Gods dealing in the cases aforesaid Not that then or there any new essential addition or accession shall accrue to Gods justice to mend or make up any former default or defect therein but his proceedings which before wanted not clearness in themselves but clearing to our eyes shall then be pronounced declared and adjudged just in the presence of divels men and Angels so that ignorance shall not doubt nor impudence dare to denie the truth thereof But before we take our final farewel of the words in our Text know they are also capable of another sense I have seen the righteous man perish in his righteousness that is I have seen a good man continuing in goodness and snatched away in the prime of his years whilest wicked men persisting in their profaness have prolonged their lives to the utmost possibilitie of nature I confess S. Paul will in no case alow the word perishing to be applied to the Death of the godly but startles at the expression as conteining some Pagan impietie therein pointing at it as an Atheistical position Then * 1. Cor. 15. 18. they also which are faln asleep in Christ are perished However in a qualified sence not for a total extinction but temporal suspension of them in this world the Prophet pronounceth it of a just mans death * Isaiah 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to his heart Yet as if suspecting some ill use might be made of that term perishing in the next words he mollifieth the harshness thereof and who best might expounds his own meaning The righteous man is taken away from the evil to come Indeed when a just man dieth with * Gen. 25. 8. Abraham in a good old age he is not properly said to be taken away but Scripture phrase to tarrie till God comes Thus when Peter was very inquisitive to know how John should be disposed of Christ answered him If I * John 21. 22. will that he tarrie till I come what is that to thee John of all the Jurie of the Apostles died in his bed a thorow old man of temper and temperance of a strong and healthful natural constitution moderate in diet passions and recreations * 1. Kings 14. 13. Abijah and Josiah may be instances are cut off by an untimely death such are properly said to be taken away Now even such men God not onely without the least stain to his Justice but in great manifestation of his mercie may cause to perish Or if that be too harsh a tearm may take them away from the evil to come And that in three several Acceptions First To keep him from that Evil of sin which God in his wisdom foresees the good man would commit if living longer and left to those manifold tempations which future times growing daily worse worse would present to press on him True it is God could by his restraining and effectual Grace keep him though surviving in sinfull times from being polluted therewith But being a free Agent he will vary the ways of his working sometimes keeping men in the hour of temptation sometimes from the * Rev. 3. 10. hour of temptation The latter he doth sometimes by keeping the hour from coming to them or rather from coming to the hour making them to fall short thereof and preventing their approch thereunto by taking them away in a speedie death Thus mothers and nursses suspecting their children would too much play the wantons disgrace them and wrong themselves when much companie is expected at their houses haste them to bed betimes even before their ordinarie hour Secondly From the evils to sin which other men would commit and he behold to the great grief and anguish of his heart * 2. Pet. 2. 8. Lot-like for that Righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawfull deeds Manifold uses might be made of the Just man thus perishing in his righteousness First men ought to be affected with true sorrow thereat Yet the Prophet saith The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to his heart Surely his wife or children will or else the more unworthy happily he hath none when dying His kindred will except which is impossible with Melchisedech he be without father without * Hebr. 7. 3. mother without descent His friends will though rather the rich than the righteous have friends whilest living and leave them when dying But to satisfie all objections at once By none are meant very few inconsiderable in respect of those multitudes that pass the righteous mans death unrespected Paralel to that place in the Proverbs * Prov. 2. 19 None that go to her return again neither take they hold of the path of life Not that adulterie is the sin against the holy Ghost unpardonable but vestigia pauca retrorsum Be thou by an holy Riddle One among that None I mean a mourner in Sion for the righteous mans death amongst those very very few who lay it to their hearts Secondly Men from hence are seriously to collect and apply to themselves the doctrine of their mortalities when they see the righteous man perish in his righteousness There is a bird peculiar to Ireland called the Cock of the Wood remarkable for the fine flesh and follie thereof All the difficultie to kill them is to find them out otherwise a mean marksman may easily kill them They flie in woods in flocks and if one of them be shot the rest remove not but to the next bow or tree at the farthest and there