7. of our Bodies return to God that gave 'em and are fix'd in a state of Happiness or Misery Had not the Apostle believ'd this we cannot imagine that he would have esteem'd Death to be gain to him or that he would have been in any strait to determine and fix his choice for present Death or longer Life for the latter would have been much more eligible if he had believ'd that his Soul at death would have been as insensible and unactive as his Body and no doubt but he would rather have desir'd to continue in this World where he had enjoy'd Communion with Christ and often seen him by a steddy eye of Faith than to be hurried out of it by Death and render'd utterly incapable of any enjoyment of his Redeemer till the Resurrection But 't is yet more evident from another Expression of our Apostle that he was very far from the Opinion or rather Dream of the Soul 's sleeping with the Body till the Resurrection His words are these We 2 Cor. 5. 8. are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. q. d. We have good courage and are well arm'd against the fears of Death being well assur'd that we shall have upon our Dissolution an immediate admittance into the Presence of our glorified Lord for the Apostle supposes not only that the Soul is capable of existing while separated from the Body and of exercising her Faculties and Powers in such a state but that so soon as she leaves the Body she shall enter into the presence of Christ and behold his Glory But I pass on and shall briefly represent the force of the Apostle's Arguments against immoderate Sorrow for the dead The first of which is taken from the nature of their Death who die in the Lord 't is describ'd by the soft Character of a Sleep which as you have heard refers only to the Body Now the death of the Righteous may be thus set forth on the following accounts 1. Because the Body is then eased of all its Pains and freed from all Fatigue and Toil to which it was expos'd while animated with the Soul And therefore as Death is compar'd to Sleep so the Grave is compar'd Isa 57. 2. to a Bed where the righteous are said to rest In this Life the best of Men are frequently made uneasy by acute Distempers and corroding Pains and Death is frequently sought for because Life is a burden You that have frequently visited the Chambers of the sick cannot surely have forgotten the sighs of those Prisoners who have groan'd upon Beds of Down as if every part of their Bodies had been violently extended on a Rack It would be endless to reckon up the vast number of Diseases that affect the Children of God in this World for being tainted with original Sin as well as the vilest of the People they may expect the same Distempers and tho they tarry here but a few days they are ordinarily full of trouble and if their Bodies are not often indispos'd yet thro the Malice of Enemies and the Miseries and Unkindnesses of their Friends they are frequently made to bow towards the Grave before they drop into it For indeed the best of our earthly Comforts have their hidden stings but they shall give us no more pain and uneasiness after we are fallen asleep in Job 3. 17 18. Jesus For in the Grave the wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest there the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor 2. In Sleep no labour is expected from the Body so when Believers are overtaken with a mortal slumber Christ expects no Service from their Bodies While the Soul continues united to the Body we are oblig'd to yield the Members of the one as well as the Faculties of the other Rom. 6. 13. as Instruments of Righteousness unto God but in a state of separation there is expected neither Service nor Suffering from the Body So that while we continue on the Stage of this World the Advice of the wise Man is very proper Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do Eccles 9. 10. it with thy might for there is no Work nor Device nor Knowledg nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest All our vital and animal Operations shall cease when our Spirits return to God and our Bodies are reduc'd to Dust The one is fix'd in an unalterable state of Happiness or Misery and the other put into an incapacity for Action A middle place betwixt Heaven and Hell for departed Spirits is a groundless Imagination for it could not be said with truth that such as die in the Lord rest from Rev. 14. 13. their Labours if they were to pass into a refining Fire equally tormenting in degree but not in duration with that of Hell as those of the Roman Faction assert Therefore let us rather attend to the words of our Lord and follow Joh. 9. 4. his Example I must work the Works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no Man can work 3. Death to the Righteous is disarm'd of its sting and being alter'd in its nature it may sutably be set forth by the notion of Sleep St. Paul tells us that 1 Cor. 15. 56. the sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law Death receives its destroying Power from Sin and Sin from the Law Sin being a Transgression of the Law which discovers its odious nature and denounces Damnation for it But Death approaches Believers without its sting Christ having yielded an indefective Obedience to the Law and suffer'd the penalty of it in the room and stead of Believers Hence says the Apostle There is therefore now no condemnation Rom. 8. 