A FUNERAL SERMON Upon the much lamented DEATH OF Col. Edward Cook Who died in LONDON Upon January the 29th and was Buried in the Chapple at HIGHNAM near GLOVCESTER on February the 2d 1683 4. By Edmond Thorne Master of Arts and Fellow of Oriel College in OXFORD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 1.21 LONDON Printed by T.B. for Walter Davies in Amen-Corner 1684. A FUNERAL SERMON Upon the much lamented DEATH of Collonel EDWARD COOK c. Revelations 14.13 I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them THE two several readings of this Text in our English Bibles and in the Common Service of our Church for the burial of the dead though different in words yet are the same in sense for let the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be spoken either in Composition or Disjunction place it either at the beginning or end of the proposition to which it most emphatically belongs nevertheless it will have the same signification or importance in the scope and meaning of the words And as for that other seeming difference one Translation of the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being that they may the other for they do rest from their Labours there is in truth no real difference at all but only so far as one and the same thing may be rightly stiled either a good effect or a prosperous event This Categorical Assertion that the dead are blessed proceeding from the command or impulse of the Spirit is the first thing which here offers it self and worthily bespeaks a serious observation which may the rather expect a favourable Audience as well for the great Improbability thereof whilst Men of all sorts have itching Ears after novelties as for the good tidings which it brings of eternal happiness for that is indeed the mark at which all Men level their affections though too too many do foolishly mistake and loose their aim Upon this account St. Paul may 't is like be much encountred as he was of old with some Stoicks and Epicureans of our evil days accused and condemned also for a Babler a Setter forth of strange Doctrine because he Preacheth unto them a state of Bliss and everlasting life in the very gates of Death for at first hearing 't is a Paradox incredible tedious and irksome to flesh and bloud contrary to the natural Sentiments of meer human Reason to the tendency of all Creatures and also to the received principles of true Philosophy for by those principles enforc'd with common experience it is every where observed that self preservation is the continual endeavour and one chief end of all things in the World nay the first principles of Religion it self do seem to countenance and abet the Charge for death was first of all threatned afterwards inflicted upon Adam Ro. 5.12 Gal. 3.13 and all his Off-spring as a punishment for their sin a curse only due because of their Transgression For as by one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin so Death passed upon all Men for that all had sinned and therefore 't is affirmed That Christ hath Redeemed us and all mankind from the curse of the Law being himself made a Curse for us And that was compleatly done when he fulfilled the Law by his hanging on a Tree being obedient unto Death even the shamful death of the Cross wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities In Missali Rom. The Romanists to my best remembrance are ingenious even to that impious contradiction of applauding Adams transgression for its happiness in disserving such a mighty Ransom that no Sacrifice but only the Son of God himself could any way redeem the Criminal and expiate for his gilt O faelix Culpa Quae talem ac tantum habere meruit Redemptorem It would surely better become us all sadly to bewail our selves and imprecate with indignation the malicious nature of the fact which hath deserved so great and severe a Judgment so terrible indeed that without infinite Mercy should have rendred all mankind obnoxious to the dismal Curse both of Temporal and Aeternal Death beyond all hopes of any mitigation and releases and certainly be the Scene laid where it will either in the bottomless pit or no lower then the Grave each part will be very tragical grievous and full of horrour there is no question to be made as Origen did once in favour of the Devils themselves concerning the perpetual and insufferable pains of Hell as comprizing all the torments which an Omnipotent angry God is able to bring about or immortal Souls can possibly sustain for in the Scripture language Jude 6. Mat. 25.41 46. Isaiah 33.14 it is the vengeance of Eternal Fire and Everlasting punishment prepared for the Devil and his Angels In this respect Almighty God is termed a consuming Fire and his Judgment upon all impenitent Sinners are set forth in those lively but fearful Emblems devouring Flames and everlasting Burnings nor yet is even the first kind of death however common both to the righteous and the wicked a thing much to be desired but rather avoided were it not for