore since the two Essential constituent parts of man remain in being man can't be said to be destroyed For tho' the immediate Tye between Soul and Body be loosed yet it is for a time only and in the mean time the relation they stand in to one another continues even when the actual union is suspended And besides all this it being the Soul that is principally the Man we are therefore to reckon that the man is in being still even when unbodied But 2. let it be considered that Death is not preferred to Birth or Life meerly as it is the dissolution of nature as now existing but the formal Reason of this is upon the account of the excellency of the future Life which death is the passage into For upon this account only is it that the Apostle prefers death to life 2 Cor. 5. 4. Not for that we would be unclothed says he but clothed upon that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life But 3. as to what many poor sincere-Christians are apt to object against this Point from the expressions that sometimes Death goes under in Scripture of its being as the punishment of sin our enemy and to be destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. I would for Answer propose to them besides what hath been already said this one consideration That tho' Death be indeed our enemy as it is inflicted as a punishment of sin since the fall Yet it has now altered its nature and end with respect to Saints since Christs death especially Christ having slain death and him that had the power thereof Indeed Death passeth still upon all men but in very different respects For to the wicked death is still continued as a grim Messenger and King of Terrours But as for the Saints Death is now become Christs servant to convey home the Souls of his own to himself Therefore as Christ is said to have abolished death 2 Tim. 1. 10. So he is said also Rev. 1. 18. To have taken into his custody and keeping the Keys of Hell and Death Upon which accounts we may perceive what little reason we have to fear Death when he acts only in commission under our dear Lord and Saviour and when also so blessed a Guide as he leads the way And 4. As to the Objection which the vulgar sort of groveling Mortals are apt to make against Death that it robbs them of and separates them from all their comforts friends possessions enjoyments and hopes I Answer that where the case is thus with any I must needs grant they have reason to prefer life to death If thou hast all thy portion in this life I shall not wonder to see thee prefer earth to heaven and dust to gold But O poor wretch art thou not ashamed of such an objection which militates indeed against thee but not against this Doctrine For the Saints of whom we here speak will tell thee that whereas death separates thee from all thy comforts it is in that way alone that they expect to reap the full harvest of all joy and comfort for at the right hand of God there is fulness of joy and in his presence there are pleasures for evermore 3. Infer We may see hence also the folly and ignorance of the generality of men as to their notions and conceptions of Life and Death Who seem to think that all comforts are to be found only in this Life and therefore give way to strange and melancholly apprehensions of death and what follows it As there are many poor Creatures in the world living in mean celles and cottages in some obscure corner whose low minds having never travelled from the smell of their native thatch and turff represent the world to themselves no otherwise than according to the ideas which a barren spot of earth of a few miles circumference hath afforded them So the generality of mankind seem to be so pre-occupied with the prejudices of sense and custom as never to have suitably reflected on those things which right Reason may not obscurely conclude from Scripture Premises concerning the glory and excellency of the future state of the spirits of just men made perfect For if our thoughts were more inured to such Divine Meditations we would dispise the vanities of a fading life more since we converse here but with imaginary comforts and joys tho' with too real griefs and miseries 2d The Regulation of our Practise As Practise is the end of Knowledge so my design in all that hath been said was to bring you to a sincere conscientious Performance of those Duties that the Doctrine handled doth call for from you And therefore suffer me to lay them impartially before you at this time And in doing this since not only the Doctrine in it self but the present Occasion of this Discourse calls for a particular and becoming Consideration this way I shall therefore endeavour with what succinctness is convenient to do these two things here viz. 1. to Improve the Doctrine Practically with respect to that Duty that is incumbent upon all from hence as to the good of our Souls 2. to Improve it also specially with respect to the sad occasion of this present meeting and concourse And 1 I shall endeavour to Improve the Doctrine in the General so as may be of use to all of you And what I have thus to say to you I will comprise and summ up in these three Directions or Rules 1. Direct Take heed how you carry with respect to your Spiritual state and Interest in God thorow Christ Which Advice I will take up in these three Parts which I am sure you are all concerned seriously to mind 1. Examine and Try your selves if God be your Portion and Christ your Saviour What are you secure whilst you remain at uncertainties as to this matter What ground have you to believe that Christ is yours Have you renounced Sin Satan the world and sinful self Have you accepted Christ wholly in all his offices and have you laid hold on him as your alone Saviour Be careful my friends that you found not your hopes on a mistake and thus build on the sand Religion is more than a name and Conversion more than a notion Therefore Judge your selves impartially as to this matter lest you be judged to condemnation by God for your neglect to do so 2. Be sure what ever you do to lay the whole weight and stress of your Salvation in the
