Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A46713
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A sermon preach'd in the Cathedral Church of Norwich, March 8th, 1695/6 being the second Sunday in Lent / by John Jeffery ...
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Jeffery, John, 1647-1720.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing J521; ESTC R1811
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12,473
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30
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then at Death and Judgment that they themselves had been as much rejected and injured as the Righteous were so they might at the great and terrible day of the Lord stand before the divine Tribunal with that Advantage which the Righteous do But as the Righteous shall then have their Character and Distinction according to what they did in the Body So the Sinner who did not those things but the contrary cannot with all his Out-crys and Importunities make himself such an one as the Righteous are He cannot put on so much of the Similitude of the Righteous as once was done in Hypocrisie He is not a righteous Person and he cannot make a shew of such an one he cannot then personate a religious Man If he should pretend to it in any term whatsoever he would be discovered he cannot place himself among the Righteous or expect to pass for such an one He cannot mingle with the Saints or come into the Assembly of those Ps 1.5 whose Company he shunn'd while he was on Earth Nay he cannot then act the part of a Dissembler he cannot pretend to that Reverence of God and love of good Men which the Hypocrite used to do and which perhaps himself has sometimes done in the course of his past Life Thus shall wicked Men wish at last and in vain that they were not what they are and that they were what they are not what they cannot for ever be We see what that good is which wicked Men desire but the Righteous onely can enjoy viz. The Character and the Reward of the Righteous Religion is the Foundation of Happiness and Happiness is the Perfection of Religion That Religion and that Happiness wicked Men shall desire at last and when they have a distinct View of the last things wishing they had lived that Religion and that they might enjoy that Happiness But the Righteous are they alone who have lived religiously in this World and the Righteous are they alone who can live happily for ever Summum bonum This is that great Good which wicked Men necessarily and unavoidably desire but the Righteous only can enjoy From this Truth we may reprove the Wicked encourage the Righteous and admonish all Men. 1. From this Truth we may reprove the Wicked because by this it is manifest their Wickedness is inexcusable and their Hopes are vain There is a notorious Contradiction between their Lives and their Desires while they wish for the Happiness of the Righteous and chuse what renders them uncapable of it Lu. 19.22 They shall be judged out of their own Mouths and their own Hearts shall condemn them 2. By this Truth the Righteous are approved and encouraged in their Duty and their Expectation because they live according to the Constitution of Things and the Declaration of God They live as the Consciences of the Wicked tell them they ought to live and as they shall wish at last they had lived The Righteousness of the Righteous is approved by all true Wisdom and those who calumniate the religious are reproached by their own Hearts for so doing 3. This Truth may be of use to admonish all Men to live the Life of the Righteous and that their early Beginning be like his Eccl. 12.1 and then they shall die the Death of the Righteous and their last End shall be like his too And since this will at last be the most serious wish of all Men since those who hated the Life of the Righteous will wish they might die the Death of the Righteous and that their last End may be like his what can be more proper for the Conclusion of this Discourse than that wish of Moses O that they were wise that they understood this Prometheus Epimetheus Dent. 32.29 that they would consider their latter End If Men were but so kind to themselves and so provident for Eternity as before the great day of Decision comes now while they are preparing for it to place themselves by a suitable exercise of Faith in those circumstances in which they must stand at the last Day and then look upon themselves as they are at the time of such Representation did a wicked Man who knows the Transgressions of his Life and that feels the Remorse of his Consoience did he suppose himself laid upon a Bed of Sickness and Death and view his Circumstances as they will at last be if he dies such an one as he now is did he suppose his Soul separating from the Body and departing into the secret and invisible Society of the Dead did he suppose the last Trump sounding and himself among the rest of Mankind awakened out of the sleep of Death by that dreadfull Alarm did he represent to himself the great and universal Assembly standing together upon the face of the trembling Earth and beholding the Son of God descending from Heaven in the Glory of his Father and his Holy Angels did he suppose the Judgment-Seat placed and the Son of God set down upon it the Books opened that of the Law of God and Gospel of Christ that of Mens Lives and Consciences and the Dead ready to be judged according to the Things written in those Books did he consider the Distinction and Separation of Good from Bad the one placed at the Right Hand Matth. 25.33 Dextra quae ditis magni sub moenia tenditâ— Hac iter Elysium nobis at laeva malorum Exercet poenas ad impia Tartara miâ—â—â—â— Virg Aen. 1.6 and the other at the Left Hand of the Glorious Judge did he hearken to the Sentence that will then be passed upon each Man according to his Deeds and view by Faith the Execution of that Sentence looking upon the Wicked as falling headlong into the Bottomless Pit and looking upon the Righteous ascending their Thrones of Glory I say did wicked Men often and seriously represent these important Truths unto themselves did they thus consider their latter End what Effect would that Consideration have upon them Thus to do would be their Wisdom for thus it will be with them at last and by a due and timely considering they may prevent the worst Things being their Portion If Men did consider they would say with the greatest Seriousness Let me die the Death of the Righteous and let my last End be like his And knowing such a Wish cannot be verified merely by vehement Desires and passionate Expressions they might at one time or other be perswaded by such Considerations to live the Life of the Righteous and if they did so They should also die the Death of the Righteous and their last End should be like his that would be their Everlasting Portion They should then Quo fatâ— trahunt Virtus secura sequetur Luc. 1.2 not only make their Wishes but also have what they wished they should at their great Extremity be received into the Joy of their Lord. FINIS
