great King yet he was but a contemptible piece in the Prophets eye because not a godly Man We are apt to gaze upon the great ones of the World to look at them because of their Greatness and Riches and Honours but the truth is only the godly man is worth looking at this is the Man that God looks at To this man will I look saith God as if he were taken with the sight I might shew you too to what end we should mark the godly Man Not as Daniel's enemies markt him to see if they could find him tripping and not as many that mark David to encourage themselves to sin But we are to mark him as the Apostle directs us Phil. 3.17 Mark such that you may follow their example And then how far we are to follow the example of the godly Be followers of me saith the Apostle as I am of Christ. But I cannot stand upon these things Vse First This might shew us the happiness of the godly Man we use to say That is well that ends well then sure it will be well with the godly Man for he ends well his end is peace he enters into peace and what a comfortable thing it is to stand by the Bed-side of a godly Man to hear how comfortably he talks of going to God I know says he whom I have believed and how familiarly he can speak of Death Oh Death where is thy sting And with what desires and longings he waits for his great change I shall but change my place I shall not change my company And with what quietness he can lye down in the Grave with as much quietness as he can put off his Clothes to lye down in his Bed For indeed the Grave is but the Bed of a godly Man where he lies down to sleep he is glad that the time of his departure is so nigh and can say Come ye Angels and do your office Secondly This would inform us of the misery of wicked and ungodly men it is the perfect the upright Man whose end is peace What then is like to be the end of the ungodly What peace as he said so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel remain So what peace can there be to thee sinner whiles thou art going on in ways of wickedness whiles thou art a lover of thy pleasures a lover of thy lust a lover of these more than a lover of God You know that speech of the Prophet Isaiah There is no peace saith my God to the wicked It is not I but God that says it says the Prophet false Prophets may cry peace peace to you saying you may repent at last and do well enough and your own hearts may cry peace peace to you God is merciful and all are sinners as well as we I but there is no peace to the wicked says my God God hath said it That men going on in ways of wickedness there is no peace to them but it will be bitterness in the latter end Such a one will say oh what will become of me what shall I do which way soever thou lookest thou canst see nothing but that which may disquiet thy poor Soul If thou lookest above thee there is the wrath of an Almighty Insinite God hanging over thy head if thou look'st within thee there is a guilty Conscience accusing thee if thou look'st beneath thee there is the bottomless pit gaping on thee ready to devour thee so that which way soever thou look'st above thee beneath thee within thee without thee thou canst see nothing but blackness and darkness There are other Uses might be made of it but I must pass them by that I might speak a little to the occasion of this Discourse MY Brethren the Text that we have now open'd to you I may truly say hath been fulfil'd before your eyes in the Life and Death of this precious Saint and Servant of God that is taken from you I might go over the Text again and shew you how he was this perfect Man whether you look upon him as a Man or as a Christian or as a Minister he had those perfections in him that did render him belov'd and honour'd by all that knew him and if there be any that had not a respect and value for him it was because they did not know him He was no empty-Cask but a Vessel filled with choice and precious Liquor as appeared by those gracious and savoury Discourses which did so often come from him As to the Gifts and Graces of Gods Spirit he had them both in a very high degree of perfection he was both able to teach and apt to teach which is but a rare conjunction for many that are most able to teach are not always most apt and ready to teach and some that are most apt and forward to Teach they are not always most able to Teach he had a spring of living waters within him In his Prayers and Preaching he need not Pump for they did flow from him as waters out of a full Fountain out of the abundance of his heart we may truly say he did both Preach and Pray God had given him the Tongue of the Learned whereby he was able to speak a word in season upon all occasions The Word of God did dwell so richly in him that he needed not any long time in preparation but could speak to any Subject both pertinently and profitably upon very short warning He was one fitted not only to declare the Truth but to defend the Truth witness that book of his concerning the Immortality of the Soul He was mighty in Prayer and powerful in Preaching I have often thought he had a more than ordinary presence of God in all that he did But secondly He was this upright man and indeed his great perfection lay in that uprightness and integrity of Spirit that appear'd in him In all that he did he did not seek himself or serve himself of the Gospel he had his eye to his Masters glory and not to his own gain or glory though he had the oversight of two Congregations yet he did not take the oversight of them for filthy lucres sake I suppose many here can bear him witness that he made not one penny of profit in the Year but rather spent many pounds upon their service God had blest him with an Estate of his own and he rejoyc'd to preach the Gospel freely though he had a double Care and a double Charge upon him yet he had not a double Benefit he could truly say as Paul Act. 20.33 I have coveted no mans silver or gold no it was the holy lucre of gaining of Souls to Christ that his heart did most covet and therein God gave him the desire of his heart His Ministry was not blasted with dry breasts and a miscarrying womb but as he travelled with the salvation of Sinners so he saw the fruit of the travel of his Soul and was satisfied as he laboured
