Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	sin_n	sin_v	wage_n	4,962	5	11.1880	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66700	Planctus unigeniti et spes resuscitandi, or, The bitter sorrows for a first born sweetened with the hopes of a better resurrection with consolations, moral and divine, against the death of friends, suited to the present occasion : delivered in a funeral sermon at Felsted in Essex, May 23, 1664, at the solemn interment of ... Charles Lord Rich, the only child of ... the Earle of Warwick / by A. Walker.	Walker, Anthony, d. 1692.	1664 (1664)	Wing W307; ESTC R24590	38,237	75

Funerall are presented to us 1. The Herse a dead man carried out 2. The Mourners his Mother the chief and much People with her 3. The process of the whole they carry him forth In the second the Cordiall 1. The Cordiall it self Weep not 2. The Holy Lymbeck from whence t is distilled the tender bowells of Jesus Christ He was moved with Compassion 3. The fire that gives it operation the seeing of this pittifull object a Desolate Disconsolate Mother When he saw her Then he was moved with Compassi n and when he was so moved then he said Weep not I begin with the First the Funeral and in that 1. The Herse 2. Then the Mourners and this order Custome approves Nature Compells Ceremony appoints and Necessity constrains the Herse leads the Mourners follow Our Noble Lord is gone before we must go after 1. The Herse And that as harsh and dark as if the Pall were of the Coursest Hair-Cloath and made more black and Heavy with these six sable Escutcheons which are its load and burden rather then its Ornament 1. A Man dead 2. He a Young Man 3. That young man a Great man 4 That Great man an Only Son 5. That only Son as Childless at his death as his decease did leave his Mother 6. That Mother a Widow like to continue Childless Heirless concluded and shut up under dispaire of having more to comfort and relieve her Solitude Each circumstance calls for an heavy accent and needs a mournful circumflex let 's drop them with our tears in Order that every Escutcheon may be Guttee only suppose those drops of Pearle and Argent to charge the dispairing Sable Field of Death with brighter hopes of an approaching Resurrection 1 Tim. 2.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preco Caduceator predicator 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 predicare publice laudare Excuse this phrase a Preacher is properly an Herauld but chiefly so at such a time Each word like a slip of Ciprus sprouts up into a mournful Stem the Blazon of each Escutcheon is a dolefull Sentence in Order thus 1. Man is Mortall 2. Even Young men may dye and often do 3. Great Men must fall as well as others 4. Onely-Children cannot escape 5. Whole Families may fayle in Childless Heirs 6. Former Sorrows do not excuse us from Succeeding Ones She that was made a Widow by her Husbands death may yet be rendred more desolate by the loss of Children One comfort gone secures not the rest By the glimmering light which these six dim and lowring Tapers cast about the Herse you may distinctly read the Impress of each Shield 1. Man's Mortal This truth 's so obvious we cannot suppose the Ecce prefixt to it The wonder is greater that any man out-lives his Mothers travel then that he dyes so soon The many witty Emblems of our frailty devis'd and used by gravest Sages Ethnick and Christian are abundantly excused from all suspicion of Hyperbole's by what the holy spirit speaks so frequently in the same Argument Isa 40.6 7. Psal 103.15 Job 13.25 1 Pet. 1.24 Jam. 4.14 Job 7.7 Psal 144.4 Isa 40.17 comparing man to Grass to Flowers to dryed Leaves and Stubble to Dust to Vapours to Wind to Vanity to less then vanity and nothing And no truth is written in Gods Book with more Indelible and larger Characters then that It is appointed unto all men once to dye A time to be born a time to dye Mark how close they stand together nothing parts them Jos 23.14 1 Kings 2.2 'T is the way of all the Earth an universall Rule that doth admit of no Exception Gen. 5.5 8 11 14 17 20 the constant conclusion of all mens History And he dyed So that the challenge was very safe What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Psal 89.48 and shall he deliver himself from the hand of the Grave And the determination as warily made No man can give to God a Ransome for himself or Brother Psal 49.9 that he should still live for ever and not see Corruption 2. And 't is as obvious to common notice we need not Revelation to perswade our Credence they give assent who never saw the Bible and t is become a Proverb nothing so sure as death where seeing is believing there need no other Topicks to make a