A SERMON Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of Norwich MARCH 8th 1695 6. BEING The Second Sunday in Lent By JOHN JEFFERY Arch-Deacon of Norwich and Minister of St. Peter of Mancroft 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thuc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Origen contra Cels L. 8. LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1696. To the Right Worshipfull Augustine Briggs Esquire Mayor of the City of NORWICH SIR I Cannot express a truer or greater Regard to You in compliance with whose Desires this Discourse is made Publick than agreeably to the Subject of it to Wish and Pray that You may be effectually prevailed upon thereby seriously to fore-think what Your Last Wishes shall be and to make Your Present Resolutions accordingly viz. To live the Life of the Righteous and then You shall Die the Death of the Righteous and Your last End shall be like his This I do most heartily Wish and Pray for on behalf of You and of all those for whose Souls I am more especially concerned for I am in the best and highest Sense Your Faithfull Servant John Jeffery Numb XXIII 10. Let me die the death of the Righteous and let my last end he like his IN these Words we have the very good Wish of a very bad Man and upon a very remarkable Occasion The Man was Balaam Numb 22.23 24 25. One of as ill a character almost as any that is mention'd in the Holy Scriptures The Wish is That he might die the death of the Righteous and that his last end might be like his In which Wish it is implyed That the Portion of the Wicked is not fit to be desired but that the Portion of the Righteous is such as even those men who are most contrary would desire This Wish Balaam made upon a very remarkable Occasion viz. When he consider'd the last Result and Consequence of things when he had a distinct Prospect of the final State of Men. 'T was Balaam that said this the man whose eyes are open or whose Eyes once were shut but now are open he said this who heard the words of God Numb 24.3 4. which saw the Vision of the Almighty falling into a Trance but having his eyes open God represented unto Balaam the final State of the Righteous and it appear'd so desireable to him that altho' he was one of the worst of Men and most hated the Righteous yet he brake forth into these Expressions Let me die the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his The Truth contain'd in which words is this That there is a Portion which wicked men necessarily desire but the Righteous only can enjoy And The Desire of this Portion by wicked Men has a Threefold Respect 1st To what is to come 2ly To what is past 3ly To what is present With respect to what is to come wicked Men shall wish That they might escape the Misery due unto Sin and that they might obtain that Happiness which is the Reward of Obedience With Respect to what is past wicked men shall wish they had chosen the Duty they refused and that they had refused the Sin they chose With Respect to what is present wicked Men shall wish That they were not the Sinners they are and that they were the Righteous which they are not 1st Wicked Men shall wish with Respect to what is to come 1. That they might escape the Misery due unto Sin And 2. That they might obtain that Happiness which is the Reward of Obedience 1. Wicked Men shall wish they might escape the Misery due unto Sin and in that sence Die the Death of the Righteous and that their last End might be like his When wicked Men have before them the Appearance of their End they must needs behold such things in it as are most amazing and terrible to them And such an Appearance of the Last things there will be unto wicked Men when ever they are constrained to consider Such constraint is sometimes upon them while they are in Health and Safety as often as God by over ruling the Vanity of their Minds makes them serious I need not show by what means God does this 't is sufficient to my present purpose that this is sometimes done and that when it is done wicked Men have the most uncomfortable Prospect of things before their eyes And when their natural Death and last End draws near then the Object is more distinctly viewed and more seriously considered Then Men perceive what the Desert and what the Punishment of Sin is and then they remember they have committed such Sins But no Man can be willing to have his Portion in Misery or to suffer what he is conscious he has deserved Men naturally and necessarily hate Torment and Perdition and 't is not any Man 's direct choice Isa 33.14 that he be miserable No Man can be Indifferent to it or Unconcerned at it The Sinner's Guilt consigns them to Misery and the onely way to escape that Misery is by the Pardon of their Sins 'T is Pardon alone that can deliver them from the approaching Perdition and therefore that Pardon is the matter of their most importunate Desires Lord have Mercy on us is their Petition and the meaning of it is Lev. 16.28 that they may not come into the place of Torment This every departing Soul will most ardently Desire nor can He avoid desiring it with the utmost Vehemence that is possible Desires stronger than Death will then harrass the guilty Mind and those Desires are therefore an extream Vexation because at the same time they are Violent Unavoidable and Vain The same wicked Man who most passionately desires to escape Misery knows he cannot and the Unnatural desire of what is utterly impossible is tormenting But such Desires there are in every dying Sinner who is not so dead in Sin as to be totally without any sense of his Danger Beyond the Grave deep as the bottomless Abyss is that Region where miserable Souls abide the Wrath of God (a) Miserrimus omnes Admonet magnâ testatur voce per umbras Dicite Justitiam moniti non temnere Divos Virg. Aen. l. 6. Inclusi poenam expectant and into that the drooping Thoughts of a dying Sinner do descend and by his dire Imagination Ranges in that vast Ocean of Darkness Despair and Horror (b) Quae scelerum facies The departing Spirit must needs Reluctate and Shrink back with the utmost Uneasiness of Nature when it feels it self dropping into that remediless Condition The Spirit struggles in Wishes contrary to its Doom and suffers the Violence of invincible Necessity and is dragged thereby against all the reluctating Endeavours that are possible 2. Wicked Men shall wish they might Obtain that Happiness which is the Reward of Obedience The Attainment of that Happiness and Ascent unto the glorious Regions of the Blessed is that which those Minds that are depressed with