an heavy sense of divine vengeance and fill us with such unspeakable horror shame tortures of mind and regret as will render our condition there infinitely sad and dismal Matt. 24.51 represented in Scripture under the direful expressions of Weeping and gnashing of Teeth Mar. 9.48 the stings of a never dying Worm and a burning in unquenchable fire 2. But I pass on to a second thing observable in the words of the Text where from the time when they that dye in the Lord are said to be blessed it may be observed that they who dye in Christ do immediately after their departure out of this life enter upon a blessed state 't is not said they that dye in the Lord shall be blessed but they are blessed or blessed are they and 't is not said they are blessed hereafter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but from henceforth from the time of their departure and so forward for ever And their works that is the joyful sense and reward of their good works do follow or rather accompany with them All which expressions methinks do shew that holy separate souls do immediately upon their separation from the body enter upon a blessed state Hence Christ tells the penitent Thief that that day he should be with him in Paradise Luk. 23.43 Because that day he was to dye in Christ and the Apostle makes no middle state betwixt the dissolving our Earthly House of this Tabernacle and an having a building of God 2 Cor. 5.1 an House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens nor betwixt departing hence and being with Christ Phil. 1.23 But immediately upon the finishing of this course says that henceforth is laid up for him a crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4.7 8. But what should hinder any that dye in Christ from being immediately blessed not the guilt of sin for that we are told is so done away upon our unfeigned Repentance that it shall not be so much as once mentioned Ezek. 33.16 Not the habits and customs of Sin for the same time that God forgives Joh. 1.9 he cleanses also from all unrighteousness Acts 15.9 and the grace of faith which God gives to all that are saved Hebr. 9.14 is said to purifie the heart and Christs blood is said 1 Joh. 1.7 to purge the Conscience from dead works and to cleanse us from all sin And therefore there needs no purging by an I know not what Purgatory fire But is it satisfaction for sin which the soul must yield by suffering certain pains after it is out of the body that hinders it from an immediate entrance upon a blissful state That cannot be for Jesus Christ hath in his own person made a sufficient and compleat satisfaction to Gods justice for our sins insomuch that he is in an eminent manner said to be 2 Joh. 2.2 The propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world He hath paid the full price of our Redemption by suffering the value of that in our stead which we should have suffered to all Eternity And upon this account we that are in Christ Rom. 3.24 are said to be justifyed freely through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ and if freely then there is no satisfaction to be yielded by our sufferings 1 Tim. 2.6 Heb. 9.12 For Christ hath given himself a ransom and obtained an Eternal Redemption for us by his own blood or sufferings So then if none of these things can hinder holy souls from an immediate entrance upon a blessed state after death then nothing else can But though from this very Text much more might be said of this matter yet lest I should turn a Funeral Sermon into a Polemical Discourse I shall crave leave to say no more of it here but shall now proceed to the last thing observable about the the nature of that bliss which they that dye in Christ shall immediately be partakers of And from hence we may observe Thirdly That the blessed state of those that dye in the Lord consists in their being freed from the labours and evils which in this life they underwent and in enjoying the good things which God hath promised and declared are and shall be the reward of all the good works they have done Now in the handling of this observation I shall give a brief account 1. Of the evils and labours Holy Souls rest â—â—â—n 2. Of the good they enjoy 1. As for the evils and labours which pious souls rest from after their death they are such as these following 1. They are freed from the burthen of sin and rest from all those fears and horrors which sin in this life is often the occasion of good men are grievously troubled here for offending God in any thing and under this grief and trouble they a long while labour till being by Death translated to that blessed condition wherein they are no longer in danger of sinning and then they happily rest from these sad labours 2. They are freed from the grief and trouble of seeing others sin which like righteous Lot they are grievously vexed with here 2 Pet. 2.7 8. Revel 21.27 For no sumer or wicked person can breath in those Regions to which the souls of those that dye in the Lord are by death immediately transplanted 3. They are freed from the labours and toils of their Callings and Employments in which all persons in this world are in some degree or other continually and necessarily engaged 4. They are freed from all bodily infirmities pains and distempers under which many persons groan a long time in this world without relief these no longer trouble the pious soul in its separate state because it 's then freed from the Body by its strict union with which it only became capable of being so affected 5. They are freed from all those crosses and afflictions that cruelly perplex the mind here because after death they are out of that imperfect condition where such things only are afflicting 6. They are freed from all Satans temptations and from all his cruel injections with which pious souls are much disquieted in this life For there is a great Gulph fixed betwixt Satan and the Spirits of just men made perfect Luke 16.26 which keeps that infernal Spirit from being able to molest any in those blissful habitations where holy separate souls are 7. Lastly They are freed from all fears despondencies and doubts about the love and favour of God which create great labours and troubles of mind in this imperfect state 1 John 3.2 for they shall see God as he is and consequently be perfectly sensible of his love and favour And thus all those tears of grief which in the body pious souls laboured under Rev 7.17 shall be wiped away from them in their separate state And so I pass on from the labours and evils pious souls rest from at death