1. to them which are in Christ Jesus Christ hath redeem'd 'em from the Curse Gal. 3. 13. of the Law being made a Curse for ' em And the Apostle represents Believers as triumphing over Death in such terms as these O Death where is thy Sting O Grave 1 Cor. 15. 55 57. where is thy Victory Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Christ has remov'd the scandal of Death by dying and perfum'd the Grave by lying in it and passing through it 4. The Death of the Righteous is compar'd to a Sleep on the account of what shall follow thereupon for as men do awake after Sleep so they shall revive after Death as we are assur'd by a very remarkable Prophecy Hos 13. 14. and Promise I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy Destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eyes In which words we must consider the Prophet as personating of Christ and uttering the Triumphs of a mighty Conqueror which contain a glorious Promise
the mutiny of our Passions sends up such Vapours as thicken into a Cloud which sitting on the Understanding do so confound the Apprehension both with regard to the actings of these Graces and the Objects upon which they are to terminate that they are like a musical Instrument that is unstrung and so unfit for use Indeed there is no time more proper for the acting our suffering Graces than a day of gloom and thick darkness But alas this cannot be perform'd while the Mind is under Confusion and Horror and the animal Spirits exhausted by continual sighing Therefore when we give so large a vent to our Sorrows as to impair the health of our Bodies and impede the exercise of our Graces we sorrow like those that have no hope 3. When our Grief for our deceased Friends is greater than for those Sins which might be the occasion of God's removing 'em so suddenly from us There is hardly any afflictive Providence but is properly a Reproof and Correction for Sin Now if the smart of our Afflictions gives a deeper accent to our Sorrow than the guilt of our Sins if we are more griev'd for the loss of our Friend than for the visible tokens of the Divine Anger then our mourning is criminal Indeed that Person must be very Stoical that can bear the loss of an agreeable Friend without dropping a few Tears and sending some Sighs after him but he is no less to blame that can conceive a greater Sorrow in his Soul for the loss of an outward Comfort than for Sin the sad cause of God's snatching it from him Moreover 't is a certain sign that God was not valu'd by such a one as the supreme all-comprehending Good if any temporal loss does more afflict his Soul than the Sins that occasion'd it 4. We sorrow as those without hope for our departed Friends when our Grief is more pungent and afflictive for the loss of them than for God's withdrawing his gracious and quickning Presence and hiding his Face from us in an angry Cloud The Smiles of God are better and more to be valued than the best Life of any Creature therefore to be less concern'd when he frowns upon our Souls than when he removes from us the Comforts of Life does not only discover the disorderly excess of our Grief but the defect of our Judgment in setting a higher value on a dying Creature than an everliving God But I hasten to the second Head Secondly They may be said to sorrow as those without hope that exceed in the continuance of their Sorrows rejecting all solid grounds of Comfort as did several whose Names are inrol'd in sacred Story I 'll instance in a few Good old Gen. 37. 34 35. Jacob upon the apprehension of Joseph's death rends his Clothes puts Sackcloth upon his Loins and mourn'd for his Son many days his Passion so got the start of his Reason that he refus'd to be comforted and resolv'd to mourn till he died abandoning himself to Jer. 31. 15. the most desperate Sorrow And thus Rachel is describ'd by the Prophet as weeping for her Children and refusing to be comforted because they were not And Rizpah continued 2 Sam. 21. 10. by the dead Bodies of her Sons and would not willingly be remov'd from ' em And there are not a few Christians who are too apt to slide into these Excesses upon the death of their near Relations as if all their Happiness was vanish'd and gone when the delight of their Eyes is sunk into a Grave out of their sight which immoderate Sorrow is a continu'd Reflection on the Divine Attributes as if a God of infinite Wisdom and immense Goodness were uncapable of making up the loss of a mutable mortal Creature Moreover let me remark that the invincible Patience and profound Submission of some Heathens under the most afflicting Providences condemn the Practice of those Christians who incessantly mourn for their departed Friends and refuse to be comforted I 'll mention but one in the room of several and 't is that of Stilpon the Philosopher who when the City where he liv'd was reduc'd to Ashes and his Wife and Children buried in the common Ruins himself escaping alone from the Fire being ask'd