we here converse with are also Or 2. If the carnal Rationalist and Philosopher further object and argue against this Doctrine from the consideration of Deaths being the Destruction of nature I Answer 1. that to speak properly there is no such destruction of nature by Death as many imagine For the Soul is not destroyed by it but acts and lives more nobly than before Neither is the Body properly destroyed but only reduced into its first Principles in order to be new moulded and more gloriously re-edified than before And therefore since the two Essential constituent parts of man remain in being man can't be said to be destroyed For tho' the immediate Tye between Soul and Body be loosed yet it is for a time only and in the mean time the relation they stand in to one another continues even when the actual union is suspended And besides all this it being the Soul that is principally the Man we are therefore to reckon that the man is in being still even when unbodied But 2. let it be considered that Death is not preferred to Birth or Life meerly as it is the dissolution of nature as now existing but the formal Reason of this is upon the account of the excellency of the future Life which death is the passage into For upon this account only is it that the Apostle prefers death to life 2 Cor. 5. 4. Not for that we would be unclothed says he but clothed upon that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life But 3. as to what many poor sincere-Christians are apt to object against this Point from the expressions that sometimes Death goes under in Scripture of its being as the punishment of sin our enemy and to be destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. I would for Answer propose to them besides what hath been already said this one consideration That tho' Death be indeed our enemy as it is inflicted as a punishment of sin since the fall Yet it has now altered its nature and end with respect to Saints since Christs death especially Christ having slain death and him that had the power thereof Indeed Death passeth still upon all men but in very different respects For to the wicked death is still continued as a grim Messenger and King of Terrours But as for the Saints Death is now become Christs servant to convey home the Souls of his own to himself Therefore as Christ is said to have abolished death 2 Tim. 1. 10. So he is said also Rev. 1. 18. To have taken into his custody and keeping the Keys of Hell and Death Upon which accounts we may perceive what little reason we have to fear Death when he acts only in commission under our dear Lord and Saviour and when also so blessed a Guide as he leads the way And 4. As to the Objection which the vulgar sort of groveling Mortals are apt to make against Death that it robbs them of and separates them from all their comforts friends possessions enjoyments and hopes I Answer that where the case is thus with any I must needs grant they have reason to prefer life to death If thou hast all thy portion in this life I shall not wonder to see thee prefer earth to heaven and dust to gold But O poor wretch art thou not ashamed of such an objection which militates indeed against thee but not against this Doctrine For the Saints of whom we here speak will tell thee that whereas death separates thee from all thy comforts it is in that way alone that they expect to reap the full harvest of all joy and comfort for at the right hand of God there is fulness of joy and in his presence there are pleasures for evermore 3. Infer We may see hence also the folly and ignorance of the generality of men as to their notions and conceptions of Life and Death Who seem to think that all comforts are to be found only in this Life and therefore give way to strange and melancholly apprehensions of death and what follows it As there are many poor Creatures in the world living in mean celles and cottages in some obscure corner whose low minds having never travelled from the smell of their native thatch and turff represent the world to themselves no otherwise than according to the ideas which a barren spot of earth of a few miles circumference hath afforded them So the generality of mankind seem to be so pre-occupied with the prejudices of sense and custom as never to have suitably reflected on those things which right Reason may not obscurely conclude from Scripture Premises concerning the glory and excellency of the future state of the spirits of just men made perfect For if our thoughts were more inured to such Divine Meditations we would dispise the vanities of a fading life more since we converse here but with imaginary comforts and joys tho' with too real griefs and miseries 2d The Regulation of our Practise As Practise is the end of Knowledge so my design in all that hath been said was to bring you to a sincere conscientious Performance of those Duties that the Doctrine handled doth call for from you And therefore suffer me to lay them impartially before you at this time And in doing this since not only the Doctrine in it self but the present Occasion of this Discourse calls for a particular and becoming Consideration this way I shall therefore endeavour with what succinctness is convenient to do these two things here viz. 1. to Improve the Doctrine Practically with respect to that Duty that is incumbent upon all from hence as to the good of our Souls 2. to Improve it also specially with respect to the sad occasion of this present meeting and concourse And 1 I shall endeavour to Improve the Doctrine in the General so as may be of use to all of you And what I have thus to say to you I will comprise and summ up in these three Directions or Rules 1. Direct Take heed how you carry with respect to your Spiritual state and Interest in God thorow Christ Which Advice I will take up in these three Parts which I am sure you are all concerned seriously to mind 1. Examine and Try your selves if God be your Portion and Christ your Saviour What are you secure whilst you remain at uncertainties as to this matter What ground have you to believe that Christ is yours Have you renounced Sin Satan the world and sinful self Have you accepted Christ wholly in all his offices and have you laid hold on him as your alone Saviour Be careful my friends that you found not your hopes on a mistake and thus build on the sand Religion is more than a name and Conversion more than a notion Therefore Judge your selves impartially as to this matter lest you be judged to condemnation by God for your neglect to do so 2. Be sure what ever you do to lay the whole weight and stress of your Salvation in the
both relative and personal as she was to be constant and serious in attending upon Ordinances there seeking the appointed food of your Souls where she both often sought and found it to dedicate some part of your Pretious Time every day to reading the Scriptures and other good Books devout Meditation and secret Prayer which you know was her constant Course as long as her health and strength would permit in a word to make serious Religion your main business as it was most manifestly hers And if you will hearken to this Call in conjunction with the Calls of GOD's Word and that Monitory Providence that you are now under so as heedfully to tread in your pious Mothers steps as Dear Children following her in those things wherein shew was a follower of God and persisting in this Course to the end of your Life Then let me tell you for your Comfort that altho' Death hath at present made a separation between her and you it shall be but for a short season and then you shall again live together in the glorious and bright Mansions of Heaven and in the beatifick Vision and Fruition of God and Christ for ever and ever Amen FINIS A Funeral Sermon By Robert Fleming V. D. M. Preach'd in the Afternoon Eccles vii 1. Better is the Day of Death than the Day of ones Birth AS all the Faculties of Mans Soul are become miserably depraved and corrupted by reason of Sin So in particular the leading and directive Faculty the Mind or Intellect is signally so For besides the blindness and ignorance of men in things natural there is nothing more apparent than that universal darkness and stupidity which they are under as to their apprehensions of things spiritual and eternal For altho' there seems to be remanent upon the minds of all men naturally some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or imperfect râ—dera of the true impressions of good and evil and some secret Perswasions of a soveraign Being to which all things owe their original and continuance yet alas what sad Conceptions do men entertain of things of an immaterial and and spiritual nature as appears not only from the Writings of the more learned and ingenious Heathens but from innumerable and dayly Instances even in the midst of the Meridian Light of the Gospel So that constant Experience doth in this matter sufficiently confirm Scripture-Testimony that the natural man knows not the things of the Spirit of God as requiring a subjective as well as objective spiritual Light to discern them by However this is one of God's ends in Revealing his Word to us that we may thorow his Blessing upon pains and industry attain to rectified Notions and Idaeas of things so excellent in themselves and so momentous to be rightly known by us And as this is the scope of the whole Scripture to bring Life and Immortality to Light unto us so particularly of this Book of the wise and in quisitive Solomon who having undertaken a speculative Journey into all the Regions of sublunary Enjoyments returns an experienced Ecclesiastes or Preachers of those things that he thought might be of universal use to be known And therefore having rubbed off the fine Varnish and gaudy Paint of Earthly Objects with which they insinuate themselves at first view as beautified to our vain imiginations he here represents them impartially to our Reason as they are in their own natures and usefulness to us Of this we might adduce many instances if need were But we go no farther than the Words before us wherein we may observe a Rectification of a twofold Mistake that we are apt to fall into For first whereas men usually prefer Riches to a good Name we are here instructed that a good Name is better more valuable than precious ointment i. e. than the fatness of the world and the affluence of all earthly wealth and riches For thus I take the word according to Prov. 22. 1. which seems to be a comment on this or a plain account of what is here figuratively imported For precious ointment was esteemed of old amongst the most valuable things of the Treasures of Princes as we see Isa 39. 2. And hence it is that Prov. 15. 30. A good name is said to make the bones sat And again whereas Men generally prefer Life to Death Solomon here tells us that we are greatly mistaken in the Case for that upon the contrary the day of Death is much to be prefer'd to the day of ones Birth According to which Position he goes on to shew that the house of Mourning is better than the house of Feasting and sorrow preferable to Laughter v. 2 3 c. It is the second of these only that I am directed to consider at this time viz. That the day of Death is better than the day of ones Birth A strange Paradox and enough to amaze the minds and thoughts of all such as mind earthly things and who have not attained to have their interior Senses spiritually exercised to discern spiritual things Nay I am apt to think that many even serious Christians may find it difficult to reconcile their thoughts to this Doctrine And therefore on all hands I foresee Objections What! will the Atheist and Antiscripturist say is it better not to be than to be Is it possible will the carnal Philosopher and Rationalist object that the destruction of nature it self should be preferable to its Being and Continuance Nay even many poor Christians will be ready to tell me that it seems very strange to them to prefer Death which owes its Original to Sin and is our enemy and the last to be destroyed to prefer I say this to Life it self wherein we have opportunity to serve God and do good to our selves and others And methinks I hear a multitude cry out at the hearing of this and many such Worldlings there are What! Death better than Life Here 's strange Doctrine indeed What! Leave all our Earthly Comforts Friends and Possessions and that for Death and the Grave who can have Faith to believe such Doctrine as this Well Friends here 's that which may silence all your Doubts and answer all your Questions as to this matter if you will give ear to God himself that Death is preferable to Birth But I must supersede the satisfying you as to your particular Scruples in this matter till I shall have come to the Improvement of the Doctrine which I must now lest I act preposterously previously inquire into And here though the Words are in themselves so very plain that I see no momentous Variation among Criticks in the translating of them Yet I find some considerable difference in the Sentiments of Expositors as to the meaning of them For some understand the Text of all Mankind with respect only to this present Life laying aside all Consideration of the future State as many Passages in this Book are undoubtedly to be understood And if so then the meaning only is That