the blessed hope of a future enduring and more happy state for doubtless 't is a bitter Potion a Cup of Wrath being the wages of Sin sharper than a two edged Sword more piercing and corosive to the vital Spirits then Vinegar and Gall And although some heathens have been highly valued by themselves and others for their brutish and almost senseless contempt of Death running first out of their wits and afterwards of their lives yet Aristotle passed a better judgment on it more like a Philosopher and a sober Man when he termed it the frightfullest of all Evils or the King of Terrours And certainly it is no small trouble and vexation of heart when as Christ himself in the substance of our mortal flesh toucht with feeling of our Infirmities hath left it on Record as one part of those bitter Agonies which preceeded his Crucifixion for notwithstanding his perfect innocency being altogether free from sin yet he prayed earnestly three times in the same words That if it were possible that Cup might pass from him insomuch that nothing else but a filial obedience and submission to the good will of his Heavenly Father could make him drink it without reluctancies and regret from which passage two things are easily Collected 1 the certain truth of our Saviours manhood with the malignity of sin that could make so pure a soul exceeding sorrowful even to death atd 2 the truth and reality likewise of his Godhead for without all peradventures it was that alone which enabled him to resist and withstand all the Powers of darkness even to bloud that was it which baffled all the Temptations of the Devil and the World confuted all the oppositions raised by sense
us That if in this Life only there is hope in Christ his faithful Disciples are the most miserable Creatures in the World So then all that happiness which the dead in the Lord enjoy or the Living hope for cannot possibly fall out in this World but is peculiar to the next For at present as King Solomon hath rightly found by good Experience All things here come alike for all men there is one Event happens indifferently both to the righteous and the wicked both to the clean and unclean to him that sacrificeth and him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an Oath Hereupon we may resolve with confidence That Almighty God righteous in all his ways and holy in all his Works hath appointed a certain day known best unto himself wherein he will judg the world in Righteousness and make such a notable Discrimination betwixt the righteous and the wicked that all sorts of Men will be forc'd some with gladness of heart others with shame and sorrow to confess Verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is God that judgeth the Earth And that Reward is no doubt an everlasting State of infinite incomprehensible Felicities which blessed and happy State consisteth as far as mortals are able to conceive it First in a full and certain deliverance for all kinds of evils and mischiefs whether it be Sins or Judgments whether Tribulations in this World or Hell torments in the next To the which very joyful deliverance there naturally succeeds in the second place a compleat endless enjoyment of all imaginable good of goodness it self being even the Beatifick Vision of God face to face in the highest Heavens where there is joy unspeakable and full of Glory The 1 thing implyed in our being for ever blessed in the day of our death is a deliverance from evil According as Men take their course at present either in Vice or Vertue so life or death eternal ineffable happiness or misery will be made their end hereafter And as it is one part of moral vertues to shun the fair and flattering appearances of Sin so to be void of Misery will be their first stept to future happiness and a deliverance out of the Chains of darkness the next way to the glorious Liberties of the Sons of God in their inheritance with the Saints in Light Now this deliverance whereby Sinners are pluckt as Firebrands out of devouring Flames will be so full and compleat as 't is possible For the dead in the Lord are absolutely freed 1 from the guilt the polution and dominion of all Sin that is the greatest and first evil that ever came into the World for every Creature of God is good and sin is naturally bad being directly repugnant both to the nature and attributes of a Just and Holy God that is the circumference of all conceivable goodness and the very Center of all happiness and perfection Whatsoever then deprives Men of Gods Blessing in his gracious and favourable countenance is an abominable evil and a dreadful curse to boot odious in the pure Eyes of God and most injurious to themselves And if the proper effect of Sin be nothing less then eternal death and misery by the rule of contraries a freedom from sin is a sure preparative to the future happiness of our Souls in everlasting Life For take away the true cause and its natural effect will presently fall of its own accord cease from Sin first and then be sure neither