Preaching the Everlasting Gospel And would not this make us both more servicable in our several stations and capacities to glorifie God which is the great end of our Lives and I hope the great desire of our Souls And therefore I know nothing more worthy of our most earnest wrestlings and greatest importunities For since I hope God hath given us an interest in himself thorow his dear Son and our great Mediator and so hath accepted our Persous in Justification thorow the imputed righteousness of Christ I think the next work we have to do is to be dayly interceding for the Influences of the Spirit in order to carry on the great business of sanctification that so we may grow in a fitness for every duty and a meetness for the future state that we are hastning into It were long to produce all or many of the Expressions of this nature that might be given And therefore I shall only add one more in a Letter to a Friend upon a Reprieve from Death that she had providentially got beyond expectation for a time and which she was apprehensive he had some hand in with others as a Return of Prayer Now methinks says she I have been saying to you whom I believe to have been instrumental in this matter is this your kindness to your Friend When I seem'd to have got so near to the harbour of an hoped for rest to use all your force and strength to bring me back again into this stormy and troublesome Sea where I must expect to be tossed with new Tempests before I get to shore of which I have now a much clearer Prospect than of any service I can do here in this world Did I ever desire you to pray for Life Or was it not rather that I might be carried thorow the dark valley of the shadow of Death But I must submit since I know you think you have acted Duty in this and since all things of this nature are ordered by a wise and gracious God for good to us And this does abundantly satisfie me in this and I hope in all other dispensations concerning me And now from these few Expressions as well as from what hints have been besides given of this pious Person we may easily perceive what Spirit she was of and what her great work and Business in the world was She wisely chose the Better part which none could take from her The whole of her Life being one continued declaration that she sought a better Country as knowing that we have no continuing City or place of abode here Thorow a patient continuance in well-doing she sought for honour and glory and immortality both in Health and Sickness And tho' an universal Decay of Spirits in Gods wise determination did incapacitate her in the hour of Deaths approach from having that sensible joy and ravishment which somtimes the Saints then have from the prospect of the nearness of Glory yet that Faith and Affiance that Reverence and Love and that Resignation and full satisfaction which she then expressed were such clear Evidences of her Grace and such happy Prognosticks of that Happiness she was entering upon the Possession of that we may justly admire Gods Mercy in all this both to Her and Us. And now my Friends obey the Instruction and imitate the Pattern that I have at this time set before you Which that we may do let us fervently implore the divine Grace and seriously improve the Gospel-Means And then I question not but we shall come in due time to find this Doctrine verified in our own Experience That better is the Day of Death than the Day of Birth Amen TO THE MEMORY of the Truly Religious Mrs. Susanna Soame WHO Departed this Life at Thurlow in Suffolk Feb. 14. An. Dom. 169 1 2. ART thou then gone thou sweet and humble Mind Leaving thy Friends thus sorrowing behind And can our Thoughts within our breasts be pent Since sorrows double are that have no vent No! No! My weeping Muse shall drop a Verse And offer at thy much lamented Hearse Thy Piety and Worth deserve no less And if my Lines be in an humble Dress It yet may Mourners suit since 't is requir'd That such in Black not Gold should be attir'd Had I a Pen drop't from an Angels Wing Or could I hear the Anthems thou dost sing Since thou art joyn'd unto the Quire above And swallow'd up in Raptures high of Love My Thoughts might then 't is like my Pen inspire with such like Notes as mov'd Wise Sol'mons Lyre When he did sing the Mystick Loves between Heav'ns Glorious Darling and his Purchas'd Queen For now that Song thou lov'dst so here is known To thee since thou hast reach'd the Heavenly Throne Yet when I think how Holy Paul before Tho' thus rapt up to Heaven could do no more But only tell he saw Things Glorious Which he nor could nor durst express to us I 'me therefore left in silence to adore That Hand which casts a Veil such things before And wills us to believe they are too great For this Imperfect State where we await Until we also from our Corps remove And mount all Earthly Dust and Shades above Wherefore I 'm left to muse on what is past And on