stand staring at the shooter till the whole covie be destroyed As foolish as the bird is it is wise enough to be the embleme of the wisest men in point of mortalitie Death sweeps away one and one and one and the rest remain no whit moved at or minding of it till at last a whole generation is consumed It fareth with the most mens lives as with the sand in this hypocritical hour-glass behold it in outward appearance and it seemeth far more than it is because rising up upon the sides whilest the sand is emptie and hollow in the midst thereof so that when it sinks down in an instant a quarter of an hour is gone in a moment Thus many men are mistaken in their own account reckoning upon three-score and ten years the age of man because their bodies appear outwardly strong and lustie Alass their health may be hollow there may be some inward infirmitie and imperfection unknown unto them so that death may surprise them on a suddain Thirdly They are to take notice of Gods anger with that place from which the righteous man is taken away Solomon speaking of the * Eccl. 7. 2. death of an ordinarie man saith The living will lay it to heart But when a righteous man is taken away the living ought to lay it to the very Heart of their heart especially if he be a Magistrate or Minister of eminent note When the eye-strings break the heart-strings hold not out long after and when the seers are taken away it is a sad symtome of a languishing Church or Common-wealth Lastly Men ought to imitate the virtuous examples of such as are dead * Exod. 14. 20. The cloud and pillar at the Red-sea was bright toward the Israelites to guid and direct them with the light thereof but the reverse or back-part thereof was dark towards the Egyptians In the best men there is such a mixture of light and darkness who with their virtues have many faults failings and infirmities Well let the Egyptian walk by his dark side follow his faults whilest the Israel of God all pious people endeavour to imitate his virtues directed in their conversations by the luster of his godly examples That so as Herod hearing of the fame of Christ conceived * Matth. 14. 2. that John Baptist was risen again from the dead so let us labour that our virtuous lives may give just cause for others to conceive that those righteous men which have perished in their righteousness those champions of Christianitie and worthie Heroes of holiness long since deceased are revived again and have in us a miraculous resurrection FINIS
disconsolate with soft paces sad looks and sorrowful hearts all their children they are ready to call and christen * 1 Sam. 4. 21. Ichobods the glorie is departed from Israel being affected like the Citizens of Jerusalem besieged by Senacherib their hearts are like the trees of the wood * Isaiah 7. 2. moved with the wind But let such droopers know that herein they offend God and wrong themselves and let them gird up their loins and tie up their spirits at the serious consideration that God in due time will raise them out of the dust maintain his own cause and confound his enemies The third sort of people are the Arguers or Disputers who being of a middle temper neither haughtie nor stomachful neither low nor dejected and withal being good men embrace a middle course neither to fret nor dispute but calmly to reason out the matter with God himself Of this latter sort was the Prophet Jeremie who thus addresseth himself unto the Lord * Jer. 12. 1. Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy judgements wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper wherefore are they happie that deal very treacherously The good man could not conceive Gods proceedings and although he kept to the conclusion Righteous art thou O Lord yet his heart was hot within him and he would fain be exchanging an argument with God that all was not right according to his humane capacity Job also was one of these Arguers in the agonie of his passion * Job 16. 21. Oh that one might plead for a man with God as a man pleadeth for his neighbour But let flesh and bloud take heed of entering the lists by way of challenge with God himself * Acts 6. 9 10. If the synagogue of the Libertines and Cyrenians and Alexandrians and of them of Silicia and of Asia disputing with Stephen were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake much less can frail flesh hope to make good a bad cause by way of opposition against God the best and wisest Answerer Remember the Apostles question * 1 Cor. 1. 20. Where is the disputer But if we should be so bold in humility to examine Gods proceedings let us take heed lest whilest we dispute with God Satan insensible prompts us such reasons as are seemingly unanswerable in our apprehensions so that in stead of being too hard for God which is impossible men become too hard for themselves raising such spirits which they cannot quell and starting such doubts which they cannot satisfie Wherefore let not our ignorance be counted Gods injustice let not the dimness of our eyes be esteemed the durtiness of his actions being all puritie and cleanness in themselves Let us if beaten from our out-works make a safe retreat to this impregnable castle Jeremie his conclusion Righteous art thou O Lord c. Come we now to the good uses that the godly ought to make of a righteous mans perishing in his righteousness And first when he finds such an one in a swoun he ought with all speed to bring him a cordial and with the good * Luke 10. 