of the rebellion of Corah and how the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed him up and his Company vers 32 33. So rebellious Absalom came to an untimely death and David was much moved with grief in that he died in rebellion 2 Sam. 18.9 33 compared See Prov. 16.14 The wrath of a King is as Messengers of Death but a wise man will pacifie it and it follows vers 15. In the light of the Kings countenance is life Be not disobedient and irreverent in your carriage towards Ministers which are your Spiritual Parens You may read 2 King 2.23 24. Two She Bears destroyed forty two Children for mocking the Prophet Though Children yet God would not bear it in them Possibly as some think because there were so many gathered together they were set on by their Idolatrous Parents to do what they did and therefore God justly punished them with the loss of their Children Lastly Be not disobedient to Natural Parents God may justly deprive them of natural life that are without natural affection Prov. 30.17 Prov. 20.20 Mar. 7.20 The eye that mocketh at his Father and despiseth to obey his Mother the Ravens of the Valley shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it Homer though commonly reported to be blind yet saw and observed as much for speaking of one that did not relieve his Parents he tells us he lived but a short time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iliad Δ. Take heed then of disobedience to Magistrates Ministers or Natural Parents as you love your lives 2. Take heed of lustful uncleanness Sodom and Gomorrha and the Cities about them burnt strongly in lust Jude 7. and God sent a strange fire to destroy them from off the face of the Earth Gen. 19.24 25. So God cut off Onan for his filthiness Gen. 38.9 10. So 1 Cor. 10.8 you read how that for uncleanness there fell in one day three and twenty thousand Plin. Nat. Hist lib. 7. c. 53. Pliny tells us of Cornelius Gallus and T. Aetherius two great persons in Rome that died in the act of unchastity The Dog-dayes of lust are very dangerous Indeed this sin consumes the radical moisture and so in its own nature tends to weakness and sickness and the shortening of a mans dayes The wise Man tells you The Harlots house enclineth unto death and her paths unto the dead Prov. 2.18 so likewise Prov. 5.9 11. Prov. 6.26 33 34 35. Prov. 7.22 23. Prov. 31.3 Solomons Mother there adviseth him not to give his strength unto Women 3. Take heed of intemperance in eating and drinking This is as a Knife to cut our own Throats see Prov. 23.1 2. When thou sittest to eat with a Ruler a Magistrate or some great Man consider diligently what is before thee and put a Knife to thy Throat if thou be a man given to appetite Some read it impones cultellum gutturi tuo and then the sence is this thou dost as good as put a Knife to thy Throat if thou be a man given to appetite thou mayest endanger thy life if thou feedest too plentifully So vers 29 30. Who hath wo who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause who hath redness of eyes They that tarry long at the Wine Our own luxuries as one saith fill us full of Diseases which shorten this our short day of life and set our Clock forward that it striketh dead before the time of our natural circle is gone about Deinde cogitemus saith Musculus Musculus in Ps 6.2 quae sit illorum vaesania qui per gulam intemperantiam seipsos donâ— sanitatis privant variis morbis obnoxios reddunt We may say of fasting and feasting as the Womâ—n sang of Saul and David Sam. 18.7 Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands feasting kills more ten to one than fasting Poor people who have the shortest meals have commonly the longest graces and the best health The Glutton digs his Grave with his own teeth the Drunkard drinks healths so long to others that he hath none to himself Non est in potâ vera salute salus And it is but just with God to strike him dead that makes himself dead drunk Take heed then of this sin it is good advice at all times but most seasonable at this time which is a time of much feasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythag. Aurea Carmina We ought saith an Heathen to have a care of our bodily health and to observe a mean in drinking dyet and recreation 4. Take heed of immoderate sorrow This like an heavy burthen breaks a man and makes him stoop Prov. 12.25 Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop So Prov. 15.13 A merry heart makes a chearful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken David tells us Psal 31.10 My life is spent with grief and my years with sighing And the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 7.10 The sorrow of the World worketh death Immoderate sorrow for loss of worldly things weakens the body and hasteneth death 5. Take heed of impatience passion and discontent The murmurring Israelites were destroyed of the