demonstration 3. And Natural Reason gives its perfect suffrage that must decay whose foundation is i' th dust as ours is who are but the sub-divisions of Adams red Clod crumbled into multiplied Atomes the stream cannot ascend beyond the Altitude of the Fountains Scituation From Corruptible Principles no Product can proceed Incorruptible Man that is born of a Woman is of few dayes it carries its own Evidence because he is so born A Tabernacle patcht together of sappy sticks Job 14.1 and rotten straw and mouldring dirt cannot stand long especially exposed to Storms without and Fire from within and such is mans body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss Orat. de Mortuis tost and consumed with dayly strife of hot and cold moyst and dry and which soever Conquers leads life it self a Captive to its Victory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss ubi supra And Dust returns to dust 4. And there is a Moral cause i th' Soul as mortall as any Natural one i th' Body Eze. 18.20 Gen. 2.17 Rom. 6.23.5.12 the Soul that sinneth it shall dye In the day thou eatest thou shalt dye the death death is the wages of sin which shall be surely paid By one man Sin entred into the World 1 Kin. 8.46 and death by sin And in as much as no man liveth and sinneth not you may conclude that no man liveth Mors interficit omnes quos natura presentem perducit ad vitam ducit Reges trahit Populos gentes impellit non divitiis redimi non flecti precibus non lachrimis molliri non viribus potuit illa unquam superari Chrysologus Serm. 118. and dyeth not With what words then shall we bewaile or upbraid rather the Atheistical security and stupid madness of those men who will not be perswaded of this truth or which is ten times worse under convictions and confessions of it live here as if they should live here for ever and tempt us to believe they judge their Souls are Mortal they take so little care to save them and their Bodies Immortal they heap up so long provisions for them 2. Even young men may dye and often do Ours in the Text is expresly called so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the ver next following your common saying is Old men must dye and Young men may Senibus mors in januis Juvenibus in obsidiis sayth St. Bernard T is very remarkable how the Scripture Records the Death of Haran And Haran dyed before his Father Tera Gen. 11.21 in the Land of his Nativity Most Children dye before their Parents not one of an hundred

Commands me and Invites you first to the words I have Read which are parcel of a very Remarkable History of one of the most Signal Works of Christ which stand upon Record in the Sacred Registers The raysing of the Widows Son of Naim and worthily are they ushered in with that quickning incitement of our attention Behold For if single wonders command our rediest notice then much more this which is like Ezekiels Vision Ezek. 1.16 a Wheele in a Wheele a Miracle in a Miracle a miracle of Compassion in a Miracle of Power a miracle of Greatnesse in a miracle of Goodnesse Relieving Pitty meeting dispairing Necessity and preventing even requests as much as exceeding hopes of help Omnia adeo minute narrantur ut fidem augerent Historiae Maldon Many Circumstances offer and almost force themselves upon us tending to the Verifying and Magnifying of the work to manifest both how True and how Great it was but I must resist their importunity in my present hast and fixing this fourfold remarke upon the Whole single out the Branch I am ingaged to persue Observe first the kind of Christs Miracles Healing Inlivening the sweetest Emblems of that Grace and Gospel which they were wrought for Confirmation of Moses the Law was a Minister of death the Letter killeth so did his Miracles Blood and Storms Exod. 7 19.9.22.10.21.12.29 Fire Darknesse Desolation Death were those he wrought He made but one Dead thing Alive which was a Rod before but then became a Serpent In cujus morsu mors Exod. 7.9 10. grew from a Smart Instrument of Correction to a more Nocent one of Destruction as Rehoboams Scorpions were more cruel then the Rods of Solomon Exod. 7.9 10. 2 Kings 12.11 2. This Miracle exemplifies the Strength and Greatness of his Grace as well as the Sweetness and Goodness of it A dead man is the lively Picture of a Sinner Sin is the greatest death Amplius est resascitare semper victurum quam suscitare iterum moriturum Aug. Ser. 4. dever Domi. Initio Tom. 10. it kills the Nobler part the Soul and a dead man carried out is the Coppy of a Sinner not newly such but a good while lying in it ready to stink above ground in his noy some Lusts Yet such can Christ raise up as here Yea them who are Entombed in the customes of Sin and rott and stink with Lazarus Augustinus ubi supra Liberat enim de mala Consuetudine Dominus quatriduanos mortuos 3. This Miracle proclaims the superlative preventing Goodness of him who is found of them who seek him not Isa 65.1 Rom. 10.20 and made manifest to them who enquire not after him Non Rogatus adest Mal. 