only some generall heads of severall points without any large amplifications and leave them and the rest to your private devotions Death will unavoidably surprise us Which is a resolution or dissolution of this exquisite frame of man it is the dissociation of parts united together it is the taking away the structure and the fashion of this house of clay We must needs die and then we are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up againe as the wise woman of Tekoah spoke to the King No man hath power over the spirit in the day of death neither is there any discharge in that warre all must fight with death and death will conquer all our soules and bodies now met together in this neare conjunction though deare friends must be separated each from other untill the day of the generall resurrection and keep them now as charily from dangers as we can yet will these earthen brittle vessells be broken asunder which all sorts and ranks of men are bound to looke for at all times Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie to bee laid in the ballance they are altogether lighter then vanity a marvellous debasing of all men Let men be put in one end of the ballance and vanity in the other and the Psalmist doth assure us that vanity will weigh downe man and man is lighter than vanity it selfe Iob sets out his life by comparing his daies to a swift ship and to an Eagle that hasteth to the prey yea and hee further saith they are swifter than a post then the birds in the ayre the ships on the sea the swift post on the land all these do proclaime and preach a Sermon to us of our mortality and that this lamp many waies may be extinguished experience sheweth us that death puts no difference the young do die as wel as the old the strong as well as the weake the Kings and Counsellours of the earth as well as beggars the Physitians themselves as well as their patients and death is hastned by infinite diseases whereunto all the living are subject and these are within us and a thousand accidents to further death without us and which is the foundation of all our evils by our own sins whereby we do provoke the LORD of our lives to anger and do walk every day over a mine as it were of gun-powder subject every moment to be blowne up by the LORDS displeasure and S. Cyprian excellently sheweth the declining state of the world how the strength of the husband-man in the field of the marriner on the sea and the souldier in the camp is weakened canos videmus in puer is and it is well for us that our lives are shortned and that our daies do not ordinarily attaine to the tenth part of those that lived before the floud and that both in regard of the wicked and the godly First touching the wicked to represse their outrage and impudencie in sinning this very thought that they may die ere long and cannot live very long in reason should abate their violent and exorbitant courses if they are transcendently wicked now when death is at hand what Nimrods would they be if they had in the ordinary course of nature eight or nine hundred yeares before them to live in If their damnation now shall be most dreadfull how much more intollerable would it then be the number of their sins adding fuell as it were to the fire of hell and the LORD in justice measuring out to them a proportionable degree of vengeance to their sins hence will their accounts be so much the easier and their stripes so much the fewer And this makes likewise very much for the exceeding comfort and good of distressed Christians infirmities temptations poverty reproaches griefe of passion for their owne and of compassion for their brethrens miseries are a great burthen to them how much heavier would it be if this burthen was to presse them down many hundred yeares together this much allaies their sorrow that all these evills are but as clouds which soone ride away or as a tempest though violent yet not permanent a sharpe yet but a short winter here is our Scripture comfort the time to beare them is but short This consideration of our mortality should in reason move us to seek to Heaven for helpe that we may effectually remember our condition the holy servants of GOD our presidents herein have prayed to the LORD for this purpose thus did Moses teach me to number my daies thus did David make me LORD to know mine end in their blessed steps let us tread and their example let us follow it is a wonder that we should need to be remembred hereof that we should be such strangers in the world but there is need of that proclamation still to sound in our eares all flesh is grasse and the beauty of it as the flower of the field were we indeed as Adam was at the beginning of the world who saw no spectacle of death before his eyes wee might have som probable excuse if we thought not of our departure but what can we alledge for our selves when we have had the experience of all ages Go into any part of the world and aske them in the Prophets words your fathers where are they and doe they live for ever Even this place and this meeting doe preach unto us our mortality Where are those Epicures in Esay which promise to themselves continuance in their desperate waies To morrow shall be as this day and much more aboundant nay and which is more abominable doe take occasion by the shortnesse of their lives to eate and drinke because to morrow they must die Come on therfore say they let us fill our selves with costly wine and ointments and let no flower of the spring passe by us let us crowne our selves with rose-buds before they be withered let none of us go without part of our jollity let us leave tokens of our joyfullnesse in every place for this is our portion These sinners are likely to see the daies when they shall wish themselves toads serpents or any loathsome creatures rather then men and women and yet as desirous as they shall be of that exchange of their estate they shall not have it but shall remaine wofull men and women for ever This Doctrine serveth likewise for the reproofe of those who neglecting principally to depend on the immortall GOD do sinfully relie on others which are mortall like themselves thus the Subject relieth on the Soveraigne the servant on his Lord and Master the wife relieth on her husband and the children on their parents and all this is done contrary to our duty Trust not in Princes nor in the sons of man and why so There is no helpe in them their breath goeth forth and they