whether he had lost any thing replied * Senec. Epist 9. Omnia bona mea mecum sunt Justitia Virtus Temperantia Prudentia hoc ipsum nihil boni putare quod eripi possit All my Treasure 's with me Justice Virtue Temperance Prudence and this inviolable Principle not to esteem any thing as my proper Good that can be ravish'd from me An Instance that very much upbraids those Christians that are intemperate either in the degree or duration of their Grief Some time is necessary and decent for our funeral Sorrows but to walk softly all our days in deep mourning and anguish of Spirit because our Friends are taken from us and made more happy than ever they were with us is to grieve like stupid Jews or hopeless Heathens both which disbelieve the Resurrection of Christ which is the Foundation Model and Pledg of ours Therefore that this Disswasive of the Apostle may make a sutable Impression upon our Minds let us now consider the Arguments he uses to inforce it which is the III. General Head and here are two things to be insisted upon First The nature of their Death who die united to Christ 't is represented under the soft Character of a Sleep Secondly The great advantage that follows their Death such as sleep in Jesus will God bring with him First The nature of their Death who are united to Christ 't is call'd a Sleep Those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him An excellent * Dr. Bates Author on this Text observes how the Apostle varies the Expression Jesus died but the Saints sleep in him for he sustained Death in all its Terrors that it might be a calm Sleep to his People Under the Old Testament we find the Death of the Saints frequently set forth by this soft and gentle Character David and Solomon Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah are represented at their Death to be fallen asleep And under the New Testament our Lord uses this Phrase upon the death of one whom he lov'd Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Joh. 11. 11. And 't was St. Paul's usual Idiom to call Death a Sleep as appears from the Scriptures in the Margin * 1 Cor. 15. 6 18 20 51. Some indeed have been so weak as to imagine that this Sleep did equally seize Soul and Body and have asserted that at death the Soul passes into a state of Inactivity and sleepeth with the Body till the Resurrection an Opinion so repugnant to the true Principles of Philosophy and Divine Revelation that 't is seldom espous'd by any but Atheists Socinians and very ignorant Pretenders to Religion Our Souls are of an immortal nature they neither die nor sleep but immediately upon the death Eccles 12.
exalted humane Nature cannot fully be represented by the most graceful turns of Language and lofty figures of Speech therefore we must be content with very imperfect Idea's of his Glory till we have the happiness to see him as he is Yet we have enough reveal'd concerning it to invigorate our desires and raise our wonder His eyes are represented Rev. 1. 15. like a flame of fire his voice as the sound of many waters his feet like to fine brass as if they burn'd in a furnace his countenance as the Sun shining in its full strength Now after this bright Pattern shall the Bodies of the Saints be form'd in the Resurrection O what proportion of Parts what agreeableness of Colour how radiant an Air shall sit upon their Countenance Mark 1◠43 〈…〉 for they shall shine with a lustre exceeding the brightness of all the Lamps of Heaven The Apostle also assures us that tho they are sown natural they shall be rais'd spiritual Bodies i. e. the Matter of 'em shall be exalted and improv'd to an extraordinary degree of fineness for Matter is properly enough said to be spiritual when 't is much refin'd And how great a difference may we observe in material things for instance betwixt the animal Spirits in the Brain and the grosser parts of the Body betwixt a lump of Clay and the refin'd matter of the Air betwixt the Earth and the Sun that shines upon it yet all material Substances from which we may collect what Christ can do to exalt and refine our bodies in the Resurrection But farther they may be called Spiritual in that they will be much better fitted to serve our Spirits than they are now Here our Bodies are oftentimes a clog and a hindrance to us but in the Resurrection they shall be like Wings to our Souls or to use the Phrase of the Antients They shall be as a Celestial Chariot to the Soul they shall neither be the cause of our ignorance nor of our sinning as they are now they shall not hinder but rather help forward our Devotions In a word they shall never suffer nor die more for they shall be rais'd immortal and incorruptible the one respects a deliverance from Death the other a freedom from Diseases so that Incorruptibility is an addition to the happiness of immortal Creatures for if Persons should never die yet if they were often diseased their happiness would be incompleat but the rais'd Bodies of the Saints shall never know any more sorrow sickness or death it shall not be in the power of any Creature to disorder the curious Contexture of the rais'd Bodys Mortality then will be swallowed up of Life This corruptible