〈◊〉 Those whom Christ help't while he was on Earth are ranck't into this threefold Order 1. Some upon their own importunate and earnest Prayers as blind Bartimeus Crying Mark 10.47 Jesus thou Son of David have mercy on me And the Leper Mark 1.40 who beseeching him and kneeling down to him said Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Blind Sinners let the first be your Letany and the last your daily Collect your unclean ones 2. Some upon the Requests and Intercession of others as him sick of the Palsie Mark 2 3. brought by his Friends St. Luke 7.2 8.41 the Centurions Servant for whom his Master and the Jewes interceded and Jarus's Daughter whom he raised at the humble Importunity of her destressed Father Learn hence you that have Servants Friends Children to go to Christ for them with Faith and Prayer for Spiritual Health and Life and engage Good Christians with you as he did the Jewes and be full of good works that they may not want Arguments to plead before the Lord in your behalf as they Lord he loveth our Nation and hath built us a Synagogue St. Luke 7.5 3. Some without other motions made to him then the silent Oratory of their own deep Misery which cryed prevailingly in the eares of his Mercy Ipsa pro miseris miseria vociseratur as this Woman whom he saw and Pittied and Comforted and Helpt and all unask't and how much more will he relieve those who Cry unto him Day and Night Luke 18.7 8. And whose Condition is as sad as hers I tell you he will assuredly relieve them Lastly This Miracle declares the exact watchfulnesse of Divine Benignity which comes so pat so seasonable just when the Corps was carrying out This never comes too soon this never stayes too late but is alwayes ready where and when t is necessary stayes till there 's need that help may be the sweeter but never stayes longer then t is fit and safe Therefore you that wait for help give not over looking nor say Complainingly Mine eyes faile while I wait for thy Salvation Psal 69.3 But though it tarry wait for it Habb 2 3. for it will come and will not tarry longer then is meet and it will speak and will not lye and that in so apposite so sweet so fit a manner time and place that it will make thee cry out with wonder Behold what hath the Lord wrought as the Holy Pen-man ushers in this Narrative Behold Que particula Ecce temporis unitatem loci propinquitatem significat He cannot expresse it without holy admiration that Christ should come so seasonably so pat as we use to speak just then in the very Nick and Article of time When the dead man was carried out who was the onely Son of his Mother and she a Widow and much People of the City was with her And when the Lord saw her he had Compassion on her and said unto her Weep not Which words are Chequer-Work of Black and White like Moses Pillar party per pale Darkness and Light as Davids Song of Judgement and Mercy Exod. 14.20 and we may use St. Pauls Language whilst we view them Psal 101.1 behold the Severity and Goodness of God Rom. 11.22 So that my Text is a Tragy-Comedy begins with a mournfull Prologue but ends with a joyfull Epilogue a rayny lowring day breaking up into a bright and pleasant Evening She comes forth weeping and bearing Precious Seed Corpora sanctorum Semen laetae resurrectionis Psal 126.5 6. the seed of the Resurrection and she hath an early sudden unexpected Harvest and carries home a Sheaf in her Bosome which she reapt with ravishments and extasies of joy The whole of the Text may genuinely be reduced to these two heads 1. Mans Misery 2. Christs Mercy Humane Passion Divine Compassion The First in Verse the 12. which presents us with a sad and dolefull Object The Second ver the 13. which gives us an account what impression that object made on Christ who came so seasonably to behold and help Or if you will Observe 1. A Solemn and Mournful Funeral 2. A seasonable and Comfortable Cordiall In the First the