it than the very shew and appearance Life is a more noble thing than we imagin when considered in its right notion and idea We talk of a vegetative and sensitive Life But if in Philosophy these must needs creep in as distinct species thereof Yet Divinity will refine our thoughts of it a little further For since Life is one of the glorious Attributes of the supreme Being who designs himself oft-times the Living God we must needs conceive somthing high and sublime therein And as God is the fountain of all Life to others so it is only in him that We live So that to speak properly we have no life in our selves our breath being in our nostrils and we depending every moment on God for new supplies thereof Therefore we find it the Property of God only to have Life in him-self yea and such a Property as is only communicable to Christ Joh. 5. 26. For as the Father hath Life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself And therefore this is spoken of with respect to Christ with a special mark of Observation Joh. 1. 4. In him was Life But I shall not run further than the Text for the Ground of my notion of Life For we may plainly perceive by the very Terms of Birth and Death in the words that there is some Life here imported with respect to which as plainly and necessarily presupposed these periodical terms are made use of Now this Life herein presupposed must either be the present Life or that which is to come If it be the present Life then it is apparent that Solomon had very mean and low thoughts of it since he prefers the destruction of it by Death to the commencing it at first by Birth And those very mean thoughts which he hath of it are a plain Indication that it doth not deserve the noble designation of Life as being rather a shadow thereof than the thing it self But if it be the Future Life that is here imported then it presents us with a noble Idea of true Life indeed as inclusive of true Happiness and Felicity and lets us see with what good Reason Death is here preferred to Birth But tho' this last sense gives us the fairest prospect of Life and the most solid ground of the wise Solomons determination of this case yet I think we are to include both these sorts of Life as presupposed clearly in the Text. For as Solomon runs the parallel expresly between Birth and Death So his doing thus doth manifestly presuppose that he had run the parallel also between the Present and Future Life for except the Periods of Birth and Death have respect to these they must be reckoned to stand as Cyphers here without any significancy But tho' it is indubitable that Solomon runs the parallel here between Life Present and Future Yet we are not to imagine that he compares them as being both included in the true notion of Life and so as species under the same Genus but rather as two Opposites so as to consider that which we call the present Life under the notion of a kind of Death or state of Death and so to vendicate the notion of true Life to the future only For as I said before when I explained the terms of Birth and Death that our Birth into this world was rather our Death in Sin and Misery Whereas our death out of this world is more properly our Birth into Happiness and felicity So I say now of the Present and Future Life that the Present Life is rather the state of the dead that we die into when we are born Whereas the Future Life is that only which deserves the name of Life as being that state that we are born into when we come to that period which we call death And tho' this invertion of Terms may seem strange at first to such who are so immersed in sense as not to reflect on things as they are indeed in themselves Yet if once we come to entertain genuine conceptions of time and eternity and what concerns these we will see sufficient reason for such a rectification of vulgar opinions wherein men are oft detain'd contrary to reason it self from a misapplication of meer words Wherefore since I take Life for that which either is proper to God or which derivatively is communicated to subjects capable of it I mean made so by himself it is therefore to be laid down as the basis of our ensuing reflections that Life and Happiness are the same thing tho' the words express this differently to us But it is only the consideration of true Life or Perfection as peculiar to the Saints that I am here to consider Which that it may the more distinctly appear it may not be amiss to run the Parallel a little between the present and future Life as we call them that we may the more easily admit of the Conclusion here in the Text as to the preferableness of the latter to the first Which methinks the Apostle expresses well when he calls the future Life by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Life assigning to the present Life the designation of Mortality only 2 Cor. 5. 4. And in doing this I must first consider what those Qualifications of Life are that denominate it excellent happy and desirable And as to this I shall express my self in words common and known to all that the impressions may be the more clear and cogent And now as to this matter I cannot think of any Conveniency or true Qualification of Life wanting where these seven Things Concur viz. 1. Perfect Health 2. Full enjoyment of all Good 3. Vnmixed and undisturbed Peace and Joy 4. The most pleasant place of abode 5. The most excellent Company 6. An untainted Good Name 7. The perpetual Duration of all these Wherefore let us consider these Qualifications or Properties of Life with respect both to the Present and the Future that we may see whether our Passage by Birth into the one or by death into the other be to be preferred 1. Perfect Health By this we understand perfect rectitude both of Soul and body and all the faculties and powers of them And if so our Inquiry must be where this rare Jewel is to be found without which all our other comforts are insipid and tastless Surely it cant be acquired in this miserable World either as to Mind or Body For as to our Minds how uncultivated are our judgments as to our apprehensions of spiritual things How vain are our thoughts How perverse our wills How irregular our affections How treacherous our memories And how lame and defective are our actions and performances even to the most spiritual duties And as to our Bodies do we not carry about with us the Principles of Diseases and the seeds of death it self And what innumerable pains and maladies are we here subject to every day to most bringing along with it some new exercise or other
Preaching the Everlasting Gospel And would not this make us both more servicable in our several stations and capacities to glorifie God which is the great end of our Lives and I hope the great desire of our Souls And therefore I know nothing more worthy of our most earnest wrestlings and greatest importunities For since I hope God hath given us an interest in himself thorow his dear Son and our great Mediator and so hath accepted our Persous in Justification thorow the imputed righteousness of Christ I think the next work we have to do is to be dayly interceding for the Influences of the Spirit in order to carry on the great business of sanctification that so we may grow in a fitness for every duty and a meetness for the future state that we are hastning into It were long to produce all or many of the Expressions of this nature that might be given And therefore I shall only add one more in a Letter to a Friend upon a Reprieve from Death that she had providentially got beyond expectation for a time and which she was apprehensive he had some hand in with others as a Return of Prayer Now methinks says she I have been saying to you whom I believe to have been instrumental in this matter is this your kindness to your Friend When I seem'd to have got so near to the harbour of an hoped for rest to use all your force and strength to bring me back again into this stormy and troublesome Sea where I must expect to be tossed with new Tempests before I get to shore of which I have now a much clearer Prospect than of any service I can do here in this world Did I ever desire you to pray for Life Or was it not rather that I might be carried thorow the dark valley of the shadow of Death But I must submit since I know you think you have acted Duty in this and since all things of this nature are ordered by a wise and gracious God for good to us And this does abundantly satisfie me in this and I hope in all other dispensations concerning me And now from these few Expressions as well as from what hints have been besides given of this pious Person we may easily perceive what Spirit she was of and what her great work and Business in the world was She wisely chose the Better part which none could take from her The whole of her Life being one continued declaration that she sought a better Country as knowing that we have no continuing City or place of abode here Thorow a patient continuance in well-doing she sought for honour and glory and immortality both in Health and Sickness And tho' an universal Decay of Spirits in Gods wise determination did incapacitate her in the hour of Deaths approach from having that sensible joy and ravishment which somtimes the Saints then have from the prospect of the nearness of Glory yet that Faith and Affiance that Reverence and Love and that Resignation and full satisfaction which she then expressed were such clear Evidences of her Grace and such happy Prognosticks of that Happiness she was entering upon the Possession of that we may justly admire Gods Mercy in all this both to Her and Us. And now my Friends obey the Instruction and imitate the Pattern that I have at this time set before you Which that we may do let us fervently implore the divine Grace and seriously improve the Gospel-Means And then I question not but we shall come in due time to find this Doctrine verified in our own Experience That better is the Day of Death than the Day of Birth Amen TO THE MEMORY of the Truly Religious Mrs. Susanna Soame WHO Departed this Life at Thurlow in Suffolk Feb. 14. An. Dom. 169 1 2. ART thou then gone thou sweet and humble Mind Leaving thy Friends thus sorrowing behind And can our Thoughts