Sincerity I will add but one thing more and so I shall have done with this first part of the Text it is to mind you of that Scripture you have in Ecclesiastes 7.29 God made man upright at first but he sought out many inventions This Uprightness my Brethren was a part of that perfection wherewith Man was endow'd in his Primitive state but man had no sooner fallen but presently he discovered the doubling of his Spirit with God and seeks for hidings and coverings to himself Since the fall our hearts are as full of this deceit this falshood as ever they can hold the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all that we are able to know we have the poison of the Serpent in us and are become full of turnings and windings you may see it in your little Children one of the first things they learn is to lye and to equivocate and to excuse and to hide things and to play the Hypocrites I say we have it all in us by Nature By Nature we do seek our selves and aim at our selves in all we do and not God Do not think that the Pharisees only were prone to this Hypocrisie to draw nigh to God with their lips and to have their hearts far from him or to do Duties to be seen of men I tell you we have every one a Pharisee in our bellies therefore we have need to beg of God that he would make us upright again and to pray as David did Lord create in me a new heart and renew a right spirit within me I come now to speak of his death and I see I must be shortest there where I thought to have been longest having been longest already where I intended to be shortest well the end of this man is peace His end is peace in a twofold opposition First To a wicked man though his life may be pleasant and his way smooth and strew'd with Roses yet his end is bitterness his Death-bed stuft with Thorns as the Cloud which had a bright side toward the Israelites had a dark side to the Egyptians so Death that hath a bright side to a godly man it hath a dark and blackside towards a wicked man as they say in Logick the conclusion always follows the worser part So it is with the wicked his conclusion follows the worser part of his premises Secondly His end is peace in opposition to his own life Perhaps a godly mans life may be full of trouble he may meet with many Temptations with great Trials but his end is peace he shall be brought to a quiet Port and land on a shore of Rest But how is a godly mans end peace and why is it peace Let me speak a little of these two How is his end peace His end is peace these five ways First If you take Peace for Peace with men so his end is Peace he doth endeavour as much as in him lies to live peaceably with all men and he desires to die in peace with all men As he did not live in Quarrels so he doth not die in Quarrels he doth not suffer the Sun of his Life to go down upon his Wrath. Possibly men are at War with him malign him persecute him even unto death as they did Stephen yet he is at amity with them and prays Lord lay not this sin to their charge And with Christ Father forgive them for they know not what they do He hath learnt that Lesson which Nature will never teach a man Matth. 5 To love his Enemies to bless them that curse him to pray for them which despightfully use him Secondly They have peace with Angels for when they die these blessed Spirits do conduct and accompany their departing Souls unto Abrahams bosom Luke 16.22 and at the Resurrection will gather together the bodies of the Elect from all corners of the Earth where their dust hath been scattered Heb. 1.17 We read how Angels who are Executioners of Gods Judgments upon the wicked do stand ready to avenge the quarrel of God upon his Enemies as Joab the Captain of David's Host was ready to have taken off Shimei's head when he cursed the King if he had but said the word These Angels which are the Hosts of God are sent forth as ministring Spirits as friends to the Saints Thirdly His end is peace with God God is reconcil'd to him and he is reconcil'd to God and to all his ways being justified by faith we have peace with God no more anger in his Bosom no more frowns in his Face towards him but all his anger is turned into Love Oh that peace of God which passeth all understanding that fills his heart and mind What a sweet thing is it my Brethren to be at peace with that God whom we have so offended by our Sins to have his Face smiling upon us and his Arms embracing us Who knows the sweetness of such smiles but those that have felt his frowns therefore Christ calls them his Friends for a man when he lies sick to have the bosom of a reconciled God and Father to be his pillow and when he dies to die in the Arms of Christ this must make it sweet dying indeed Fourthly He hath peace in his own Conscience peace in his own Bosom This is our rejoycing the testimony of a good conscience and that bird in the bosom does oftentimes sing most sweetly when the man draws nearest to his death Great peace have they that love thy law says the Psalmist and nothing shall offend them thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee This follows upon our reconciliation with God peace of Conscience that is more worth than a Thousand worlds and to have Conscience to be our enemy continually accusing and upbraiding of us striking us with fear