was old yet he was hail vegete and vigorous not bowed down with those Infirmities that usually attend old Age. Some are Old when Young others Young when Old their Senses Parts are as vivid and fresh as ever We have two famous Instances of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Holy Writ That of Moses Deut. 34.7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty Years old when he died his Eye was not dim nor his natural Force abated And that of Caleb Josh 14.10 11. And now behold the Lord hath kept me alive and he said these fourty and five Years even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses while the Children of Israel wandered in the Wilderness and now lo I am this day fourscore and five Years old As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me as my Strength was then even so is my Strength now for War both to go out and to come in Profane †Val Max. l. 8. c. 13 Cie de Sen. Diusius says of himself Col Senectus melior quam ipsa Juventus History abounds in variety of Examples of it but I 'll make no Citation of them Now that this is a great Blessing needs no Proof To be full of Years and yet free from the Diseases Pains Weaknesses which are the common Retinue of old Age it admits not of the least Doubt but that this is an eminent Mercy Some bring the fore-cited Promise Job 5.26 unto this Mr. Caryl 〈…〉 Thou shalt come to thy Grave in a full Age i. e. full of Strength and Health thine old Age shall not be a troublesome Age thou shalt not be weak and crazy distempered and sick a Burthen to thy Self and Friends but shalt die in a lusty old Age It 's promised us as a Mercy you see and it must be own'd to be so This for the Natural and Physical Notion of a good old Age But then 2. There is the Moral and Spiritual Notion of it And so it may be said to be good either in respect of Grace or of Peace and Comfort when 't is a vertuous religious pious old Age or a peaceable and comfortable old Age the Soul having the Peace of God and Divine Joy in it this is truly * Tenen dum est praecipuam partem bonae senectutis in bonâ conscâ—entiâ animo sereno tranquillo consistere Vnde soquitur nonnisi in verâ—s justâ—â—ia cultores competere quod Deus Abrahae promitit Calv. eminently a good old Age and that which is peculiar to Good Men. In both respects Abraham's old Age was good First as it succeeded an holy and well-spent Life and then as it self was filled up with ‖ Discedens in Cratia Lyra. Grace and Holiness for according to the Promise Psal 92.14 He brought forth Fruit in his old Age. And Secondly †Expirare mori in Senectute bonâ est placide mori excessiâ— dâ—lcissimo hanc vitam finire River as in it he enjoyed much inward Serenity of Mind and Peace of Conscience This he had this he died with so he died in a good old Age. If we state it thus Does it not carry much Mercy in it In a full Age when Death is making its near Approaches for any then to be able to reflect upon a good and gracious Life to appeal to God as Hezekiah did Isa 38.3 Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy Sight Lord I have not lived a vain and wicked Life thou knowest I have not spent my best Age in Folly and Vanity all my days I have endeavoured to live in thy Fear it has been my great Design all along to glorify thee in my Conversation to do Good to Men to serve my Generation And now I am old yet still I keep my Integrity still I love thee and fear to sin against thee still to the utmost of my Strength I am for Prayer Meditation hearing the Word all Religious Exercises Oh good and blessed old Age Is not the end of this Man Peace Conscientia benè acta vita multorumque bene factorum recordatio jucâ—â—dissima est Tull. de Sen. does he not leave the World and go off the Stage full of Comfort as well as full of Days Does he not now find the sweet of his Sincerity past and present To die in such an old Age is Mercy indeed Long Life and old Age simply and abstractly considered are not so great a Blessing as to make a Person blessed For the Sinner of an hundred Years old shall be accursed Isa 65.20 Take them thus they do but aggravate Men's Guilt here and Condemnation hereafter Ah but when they are attended with serious Piety and Goodness then there is a great Blessedness in them and a greater Resulting from them As the Wise Man states it as to the Honour of old Age An hoary Head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in the way of Righteousness Prov. 16.31 So we must state it as to the thing in hand Long Life Old Age is a Mercy if it be found in the way of Righteousness if not what ever it may be in it self as consider'd Absolutely to the Person Eventually it will have more of Judgment than of Mercy in it VSE Let me a little apply this Point 1. To the Aged Have any here liv'd to this good old Age You can number 70 80 some may be more Years you have had a long Lease of Life and 't is not yet expired Pray look upon this as a great Blessing and own it to be so Let it not be burdensome to you be not querulous and impatient under it but thankful blessing God that he has spared you so