34. Samaritane to pour oil and wine into his wounds endeavouring his recoverie to his utmost power whilest there is any hope thereof I must confess it is onely Gods prerogative * Psal 79. 11. according to the greatness of his power to preserve those that are appointed to die However it is also the boundant dutie of all pious people in their several distances and degrees to improve their utmost for the preservation of dying innocencie from the crueltie of such as would murder it But if it be impossible to save it from death so that it doth expire notwithstanding all their care to the contrarie they must then turn lamenters at the funerals thereof And if the iniquitie of the times will not safely afford them to be open they must be close Mourners at so sorrowful an accident O let the most cunning Chyrurgeon not begrutch their skill to unbowel the richest Merchants not think much of their choisest spices to embalm the most exquisite Joyner make the coffin most reverend Divine the Funeral Sermon the most accurate Marbler erect the Monument and most renowned Poet invent the Epitaph to be inscribed on the tomb of Perishing Righteousness Whilest all others wel-wishers to goodness in their several places contribute to their sorrow at the solemn Obsequies thereof yea as in the case of Josiah his death let there be an Anniversarie of Mourning kept in remembrance thereof However let them not mourn like men without hope but let them behave themselves at the interment of his righteousness as confident of the resurrection thereof which God in his due time shall raise out of the ashes It is sown in weakness it shall be raised in power it is sown in disgrace it shall be raised in glorie Lastly the temporal perishing of the righteous man in this world minds us of the necessitie of the day of Judgement and ought to edge and quicken our prayers that God would shortly accomplish the number of his elect consummate this miserable world put a period to the dark night of his proceedings that so that day that welcome day may begin to dawn which is termed by the Apostle * Rom. 2. 5. The day of the revelation of the righteous judgement of God Five things there are besides many other in the primitive part of Gods justice which are very hard for men to conceive First How the sin of Adam to which we did never personally consent can justly be imputed to us his posteritie Secondly How Infants who never committed actual sin are subject to death and which is more to damnation it self Thirdly How God can actually harden the hearts of some as he did * Exod. 14. 4. Pharaohs and yet not be in the least degree accessarie to sin and the authour thereof Fourthly How the Americans can justly be condemned to whom the sound of the Gospel was never trumpeted forth and they by their invincible ignorance uncapable of Gods will in his word Lastly How God as it is in the Text can suffer righteous men to perish in their righteousness and wicked men to flourish in their iniquitie In all these a thin veil may seem to hang before them so that we have not a full and free view of the reasons of Gods proceedings herein yet so as that under and thorow this veil we discover enough in modestie and sobrietie to satisfie our selves though perchance unable to utter what in part we apprehend we cannot effectually remove all the scruples which the pious nor all the cavils which the profane man brings against us But at the day of judgement at the revelation of the righteous judgement of God this veil shall be turned back or rather totally taken away so all shall plainly and perspicuously perceive the justice of
will be abated for to day I suffer as an offender for the punnishment justly imposed by God on our sex for our disobedience and breach of his law but to morrow I shall die for the testimony of the truth in the defence of Gods glory and his true Religion Thus it is strange to see what alacrity a good cause infuseth into a righteous man deriving comfort into his heart by insensible conveiances so that he embraceth even death it self with a smiling countenance feeding his soul on the continual feast of a clear conscience Besides this it clears divine Justice and comforts the righteous man perishing temporally in his righteousness that his Cause shall be heard over again and rejudged in an other world If one conceive himself wronged in the Hundred or any inferiour Court he may by a certiorari or an accedas ad curiam remove it to the Kings-Bench or Common-Pleas as he is advised best for his own advantage If he apprehendeth himself injured in these Courts he may with a Writ of Error remove it to have it argued by all the Judges in the Exchequer-chamber If here also he conceiveth himself to find no justice he may with an Injunction out of the Chancery stop their proceedings But if in the Chancery he reputeth himself agreeved he may thence appeal to the God of heaven and earth who in another world will vindicate his right and severely punish such as have wilfully offered wrong unto him And so much to assert Gods justice in suffering the righteous man to perish in his righteousness Now on the other side God may without any prejudice to his justice suffer wicked men for a time to thrive in this world and not suddenly surprise them with punishment so giving them a * Rev. 2. 