the having saving graces in truth that assures us of GODS gratious acceptation of us in this world so doe they also by GODS free promise obtaine reward in heaven instantly upon the dissolution as Saint Cyprian spoke to Demetrian us though a blasphemous Ethnick that if he would at the end of his life pray to GOD for the pardon of his sins beleeve and confesse him he should be translated sub ipsa morte to immortality why not the soule being purged clearely from the impurity and staine of sin by the completion state of grace which gets full dominion in the very moment of her departure out of the body as Alexander Halensis Durandus and other learned Schoolemen have resolved and it is not defined in that Church whether the deordination of the will and whether vitious affections as too much love to wife and children remaine in the soule saith Estius yet doe we grant this to be true that the more gracious any man is in this world the more is he now respected of GOD the more glorious shall he be hereafter The point it self is clearly proved by the New Testament There is no condemnation to such as are in CHRIST JESVS None and therfore not to purgatory paines For the name damnation extendeth to Purgatory saith Th. in 4. Senten dist 45. q. 2. Sixtus Senensis l. 6. Annotat 47. No condemnation saith the Apostle yes that there is damnation to the fire of Purgatory saith the Jesuite Malon Whether will you beleeve againe Wee know that if the earthly house of this our tabernacle shall be destroyed we have a building not made with hands but eternall in the heavens S. Chrysostome rendreth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when to note the time immediatly after death he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have not I know not after how many years we shall have which may further appeare by the Apostles scope which was to administer consolation to the afflicted as appeares by the end of the former Chapter that they should after death goe to an eternall house statim post mortem acquirenda forthwith to be possessed after death as Estius sheweth out of Photius Anselme and Thomas which else could be but small comfort unto them if they believed they should be detained in a fiery prison farre hotter and more intollerable then any punishment in this world can be and that the soules of the faithfull were in a state of happines before the Ascension of CHRIST into Heaven is cleare though neither they nor the Angels were so happy for degree as after the incarnation of our Saviour is generally concluded and by cleare demonstrations confirmed the point I say is cleare I build not my faith on the book of Wisdome though it binds Papists to the beliefe thereof that saith the soules of the righteous are in the hands of GOD and there shall no torment touch them no torment then not the torment of Purgatory but behold a crystall streame which is able to quench the flames of Purgatory if a wicked man will turne from all his sinnes c. he shall surely live he shall not die all his transgressions that he hath committed shall not be mentioned to him How doth he not remember if he doth so severely punish that it passeth the imagination of man to conceive the greatnesse thereof can there be a back reckoning for that which shall never be remembred and saying that not a few but al his sins shall be forgotten will he yet punish them to satisfie for any sins at all and is it not an easie thing unto the LORD in the day of death to reward a man according to his waies Call you this a reward for a good man to be thrust into a place of torment this present life is a time of working striving running sowing and godly living after death is the time of reaping of receiving wages garlands and crownes an unjust thing it is to detaine the labourers wages which reason I suppose is as strong against Purgatory as against those Armenians whom our Adversaries do worthily confute and how is it imaginable that if he good in the old Law supposed then dead went first to torment that they did not tremble for feare of death how could they as they did depart in peace and how is it imaginable that GOD who appointed sacrifices for all sorts of sins and pollutions should appoint neither expiation nor sacrifice nor satisfaction to be made for the soules of the dead surely there appeares not to us any token of any such thing and therefore we may fairely conclude that all the soules of the righteous then were translated into a state of happinesse This Doctrine being thus briefly cleared we may from hence draw many conclusions Hence it followeth that the soule dieth not with the body as the Sadduces that pestiferous sect amongst the Jewes did damnably maintaine for as they denied the resurrection and the being of Angels so did they say there was no spirit no spirituall substance at all saith Scaliger which without all doubt is the truth in the judgement of Scultetus so grosse were these Sadduces in their apprehensions and as a wicked branch of this sottish stock of Sadduces there sprung up certaine Arabians which held that the soule perished together with the body as witnesseth Eusebius A fit doctrine for enlarging the kingdome of the divell but that the soule is immortall my Text proveth how else could it part from the body and be with CHRIST unlesse it was a seperable substance sith the body is not with CHRIST till after the generall resurrection whence is there is naturall confcience that accusing power for sin that feare of wrath but from this principle that the soule is immortall never make any question of this when thou diest thy soule which is thy better part dieth not but is taken out of thy body as a candle out of a lanthorne and immediatly placed either in blisse or in torment Hence may we in the second place conclude against the Anabaptists and Socinians which though they went not so far as the Sadduces to deny the resurrection yet did these fantastiques dreame that the soule sleepeth till Doomes day and is in a state of incensibility like some creatures in Winter insecta till they be quickned and revived by the heat of the Sun so they of soules till they be raised by the power of the LORD at the last day but how then could Saint Paul be with CHRIST but to say no more against these silly dreamers I proceed In the third place that conceit also falls to the ground which prevailed with many of the antient Fathers and with some later writers that the soules of the righteous see not GOD till the last day but are kept in certaine receptacles in expectation therof
sorrow and mingling his teares with his drink then to utter divine Proverbs with wise Salomon and what our Saviour spoke of watching the same doe I speake of repentance I say unto you all repent if you are in the field remember Abel if you are a feasting remember Iobs children when you goe to bed that you might holily compose your selves to rest that you may commit the keyes of your doores much more your lives into the hands of GOD remember the first-borne of Egypt which were slaine at midnight by the Angell of the LORD let Adulterers remember Zimri and Cozbi and drunkards King Ela slaine by another Zimri if you walk in the streets remember those on whom the tower of Silo fell if your hearts begin to turne to the love of the world remember Lots wife that which befell them may befall us it will be then our wisdome by GODS grace to prevent sin and if we fall into sin our next wisdome will be to repent of the sin we have fallen into Another duty which naturally doth arise from this Doctrine is to lose no time in doing and in receiving all the good we can this is the day appointed to worke and how short this day is the LORD alone doth know but this we know the night commeth wherin none can work Shall the Sun stand still for thee as it did for Ioshua or go back as it did five houres for Hezekiah doe we thinke we can doe good in another world when we do no good to speake of in this be not deceived with this dangerous errour and hurtfull pretention of doing good hereafter whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might and the reason is good for there is no device nor work nor knowledge nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest Vaine hope of future performances hath undone many sow thy seed whiles the seed time lasteth if thou looke to have a crop and harvest We may learne this from the birds of the ayre the Turtle the Storke the Crane and Swallow know their appointed times the waifaring man he travels whiles it is light then he knowes he is under the protection of the Lawes the sea-faring man he observes the wind the Smith he strikes whiles his iron is hot nay we may learne this wisdome from the divell himself he rageth and doth all the mischief he can because his time is but short Thus of doing good and so likewise must we let no opportunity slip of receiving good lay hold of every season which may be an advantage to get heaven to strengthen and increase spirituall graces be glad if thou canst heare the Word preached on a working day Saint Basil he preached on a working day and tels his Auditors their thoughts desires that he would be short that they might go about their labour If such thoughts possesse our hearts at this or any other time let us repell them and remember what the holy Father there speaketh the time spent in GODS service is not lost for GOD to recompence them removes troublesome businesse gives promptitude of minde or strength of body sends customers to buy their wares and if he doth none of these yet are they no loosers by their paines for he gives them a rich treasure in heaven Lastly this point may teach GODS children patience in all distresses and afford them sound comfort in all estates they are nearer heaven now salvation now is nearer to them then when they began to believe sin and Satan do now disquiet them but they shall not do so for ever Many a one can be content to endure hardship a few yeares nay to be a galley slave under the Turke seven yeares if he had assurance of a great Lordship after that time was expired and choose rather to be a bondman upon those termes then to be a free man without them exercise long-suffering good Christian there may be but a day or moneth or yeare but a little time betwixt thee and the joyes of heaven Who would not admire the state of such a beggar who every houre was in possibility of a Kingdome but behold a greater reward by GODS promise is due to all his children then this earth can afford more glorious things shall be theirs then ever eye hath seene or eare hath heard or the heart of man can conceive which without all doubt by comparison at least are true of the joyes of heaven Why then shouldest thou O Christian soule be cast downe or why shouldest thou be in vaine disquieted surely if thou wouldest seriously consider that thy heavinesse shall be suddenly turned into unspeakeable joy that all thy teares shall be for ever wiped from thy eyes and that these momentany afflictions do proportionably work unto thee an exceeding weight of glory thou hast no reason to be much dejected for them Thus much of the first Doctrine the second followeth but that we may build upon a good foundation we must first declare the meaning of those words on which we must ground our ensuing Observation I desire to depart and to be with CHRIST To be with CHRIST Why was not Saint Paul with CHRIST was not his conversation now in heaven and was not the streame of his affection carried to CHRIST was not he with him in the spirit as with the Colossians rejoycing and beholding his happinesse doubtlesse he was But this being with CHRIST was not that presence which he desired it was a neerer presence to be where he was in the highest heavens and to behold the glory which GOD the Father had given him desire is the daughter of indigence and want some way and himselfe doth plainely tell us whilest we are in the body as now Saint Paul was we are absent from the LORD you may be pleased to observe a difference betwixt these phrases of CHRIST his being with us and our being with CHRIST it is one thing for CHRIST to be with us this benefit is enjoyed in this life he promised to be with the Apostles and his Successors and so by Analogy he is with all his mysticall members to the worlds end but it is another thing for us to be with CHRIST this honour is reserved for the world to come and it is a state of blessednesse as he spoke to the theefe on the Crosse this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Whence I doe observe that The faithfull soule when it departeth out of this life is immediatly after death with CHRIST If the soule of Paul why not the soule of other faithfull ones Saint Paul I know whilest hee lived was a man indued with singular zeale for CHRIST and holinesse of life and exercised with more then ordinary miseries and persecutions himselfe reciteth a Catalogue of many of them but as it is not the degree of faith but faith that justifies nor the measure of graces but
death where is thy sting they may take this all-devouring serpent without any hurt at all into their bosomes they that have their debts paid dare go out of doores and are not afraid to meet the Sergeant they dare looke on death and welcome him as the King of heavens officer to give them possession of an everlasting-inheritance wee feare our friends when they have a vizour on their faces but put it off and we rejoyce in them Excellent was the speech of S. Ambrose to the Nobles of his city which with threats and flatteries were sent to him by the Count Stilico to perswade him to pray unto GOD for the continuance of his life which when the holy Bishop heard he answered divinely J have not so lived amongst you that I am ashamed to live longer nor am J afraid to die because we have a good Lord. Doubtlesse had we beloved brethren as much faith on earth as there is joy in heaven we would not be afraid of death this is the narrow passage betwixt this life and our countrie on this side the bridge we have many troubles many sins many feares many temptations of the Divel which should make us think the worse of our lives and very willing to leave them but on the other side we shall be freed from all trouble from all sin from al molestation of the divel and shall be filled with all the joy our hearts can possibly desire So that hitherto we may apply Sampsons riddle Out of the enter came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetnesse Secondly this may serve to moderate our excessive mourning for our friends which die we hope in the LORD David exceeded in his sorrow for Absalon and was there not a cause He did not so at the death of the infant Let us rejoyce Saint Chrysostome saith for the just both living and dead because they are happy let us not in an unseemely manner bewaile them by pulling off our haires baring our armes tearing our faces or putting on mourning garments so saith the father and I say happy are they which have exchanged a base earthly tabernacle for a princely Pallace sorrowes for joy and earth for heaven and me thinkes our blessed brother now deceased if he had intercourse with us mortall creatures would say to his deare wife lying in her teares children and friends as our Saviour did to those pious women that followed him Daughters of Ierusalem weepe not for me but weepe for your sâ—lves you know my fastings my meditations my watchings and know you brethren that godly Ministers do purposely watch and meditate for you when you are or would be a sleep You know my griefe