long Old Age all desire all would live long and yet the most when they have it Senectutâ—m â—t adipiscantur omnes optant candem accufant adepti Cic. de Sen. ure discontented and disturb'd at it this is not ingenuous let it not be so therefore with you You are apt to judg of it by the outward Inconveniences and Hardships that attend it and these render it afflictive to you Whereas you should judg rather by this Oh what a large space of Time have I had for the honouring of God doing good to Men and saving my own Soul Oh when thousands and thousands about me have been cut off in the first blossomings of their Age or as soon as they were grown up to Maturity and so hurried into their Everlasting Estate I am yet spared to make further and better Preparation for Eternity I say would you but judg by such Considerations as these they would prevent Impatience and promote Thankfulness in you to God for lengthening out your Lives so long It was the Saying of one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he whom God loves Men and. in Plutarch dies when he is young I
called to day repent believe make sure of Christ get your Peace made with God and the like And then let Death come as soon as it will 't will be an happy Death to you And full V. Ainsworth in loc In the Original there is no more 'T is an usual Ellipsis in the Hebrew Psal 73.10 Waters of a ful are wrung out to them i. e. of a full Cup And so here Satur accumulatus omnibus bonis divitiis P. Mart. Some fill it up Abraham died full of Riches Wealth Honour and all earthly Prosperity As it 's said of David He died in a good old Age full of Days Riches and Honour 1 Chron. 29.28 Others thus Full of Grace of Faith of good Work a much better Fulness than the former But the most fill it up as here we do full of Years or Days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. and so in divers other Versions The same is affirm'd of Isaac Gen. 35.29 of David 1 Chron. 23.1 29.28 of Jehojada 2 Chron. 24.15 of Job chap. 42.17 The Prophet uses this Expression Ier. 6.11 The Aged with him that is full of Days But this according to Expositors is said of Abraham not only as expressive of the many Days and Years that he had lived with respect to which it falls in with what precedes and is but a repeating of the same Matter he died in a good old Age an old Man and full of Years But it also intimates what was the Temper of his Mind the inward Frame and Working of his Soul as to Life and so it carries distinct Matter in it He was full of Years i. e. he was * Saturatus diebus suis V. Syr. Saturatus aetate V. Arab. Ut non appeteret vitae prorogationem Calv. Oleast Pertaesum est eum vitae mortem optavit Zwingl Noluisset ulterius dies suos pertrah P. Mart. Hebraismus est pro Saturata erat anima ejus non cupiebat diutius vivere nâ—ec dies suos innovari Fagius satiated with Life satisfied with the Time he had lived he had lived long and now he desired to live no longer he had his Fill of the natural Life as one has of Meat and Drink when he has been at a Feast he was very willing to have a Period now put to it Hence note that A gracious Man a true Child of Abraham Obj. after he has been here his appointed Time and done the Work allotted to him has enough of Life so as not to desire to live any longer Jacob when he had seen Joseph thought he had lived long enough Now let me die says he since I have seen thy Face because thou art yet alive Gen. 46.30 Simeon having had a Sight of Christ was very willing to die Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Thus it is thus to be sure it ought to be with every true Christian I put in when his appointed Time is come and his Work done for the better stating of the Point Till these be accomplished Life can never be too long when these are accomplish'd Life can never be too short When a good Man is convinced 't is God's Will to translate him into another World and that his Work is done in this Oh says he let me die I have enough of Life Here 's one great Difference betwixt the People of God and other Men. The wicked are always desiring Continuation of Life as knowing whenever that shall end all their Pleasures of Sin are over and everlasting Punishments shall succeed in their room The worldly too are upon the same lock as knowing here is their Portion that they have their good things here Luke 16.25 And therefore as they have insatiable Desires after the having more of earthly Things so also after the protracting of that Life in which those earthly things are to be enjoyed If these might have their Will they would never die but live on in infinitum They may indeed sometimes be impatient of Life but they never are upon good Grounds and in a right manner satiated with Life Ah! but such who are sincere with God this is their Frame and Temper Does God say you shall live no longer they answer Lord we have enough of Life let us die Some Heathens have gone very far in this I have lived says * Vixi quantum satis erat mortem plenus expecto Sen. one as long as suffices I am all for Death And †Si quis Deus mihi largiatur ut ex hâc