within our breasts be pent Since sorrows double are that have no vent No! No! My weeping Muse shall drop a Verse And offer at thy much lamented Hearse Thy Piety and Worth deserve no less And if my Lines be in an humble Dress It yet may Mourners suit since 't is requir'd That such in Black not Gold should be attir'd Had I a Pen drop't from an Angels Wing Or could I hear the Anthems thou dost sing Since thou art joyn'd unto the Quire above And swallow'd up in Raptures high of Love My Thoughts might then 't is like my Pen inspire with such like Notes as mov'd Wise Sol'mons Lyre When he did sing the Mystick Loves between Heav'ns Glorious Darling and his Purchas'd Queen For now that Song thou lov'dst so here is known To thee since thou hast reach'd the Heavenly Throne Yet when I think how Holy Paul before Tho' thus rapt up to Heaven could do no more But only tell he saw Things Glorious Which he nor could nor durst express to us I 'me therefore left in silence to adore That Hand which casts a Veil such things before And wills us to believe they are too great For this Imperfect State where we await Until we also from our Corps remove And mount all Earthly Dust and Shades above Wherefore I 'm left to muse on what is past And on thy by-gone-Lise some Thoughts to cast And here methinks as present still to day I see thy Face and hear thee thus to say An Acrostical Character of her Life S oar fain I would above each earthly thing V nto my Lord of all my Joy the Spring S uch is my study but alas I find A ll my Attempts too weak too dark my Mind N ow Clouds bemist me Grief o're-pow'rs my Soul N ow Fears alternate like the Waves do rowl A nd all my Comforts Joy and Hope controul S weet Glances from my God yet now and then O blidge my Soul from Sorrow to refrain A nd blast my Griefs and cause my Fears to fly M y Case thus changeth too and fro whilst I E ach day for Heaven long yet fear to dye Yet tho' all is but Folly that is said By Living Mortals of th' Immortal Dead Yet since we justly do conclude thou' rt blest And now from Pains and Sorrows all at rest Methinks I hear thy Voice from Heaven high Drop silent to my Ear thus through the Sky An Acrostical Character of her Death Soar now I do above each earthly thing Vnto my Lord of all my Joy the Spring Such was my Aim below but then did find All my Attempts too weak too dark my Mind No Cloud bemists me now and on my Soul No Grief or Fear alternately doth rowl As an Allay my Comforts to controul Sweet Sights of God and Christ I do obtain O sweet my Life Sweet Place where I remain Angels and Saints are now my Company My Friends below I 'd pity did not I Expect to see them to Eternity The Epitaph UNderneath this Stone doth lye Dust precious for the Memory Of a sweet Saint who once did dwell In such a fadeing Mortal Cell Who having got Gods Pass took wing Upwards to Heaven to live and sing Triumphant Hallelujahs there And breath more free in Sweeter Air. An Acrostical Memorial Since Vpwards Soar'd All Notions New Attend Seen Objects Ancient Molestations End. As the last Expression of Friendship on Earth These Lines are Offered by R. F. BOOKS Printed for John Harris at the Harrow against the Church in the Poultrey and John Salusbury at the Rising Sun over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1. ANgliae Metropolis Or The Present State of London with Memorials comprehending a full and succienct Account of the Antient and Modern State thereof First Written by the late Ingenious Tho. De Laune Gent. and continued to this present Year by a careful Hand 2. The Life and Death of that Old Disciple of Jesus Christ and Eminent Minister of the Gospel Mr. Hanserd Knollys who dyed in the Ninety Third Year of his Age. These Two Printed for J. Harris 3. The Certainly of the Worlds of Spirits Fully evinced by unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts Operations Voices c. Proving the Immortality of Souls the Malice and Miseries of the Devils and the Damned and the Blessedness of the Justified By R. Baxter 4. An End of Doctrinal Controversies which have lately Troubled the Churches by Reconciling Explication without much Disputing By R. Baxter These Two Printed for J. Salusbury CORRIGENDA SErm 1. pag. 7. lin 20 after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 insert and. p. 17. l. 20. after follow insert that p. 28. l. 10. after Scripture insert expressed p. 45. l. 1. for she read they p. 47. l. 14. after which insert is p. 48. l. 8. after her insert to observe her Serm. 2. p. 55. l. ult after must insert not p. 72. l. 7. for Eph. read Ep.
THE MOVRNERS Memorial IN TWO SERMONS On the Death of the Truly Pious Mris. SUSANNA SOAME Late Wife of Bartholomew Soame of Thurlow Esq Who Deceased Febru 14. 1691 2. With some Account of Her LIFE DEATH By Timothy Wright Robert Fleming Ministers of the Gospel London Printed for John Salusbury at the Rising-Sun in Cornhil and John Harris at the Harrow in the Poultry MDCXCII To the much Honoured BARTHOLOMEW SOAME of Little Thurlow Esq Honoured Sir THat Relation which these Discourses have to One who a few days ago stood in the nearest upon earth to your self rendering them peculiarly Yours doth intitle them to your Patronage And considering that upon the same account they may be acceptable to many others unto whom her Memory is precious tho' as they are Ours we have little reason to expect they should be so to any We do with the greater readiness in Obedience to your Commands here humbly present them to your Hand in that plain Countrey-dress in which they were lately directed to your Ear among many others to whom they were in that respect the more suitable as well as to the solemnity of the Occasion Hopeing that as through the Divine Grace they found some Access unto your Heart when they first visited your Ear so they may be of some further use by the blessing of God to renew or rather fix and settle the impressions which were then made being now again presented to your Eye Sir As there is none more deeply sensible of the greatness of the loss which You and Yours have sustained by the Death of so near and dear and every way useful a Relative so there is none more sincerely desirous than We are to the utmost of our power to be assistant both to You and them in bearing your present Burdens as far as Christianity doth oblige and Capacitate us to be mutually helpful to one another in fulfilling that part of the Law of Christ And surely it cannot choose but be a very relieving thought to you to consider what a vast disproportion there is between your Temporal loss and her Eternal gain by her happy Exchange of a frail Tottering Earthly Tabernacle for an House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens It may very well be a comfortable Alleviation to your Grief and Sorrow under the present afflictive dispensation when you first look backward and reflect upon the many wearisome and painful Exercises which One whom you so Dearly loved and then so heartily pityed did for so long a time undergo in a distempered body and then look forward and consider that She is now Eternally freed from all being happily arrived at that Everlasting Rest where there is not only perfect ease but fulness of joy to make it the more compleat complacential and delightful That Eternal weight of Glory which she is now in the possession of doth infinitely preponderate both her former sufferings in a mortal body and your present heavy affliction and sorrow upon her going out of it And therefore You have greater reason to rejoyce than to weep for her in as much as she is now gone unto her Heavenly Father And tho' it cannot be denyed but we have all reason to weep for our selves as indeed the state of this wretched World in general as well as of particular Families is sadly to be lamented when Persons of Eminent endowments and singular usefulness in their respective stations are in so great numbers as they have been of late translated out of it as being no longer worthy of such excellent Inhabitants and so few in many places springing up in their room Yet even in this respect we have no reason to sorrow as those that have no hope For As there are in your Family many pleasant and hopeful young Plants upon which the Blessing of Gen. 17. v. 7. Abraham is continually descending to make them yet more and more fruitful in every good work that it may still retain the beautiful Complexion of a Watered Garden and all that see Isa 58. v. 11. cap. 61. v. â— them may acknowledge that they are the Seed which the Lord hath blessed So with respect to the poor adjacent Countrey who also have sustained a great loss of which they are very sensible in the Decease of One who by your kind assistance and chearful Concurrence was more immediately instrumental in procuring for them such plain wholesome food for their Souls as they had a grateful relish of notwithstanding what in that kind they do otherwise enjoy We are greatly encouraged to hope that the Father of Spirits will in his wise and good Providence make up this loss also to them by continuing your Affairs here in such a posture that you may yet further pursue your own beneficent and charitable inclination towards your Neighbours and Country-men in affording them the like additional helps still for their spiritual improvement And in so doing We doubt not but You will find the Blessings of Heaven still multiplied upon your Family and abundance of peace and satisfaction in your own Spirit in persisting in and reflecting upon such a charitable piece of Service to the Souls of men In order whereunto both You and Yours of whose numerous favours to each of us we shall ever retain a most grateful sense are with no less sincerity than constancy recommended daily to the Compassionate Care of the Father of Mercys and the God of all Grace and Consolation by Honoured Sir Your greatly obliged faithful and humble Servants in Christ Timothy Wright Robert Fleming Thurlow-Hall March 7th 1691 2. A Funeral Sermon By Timothy Wright Chaplain in the Family Rom. 2. 7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality Eternal Life Which words as connected with v. 6. are thus Who will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality Eternal Life IT having pleased Almighty God the Soveraign disposer of all things in whose hands all our times are to remove from us and take unto himself our deservedly Honoured Dear and useful Friend who as you all know was in her life-time not without the condescending and chearful Concurrence of Her surviving Head very instrumental for the propagating the True knowledge of Christ Jesus among you by the Preaching of the Gospel in this place It is now the commendable and pious desire and appointment of her nearest surviving Relatives that we should this day here pay our last solemn and publick Respects together unto her Memory in a Sermon or two dedicated unto it And my Station in the Family laying me under a peculiar Obligation to bear my part in this solemn service tho' otherwise unworthy of it it was not long after I began more closely to apply my thoughts to the making some slender preparation for it that this Text presented it self to my mind as a proper subject for our