of distress cry out My coal that was left is quenched and to my Husband is not left Name or Remainder upon the Earth This is so deep a Key no Base can touch it but the hoarsest sobbs and groans A Note so superlatively above Ela no female trebble's shrill enough to Reach it and keep Tune 'T will crack our sorrows into Schreeks and Squeling but to venture at it and would be some Apology if Rachell like his dearest Mother should be obstinate in sorrow and refuse to be comforted Fugientis naturae in successore pignus remanet extinquentis jam luminis lucerna ex parte accensa 5. Childless too himself more sorrow still had he but left an Heir and lived a vicarious life liv'd in another though he had dyed himself left but an Hostage in his steed rack't up one spark to kindle more we could have spared him better had he Knit on an end Nodosa aeternitas successio liberorum Aetatis incrementum to lengthen out his Line and fixt one Linck to keep the Chain intire the Wound had been Curable and the breach more Reparable Jer. 15.18 But now the pain is perpetual therefore will we Wayle Mich. 1.8 and Howle and go strip't and naked and make a Wayling like the Dragons and Mourning as the Owls But Lastly because no Sorrows are Superlative which want the Emphesis of Widow that ours may be more then such that's here with full Advantage Though his Right Honourable Mother be not so yet is his Sweet and Dearest Lady such with so much forer agravation as her tender years are less accustom'd to endure it and be distressed with the dolefull Epithite of Dowager so immaturely So soon so suddainly is she bereaved of him as if she had onely had him to be made miserable by loosing of him and in him such an Honour and Happiness as his High Ranck and Higher Sweetness Kindness Nobleness of mind possest her of in Him The smart and sorrows of our losses have no true Standard but the content and joy we had in their fruition But I forget my Self and You 't is Cruelty to gall your bleeding hearts afresh To Rake in your wounds and longer vex those eyes are half wept out already and draw more sluces when all the Banks run over Claudite jam rivos what I have drawn already was not to hurt but help you to give your sorrows vent least they should fester inward Tears help to swage our griefe Sedatur lacrymis egeriturque dolor Ovid. And yield us some reliefe Now let me hasten to refresh you and reassume the ●…ht side of my Text Weep not at least No more when we have wept enough already Not that he can soon or easily be sufficiently bewayled but we must not shed so many tears as he deserves least we shed abundance more then he needs or we can spare or God allowes Nihil difficilius quam magno dolori paria verba reperire Senec. And though the task be hard to counterpoize your sorrowes yet Accept these Anodines which may dissolve and mollifie the tumour asswage the smart and ease the throbbing they are Collyria fitted for such eyes And let me speak as if more of the most-concern'd were present 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for if any thing be spoken worth the carriage you that are present may transmit it to the absent As Gregory Nyssen spoke in his Funeral Oration for Young Pulcheria But because they must digg deep who will build sure and begin below who would ascend I will lay the First Stone under ground within the Earth of his Mortality and lead you gradually to higher Comforts Utrum stultius mortalitatis legem ignorare an recusare Weep not for he was Mortall he must have died ere long What wise man sheds his tears because his Roses shed their leaves He came into the World under this Law Seneca Nulli contigit impune nasci No man is born on cheaper terms then a necessity of dying He answered as became a Gallant man who entertain'd the Message of his Sons discease with Ego cum genui tum moriturum scivi I knew when I begat him he must dye huic rei sustuli 〈◊〉 't is but a little Maximum solatium est cogitare id sibi accidisse qu d ante se passi sunt omnes omnesqu● pass●…i ideo mihi videtur rerum natura quod gravissimum fecit commune fecisse ut crudelitatem fati consolaretur aequalitas Sen. ad Polys little sooner that he 's gone A few more changes of the Night and Day and fewer of the Summer and Winter would have brought him and will bring us where we shall change no more We all must follow in the Order set us had you a View larger then that which Xerxes took of all Man-kind at once You might conclude with him not one of them should be alive within an hundred years Fate 's impartiality makes some amends for it's Severity Yea the end of all things seems to hasten and not to be at such a distance as secure Atheists would fain perswade themselves Weep not he dyed not in a Forreign Land Ubi non licuerit matri ultima filii oscula gratumque entremi sermonem oris haurire Sen. ad Martiam at a neglected distance the Seas return'd him safe But in a Mothers Bosome where she both might and did assist his Soul and Body with the most pious tenderness and was her own witness with what faithfullness and Care Chaplain Physitians Nurses all Attendants performed towards him Weep not He dyed not suddenly by a surprize or ambushment of Death which grants no liberty