in the Covenant of Grace before your souls as your own God even our own God shall bless us Psal. 67.6 When you feel your hearts wounded with such a thought as this I cannot embrace my Children in my arms they are now out of my reach then bless and admire God that the arms of your Faith can embrace so great so glorious a Saviour and that you can say My beloved is mine and I am his Consideration II. Consider what evil days are coming on and what a mercy it is to your dead that God hath taken them away from the evil to come Isai. 57.1 2. There are two sorts of Evils to come viz. Evils of Sin and Evils of Suffering and 't is no small favour to be set out of the way of both The Grave is the hiding-place where God secures some from the dangers of both We are apt to promise our selves times of Tranquility and then it cuts us to think that our dear Ones shall not partake with us in that Felicity but if we wisely consider the sins or the signes of the times we have more cause to rejoyce that God hath set them out of harms way All things seem to conspire and work towards a day of great Temptation and Tribulation Now as Christ told his Disciples who were so dejected because he was to leave them Ioh. 14.28 If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I go to the Father so truly you would much better express and manifest your love to your Children in your satisfaction in the will and appointment of God in taking them into rest and safety than in your dejections and sorrows for their removal Surely they are better where they are than where they were whom God hath housed in Heaven out of the storm and tempest And could your dead Friends that are with Christ have any more intercourse with this World and see your tears and hear your sighs for them they would say to you as Christ did to those that follow'd him wailing and mourning Weep not for us but for your selves and such as remain in the World with you to see and feel the calamities that are coming on it Consideration III. Consider how near you are to that blessed State your selves where God shall be all in all and you shall feel no want of any Creature-comfort 1 Cor. 15.28 Creature-comforts are only accommodated comforts to this animal life we now live but shortly there will be no need of them for God will be all in all that is all the Saints shall be abundantly satisfied in and with God alone As there is water enough in one Sea to fill all the Rivers Lakes and Springs in the World and Light enough in one Sun to enlighten all the Inhabitants of the World so there is enough in one God eternally to fill and satisfie all the blessed Souls in Heaven without the addition of any Creature-comfort God is compleat satisfaction to all the Saints in the absence I cannot say want of Wives and Children Meats and drinks Estates and sensitive Pleasures There will be no more need of these things than of Candles at Noon-day You shall be as the Angels of God who have no concernment for Relations Your fulness of years infirmities of Body and I hope I may add your improvements in Grace speak you not far short of this blessed State and though you may seem to need these comforts in the way your God shall supply all your wants Consideration IV. To conclude whatsoever your troubles wants fears or dangers are or may be in your passage to this blessed State the Covenant of Grace is your security and by vertue thereof your troubles shall open and divide as Iordan did to give you a safe passage into your eternal Rest. Look as when the Israelites came near the Land of Promise there was a swelling Iordan betwixt it and them which seemed to forbid their farther passage and progress but it 's said Iosh. 3.17 The Priests that bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on the ground in the midst of Iordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Iordan Just so it is here The Covenant of Grace stands on firm ground in the midst of all the deep Waters of Tribulation you are to pass through to secure unto you a safe passage through them all Rejoyce therefore and triumph in the fulness and firmness of this blessed Covenant and whatsoever Affliction your God shall please to lay upon you or whatsoever Comfort he shall please to remove from you still comfort and encourage your selves as David here doth Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow FINIS A SERMON Preached for the Funeral OF THAT Excellent and Religious GENTLEMAN IOHN VPTON OF LUPTON Esq LONDON Printed for I. Harris at the Harrow against the Church in the Poultrey 1688. TEXT 2 Chron. 35.24 25. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had and they brought him to Ierusalem and he died and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers and all Iudah and Ierusalem mourned for Iosiah Ver. 25. And Ieremiah lamented for Iosiah and all the singing men and the singing-women spake of Iosiah in their lamentations to this day and made them an ordinance in Israel and behold they are written in the Lamentations IN this Context we have the History of the Pious Life and Tragical Death of good King Iosiah The History of his Life gives uâ— an account of both what he was and what he did As to his Personal Endowments and Qualifications they were singular and eximious as appears by the fourfold Character by which he is described in the Context for First He espoused the interest of Religion betimes even in his Youth cap. 34. ver 3. For in the eighth year of his reign while he was yet young he began to seek after the God of David his father And that under the great disadvantage of an ill Education such a Morning promised a glorious Day Secondly He hated all corruptive mixtures in the Worship of God and was answerably zealous for Reformation ibid. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Iudaâ— and Ierusalem from the high places and the groves c. as knowing well he and his people might expect no more of Gods blessing on the Ordinances than there was of his presence in them and no more of his presence can rationally be expected than there is of his own Order and Institution Thirdly He was of a very tender impressive heart mourning for publick sins and dangers ver 26 27. Because thy heart was tender and thou didst humble thy self before God when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof and humbledst
or no-where our redress is to be found Why seek we the living among the dead comfort from things that cannot yield it The Covenant can discover two things which are able to pacifie the most discomposed heart viz. 1. The good of Affliction 2. The end of Affliction 1. It will discover to us the good of Affliction and so rectifie our mistaken judgments about it God is not undoing but consulting our interest and happiness in all these dispensations It will satisfie us that in all these things he doth no more than what we our selves allow and approve in other cases It is not meerly from his pleasure but for our profit that these breaches are made upon our Families and Comforts Heb. 12.10 Who blames the Marriner for casting the Goods over board to save Ship and life in a storm or the Chirurgeon for lancing yea or cutting off a Leg or Arm to preserve the life of his Patient or Souldiers for burning or beating down the Suburbs to save the City in a siege And why must God only be censured for cutting off those things from us which he knows will hazard us in the 〈◊〉 of temptation he sees the lessâ— have of entanglement the mâ—â— promptness and fitness we 〈◊〉 have to go through the tryals 〈◊〉 are coming upon us and that the comforts he cuts off from 〈◊〉 Bodies goes to the profit and 〈◊〉 vantage of our Souls 2. Here you gain a sight 〈◊〉 only of the good of Affliction 〈◊〉 also of the comfortable end 〈◊〉 issue of Affliction This clouâ— and stormy morning will wind 〈◊〉 in a serene and pleasant eveninâ— There 's a vast difference betwâ—â— our meeting with Afflictions 〈◊〉 our parting from them You haâ—â— heard of the patience of Iob and 〈◊〉 seen the end of the Lord. O get 〈◊〉 Iob's Spirit under Affliction anâ— you may see as happy an end 〈◊〉 them as he did Had Naomy seen the end of 〈◊〉 Lord in taking away her Husband and starving her out of Moab 〈◊〉 would not have changed her name or said the Lord had dealt bitter with her in grafting her Daughteâ— by that Providence into the Noble Line out of which the Saviour of the World was to rise and could you but see that good in order to which all this train of troubles is â—aid you would not murmur or â—espond as you do Object 1. O but this is a grievous Stroke God hath smitten â—e in the apple of mine Eye and written bitter things against me No sorrow is like my sorrow 't is a mourning for an onely Son I have lost all in one Sol. 1. You can never lose all in one except that one be Christ and he being yours in Covenant can never be lost But your meaning is you have lost all of that kind in one no more Sons to build up your House and continue your Name 2. But yet Religion will not allow you to say that your dead Children are a lost Generation Praemittuntur non amittuntur They are sent before but not lost For they are a Covenant-seed by you dedicated to the Lord They were Children of many Prayers a great stock of Prayers was laiâ— up for them in them also yoâ— and all that knew them discerneâ— a teachable Spirit pious inclinaâ—tions and Conscience of secret duâ—ties some good things toward the Lord God of Israel as was saiâ— of young Abijah 1 King. 14 1â— So that you parted from them uâ— on far easier terms than good Dâ—â—vid parted from his Amnon Absâ—â—lom or Adonijah who died in theâ—â— sins and open rebellions Therâ— was a sting in his troubles whicâ— you feel not and if he comforte himself notwithstanding in thâ— Covenant