the Law nor Death nor Hell can have any power over you therefore eschew evil and be still doing that which is good so shall you be for ever blessed in the recompence of your deeds blessed as to the first part of your deliverance from that infectious evil of Sin and also from the second that is the sore evil of punishment so grievous indeed that no man could ever express the pains thereof but only those who feel them and have learned the woful experience of their past wickedness from their present miseries how lamentable a thing it is for men to serve their own lusts and pleasures when they should honour and obey their God It is one part of Gods happiness that he cannot sin and it 's no small portion of ours that after we have sinned we can find a way to escape the punishment It is Gods perfection that his nature is invulnerable and it is one degree towards our own that our wounds are capable of a cure Now the malady which all sinners contract upon themselves by their own defaults is a complicate disease made up of all evils in the world that is their guilt and the punishment thereof which last thing is really the lesser evil of the two because it is but Relatively such in respect of those persons upon whom it is inflicted For punishment absolutely consider'd is not evil but rather good because Christ himself would have been found guilty by suffering and so the Course of Sin must have proceeded in infinitum or without end Nay God the Father should have pass'd for the first Cause and Author of Sin because he hath ordained the evil of punishment making his only Son to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him Amos 3.6 The Prophet Amos demands therefore in this very Sense no doubt Is there evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it And God hath said of himself Jer. 45.7 by the mouth of another Prophet I form the Light and create Darkness I make Peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things And again 't is plainly spoke to the same effect that when God saw the Ninevites return from their evil ways or sinful courses Jonah 3. Non est per se malum sed malum videtur he compassionately repented of that evil or punishment which he before had threatned and he did it not upon which words 't is observed by St. Jerom that evil which God hath sometimes only threatned against his people or else brought actually to pass is not evil in its nature and of it self but meerly with regard unto those persons which feel the smart of it and undergo the pains and anguish Now this brief account of the matter in hand will be found most agreeable and consonant both to the nature of Almighty God and also to the general conceptions of mankind which are more visible in the common practise of the World then with any shew of reason to be denied For it is daily seen how much men do love and lust after notorious Crimes whereas they dread and abhor the punishments upon which ground I dare say the Scaffold and Gallows do conduce almost as much to the peace and good order of our state that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty as even Religion it self Because men for the most
from the lusts and affections of human flesh and made stiff nature yield and submit her self to God Seing now That our merciful and faithful High-Priest hath given up his Innocent holy Soul an Offering and a Sacrifice for all our Sins by suffering that ignominious Death of the Cross and since he victoriously routed all the Forces and loosed all the pains of Death and of Hell triumphing over them at his Resurrection first and Ascension afterwards all true Christians may for that Cause readily bear a part in St. Paul's joyful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Song of Triumph composed it seems for those very solemn Festivals O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory And forasmuch as the Merits of Christ the second Adam are as mighty to save Mankind as the Transgression of the first was powerful to condemn we may repeat the same words again with comfort of hope and in full assurance of our Faith in a cheerful Eccho to that heavenly Voice Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them These Words do plainly contain two general Parts 1. The first Part is a perfect express and affirmative Proposition wherein is peremptorily asserted The blessed unalterable State of all those Men who depart hence in the Lord Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord or according to the Grammatical Order of the Words The dead which dye in the Lord are blessed 2. The Second general Part affords the strongest Reasons imaginable to prove and confirm the aforesaid Assertion This Confirmation thereof is twofold 1. From the best Authority that may be for 't is evidenced by the most infallible Testimony of the blessed Spirit full of Grace and of Truth 2. From Reason which is double The dead which die in the Lord are blessed 1. Because They rest from their Labours and 2. Because their Works do follow