aetate repuerascam incunis vagiam valde recusem nec velim quasâ— decurso spatio a calce ad carceres revocari Cato in Tull. de Sen. another If some God would grant me to grow young again I would by no means accept of it I would be loth having run my Race to begin all again If these by the improvement of Reason and natural Light went thus far surely they who have an higher Light do not come short of them and what I fear in them was but Words by the Saints is really put in Practice And in these the Grounds of their Satiety of Life are to be considered This does not result meerly from the Troubles Losses Crosses that here they meet with but from something of an higher Nature They are convinc'd of the Vanity of things below that there 's an Emptiness in what this World affords that there 's nothing here justly to make them fond of Life That so long as Life continues Sin will continue That there is an higher and better Life to succeed which cannot be enjoyed till this expire That 't is first Dying and then being with God Upon these Grounds gracious Souls are even glutted with this Life and care not how soon they are depriv'd of it Well Vse let us shew our selves to be Abraham's Seed in this in our being satiated with Life He is an excellent Christian who is so but there are but few who are so Rarus qui exacto contentus tempore vitae Cedat uti conviva satur Hor. Should God measure out but a short Duration of Life to us yet that should satisfy us as being long enough But much more should he grant a liberal Proportion of it we have no reason to desire more True in respect of Work and Service we should think Life never to be long enough Vixi satis Naturae satis Gloriae non satis Patriae He said well who said I have lived enough to Nature enough to my own Reputation but not enough to my Country He speaks much better who says I have lived enough to Nature enough to my Self but not enough to my God But when we have good Grounds to conclude our Work is finish'd God has no more for us to do it becomes us to say Non aceâ—bum jam judicant vivere sed supersluum Sen. Ep. 24. We have our sill of Life we would not live a day
Ministry in Publick and in Private about forty Years as that it will be superfluous for me to say much about it In short therefore he was an excellent Minister of Christ who if he be not to be rank'd amongst the first three 2 Sam. 23.23 the most famous and eminent of our Preachers in England yet he may well be look'd upon as more honourable than the Thirty His Ministerial Abilities were very considerable He was another Apollos an eloquent Man and mighty in the Scriptures a Scribe instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven in whom the Word of God dwelt richly out of which Treasure he ever brought things new and old He was as Scriptural Preacher had a singular Happiness in citing of Texts pertinent to the Matter he was upon and then in the opening and applying of them And as his Preaching was solid and judicious so it was acute too fill'd up with quick and nimble Invention He would sharpen plain practical Doctrines with considerable mixtures of Ingenuity and Fancy His great design in his Ministry was not to perplex his Hearers but to edify them not to fill them with quaint Notions and Speculations but with serious and important Truths not to please their Ears but to better their Hearts and awaken their Consciences not to advance his own Reputation but the eternal Salvation of them who heard him So long as God spared him Strength none more constant and frequent in Preaching than he and when God laid him aside that he could preach no more what an Affliction was that to him And his Frequency in it did not lessen his Pains in due preparing for it his Sermons were well weighed and studied he not daring to offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing What a great Man he was in Prayer all they can testify who ever joyned with him therein Indeed God had endowed him with an admirable Gift as to this I firmly hope it was something more than a bare Gift He was severely Orthodox sound in the Faith to a degree of Rigor a thorough pac'd Calvinist a firm Adherer to and Assertor of the Doctrine of our Church though he differed as to some Rites and Ceremonies imposed in it And herein he stood stedfast and unmovable to his last Breath God blessed his Labours where-ever he came with considerable Success In all Places whither the Providence of God carried him he had the Seals of his Ministry in the Conversion of many Souls There are many now in Heaven many yet remaining here on Earth who with Comfort can call him their Spiritual Father He has not published much of his Labours but what he has * His Pisgah Corrections Instructions Sermons upon particular Occasions published shows him to be an able Practical Divine 4. I come to the fourth and last thing to consider him in his Relative Capacity In which he was as praise-worthy and does as much deserve Imitation as in any of the foregoing Considerations of him God blest him with a pious and prudent Consort I must say no more of her because