of his God in this râ—â—spect may you much more Object 2. O but my Son wâ— cut off in the very Bud just whâ—â— the Fruits of Education were reâ—â—dy to disclose and open Sol. Let not that consideratioâ— so incense your sorrows Goâ— knows the fittest time both to givâ— and to take our comforts anâ— seeing you have good grounds 〈◊〉 hope your Child died interestâ—â— in the Covenant of God you have the less reason to insist upon that afflicting circumstance of an immature death He that dies in Christ hath lived long enough both for himself and us That Marriner hath sailed long enough that hath gained his Port and that Souldier fought long enough that hath won the Victory and that Child lived long enough that hath won Heaven how early soever he died Beside the sooner he died the less sin he hath committed and the less misery he saw and felt in this wretched World which we are left to behold and feel And it is but a vanity to imagine that the parting pull with him would have been easier if the enjoyment of him had been longer for the long enjoyment of desirable Comforts doth not use to weaken but abundantly to strengthen and fasten the tyes of affection Submit your Reason therefore as is meet to the Wisdom of God who certainly chose the fittest season for this Affliction O but No more Buts and Objections I beseech you Enough hath been offer'd from the Covenant of your God to silence all your Objections and to give you the ease and pleasure of a resigned Will. And what are all our Buts and Objections but a spurning at Divine Soveraignty and the thrusting in the Affliction deeper into your own hearts which are wounded but too deep already I perswade you not to put off but to regulate natural Affections To be without them would deservedly rank us among the worst of Heathens but rightly to bound and manage them would set you among the best of Christians I cannot imagine what ease or advantage holy Basil gained by such a particular and heart piercing account as he gave of a like Affliction with this nor to what purpose it can be to you to recal and recount those things which only incense and aggravate your troubles Doubtless your better way were to turn your thoughts from such subjects as these to your God in Covenant as David in the Text did and to recount the many great and inestimable mercies that are secured to you therein which death shall never smite or cut off from you as it doth your other enjoyments Quest. But yet unless we can in some measure clear our Covenant-interest all these excellent Cordials prepared will signifie no more to our relief than water spilt upon the ground help us therefore to do that or else all that hath been said is in vain How may a person discern his Covenant-right and interest Answ. This indeed is worthy of all consideration and deserves a serious answer forasmuch as it is fundamental to your comfort and all actual refreshment in times of trouble and will bring us to the next Use which is for tryal of our Covenant-interest VSE III. The great Question to be decided is Whether God be our Covenant-God and we his People A Question of the most solemn nature
his Spirit on them to your wounded Spirit and to all other godly Families groaning under the like Stroaks of God with you and remain MADAM Tour most faithful Sympathizing Friend and Servant Jo. Flavell THE Balm of the Covenant Applied to the BLEEDING WOUNDS OF Afflicted Saints TEXT 2 Sam. 23. v. 5. Although my house be not so with God yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow THese are part of David's last words The last words of dying Saints but especially of dying Prophets are ponderous memorable and extraordinarily remarkable and such are these acknowledged to be by all Expositors 't is a golden Sentence a divine Oracle fit to be the last words of every dying Saint as well as of David They are called his last words not simply and absolutely as though he breathed them forth with his last breath for he spake many things afterwards but either they are the last he spake as a Prophet by divine inspiration or because he had them often in his mouth to his last and dying day They were his Epicedium his sweet Swan like Song in which his Soul found singular Refreshment and strong Support amidst the manifold Aâ—â—â—ictions of his Life and against the Fears of his approaching Death The whole Chapter is designed for a Coronis or honourable Close of the Life of David and gives us an account both of the worthy Expressions that dropt from him and of the renowned Worthies that were employed by him but all the heroick Atchievements recorded to the honour of their Memories in the following part of the Chapter are trivial and inglorious things compared with this one divine Sentence recorded in my Text in which we have two things to consider viz. 1. The Preface which is exceeding solemn 2. The Speech it self