for my owne calamities and for the calamities of GODS Church and by your owne experience you may know what sharpe combats I have had with that raging enemie the Divell and what wounds I have received in the conflict now do I feare no perils on the land or sea no perils in the house or in the field now am J victorious over Satan and have trampled him under my feet and now he hath nothing at all in mee and now am J crowned with glorie and would you my deare friends be so unkind to me to wish me alive againe and to run the former hazards Kings and Queenes are willing to marrie their daughters to forraine Princes and never looke to set their eyes onthem againe and should we mourne too much for his absence and not rather rejoyce with him for his happier estate then this earth can afford When Iacob heard that his beloved Ioseph was alive and governour over all the Land of Aegypt his fainting heart revived no lesse ought the consideration of the glorie of departed servants of GOD cheere up our drooping and sad hearts for them and excite us to desire the fruition of the same glorie And this is my next point to be handled I desire saith S. Paul to be dissolved and to be with CHRIST It 's the fore-sight of heavenly glory and being with CHRIST that makes a man desire to die Some men indeed would die because there is nothing in this world for them to expect but miserie and shame and these do little lesse sometimes then call for the rocks to fall upon them that they might end their wretched daies as Iob saith they long for death and dig for it more then for hid treasure which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can finde the grave this motive swaied not Saint Paul but onely this that he might be with CHRIST I grant to desire death simply as death is against the Law of GOD and the law of nature death is our enemie and is not from GOD creationes by creation though it be truly from him ultione to revenge the sins of man saith Florus de praedest or as others say it is from him ordinatione because in justice he ordained death corporall as one part of the punishment which was due for the sinne of man and hence our Saviour CHRIST himselfe who knew no sin at all viewing death as it is in it selfe considered declined it let this cup passe and so did Saint Paul too we will not saith he be uncloathed the parting of these good friends body and soule without some further end is a grievous separation this harmelesse innocent nature teacheth and as death is further a meanes to cut off all possibility to profit others and to helpe the poore Church of CHRIST with our labours â—â—…us piety and grace may move them to pray with David LORD let my soule live These cautions are premised to prevent mistaking in the point but now which is to my purpose Consider death as it is a way meanes to bring us to the presence of CHRIST so it may be holily desired our Saviour CHRIST who said let this cup passe said also as his death was our life I have a Baptisme to be baptized withall and how am I pained till it be accomplished and nót only I Paul but we that are faithfull that are in this tabernacle do groane earnestly ver 2. not for that we would be uncloathed but cloathed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life and after we are willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the LORD It s the love that a child should be borne into the world not the love of paine that makes the mother desire the travell in child-birth excellently saith Saint Basil properanti ad coebestem paetriam c. to him that makes hast to the countrey which is above the stay in the body is more grievous then any paine or any prison and it is said that Peter and Andrew welcomed their crosses as they were wont to doe their dearest friends and imbraced them in their armes and saluted them with kisses of peace Ignatius encouraged wild beasts to devoure him that he might be
A LEARNED AND GODLY SERMON Preached on the XIX day of December Anno Dom. MDCXXXI at the Funerall of Mr. ROBERT BOLTON Batchelour in Divinity and Minister of Broughton in Northampton-Shire By Mr. NICOLAS ESTVVICK Batchelour in Divinity and sometimes fellow of Christs Colledge in Cambridge and now Minister of Warkton in Northampton-Shire LONDON Printed by GEORGE MILLER dwelling in Black-Friers 1639. flock of sheep without a particular shepheard and if thou hadst leave to name his successour thou mightest seeke from one end of the land to another in thy choice and yet not find in all points a man matchable to him he was a bright and a shining lamp if any of thy inhabitants doe sit in darknesse their ignorance is altogether inexcusable hee lifted up his voice in this place many yeares together like a trumpet if any of thy inhabitants are not awakened out of the sleepe of sinne they may now goe on more securely in this dead sleep but wo to them it will be easier for Sodome and Gomorrah at the day of judgement than for them I pitie your case good friends and bewaile your losse but why do J name your losse It is my losse and a common losse we are all of us sharers though not all alike in this judgement LORD that thou shouldest suffer such a wretched sinner and an unprofitable servant of thine as I am yet to live and deprive the visible Church of so worthy an instrument of thy glorie as M. Bolton Holy Father we may think had it stood it with thy holy pleasure that it had been good for thy Church if his life had been spared with the losse of many of ours he was a deep channell in whose justly deserved commendations the streames of eloquence which in former ages flowed from those great and godly Orators the two Gregories both of Nazianzum and Nyssa from great Basil and golden-mouth'd Chrysostome from S. Ambrose and S. Austin might have emptied themselves and yet not over-flowed the banks and what do I then come hither with my distracted thoughts and trembling heart which if ever I had any gift in encomiasticall and laudative Orations have many years since willingly neglected it and so lost it As Gregory Nazianzen spoke of his Basil I have for my part as great reason to speake of our sometimes deare and now blessed M. Bolton J admired him while he lived and honoured him in my heart to speak of his excellencies wherwith the LORD had plentifully inriched him is a burden too heavy for my shoulders and a very hard task for those who doe nothing els but study Oratory all that I can speak in the praises of this godly man falls short by many degrees of his worth whose memory is precious and shall be kept greene and flourishing as the rod of Aaron laid up in the Tabernacle THE TEXT PHIL. 1. 