destroyer 1 Cor. 10.10 An impatient man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his own scourge We say truly the hasty man never wants wo. Pettish fretful passionate persons like the Demoniack in the Gospel Mar. 5.2 3. wound and cut themselves Wrath is compared to fire in Scripture Gen. 39.19 20. Esth 1.12 Est intus flamma medullas This fire of passion devours and consumes that which should maintain natural life The passionate man like Mount Aetna consumes his own bowels with inward burnings Thus as Eliphas tells Job Job 5.2 Wrath killeth the foolish man Vexing and fretting under providential dispensations spends a mans spirits and puts him upon taking such unlawful courses as are oft-times attended with destruction Prov. 19.19 A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment for if thou deliver him yet thou must do it again q. d. A passionate man is no sooner delivered from one danger but he brings himself into another 6. Take heed of Envy Job 5.2 Envy slayeth the silly one If a man be so silly as to hug this Viper in his bosom he doth it to his destruction Envy like a Moth doth insensibly consume a man depriving him of health and the comforts of this life Hence the wise Man calls envy the rottenness of the bones Prov. 14.30 The envious man melts away at the prosperity of others as you may see Psal 112.10 Invidus alterius rebus macrescit opimis The Dart of Envy is as a worthy Divine observes like that in Homer Dr. Pierce in Sinner impleaded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iliad γ. v. 348. Reflexa est ei cuspis Scuto in valido It alway recoyls into the breast of him that shot it and mischieves most at rebound 7. Take heed of pride and ambition
Tombs but this impatient man is among the Living and molests and grieves those that are near him 2. Immoderate sorrow wasteth the Spirits See Prov. 15.13 By sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken It weakens the Body and hastens Death 2 Cor. 7.10 The sorrow of the world worketh Death saith the Apostle by sorrow of the world we may understand immoderate sorrow about worldly things hastens death and eats out the very comfort of Life You read of Moses Deut. 34.7 He was an hundred and twenty years old when he dyed his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated What should be the reason Why surely under God his own meekness For Numb 12.3 He was very meek above all the men that were upon the face of the earth Hippocrates saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Animalia quae felle carent ut Cervi sunt longaeva So meek persons many times live longest but impatient persons through fretting discontent bring their bodies into a Consumption Suppose as Job saith Job 6.12 Your strength was the strength of stones yet continual dropping of tears and drooping under sorrow would bring you down and wear you away for the same Job tells you Job 14.19 The waters wear the stones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed saepè cadendo And the wise man tells you Prov. 12.25 Heaviness in the heart of a man makes it stoop Immoderate grief like a heavy burthen laid upon a man will make him stoop and break him Many a man looks wrinkled with sorrow and care long before he is wrinkled with age Cura facit canos quamvis homo non habet annos Let us then Seneca Consâ—l ad Poâ—â—â— c. 23. as an Heathen said spare such grief as this is Faciliùs illi nos dolor iste ad jiciet quà m illum nobis reducet For soon will it send thee to him whom thou bewailest than bring him back to thee 3dly and lastly It greatly provokes God Indeed A meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price 1 Pet. 3.4 but a froward peevish spirit is abomination to him as you may read Prov. 11.20 17.20 22.5 So Ps 18.26 Discontent is a sin that God takes special notice of Exod. 16.7 8 9 12. So the Apostle tells us God was not well pleased The meaning is for the words are a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was highly displeased with the murmuring Israelites for they were overthrown in the wilderness 1 Cor. 10.5 10 compared This must needs he hateful to God for it is a decompounded sin made up of many bitter ingredients as pride passion unthankfulness c. Sighings sobbings sorrowfull exclamations do penetrate the heavens and enter into the ears of the Lord of Hosts but make no good musick there God is thereby provoked to lengthen our miseries and adjourn our mercies Paula Romana who carried it frowardly and fretfully at death of her Children met with many losses of that nature We say Impatiens aegrotus crudelem facit medicum And so it is strugling and stubbornness that makes the Father continue to beat the Child Indeed God is an indulgent tender-hearted Father to his Children Psal 103.13 yet he will not burn the Rod till their stout stomacks be taken down How did he pursue Jonah with winds and tempests