which is exceeding weighty 1. In the Preface we have both the instrumental and principal efficient Cause of this divine Sentence distinctly set down ver 1. and the Efficient or Author of it v. 2. The Instrument or Organ of its conveyance to us was David described by his Descent or Lineage the Son of Iesse by his eminent Station the man that was raised up on high even to the top and culminating point of Civil and Spiritual Dignity and Honour both as a King and as a Prophet by his Divine Unction The anointed of the God of Iacob and lastly by the flowing sweetness of his Spirit and stile in the divine Psalms that were penned by him whence he here gets the Title of The sweet Psalmist of Israel the pleasant one in the Psalms of Israel as some read it The principal efficient Cause of this excellent passage is here likewise noted and all to commend it the more to our special observation and acceptance The spirit of God spake by me and his word was in my tongue This stamps my Text expresly with divine Authority The Spirit of God spake by David he was not the Author but only the Scribe of it Thus the ensuing Discourse is prefaced Let us next see 2. The Matter or Speech it self wherein we shall find the Maxims and general Rules of Government prescribed and the Felicity of such a Government elegantly described He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God. Princes being in Gods place must exalt the Righteousness of God in the government of men and when they do so they shall be as the Light of the Morning when the Sun riseth even a morning without Clouds c. What Halycon days shall that happy People see whose Lot is cast into such times and places All this is typically spoken of David and those pious Princes who succeeded him but mystically and eminently points at Christ who was to rise out of David's Seed Rom. 1.3 and to sit upon his Throne Acts 2.30 So that in this he was raised on high to an Eminency of Glory and Dignity indeed He was so in his ordinary natural Seed a Royal Race deriving it self from him and sitting upon his Throne in a Lineal Succession till the Babylonish Captivity which was about four hundred and thirty years And after that the Iews had Governours of his Line at least rightful Heirs to that Crown till the promised Messiah came But that which was the top of David's Honour the most sparkling Jewel in his Crown was this that the Lord Iesus was to descend from him according to the Flesh in whom all the glorious Characters before given should not only be exactly answered but abudantly exceeded And thus you find the natural Line of the Messiah is drawn down by Matthew from David to the Virgin Mary Matth. 1. and his Legal Line by Luke from David to Ioseph his supposed Father Luke 3.23 Now though the illustrious Marks and Characters of such a righteous serene and happy Government did not fully agree to his day nor would do so in the Reigns of his ordinary natural Successors his day was not without many Clouds both of Sin and Trouble yet such a blessed day he foresaw and rejoyced in when Christ the extraordinary Seed of David should arise and set up his Kingdom in the World and with the expectation hereof he greatly chears and encourages himself Although my house be not so with God yet hath be made with me an everlasting Covenant c. In which words four things are eminendy remarkable 1. Here is a sad Concession of Domestick Evils 2. A singular Relief from Gods Covenant with him 3. The glorious Properties of this Covenant display'd 4. The high esteem and dear regard his house had unto it 1. Here is David's sad and mournful Concession of the Evils of his House both Moral and Penal Although my house be not so with God i. e. neither so holy nor so happy as this description of a righteous and flourishing Government imports alas it answers not to it for though he was eminent for Godliness himself and had solemnly dedicated his House to God as soon as it was built yea though he piously resolved to walk in the midst of it with a perfect heart and not to suffer an immoral person within his Walls yet great miscarriages were found even in David's House and Person which God chastized him for by a thick succession of sharp and sore Afflictions Tamar was defiled by her Brother Amnon 2 Sam. 13.23 Amnon was barbarously murthered thereupon by the advice of Absalom 2 Sam. 13.28 Absalom unnaturally rebels against his Father David and drives him out of the Royal City and perishes in that Rebellion 2 Sam. 15.1 Then Adonijah another Darling-Son grasps at the Crown setled by David upon Salomon and perishes for that his Usurpation 1 King. 2.25 O what an heap of Mischiefs and Calamities did this good man live to see within his own Walls besides the many forreign Troubles that came from other hands How many
