Sincerity I will add but one thing more and so I shall have done with this first part of the Text it is to mind you of that Scripture you have in Ecclesiastes 7.29 God made man upright at first but he sought out many inventions This Uprightness my Brethren was a part of that perfection wherewith Man was endow'd in his Primitive state but man had no sooner fallen but presently he discovered the doubling of his Spirit with God and seeks for hidings and coverings to himself Since the fall our hearts are as full of this deceit this falshood as ever they can hold the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all that we are able to know we have the poison of the Serpent in us and are become full of turnings and windings you may see it in your little Children one of the first things they learn is to lye and to equivocate and to excuse and to hide things and to play the Hypocrites I say we have it all in us by Nature By Nature we do seek our selves and aim at our selves in all we do and not God Do not think that the Pharisees only were prone to this Hypocrisie to draw nigh to God with their lips and to have their hearts far from him or to do Duties to be seen of men I tell you we have every one a Pharisee in our bellies therefore we have need to beg of God that he would make us upright again and to pray as David did Lord create in me a new heart and renew a right spirit within me I come now to speak of his death and I see I must be shortest there where I thought to have been longest having been longest already where I intended to be shortest well the end of this man is peace His end is peace in a twofold opposition First To a wicked man though his life may be pleasant and his way smooth and strew'd with Roses yet his end is bitterness his Death-bed stuft with Thorns as the Cloud which had a bright side toward the Israelites had a dark side to the Egyptians so Death that hath a bright side to a godly man it hath a dark and blackside towards a wicked man as they say in Logick the conclusion always follows the worser part So it is with the wicked his conclusion follows the worser part of his premises Secondly His end is peace in opposition to his own life Perhaps a godly mans life may be full of trouble he may meet with many Temptations with great Trials but his end is peace he shall be brought to a quiet Port and land on a shore of Rest But how is a godly mans end peace and why is it peace Let me speak a little of these two How is his end peace His end is peace these five ways First If you take Peace for Peace with men so his end is Peace he doth endeavour as much as in him lies to live peaceably with all men and he desires to die in peace with all men As he did not live in Quarrels so he doth not die in Quarrels he doth not suffer the Sun of his Life to go down upon his Wrath. Possibly men are at War with him malign him persecute him even unto death as they did Stephen yet he is at amity with them and prays Lord lay not this sin to their charge And with Christ Father forgive them for they know not what they do He hath learnt that Lesson which Nature will never teach a man Matth. 5 To love his Enemies to bless them that curse him to pray for them which despightfully use him Secondly They have peace with Angels for when they die these blessed Spirits do conduct and accompany their departing Souls unto Abrahams bosom Luke 16.22 and at the Resurrection will gather together the bodies of the Elect from all corners of the Earth where their dust hath been scattered Heb. 1.17 We read how Angels who are Executioners of Gods Judgments upon the wicked do stand ready to avenge the quarrel of God upon his Enemies as Joab the Captain of David's Host was ready to have taken off Shimei's head when he cursed the King if he had but said the word These Angels which are the Hosts of God are sent forth as ministring Spirits as friends to the Saints Thirdly His end is peace with God God is reconcil'd to him and he is reconcil'd to God and to all his ways being justified by faith we have peace with God no more anger in his Bosom no more frowns in his Face towards him but all his anger is turned into Love Oh that peace of God which passeth all understanding that fills his heart and mind What a sweet thing is it my Brethren to be at peace with that God whom we have so offended by our Sins to have his Face smiling upon us and his Arms embracing us Who knows the sweetness of such smiles but those that have felt his frowns therefore Christ calls them his Friends for a man when he lies sick to have the bosom of a reconciled God and Father to be his pillow and when he dies to die in the Arms of Christ this must make it sweet dying indeed Fourthly He hath peace in his own Conscience peace in his own Bosom This is our rejoycing the testimony of a good conscience and that bird in the bosom does oftentimes sing most sweetly when the man draws nearest to his death Great peace have they that love thy law says the Psalmist and nothing shall offend them thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee This follows upon our reconciliation with God peace of Conscience that is more worth than a Thousand worlds and to have Conscience to be our enemy continually accusing and upbraiding of us striking us with fear to have the worm gnawing in the Soul before the worms are feeding on the flesh This is a continual dropping this is an Hell upon earth As a good Conscience is a Heaven begun so an evil guilty Conscience is a Hell begun That is a fourth thing they have peace of Conscience as the sting of death is taken away so the sting of Conscience is taken away likewise Fifthly and lastly His end is peace for he enters into peace into full and perfect peace so in Isaiah 57.1 2 Where the Prophet is bemoaning the righteous mans death that no man lays it to heart he shews that they need not lay his death to heart in reference to him for he enters into peace And so Simeon Luk. 2.29 30 Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation and blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours In the Third Region the upper Region of the Air they say there are no Clouds nor Storms no Thunder nor Lightning In the Third Heavens in those coelestial Mansions I am sure there are no troubles no