thy by-gone-Lise some Thoughts to cast And here methinks as present still to day I see thy Face and hear thee thus to say An Acrostical Character of her Life S oar fain I would above each earthly thing V nto my Lord of all my Joy the Spring S uch is my study but alas I find A ll my Attempts too weak too dark my Mind N ow Clouds bemist me Grief o're-pow'rs my Soul N ow Fears alternate like the Waves do rowl A nd all my Comforts Joy and Hope controul S weet Glances from my God yet now and then O blidge my Soul from Sorrow to refrain A nd blast my Griefs and cause my Fears to fly M y Case thus changeth too and fro whilst I E ach day for Heaven long yet fear to dye Yet tho' all is but Folly that is said By Living Mortals of th' Immortal Dead Yet since we justly do conclude thou' rt blest And now from Pains and Sorrows all at rest Methinks I hear thy Voice from Heaven high Drop silent to my Ear thus through the Sky An Acrostical Character of her Death Soar now I do above each earthly thing Vnto my Lord of all my Joy the Spring Such was my Aim below but then did find All my Attempts too weak too dark my Mind No Cloud bemists me now and on my Soul No Grief or Fear alternately doth rowl As an Allay my Comforts to controul Sweet Sights of God and Christ I do obtain O sweet my Life Sweet Place where I remain Angels and Saints are now my Company My Friends below I 'd pity did not I Expect to see them to Eternity The Epitaph UNderneath this Stone doth lye Dust precious for the Memory Of a sweet Saint who once did dwell In such a fadeing Mortal Cell Who having got Gods Pass took wing Upwards to Heaven to live and sing Triumphant Hallelujahs there And breath more free in Sweeter Air. An Acrostical Memorial Since Vpwards Soar'd All Notions New Attend Seen Objects Ancient Molestations End. As the last Expression of Friendship on Earth These Lines are Offered by R. F. BOOKS Printed for John Harris at the Harrow against the Church in the Poultrey and John Salusbury at the Rising Sun over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1. ANgliae Metropolis Or The Present State of London with Memorials comprehending a full and succienct Account of the Antient and Modern State thereof First Written by the late Ingenious Tho. De Laune Gent. and continued to this present Year by a careful Hand 2. The Life and Death of that Old Disciple of Jesus Christ and Eminent Minister of the Gospel Mr. Hanserd Knollys who dyed in the Ninety Third Year of his Age. These Two Printed for J. Harris 3. The Certainly of the Worlds of Spirits Fully evinced by unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts Operations Voices c. Proving the Immortality of Souls the Malice and Miseries of the Devils and the Damned and the Blessedness of the Justified By R. Baxter 4. An End of Doctrinal Controversies which have lately Troubled the Churches by Reconciling Explication without much Disputing By R. Baxter These Two Printed for J. Salusbury CORRIGENDA SErm 1. pag. 7. lin 20 after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 insert and. p. 17. l. 20. after follow insert that p. 28. l. 10. after Scripture insert expressed p. 45. l. 1. for she read they p. 47. l. 14. after which insert is p. 48. l. 8. after her insert to observe her Serm. 2. p. 55. l. ult after must insert not p. 72. l. 7. for Eph. read Ep.
if We consider the Vanities and Miseries of Mankind in this World abstracting from the future it is better to go out of it by Death than come into it by Birth But others understand it rather as specially referring to the death of good men who are thereby not only freed from troubles here but instated in true happiness felicity hereafter And this sense as it appears more consonant to the tenour of Scripture Truth and Phraseology so likewise seems not obscurely to be hinted here from its close connexion with the preceding part of the Verse For it is the death of him that has a good Name that seems to be here spoken of and whose Death is justly preferred to his Birth For a good Name does unquestionably suppose true worth and vertue as its Foundation and Basis And tho' the Epithet of good be not expressed in the Hebrew but simply a name which is preferred to precious ointment Yet that is so far from lessening the sense that it expresse it with the greater Emphasis as insinuating that wicked men have no name at all properly speaking It is chiefly in this sense that I conceive the proper meaning and scope of the words to lye tho' I would not totally exclude the former by reason of the largeness of the expression for I think Scripture is to be understood in the largest sense where the words and scope will naturally bear it without contorsion and straining And therefore the Doctrinal Proposition that I here lay down as the foundation of my ensuing Discourse is this That as the day of Death is prefeferable to the day of ones Birth with respect to all when the parallel is only in reference to this Life considered as miserable abstracting from the Future So far more is the day of death preferable to the day of ones Birth with respect to the Saints when the parallel is not only in reference to This Life but inclusive also of the Future In which General Proposition as we may see both senses of the Text conjoyned as being no way opposite dissonant or exclusive the one of the other So we may observe them so conjoyned as notwithstanding to remain Distinct And therefore we must of necessity disjoyn them again in order to a distinct handling