to it are both put out of hazard by that invaluable Promise They shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand Thus are all the Essentials of a Believers Happiness secured in the Covenant and these being safe the loss of other enjoyments should not much affect or wound them because if he enjoy them they add nothing to his Happiness and if he lose them he is still happy in God without them And this unriddles that AEnigmatical Expression of the Apostle As having nothing and yet possessing all things i. e. the substraction of all external things cannot make us miserable who have Christ for our portion and all our happiness intire in him If a man travelling on the Rode fall into the hands of Thieves who rob him of a few shillings why this doth not much affect him for though he have lost his spending Money yet his stock is safe at home and his Estate secure which will yield him more Or if a man have been at Court and there obtain'd a Pardon for his Life or a Grant of a Thousand pound per annum and returning home should chance to lose his Gloves or his Handkerchief sure if the man be in his wits he will not take on or mourn for the loss of these Trifles whilst the Pardon or Grant is safe Surely these things are not worth the mentioning 'T is true the loss of outward earthly things are to a Believer real Tryals yet they are but seeming Losses and therefore they are expressed in the Apostles phrase with a Tanquam sicut As chastened and not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoycing And if your losses be but as it were losses your sorrows should be but as it were sorrows Much like a Physick sickness which we do not call a proper sickness but as it were a sickness because it conduceth to the health and not the hurt of the Person as all God's medicinal Afflictions on his People also do Indeed if the stroke of God were at our Souls to cut them off from Christ and Heaven to raze our Names out of the Covenant or revoke the pardon of sin then we had cause enough to justifie the extremity of sorrow cause enough to weep out our eyes and break our hearts for such a dismal blow as that would be But blessed be God you stand out of the way of such strokes as these let God strike round about you or lay his hand upon any other comforts you possess he will never smite you in these essential things which is certainly enough to allay and relieve all your other sorrows My Name is blotted out of the Earth but still it is written in Heaven God hath taken my only son from me but he hath given his only Son for me and to me He hath broken off my hopes and expectations as to this World but my hopes of Heaven are fixed sure and immoveable for ever My house and heart are both in confusion and great disorder but I have still an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure I cannot say my son liveth â—ut I can still say I know that my Redeemer liveth The grass witherâ—th and the flower fadeth but the word of the Lord abideth for ever Isai. 40.8 Argument VI. As God strikes none of the subâ—stantial Mercies of his covenanâ— People so when he doth smiâ—â— their external and accidental Comâ—forts the Covenant of Grace 〈◊〉 sures them that even those strokeâ— are the strokes of Love and mâ— Wrath the Wounds of a Frienâ— and not of an Enemy which another singular relief to the afflâ—â—cted soul. The most frightful thing in an Affliction is the mark or characteâ— of God's Wrath which it seems 〈◊〉 bear take away that and the Afflâ—â—ction is nothing O Lord rebuke 〈◊〉 not in thine anger neither chasten 〈◊〉 in thy hot displeasure He doth noâ— deprecate the rebukes but the aâ—â—ger of God not his chastening but his hot displeasure Gods aâ—â—ger is much more terrible than hiâ— rebuking and his hot displeasurâ— than his chastening Thereforâ— he intreats that whatever God diâ— to him in the way of affliction he would do nothing in the way of wrath and then he could bear any thing from him A mark of divine anger ingraven upon any Affliction makes that Affliction dreadful to a gracious soul. But if a man be well satisfied that whatever anguish there be yet there is no anger but that the Rod is in the Hand of Love O how it eases the soul and lightens the burden Now this desirable point is abundantly cleared in the Covenant where we find a clear Consistence yea a necessary Connection betwixt the Love and the Rod of God Psal. 89.31 and Heb. 12.6 nay so far are the Afflictions of the Saints from being marks of his Wrath that they are the Fruits and Evidences of his Fatherly Love. Two men walking through the Streets see a company of Boys â—ighting one of them steps forth â—nd singles out one of those Boys â—nd carries him home to correct â—im which of the two think you is that Childs Father The câ—â— standing thus with all Gods People surely there is no reason foâ— their despondencies whatever theâ—â— Afflictions be Argument VII Lastly the Covenant doth noâ— only discover the consistence