have taken care to satisfie themselves and therefore are to expect nothing from God But let us who call our selves Christians doe something for God for which we have no hopes to be recompensed in this world that we may shew that we trust God and take his word and dare venture upon the security of the next world and that recompense which shall be made at the resurrection of the just And how great and glorious that shall be our Saviour tells us immediately before my Text. They that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead they can die no more but they are equal to the Angels and are the children of God being the children of the resurrection If then we be heirs of such glorious hopes and believe that he who is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob will also be our God let us live as it becomes the Candidates of heaven and the children of the resurrection and such as verily believe another life after this and hope one day to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God And now that I have represented to you what encouragement there is to well-doing and particularly to works of Charity from the consideration of the blessed reward we shall certainly meet with at the Resurrection of the just I shall crave your patience a little longer whilst I propose to you one of the fairest Examples of this kind which either this or perhaps any other Age could easily present us withall I mean our deceased Brother to whom we are now paying our last solemn respects the Reverend Mr. THOMAS GOVGE the worthy Son of a reverend and learned Divine of this City Dr. William Gouge who was Minister of this Parish of Black Friars six and forty years he died in 1653. and still lives in the memory of many here present I must confess that I am no friend to Funeral Panegyricks where there is nothing of extraordinary worth and merit in the party commended to give occasion and foundation for them In such cases as praises are not due to the dead so they may be of ill consequence to the living not onely by bringing those of our Profession that make a practice of it under the suspicion of officious and mercenary flattery but likewise by encouraging men to hope that they also may be well spoken of and even Sainted when they are dead though they should have done little or no good in their life But yet on the other hand to commend those excellent Persons the vertues of whose lives have been bright and exemplary is not onely a piece of justice due to the dead but an act of great charity to the living setting a pattern of well-doing before our eyes very apt and powerfull to incite and encourage us to go and doe likewise Upon both these considerations first to doe right to the memory of so good a man and then in hopes that the example may prove fruitfull and have a considerable effect upon others to beget the like goodness and charity in them I shall endeavour in as narrow a compass as may be to give you the just character of this truly pious and charitable Man and by setting his life in a true light to recommend with all the advantage I can so excellent a pattern to your imitation He was born at Bow near Stratford in the County of Midlesex the 19th day of September 1605. He was bred at Eton School and from thence chosen to Kings College in Cambridge being about 20 years of Age in the year 1626. After he had finish'd the course of his studies and taken his Degrees he left the Vniversity and his Fellowship being presented to the Living of Colsden near Croyden in Surrey where he continued about 2 or 3 years and from thence was remov'd to S. Sepulchres in London in the year 1638. and the year after thinking fit to change his condition match'd into a very worthy and ancient Family marrying one of the Daughters of Sir Robert Darcy Being thus settled in this large and populous Parish he did with great solicitude and pains discharge all the parts of a vigilant and faithfull Minister for about the space of 24 years For besides his constant and weekly labour of preaching he was very diligent and charitable in visiting the sick and ministring not onely spiritual counsel and comfort to them but likewise liberal relief to the wants and necessities of those that were poor and destitute of means to help themselves in that condition He did also every morning throughout the year Catechize in the Church especially the poorer sort who were generally most ignorant and to encourage them to come thither to be instructed by him he did once a week distribute money among them not upon a certain day but changing it on purpose as he thought good that he might thereby oblige them to be constantly present These were chiefly the more aged poor who being past labour had leisure enough to attend upon this exercise As for the other sort of poor who were able to work for their living he set them at work upon his own charge buying Flax and Hemp for them to spin and what they spun he took off their hands paying them for their work and then got it wrought into Cloth and sold it as he could chiefly among his friends himself bearing the whole loss And this was a very wise and well chosen way of charity and in the good effect of it a much greater charity than if he had given these very persons freely and for nothing so much as they earned by their work because by this means he took many off from begging and thereby rescued them at once from two of the most dangerous temptations of this world Idleness and Poverty and by degrees reclaim'd them to a vertuous and industrious course of life which enabled them afterwards to live without being beholden to the charity of others And this course so happily devis'd and begun by Mr. Gouge in his own Parish was I think that which gave the first hint to that worthy and usefull Citizen Mr. Thomas Firmin of a much larger design which hath been prosecuted by him for some years with that vigour and good success in this City that many hundreds of poor Children and others who liv'd idle before unprofitable both to themselves and the publick are continually maintain'd at work and taught to earn their own livelihood much in the same way He being by the generous assistance and charity of many worthy and well-dispos'd Persons of all ranks enabled to bear the unavoidable loss and charge of so vast an undertaking and by his own forward inclination to charity and his unwearied diligence and activity extraordinarily fitted to sustain and go through the incredible pains of it But to return to our deceased Friend concerning whom I must content my self to pass over many things worthy to be remembred of him and to speak