to trim a Lamp He dyed not in a Broyle or Duell Mat. 25.7 he dyed not Flagrante Crimine in any Notorious Sin or with symptomes of unusuall Vengeance but in the way of all the Earth the common death of all Men Numb 16.29 Num. 27.3 Et suâ siccâ morte In his own sin as Zelophehad's Daughters spake of their Father in opposition to dying for any signall provocation Weep not He 's gone unsoyled Redditur illi aequale testimonium omaiam hominum desideratur in tuum honorem laudatur in suum Sene. ad Mort. free from reproachfull blots of Scandalous Enormities and needs no tears to rinsh him He did not out-live a good Report but hath left a Memory behind him Clean and Vnstained a Lovely Shaddow of his Lovely Person and his Fairer Mind His Part was Acted well and He 's gone off the Stage as Great Augustus Caesar thought he did and may with him require your Plaudite 2 Kings 22.20 In hoc tam procelloso in omnes tempestates ex posito mari navigantibus nullus portu nisi mortis est Seneca He 's come into his Grave in Peace which was the Great Promise to Gods Friends of Old He hath escap't the storms and is Arrived in the Port with safty He

's lay'd to rest with Honour and his Vnstain'd Ashes are shrined in immortall Vrns whose Gold no rust can cancker and which will Try and Vex the teeth of Time it self to injure and the most spitefull Malice dares nor attempt once to besmear his Marble Weep not He 's taken from an Evil World which is very full of sin and therefore cannot be void of sorrow Evasit omnia vitae incommoda Though he hath left some good Quis divinat an mors inviderit an consulucrit he hath escap't more evills and Death did consult his Ease and Safety more then Envy his Felicity With the wings of a Dove he is flown away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nyff. and is out of the reach both of Temptation and Trouble and shall no more offend a Good God nor be offended by bad men He is taken from the Evil to come and shall not hear or see what may make our hearts to ake and our Eares to Tingle to hear the Relation of Si bene computes plus illi remissum quam ereptum Non miser quod amisit sed Beatus quod non desiderat If you reckon right you 'l find him gainer by his loss 'T is better not to need then to injoy whatever he hath left to be above them then to have them Weep not for he is not Extinguisht but Removed Non amissus sed praemissus He ceaseth not to be Ciprian but to be here The House indeed 's pull'd down in order to repairing and raysing up more glorious and splendid But the Inhabitant was neither crushed with its Ruines nor soyled with its dust The Bird the Angell flew away at the disturbance of the Nest And the Immortall Man made his escape when Death unlock't the Prison Doors The Spirit is return'd to God 'T is a good Observation one of the Ancients makes upon that passage of God's rewarding Job Chap. 42.10 The Lord gave Job twice as m●ch as he had before or as 't is in the Hebrew Ad●ed all that had been unto Job unto the double for h● had Fourteen Thousand Sheep for his Seven Thousand and Six Thousand Camells for his Three Thousand Job 1.3 with 42.12 and a Thousand Yoake of Oxen and a Thousand Shee-Asses for Five Hundred of Each But He gave him but Seven Sons and Three Daughters the even Number which he had before Greg. Nyss Oratione fu●eb pro pulcheria in fine Compare Chap. 1 2. with Chap. 42.13 And he gives the reason of it because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He gave him twice as many Cattle as he had before but only the Even Number of his Children because they perish't not as did the Cattle though they dyed and so the Equal Number prov'd Double in Effect and Job had twice Ten Children half in another World and half in this at the same time though in so distant place I need not heap Arguments to prove the Souls Existence after Death St. Luke 12.4 St. Mat. 10.28.22.32 when Christ hath so plainly told you It cannot be killed And that He who is the God of the Living not of the Dead is still the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who therefore do still live 1 King 17.21 The Prophet pray'd that the Childs Soul might return again into him not a new one be made for him And St. Paul speaks most expresly that when we are absent from the body we shall be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.8 and therefore desires to be dissolved that he may be with Christ Phil. 1.23 Which were a most absur'd Argument if the Soul should bear the Body company in dying And the Souls under the Altar call for vengeance against them who shed their blood De consolatione ad Marti Cap. 24. Seneca could tell disconsolate Mercia Imago duntaxat Filii tui periit Effigies non similima ipse