anâ— connection betwixt the Love anâ— the Rod of God but it also givâ— full satisfaction to the Saints thâ—â— whatsoever temporary Mercy theâ— are deprived of which was with in the Bond of the Covenanâ— when they enjoyed it is noâ— lost but shall certainly be restoreâ— to them again with a rich imâ—provement and that they shall enâ—joy it again to all eternity What a rare Model or Platforâ— of Consolatory Arguments haâ—â— the Apostle laid down to antidoâ—â— our immoderate sorrows for thâ— death of our dear Relatives whicâ— died interested in Christ and thâ— Covenant I would not have yoâ—â— â—gnorant brethren concerning them which are asleep v. 13. They are not dead but asleep Sleep is but 〈◊〉 Parenthesis to the Labours and Travels of this Life and it is but a partial privation not of the haâ—it but acts of Reason to which â—pon awaking the soul returns again Just such a thing is that â—hich in believers is commonly â—alled Death And we do not â—se to bewail our Friends because â—hey are fallen asleep And thereâ—â—re it no way becomes us to sorâ—ow as those that have no hope or to look upon them as lost 〈◊〉 as he strongly argueth and concludeth v. 14 their restoraâ—ion to their Bodies yea and to â—ur enjoyment again is fully seâ—â—red both to them and us by the Resurrection of Jesus from the â—ead The influence of his Reâ—â—rrection is by the Prophet Isaiah â—ompared to the Morning-dew 〈◊〉 shew that what vertue there is 〈◊〉 the Morning-dew to cause the â—nguishing Plants of the Earth to â—ive and flourish that and much more there is in the Resurrectioâ— of Christ to revive and quickeâ— the dead
Christ is far better Death to them is gain and infinite advantage Phil. 1.21.23 This World is the worst place that ever God designed his People to live in for if a state of perfect Holiness and Purity be better than a state of Temptation and Corruption if a state of Rest and Peace be better than a state of Labour and Sorrow if it be better to be triumphing above than sighing and groaning beneath then it 's better for departed Christians to be where they are than where they were And could they now communicate their minds to us by words as they lately did they would say to us as Christ said Luke 23.28 Daughter of Ierusalem weep not for us but weep for 〈◊〉 selves and for your children Or as he spake to his Disciples under their sad resentments of his departure Ioh. 14.28 If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I go to the Father So then no tears or sorrows are due to them or becoming us upon the account of any real loss or detriment they receive by death 2. Positively But the true grounds and causes of our Lamentations are upon divers other weighty accounts as First Because so much of the Spirit of God as dwelt in them when amongst us is now recall'd and gather'd up from this lower World. Those precious Graces which they exercised among us in Prayer Conference and other beneficial Duties are now gone with them to Heaven The Church had the benefit of them during their abode with men but now no more except only what the remembrance of their holy Words and instructive Examples whereby they still speak to us though dead may afford unto us There are choice effusions of the Spirit at the time of our Sanctification of which the Church reapeth the benefit whilst we live but all these are recall'd at our dissolution and thenceforth we can be no farther useful in this lower World for as the Soul is the subject in which these precious Graces inhere so they accompany and go along with the Soul into glory Now as it is a real loss to a Company when any Merchant withdraws a great Stock he had running in Trade out of the Bank so certainly it is a great loss to the Church of God when the precious gifts and graces of the Spirit dwelling in the Saints are drawn out by Death so as the Church can have no farther benefit by them their Prayers for us and with us are now ended Abraham knoweth us not and Israel is ignorant of us Secondly The death of the Saints deserves a bitter lamentation because thereby a breach is made a gap opened to let in the Judgments of God upon the Remnant that is left It is said of Moses Psal. 106.23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach lest he should destroy them A Metaphor from a besieged City when a breach is made in the Walls and an Enemy ready to enter but some Champion stands in the breach to defend the City Such a Champion was Moses who by his constant and fervent Prayers put a stop to the inundation of God's Judgments against Israel And such another was Lot Gen. 19.22 whose Prayers for that wicked place he lived in bound up the hand of Judgment insomuch as the Lord told him I can do nothing till thou art gone But when the Lord by death removes such men he thereby makes a way to his anger as the expression is Psal. 78.50 Hence the death of eminent Saints