them For the clearer manifestation of the Truth now laid before us in the Method and Demonstration of the Spirit the Terms of the Proposition would be first of all explained in our Answers to these two Questions 1. What sort of men they be which the Spirit reckons to be dead in the Lord And 2. What is here understood by their being Blessed To the 1. Question What sort of Men they be which the Spirit reckons to be dead in the Lord Our Answer is briefly thus They are such Men as have not lived unto Themselves nor to the World but like Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth having their Conversations and Hearts in Heaven That have mortifyed the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts being renewed in the Spirit of their Mind That have truly repented of all their Sins and subdued all the proud high Thoughts of their carnal minds in Obedience to Christ That have resisted and repelled the Devil in all his Attempts either by secret Suggestions or with open Force and have likewise renounced and overcome the World with all its Adherents Pomps and Vanities Now this Victory which all true Christians must obtain both over Themselves the Devil and the World before they can dye in the Lord is not otherwise to be gained than by sincere unfeigned Repentance manifest in all the Duties of self-denyal and mortification a lively persevering Faith in Christ and a constant hearty though not perfect Obedience to Gods Holy Commandments And seeing the best Men living are not able to perform that intire and exact Obedience which the Law requires at their hands to make them appear justifyed in the sight of a righteous holy God being judged of him according to their own Works but unprofitable Servants whosoever thinks to depart this Life in Peace with God with consolation to themselves must loath detest and abhor their past Wickedness like pious Job in dust and ashes and Jâ—b â—â—â— with S. Paul Phil. 3.9 cast off the polluted rags of their own imperfect Righteousness according to the Law to put on Christ by Faith and be found at last in the white robes of his Righteousness that was made perfect through Sufferings And there is no doubt but those Men who thus live unto the Lord by faith and perseverance in good works even unto their end may be sure of dying so too because they have discharged their whole duty so far as to render it an acceptable service unto God by Jesus Christ for having so duly testified both Repentance towards God and Faith working by Love in our Lord Jesus Christ they become thereby justifyed and obtain their peace and Reconciliation with God Whereupon they may safely cast the Anchor of their Hope on the promises which God once made unto their Fathers and then depart in peace according to his word in full assurance of an happy Resurrection from the Dead And having this hope what shall hinder Men from spending all their time their care and pains in exerting vigorously the powers and faculties of their Souls to purifie themselves from all filthiness of the Flesh and of the World that so they may grow still in Grace perfecting Holiness in the fear of God As the chased Heart pants after the Water Brook so these refined Spirits being wearied and heavy laden with all the frailties of their own Flesh tempted by Satan hated and persecuted by the World pant and groan earnestly for deliverance breathe and are athirst for their appearing before the presence of God where Mortallity shall be swallowed up of Life To the second Question what is here understood by their being Blessed who die thus in the Lord You may take this very plain yet apposite Solution notwithstanding Mens opinions about their Felicity present or to come have been as different numerous and irrational as concerning their very Gods themselves because one doth naturally presuppose and infer the other Felicity being nothing else but a close intimate Fruition of God in the notion of an All sufficient Immense Being that is absolutely good of himself and in his Nature and relatively too being the Fountain of all the goodness and pefection that can be met with amongst all the Creatures and Workmanship of his hands yet according to the common use and import of the word there have been always two things implied First a deliverance from evil and then a possession of something which is good And with regard unto the many kinds of good or evil which may befal the Sons of Men either in this present Life or in that which is to come so their happiness or misery doth both encrease and multiply And because every Man is naturally compounded of the Flesh and Spirit of an immortal Soul united with an earthly fading Body which nevertheless are by Gods infinite Power made capable of Life Eternal in dispight of Death or Hell it self therefore he may be counted happy 1 In respect of this present world and 2 with relation to the next and