storms no fears no temptations but everlasting rest and peace But why is this Mans end peace It must needs be peace with him in the 〈◊〉 for the God whom he serves he is 〈…〉 and the Christ in whom he beâ—â—â—â— the Prince of peace and the Spirit that dwells in 〈◊〉 the fruits of that spirit is joy and peaces and the Gospel that is Prach'd it is call'd the 〈…〉 and the Ministers that are his Teachâ—â—â— the Ambassadors of peace their work is 〈◊〉 publish peace and the Kingdom of God in which they are or rather which is in them it does consist in peace in righteousness and joy in the holy Ghost and 〈◊〉 Covenant that is between God and them it is a Covenant of peace and the great Benediction and blessing of the Gospel it is grace and peace and they themselves are stiled the sons of peace and the children of peace and therefore they must needs have peace in the end I must not speak to all these I will content my self only with these two grounds of the point First A godly mans end must needs be peace upon this ground Because Jesus Christ hath made his peace procur'd his peace and left peace to him he made peace for us Col. 1 2â— Having made peace through the blood of his cross and the chastisement of our peace was upon him Sin had made a breach between Heaven and Earth and Christ comes to stand in the gap and take up all quarrels and therefore having made peace when 〈…〉 to dye he bequeath'd peace to all his people as their 〈◊〉 Joh. 4.27 Peace I leave with you 〈…〉 unto you not as the world 〈…〉 your heart be troubled neither 〈…〉 And the Spirit the Holy Ghost 〈…〉 â—â—â—ecutor who is a faithful 〈…〉 peace to the Soul he is the Dove that brings this Olive-branch of peace to the Soul to tell us that the Waters of Gods anger are alswag'd Secondly The end of a godly man must 〈…〉 peace too upon this account Because all 〈…〉 are remov'd and taken out of the way 〈…〉 his peace Sin and Satan the two 〈…〉 and disturbers of our peace are taken 〈…〉 1. Sin What makes God frown upon 〈…〉 and what makes us afraid of God but 〈…〉 saith Christ thy sins are forgiven thee And when sin the cause of the breach is remov'd then peace must needs follow Now all sin is fully pardon'd and forgiven to the godly Man God hath remov'd his sins from him as far as the East is from the West What then should hinder his peace And as there is no sin that is left unpardon'd by God so there is no sin that is unrepented of by the godly Man and therefore peace must needs follow when God puts away our sin by pardoning it and we put away our sin too by repenting of it then peace follows God puts away our sins as far as the East is from the West so as 〈◊〉 to remember them more and when we part away our 〈◊〉 as far as the East is from the West so as never to return to them any more 〈◊〉 follows peace indeed While sin is unrepented of never look for peace when any sin is indulg'd in the Soul there cannot be peace with God whiles we are at peace with any sin one known sin kept up in thy heart is enough to breed an everlasting war between God and thy Soul But now when God puts away sin by pardoning and we put away all sin by repenting and renouncing 〈…〉 every weapon of war then peace 〈…〉 2. And then the Devil who is the great Accuser of the Brethren and Enemy of our peace he is destroy'd That by death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 What power hath the Devil over Death not of a Judg but of a Jaylor and Executioner having destroyed him How is the Devil destroyed by Christ not as to his being but power which he had to make Death terrible Well then if Sin be taken out of the way and the Devil be destroyed too then peace must needs follow to the godly man I know there is an Objejection may be made You say that the godly man hath peace in his end What are there not some whom we have cause to judg are perfect and upright men and yet have died far from this peace they have set in a Cloud died in a dark and disconsolate state For answer to that I will only say these two things First That the most general Rule may have some exceptions though this be laid down as a general Rule in Scripture yet God may make some exceptions to it it is possible a good conscience may be an unquiet conscience though 't is a rare thing for a godly man to die without any peace for the righteous hath hope in his death Secondly I say That though a godly man may not always have peace in his death as to his own sense and apprehension yet his state is a state of peace and reconciliation with God though his peace be not always clear yet it is always sure A wicked man may have no bonds in his death and yet his estate may be never the better for that and a godly man may sometimes die full of fears and tremblings and yet his estate be never the worse for that He hath matter for peace and his trouble is for want of understanding things aright though he sets in a Cloud in this life yet he rises without a Cloud in the other life There is a third part of the Doctrine behind that I should have spoken to and that is our Duty to mark this perfect man and behold this upright man And I might have shown you wherein we should mark him Mark him 1. In his Ingress in his entrance upon the ways of God mark him in his conversion to God in his turning from sin to God 2. Mark him in his Progress how he holds on in the ways of God how he walks with God Thirdly Mark him in his Regress how he returns again if at any time he go out of the way if he do fall and be overtaken how he rises again by repentance Mark how he confesses his sius and sincerely bewails them and does not excuse them as Saul did And Lastly Mark him in his Egress how he goes out of the World how he dyes and if the dying speeches of Gods Children had all been recorded it would have been a Book more worth than Gold In all these respects there are many things in the godly that are worth our observation the truth is there is no man else in the World that is hardly worth the looking at but the Godly man As the Prophet said to that great King 2 Kings 3.14 As the Lord of Hosts liveth before whom I stand were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah I would not look towards thee nor see thee Though he was a