especially when many are taken away at or near the same time hath been ever look'd upon as a direful Omen and dreadful Presage of ensuing Judgments and that not without good Scripture-authority Isai. 57.1 The righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come Thus Methusalah whose very Name signified a Flood cometh died the year before the Flood Augustin a little before the sacking of Hyppo Pareus a little before the taking of Hydelberg And Luther before the Wars brake out in Germany Death as a Pioneer clears the way to a Troop of Miseries following after This therefore is a just and weighty ground of our lamentations for the death of useful and goodly men Thirdly The beauty and ornaments of the places they lived in is defaced and removed by their death they look not like themselves when the godly are removed out of them for as wicked men are the spots and blemishes so good men are the beauty and ornaments of their Country A good man was wont to say of Mr. Barrington of Barrington-Hall in Essex Methinks the Town is not at home when Mr. Barrington is out of Town How desolate and dismal doth a Family look whatever other Ornaments be about it when the Religious Governour of it is gone Take away good men from their Families and Country and what are they but like a Vineyard when the Vintage is past as the Prophet speaks Micha 7.1 Fourthly The death of good men deserves a bitter Lamentation because thereby the passage of the Gospel and propagation of Religion is obstructed in the places from whence they are removed Of how great use in a Country may one zealous publick-spirited man be Hundreds may have cause to bless God for such a man. It was the Apostles desire to the Thessalonians To pray that the word of the Lord may have its free course that it might run and be glorified 2 Thess. 3.1 The removal of such a person as naturally took care for the souls of those that were about him to provide food for them is no small loss nor lightly to be passed over Fifthly The consideration of the time in which good men die aggravates the loss and justly incenses the sorrow of them that remain and that upon a threefold account 1. That it falls out in the declining state of Religion when the Spirit and power of Godliness is so much weakned and impoverished This is like the loss of good Bloud in a consumptive Body which must bring it very low 2. That it falls out also in a time when the numbers of the Godly are so much thinn'd and lessen'd not when the Churches Children say in her Ears The place is too straight give place that we may dwell but when they are every-where lamenting the paucity and scarcity of good men as the Psalmist did Psal. 12.1 Help Lord for the godly man ceaseth for the righteous fail from among the children of men At a time when they are bewailing themselves in the language of the Prophet Micah 7.1 Wo is me for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits as the grape-gleanings of the vintage there is no cluster to eat my soul desired the first ripe fruit Alluding to a hungry man that goes into a Vineyard to refresh his spirits with the fruit thereof but alas there is
a man with due qualifications for the service of the Church and Common-wealth England doth not so abound with pious zealous and faithful Gentlemen at this time but that it may sensibly feel the loss of such a man. Secondly More particularly let the Ministers of Christ lament his fall as Ieremiah did the fall of Iosiah in the Text. He was a true Friend to Christ's faithful Ministers and had them in honour for their work sake 'T is true he hath no more need of us he is now wiser than his Teachers but we greatly need him and men of his Spirit in such a dull degenerate Age as we live in Thirdly And most particularly I shall apply and close all with a few words of Counsel to the dear and now desolate Relict of this Worthy Person whose sad lot it is this day to over-live the mercies and comforts she once enjoyed in him Madam God hath this day covered you with Sables written bitter things against you broken you with breach upon breach Your sorrows need not be excited but regulated 'T is my trouble that I cannot discharge my duty to the memory of your dear Husband without exasperating your Griefs which alas were too acute before but Rods have their voices Blessed is the man whom God correcteth and teacheth him out of his Law. Hear you the Rod and who hath appointed it and oh that your Soul may this day take in these necessary Counsels and Cautions without which your Afflictions cannot be sanctified to the advantage of your Soul. And 1. Learn from hence the vanity of the Creature the emptiness and nothingness of the best things here below How hath God made your best comforts on Earth to shrink up and vanish into nothing How do our fancies varnish and guild over these empty Bubbles What great expectations