shall 1 Cor. 4 15 53. put on incorruption and this mortal immortality Thirdly The Saints being brought with Christ at his second coming does not only suppose their Resurrection but that with their rais'd Bodys they shall ascend up into the Air. And so much the Apostle asserts a little 1 Thess 15 17. after my Text For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep For we shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Whether those that are rais'd from the dead and those that shall be chang'd who never died shall be caught up into the Air by the immediate attractive Power of Christ or by the ministry of Angels I will not determine but that they shall ascend in order to their coming with him is beyond all dispute and probably their Bodies may be so refin'd that they may be capable of treading Air and mounting upwards as easily as they now move upon the Earth Fourthly Being brought with Christ at his second coming shall be to illustrate the Glory of our incarnate God and to advance the happiness of his redeemed ones They shall attend their Lord's Triumph and make up a part of his magnificent Retinue for as he shall come to be admir'd 2 Thess 1. 10. in all those that believe so they shall all share in his Glory they will then know by experience what riches of Glory is comprehended in that Promise and Privilege of being Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Jesus Christ O what a glorious Procession will this be through the Air when he that suffered upon the infamous Tree shall appear at the head of so long and bright a Train when all that the Father gave to him shall appear with glittering Crowns and spreading Palms the Rewards of Grace and the Tokens of Victory I proceed now to make some improvement of what I have said And First This Doctrine that I have deliver'd discovers to us the excellency of the Christian Institution Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel All that has been said by Heathen Poets and Philosophers concerning a Future State was but obscure Conjecture to the shining Revelation of the Gospel They understood not that the sting of Death was remov'd by the sufferings of the Redeemer or that the Body should be rais'd with a transcendent Lustre and Dignity to receive a Reward with the Soul Yea under the Mosaick Oeconomy a future State was but obscurely reveal'd but under the Dispensation of the Gospel we have a most charming Landskip of Heaven and the way to obtain it is set in the most clear and certain light Secondly This Doctrine may be improv'd to guard good men against the slavish fears of Death Why should the Righteous be afraid to repose upon a bed of dust Death is but a sleep from which we shall be awaken'd in the morning of the Resurrection and Christ as you have heard hath disarm'd Death of its Sting and alter'd it in its very nature to the Righteous I confess I do not wonder that the wicked and profane are afraid of Death for they know it puts a period to their Pleasures and begins their Torments it snatches them from the joys of Life and fixes 'em under the agonies of the second Death So that some not only fear Death it self but the very name of it is terrible which occasion'd a Prince that I have read of to forbid the mention of it in all his Court Yea so enslav'd are some by the fear of Death that they conceive an abhorrence at the sight of a Coffin the dress of Mourners and the solemnities of a Funeral which as one says are only the Outguards that make up the Retinue of the King of Terrors 'T is reported of Alexander who had often encounter'd the numerous Armies of the Asian Monarchs and despis'd the terror of Battels yet when he was seiz'd with a mortal Disease in Babylon he was so afraid of Death that his Court was fill'd with Diviners and Victims and all the little arts of Superstition were us d to preserve his Life
And indeed all men have just reason to fear Death who have nothing but a gloomy prospect beyond it the terrible apprehensions of an angry God and a tormenting Tophet But such whose guilt is remov'd by the Blood of Christ and their Souls renew'd and cleans'd by the Spirit of Christ have no reason to fear Death for it approaches 'em without a sting Thirdly From the Doctrine I have establish'd we learn of what necessity it is to be united to Christ for 't is only such that shall have part in the first Resurrection over whom the second Death shall have no power 't is only such as die in the Lord i. e. united to Christ by the Spirit and Faith that are said to sleep in Jesus and that God our Saviour will bring with him I know that some men think themselves very witty when they ridicule the Doctrine of Union with Christ but I am sure they are very miserable if we may take the word of an Apostle for it who says that if any Rom. 8. 9. Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Now none but such as belong to Christ shall attend his Triumph at the last day and reign with him in his immoveable Kingdom Fourthly How great are our Obligations to our Redeemer who hath alter'd the very nature of Death by dying in our stead and given us assurance of our Resurrection by his own rising from the dead O the heights the depths the lengths the breadths of the Love of God in Christ Jesus O shall not our Hearts burn with a grateful flame and shall not his unexampled Love render him exceeding precious to our Souls and cause us to strike up with the Church Triumphant Rev. 5. 