most serious meditation on this sorrowful occasion To them who by patient continuance in well-doing c. A Scripture that was eminently Exemplified in her Life and is now more fully accomplished and made good to her in her death and upon both accounts I hope so much the more adapted for our present instruction in Conjunction with that awakening and teaching Providence which gave the occasion to this Discourse upon it Which is designed both for an instructive lesson to the living and a solemn Memorial of the dead and therefore I shall endeavour by the Divine assistance to cast it into such a Method and form as may be in some measure accommodate to both parts of that design but to the latter in subserviency to the former as that which is principally to be regarded in such sacred discourses In the Words we have two things more generally offered to our serious consideration 1. The descriptive Character of the Heirs of future blessedness they are such who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality 2. The final Happiness unto which they shall at last be advanced by the gracious designation and appointment of their Heavenly Father And this is briefly sum'd up in those two comprehensive words Eternal life which indeed are both too big for our thoughts in this dark imperfect state and are only throughly understood where what is signified by them is fully enjoyed The Character of the Persons here spoken of is full extensive the felicity that awaits them at the end of their course is great and glorious and the Connection that is between them is firm and certain resulting from that divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is spoken of in the preceding part of the Context that righteous Judgment of God whereby he makes a true Estimate of Persons and actions according to the proper Rules of Judgment and will therefore render to every one according to his deeds And so with little variation we may summe up the sense of the Words in this Doctrinal Conclusion viz. Doct. That all they who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality shall at last obtain the full possession of what they seek after in Eternal life This is a Conclusion of that indubitable certainty that the Truth of it cannot be call'd in question without denying at once the divine veracity and remunerative justice for as much as the written word of God according to which his final distribution of Eternal Rewards and punishments shall be made at the last day hath expresly declared that it shall be thus And that in many other places of Scripture as well as in the Text And therefore looking upon it as altogether needless to insist upon the direct proof or Confirmation of this Truth amongst those that do acknowledge the divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures and believe them to be the Word of God All that I shall do further in speaking to it shall be first to explain and then to apply it to our selves on this sorrowful occasion In the Explication there are three things to be distinctly considered and spoken to viz. 1. The Extensive import of the Character by which the Heirs of future blessedness are here described 2. The nature and Excellency of that final happiness which doth by the divine Ordination and appointment belong to them as their everlasting inheritance 3. What kind of connection there is between the one and the other i. e. between the qualifications imported in this Character and that felicity to which all that bear it shall at last be advanced 1. That which doth most fitly come under our consideration in the first place is the extensive import of their Excellent Character who are here spoken of And as in the general we see they are described by the Spiritual and Heavenly Tendency and scope of their desires and aims which are too high to be confined to this lower World or to take up their Rest in any thing that is measured by Time So more particularly there are three things in this Character to be distinctly explained 1. The great and Noble Object of their earnest desire and constant aim expressed here by Glory Honour and Immortality 2. Their Souls Actual Motion towards this Object here express'd by their seeking after 〈◊〉 3. The regular Way and right Line in which their desires move and their aims are directed towards this blessed Mark and that is a patient continuance in well-doing First We may understand somewhat of the Excellency of the Character here given us of the Heirs of future Blessedness by considering the Object of their earnest Desire and steady Aim which indeed is great and noble well-beseeming the dignity of an heaven-born Soul even Glory and Honour and Immortality or as it is in the Greek incorruption 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 three words that carry a great deal in them the two first expressing the substance of what they seek after Glory and Honour and the third subjoyned partly to set forth the perpetuity and everlasting duration of both and partly to denote their own endless existence and continuance in the full possession and enjoyment of them when once they shall have reached the Mark at which they aim I Shall neither trouble my self nor you with a needless enquiry into the more nice and critical distinctions that some may conceive to be between these two words as to the proper import of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glory and Honour Thus much being sufficiently evident not only from the third word that is subjoyned to them but also from the manifest scope of the Text that they are principally designed both together to denote that everlasting happiness in another World which is in the close of the verse summ'd up in those other two words Eternal life intimating that to be the great thing which all the faithful servants of God and Disciples of Christ do in subordination to the Glory of their great Lord and Master chiefly seek after Yet so as not to exclude from being a part of the Object of their Desire and Aim whatsoever in this life is necessary as preparative and introductory to the Glory and Happiness of another Much less excluding whatsoever else there may be in that future blessedness it self which cannot so aptly be conceived of under the notions of Glory and Honour especially if more strictly and properly understood such as that eternal satisfaction that inexpressible Joy and that inconceivable delight which will undoubtedly accompany the glory and honour of that immortal state Nothing short of that Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 5. 4. that fadeth not away can indeed ultimately terminate the Desires or fully answer the Aims of the Persons of that singular and noble Character which we are now considering It is not any worldly honour or greatness tho' they should be advanced never so high in those secular dignities which many are so ambitious to climb
Heb. 10. v. 38. have no pleasure in him He that would so run as to obtain must not think it enough to set out right to begin well but he must hold on till he comes to the end of the prescribed course or else he looseth all As he must be careful to run the very race that is set before him keeping his feet in the direct path that is delineared for him by the divine Precepts without turning aside to any crooked way either on the right hand or on the left So he must be sure to run to the end of it not desisting till he arrive there or else he will run in vain 3. The last and highest gradation in this account that the Text gives of the way and manner of seeking regularly for glory and honour and immortality is made by the addition of patience unto this perseverance in well-doing And this Patience hath respect both to present evils endured and to future good expected in the way of our duty For patience is exercised by the Children of God in this state of their minority imperfection both these ways viz. in enduring and in waiting indeed in both respects they have need of patience that after they have done the Heb. 10. v. 36. Will of God they may receive the promise First All the Heirs of Glory during the time of their minority do stand in need of patience as it is to be exercised in enduring the many afflictive evils that they meet with in the course of their obedience and continuance in well-doing For as Gods ancient People Israel passed through a troublesome and howling Wilderness into the promised Land So all True Christians must expect through much Acts 14. v. 22. tribulation to enter into the Kingdom of God And therefore our Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples that in the John 16. v. 33. World they should have tribulation And indeed there is such a great variety of troubles to which the best of men are exposed here in this life as may sufficiently convince them that here is not Mich. 2. v. 10. their rest But all these are quietly and patiently undergone with a silent humble and meek submission to the divine Soveraign disposing hand that orders all by such as have eternal glory in their eye and aim in somuch that they do not only persevere in doing good with unwearied diligence but also hold out in suffering evils with invincible patience Col. 1. v. 11. being strengthened thereunto according to the glorious power of the divine grace Secondly They do exercise patience in waiting as well as in enduring For as the Apostle speaks they hope for Rom. 8. v. 25. that which yet they see not and therefore do with patience wait for it And this is that kind of patience which the Apostle James exhorts unto Jam. 5. 7 8. Be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the latter rain Be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draws nigh And the right Seekers after Glory and happiness are no strangers to the exercise of this kind of patience And therefore they are not weary in well-doing because they know that in due season they shall Gal. 6. v. 9. reap if they faint not and that every thing is most pleasant as well as most beautiful Eccl. 3. v. 11. in its season And thus have I shewn you at large the extensive import of the Character by which the Heirs of future blessedness are here described And so I come more briefly II. To consider in the next place the nature and excellency of that final happiness which doth by the divine ordination and appointment belong to them as their everlasting inheritance as it is here summ'd up in those two comprehensive words Eternal Life Which contain more in them than all the united eloquence of men and Angels is able to express and set forth It is a phrase more frequently than any other made use of in Scripture summarily to express the great felicity to which the glorified Saints are advanced in the heavenly Mansions And it doth very aptly serve to lead our Minds into some more general Conceptions of the greatness and glory of it tho' indeed all that can be said or thought falls infinitely short of being commensurate unto it Life is the sweetest of all enjoyments and therefore that is the last thing that any man will part with so long as he is able to retain it and Eternal life is the highest Job 2. ver 4. and most noble kind of life of which the nature of Man when in the utmost elevation is susceptive of And the excellency of it will more clearly appear to us if we consider it more distinctly first with respect to what is more directly imported in it and then with respect to what it doth necessarily connote when understood in that latitude in which the phrase is most frequently if not always used in Scripture 1. If we consider it in the more direct import of it so it appears to have a very radiant excellency in it that doth far out-shine the brightest part of this Worlds glory For it must be understood to singifie somewhat more than a bare immortality or a meer living for ever for that belongs also to the wicked that are turned into Hell and hath no happiness in it if abstractly considered even a glorious ineffable and everlasting union with God the fountain of life whereby the Spirits of just men made perfect dwelling in God the all-comprehending Spirit do so far as the finite capacity of a creature will admit everlastingly possess a perfect plenitude of life And this is elsewhere in Scripture express'd by being ever with the Lord. And this 1 Thes 4. v. 17. we are to conceive the Souls of the Saints to enter upon immediately after death altho' their bodies are not to be advanced to a participation in it until the resurrection when they also shall be made immortal and fashioned like unto Christs glorious Body according to the Phil. 3. v. 21. working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself 2. If we consider this Eternal life with respect to what it doth necessarily connote so it will appear to be still more excellent and glorious For as that God in whom the glorified Saints have most intimately their everlasting residence is in himself the fountain of life or the living God So he is also the fountain of blessedness And therefore as by being for ever with the Lord they do everlastingly possess a perfect plenitude of life in 2 Cor. 5. v. 4. which every thing of mortality shall at last be swallowed up So they must needs also enjoy together therewith a perfect fulness of whatsoever can be conceived of under the notion