next verse Yet he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found He is soon wither'd root and branch all his pomp and bravery it does quickly end in dust and ashes Now in opposition to this the Prophet does here draw the Picture of a godly man and he gives us these two lineaments of him he calls him the perfect man and the upright That is the Picture of his Life And then he gives us the Picture of his Death too or of him dying and so his end is peace Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The observation or lesson I shall commend to you is this It is our duty to observe and take special notice of the good and godly man both in his life and death Such as are holy gracious and godly men it is good for us to observe them living and dying to mark how perfectly and uprightly they live and behold how peaceably and comfortably they dye Here are three things to be spoken too 1. The Life of the godly man 2. His Death And 3. Our duty with reference to him in both these First Let us a little view the Life of this godly man as 't is given us here under these two Characters of the perfect man and the upright The perfect man who is he or what is it to be perfect That is perfect in a strict sense to which nothing needs be added and so he only is a perfect man that hath nothing of imperfection remaining in him But then where shall we find this perfect Man For if Noah and Abraham had their imperfections if Elias is said to be a Man of like passions with us if Job and David were not without their defects where then shall we find this perfect man We must therefore distinguish Perfection is either absolute or comparative Absolute and so they only are perfect who are free from all sin and imperfection and thus the Angels in Heaven and the spirits of just men above are perfect And Secondly there is a comparative perfection and so the godly man may be said to be a perfect man if compared with the wicked who have no grace at all or compar'd with the hypocrite who hath grace only in appearance or compared with other Saints who have less grace than he Or secondly we may thus distinguish it Perfection is either Legal such as the Law requires or Evangelical such as the Gospel accepts of First Legal perfection That lies in a sinless obedience and an exact conformity to the Law of God and such a perfect man is not to be found amongst men in this World For the Scripture concludes all men under sin Job durst not avouch himself to be thus perfect Job 9.20 If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse And St. John durst not aver himself to be thus perfect John 1 Epist 1.8 If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us To find a Man that hath nothing of darkness or ignorance remaining on his mind that hath no evil thoughts or inclinations rising in his heart that hath no defects or imperfections in any of his duties and services you may as soon find a man that hath no ill-humours no seeds of sickness or death in his body But then Secondly There is an Evangelical Perfection such as the Gospel does accept of and thus the godly man may be said to be perfect and that these Two ways First Perfect as to his justification before God through Jesus Christ a godly man he is perfectly justified that is his sins are fully pardoned they are all blotted out and remitted as if they had never been committed he that truly repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ he hath the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to him and upon that account is perfectly justified he is acquitted from all his sin Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Rom. 8.33 We are compleat in Christ Col. 2.10 Compleat in him not in our selves 't is in him we have a perfect righteousness for our justification before God in our selves we have none but what is as a filthy rag and hath a Thousand bracks and cracks in it Secondly A godly man may be said to be perfect too as to his Regeneration and Sanctification and that in Two respects 1. Because he hath the perfect beginnings and seeds of all grace and holiness wrought in him even as a Child as soon as it is born hath the perfect limbs and lineaments of his Father eye for eye and hand for hand and foot for foot though he be still capable of further growth and increase in every member and so it is with those that are born of God they have all the lines of Gods image drawn upon their souls they have all the limbs of the new creature repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ love to God hatred of sin and so of the rest though they are still capable of a higher encrease and perfection in every grace so much the Apostle intimates 1 Thes 5.23 where he prays that God would sanctifie them throughout in Soul Body and Spirit Mark they are sanctied in the whole Man though not wholly they are sanctified throughout though not throughly there is no faculty of Soul that remains unsanctified no member of Body that remains unsanctified grace it doth extend it self as far as corruption did unto every part so that the godly man though he be Regenerate but in part for we