23 24. I desire to be dissolved THe Apostle S. Paul was in a strait or divided betwixt two affections carried to different objects and they were in a sort contrary one way he was drawne with a desire to be with CHRIST farre from the Philippians even as farre as Heaven is from earth another way he was drawne with a desire to continue with his beloved brethren warring on earth and to bee for a time farre remooved from CHRIST the necessity of his brethren did move him to desire the latter his great love to CHRIST did incite him to long for the former betwixt these two affections the Apostle had a conflict and he was so perplexed that he knew not whither to turne him he knew not what to chuse He was as iron betwixt two load-stones drawne this way first and then that way We read that David was on a time in a great strait but apparent were the differences betwixt the present perplexity of this our Apostle and that of David Davids was in regard of evills proposed this was for the enjoying of good his necessity was touching evill which could not be avoided but the Apostles was free and voluntary his perplexity somwhat concerned himself the shunning of his own evill but the Apostles was for the good of others which was joyned with his own hurt Behold here as in a perspective a heart truly Apostolicall wherein he shewed at once both great love to CHRIST desiring to be with him and withall great love to his brethren desiring to abide with them for their profit I begin with the first of these Pauls desire in respect of himselfe wherein are observable three particulars 1. The desire it selfe and that was to depart or die 2. A reason implied of this his desire for then hee should be with CHRIST 3. His censure or judgement of that estate to bee with CHRIST it 's best of all Let us open the words first and then raise Observations out of them for our edification 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is word for word having a desire and this is somewhat more than simply to desire for it noteth a vehement earnest and continued desire a desire which is in action and working till wee have our desire accomplished wheras to desire simply may be a sudden motion or momentany passion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some translate the word passively Tertullian renders it recipi l. de patientia pa. 8. others to be dissolved or loosed and it is done when things mixt and compounded are resolved into their parts and principles now because the soule is as it were included in the body and cannot enjoy CHRIST fully till that composition by the body be resolved by death therfore doth S. Paul earnestly desire this resolution 2. Or it may signifie to return as the word is taken elsewhere the LORD will returne from the wedding which sense is not dissonant from the scope of this place for the spirit being freed from the body returneth to GOD that gave it and what els doth the Apostle now desire but to returne unto CHRIST by whom he was sent to preach the Gospell 3. It signifieth to loose anchor or as Chrysostome renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to flit or to change our place and so it 's a metaphor from marriners importing a flitting or sailing from the state of this present life by the ship of death to another port to saile as it were from one bank to another It is not much materiall which reading we follow they all of them doe agree in the maine point and substance and doe affoord an observation which might be enlarged and set foorth with variety of colours and strengthened with long discourses but as they which have a long journey to goe and but a short time allowed them must make but a short stay in any one place and as Painters many times use only to draw out the heads and superiour parts of men leaving all the other parts lineaments to be proportionably supplied by the wise beholders even so must J at this time propound
in mercies bestowed upon us not by a mortall man but by our JESVS not from temporall servitude but from the power of the divell if then our cries and acclamations be to our JESVS constantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as theirs were to their deliverers and we can joyfully sound forth S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O death where is thy stingthankes be to GOD who hath given us victory through JESVS CHRIST our LORD this is a good signe of a blessed man and if these are in you I do assure you that your estate is now good and by perseverance in them shall be farre better hereafter and these will comfort you when all the comforts of the world will faile What will all friends riches and pleasures profit when you are on your death-bed unlesse you have this foresight of joy in CHRIST you live for ought you know under GODS curse the curse both of the Law and the curse of the Gospell and you can have no solid joy in any thing under the Sun no more then a condemned man can have in his wealth fore-passed honour but have and keep these fruits of the holy Spirit and when death shall come to thee and take thee as it were by the hand thou hast no cause to shrinke for feare but maist say with Babylas slaine by Decius that persecutor in the words of the Psalmist Returne unto thy rest O my soule for the LORD hath beene beneficiall unto thee now my griefes farewell all my wrongs adieu and now my soule be glad for now commeth thy rest thy sure rest thy sweet and never fading rest and that which comforted Hezekiah on his supposed death-bed Remember LORD how I have walked before thee with an upright heart that also was a great comfort to this our deceased brother that he could say to mee in his last sicknesse when I visited him that he had walked in sincerity and performed his Ministeriall duties setting humane unavoidable defects aside with an upright heart and so I doubt not but GOD sent his Angell to waite at his beds head to carry his soule when it parted from the body into Abrahams bosome You have heard beloved what was Saint Pauls desire that was to die and a reason implied of his desire for then he should be with CHRIST hearken with the like Christian attention to Saint Pauls judgement or censure of that estate of being with CHRIST this is saith he far the better or as some expound the words which is best of all which occasions a Question Whether is it better to be with CHRIST in his humane nature then to be with GOD whose beatificall vision is said to be the chiefe object of happinesse To which I answer that the Apostle doth not compare these together I meane the enjoying of GOD and CHRIST as though his chiefe happinesse did consist rather in beholding the body of CHRIST then the face of GOD but his being with CHRIST and that estate in glory is compared to his being in this present world and he mentioneth CHRIST because he in his humane nature had purchased this great happinesse for him which consisteth principally in the vision of divine excellency our happinesse is chiefely in GOD but by CHRIST his merit do we not thinke that many poore exiles stripped out of their inheritance and banished out of their native soile do desire to see that day and that blessed man that should bring them out of their captivity and settle them in their former habitations and rejoyce in him as the author of their happinesse hence I note A life in heaven with CHRIST is farre better then a life on earth with men It is better for the wife to be with her husband then in other company and is it not much better for the Spouse of CHRIST to be with her LORD whom she worthily esteemeth as the chiefe of ten thousand this present life of nature is good the life of grace is far better but the life of glory is best of all it is good to be a babe in CHRIST it is better to be a strong experienced Christian but to raigne with CHRIST is best of all it is good to sigh and sob for sin it is better to mortifie and to prevaile against it but it is best of all to be perfectly sanctified and purged from it We know that Absolon recalled from