quidem aeternus meliorisque nunc Status est despoliatus oneribus alienis sibi relictus The Image only of thy Son is perished and the Picture which was not very like him neither is defac'd But he himself is Eternall in a better state eas'd of his uneasie burden and now at freedom to injoy himself Arguments for the Souls imortality and Existence after death And if I may suggest an Argument or Two It would be a Chasma and Hiatus in Nature if some Creatures being wholly Immortall others wholly mortall there were not one made up of both Fibula utriusque mundi the Button and the Buckle of both Worlds which knits and clasps them into one Connubium visibilis invisibilis The Beast and Angell mixt into one which makes a medium betwixt both and containeth both Doth the Image of the King Perpetuate his Coyne and render it Treasonable to Melt it down And shall not Gods Image much more preserve what that is stamp't upon from perishing It acts without the body and above it here that is an Earnest it can be without it afterwards It is a Spirit consists not of Contrarie's of Corruptible of Self-destoying Principles therefore abides for Ever Hath Vast and Everlasting Expectations which Nature would never have imprest if they had been in vaine Lastly consent of Nations Seals to this Truth These if neither most nor best are such as lay uppermost amongst my sudden thoughts and may suffice Weep not for He shall Rise again Non solum representata sed expectata resurrectio luctum nobis minuere debet ob mortuos Grotius He shall not continue Death's Everlasting Captive or the Graves Eternall Prisoner Thy Husband Son and Friend is but asleep he shall do well and wake The Grave hath been forc't and broken up and our True Sampson hath carried away the Gates the Bars and Posts of this Philistian Gaza O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory And when that glorious Morn draws back the Curtains and dispells the Night then shall he wake Refresh't and Rise and Dress himself and be re-married to his Flesh Each Mornings Sun each Summers Verdure is a loud instance and presage of this both Testaments the Old and New confirm it as well in Examples as Predictions Christ is risen as a Man to shew 't is possible as an head to assure 't is certain And God is Just therefore the dead must Rise that what hath been so much a amiss in this Life may be amended and better ordered in the Next where it shall be Bonis Benè Malis Malè They that need more to satisfie their reason or confirm their Faith let them consult the 1 Cor. 15. Chap. at their leisure where they shall find good measure Prest and Heapt and Running over Illud te non minimum adjurerit si cogitaveris nihil profiturum dolorem tuum nec illi nec tibi percamus lachrimis nihil proficientibus Sen. Weep not Your sorrows now are fruitless wherefore should I fast Now he is dead can I bring him back again Was

for my Transgression that God hath snatch't him hence Answer This is an Holy and a commendable fear and not unseasonable at such a time Art thou come to call my sin to Remembrance and to slay my Son said the poor Widow 1 Kings 17 18. I am well content you listen to the Rod take its Alarum 's and would promote your doing so unto my power Right hand Errours are least dangerous We had better ten times admit that supposition which will make us hate our sins then that but once which will incline us to indulge them While your heart is hot pursue the Murtherer and be aveng'd of whatever sin you can suspect as accessory to a Sons an Husbands or a Kins-mans Death But let me add we sometimes are too curios with the Disciples in the blind mans case Who sinned this Man or his Parents that he was born blind St. John 9.2 3. To whom Christ Answered Neither hath this Man sinned nor his Parents but that the Works of God might be made manifest in him Not but they all were sinners but it was not for any Extraordinary sin that that blindness hapned to him as Saint Chrisostome Observes Sometimes too Censorious both of our Selves and Others to aggravate our sorrows and add Affliction to the Afflicted instead of the alleviating of them which evil Spirit Christ twice rebukes in one Chapter St. Luk 13.2.4 Suppose you these Gallileans were sinners above all the Gallileans or those Eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell I tell you now nay And with the like words would I comfort you No wise or sober Christians will make dishonourable reflections upon such a Providence but Sympathize and tenderly Compassionate you Be not you too severe upon your selves but I have better comforts yet and 't was from Christs Example that I Learned to keep the best Wine unto the last the former were Collyria to cool your Eyes these