know but in part and we believe but in part and love but in part yet he hath this perfection that he is regenerate in every part And 2. He may be call'd perfect in regard of the aims and intentions of his desires and endeavours for perfection is that which a godly man doth aim at and which he drives at as in 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Mark he speaks of it as a work that is continually a doing it is still in progress and in proficiency for there is no man that is made perfectly holy at the first as there is no man that is grown a perfect man the first day he is born and thus St. Paul Phil. 3.12 13 Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect But this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before I am pressing onward c. Thus now it is with every godly man there is no imperfection remaining in him but what he longs to be fully rid of and no grace and good thing wrought in him but what he desires to be fully perfected he would be emptied of sin to the very bottom and filled with grace to the brim and in this respect he may be called a
Oh my Brethren he is one that will be dearly mist by all His Family will miss him and his People will miss him the Countrey will miss him and the City will miss him too Saints will miss him to build them up in their Faith and Sinners will miss him to awaken and rouse them out of their sins the Poor will miss him to raise Collections for them to refresh their bowels and the rich will miss him to spur and quicken them up to be rich in good works The second thing I would say to you is this That you would live as those that have sate under the Ministry of so pious and worthy a Person how is that you will say first walk as Children of Purity Secondly as Children of Peace for he was a Friend to both First Walk as Children of Purity those pure heavenly and spiritual Exhortations that you have heard from him they do call for a pure and heavenly Conversation from you though he be dead and buried do not let his Sermons die and be buried with him the death of the Minister should indeed revive his Instructions and enliven and imprint the remembrance of them the more deeply upon the hearts of the people Secondly Walk as the Children of peace too and maintain Peace and Unity amongst your selves though the Shepherd be smitten yet let not the Sheep be scatter'd let not this breach that God hath made be the occasion of any more breaches amongst you Remember the words of David How sweet and lovely a thing it is for brethren to live together in unity Remember the words of Christ That blessed are the peace-makers And read over those words of Paul when you come home 1 Cor. 1.10 for I have not time to read them Take heed Brethren of walking so as to bring a dishonour and an evil report upon your Pastor and Teacher now he is gone O! think with your selves Did my Pastor teach me to be proud or to be covetous or to be unjust or to be censorious If he could return again upon the earth and see any of you such Would he not say to you Did you learn these things of me Lastly A word of Counsel in general and so I have done Do we desire to have peace in our end I that is it which we all desire Would we fain dye comfortably Who does not desire to do so Here is your way Two things I would leave with you 1. Mark the perfect and upright man to imitate his example 'T is the command of the Apostle Heb. 13.7 He would have them mark them that labour amongst them and follow their conversation O! it is a matter of great concernment whom you follow whom you imitate Alas if you live with the wicked if you follow vain persons you must dye with them do not think to live salsly and dissemblingly and yet to dye comfortably do not think to live with Pharoah and yet to dye with Moses to live with Judas to live with Demas and yet to dye with Paul No we must live with the pure with upright and perfect men we must make them to be our examples if we would dye with them we should make a good use of every good example that God hath given us A godly Man when he dyes bequeaths us this Legacy he leaves us the Picture of his Life to walk by 2. You must not only mark the perfect mans example and behold the upright man but you your selves must live so as you may give and leave a good example to others Brethren 't is not only the duty of those that teach you to give a good example as Paul exhorts Timothy and Titus to be examples to the believers in word in conversation in charity in faith in purity But it is the duty of hearers to give good examples one to another The Apostle exhorts aged Women Tit. 2.2 by their example to teach the younger Women and exhorts Wives to have their conversation so in fear 1 Pet. 1.3 that their Husbands beholding their good conversation may be won to the truth it may be thy Husband is not won by the hearing of the Word but thou shouldst labour to be so holy humble loving and obedient in thy conversation that hereby thou maist convince him What knowest thou O man whether thou shalt save thy wife and what knowest thou O woman whether thou shalt save thy husband Are there not many Husbands that have cause to bless God for their godly Wives Are there not many Wives that have cause to bless God for their godly Husbands Are there not many Children that have cause to bless God for their godly Parents There are many in Heaven who will be blessing God to all eternity that ever they saw the faces of such and such persons by whose holy conversations they were won to the love and liking of the ways of God Now then Labour to imitate the examples of the godly that have gone before you and to live so your selves that you may be an example to those that are round about you this is the way to have your end peace and then this Epitaph may be written upon your Graves Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace FINIS