exile and not admitted to see his fathers face in Court was impatient of all delayes and so are GODS children after they are called to GODS favour long to see their Saviour which is far better which may further appeare by these differences betwixt these two estates Is it not far better to have the wayward old man in our bosome the most spitefull enemy and false friend I meane all the remainders of corruption the leprosie and poison of sin quite abolished then to have them still in us while we live they will be in us do what we can we shall find much ignorance of GOD and all his waies much folly which keepeth us from taking any thing to heart which respecteth GOD or our selves much uncircumcision of heart which makes us that we cannot be holily poore in spirit though conscious of innumerable motives which should induce us hereunto much drosse of selfe-sufficiency which will not let us perceive what need we have of GODS presence for the quickning strengthening comforting directing and prospering of us in all our wayes though the breath of our nostrils be not more necessary for our naturall being then his grace is for our spirituall welfare and comfort these evils do renue their assaults on us every day and notwithstanding we renue daily our indeavouring against them yet cannot we get that full conquest over them If we could assemble all the Saints together and aske them whether they were without sin what do we thinke would they answer whither that which Pelagius saith or that which Iohn the Apostle saith How great soever their excellency was if they could be asked they would cry out with one voice If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and there is no truth in us and would they perhaps say so more humbly then truly GOD placeth not the commendation of humility in any part of falsity and therefore if they spoke this truly they had sin because they humbly confessed it and the truth was in them if they said they had sin when they had none at all they did lie and so did sin in lying and the truth was not in them but when we are in CHRIST all our sins are quite abolished and not till then and therfore to be with CHRIST is far better Secondly is it not far better to be in such a condition where we shall be freed from all troubles miseries diseases and discontents then to live in poverty debts diseases disgraces discontents and infinite crosses even those things often
in hell could have but another life in this world nay if those which have but seene them or rather as I believe in my instance the strong imagination of such a terrible sight I would not wonder if they proved the greatest Saints on earth Venerable Bede tels as he thinks a true story of one Drithelme by name the man lived in Northumberland who was raised from death to life and reported wondrous things which he had heard and seene both of joy and paine which wrought this great effect as there is chronicled that he utterly detested this present life and abandoned all worldly cares chastised his old impotent body with daily fasting plunging himselfe in Winter season into the cold water singing of Psalmes and devoutly praying and when the beholders said Brother Drithelme this is a marvellous thing that you can possibly suffer such bitter and sharp cold marvell not saith he for I have seene places colder then these Let this move thee to seeke the LORD while he may be found the benefit of this life you cannot long enjoy and when it is once past it is ever past you cannot recover it though you had in your power a thousand worlds to give to redeeme it And as for us fellow souldiers and deare Christians let us hold fast that goodnesse which we have let us play the men let us be couragious constant and never weary of well-doing let neither divell nor man take our crownes away from us never looke to enjoy a state which is best of all without much opposition Pharaoh will pursue you with all his power to bring you back into servitude but do you like stout Champions repell the temptations of the divell as Gregory Nyssen instructeth you Avant thou cursed and unhappy creature I am a dead man a dead man loves not bodily pleasures a dead man is not caught with riches a dead man slandereth not a dead man is no lier c now have I another kinde of life and another rule of life then formerly I had I have learned to contemne earthly things and to set my mind on heavenly things That which Saint Hierom spoke of judgement we may apply to the joyes of heaven let them be painted on the walls of our houses and in every corner thereof that they may be alwaies before our eyes as Captaines do encourage their Souldiers to fight for their country lives profession c. so doe I say to you brethren it is the LORD of Hosts whose battailes you fight it is your own salvation which is in hazard your enemies would rob you of grace and deprive you of happinesse if you give up your weapons you are undone and firebrands of hell be valiant therefore and keepe this treasure this pretious treasure which CHRIST saith S. Bernard did judge to be more pretious then his owne blood if I had kept the blood of CHRIST which dropped from him as he hanged on the Crosse in a glasse how carefull should I be to keep it and must I not be carefull of my soule which is a pretious treasure kept in an earthen vessell if thou art poore in thine outward estate and CHRIST be thy portion thou art rich enough care not for outward poverty be the LORDS servant now thou shalt be with CHRIST hereafter which is best of all If thou art afflicted in thy body with any grievous disease care not for that if afflictions work kindly to mortifie thy sinne now thou shalt be with CHRIST hereafter which is best of all if thou art basely esteemed and persecuted by wicked men care not for that if this be for righteousnesse and out of a desire to keep a good conscience thou shalt be with CHRIST hereafter which is best of all If thou hast but weake indeavours and a litle strength to goodnes if thou strivest to be better art a conquering thy sin be not daunted hereat thou shalt be with CHRIST hereafter which is best of all And to reflect upon our deceased brother now hast thou happy soule that which thou hast so much longed for thy death is the death of all thy defects the beginning of everlasting happinesse thy faithfullnesse thy integrity thy zeale have procured to thee a crowne of glory now hast thou thy fill of happinesse O blessed art thou that maist see the LORD face to face that thou maist enjoy the happy sight of thy sweet Saviour thou beholdest thousands of Angels the Assembly of our first Parents the seates of the Apostles the tribunals of the Prophets the scepters of the Patriarkes the crownes of the Martyrs and the praises of all just men made perfect as Saint Basil saith VER 24. Neverthelesse to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you Our Apostle hath made it knowne unto us why in respect of himself he desired to die and of this I have already spoken now doth he in this verse acquaint us with the reason why he should desire to live because his life made more for the profit and advantage of the Philippians then his death could doe For making the way to the maine point which I doe onely aime at five things are to be cleared 1. What is meant by Flesh the mortall body in which the