21. space to repent if they would but make use thereof Indeed David saith * Psal 140. 11. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him But God is a fair hunter he might in the rigour of his justice knock wicked men down as he finds them sitting in their forms But God will give them fair law they shall for a time run yea sport themselves before his judgements ere they are pleased to overtake them Know also to the farther clearing of his justice that wicked men notwithstanding their thriving in badness for a time are partly punished in this world with a constant corrosive of a guiltie conscience which they carrie about them The Probationer-Disciple said to our Saviour * Mat. 8. 19 Master I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest what is promised by him is performed by a guiltie conscience that Squire of the bodie alwayes officious to attend a malefactour Fast and I will follow thee and thy emptie bodie shall not be so full of wind as thy mind of dismal apprehensions feast and I will follow thee and as the * Dan. 5. 5. hand on the wall bring in the sad reckoning for thy large bill of fare stay at home and I will follow thee ride abroad and I will follow thee or else meet thee in the way with my naked sword as the Angel did * Num. 22. 23. Balaam wake and I will follow thee sleep and I will follow thee and affright thee with hideous fancies and terrible dreams as I did King Richard the third the night before his death I have read of one who undertook in few dayes to make a fat sheep lean and yet was to allow him a daily and large provision of meat soft and easie lodging with securitie from all danger that nothing should hurt him This he effected by putting him into an iron-grate and placing a ravenous wolf hard by in another alwaies howling fighting senting scratching at the poor sheep which affrighted with this sad sound and worse sight had little joy to eat less to sleep whereby his flesh was suddenly abated But wicked men have the terrors of an affrighted conscience constantly not onely barking at them but biting of them which dissweetens their most delicious mirth with the sad consideration of the sins they have committed and punishment they must undergo when in another world they shall be called to account This thought alone makes their souls lean how fat soever their bodies may appear And as sores and wounds commonly smart ake and throb most the nearer it is to night so the anguish and torture of a guiltie conscience increaseth the nearer men apprehend themselves to the day of their death Now not onely wicked men but even the children of God because of the corruption of their hearts too often make bad uses to themselves of the righteous mans perishing in his righteousness These may be divided into three ranks 1. Such as fret at Gods proceedings herein 2. Such as droop under Gods proceedings herein 3. Such as argue with Gods proceedings herein The first are the fretters for if the perishing of the righteous cometh to the serious observation of a high-spirited man one of a stout and valiant heart he will scarce brook it without some anger and indignation fuming and chafing thereat Thus David we know was a man of valour of a martial and warlike spirit and he confesseth of himself that beholding the prosperitie of the wicked * Psal 73. 21. his heart was grived and he was pricked in his reins Nor was it meer grief possessed him but a mixture of much impatience as appears by that counsel which in like case in one Psalm he gave himself three several times * Psal 37. 1 7 8. Fret not thy self because of evil doers and again fret not thy self because of him who prospereth in his way and the third time fret not thy self in any wise Our Saviour observeth that there are a sturdie kind of devils that will not be cast out save * Matt. 17. 21. by fasting and prayer But this humour of fretting and repining at Gods proceedings herein which he understood not could not be ejected out of David but by prayer no doubt and that very solemnly not at home but in Gods temple * Psal 73. 16. When I thought to know all this it was too painful for me until I went into the Sanctuarie of God there understood I their end O let men of high spirits and stout hearts not lavish their valour and misspend their courage to chafe and fume at such accidents venting good spirits the wrong way but rather reserve their magnanimous resolutions for better services and besides their private devotions address themselves with David to Gods publick worship in his house who in his due time will unriddle unto him the equitie of his proceedings But if men be of low and mean spirits pusillanimous and heartless natures and if these narrow souls in them meet with melanchollie and heavie tempers such fall a drooping yea despairing at the perishing of the righteous they give all over for lost concluding there is no hope they rather languish than live walking up and down