nay he casts him over-board into the sea and plunged him over head and ears into the hell of the Whales belly never leaving him till he submitted to his will to go to Niniveh Ferre minora volo nè graviora feram Let us bear lesser troubles patiently lest God lay greater troubles upon us To end this A man in a seaver the more he struggles the more he encreaseth his pain A wild Bull in a net Isa 51.20 instead of breaking forth by strugling he more entangles himself So we gain nothing by our strugling impatience and obstinacy against God but encrease of our miseries Oh! then let us not by any means give passions a loose reign for Phaiton-like with his wild Horses they 'l do a world of mischief Consid 10 Tenthly and lastly consider Death is very advantagious to the godly Phil. 1.21 For me to die is gain There is a privative and positive benefit that death brings to believers To begin with the first Death frees a believer 1. From sin Peccatum peperit mortem filia devoravit matrem Sin brought in death Rom. 5.12 and 6.23 and death carryes out sin Viper-like it devoures that which brought it forth He that is dead is freed from sin Rom. 6.7 Here indeed is no perfection 1 John 1.8 Grace is like Gold in the Oar mingled with much dross the most refined soul hath some dregs and is daily contesting with home-bred corruptions Cum avarit â nobis cum impudicitiâ cum irâ cum ambitione congressis est Cyprian Here the best are continually afflicted either for their sins or with their sins But death frees them from all sin Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me saith St. Paul from the body of this death Why by the death of the body we are delivered from sin which is the body of Death 1 Cor. 15.26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death If sin continued after death death were not a believers last enemy Dictum est primo homini morieres si peccaveris nunc dicitur morere nè pecces nisi peccâssent illi non morerentur peccarent autem justi nisi moriantur St. August de Civitate Dei Lib. 13. Cap. 3. Whilst we are in the wilderness of this world latet Anguis in herbâ fiery Serpents sting us sins stick close to us but at death as St. Paul cast the Viper off his hand Acts 28.3 5. so do Believers shake off sin Their dying day is the funeral of all their Vices the least of which maks them grieve here as the least hair makes the eye to water After death they are like God himself in perfect holiness and righteousness not having spot or wrinkle Ephes 5.27 2. From Satans temptations The Devil like to Joab makes our miseries his sport and play 2 Sam. 2.14 He is the great Peripatetick going up and down the World Job 1.7 and 2.2 This roaring lyon is continually ranging for his prey 1 Pet. 5.8 He assaulted Christ the Head Mat. 4.1 c. and so he doth the members Quid aliud in mundo quà m pugna adversus Diabolum quotidiè geritur Cypr. The righteous are the white at which the Devil most shoots the Arrows of temptation Chrysostome somewhere in his Homilies hath this comparison 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. As Pirats upon the Sea set upon the richest Vessels so Satan seeing a Vessel fraught with Grace useth all art and exerciseth all violence to master both the Vessel and the Prize But in Heaven they shall no more be troubled with Satans fiery darts for the Accuser of the Brethren is cast out Rev.
being in the blood of the mother then the flesh was consolidated Now under the Gospel God hath left Baptism to discretion of Parents and not tyed them strictly to the observance of a day but let not Parents create needless delays to baptize the Child Mr. Fuller in his Infants Advocat Ne quod differatur auferatur lest God in the interim take the Child from them In which case faith Mr. Fuller as I will not be Judg to condemn the Child so should I be one of the Jury I would not aquit the Father St. Austin was called durus Pater Infantum and sure he was an hard-hearted Father to Infants for his opinion was as I have read that children that dyed unbaptized were damned Indeed we read Gen. 17.14 The uncircumcised Man-Child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised that soul shall be cut off from his people he hath broken my Covenant Certainly this place is not to be interpreted of the infant breaking the Covenant who can do nothing to the keeping of it vid. Musculum in loc pag. 407 408. They therefore are here threatned by whose default Curcumcision was omitted or it may be understood of those not circumcised in childhood if they should after come to years of discretion and refuse Circumcision they were to be cut off and looked upon as breakers of the Covenant But to come home to you 1. Consider It is in the want of Baptism as in the want of Circumcision The want of Circumcision except in case of contempt or wilful neglect was not so dangerous Jos 5.7 Circumcision as may be gathered from