of happiness a fulness of Glory both subjective and objective glory shining in them and glory shining upon and round about yea into them transfusing its bright beams through them a fulness of honour infinitely transcending all those fading Titles which advance one man so high above another in this lower World and a fulness of joy satisfaction and delight even those pure refined pleasures that are at Gods right Psal 16. v. 11. hand for evermore All this and a great deal more that neither our words nor thoughts can reach is summarily comprehended in that Eternal Life which all they shall certainly attain at the end of their course who by patient continuance in well-doing do seek for glory and honour and immortality Which will more plainly appear to us by considering that which follows in the next place in order namely III. That which remains in the last place to be spoken to is the connection between the qualifications imported in the foregoing Character and that glorious felicity unto which all that bear it shall at last be advanced between a Christians course and his crown between his seeking for glory and honour and immortality in the way here described and that eternal life in which he shall finally enjoy all that he sought for That there is a connection between them is sufficiently evident inasmuch as the one is attainable no other way but by the other And of what kind this connection is I am now to shew And in short It is easie forus to apprehend that this connection is not natural and necessary but ordinate not such as doth necessarily result from the nature of the things themselves that are here connected but such as hath its foundation in the gracious ordination and appointment of God For it is sufficiently evident to any one that doth attentively and seriously consider it That there is no just and adequate proportion between the most diligent and industrious Christians present service and his future eternal reward And so it is no less obvious for us to conceive that the connection that is between them is not founded in Merit but in Free Grace For when we have done all we must say we Luk. 17. v. 10. are unprofitable Servants we have done only that which was our duty to do And it is most absurd for any one to think to merit any thing by the payment of a just Debt And therefore the Scripture speaks of eternal life under the notion of a Gift as obtained only by the free donation of God and not as a possession accruing to us by any desert of our own whereas on the other hand that eternal death which is the just punishment of Sin is called Wages as being no more than what it doth most iustly deserve Rom. 6. 23. For the Wages of Sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so the Reward of the eternal inheritance is several times in Scripture under the Title of Mercy As the Apostle prayed for Onesiphorus 2 Tim. 1. 18. The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord at that day And so we are exhorted to keep our selves in the love of God looking for the Mercy of our Jude v. 21. Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life And therefore it is manifest that the connection that is between the Christians service and reward his Course and his Crown is not founded in merit but in the free Grace and undeserved Love of God in Christ to which alone that gracious Promise or Covenant is intirely owing whereby he hath been pleased to establish an immutable order between them so as that the one shall be infallibly consequent upon the other But the connection is never the less firm or certain for being so founded as it is but rather the more so For the Covenant of Grace which is the more immediate ground and foundation of it is an everlasting Covenant a covenant not 2 Sam. 23 v. 5. only ordered in all things but also sure Forasmuch as the divine eternal veracity is engaged to make good every Article of it to as many as have regularly laid hold upon it and by an hearty compliance with its conditions come to have a real interest in it For altho' God was unlimitedly free before he made the promise and established his Gracious Covenant with us yet that being once done he is obliged for the honour of his Truth and Righteousness to make it good And so though in strictness he can owe nothing to us he is a Debter to his own Promise And at the last day he will be glorified not only as the free and magnificent Donor of all the Treasures of Heaven but also as the God of Truth in fulfilling all the exceeding great and precious Promises that he 2 Pet. 1. v. 4. hath made unto his faithful Servants And therefore Vnto them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality he will not fail to render eternal Life And having thus with as much brevity as the Subject could well admit finished what I proposed to speak doctrinally from this Text of Scripture All that now remains is to make some application of what hath been said unto our selves And 1. From hence we learn with what magnanimity and nobleness of Spirit true living Christianity doth inspire those in whom it takes place elevating and raising their minds and hearts above this perishing World and all its fading transitory enjoyments Steadily inclining them to seek those things that are above Col. 3. v. 1. insomuch that nothing lower than heavenly glory and immortal honour can now content them or compose their Desires into a complacential Rest and satisfaction While others that are acted by the forbid abject and base Spirit of this World lie groveling in the dust of this earth drudging and toyling for what is only accommodate unto their mortal part the living Christian being made alive to God through Rom. 6. v. 11. Jesus Christ his Lord and having received not the Spirit of this World but the Spirit that is from God is continually 1 Cor. 2. v. 12. aspiring upwards in heavenly thoughts desires and aims ever seeking for glory and honour and immortality till he comes to the actual fruition of all in eternal life 2. What hath been said may serve also to discover to us the preposterous folly of their presumptuous hopes who think at last to obtain eternal life tho' they take no care to seek it in that way which the Gospel doth prescribe and in which only it is to be found even by a patient continuance in well-doing Heaven and eternal happiness are promised to none as an absolute irrespective Gift but as a Reward consequent upon service And therefore whosoever are careless and unconcerned about the duty and service of the present state will be sure to sall short of the glory and felicity of the future
And then the higher their presumptuous and groundless hopes have been raised the greater will their shame and disappointment be when they and their hopes shall perish together 3. The firm and certain connection which the gracious Promise and Covenant of God hath made and settled between a patient continuance in well-doing here and the enjoyment of eternal life hereafter may further serve for the comfort and encouragement of all his sincere and faithful Servants under all the difficulties and hardships afflictions and sorrows exercises and Tryals which they undergo here in the course of their obedience He that hath obtained a clear prospect by faith of the invisible World and of the glory honour and incorruption which are to be eternally enjoyed there by all that regularly seek after them here and is withal conscious to himself that he is one of that happy number can easily see through the darkest cloud and discern a comfortable end of all his present troubles And therefore his Faith mightily animating his Hope and his Hope proportionably strengthening his Patience he doth not faint in the day of Adversity nor is he weary of well-doing Prov. 24. v. 10. because he is sufficiently assured that the time is short and so that it will be but yet a little while before all Tears shall be wiped away from his eyes and all Isa 25. v. 8. grief and sorrow banished from his heart and endless Joyes succeed in their Rev. 7. v. 17. room 4. The same consideration may serve as a sweet and comfortable allay to the sorrows of such as are mourning for the death of such of their near and dear Relatives or Friends who in their life-time gave sufficient proof of their exemplary care and diligence to persevere in such a steady course of duty and obedience as hath eternal life and glory connected with it It is indeed very selfish and unbecoming our Christian hope with immoderate and unallayed grief and sorrow to lament the death of such For asmuch as altho' their absence and departure from us be very sensibly our great loss their presence with the Lord is in an infinitely higher degree their gain And therefore methinks even natural affection which makes us wish well to our dear Relatives especially when sanctified by Grace and assisted by faith should give some check to our immoderate grief for the Removal of such of them from us by the stroke of death concerning whom we have such comfortable and well-grounded hopes For why should we grieve at or regret their happy advancement unto that immortal glory and honour which they had been long seeking for but could never reach before 5. What we have heard may serve both for our direction and excitation unto such a regular and steady course of obedience here that we may all obtain eternal life hereafter Let us endeavour therefore to have that Truth which hath been this day suggested to us out of the Word of God so deeply impress'd upon our very hearts that the thoughts of it may continually dwell with us and have a constant influence upon us by the grace of God for the engageing us to the most strenuous diligence and constancy in prosecuting our present duty as that which hath by the divine ordination and appointment a direct tendency to our future eternal felicity Let us never forget that the only way to glory and honour and a blessed immortality is a patient continuance in well doing And so let none of us any longer indulge our selves in the neglect of that upon which our eternal welfare doth so evidently depend but let the time past suffice us to have wrought the Wills of the Flesh and to have misemployed the active strength and vigour of our Souls in minding only earthly things And now let us resolve by the grace of God to call off our hearts and affections from this lower World and all its perishing vanities and so set our selves in good earnest to seek those things that are above Minding the great Duties of Christianity with a more serious care than ever we have hitherto exercised about them Making True practical Religion more our business as it is what will turn to the best accompt unto us at last O let none of us be guilty of such preposterous folly in the great concernments of our immortal Souls as we would be ashamed of in the management of our secular affairs separating the Way from the End as if the one might be attained without a serious and due attendance to the other The Way in which we must seek for future glory and happiness if ever we would have it is plainly delineated to us in the Text And all those that are gone before us and have actually received the Reward of the eternal inheritance both sought and obtained it in this way and no other even by a patient continuance in well-doing It doth therefore concern us to tread in their steps that we also may in due time and in our appointed order come to the fruition of the same happiness with them And so my earnest exhortation to you is in the words of the Apostle Heb. 6. 