soule dwelleth by a Synecdoche flesh being a conspicuous part thereof 2. What is it to live in the flesh it is to live a naturall life preserved by naturall meanes as eating drinking sleeping c. we walke in the flesh though we do not warre after the flesh yet take him not as if he meant to abide alwaies in the flesh and by a priviledge to be exempted from death which is appointed for all men but he meanes deliverance from those present bonds and the continuance of his life for a time to the furtherance of their faith and joy 3. Marke here and in the former verse that our Apostle speakes as if his soule was himselfe and as if his body was no essentiall part of man this is not true in propriety of speech and therefore is to be taken improperly by a Synecdoche Integri promembro the whole is put for a part here for a principall part of Paul the same trope in the like phrases touching our Saviour CHRIST is by a kind of Appropriation called by Divines the Communication of properties and these arousefull termes happily invented to cleare these and many obscure Texts of Scripture touching our Saviour But to returne to our Apostle Saint Paul consisteth of flesh and spirit or soule and body and yet Saint Paul saith for him to abide in the flesh is more profitable for them When hee died he was with CHRIST how not with his body but with his soule Saint Paul is dead and hath seene corruption How in body not in soule Saint Paul in propriety of speech abideth not in the flesh but his spirit a principall part of Paul that is it which during
lesse he is beloved of them and doe wish from their hearts that hee might not live amongst them but do labour to make him weary of his life by vexing him casting many times the very name of a Priest as a terme of reproach upon his face the abundance of this Manna and bread from Heaven makes them to loath it and the Messenger that brings it The reasons of both 1. Because such men feele not their sin nor their misery for sin 2. Nor tast the comfort sweetnesse and power of grace 3. Nor doe consider that Presbyters are GODS hands to conveigh graces to them hence do these fellowes scorne them in their hearts and so have as it were a brand set upon them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheists irreligious persons and despisers of CHRIST as that ancient and holy Father Ignatius phraseth them Fourthly this consideration that the life of a good Pastour is more profitable then his death should put us in mind of a duty to mourne and grieve for the departure of an eminent member in the Church GOD is not like to the Persian Kings in whose presence no mourners were suffered to come but godly mourners are alwaies welcome to GOD. See the practise of this duty but in one example the devout men that buried Stephen made great lamentation over him though Stephen was a Martyr and which was his honour the first Martyr too and if I well remember a Martyr saith if there be any way to heaven on horsebacke it is by Martyrdome yet did devout men make great lamentation over Stephen See the bowels of men indued with GODS Spirit they are full of affection full of tendernesse so that the streames thereof do overflow the banks and good reason they have fewer friends remaining and fewer helpers fewer prayers are made unto GOD and fewer remaine to whom they may doe good and from whom they may receive good And according to this present occasion let us practise a duty which we owe in regard of our deceased brother even to mourne away with that Stoicall opinion which allowes not their wise man to sigh or change countenance at any crosse accident this neither sorts with religion nor reason No we have cause all of us to mourne not you only of this Towne but your neighbours round about you nay this whole Country and say as Elisha to Elija my father my father the Chariots and the horsemen of Israel he by his fastings often and extraordinary prayers often hath stood in the gap and mightily wrastled with the LORD to keep away judgements and like another Elijah hath left his mantle or Dorcas her garments for the poore some godly works the fruits of a sanctified heart and braine behind him and many no doubt are strangled in the wombe by his death which shall never see light Touching the beginning of his studies they were not so commendable as could have beene wished he was tainted by his Schoolemaster in his youth and continued a Papist in heart at Oxford certaine yeeres and resolved with one Anderton his schoole-fellow to have gone to the Seminaries beyond the sea but GOD happily crossed that designe and effectually calling him to the sight of his sins and the light of his truth drew good out of that evill and taught him so much the more to detest Popery and to discover hypocrisie and dissimulation in GODS worship and in ordinary conversation above the ordinarie straine of Writers How industrious a student he was in the University his many note bookes left behind him will beare witnesse and how well reputed he was for his learning as his other exercises so his publike disputations before King JAMES will testifie But Learning is nothing Industry is nothing to be praised before GOD without grace grace hath the preheminence and gives the luster to all the rest the LORD enriched his heart with a great measure of grace hence is it that his life was unstained and without reproofe though he was not freed from infirmities yet he was from crimes Hence it was that he was so laborious in his Ministery a true student he was all his daies as appeares by his library though great yet very few bookes in it which were not read over and noted in the margent and he attained that high straine of grave eloquence familiar to him scarce imitable by any others you were twise a weeke ordinarily fed with Sermons and Catechismes and with the Exposition of Scripture on Holy daies which would have beene acceptable wholesome foode I am sure to the most learned auditory of the Land And though he was so great a Clerke and so famous yet was not he ambitious nor sought great matters for himselfe and he doth beseech an honourable Knight to whom he dedicated his last booke and all others in him to doe him that favour nay that right nay that honour not to conceive that he had a thought that way His heart was set on the right object and the bent of his study was for matter of Sanctification both of himselfe and of his hearers for himselfe he could professe and O that all Priests and Pastors could do the like he did I say professe to his comfort on his death bed that he never taught any godly point but he first wrought it on his owne heart towards others he was a powerfull instrument to batter the kingdome of the divell he was a downe-right Preacher and spared no sins he made many an unconverted sinner to quake and to tremble at his discourses as Felix did at Pauls and cast them into a strong fit of legall humiliation he was an instrument to pull many captives out of Satans snares many of you can step forth and say he was my spirituall father he had a searching Ministery to discover the hidden abominations of sin to strengthen and increase the graces of those that did stand to quicken those that languished many have cause to blesse GOD for him and do owe even themselves unto him as Philemon did to Paul From this spectacle before our eyes all of us may learne something for our imitation doth any one prophane GODS ordinances by a dissembled religion let him forsake it and flie from it as from a serpent for I speake to the glory of GODS mercy turning his face from Babylon to Ierusalem so did our deceased brother doth any one walk before GOD with an upright heart let him hold out to the end run his race and finish his course both in health and sicknesse for so did our deceased brother A great man great in worth is fallen in our Israel there will be a great losse of him his wife shall find the losse of a gracious husband his children shall find the losse of a gracious father his sheep shall find the losse of a gracious shepheard we of the Ministery shall find the losse of a grave learned a gracious brother the devout