that text was omitted for forty years in the wilderness and as some observe not reproved in Scripture Indeed we say Contemptus damnat the contempt of the Ordinance is dangerous without repentance and deep humiliation for it for God was displeased with Moses because he neglected to circumcise his son Exod. 4.24 but not the want of it when it was against your will 2. Consider Davids child he lived not to recieve the seal of Circumcision set upon him for he dyed the seventh day 2 Sam. 12.18 And it came to pass on the seventh day the Child dyed Some understand the 7th day from the Child's sickness others in my conceit more rightly understand it the seventh day from the birth of it so that the Child dyed before it was circumcised yet v. 23. he had hopes of the Child 's eternal welfare and therefore wipes his eyes and rests contented Indeed Baptism under the Gospel requires not adjournment to the eighth day as Circumcision did under the Law But if your Child dyed suddenly unexpectedly before the Minister could be procured and your desire was that your Child should be Baptised surely you are herein excusable for God hears the very desire of the humble Psal 10.17 3. And lastly consider Though we be bound to observe Gods Ordinance yet God himself is not tyed to the Sacrament As a most learned and pious Bishop said That Spirit which worketh by means will not be tyed to means Bp. Hall 5th Decad Epistle 4th Cast your eyes upon that good thief good in his death though in his life abominable he was never washed in Jordan yet is received into Paradise his soul was foul with rapines and injustice yea bloudy with murders And yet being scoured only with the blood of his Saviour not with water of Baptism it is presented glorious to God Thus as St. Austin saith Non minus sine Sacramentis salvatus est latro quam cum Sacramentis condemnatus est Judas Thus God who usually works by the Ordinances can also work without them 2d Apology answered Another cryes out This Child that God hath taken away was my Darling the Child I most affected as Jacob did Joseph Gen. 37.3 I could have wished God had taken some other of my children so he had but spared this Answ Thou sayest that thou hast lost a Child that thou most affectedst above all the rest of thy children Yea and it is to be feared more then God too It is I concieve lawful to love one child above another though it be not prudence to express it too fondly for fear of exasperating the rest Gen. 37.3 4. Col. 3.21 thou mayest and oughtest to love that child most which is most like thy Maker Christ loved all his Disciples Joh. 13.1 but John eminently transcendently above the rest John 13.23 and 20.2 and 21.20 because according to his name he was most gracious We may then love our children dearly Salv. ad Eccles Cathol l. 1. p. 347 more then any other outward possessions Non Solum amandos dicimus filios sed precipue ac super omnia amandos nec quicquam his omnino anteponendum nisi Deum solum But we must love no Child more then God If we do God will if he bear special love to us take away that little idol we too much dote upon that he may be loved and admired the more and the creature the less God cannot away with Corrivals he calls for the Heart Prov. 23.26 and will have intensiveness of Affection Matth. 22.37 and therefore removes from you that Child which was as a skreen to keep off the heat of your love from him Hadst thou then loved thy Child less thou mightest have enjoyed him longer Parents may kill their Children by over-loving them aswel as by over-laying them Blame then thy self who too fondly lovedst thy Child but blame not God who took away thy Child for thy good lest thy soul should eternally miscarry And whereas thou sayest thou couldest have wished he had taken some other of thy children so he had but spared this Answ 1. Consider Such kind of speeches are very offensive to God It is not for silly man to prescribe but to submit to God Who art thou that replyest against God in his providential dispensations Rom. 9.20 As God makes all in wisdom Psa 104.24 So he orders all things in wisdom Eph. 1.11 Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will He knows when he means to shoot what Arrow in his Quiver to chuse he sits at the Helm of this World guiding all things in Wisdom so that when things fall not out as we would have them yet as God would And as * Salv. lib. 1. De Gub. Dei pag. 23. Salvian speaks Summa justitia est voluntas Dei His Will is the Rule of Rectitude and therefore cannot do any thing unjustly Job 34.10 Therefore we should say under cross providences that befall us as 2 Sam. 15.26 Behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him We read 2 Sam. 3.36 Whatsoever the King did pleased all the people Surely what the Kings King the great Lord and Master of Heaven and Earth is pleased to do should please us For can poor mortals as we are be better disposed of then by Wisdom and Goodness it self Liberame Domine a meipso