11 12. That every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises And here for your further excitation I shall now on this solemn occasion set before you the illustrious and worthy Example of our deservedly honoured and lately deceased Friend whose immortal part is now with Christ For She was indeed One upon whose Heart and Life the divine Spirit and Grace had in most conspicuous and shining lineaments drawn that excellent and noble Character by which the Heirs of Blessedness are described in the Text And to that in the several parts of it I shall principally confine my self in the following Account that I shall give you of her Wherein my more immediate design and aim is to shew you how eminently this Text of Scripture was exemplified in her that you may thence be the more confirmed in your comfortable and well-grounded assurance of her being now happily possessed of that Eternal Life which by the divine designation and appointment belongs to all that bear that Character And therefore not to say any thing of her natural endowments either intellectual or moral altho they were such as made the Grace of God to shine with the greater lustre in her discreet and well-ordered conversation I shall speak only to those that were manifestly divine and supernatural And for as much as my happy acquaintance with her did commence too late to capacitate me to give you any particular account of the more early impressions of the Divine Grace upon her Soul or the more distant Passages of her pious Life and that I may keep my self as remote as may be from all suspition of flattery and falsehood in the payment of this my last solemn
if We consider the Vanities and Miseries of Mankind in this World abstracting from the future it is better to go out of it by Death than come into it by Birth But others understand it rather as specially referring to the death of good men who are thereby not only freed from troubles here but instated in true happiness felicity hereafter And this sense as it appears more consonant to the tenour of Scripture Truth and Phraseology so likewise seems not obscurely to be hinted here from its close connexion with the preceding part of the Verse For it is the death of him that has a good Name that seems to be here spoken of and whose Death is justly preferred to his Birth For a good Name does unquestionably suppose true worth and vertue as its Foundation and Basis And tho' the Epithet of good be not expressed in the Hebrew but simply a name which is preferred to precious ointment Yet that is so far from lessening the sense that it expresse it with the greater Emphasis as insinuating that wicked men have no name at all properly speaking It is chiefly in this sense that I conceive the proper meaning and scope of the words to lye tho' I would not totally exclude the former by reason of the largeness of the expression for I think Scripture is to be understood in the largest sense where the words and scope will naturally bear it without contorsion and straining And therefore the Doctrinal Proposition that I here lay down as the foundation of my ensuing Discourse is this That as the day of Death is prefeferable to the day of ones Birth with respect to all when the parallel is only in reference to this Life considered as miserable abstracting from the Future So far more is the day of death preferable to the day of ones Birth with respect to the Saints when the parallel is not only in reference to This Life but inclusive also of the Future In which General Proposition as we may see both senses of the Text conjoyned as being no way opposite dissonant or exclusive the one of the other So we may observe them so conjoyned as notwithstanding to remain Distinct And therefore we must of necessity disjoyn them again in order to a distinct handling And though it is the second sense of the words that I principally intend to consider and prosecute Yet since it may be of use to premise some brief Reflection upon the former I shall therefore distinctly and apart propose both senses in two Propositions which are nothing else but the two parts of the preceding General Doctrine First Proposition The Day of Death is preferable to the Day of ones Birth with respect to All when the parallel is only in reference to this Life considered as miserable abstracting from the Future I suppose there is none that considerately and seriously ponders this Proposition but will easily assent unto it since I do not here barely and nakedly reflect on the notions of Birth Death in themselves with respect to Life simply considered but only draw the parallel between them with respect to Life as miserable or to speak plainly with respect to the miserys of Life And I suppose none can duely consider this but must instantly be enforced to prefer the exit from Misery to the intrat into it Which is all that according to this sense of the Text is understood by Death and Birth For let us but suppose that we were under a necessity to go a dangerous tedious and afflictive Journey wherein we were to encounter with all manner of Miseries pains and troubles and it were then proposed to us Whether we did not prefer the End and Close of it to the Beginning of it and our Entry upon it I reasonably conclude abstracting from all consideration of the place whether that Journey might lead us that our Answer would be in the Affirmative from the Melancholly Idea and Representation of such a Journey And now what else is our Life in this Miserable world but such a tedious and afflictive Peregrination For we are born to trouble as the sparks flie upward No sooner do we enter by birth into the Society of the Living but our Infant Crys and Tears become a sad prelude to a succeeding sorrowful scene Our Childhood and Youth are wholly vanity and spent in such a way as we seem rather to breath than live And our propensity then to extravagancy and sin oblige our best Friends to keep us under the Pedagogy of necessary tho' to us afflictive Correction And when ever we arrive to something of further Maturity and judgment we are immediately beset with cares and incumberances the inseparable Companions of worldly Business Then do our hearts run out impetuously after the Trifles of time the nick-nam'd Honours Profits and Pleasures thereof the Game which Ambitious Covetous and Wanton Spirits flie at The fine varnish and gaudy shew of guilded dross and dung takes us and after it are our endeavours bent Here cares to get this worlds dross cares to keep it cares to encrease it and cares to dispose of it eat out the best part of our little time And yet notwithstanding our rising up early sitting up late and eating the bread of sorrows the defectiveness of the creature and its transitoriness thwarts our hopes and expectations Besides that oft a secret curse from God blasts our endeavours and breaks our measures in all that we do Riches and Estates take to themselves wings and flie away as an Eagle towards Heaven to receive a new disposal And the fair image and shadow of Honour Grandeur and Pleasure passeth away and leaves our minds perplexed and troubled for the disappointment Thus do we seek for the living among the dead and satisfaction and contentment where it is not to be found Distance and separation from our best Friends eat out the seeming comfort we might enjoy in their company Wants pains sickness sorrows fears and disappointments swallow up any little pleasure that we meet with in the world and drown the sense of enjoyments otherwise comfortable And besides all these things that happen to our selves immediately we are oftimes called to be sad spectators of the many Tragedies acted in the world We see National and Church Calamities and Family and Personal Distresses And oft-times the nearness of our Relation to others obliges us by something more than Sympathy to suffer with them And now all these things being impartially reflected on if we return with Solomon ch 4. 1 2 3. and consider the oppressions that are done under the sun and how destitute not only the Oppressed but the Oppressors also are of True comfort on that account I say considering these things we may see ground with him to praise the Dead rather than the Living yea to conclude that better is he than both these who hath not yet been because he hath not seen the evil work which is done under the sun Object How can
we prefer Death to Birth and consequently to Life Since even Solomon himself ch 9. v. 4 5. Doth plainly give the preference to Life for a living Dog is better says he than a Dead Lion c. Answ It is not strange or uncommon for one and the same thing to come under different considerations at some times And when it does so it may be very proper accordingly to deduce quite different yea and opposite conclusions from thence And therefore it needs not seem strange that Solomon speaks of Life in ch 9. in another Dialect than he does here in my Text Since he reflects here and there upon the same things under quite different considerations For 1. in ch 9. he compares Life and Death in their own natures and therefore hath all the reason in the world to give the preference to Life as being so illustrious an effect of divine Wisdom and Power But here Solomon doth not compare these Opposites in themselves but in an accidental consideration only with reference to the troubles and miseries our Lives here are exposed to by reason of sin And therefore makes such an Inference hence as we have explained 2. Solomon in ch 9. does not only consider Life in it self but under the Notion also of being the way and means thorow the right improvement whereof men may attain to happiness hereafter Whereas those that are dead are put out of capacity of doing any thing further for their Soul For says he to him that is joyned to the living there is hope but the dead have no more portion in any thing that is done under the Sun Which therefore seems to be nothing else but that which he more clearly unfolds v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might because there is no work c. But now in this place Solomon speaks of life abstracting from its relation and use this way and considers it meerly in reference to its miseries and troubles And therefore his Inference here is nothing but what natively results from such a consideration thereof 3. Solomon in the 9th ch seems to me to speak of Life and Death with respect to wicked men chiefly if not only And in this respect it is certain Life is far preferable to Death since as he says v. 10. There is no preparation work to be done after death for the good of the Soul whereas whilst there is life there is still hope that wicked men may repent and reform before it be too late as he intimates v. 4. and according to the old saying Sperandum est vivis non est spes ulla sepultis But now as was said before it seems not obscurely to be hinted here that we are to understand the words of my Text as refering if not only yet specially to the Saints who thorow grace and holiness have attained worthily to deserve a good name And this leads me to a Transition from the first to the second and as I judge more native Meaning of the words which I lay down to be distinctly considered in the following Thesis Second Proposition The Day of Death is far preferable to the Day of ones Birth with respect to the Saints when the parallel is not only in reference to this Life but inclusive also of the Future I don't say that at all times and upon all accounts the day of Death is actually to be prefered to the day of Birth and to Life Since sometimes it may be our duty to chuse Life before Death For even Paul himself after a struggle with himself on this account whether he should prefer death or life Phil. 1. 