she is yet living And what an high degree of Love was there betwixt them Indeed they may be Patterns and Examples of Conjugal Affection and Concord to all who knew them They lived together near 45 Years and how often have I heard him say In all that time there had been no Contention betwixt them except in this who should love one another most He had no Children of his own but his Wives Children he was as tender over and as affectionate unto as if they had been his own His Love to them and Care of them was scarce to be parallell'd sure not to be exceeded And how he pray'd for them instructed them us'd all means for their Spiritual Good I hope they will never forget He had other Relations of his own some of which by Providence were cast upon him for his Care and Relief And he was a Father to them at once caring for their Bodies and Souls too And as to his whole Family he was ever careful of the Souls of all that came under his Roof in instructing them in the Principles of Religion in helping them to understand the Scriptures which were read in his Family Morning and Evening And his Method was to cause every Child and Servant to remember something that had been read which he would then in a plain and familiar way open to them and so proceed to Prayer He had many Servants who lived with him that bless God that ever they came into his House I have parallell'd him with Abraham in his Death I might with a salvâ distantiâ also parallel him with Abraham in his Life as they died alike so they lived alike I 'll go no further than the thing last mentioned Abraham is famous for his Zeal about his Family God himself has put an high Character upon him for this Gen. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him And just thus it was with our Reverend Father allowing the Disparity betwixt Person and Person Well I have shewn you what a Man he was who died in a good old Age an old Man full of Years and is now gathered to his People Nothing now remains but a word of Exhortation 1. To Christians to you who move in a private Orb. Many things might be suggested to you upon the death of this aged and faithful Servant of God but I shall commend this only to you Prize good Ministers while you have them and be afflicted when you lose them How many Mercies do you deprive your selves of by your undervaluing them And particularly how many good Ministers are removed from you because you do not put such a value upon them as you ought When God takes them away then you see the worth of them but not till then Did not some of you sit under the Minstry of him who is now dead and gone Pray was his Person Ministry Labours prized and estimated according to what they deserved True he lived to a great Age but I fear the Lives of many others are shortened by that slighting of them which they meet with from their People Wherefore I beseech you to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them highly in Love for their Work 's sake And further so prize them as to improve them so as to thrive and profit by them Do the Prophets live for ever your faithful Guides and Teachers do they not die Now you have them in a few days they are taken from you does it not then concern you to make the best of their Labours whilst you partake of them How many Ministers have you worn out and spent and are you not at all the better for them The better the Minister is under whom you are placed the worser it will be with you if you be barren and unprofitable under him And then Be afflicted for bewail and lament the loss of good Ministers Indeed this is a great loss whether ye consider the Benefits ye percieve by them or the Evils that this does presage and boad and therefore should it not be laid to Heart Indeed as to our deceased Brother his great Age and Circumstances being considered you have more reason to rejoyce for that he lived so long than to mourn that he died at last Ah! but how many eminent Instruments are cut off when they are young in their * Mr. Charnock Mr. Stockton c. best State or when they are but just †As lately that useful Minister and faithful Servant of God Mr. Richard Fairclough entred upon a considerable Age Oh when such die with what grief of Soul should that be resented by all serious Christians 2. To Ministers My Brethren you see how your number is lessened day by day the ancient Oaks and Cedars are almost all cut down and what is the Duty now of you who survive Surely to double and treble your Diligence in your Lord's Work the fewer Hands are left the more laborious those must be that are left when other Pillars are removed the more Weight does lie upon those which stand the fewer there are to preach the everlasting Gospel the more industrious they must be in this who are yet spared The Antient die where are the Young Ones to succeed them to stand in their stead and to fill up the Vacancies made by their Death Blessed be God for it some such there are and they too Persons of excellent Accomplishments for the Work of the Ministry God increase their Number and double the Spirit of his old Elijah's upon them that