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel that is power and providence determined before to be done Wicked men that kill our friends they are God's Sword or his Hand God works by them Psal 17.13 14. Old Eli saw Gods hand in the violent and untimely death of his two sons Hophni and Phineas and he took it patiently 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seems him good Say then with Job whose Children were violently cut off Job 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Septuag inserts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it pleaseth the Lord so come things to pass blessed be the Name of the Lord. Another cries out 11. Apologie answered My Friend died of the Plague that loathsom disease and there was no funeral solemnity but he was carried forth like some sorry carrion and buried I know not where may be in some sorry pit and this troubles me Answ God lately in our dayes Anno Domini 1665. sent a fearfull Plague amongst us There dyed at London as appeared by the weekly Bill above eight thousand some weeks The Metropolis of this Nation hath been as it were plowed up and sown thick with dead Corpses Great pits were digged where the dead lay together as Sampson said of the slaughtered Philistines by heaps upon heaps Judg. 15.16 A sad time God knows they had Bells sadly toling People sadly sighing crying dying I believe many to this very day have sad thoughts of heart for the loss of dear friends and think they were not buried like Christians because there were no Funeral solemnities I shall therefore to chear up such answer the particulars Did your Friend dye of the noysom Pestilence for so it is called Psal 91.3 1. Consid Gods dear servants have lain under such distempers Hezekiah was sick unto death 2 Kings 20.1 Some think he had the Plague vers 7. there is mention made of his Boyl which some conceive did arise from the Plague Job laboured under a Plague sore Job 2.7 He was smitten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an angry burning Boyl insomuch that his skin was broken and became loathsom Job 7.5 So David cryes out Ps 39.10 Remove thy stroak away from me some render Plagam tuam thy Plague which is a fearful stroak from God Indeed God promiseth Psal 91.3 c. To deliver his people from the noysome Pestilence But this as other promises of outward blessings is a conditional promise God will deliver his People if he sees it makes most for his glory and his Peoples good But God sees it good for them to dye of the Plague which though a sad affliction in it self is a means to hasten their glory God sent a fearful sickness amongst the Corinthians some think it might be the Plague because they did not receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper with due preparation 1 Cor. 11.30 and yet they were chastened of the Lord saith the Apostle that they should not be condemned with the World v. 32. Godly Junius and his Wife died of the Plague as some report The Plague that hot burning distemper if God send it to his Children so that they dye of it like Elijah's fiery Chariot is a means to convey them more speedily to Heaven 2. Consid The Plague as all other sickness cometh by Divine Appointment See Exod. 15.26 Numb 14.12 16.46 Deut. 28.21 2 Sam. 24.14 15. Ps 39.10 The Plague is an Arrow of God's shooting a Messenger of God's sending And as the Centurion in the Gospel said to his under-Souldiers Go and he goeth Come and he cometh Do this and he doth it Mat 8.9 so God gives this Messenger charge whither it shall go how far it shall advance what execution it shall do and it faithfully obeys him Therefore say with David Ps 39.9 I was dumb and opened not my mouth he means murmuringly impatiently c. because O Lord thou didst it 3. Consid God prizeth his People let them die of what distemper soever Psal 116.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints He likes them not the worse for dying of the Plague 4. Lastly Consider They are happy let them dye of what distemper soever if they dye in God's favour Rev. 14.13 Their souls for the present are happy and at Christ's second coming their bodies shall be glorious 1 Cor. 15.43 The body though sown in dishonour is raised in glory Bodies spotted through sickness shall then be made beautiful bodies and all their deformities be done away Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Mat. 13.43 For Col. 3.4 When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall these also appear with him in glory Was there no Funeral Solemnity Answ It hath been an ancient custom to attend at the Funeral of Friends De Civit. Dei lib. 11. c. 13. St. Austin saith Non contemnenda sunt abjicienda Corpora Defunctorum Bodies of deceased Friends are not slightly and contemptibly to be cast away And again he saith Antiquorum Justorum Funera curata sunt De Cura pro Mortuis Exequiae celebratae Sepultura provisa The Funerals of good men were formerly celebrated with great solemnity Abraham takes care for the Funeral of his Wife Sarah Gen. 23.3 4. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the Cave of Machpelah where his Wife lay Gen. 25.9 10. Jacob made Joseph swear to perform his Funeral Rites Gen. 47 29 30 31. and accordingly it was done with great solemnity Gen. 50 7 8 c. So all Israel lamented Samuel and buried him 1 Sam. 25.1 And David spake it to the commendation of the men of Jabesh-Gilead those loyal and grateful Subjects that they shewed kindness to their Lord Saul and buried him honourably 2 Sam. 2.4 5 6. so Jehoida was buried honourably 2 Chron. 24.15 16. so much people accompanied the Widows son of Naim to his Burial Luke 7.12 And devout men carried Stephen to his Burial and made great Lamentation over him Act. 8.2 Our Saviour Christ who was alwayes moderate in his expences and would have the fragments gathered up that nothing might be lost John 6.12 yet admitted Mary's costly Oyntment because against his Burial Mat. 26.7 c. Indeed it is promised as a mercy to have decent Burial Job 5.26 Thus God promised Abraham that he should be buried in peace and in a good old age Gen. 15.15 And it was promised Abijah 1 King 14.12 13. that all Israel should mourn for him and bury him for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the Grave because in him there was found some good thing c. and it was accordingly performed ver 18. so the like was promised to Josiah 2 King 22.20 and he was peaceably buried though kill'd in War 2 King 23.29 30. It is a part of humane misery to be without decent Burial and it is threatned as a judgment on the Wicked
more for their God who now doth so much for them that they did not glorifie him more on Earth who glorifies them so much in Heaven Use 13 13. Let death of Friends put us on to get what good we can by living Friends we see they die soon We hold our Friends but durante beneplacito Dei how soon he may call for them we know not And therefore as one saith let us do with them as with some Books which we borrow let us reade them presently and take out thence profitable lessons as soon as we can for we know not how soon the owner may take them from us Books of our own lye by us and we may reade them at leisure Thus if Friends were so our own that we might have them by us at our own command we might be the more careless but in regard they are but lent us and may speedily be call'd for again It is good to improve their company whilest we have them and gather from them what may make for our profit both temporal and spiritual especially let us improve their society to our eternal advantage The old World was to blame in not being better'd by the good example of Enoch Methuselah Noah and some other few good persons that were amongst them And the wicked Sodomites to blame for not improving the society of Godly Lot to their spiritual advantage Gen. 19.7 8 9. 2 Pet. 2.5 6 7. Let the patience of good men check thy impatience their zeal thy luke-warmness their charity thy cruelty their temperance thy luxury their strictness thy loosness Yet a little while saith Christ is the Light with you walk while ye have the Light Joh. 12.35 The Light of God's Word is principally to be followed Psal 119.105 Gal. 6.16 yet the light of good Example is not to be neglected Mat. 5.16 Heb. 12.1 Walk and work by the Light of both and that with all possible speed that may be To shut up this Death silenceth the best Preachers breaks up the best Company and therefore deal with gracious Companions and faithful Guides as Elisha did by Elijah who would not leave him till he had gotten his Spirit doubled upon him 2 Kings 2. from ver 1 to 16. Or as Jacob dealt with the Angel who would not let him go until he blessed him Gen. 32.26 27 28. So let us be careful so to improve their company that before they leave us we may get a blessing from them Use 14 14. Let death of Friends mind us of our own death Eccles 7.2 It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to heart The house of Feasting is apt to put out of our minds the thoughts of goodness Deut. 8.12 Job 1.5 but the house of Mourning may seriously affect the heart with good thoughts as of the greatness of God's Power who taketh away our breath Psal 104.29 and with thoughts of our own frailty and mortality for as it is said of Abel he being dead yet speaketh Heb. 11.4 So the dead corps in the house of Mourning seems to speak our inevitable mortality We may call the death of a Friend or Neighbour saith a worthy * Mr. Harrison in his Serm. on Isa 57.1 p. 42. Divine as some do the Sacrament Visibile Verbum a visible Word a Sermon teaching us our Mortality for what we are they were and what they are we may be and we know not how soon Quod tueris tu eris dost thou