23. 24. having impartially weighed the reasons on both sides concludes v. 25. That considering the usefulness of his life to the Church on earth it was for the present to be preferred to death Neither do I say here that the Saints attain always to prefer death to life No alas there are but few comparatively that get this length Even an Hezekiah will weep sâ—re at the thoughts of death and chatter like a crane or swallow and mourn as a dove on that account Isa 38. 3 14. And a David also will on this account at sometimes be made to cry out Psal 39. 13. O spare me that I may recover strength c. But that which I assert here in the Proposition laid down is That the Death of a Saint is preferable to his Birth because of the misery of this present Life and the happiness of the Life to come For if as we shewed before death be preferable to birth meerly because the comforts of this life are so over-ballanced and weighed down by the sorrows of time Then surely the conclusion is much more strong when we consider the glory and happiness of the future Life and lay it also in the scale over and above For who then can withstand the force of this Truth that the entry upon happiness which is by Death is much to be preferred to the entry upon a miserable life here which is by Birth And as this Proposition so expresly Asserted in the Text thus explained seems so clear in it self So a more distinct consideration of things will put it beyond all further doubt and controversy And therefore I came now to Prove the Point further Which being done I shall proceed to Improve it The Proof And now to Prove this Point I shall endeavour to do it by shewing the preferableness of the one to the other upon the account given and that in two things viz. 1. By explaining the Terms here used of Birth and Death 2. By considering more directly the Present and Future Life that these two Periods of Birth and Death enter the Saints upon And first I shall briefly reflect upon the Terms of Birth and Death And here as in many other things I find a lameness and defectiveness in Words by which the true Notions of Things are often clouded and almost lost And therefore tho' I take not upon me to rectifie these terms as vulgarly used Yet the present subject necessarily leads me to some rectification of the notions of the things themselves which we have it may be from education too easily imbibê°d For if in ordinary converse it be a Rule quod loquendum cum Vulgo I think we may well subjoyn in serious Inquiries into things quod sentiendum cum Dâ—ctis And tho' I pretend not to such rectified notions of things as others may have reacht yet since this falls in my way it may not be amiss to consider what estimate we are to make of Birth and Death with respect to a Saint And 1 as to Birth tho' we must consider a Saint as all other men to be made up of a Soul and Body as his two constituent parts Yet it is the Soul which chiefly denominates the man Whence it is that in Scripture our bodies are called our Tents or Tabernacles wherein we lodge for a time so that tho' the Body be
indeed an Essential part of man yet it is the less principal part since the Soul can act and live as well out of it as in it And therefore it is from the Original of the Soul that the birth of man is chiefly to be reckoned rather than from the formation of the body Now if accordingly we compute the birth of a Saint we are led to a Threefold Birth which results from the Consideration The 1st is by Creation when the Soul of Man is at first created and placed in the body Which indeed carries along with it the formation of the body also for we can't conceive the body to be formed as to its due perfection with respect to union with the Soul till the moment of the Souls infusion therein if with the Schools I may be admitted to use such a word who tell us of the Soul that creando infunditur insundendo creatur But that the Soul derives its original from Gods immediate creating it and not ex traduce I speak with all deference to learned and worthy Persons of another judgment may seem plain if it were but from that one Scripture Zech. 12. 1. especially if we duely consider its connexion with what precedes I say then that the first birth of man to speak properly is to be reckoned from the union of the Soul and body in the womb which as to priority of time seems to be instantaneously upon the Creation of the Soul rather than from the Egress of the child from thence But since we are most taken with what is most sensible to us I shall not contend about words if the thing be understood Especially seeing the Scripture is so calculated in its Expressions as to use words commonly in use understood by the lowest form of Christians Only howsoever we use words I am confident to say that the Birth of Man may very well be reckoned from the Vnion of Soul and Body in the womb For whatever hath these two constituent parts of man can be assign'd to no other class but that of Mankind The 2. Birth of Man according to the Soul is in Regeneration or Conversion Of which Christ speaking Joh. 3. Calls it the birth of a man from above v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 3. Birth is in Glorification And this admits of a Twofold Period viz. 1. As to the Soul only at Death when it separates from the Body and becomes from that moment perfectly freed from sin and misery and admitted to the enjoyment of true happiness above For the Souls of just persons even then are said to be made perfect Heb. 12. 23. 2. As to Soul and Body when re-united at the Resurrection which is called the Adoption and Redemption of the Body Rom. 8. 23. Now from all this we may arrive to make some tolerable Estimate of that which we commonly call the Birth and Death of a Saint For 1. that which we commonly call Birth is nothing else but mans Egress from the womb and his Ingress into the Society of Mortals here Now what is this but a kind of Death since we being our selves Mortal see and converse only with Mortal Objects as all things external here are Whence it is that all mans time on earth even from the Evening of the Worlds Creation to the Morning of the Resurrection is esteemed but as one Night as is imported Psal 49. 14. When the Resurrection is Emphatically Termed the Morning both with respect to the night of time preceding and the day of eternity about to succeed And hence also our Life on earth is called a Sleep wherein we rather dream of things than really apprehend them and out of which we are first thorowly awaked by Death We may see this plainly hinted Psal 17. 15. Whereas 2. that which we call commonly Death is nothing else but the unpinning our mortal Tabernacles and the manumitting us into the immortal Regions of Light Love and Liberty Of which the great Saints in Scripture speak no otherwise than in the familiar Dialect of putting off a suit of old Apparrel for new and more glorious ones Thus Paul calls it a being unclothed as to the Body and clothed upon by having Mortality swallowed up of Life 2 Cor. 5. 4. And Peter calls it a putting off this his Tabernacle 2 Eph. 1. 14. Again 2 let us consider Death the right notion whereof will become more facile to our apprehensions by what we have said of Life All therefore that I shall say of it is that besides that which we commonly call so there is a Twofold Death in a Spiritual sense which falls under consideration here The 1. is a Death in Sin which is entered into at our Birth into the world For then it is that we come to enter upon the Stage of a sinful world We are shapen in sin and conceived in iniquity And our Birth into the world is rather a kind of Death than Life since we are exposed thereby to sinning and suffering to vanity and vexation of Spirit The 2. is a Death to Sin which is entered upon at the dissolution of the tye between Soul and body upon which account it is called Death But tho' it disunite soul and body for a time yet it may rather be called the Birth of the Soul in as far as it translates it from all manner of sin and misery It is true indeed as was said before Regeneration is a kind of new Birth to the Soul in as far as it delivers us from the death of sin in a great measure Yet since that is but a deliverance in part therefore it is by death only that we come totally to dye to sin Tho' I grant that this death to sin comes to be more illustriously display'd at the great period of the Resurrection When the last enemy Death comes to be Totally destroyed and swallowed up in Victory 1 Cor. 15. 54. So that from hence we may see that our Birth into this world is a Death in Sin whereas our Dissolution or the separation of soul and body is properly a Death to Sin or a manumission and freedom given us both from Sin and misery Wherefore from all that hath been said in the Premises as to both these Terms of Birth and Death we may not injustly invert the notion of them with respect to the Saints and say That the day of our Birth into this world was the day of our Death in sin ignorance vanity and misery Whereas the day of our Death may be justly reputed to be the day of our Birth into the world of purity knowledge light and rest But 2dly I come now to consider what that thing we call Life is which the two Periods of Birth and Death enter us upon and with respect to which we can only pass a right judgement of the preferableness of either of them And truely as to this matter we are very much in the dark taking that to be life which hath little more of