Christian that desires to have all his sinnes unbowelled and discovered shall find the losse of a gracious soule-searching Minister he that would have rules to avoid particular sins and to make progresse in all vertues shall find the losse of a copious and experienced directour he that is wounded in conscience shall find the losse of a skilfull Surgeon who in that art was one of a thousand to restore righteousnesse the vertuous rich and humble poore Christians that feared GOD shall find the losse of a loving friend and a gracious supporter those that are in wants and truly religious shall find to my knowledge the losse of a liberall reliever and comforter nay poore condemned Christians shall find the losse of a charitable instructour and what shall I say more the whole Land shall find the losse of a zealous pillar and of a powerfull prevailer with GOD for the continuance of our happinesse so that all had cause to pray not as the dresser of the barren fig-tree but as for a fruitfull tree LORD let it stand one yeare nay many yeares longer but the greater our losse is of him the greater is the gaine unto himselfe and as he is crowned with glory in heaven so his remembrance to many of us will be like that of Iosias to the Jewes It is sweet as honie in all mouthes and as musicke at a banquet of wine This consideration may be of good use for GODS people First that they would set a high price on good Ministers and afford them a singular measure of love as to spirituall fathers GOD honouring them so highly as joyning them with himselfe as co-workers in the regeneration and salvation of his people against whom Satan and his instruments are most enraged towards such let the affections of GODS people be most enflamed though their persons may be contemptible yet in regard of their high calling as they are CHRISTS Ambassadours they are venerable they are deare unto GOD you cannot contemne nor reverence them but this reacheth unto heaven and in the last resolution reflects on CHRIST himselfe CHRIST is interessed both in the contempt and in the respect you shew towards them Secondly it should teach them another duty to pray heartily to GOD for them that GOD would give his Vrim and his Thummim to his holy ones this was the prayer of Moses for the Tribe of Levi think of them as Saint Iames said of Elias That they are men subject to like passions that you are conceive us not to be of Laodicean temper to stand in need of nothing we are no better nor so good as Saint Paul and yet good Saint Paul is frequent in his exhortations to the people to pray for him brethren we had need of your prayers none more need then we something it is that Saint Paul in his prayer for the Churches useth this forme Grace be unto you and peace but when he writes to Timothy and to Titus separated for the service of GOD he prayes for Grace Mercy and Peace for them They in speciall manner it seemes do stand in need of GODS mercy pray for such then and for their continuance that they may live be guides to the blind lights to them that sit in darkenesse Instructors of the ignorant and by a godly life examples to the flocke over which the LORD hath made them Over-seers Get now all the good you can from profitable Ministers while you enjoy them heare them every LORDS day as though it was the last day you should heare them whiles the yeares of plenty last store up with good Ioseph provision which may preserve your lives if a dearth should come like the shel-fish sucke in that moisture while you are in the waters which may preserve you on the dry land When Nilus over-flowed the bankes the Egyptians were so wise to dig pits to retaine the water to serve their turne when the water of the river returned into its channell Doe thou so for thy soule in regard of the waters of life store now thy selfe with the bread of heaven least thou finde to thy griefe the greatnesse of a benefit in the losse thereof unwise they are that know not the true worth of blessings but by wanting them which wisemen had rather learne by keeping them O carry thy selfe towards them as Saint Irenaeus did towards that blessed Martyr Polycarpus many yeares after he did keep fresh in memory the disputations of Polycarpus his goings out and commings in his manner of life the shape of his body his Sermons to the people how he conversed with Saint Iohn the Apostle and with others which saw the LORD he could recite what he reported as spoken by them c. such a deepe impression in his soule there was left many yeares after Polycarpe was a glorious Saint in heaven and I beleeve that this our brothers unaffected gravity his wise carriage and many of his gracious speeches are written with the pen of an adamant in some Christians which will be legible in them so long as they live Lastly let us of the Clergie while we live do all the good we can and put forth our selves with all laboriousnesse before the day of harvest the gifts of the Spirit are given to profit withall Gods gives these ministeriall talents to this end and let us imploy our talents to attaine this end while we continue in this Tabernacle let us not cease to put men in mind of their duty as Saint Peter professed he would doe let us pity the case of all disobedient persons let other fishers if they thinke good fish for riches or for vaine applauses but let our chiefe aime be to deliver a sinner from the pit of destruction and rather to speake five words in compassion to save a soule then five thousand for any sinister end whatsoever the soule of the poorest man is very pretious and the losse of it cannot be redeemed with a world it is sinne that looseth the soule O how unhappy are all sinners how miserable which would make GODS servants shed rivers of teares if they thought advisedly thereof and mourne over them as our Saviour did over Ierusalem when he beheld their present security and foresaw their future ruine If thou hadst knowne these things that concerne thy peace how happy hadst thou then beene let us then be faithfull and laborious and so much the rather now ought we to be laborious to make up this breach for the losse of our brother if GOD enables us the LORD himselfe is the heavenly teacher of this lesson by a just proportion in a like case Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise Ioshuah be strong and of a good courage this our brother GODS servant is dead let us therefore who doe by the goodnesse of GOD remaine yet alive in a better degree then formerly be faithfull in our callings let us be more industrious