And though it is the second sense of the words that I principally intend to consider and prosecute Yet since it may be of use to premise some brief Reflection upon the former I shall therefore distinctly and apart propose both senses in two Propositions which are nothing else but the two parts of the preceding General Doctrine First Proposition The Day of Death is preferable to the Day of ones Birth with respect to All when the parallel is only in reference to this Life considered as miserable abstracting from the Future I suppose there is none that considerately and seriously ponders this Proposition but will easily assent unto it since I do not here barely and nakedly reflect on the notions of Birth Death in themselves with respect to Life simply considered but only draw the parallel between them with respect to Life as miserable or to speak plainly with respect to the miserys of Life And I suppose none can duely consider this but must instantly be enforced to prefer the exit from Misery to the intrat into it Which is all that according to this sense of the Text is understood by Death and Birth For let us but suppose that we were under a necessity to go a dangerous tedious and afflictive Journey wherein we were to encounter with all manner of Miseries pains and troubles and it were then proposed to us Whether we did not prefer the End and Close of it to the Beginning of it and our Entry upon it I reasonably conclude abstracting from all consideration of the place whether that Journey might lead us that our Answer would be in the Affirmative from the Melancholly Idea and Representation of such a Journey And now what else is our Life in this Miserable world but such a tedious and afflictive Peregrination For we are born to trouble as the sparks flie upward No sooner do we enter by birth into the Society of the Living but our Infant Crys and Tears become a sad prelude to a succeeding sorrowful scene Our Childhood and Youth are wholly vanity and spent in such a way as we seem rather to breath than live And our propensity then to extravagancy and sin oblige our best Friends to keep us under the Pedagogy of necessary tho' to us afflictive Correction And when ever we arrive to something of further Maturity and judgment we are immediately beset with cares and incumberances the inseparable Companions of worldly Business Then do our hearts run out impetuously after the Trifles of time the nick-nam'd Honours Profits and Pleasures thereof the Game which Ambitious Covetous and Wanton Spirits flie at The fine varnish and gaudy shew of guilded dross and dung takes us and after it are our endeavours bent Here cares to get this worlds dross cares to keep it cares to encrease it and cares to dispose of it eat out the best part of our little time And yet notwithstanding our rising up early sitting up late and eating the bread of sorrows the defectiveness of the creature and its transitoriness thwarts our hopes and expectations Besides that oft a secret curse from God blasts our endeavours and breaks our measures in all that we do Riches and Estates take to themselves wings and flie away as an Eagle towards Heaven to receive a new disposal And the fair image and shadow of Honour Grandeur and Pleasure passeth away and leaves our minds perplexed and troubled for the disappointment Thus do we seek for the living among the dead and satisfaction and contentment where it is not to be found Distance and separation from our best Friends eat out the seeming comfort we might enjoy in their company Wants pains sickness sorrows fears and disappointments swallow up any little pleasure that we meet with in the world and drown the sense of enjoyments otherwise comfortable And besides all these things that happen to our selves immediately we are oftimes called to be sad spectators of the many Tragedies acted in the world We see National and Church Calamities and Family and Personal Distresses And oft-times the nearness of our Relation to others obliges us by something more than Sympathy to suffer with them And now all these things being impartially reflected on if we return with Solomon ch 4. 1 2 3. and consider the oppressions that are done under the sun and how destitute not only the Oppressed but the Oppressors also are of True comfort on that account I say considering these things we may see ground with him to praise the Dead rather than the Living yea to conclude that better is he than both these who hath not yet been because he hath not seen the evil work which is done under the sun Object How can
we prefer Death to Birth and consequently to Life Since even Solomon himself ch 9. v. 4 5. Doth plainly give the preference to Life for a living Dog is better says he than a Dead Lion c. Answ It is not strange or uncommon for one and the same thing to come under different considerations at some times And when it does so it may be very proper accordingly to deduce quite different yea and opposite conclusions from thence And therefore it needs not seem strange that Solomon speaks of Life in ch 9. in another Dialect than he does here in my Text Since he reflects here and there upon the same things under quite different considerations For 1. in ch 9. he compares Life and Death in their own natures and therefore hath all the reason in the world to give the preference to Life as being so illustrious an effect of divine Wisdom and Power But here Solomon doth not compare these Opposites in themselves but in an accidental consideration