and infinitely the best company There we shall be admitted to lean our heads on Christs bosom and tell him all our most concerning secrets and have him to be our dear friend and companion for ever There we shall be equal to the Angels and become their fellow-servants and fellow-worshippers And there shall we enjoy the company of all the glorified Saints the Patriarchs Kings Priests Prophets Apostles Evangelists Martyrs and eminent Ministers and Christians that as bright clouds of witnesses have got to heaven before us And there among others we shall meet with endeared Embraces our loving and dear Friends and Relatives that were so acceptable to us on earth We shall all meet together in the Celestial Regions and in the streets and Mansions of the new Jerusalem and as we shall be ever with the Lord so shall we be ever also with one another 6. An untainted good Name This is yet another blessing that attends the true life For to be exposed to reproaches and to underly calumnies and evil reports is inconsistent with the notion of this tho' I grant God can turn this as other evils to the advantage of his own But alas this is one superadded misery to the many that we meet with here that we are tossed to and fro with the various censures of men Even the Apostles themselves were so far from escaping this Contagion that they were esteemed as the dross and refuse of mankind as the very vilest of miscreants by a blind mad world Fame hath been for a long time the Goddess of ambitious and high Spirits But it is the greatest nonsense to talk of perpetuating ones name here since the furthest that the fame of any can go is but to the limits of time and space Fame and good name then are Jewels of the Eternal Crown of Happiness wherewith God doth adorn such only as he admits to the everlasting enjoyment of himself He then that conquers the Vniverse hath but the shaddow of true Fame which God bestows only on such who have thorow grace attained to overcome sin Satan and the world And he also who hath left his name behind in the frontis-piece of an hundred learned Volumns hath yet fallen short of a perpetual fame except he hath also attained to have his name ingraven and inrolled in the eternal Registers and Records of Heaven 7. The Perpetual Duration of all these Had we all the forementied Qualifications of true and perfect Life yet if we did but admit of a suspition in our thoughts as to their continuance and permanency This one suspicious thought would be enough to dump all our satisfaction with respect to so many blessings And therefore to make Life every way happy and perfect this superadded Qualification of the Eternity of all must of necessity come in And therefore we are hence led to see that there is no true Life here since all our comforts and enjoyments are transitory and fading as being momentary and confin'd within the narrow limits and precincts of years days hours and minutes And no wonder since even that which we call Life here is it self but a vapour that appeareth for a little and then vanisheth away yea such a vapour as has not so much a being as the shew and appearance thereof For to this purpose doth James ch 4. v. 14. Point it forth very expressively when he says it is a vapour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But on the other hand this adds to all the happiness of the future Life that all the enyoyments and blessings there are permanent and eternal No rust doth there corrupt them nor Thief steal them nor age wast them nor death devour them They that once enter upon the actual fruition of such Enjoyments do ever retain their possession of them And thus I have run thorow the Qualifications and Properties of true Life as briefly as I could Which since they only quadrate with the future Life of perfection I suppose it is easy to conceive what Reason we have to conclude with Solomon that Death to a Saint is far preferable on all accounts to his Birth or to speak it in his very words Better is the day of such a ones Death than the day of his Birth The Improvement In the next place I come to bring home the Doctrine to our selves by a serious Improvement thereof Which I design shall be Judgment and Regulative of our Practice with respect to our Duty as to both 1st The Information of our Judgments Although all that hath been said was with this design to rectifie our thoughts as to the Doctrine which is the subject matter of the Text Yet there are these things farther that we may rationally and indeed necessarily Inferr hence 1. Infer We see from what hath been said not only the certainty of a Future Life and state but of an immediate Happiness and Glory also which the Souls of the Righteous pass into at Death When the poor Beggar dyed he was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosome Luk. 16. 26. And the poor penitent Thief was on one and the same day in misery on the Cross with Christ and in paradise with him Luk. 23. 43. And St. Paul the great Columbus of the upper world who first made a voyage and returned again in time as we see 2 Cor. 12. 1 4 c. Could never reflect afterwards upon that paradise which he then saw but with earnest breathings to be there again as we see 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. c. Phil. 1. 23. And indeed if there were not a future state we could never give any rational account why God should make so Noble a Creature as Man but might then cry out with the Psalmist Psal 89. 47. Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain And were not this glorious life and state to be entered upon by the Souls of Believers Immediately at Death it would greatly damp the sweet and comfortable reflections which they are called to have thereof then 2. Infer We have hence also a rational and satisfactory Answer to give to all the scruples and Objections that can be put up by any against this Doctrine And now since we hinted before some Doubts that naturally might arise in mens minds from the first proposal and idea of this Doctrine I shall therefore in this place briefly Answer the same from what hath been already said Wherefore 1. Since Atheistical and Anti-scriptural Persons cry out upon this Doctrine as ridiculous from a fond imagination that the Soul has no existence when separate from the body I Answer 1. That such an imagination is not only contrary to Scripture but Reason it self For how is it possible for us to conceive that such a noble active and intelligent being as the Soul of Man should be meerly dependant on the body and have only its duration for a short space in this vain world Especially 2. since we see that this present life is rather an appearance than a reality as all things
his Soul is otherwise wholly propending Heaven-ward 3. Seek to have your Souls admitted to Converse with God here For if we are not admitted to this happy Society wholly yet let us endeavour after this Blessing here below in as far as God may be pleased to priviledge us with it Alas that we should be satisfied with the Society of shadows and vanishing things here below whilst we may have communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ It is this blessed Fellowship alone that can sweeten and familiarise Death and dissolution to us and make separation appear rather a change of our Place than of our Company But 2 I must also subjoyn some more special improvement of the Doctrine with respect to our Practise in relation to the sad Occasion of our present Meeting together at this time And here tho' what I am to say further may be of use to all yet I address my self more particularly to You whom this Dispensation of Providence doth more nearly respect and concern And what I have to say here I shall comprise in a Threefold Counsel or Advice 1. Couns Submit your selves cordially to Gods correcting hand in this stroke Remember the Patience of Job under greater severity and say with him the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the Name of the Lord. All the Providences of God are the Effects of the highest wisdom and with respect to the Saints they all flow from love and mercy also Nothing falls out casually in such matters however they appear to us For if a sparrow fall not to the ground without our Father which is in Heaven then surely a Friend a Relative and Child of God cannot be removed hence without his special providence for are we not of more value than many sparrows 2. Couns Moderate your sorrows as to the Person deceased from the consideration of the place and company she is gone to and the happiness she now enjoys For blessed be God we sorrow not to day as those that have no hope For we have not the least shadow of doubt as to her happiness and glory But if we have any thing to bewail this day it is as to our selves that we are left behind Indeed we have reason to lament her removal as a loss to her Relatives a loss to her Friends yea and a loss to the Country But otherwise with respect to her self we have rather cause of joy than sorrow If I may be so bold as to suppose the Lord speaking to us in the words of Jerom who to comfort a pious Matron named Paula upon the death of her daughter brings in the Lord speaking to her may we not think that the Lord speaks by this dispensation unto you to this purpose I have made this your Relative and Friend mine But what Do you envy my possession Where can she be better than with me Would you bring her back from Rivers of Pleasures to the valley of Tears From Health to Sickness From a Throne to a Drageon May we not therefore in this case allude to our Lords expression Joh. 14. 28. If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I go to the Father And I suppose could we now hear her speak to us it would be in words of such an importance 3. Couns Imitate what was Good Valuable and Praise-worthy in her Imitate her in her Faith in her Charity in her Assiduity in Religious Duties in an impartial scrutiny into the state of her own Soul in her closet retirements and publick walk and conversation in a sincere design to honour and please God in a chearful delight in doing good to all and in patience and submission under affliction and this Leads me to a Transition from the Doctrine to the Person in whom we may see a Laudable Example which may serve to back the Preceding Precepts as being at least to many of us here an ocular Demonstration thereof The Character And here give me leave to present you with a few hints of this worthy Saint which I have either known from her self immediately or from an impartial observation of her Life and walk And I am the rather emboldned to do this because although many others knew her much earlier and longer than I yet there were few she was pleased to condescend to be more free with in the concernments of her Soul But since my Brother who hath already preceded me on the same occasion hath besides a General Character of her given you some succinct narrative of her last Hours I shall therefore only present you further with some account of her Christian Life and Conversation that may be of further use with respect to Imitation by others as well as condusive to make her Memory further precious Her natural Temper was Retired and serious and altogether averse from crouds of Company and the hurries of the world Yet no way Morose and Sullen but Pleasant and Affable to All and becomingly Free also with her Friends And such she specially reckoned so who were truely Pious and Religious For it might justly be said of her as of David that all her delight was in the Saints whom she esteemed the excellent Ones of the Earth And such Persons she valued according to the degree of worth that she see in any without regard to the discriminating name of a Party For she was careful besides her regard for all pious and vertuous Persons duely to ponder the super added Qualifications that she see in any that might entitle them to a more particular share in her Friendship And as her Temper was naturally serious so God blessed her very early even in her childhood with true seriousness and Piety as she hath been forced oftner than once to confess with grateful Acknowledgments of Gods mercy to her on that account as well as comfortably to reflect upon the Blessing she had in being descended from eminently Religious Parents and brought up in true Christian Education A natural Modesty attended her in all her Actions even the most serious An eminent instance whereof was this that tho' she was educated in the Congregational-way very strictly yet she could never be induced as is usual with such to give any open or formal account of her Souls concerns before others and upon that account she had been wholly debarred from the most spiritual of ordinances had not God by providential acquaintance imprest that just Character of her upon the mind of the Reverend Dr. Jacomb as upon an inquiry into such things to admit of her notwithstanding this to all ordinances with intire satisfaction This I speak not with the least design to reflect on any Party or Way especially since God hath been pleased of late to cement the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah in so great a measure by an happy Vnion but I mention it only by way of Caution both to Ministers and Churches that we may see what tenderness is required in debarring poor modest Christians from what in