are Cordiacall's to warm your hearts 1 Tues 4.13 I would not have you Ignorant concerning them that sleep that you sorrow not as men without hope I shall speak first in Hypothesi upon the Charitable supposition that he dyed in Christ and then give you the Grounds upon which that supposition is bottom'd Rev. 14.13 Weep not for him that 's gone to rest Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labour Beatum deflere Invidia est He 's nearer our envy then our pitty Gaudendum potius quam dolendum Nec accipiendas esse nobis atras vestes quando illi alba indumenta jam sumpserunt Cipria de Mo●t as Saint Cyprian Our blacks should not be of too deep a Dye when they are Cloathed in their long white robes and are incircled with Golden girdles under their Papps It 's very incongruous to blur our faces with excess of tears for them from whose Eyes all tears are wip't and from whom sighing and sorrow shall fly away which is the happiness of all in Heaven if we believe this how can we mourn if we believe it not how are we Christians but Fidei spei nostrae prevaricatores as St. Ciprian but the cheats and abuses of our hope and confidence If we will weep 't is fitter that we do it for our selves then them not that they are gone before but that we stay still behind They have obtained what we have but in hope though we be Elder yet are we Minors they of Age though Younger and have attain'd to the Inheritance Incorruptible and undefil'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss de Mortu and which fadeth not away which we must yet breath after wait and pray for That state knows neither Widow-hood nor Orphanage where God is all in all they who are ever with the Lord shall never feel woe or want but are possessed of that Fulness of joy which is in his presence and drink of those Rivers of pleasure Psal 16. ult which are at his right hand for evermore And that he is one of those what follows is a ground of hope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gr. Nazian Orat. deci iá laudem Caesa frat You know the Family from whence he sprang what Education and Example he was Nurst up under what Womb he lay in though grace be not extraduce 't was well for Augustine that holy Monica was his Mother Her Zeal next to free grace first Canoniz'd him and her Blood was the blest earnest of his following Saint-ship well did St. Ambrose assure her that a Child of so many Prayers and such Prayers as hers could not miscarry and we speak modestly enough while we depress our present case to be but Paralel I might here touch his Natural accomplishments and Moral Excellencies In that Fair mansion of his Goodly Body Dwelt happily a Fairer and move Lovely Mind Humble Modest Pregnant Civil Truly Noble Large not with swelling pride but Solid Worth Free yet not frolick Reserv'd but not Morose Courteous where not Familiar Kind though Great which could keep distance yet without disdain A Conversation clear from soul deboyshe's which ' slave and debase not few of Highest Birth No Vnclean Riots or Blaspheming Oaths Vnman'd him as too many into to beast or feind And because Relative duties well discharg'd best speak us Reall Christians He was Eminent in these A most Obedient and Obsequious Son A Chast Affectionate and Tender Husband A Civil Faithfull and Obliging Friend But that our hopes may be the more Explicite the good discoveries he gave of better then all this were neither late nor faint nor forced from him Accept of these few Instances He freely gave up himself to God and was not solicitous for any thing in the Event but Life Eternall professing himself most willing to dye and would Indent with God for Nothing but the pardon of his sins which he was sensible he wanted and begg'd most heartily and joyn'd with them who sought it for him Earnestly and Prest them to do it frequently He made firm Resolutions of his own accord that if it pleased the Lord to spare him he would spend four hours every day in Reading Prayer and Meditation and such like Holy Exercises as might concern his Soul's Salvation And when with a Holy Jealousie his Pious Mother Answered But I fear Child when thou ar't well thou 'lt think it tedious and forget this promise and alter the number He with some passion but 't was devout and holy passion reply'd by the Grace of God Madam if I ever change the number it shall be to make them more And we humbly hope God took him at his word and hath Inlarg'd his Vacancy and chang'd his Four into Twenty Four fetching him thither where they serve him continually the whole of every day and never cease or sin And as he seriously profest he should for ever take more Contentment and delight in his Good Mothers Company and such as are like to Her in