thereupon Mans happiness may be considered either as it is Temporal or Eternal Those Temporal and Earthly Blessings which are but equivocally good or profitable unto Men that are Creatures made for Eternity Philosophers have drawn out upon their Ethick Schems into the distinct parts of bona Animi bona Corporis bona Fortunae the first rank of these erroneously stiled Beatitudes are properly seated in the Soul the second pertain especially to the Body but the last are the poor Largesses of blind chance the treacherous Donatives of deceitful unconstant Fortune They are all summed up in three words Honour Profit and Pleasure which like Cyphers can signifie nothing by themselves and yet will enhanse our Accounts at the General Audit according as they have been superadded for the good use and improvement of better Talents 1 John 2.16 17. but after all St. John the Divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath set a true Gloss upon that false Text by comprizing all that is in the World under the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life And then for the confusion of all vain Philosophers and wretched Miscreants who fix their affections and all their happiness on such pittiful empty things He concludes they be not of the Father but of the World that passeth away together with all the Vanities and Lusts thereof And what Men having but so much reason as to know themselves and their eternal Interests can be so very Brutish in the great business of Religion or so careless of their own precious and immortal Souls as to set up such gross and ridiculous Idols in their Hearts to fall down worship and serve the Creature instead of their Creatour that is God Blessed for ever Do not those unreasonable Men exceedingly deceive their own Souls who trust in their uncertain Riches and foolishly vaunt in those very things that perish even in their use and will certainly come to naught Are they not the most absurd Idolaters in the World that make their own Belly their God Who sacrifice to their own proud imaginations and ambitiously court other folks for the vanishing breath of popular applause Are any Men so mad or beside themselves as they be who count their happiness more or less by the numbers of their Flocks and Heards their large Fields and full Coffers Or as others who forsake the living and only true God and place all their Devotion upon the Service of their own Luxurious Tables and that for no better end but only the pampering of those fleshly Lusts that war against their Souls Believe it such worldly carnal Wisdom is but Foolishness with God it is not from above but from beneath it is earthly sensual devillish absurd and irrational in its nature destructive and pernicious in its end Eccles 5. For in short Riches may be kept unto the owners hurt because they can yield no real content or satisfaction but are the cause of much trouble and vexation of spirit both in their persuit and fruition too For as they will not suffer the greedy wretch to sleep or take his rest so they will certainly one time or other make themselves wings and fly away What confidence also can be reasonably fixed upon the strongest Arm of Human Flesh What true joy what comfort can arise from Gorgeous Apparel even to Crowns and Scepters Purple Robes and precious Jewels with a numerous train of obsequious hungry Servants wherein lies the delight and pleasure of the riotous Livers which are truely burdens to the Common-wealth and also to themselves being loaden with their Sins and miseries at once having their Brains besotted and their whole bodies infected with disease and surfeit from the spoils of nature and fopperies of art For when those voluptuaries have industriously ransackt all the Elements for the nourishment of their lusts having drawn up several courses in rank and file and made their assaults against the works of nature and of Art with fierce and keen Appetites rushing like wild Horses into the Battle and engaging all before them like those old Andebatae blindfold without either fear or wit it hath often come to pass the most unsatiable Assailants have been wounded shamefully with their own Weapons The preserving remedies of Health and Life were turned into the most unhappy Instruments of Sickness unto Death in spight of Nature and of God himself their Tables were become snares unto them and those very things that should have been for their wealth were unnaturally misused for the sad occasions of their fall There now remains of all things under the Sun but only one Blessing more that hath any pretence at all to the present or future happiness of Mankind namely the rare endowments both of intellectual and moral habits which at once enrich and adorn our Souls These were the best means whereby the Philosophers ever dreamt of attaining happiness with all their pains and studies But though knowledge and morality be two Pearls of no small price even with Christians and are both difficult in their acquisitions requiring the most accurate endeavours of our Hearts and Heads and also very profitable in their use being the most likely means for gaining