to have the worm gnawing in the Soul before the worms are feeding on the flesh This is a continual dropping this is an Hell upon earth As a good Conscience is a Heaven begun so an evil guilty Conscience is a Hell begun That is a fourth thing they have peace of Conscience as the sting of death is taken away so the sting of Conscience is taken away likewise Fifthly and lastly His end is peace for he enters into peace into full and perfect peace so in Isaiah 57.1 2 Where the Prophet is bemoaning the righteous mans death that no man lays it to heart he shews that they need not lay his death to heart in reference to him for he enters into peace And so Simeon Luk. 2.29 30 Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation and blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours In the Third Region the upper Region of the Air they say there are no Clouds nor Storms no Thunder nor Lightning In the Third Heavens in those coelestial Mansions I am sure there are no troubles no
Oh my Brethren he is one that will be dearly mist by all His Family will miss him and his People will miss him the Countrey will miss him and the City will miss him too Saints will miss him to build them up in their Faith and Sinners will miss him to awaken and rouse them out of their sins the Poor will miss him to raise Collections for them to refresh their bowels and the rich will miss him to spur and quicken them up to be rich in good works The second thing I would say to you is this That you would live as those that have sate under the Ministry of so pious and worthy a Person how is that you will say first walk as Children of Purity Secondly as Children of Peace for he was a Friend to both First Walk as Children of Purity those pure heavenly and spiritual Exhortations that you have heard from him they do call for a pure and heavenly Conversation from you though he be dead and buried do not let his Sermons die and be buried with him the death of the Minister should indeed revive his Instructions and enliven and imprint the remembrance of them the more deeply upon the hearts of the people Secondly Walk as the Children of peace too and maintain Peace and Unity amongst your selves though the Shepherd be smitten yet let not the Sheep be scatter'd let not this breach that God hath made be the occasion of any more breaches amongst you Remember the words of David How sweet and lovely a thing it is for brethren to live together in unity Remember the words of Christ That blessed are the peace-makers And read over those words of Paul when you come home 1 Cor. 1.10 for I have not time to read them Take heed Brethren of walking so as to bring a dishonour and an evil report upon your Pastor and Teacher now he is gone O! think with your selves Did my Pastor teach me to be proud or to be covetous or to be unjust or to be censorious If he could return again upon the earth and see any of you such Would he not say to you Did you learn these things of me Lastly A word of Counsel in general and so I have done Do we desire to have peace in our end I that is it which we all desire Would we fain dye comfortably Who does not desire to do so Here is your way Two things I would leave with you 1. Mark the perfect and upright man to imitate his example 'T is the command of the Apostle Heb. 13.7 He would have them mark them that labour amongst them and follow their conversation O! it is a matter of great concernment whom you follow whom you imitate Alas if you live with the wicked if you follow vain persons you must dye with them do not think to live salsly and dissemblingly and yet to dye comfortably do not think to live with Pharoah and yet to dye with Moses to live with Judas to live with Demas and yet to dye with Paul No we must live with the pure with upright and perfect men we must make them to be our examples if we would dye with them we should make a good use of every good example that God hath given us A godly Man when he dyes bequeaths us this Legacy he leaves us the Picture of his Life to walk by 2. You must not only mark the perfect mans example and behold the upright man but you your selves must live so as you may give and leave a good example to others Brethren 't is not only the duty of those that teach you to give a good example as Paul exhorts Timothy and Titus to be examples to the believers in word in conversation in charity in faith in purity But it is the duty of hearers to give good examples one to another The Apostle exhorts aged Women Tit. 2.2 by their example to teach the younger Women and exhorts Wives to have their conversation so in fear 1 Pet. 1.3 that their Husbands beholding their good conversation may be won to the truth it may be thy Husband is not won by the hearing of the Word but thou shouldst labour to be so holy humble loving and obedient in thy conversation that hereby thou maist convince him What knowest thou O man whether thou shalt save thy wife and what knowest thou O woman whether thou shalt save thy husband Are there not many Husbands that have cause to bless God for their godly Wives Are there not many Wives that have cause to bless God for their godly Husbands Are there not many Children that have cause to bless God for their godly Parents There are many in Heaven who will be blessing God to all eternity that ever they saw the faces of such and such persons by whose holy conversations they were won to the love and liking of the ways of God Now then Labour to imitate the examples of the godly that have gone before you and to live so your selves that you may be an example to those that are round about you this is the way to have your end peace and then this Epitaph may be written upon your Graves Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace FINIS