still there may be a Succession of faithful Labourers in the Lord's Harvest 3. To Relations the near and dear Relations of the Deceased What shall I say to you shall I press Patience and Submission upon you under this loss Certainly his Condition being considered even his nearest Relation though she has the greatest share in it needs no Excitation to Patience Had he been taken away when he was in the Prime of his Days then the Affliction would have been very great then all Motives to quiet Submission to God's Will had been little enough but when it was otherwise I hope there 's not the least rising of Impatience in you Your Duty is Thankfulness and Imitation Thankfulness that ever you had him and that you enjoyed him so long Imitation so as to tread in his Steps and to write after that excellent Copy that he has set you And you that are Young pray remember the Tears he shed for you the holy Counsel and Admonition he gave you that great Love that he expressed to you and let all prevail with you to love God the People of God and to engage with your whole Heart in serious and universal Godliness And then if you be Followers of him as he is gathered to his People to his God and Saviour so whenever your Dying time shall come as God alone knows how soon it will come you shall be made Partakers with him of the fame Felicity FINIS
an hour a moment longer Not because its bitter to us to live but because 't is unnecessary for us to live 'T would be an Act of * Singularis est Dei Gratia vitae saturiâ—as ut ex eâ migrare parati sumus cum Animi Tranquilitate c. Rivet in loc singular Grace from God if by his Spirit he would bring us to this blessed Temper I have dispatch'd the two first Amplifications about Abraham's Death from the Manner and the Time of it let me add a little upon the Third viz. the Issue and Consequent of it He died what became of him after that why He was gathered to his People This like the preceding Expressions of giving up of the Ghost dying in a good old Age being full of Years does often occur in Scripture 'T is used of Isaac Gen. 35.29 of Jacob Gen. 49.33 of Aaron Numb 20.24 of many otheres Sometimes 't is expressed by being Gathered to their Fathers I will gather thee to thy Fathers says God to Josiah 2 Kings 22.20 And also all that Generation were gathered unto their Fathers Judg. 2.10 David was laid unto his Fathers Acts 13.26 The Promise to Abraham was Thou shalt go to thy Fathers Gen. 15.15 We read again and again of sleeping with their Fathers 1 Kings 11.43 1 Kings 2.10 passim It 's an usual Hebraism to set forth entring into the State of the Dead There 's a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in it it being a more soft and pleasing Description of that State instead of that which is more rough and harsh The Grave being the common Receptacle of all that die All go unto one place Eccles 3.20 I know that thou wilt bring me unto Death and to the House appointed for all living Job 30.23 therefore though Abraham died and was buried in Canaan where * Gen. 25.10 Sarah only was buried and none of his Progenitors yet upon his Death and Burial he 's said to be gathered to his People or Fathers The Papists Gloss upon it is he went to the Limbus Patrum Their Doctrine is that the Fathers and all the Old-Testament-Saints who lived and died before the Incarnation Passion and Resurrection of Christ were not immediately taken up into Heaven but shut up together in some secret Recesses or Cavernes of the Earth till Christ should come and suffer and rise again and then they were to be admitted into the Heavenly Glory And they tell us that these Fathers and others in this State did not feel any Paena Sensus as they in Purgatory do but only Paena Damni in their not having the immediate Presence of God and the Beatifick Vision And amongst other Proofs that they give of this my * Apponi ad Populum suum est consociari Non in majorum Sepulturâ juxta corpus sed perduci juxta Animam ad consortium Animarum Patrum illius quae erant in poenis tenebrarum usque ad discensum Filii Dei ad Inferos c. post Salvatoris Domini Resurrectionem transferendus ad Paradisum faelicitatis aeternae Lipem in loc So Lyranus P. Burgensis in Gen. 49.33 Bellarmin de Animâ Christi Cap. 11. Pet. Galat. Arcan lib. 6. c. 7. Text with other parallel Texts is insisted upon for one Abraham was gathered to his People i. e. he was not presently translated into Heaven but for a time shut up in a common Cell with the rest who died before him as only an Expectant of Heaven And hence they observe a Variation of Words in the setting forth of the Death of those who died since Christ came and of those who died before Christ came The former are said to die in the Lord to sleep in Jesus and the like but the latter are said to be gathered to their People to sleep with their Fathers and so on This Opinion we reject as having no solid Foundation in the Word of Truth And hold that as all Believers who now die do immediately enter into Glory for the Spirit returns to God who gave it Eccles 12.7 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 