he commands them and continue in his word calling them his Friends and Disciples indeed Secondly And having thus briefly shew'd who 't is that dye in the Lord I come next to shew what rational grounds we have to be perswaded that such are blessed after their death and they are these following 1. It should be considered that all the promises and declarations of bliss recorded in Scripture are made to such as so live and dye Acts 3.19 for we read The Sins of those that Repent shall be blotted out Psal 32.1 or forgiven And blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven and whose sin is covered Matt. 5.8 Mar. 16.16 1 Pet. 1. v. 3 4. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God They that believe and are baptized shall be saved That is as the Apostle speaks are begotten to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for them who are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation All these places of Scripture to which many more might be added sufficiently shew that there is for certain an happiness provided for those that dye in Christ who are therefore said to be blessed and saved so that they may with the Apostle say 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2. Consider we next that the fervent desires of pious souls after a future happiness do prove there is one for them Pious souls nauseate all those shadows of felicity that are here offer'd to them and are soon cloy'd with the fulsomness of these worldly enjoyments but in the mean time 2 Cor. 5.3 4 5. they thirst after and groan for something more satisfactory So the Apostle Rom. 8.23 Phil. 1.23 desires to depart and be with Christ which in his esteem is far better than to be here And what do these desires of pious souls after a future happiness declare else but that really there is one For God who is so wise as to make nothing in vain is also so good as not to plant desires in the hearts of his faithful servants after a future happiness without providing for them suitable objects for their satisfaction 3. It should also be considered That the dignity of the soul is such that 't is very unreasonable to imagine there should be no other happiness fitted for pious souls than what consists in these temporal enjoyments The soul of man is of a Divine original a spiritual substance Gen. 2.7 the breath of God breathed into the nostrils of man 't is that which makes a very notable difference betwixt Man and all other earthly Creatures upon which account 't is that Elihu says Job 34.11 God hath taught Man more than the Beasts of the field and made him wiser than the Fowls of the Heaven that is hath put him in an higher station than they Now since the dignity of the humane soul is so high above all earthly Creatures next in order to the blessed Angels Who can with any reason think it should be placed in so high and noble a rank of Creatures and yet have no other happiness than what it enjoys in the body in common with Bruits an happiness that consists only in sensitive satisfactions which is as much below the soul to take pleasure in as sense is below reason or as Bruits are inferior to Men. And if there be another happiness fitted for rational souls than what in the body they enjoy in common with Bruits this happiness must be had in a future state for 't is evident by matter of fact it is not and hath not been so much as pretended to be perfectly enjoyed here So that then if we think it reasonable to allow Man a dignity above a Bruit 't is but reasonable to allow him also a felicity suitable to that dignity and if we allow the rational soul a felicity suitable to its high nature above that of Bruits we must allow a time and season for pious souls to enjoy it in a more perfect manner than here they can and what does this else but lead us to the owning of a future Bliss for holy souls 4. But lastly if pious souls survive the body as no doubt they do otherwise they that dye in the Lord cannot be pronounced blessed nor can their works be said to accompany with or follow them and if they do survive the body they must needs be in an happy state for they will not meet with any of those evils in their separate state which grieve and trouble them here no spiritual evils will afflict them there Ephes 1. for their sins being pardoned and quite done away by Jesus Christ all those evils that are the fruits and consequences of sin will be done away also and no corporeal evils can vex separate souls for they have no bodies or external senses that can be affected with joys or griefs till the Resurrection from the dead And as pious souls that died in Christ can meet with nothing in their separate state to afflict and grieve them so they must needs have enough and abundance to delight rejoyce and make them happy for they carry with them a joyful sense of the good they have done the very reflexion on which even in this disturb'd life affords unspeakable satisfaction and pleasure to the mind and therefore much more in a separate state Besides there is no question to be made but holy souls in their separate state will have a clearer knowledge of God and a fuller sense of divine love and favour than here they had for there they will see God face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 and know even as they are known And this cannot but afford them rivers of pleasures and raptures of joys and all without interruption because they will have neither guilt nor external senses to divert them So then now 't is to be hoped we see and are perswaded that good men don't perish vanish into the soft air and so are lost in the dark abyss of non-existence when they dye but the nobler and better part of them their Immortal souls live in bliss and peace which as it should comfort us against the fears of Death so it should perswade us to make it our business to fit and qualifie our selves for the participation of this future bliss by living so piously and holily and parting so entirely with every sin which is the main thing that debars our souls from this felicity as that when we come to dye we may truly dye in the Lord and then blessed are we But if we do not live so as to dye in the Lord we cannot be blessed in our separate state but rather must be eternally miserable for we shall carry that guilt with us thither and those vile unmortified affections and inclinations which will draw upon us