behold a dead corps carried forth thou shalt shortly be such an one thy self Alas Alas what is this life that we make such account of that we so much talk of It is rapidissimus cursus a tumulo ad tumulum a very swift motion from the womb of our Mother to the womb of the Earth Natures dim eye saw the shortness of it Will you hear what it is One compares it to an Herb green now See Mr. Ambroses Serm. on Gen. 47.9 and presently withering Ut Herba Solstitialis Plaut Another calls Life the Image of Death Mortis Imago Cato Another calls Man a Dream of a Shadow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pindar Another a shadow of Smoak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aeschyl Another compares it to Leaves on Trees soon falling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tale genus hominum quale foliorum Homer Iliad 3. Another saith Our whole life is but a point of time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch which Seneca well interprets saying Punctum est quod vivimus adhuc puncto minus The time we live is but a point yea less than a point It is but an instant for what is past we enjoy not and what is to come is uncertain so that the present instant is the time we live and that gone as soon as spoken You have heard some of the Heathens speak of the Life of Man I pray you hearken to what the holy Ghost speaks of it in Scripture Job compares it to a Weavers Shuttle Job 7.6 which being thrown by the hand of the Weaver speedily passeth from one end of the Web to the other and v. 7. compares it to the Wind that passes speedily away what more swift or uncertain than the Wind he compares it to a Shadow that passeth away Job 8.9 so doth David Psal 102.11 so doth Solomon Eccles 6.12 Job likewise compares his Life to a Post that runs or rides swiftly on the Earth to a Ship that moves swiftly on the Waters and to an Eagle hastning after her prey that moves swiftly in the Air Job 9.25 26. David compares the Life of Man to Grass * Muscul in Gen. 1. p. 13. Manè quidem floridum vesperi vero aridum and to the Flower of the Field which soon withereth and fadeth away Ps 103.15 16. So doth Moses Psal 90.5 6. So doth the Prophet Isaiah Isa 40.6 7. David likewise compares it to Smoak which is quickly dispersed Psal 102.3 He likewise compares it to an †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 palmus est mensura 4 digitorum junctorum by th Hand-breadth Psal 39.5 which is one of the shortest of measures the breadth onely of four fingers put close together Our Saviour would have us look upon our Life but as a Day Mat. 6.11 and Moses reckons by Dayes Psal 90.12 so did Jacob before him Gen. 47.9 And indeed vita nostra non est diuturna Propera vivere et singulos dies singulas vitas puta nihil interest inter diem seculum Sen. sed diurna every day is a little Map of our Life for as the poor Hireling when the day is spent goes home with his wages with him so when the day of man's life is spent with his wages about him he returns to his long-home the Grave St. Paul calls our Bodies Earthen vessels 2 Cor. 4.7 and 2 Cor. 5.1 The earthly house of this tabernacle Here the Apostle who was a
spent her youthful dayes amongst Ruffians and debauched Companions If thou thinkest the flower of thine Age too good to give God may justly think the dregs of it too bad to receive How canst thou reasonably think that God should take pleasure in those dayes of which thou thy self wilt say Thou hast no pleasure in them Eccles 12.1 2 Sam. 19.35 'T is task sufficient for old Age to bear up under the infirmities of it Preparation for Death in old Age or sickness is usually weak and sickly like the party and proceeds rather from fear than love How kindly doth God take it when we dedicate the firstling of our years to his service Jer. 2.2 I remember thee saith God the kindness of thy youth Youthful bodies are most active and strong and so most fit for the Service of God who is a Spirit a pure Act and a living God He whose Name is I Am Exod. 3.14 cares not for such as say They will be but are not Now Courteous Reader what I have here spoken is out of a good intent not to drive any to despair but to prevent presumption Well then as Abraham rose early in the morning to sacrifice his Son Gen. 22.3 so let us early in the morning of youth sacrifice our sins or dedicate our selves both Soul and Body to God's Service 2. Ardenter 2. Put the forementioned Directions into practice Earnestly This God calls for Luk. 13.24 Strive to enter in at the strait Gate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Cornelius a Lap. in locum Quasi in agone contendite extremas summasque vires velut agonizantes exerite Strive as Wrestlers do put to all their strength so the word signiffes We should give diligence to make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 Yea all diligence v. 5. Thou hast commanded us saith David Psal 119.4 to keep thy Precepts diligently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 valde that is with all diligence and watchfulness and earnest endeavour So Dr. Hammond in Loc. Nay we are not only to give diligence but to put forth holy violence Mat. 11.12 Luke 6.16 The twelve Tribes are said to serve God instantly day and night Acts 26.7 Orig. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a kind of extension or vehemencie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sig Omnibus viribus vehementer prolixe liberaliter toto animo Cornel. a Lap. in 1 Pet. 1.22 St. Paul tells you what he did Phil. 3.13 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Like a man running a race he press'd forward stretch'd forth his Neck and Arms and ran swiftly towards the Mark. True Christians are called lively stones 1 Pet. 2.5 They are compared to stones for solidity and stability but called Lively Stones for their Zeal and Activity Lazy wishes and luke-warm desires will not serve our turn Numb 23.10 He lies under the prophetick Curse that doth the Work of the Lord negligently Jer. 48.10 All that we do for God without zeal is but opus operatum meer performance of the Work which can no more ascend to Heaven than Vapours from the Still unless there be fire under it as a worthy * Mr. Ward in Serm. on Rev. 3.19 Divine tells us Dulness Drowsiness Luke-warmness is unsutable to the work of the Lord. We should serve him with most awakened affections and most serious intentions of Spirit Deut. 11 13. Mat. 22.37 God hath threatned to spue the luke-warm out of his mouth Rev. 3.15 16. Some say that Speech is drawn from warm-water which the stomach cannot by any means brook so God cannot away with luke-warm persons Gregory somewhere saith It is better to be cold than luke-warm in Religion not because the luke-warm person sins more hainously but because he is reclaimed more hardly Dum enim se sanum putet medicinae opem non quaerit Marlor A cursed formality or customary performance of duties without fervent love to them undoes many and renders the Times so perillous 2 Tim. 3.5 Having a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 form of Godliness but denying the Power from such turn away Let us then with Caleb follow God fully Numb 14.24 And as Barnabas exhorted Let us with full purpose of heart cleave unto the Lord Acts 11.23 As Peter and John strove which should come first to our Savious Sepulchre Joh. 20.4 so let us strive which should attain first to true mortification of sin Let us strive to out-strip one another in goodness * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a commendable contention The greatness of the Work calleth for our greatest endeavours We have many Duties to perform many Graces to get many Sins to subdue and conquer The manifold opposition which we meet with in our way to Heaven from the World the Flesh and the Devil should make us active 1 Cor. 16.13 Ephes 6.10 11 12 13. 1 Pet. 5.8 9. Former mispence of time should put us upon a more diligent improvement of it for the future Ephes 5.16 1 Pet. 4.3 4. Vespatian an Heathen lamented the loss of a day wherein he had done no remarkable service Heu diem perdidi was his word Alas I have lost a day We have let slip many days without doing good squandred away many precious opportunities not to be regained Let us improve time whilst we have it with the best diligence we can shortly we would be glad to have it that we might improve it If God would but vouchsafe to the damned creatures a little time of tryal here on earth again how eagerly would they accept it how holily would they spend it like those Creatures mentioned Ezek. 1.14 They would run and return as the apperance of a flash of Lightning They would Angel-like be upon the Wing ready to fly upon the hardest Errand God should send them about But alas their Glass is run and shall never be turned more The Door of Mercy is shut against them their possibilities are ended Let us be wise in time and work whilst we may for when the Night of Death comes no man can work John 9.4 Stella in Luk. 13.24 Nunc ergà poenitentiam age nè praeoccupatus die mortis quaeras locum quando invenire non possis The wise Man makes this consideration a Whetstone to Industry Eccles 9.10 Whatever thy hand finds to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest If thy Work be not done when Death comes thou'lt be undone for ever for there will be no second Edition of thy Life to alter or amend what is done amiss Nicodemus's saying according to the flesh is true John 3.4 No man can enter the second time into his Mothers Womb and be born O then be not remiss and negligent in matters of such consequence Let us pray in good earnest repent in sober sadness let us put on Christ's Vertues by imitation and his Merits by application with as much diligence as may be Old men especially