That there is another state after this life wherein men shall be happy or miserable according as they have lived in this world And this doth not onely suppose the immortality of the Soul but forasmuch as the Body is an essential part of man doth by consequence infer the resurrection of the Body because otherwise the man would not be happy or miserable in the other world But I cannot see any sufficient ground to believe that our Saviour intended by this Argument directly and immediately to prove the resurrection of the Body but onely by consequence and as it follows from the admission of a future state wherein men shall be rewarded or punished For that Reason of our Saviour that God is not a God of the dead but of the living if it did directly prove the resurrection of the Body it would prove that the Bodies of Abraham Isaac and Jacob were raised to life again at or before that time when God spake to Moses and called himself the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob But we do not believe this and therefore ought not to suppose that it was the intention of our Saviour directly and immediately to prove the resurrection of the Body but onely as I said before a future state And that this was all our Saviour intended will more plainly appear if we consider what that Errour of the Sadduces was which our Saviour here confutes And Josephus who very well understood the difference of the Sects among the Jews and gives a particular account of them makes not the least mention of any Controversie between the Pharisees and the Sadduces about the resurrection of the Body All that he says is this That the Pharisees hold the immortality of the Soul and that there are Rewards and Punishments in another world But the Sadduces denied all this and that there was any other state after this life And this is the very same account with that which is given of them in the New Testament ver 27. of this Chap. The Sadduces who deny that there is any resurrection The meaning of which is more fully declared Acts 23. 8. The Sadduces say that there is no resurrection neither angel nor spirit but the Pharisees confess both That is the Sadduces denied that there was any other state of men after this life and that there was any such thing as an immortal Spirit either Angels or the Souls of men surviving their Bodies And as Dr. Hammond hath judiciously observed this is the true importance of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. a future or another state unless in such Texts where the Context does restrain it to the raising again of the Body or where some word that denotes the body as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to it Secondly The force of this Argument against those with whom our Saviour disputed will further appear if we consider the great veneration which the Jews in general had for the Writings of Moses above any other Books of the Old Testament which they especially the Sadduces looked upon onely as Explications and Comments upon the Law of Moses But they esteemed nothing as a necessary Article of Faith which had not some foundation in the Writings of Moses And this seems to me to be the true Reason why our Saviour chose to confute them out of Moses rather than any other part of the Old Testament And not as many learned men have imagined because the Sadduces did not receive any part of the Old Testament but onely the five Books of Moses so that it was in vain to argue against them out of any other This I know hath been a general opinion grounded I think upon the mistake of a passage in Josephus who says the Sadduces onely received the written Law But if we carefully consider that passage we shall find that Josephus doth not there oppose the Law to the other Books of the Old Testament which were also written but to Oral Tradition For he says expresly that the Sadduces onely received the written Law but the Pharisees over and besides what was written received the Oral which they call Tradition I deny not but that in the later Prophets there are more express Texts for the proof of a future state than any are to be found in the Books of Moses As Daniel 12. 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt And indeed it seems very plain that holy men among the Jews towards the expiration of the Legal dispensation had still clearer and more express apprehensions concerning a future state than are to be met with in the Writings of Moses or of any of the Prophets The Law given by Moses did suppose the Immortality of the Souls of men and the expectation of another life after this as Principles of Religion in some degree naturally known but made no new and express Revelation of these things Nor was there any occasion for it the Law of Moses being a Political Law not intended for the Government of mankind but of one particular Nation and therefore was establish'd as Political Laws are upon temporal promises and threatnings promising temporal prosperity to the observation of its precepts and threatning the breach of them with temporal judgments and calamities And this I take to be the true reason why arguments fetch'd from another world are so obscurely insisted upon under that Dispensation not but that another life after this was always suppos'd and was undoubtedly the hope and expectation of good men under the Law but the clear discovery of it was reserv'd for the Times of the Messias And therefore as those Times drew on and the Sun of righteousness was nearer his rising the shadows of the night began to be chased away and mens apprehensions of a future state to clear up so that in the time of the Maccabees good men spake with more confidence and assurance of these things It is likewise to be consider'd that the temporal calamities and sufferings with which the Jews were almost continually harass'd from the time of their Captivity had very much wean'd good men from the consideration of temporal promises and awaken'd their minds to the more serious thoughts of another world It being natural to men when they are destitute of present comfort to support themselves with the expectation of better things for the future and as the Apostle to the Hebrews expresseth it c. 6. v. 18. to fly for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is before them and to imploy their reason to fortifie themselves as well as they can in that persuasion And this I doubt not was the true occasion of those clearer and riper apprehensions of good men concerning a future state in those times of distress and persecution it being very agreeable to the wisedom and goodness of the Divine Providence not to leave his People destitute