in the words of the Text will yield us some relief in this matter Indeed considering all his Vertues and Accomplishments how pious a Christian he was how loving a Husband how careful and tender a Father how loyal a Subject how faithful a Friend how wise and vigilant a Statesman how good a Patriot of his Country how kind and just a Neighbour how charitable to the poor how noble a Master in his Family how ingenious and learned a Person in his discourses and converse and in a word how great a Lover of all Vertue and Goodness and Hater of all Vice and Impiety in all which he was so eminent that though he hath left behind him many Peers in his honours yet 't is to be feared few in his vertues considering I say all these things in him we might have reason never to have lest grieving and lamenting our loss of so excellent a Person But considering withal from what great pains and labours he now rests and what future evils he may be taken away from and to what an happy state of bliss he is now advanced where he doubtless enjoys the comfortable fruits of the good works he hath done though we have indeed lost one of the Pillars and Patriots of our Country and one of our best Friends yet we have reason humbly to acquiesce in the good will and Providence of God lest by our overmuch grief and sorrow we shew that we repine at what God hath done distrust his good Providence and envy the happiness of our noble Friend an happiness which a voice from Heaven declares they are possessed of that dye as he did saying Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord the very hearing of which methinks is enough to quiet and calm the most tumultuating passion upon this account And now that we may see we are not deluded in this matter with vain shadows and appearances of comfort I shall lead you to the considerations of those things in this noble Person which from what hath been said will appear to be a great relief to us this way And to let pass those many things that might be said of him in all which should I be particular I shall be thought to compose a Volume rather than a Sermon all that I shall say shall be only what will be pertinent to our present comfort which I shall digest into this following order shewing 1. What reason we have to believe this noble Person dyed in the Lord and consequently is blessed 2. What labours he now rests from 3. What good works of his follow and entertain him with unspeakable joys 1. That this noble Person died in the Lord these things following sufficiently declare viz. His Faith his Repentance and his sincere obedience to all Gods Commandments First His Faith For as he was by Baptism initiated in the true Faith so he continued firm and stedfast in it to the end He believed with all his heart and soul as he would often phrase it all the truths of Gods Word and would often declare He expected salvation in and through none else but Jesus Christ alone because he would say Acts 4.12 there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved And this Faith of his was not an idle speculative Faith but truly active and working which he would often say was the only true saving Faith for it made him severe against all vice and impiety and a lover of all vertue and goodness it made him also employ the utmost of his great Parts in the rigorous defence of all those religious truths which he believed Gods Word contained against all the incroaching errours of all Parties and this not only in his common Discourses but sometimes with his Pen too neither did his Faith make him a talkative Christian only but it influenced all his actions also so that his whole life seemed to be but one continued Argument of his firm belief Secondly His Repentance He did not only believe but with tears often lamented and repented of all the sins he could charge himself with which though they were not many for he generally led too strict a life to be guilty of very many yet those that he was guilty of through surprize anguish of his Distemper or frailty he had so tender a Conscience that he was immediately sensible of them and would with tears in his eyes heartily beg God's pardon for them and by many expressions testifie how much grieved he was for offending God but by a sinful word as all that were near him can abundantly witness And this his sorrow for sin which wrought this repentance in him never to be repented of made him watch and pray and zealous against those sins he had been any time through frailty guilty of all which are sound marks of unfeigned repentance if we will believe what the Apostle says concerning the fruits and effects of godly sorrow in 2 Cor. 7.10 11. Thirdly His sincere obedience his sound faith and unfeigned repentance could not chuse but bring forth the saving fruits of obedience in his life and conversation Hence it came to pass that he was truly zealous in his life for the honour of God and Religion which zeal of his enkindled in him an holy indignation against the common crying sins of the Age viz. drunkenness whoredom prophane swearing and cursing oppression schism atheism c. For which abominations he would say The Land mourns and God will certainly visit Besides all this it made him most religiously devout in all the Duties and Services of publick and private Worship it made him frequent in good and edifying discourses and in heavenly ejaculations and prayers and that even amidst his greatest pains it made him charitable to the poor humble and modest temperate and sober just and peaceable forgetful and forgiving of injuries and in a word it made him do all things that Christ had commanded him not out of any bye and sinister ends but in pure obedience to Gods will and out of a respect to God's Glory and his own souls salvation Now what do all these things else but testifie that he lived and dyed in the Lord For they who being baptized into the true Faith live and dye in it repenting of all their sins and obeying sincerely all Gods Commandments are the persons who from what hath been said appears dye in the Lord and then this noble Person who so dyed must needs be blessed as such in the Text are declared to be Having therefore now this assurance of the blessed state this noble Person now is in let us next take a view of the Particulars wherein it consists and therefore 2. We next come to consider the great labours he now refts from And here we shall find That besides those labours and evils which 't is common to all that dye in the Lord to rest from as from sin and the troubles and horrours of it from crosses and afflictions c.