23.43 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 Cor. 5.1 So that all who lived before Christ and believed in him did also upon their Dying immediately enter into Glory See this Limbus Patrum refuted and the Protestant Doctrine defended in River in Gen. Eâ—ercit 151. Idem summa controv Qu. 42. Rainold Censura libr. Apochryph Prael 79 c. Chamier Panstrat 〈◊〉 3. l. 25. c. 5 c. Christ being the same to Them that he is to Vs Heb. 13.8 his Merit extending to Them as well as to Us he being the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13.8 and They believing in the Messiah to come as well as we believe in him as come what reason can be assigned why they should not partake of the same Blessings the same Happiness that we now partake of and consequently upon Death be put into the immediate Possession of the Glory of Heaven even aswe are But blessed Abraham was it thus with thee was this thy gathering to thy People to be shut up in some dark Caverns of the Earth God knows where and to be kept out of Heaven God knows how long In thy Life at God's Command thou wentest thou knewest not whither and at thy Death too didst thou go thou knewest not whither Wast thou the great Instance of Faith Rom. 4.3 the Father of the Faithful and yet does it fare better with the meanest of thy Seed now than it did with thy Self Was Heaven so much in thy Eye didst thou look for a City which had Foundations Heb 11. â—0 whose Builder and Maker is God and yet so long kept out of it and thrust into some Recluse whöse Builder and Maker is Man Is thy * So Austin expounds it Qâ—eâ— Evang. l. 2. c. 28. in Ep. ad Evodium So Muldonate in loc who yet to save himself is fain to say Non quod Abraham in Coelo esset sed quòd ita loqui singarur quasi esset in Coelo Bosome made use of to represent Heaven and that before Christ died and yet wast thou not as yet in Heaven Blessed Saint these things we poor dim-sighted Protestants know not how to understand The Adversay has led me out of my way I return to the words which I shall consider not only as a Periphrasis of Death or of the dead State that follows upon it but as holding forth something of a far higher nature As namely that Abraham's Soul as soon as Death had seized upon his Body was forthwith translated into the Fellowship and Society of the glorified Saints who lived and died before him Two things Expositors infer from them 1. The Existence of the Soul in its separated State from the Body They apply
Abraham's Death THE MANNER TIME and CONSEQUENT of it Opened and Applied IN A FUNERAL SERMON Preached upon the Death Of the Reverend Mr. THOMAS CASE Minister of the Gospel June 14th 1682. With a Narrative of his LIFE and DEATH By THOMAS JACOMB D. D. LONDON Printed for Brabrazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1682. To Mrs. Anne Case Wife to the Reverend Mr. THOMAS CASE Minister of the Gospel lately deceased Much Honoured Friend IT was the reiterated Request of your Dear Husband and my worthy Friend that I would perform the last Office of Respect to him in the preaching of his Funeral Sermon when-ever it should please God to take him hence And this Request of him whilst living your self was pleased to back after his Death I have again and again publickly testified my Averseness from engaging in Services of this Nature and possibly as to engaging in this there were some special Reasons and Considerations to heighten my Averseness Yet considering how I was pressed to it by the Desires both of the Dead and of the Living I thought I should be disingenuous and defective in the Obligations of Friendship if I did not comply with them which therefore accordingly I did Having discharg'd the Preaching Part you further desired me to publish what I had preached To gratify you in that I was the more inclinable because I had left things in the Sermon so imperfect and unfinish'd for I had not time to go through a considerable part of what I had to say both upon the Text and also upon the Occasion The Truth is while I graspt at too much I did nothing to purpose and therefore was willing to do what you desired that I might have an Opportunity of filling up what then was wanting I am very sensible what a Captious and Litigious Age we live in how Divisions and Animosities do abound amongst us how hard a matter it is for One to commend One of his Party especially if he be of any considerable Eminency therein but some or other of a differing Party will be finding fault and picking out something to be the matter and ground of severe Censures If this shall be my lot I must submit but I have done whatever I could to prevent it For I have so commended the Person discoursed of as not in the least to reflect upon any others of a different Perswasion And as to the commanding of him too I have not done is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but all along to the best of my Knowledg 〈◊〉 haâ—â— kept with in the strict Bounds of Truth and Justice Yea to avoid Partiality and Flattery the too common Attendants of Funeral Sermons I have with all due Modesty taken