of sufficient support under great trials and sufferings And nothing but the hopes of a better life could have born up the spirits of men under such cruel tortures And of this we have a most remarkable Instance in the History of the seven Brethren in the Maccabees who being cruelly tortured and put to death by Antiochus do most expresly declare their confident expectation of a resurrection to a better life To which History the Apostle certainly refers Heb. 11. 35. when he says others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection where the word which we render were tortur'd is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the very word used in the Maccabees to express the particular kind of torture us'd upon them besides that being offer'd deliverance they most resolutely refus'd to accept of it with this express declaration that they hop'd for a resurrection to a better life But to return to my purpose notwithstanding there might be more clear and express Texts to this purpose in the ancient Prophets yet our Saviour knowing how great a regard not onely the Sadduces but all the Jews had to the Authority of Moses he thought fit to bring his proof of the resurrection out of his Writings as that which was the most likely to convince them Thirdly If we consider further the peculiar Notion which the Jews had concerning the use of this phrase or expression of God's being any one 's God And that was this That God is no where in Scripture said to be any ones God while he was alive And therefore they tell us that while Isaac lived God is not called the God of Isaac but the fear of Isaac As Gen. 31. 42. Except the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac had been with me and ver 53. when Laban made a Covenant with Jacob 't is said that Laban did swear by the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor and the God of their Fathers but Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac I will not warrant this Observation to be good because I certainly know it is not true For God doth expresly call himself the God of Isaac while Isaac was yet alive Gen. 28. 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac It is sufficient to my purpose that this was a Notion anciently currant among the Jews And therefore our Saviour's Argument from this Expression must be so much the stronger against them For if the Souls of men be extinguished by death as the Sadduces believed what did it signifie to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to have God called their God after they were dead But surely for God to be any ones God doth signifie some great benefit and advantage which yet according to the notion which the Jews had of this Phrase could not respect this life because according to them God is not said to be any ones God till after he is dead But it is thus said of Abraham Isaac and Jacob after their death and therefore our Saviour infers very strongly against them that Abraham Isaac and Jacob were not extinguished by death but do still live somewhere for God is not the God of the dead but of the living And then he adds by way of further explication for all live to him That is though those good men who are departed this life do not still live to us here in this world yet they live to God and are with him Fourthly If we consider the great respect which the Jews had for those three Fathers of their Nation Abraham Isaac and Jacob. They had an extraordinary opinion of them and esteemed nothing too great to be thought or said of them And therefore we find that they looked upon it as a great arrogance for any man to assume any thing to himself that might seem to set him above Abraham Isaac or Jacob With what indignation did they fly upon our Saviour on this account John 4. 12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob and chap. 8. ver 53. Art thou greater than our father Abraham whom makest thou thy self Now they who had so superstitious a veneration for them would easily believe any thing of privilege to belong to them so that our Saviour doth with great advantage instance in them in favour of whom they would be enclined to extend the meaning of any promise to the utmost and allow it to signifie as much as the words could possibly bear So that it is no wonder that the Text tells us that this Argument put the Sadduces to silence They durst not attempt a thing so odious as to go about to take away any thing of privilege from Abraham Isaac and Jacob. And thus I have as briefly as the matter would bear endeavoured to shew the fitness and force of this Argument to convince those with whom our Saviour disputed I come now in the II. Second place to enquire Whether this be any more than an Argument ad hominem And if it be wherein the real and absolute force of it doth consist I do not think it necessary to believe that every Argument used by our Saviour or his Apostles is absolutely and in it self conclusive For an Argument which doth not really prove the thing in Question may yet be a very good Argument ad hominem and in some cases more convincing to him with whom we dispute than that which is a better Argument in it self Now it is possible that our Saviour's intention might not be to bring a conclusive proof of the Resurrection but onely to confute those who would needs be disputing with him And to that purpose an Argument ad hominem which proceeded upon grounds which they themselves could not deny might be very proper and effectual But although it be not necessary to believe that this was more than an Argument ad hominem yet it is the better to us if it be absolutely and in it self conclusive of the thing in Question And this I hope will sufficiently appear if we consider these four things 1. That for God to be any ones God doth signifie some very extraordinary blessing and happiness to those persons of whom this is said 2. If we consider the eminent faith and obedience of the persons to whom this promise is made 3. Their condition in this world 4. The general importance of this promise abstracting from the persons particularly specified and named in it Abraham Isaac and Jacob. First If we consider that for God to be any ones God doth signifie some very extraordinary blessing and happiness to those persons of whom this is said It is a big word for God to declare himself to be any ones God and the least we can imagine to be meant by it is that God will in an extraordinary manner imploy his power and wisedom to doe him good that he will concern himself more for the happiness of those whose God he declares himself to be than for others Secondly