are we apt to raise from them How apt to fall asleep in the bosoms or laps of earthly Enjoyments and say with Iob I shall die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand When loe in a moment the projects and expectations of many years are over-turned Oh what a difference will you find betwixt hope founded in Christ Comforts drawn out of the Promises and the flattering Comforts and vain hopes founded in the Creature whose breath is in its Nostrils 'T is time for you and for us all to wean off from this vain World mortifie our Fancies and Affections to it and place them where they shall not be capable of disappointment 2. Guard carefully I beseech you against those Temptations which probably may accompany this Affliction It may be Satan will suggest to your heart what he once put into their lips Mal. 3.14 What profit is it that we have kept his ordinances and walked mournfully before him Where is the fruit of Prayer What good have I seen of Fasting What hath Religion availed Do not prayerless and ungodly Families thrive and prosper Beware of this Madam I doubt not but you will acknowledge there have been sins and provocations within your walls yea within your heart for which God may as justly and severely judge your house as he did Ely's Remember the rewards of Religion are not in this World and should we speak thus we shall offend against the generation of his Children All we must expect from Religion is to save our souls by it 3. Call not the love of God into question to your self or yours because of these severe stroaks of God upon you and them You know Iosiah was dear to God yet he died in the prime of his days by a violent hand remote from his own home and was brought home in the second Chariot to Ierusalem a Spectacle of far greater sorrow than your dear Husband was and yet notwithstanding all these sad circumstances of his death the Promise of his God was punctually performed to him that he should die in peace and not behold the Evil that was to come There is a vanity saith Solomon which is done upon the earth that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked again there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous Eccles. 8.14 But then remember that it is but in the Earth here or no-where God must chastize his Children 4. See that you maintain that holy course of Religious Exercises in your Family and in your Closet wherein he walked so exemplarily before you Let Religion live though he be dead and convince the World I pray you that it was Gods influence and not your Husbands only which was the Spring and Principle of this holy Course 5. Strive not with your Maker nor fret against the Lord under this irksome and painful Dispensation Remember there is a Woe hanging over this sin Isai. 45.9 10. Woe to him that striveth with his Maker There is a twofold striving of men with God one lawful and commendable when we strive with him upon the knee of importunity in Prayer thus Iacob wrestled with God and prevailed Hos. 12.4 the other is highly sinful and dangerous when we presume to censure or accuse any of his works as defective in wisdom or goodness He that reproveth God let him answer it i. e. at his peril be it This sinful striving with God is twofold either Vocal or Mental 1. Vocal when men in bold blasphemous language arraign the Wisdom Power Goodness or Faithfulness of the Lord at the bar of their own Reason and there condemn them setting their mouths against the Heavens Psal. 73.8 9. this is the sin of the wicked yea of the first-born sons of wickedness 2. Mental in inward frets murmurs repinings against God Prov. 19.3 The foolishness of man perverts his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord. The heart may cry out impatiently against God when the tongue is silent And if the frets and murmurs of the heart be as indeed they are interpretatively no better than a striving with our Maker then this sin will be found more common among good men in the Paroxisms of Affliction than we imagine It will be necessary therefore for your sake and the sakes of many more in a like state of Affliction with you to stay a while upon this head and consider these following Queries Query 1. How far we may enquire expostulate and complain in times of Affliction without sin Query 2. Wherein lies the sinfulness and danger of exceeding these bounds Query 3. What Considerations are most proper and powerful to restrain the afflicted soul from this sinful excess Query 1. How far we may enquire of God expostulate with him and complain to him in time of Affliction without sin 1. We may humbly enquire into the causes and reasons of Gods displeasure against us not to seek matter for our Iustification but Direction in the work of our Humiliation So David enquired about the three years Famine and the Lord inform'd him for whose sake and for what sin it was 2 Sam.