notice of his Infirmities as well as of his Excellencies If all this will not 〈…〉 I hope I shall bear them with Patience if not with Contempt How many Funeral Sermons did your dear Husband live to preach for others here is now one preached for himself and God knows how soon some may do that for me which I have now done for him We live in a fluid State and have no Abiding hare No sooner had I dispatch'd what I had to do upon the Death of this Friend but God threatens me with the Death of Another a most Eminent Person of another Profession Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity The Lord bless you and yours and grant you all to reap the Benefit of those many many fervent Prayers which he who is gone sent up to the Throne of Grace daily for you All that I shall further say it but to assure you that now you are deprived of the Prayers of the Dead you shall ever have the hearty Prayers of him who whilst he lives shall be ready upon all occasions to shew himself Your Servant and Friend in Christ Tho. Jacomb July 21 1682. Abraham's Death GEN. 25.8 Then Abraham gave up the Ghost and died in a good old Age an old Man and full of Years and was gathered to his People THE Words give us a brief Historical Account of the Death of the Patriarch Abraham A large Description we have of his Genealogy Birth and Life from the close of the 11th Chapter to the beginning of this 25th Chapter But as to his Age Death and Burial the History of them is contracted within the short Bounds of three Verses here the 7th 8th and 9th Verses 'T is the Death only of Abraham that I shall discourse of Concerning which here 's as much said in a little as could well be expected or desired upon such an Argument The Occasion of our present assembling is That we may pay our last Respects to the Reverend and Worthy Mr. Thomas Case Minister of the Gospel lately deceased With whom the Text does so well suit as that mutato Nomine we may read it thus Then CASE gave up the Ghost and died in a good old Age an old Man and full of Years and was gathered to his People In the managing of the Work in hand I will first speak to the Instance here mentioned and to the Matter asserted of him and then bring that down to our precious Friend upon whose account we are come together this Day As to the first observe 1. The Person spoken of ABRAHAM 2. What is spoken of him here he Died. 3. The Amplifications about his Death 1. From the Manner of it He gave up the Ghost 2. From the Time of it In a good old Age an Old Man and full of Years 3. From the Consequent of it And was gathered to his People 'T is the Third Head that I design to stay upon the Two First I 'll put together and briefly dismiss Then ABRAHAM Died. This Abraham was a great Man a great Saint who in the whole Catalogue of Saints bears a greater Name than He He was a Prophet Gen. 20.7 the Friend of God Jam. 2.23 The Father of the Faithful Rom. 4.16 One who was and for ever will be renown'd for those two unparallell'd Acts of Obedience and Love to God his forsaking of his own Country and his readiness to offer up his dear and only Son Well! what became of this eminent Person Surely his extraordinary Grace and Holiness that high Rank of Faith and Obedience wherein he stood exempted him from that Death which we poor Striplings are exposed unto No 't was not so he Died went the way of all Flesh under-went the Stroke of Death just as we do Saints themselves the highest and choicest of them Observ the Servants of God they who are most eminently useful and faithful even They are subject to Dying as well as others 'T would be tedious and unnecessary in so plain a Case to heap up parallel Instances That great Servant of God Moses he died that great Prophet Samuel Deut. 34.5 1 Sam. 25.1 Zech. 1.5 he died all the Prophets of the Old Testament all the Apostles of the New all died as we have
Years but in regard of the great Progress he had made in Faith and Holiness A more satisfactory Answer is this That Abraham's Age absolutely considered especially at that Time wherein he lived when God shortened the Lives of Men very much was a good old Age although it was not so if taken comparatively with those that lived before him And in a comparative Notion too it was so Auctor Cat. in Lipem if we compare it with the Age of them who did succeed him 'T is true Isaac lived some-what longer than he for his days were an 180 Years Gen. 35.28 But as to the rest of his Issue and as to the Body of succeeding Mankind few if any ever did attain to his Age. The Days of our Years are threescore Years and ten Psal 90.10 and not one of a thousand now live to this Abraham much exceeded this Proportion and so it may be well affirmed of him that he died in a good old Age an old Man full of Years From this Head I 'll raise three Observations 1. That to live to and to die in a good old Age Observ 1. is a great Blessing It may be said to be a good old Age either Upon a Natural and Physical or a Moral and Spiritual Account According to the first Consideration 't is either a great and long Age or a strong and healthful Age