that happiness which is in truth our end yet these things are insufficient of themselves till quickned by the warm influences of Gods Holy Spirit For the subtlest Polititians the most profound Scholars in the World could never come up to the knowledge of the Truth or of Gods reconciling the World unto himself by Jesus Christ with all their otherwise excellent abilities void of Divine Grace for the Gentiles or meerly natural men 1 Cor. 2.14 receive not those deep things of God which are foolishness unto them neither can they know them because they are spiritually discerned For the same reason the most learned Rabbies amongst the Jews also lived ignorant of those obscure mysteries which lay hid in Christ notwithstanding that unto them were committed the first written Elements of Religion those choice Oracles of God for had they known the great mystery of Godliness in Christ Jesus they would not have crucified the Lord of Life and Glory Wherefore it is manifest that neither Jews nor Gentiles remaining still ignorant of Christ and his Gospel could be made wise unto Salvation For Acts 3. 1 Cor. 2.8 Joh. 17.3 Lu. 10.22 This indeed is Life Eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent And no Man knoweth who the Son is but the Father and who the Father is but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him From hence 't is plain That Mans eternal Redemption from the jaws of death his peace and reconciliation with God in Christ Jesus could never have been discovered by the wise Men or Princes of this World that come to naught but meerly by the demonstration of the Spirit and Power of God as it is revealed in the Gospel And since the Gospel
hath alone declared and exhibited Remission of Sins by the Death and Passion of an Holy Jesus who gave his Life a Ransom and a Propitiation for the sins of the whole World This conclusion follows immediately thereupon that no moral Philosophers among the Gentiles with all their very good and commendable precepts nor any the straightest Sects amongst the Jews with all their external Rites and Ceremonies and their exactest skill and observance of the Mosaic Laws could therewith appear justified before God Ps 32.1 2. or be consequently Blessed for briefly those alone are truly Blessed whose Transgressions are forgiven whose Sins are cover'd and St. Paul interprets Almighty Gods non-imputation of our Iniquities Transgressions and Sins to be the ready way for Blessedness Rom. 4.7.3 20. the most effectual means of being accounted Righteous rather by Faith in Christ then by the deeds of the Law It appears now That every man at his very best Estate in this mortal Life is altogether Vanity no better to be accounted of in the greatest affluence of worldly Goods than the fading Grass or Flower of the Field For he withereth as Grass and like the Flower thereof He quickly falleth away for all his Wealth and Riches cannot possibly save him from Death or in the least redeem his miserable Soul from the destroying hand of Hell The Crown shall then be taken from the proud Monarchs Head his Honour laid in the Dust and his fatted Carcass lamentably fall a Prey to Putrefaction Stench and rottenness Then his feeble macerated Soul will be freed it 's true from the weight of his abominable Flesh but loaded still with his Transgressions For she must appear in that instantly before the Judgment Seat of God and receive her endless doom either of Bliss or misery proportionable to the Works done of her in the Body whether it be good or bad In that horrible Day of Retribution wherewithal may the Wise the Scribe and the Disputer of this World appear For their Wisdom and their Knowledg will be counted Madness their Laughter will be then exchanged into Mourning and their Mirth for Heaviness If they boast of Prophesies they shall fail If they plead their Skill in Tongues they shall cease and if Knowledg in all Arts and Sciences it shall vanish away But then you 'l ask what shall become of those Men at last which have lived zealous and strict Observers of Moral Precepts contained in the Law with a good Conscience both towards God and Man May not their good Lives in this present World assure them of Blessedness in the next Will not their Obedience to Gods Commands in the Law of Moses afford them a just and full Title to the Promise For however it be true Jam. 2.14 17. That Faith or Knowledg cannot save any Man without good Works being dead and alone yet when it is made perfect in bringing forth wholesom Fruits worthy of Repentance are not their Persons thereby justifyed in Gods Account and so blessed in their Deed Ro. 2 1 2. Jo. 3.17 For not the Hearers of the Law are just before God but the Doers of the Law shall be justifyed and Christ himself hath said That if ye know these things happy are ye if you do them where it seems Obedience joyned with Faith or Knowledg has the Promise of Eternal Felicity with God in the Kingdom of Heaven which Position is not so strang a thing as true being frequently