men thoroughly convinced of this plain and certain Truth that there is a vast difference between Time and Eternity between a few years and everlasting Ages would we but represent to our selves what thoughts and apprehensions dying persons have of this world how vain and empty a thing it appears to them how like a pageant and a shadow it looks as it passeth away from them methinks none of these things could be a sufficient temptation to any man to forget God and his Soul but notwithstanding all the delights and pleasures of sense we should be strangely intent upon the concernments of another world and almost wholly taken up with the thoughts of that vast Eternity which we are ready to launch into For what is there in this world this waste and howling wilderness this rude and barbarous Country which we are but to pass through which should detain our affections here and take up our thoughts from our everlasting habitation from that better and that heavenly Country where we hope to live and be happy for ever If we settle our affections upon the enjoyments of this present Life so as to be extremely pleas'd and transported with them and to say in our hearts It is good for us to be here if we be excessively griev'd or discontented for the want or loss of them and if we look upon our present state in this world any otherwise than as a preparation and passage to a better life it is a sign that our faith and hope of the happiness of another life is but very weak and faint and that we do not heartily and in good earnest believe what we pretend to do concerning these things For did we stedfastly believe and were thoroughly persuaded of what our Religion so plainly declares to us concerning the unspeakable and endless happiness of good men in another world our affections would sit more loose to this world and our hopes would raise our hearts as much above these present and sensible things as the heavens are high above the earth we should value nothing here below but as it serves for our present support and passage or may be made a means to secure and increase our future felicity 2. The consideration of another Life should quicken our preparation for that blessed state which remains for us in the other world This Life is a state of probation and tryal This world is God's school where immortal spirits clothed with flesh are trained and bred up for eternity And then certainly it is not an indifferent thing and a matter of slight concernment to us how we live and demean our selves in this world whether we indulge our selves in ungodliness and worldly lusts or live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world No it is a matter of infinite moment as much as our souls and all eternity are worth Let us not deceive our selves for as we sowe so shall we reap If we sowe to the flesh we shall of the flesh reap corruption but if we sowe to the spirit we shall of the spirit reap everlasting life Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart The righteous hath hopes in his death Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace But the ungodly are not so whoever hath lived a wicked and vicious life feels strange throws and pangs in his conscience when he comes to be cast upon a sick bed The wicked is like the troubled sea saith the Prophet when it cannot rest full of trouble and confusion especially in a dying hour It is death to such a man to look back upon his life and a hell to him to think of eternity When his guilty and trembling Soul is ready to leave his Body and just stepping into the other world what horrour and amazement do then seise upon him what a rage doth such a man feel in his breast when he seriously considers that he hath been so great a fool as for the false and imperfect pleasure of a few days to make himself miserable for ever 3. Let the consideration of that unspeakable Reward which God hath promised to good men at the Resurrection encourage us to obedience and a holy life We serve a great Prince who is able to promote us to honour a most gracious master who will not let the least service we doe for him pass unrewarded This is the Inference which the Apostle makes from his large discourse of the Doctrine of the Resurrection 1 Cor. 15. 58. Wherefore my beloved brethren be ye stedfast and unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Nothing will make death more welcome to us than a constant course of service and obedience to God Sleep saith Solomon is sweet to the labouring man so after a great diligence and industry in working out our own salvation and as it is said of David serving our generation according to the will of God how pleasant will it be to fall asleep And as an usefull and well-spent life will make our death to be sweet so our resurrection to be glorious Whatever acts of piety we doe to God or of charity to men whatever we lay out upon the poor and afflicted and necessitous will all be considered by God in the day of recompences and most plentifully rewarded to us And surely no consideration ought to be more prevalent to perswade us to alms deeds and charity to the poor than that of a resurrection to another life Besides the promises of this life which are made to works of charity and there is not any grace or vertue whatsoever which hath so many and so great promises of temporal blessings made to it in Scripture as this grace of charity I say besides the promises of this Life the great promise of eternal Life is in Scripture in a more especial manner entail'd upon it Luke 12. 33. Give alms saith our Saviour provide your selves baggs which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not and c. 16. v. 9. make to your selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when ye shall fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations And 1 Tim. 6. 17 18 19. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded c. that they doe good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our Translation renders foundation according to the common use of it seems in this place to have a more peculiar notion and to signifie the security that is given by a pledge or by an instrument or obligation of contract for the performance of Covenants For besides that the phrase of laying up in store or treasuring up