either sera or sana Senectus 1. A great and long Age Namely when a Man's Days and Years are many when the Number of them rises very high when he has full measure of them measure press'd down and running over Some divide Old Age into three Periods according to which they distinguish it into First Second and Last the First they make to commence from the 60th Year of Man the Second from his 70th and the Last from his 80th 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. Drusâ—an loc Now when a Man's Life is prolong'd not only to the First and Second but also to the Third of these Stages surely his is a good old Age. Now this is a great Blessing So the Scripture represents a long Life and a late Death God himself makes use of it as a Motive to Obedience the Apostle turns it into a Promise Eph. 6.2 Honour thy Father c. that thy days may be long upon the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Exod. 20.12 It s Promised Thou shalt come to thy Grave in a full Age like as a Shock of Corn cometh in in his Season Job 5.26 The number of thy days I will fulfil Exod. 23.26 You see this good old Age is promised as a Mercy The opposite to it is threatened as a Punishment So in the Case of Eli and his Posterity 1 Sam. 2.31 Behold the days come that I will cut off thine Arm and the Arm of thy Father's House that there shall not be an old Man in thine House Psal 55.23 Bloody and deceitful Men shall not live out half their days Job 15.32 33. It shall be accomplished before his time and his Branch shall not be green He shall shake off his unripe Grape as the Vine and cast off his Flower as the Olive David therefore deprecates this O my God take me not away in the midst of my days Psal 102.24 It 's observable when God would set forth the glorious State of the Church in the latter days he doth it by this Allusion Isa 65.20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days nor an old Man that hath not filled his days for the Child shall die an hundred Years old but the Sinner being an hundred Years old shall be accursed To prove it to be a Mercy it appears to be so 1. In regard of Others 2. With respect to the Aged themselves 1. In regard of Others It 's a great Mercy to be serviceable and instrumental in the promoting of the Good of Others 't is that which we are all born for have all our Graces and Gifts for that which all stand obliged unto by many Bonds that which is the highest Expression of true Love and Charity that which will much conduce to the securing and heightning of our own Future Happiness This Life now being the only time for this Service must it not be a great Mercy if God will lengthen it out and spare a Person to a good old Age In this respect and upon this account the Life of Christians here is preferable before the glorified Life of the Saints in Heaven inasmuch as here they may be serviceable to others which there they cannot be Oh the longer thy Life is continued the more Good thou mayst do the more thou mayst bring in to God the more thou mayst instruct exhort comfort and the like and is not this Mercy He that goes not to bed till nine or ten at night may certainly do more Work than one who enters upon his Repose early in the Morning or at Mid-day And besides this Old Age does both qualify Persons for Service and also make their Service most successful 'T is to be presum'd that the Aged have a greater Stock of * Mens Ratio Consilium in Senibus est Temeritas est slorentis Aetatis Prudentia Senectutis Tull. de Sen. Wisdom Experience than the Younger and so are more able to advise convince reprove and every way to further the Good of others And then upon that Reverence and Veneration which all but profligate Persons have for these what they say and do comes with great †Apex Senectutis Authoritas Tull. de Sen. Authority That Admonition Counsel and Reproof which is slighted as it comes from the Young is received with awe when it comes from the Aged An eminent ‖ Mr. Gattaker Abraham's Decease â— 282. Divine treating of this Subject cites this Speech of one A few gray Hairs may be of more worth than many Locks and a few gray Beards do more than many green Heads Old Age where 't is not decrepit and superannuated is not the unuseful and unserviceable part of Man's Life as to others but quite the contrary 2. With respect to the Aged themselves The longer they are continued here the more time they have to set their House in order to prepare for their everlasting State Isa 38.1 Phil. 2.12 1 Tim. 6.19 to work out their Salvation to lay a good Foundation for Eternal Life to get clear Evidences for Heaven The longer the Fruit hangs upon the Tree the riper it grows 't would be sad if they who live long should not be full ripe for Glory when they die Upon this twofold Consideration it s a great Blessing to live to a good old Age. 2. Let 's consider it as it speaks a strong and healthful old Age. Abraham dyed in a * i. e. Prospetâ valetudine haouit faciâ—em Senectam P Martyr Vid. Oleast Piscat Semectute bona i. e. quae aliena a â—â—dlis incommodis Senectutis Vatabl. good old Age though he