delivered as well in the Gospel as in the Law For answer to this very plausible Objection we must needs take notice of a considerable difference between Legal and Evangelical Dispensations and that under the first nothing else but only perfect intire Obedience even to the smallest Jot or Tittle of the Law could ever acquit Men from the guilt of its Transgression or afterwards rescue them from the Curse Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the Words of this Law to do them And although St. Paul quotes the same Text as if it were of like force under the Gospel too however 't is observable that he makes use of it with a special Eye to Christ whose Obedience to the Law both Active in that he did the will of his Father without sin and likewise passive in suffering the full Viols of wrath on behalf of the Transgressors was most perfect and intire in every particular For which cause Men are now to be justifyed not by the Deeds of the Law but merely through free Grace and a lively Faith in Christ Jesus and their Faith must be shewed in their good Works not as the meritorious Cause of their Acceptance with God but as the genuine effects the signs and symptoms tokens and witnesses of the sincerity of their hearts and the Truth of their Belief So that you see Faith in Christ and Obedience to Moral Precepts are both of them indispensable Duties incumbent upon all Christians even under this Oeconomy of the Gospel according to the most rigid Interpretation of the Law that is enlarged by Christ unto the very Thoughts and Intentions of our Hearts with the same Curse retained still because of its Transgression whether in thought word or deed howbeit there is reserved a full Treasure of Grace not in the merits of Saints or Angels but in Christ's absolute Righteousness neither at Rome but in the Court of Heaven to perfect and fill up our inevitable Failings and Imperfections For according to that Parable in the 17th of St. Luke's Gospel the professed Servants of Christ are strictly bound for to perform all his Commandements and yet having done at last all they can they must never think of pleading their own Deserts but with meekness and lowliness of mind acknowledg themselves Vnprofitable Servants And whatsoever becomes the final recompense of Reward be sure to give Almighty God All the Praise and Glory that God in all things may be glorifyed through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our Answer to the Question hath been hitherto Negative by shewing That many things which are good enough and convenient in their kind but not absolutely such being Evil in excess are therefore ineffectual means for compassing that happy Design which all men would gladly propose unto themselves Now 't is very certain That our adequate real and lasting Happiness consisteth not in those mundane transitory Goods that we possess Because this World and all that is in it shall one day be dissolved whereas our Souls are of more enduring substance to continue for ever Upon which ground the Poet hath truly said ultima semper Expect anda dies homini est dicique beatus Ante obitum Nemo supremaque funera debet The Roman Oratour is quoted also by Lactantius who concurs with him in the same Opinion * In hac vita virtutis praemium nullum est sed praemium virtutis post moâ—tem mors non extinguit Hominem sed ad praemia virtutis admittit Sen. de Vit. Beat. nay St. Paul himself hath told
which the Primitive Christians endured from Heathenish Bloud-thirsty Persecutors as if the good Spirit of Grace moved with Compassion foretold of those perillous times to come and then pronounced them happiest which endured to the end or otherwise died first But for all that he doth not exclude the future and everlasting State of Bliss or Misery but rather supposeth it as principally there intended and implied for to cite no more Evidence in so plain a Case in his Paraphrase on the 2 Chap. of the Revel 11 vers To hâ—m that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God it is briefly said he shall have deliverance here and eternal Life hereafter And again upon those words in the 10th Vers of the same Chapter Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life he gives you this Note that however some Christians in those dangerous times of Tryals and Temptations were overcome and prevailed upon to renounce their Faith and Professions for the saving of their Lives yet others who continued constant and faithful unto death were plenteously requited with a Crown of Life having received the honour of Martyrdom first and then of never ceasing Bliss Let us once more consider the word as it stands in relation to the Rest and then it cannot be so properly joyned in this manner to the former part of the Text I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write from henceforth As if the Subject whereof the Spirit therein spake were some new piece of Doctrine but just then brought into the World for certainly 't was made known long before even from the