12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing for ever and ever Fifthly How little reason have those that are united to Christ to desire any long tarry in this World which is a sink of Sin and Sorrow a place of gloominess and darkness where we constantly suffer and are always in danger of sinning Moreover while here we are kept from our Inheritance and our Father's House Therefore it better becomes a true Member of Christ's Mystical Body to desire rather to depart and to be with Christ which is best of all Sixthly How great is the difference betwixt the death of a Believer and that of an Infidel Mr. Cruso They may both fall by the same diseases and their Dust be mingled in the same Pit but their immortal part will be everlastingly divided There is a great Gulf fixed between the Spirits in Prison and the Souls in Paradise We read that when the rich Man died in Hell be lift up his Eyes being in Torments Luke 16. 22 23. but when the religious Beggar left this World he was carried by Angels into Abraham 's Bosom An impenitent Sinner at death loses the very Shadows that he courted for Happiness but the Saint heightens his Felicity into Perfection Mark the perfect Man and behold Psal 37. 37. the upright for the end of that Man is peace Lastly If such as sleep in Jesus God will bring with him then let us not sorrow like those without hope when God removes our Relations and Friends by death especially such whom we have good ground to believe are fallen asleep in Jesus as blessed be God we have of that excellent and worthy Gentleman Mr. ABBOTT whose Death has given the sad occasion to this Discourse And is he dead Well but his Name lives and will be fresh and fragrant to Posterity And I cannot do Justice to his Memory without taking notice of those Graces and Virtues that eminently shin'd in his Conversation and Conduct for the Memory of the just shall be blessed and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance I am not now to give the Character of one that dwelt in a shade but of one whose publick Imploys expos'd him to a continual view so that I doubt not of a crowd of Witnesses to attest the truth of what I shall say I confess to collect all that was excellent and imitable in the deceas'd Gentleman is too big a task for so unskilful a Person as I am who can but lay the dead Colours of his Character and must leave the finishing strokes to more artful Hands to Men of better Judgment of greater compass of Thought and exactness of Stile I must own I am at a loss where to begin and what part of his excellent Character I shall insist upon but I think his Piety towards God may properly enough be spoken of in the first place He began very early to be religious devoted to Heaven the flourishing bloom of his Youth the first and best of his time he had well studied and digested the great Articles of the Christian Faith and had right Notions of the Person and Mediatory Work of Christ which had a mighty influence into his whole Conversation for tho he liv'd in a crowd and hurry of business yet he lost not his Religion in the midst of it but kept close to the private and publick Duties of Divine Worship With what seriousness and diligence did he attend on Sermons and what Pains did he take in the writing and repeating of ' em which was the more extraordinary because his publick Imploys engag'd him in writing even to toil and fatigue He was not a Gentleman that affected Singularity or pretended to more Purity than other Christians but there was a native gracefulness that attended his acts of Piety and Devotion which he manag'd without Pomp or Noise this was an evidence of his great Humility a Grace very conspicuous in him as some of the poorest in this place cannot but have observ'd to whom he carried it as if they had been his Equals which added a mighty lustre to the rest of his Virtues His Zeal for spreading the great Truths of the Gospel was strong and regular bright and flaming for notwithstanding his many necessary Avocations he would redeem time to advise and assist in the promotion of substantial Godliness His Sincerity was very extraordinary and visible for he appear'd always with great freedom simplicity and plainness in Conversation he detested all Reserves and Disguises 't was too mean for him to appear in Masquerade tho Alamode Integrity preserv'd him from the meanness of Flattery and he preserv'd his Integrity amidst a thousand Temptations He was a true Nathanael who by the Grace of God abating the common frailtys of human Life might be said to keep himself unspotted from the World for he acted like Joseph in the Court of Pharaoh only with this difference that he had not learn'd to swear by his Life In his Family he was very exemplary gave great encouragement to the beginnings of Piety but deeply resented the negligence of Servants or Children that should absent themselves from Family-worship The Company