only with reference to the troubles and miseries our Lives here are exposed to by reason of sin And therefore makes such an Inference hence as we have explained 2. Solomon in ch 9. does not only consider Life in it self but under the Notion also of being the way and means thorow the right improvement whereof men may attain to happiness hereafter Whereas those that are dead are put out of capacity of doing any thing further for their Soul For says he to him that is joyned to the living there is hope but the dead have no more portion in any thing that is done under the Sun Which therefore seems to be nothing else but that which he more clearly unfolds v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might because there is no work c. But now in this place Solomon speaks of life abstracting from its relation and use this way and considers it meerly in reference to its miseries and troubles And therefore his Inference here is nothing but what natively results from such a consideration thereof 3. Solomon in the 9th ch seems to me to speak of Life and Death with respect to wicked men chiefly if not only And in this respect it is certain Life is far preferable to Death since as he says v. 10. There is no preparation work to be done after death for the good of the Soul whereas whilst there is life there is still hope that wicked men may repent and reform before it be too late as he intimates v. 4. and according to the old saying Sperandum est vivis non est spes ulla sepultis But now as was said before it seems not obscurely to be hinted here that we are to understand the words of my Text as refering if not only yet specially to the Saints who thorow grace and holiness have attained worthily to deserve a good name And this leads me to a Transition from the first to the second and as I judge more native Meaning of the words which I lay down to be distinctly considered in the following Thesis Second Proposition The Day of Death is far preferable to the Day of ones Birth with respect to the Saints when the parallel is not only in reference to this Life but inclusive also of the Future I don't say that at all times and upon all accounts the day of Death is actually to be prefered to the day of Birth and to Life Since sometimes it may be our duty to chuse Life before Death For even Paul himself after a struggle with himself on this account whether he should prefer death or life Phil. 1. 23. 24. having impartially weighed the reasons on both sides concludes v. 25. That considering the usefulness of his life to the Church on earth it was for the present to be preferred to death Neither do I say here that the Saints attain always to prefer death to life No alas there are but few comparatively that get this length Even an Hezekiah will weep sâ—re at the thoughts of death and chatter like a crane or swallow and mourn as a dove on that account Isa 38. 3 14. And a David also will on this account at sometimes be made to cry out Psal 39. 13. O spare me that I may recover strength c. But that which I assert here in the Proposition laid down is That the Death of a Saint is preferable to his Birth because of the misery of this present Life and the happiness of the Life to come For if as we shewed before death be preferable to birth meerly because the comforts of this life are so over-ballanced and weighed down by the sorrows of time Then surely the conclusion is much more strong when we consider the glory and happiness of the future Life and lay it also in the scale over and above For who then can withstand the force of this Truth that the entry upon happiness which is by Death is much to be preferred to the entry upon a miserable life here which is by Birth And as this Proposition so expresly Asserted in the Text thus explained seems so clear in it self So a more distinct consideration of things will put it beyond all further doubt and controversy And therefore I came now to Prove the Point further Which being done I shall proceed to Improve it The Proof And now to Prove this Point I shall endeavour to do it by shewing the preferableness of the one to the other upon the account given and that in two things viz. 1. By explaining the Terms here used of Birth and Death 2. By considering more directly the Present and Future Life that these two Periods of Birth and Death enter the Saints upon And first I shall briefly reflect upon the Terms of Birth and Death And here as in many other things I find a lameness and defectiveness in Words by which the true Notions of Things are often clouded and almost lost And therefore tho' I take not upon me to rectifie these terms as vulgarly used Yet the present subject necessarily leads me to some rectification of the notions of the things themselves which we have it may be from education too easily imbibê°d For if in ordinary converse it be a Rule quod loquendum cum Vulgo I think we may well subjoyn in serious Inquiries into things quod sentiendum cum Dâ—ctis And tho' I pretend not to such rectified notions of things as others may have reacht yet since this falls in my way it may not be amiss to consider what estimate we are to make of Birth and Death with respect to a Saint And 1 as to Birth tho' we must consider a Saint as all other men to be made up of a Soul and Body as his two constituent parts Yet it is the Soul which chiefly denominates the man Whence it is that in Scripture our bodies are called our Tents or Tabernacles wherein we lodge for a time so that tho' the Body be