beginning Almighty God having annexed Blessing and Cursing Life and Death in Paradise it self to the violation or observance of his Laws which Laws and their Sanctions too were engraved by Gods own Hand upon two Tables of Stone to be duly promulged by Moses and the Prophets And there is no doubt but those holy Men of God under the Law that spent their Lives in being faithful unto death were accordingly blessed in the promise of an eternal inheritance But then are Christians upon harder terms with God then all their predecessors Will the Sunshine of the Gospel prove more troublesome and offensive then all the dark shadows of the Law Is the second Covenant or Ministration of Grace and Truth of less advantage then was the first which could work nothing but wrath and condemnation If the Souls of Christs good and faithful Servants do not reap the blessed fruits of their Labours upon relinquishing their Bodies and have their just Wages according to their Works in a repose and rest with God what could be the meaning of Saint Stephens devout Ejaculation When falling asleep he cryed Acts 7.59 Lord Jesus receive my Spirit And can we think St. Paul was much beside himself when he desired earnestly to be dissolved that he might be with Christ Or when he shewed such servent zeal for his being absent from the body and present with the Lord When he groaned so vehemently to put off his earthly Tabernacle for a building of God an house not made with hands 2 Cor. 5. eternal in the Heavens Or lastly shall we say that Wise and Learned Apostle was very much deceived in promising himself at the time of his departure a Crown of Righteousness for that he had fought a good Fight 2 Tim. 4.7.8 finisht his Course and kept the Faith Nay further yet shall we dare to question Chriâ—s own words Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Luk. 23.46 And if not is there any Cause at all to suspect his woâ—d and promise to the penitent Thief upon the Cross Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise There be no Papists I trow so blasphemous v. 43. and irrational as to deny Christs humane Nature actual possession of bliss in Heaven when he left his abode on Earth having then fully conquer'd all the power and malice of this present evil World and victoriously triumphed over the Prince and the Dominions of Darkness For they dare not presume I think to put our blessed Saviour in a worse Condition then all their canonized Saints which they religiously worship and adore as blessed Martyrs and I am sure his bloud was infinitely more precious and spoke far better things at the Throâ—e of Grace then a Campions or a Garnets a Benedictines or a Jesuites neither again is it probable on the other side that such a Malefactour as our Thief who died not for his Religion or his Faith wrongfully but justly for his evil deeds worthy of death should be reckon'd above the common pitch of all true Christians and yet this very person was to be the same day with Christ in Paradise having literally suffer'd with Christ 2 Tim. 2.1 he was to reign with him too Latro primitiae Derclictoâ—um introducit asseriente Christo in regnum â—â—lorum Ibi Latro locatur ubi Lucifer corruit non ad loca purgatoria flammosque peccatorum Vltrices confitens destinatur c. Arnold Carnotens inter St. Cypr. Opera Oxonii Edit And if all true Members do run the same fortune as the head in being either miserable or happy this Conclusion follows both from a parity of Reason and from example too that whosoever goes forth of this world with repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and by consequence in the true love and favour of God they are no sooner delivered from the burden of their flesh then admitted into the joy of their Lord For we may further add as testimonies to the truth of our position the general consent of the most Orthodox Fathers in the Christian Church by name Justin Martyr St. Cyprian St. Chrysostom St. Ambrose St. Austin St. Jerom and many more such men that were the glory of their times famous in their Generations who being dead yet speak in those admirable works that are now the living Monuments of their worth Vid. Phil. mornaeum de Euchar. Lib. 3. cap. 9. Besides the distance between Earth and Heaven will not stand our Adversaries in any stead or prejudice our selves because Mans rational Soul is an immaterial and spiritual Being all whose natural Motions are not confined like Bodies to the differences of time and place But whether it is in or out of the Body nevertheless it subsisteth and moveth too secundum se totam simul semel all at once and in a moment No question therefore but those who die in the Lord are actually Blessed For as no passible Reason can be given to the contrary from the specifical nature of the Soul it self being yet capable of returning into Gods hand again as quick as ever it came out so there is nothing on Gods part which may be reasonably said against it His Power is no such Argument for that is absolute still and unlimited