of her Sickness That though her sins were as Scarlet Is 1.18 God could make them Snow though red like Crimson they should be as Wooll § 15. Moreover she did thankfully acknowledge the Mercies of God to her in the former part of her Life whereof she had very many both Personal and Relative And particularly desired that Thanks might be returned to God for his singular goodness to her during her Sickness § 16. She was very desirous of Prayer to God on her behalf and very joyfull and well pleased when she had it and being at any time ask't what particular request she desired should be made to God for her she mention'd not her Recovery and the lengthening of her days but the forgiveness of Sin through the Merit of her Redeemer an humble submission to Gods disposal and a prepared heart to acquiesce in his appointment And so in one sence she was full of dayes though she dyed very young being satiated with the Time she had liv'd on Earth and not importunate for a longer stay § 17. Within a few hours before her dissolution of the approach whereof she was more apprehensive than those about her she was very desirous that a worthy Minister whom she named Mr. S. F. might immediately be sent for to commend her Soul to God Who accordingly came though at Midnight She her self joyn'd in that last Office with great seriousness and affection and afterward return'd him her hearty thanks for his great kindness therein saying Now I have nothing more to do but to dye Only requested him not to leave the house that night as knowing that his Company and Counsel might administer to the support of her Affectionate Mother and other Relations whom she should leave in sorrow though she her self was passing to Eternal Joy § 18. After which she composed her self to rest and refused every thing that was offer'd her to take making Signs with her hand of her unwillingness to be disturbed § 19. In that short space of her Continuance which was not an hour she was heard to say Be gone Satan Be gone Thou art a Lyar from the Beginning and the Father of Lyes O come Lord Jesus And soon after she said He is Come he is Come And so fell asleep as in the Arms of her dearest Saviour or as the Jews Report of Moses That he dyed with the Kiss of God O Death where is now thy Sting O Grave where is now thy Victory The sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law But thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ And Blessed are the Dead that Thus dye in the Lord. § 20. Would to God that the Account here given might effectually convince us of the great difference between the Death of the Holy and the Vnholy of the Righteous and the Sinner Might convince us of the great Blessing of holy Parents and a good Education and encourage Parents to be diligent and faithful to be serious prudent and affectionate in the Education of their Children because such a deportment is most likely to be owned by God with the desired Success And Convince us likewise of the Vanity of Youth the shortness of our Lives the uncertainty of our Time the nearness of our Change the necessity reasonableness and manifold advantages of Remembring our Creator in our younger Years And withall might hasten our Preparations and spirit our Desires to depart and be dissolv'd whenever God shall call us That following their Example who by Faith and Patience are gone to inherit the Promises We may at length meet those Precious Souls above who are gone before us that with them and all the Children of the Kingdom we may be for ever with the Lord which is Best of all FINIS
Religious Exercises which cool our Zeal and abate the fervor of our Spirits in the service of our Redeemer which weaken our Confidence in Prayer and shame our faces before the Lord in secret And is it not far better to part with the body of flesh that thereby we may be rid of this body of sin and death Rom. 7.2 and be like our Saviour in perfect purity Do we not complain of our Ignorance of Divine Truths and the blessed Mysteries of the Gospel notwithstanding all our means of knowledge of our Earthliness and unbelief of unbecoming Thoughts of God and holy things of proud Imaginations and carnal reasonings against his Works and Word of languishing and imperfect Graces to be recovered and perfected c And is it not better be with Christ where that which is imperfect shall be done away Is not God dishonor'd and provok't by our frequent Omissions and slight Performances of duty do we not resist and quench and sadden his holy Spirit and are we not often griev'd by God's rebukes and frowns by the wounds and smart regrets of our own Conscience so that we remember God and are troubled and cry out in the bitterness of our Souls Hath he forgotten to be gracious and will he be merciful no more Are not our holy Purposes inconstant and our best Resolutions wavering and unsteddy and very quickly very easily shatter'd by the breath of a small Temptation Have we not a constant Watch to keep over our Hearts and wayes a perpetual War to manage with the Infernal Trinity the World the Flesh and the Devil and do we know his rage and malice and serpentine policy with the Multitude Strength and Power of his Temptations How often we have been foil'd already and how soon we may be so again and shall we not be desirous of a sinless state in the presence of Christ where no Tempter no Temptation shall ever be admitted Yea had we no corruption or Sin of our own to be delivered from yet our concern at God's dishonour by the sins of others should make us willing to depart as much more desirable than our abode on earth Job 24.9 〈◊〉 24.4 Which is given into the hands of the wicked and defiled by its Inhabitants Where the very Air is infected with Oaths and Blasphemies prophane discourse and filthy Talk Where the very Being of a God is question'd his Providence denyed and his Authority mock't Where the Gospel of Christ is disparag'd and despised his Laws contradicted his Worship polluted his Institutions subverted and his holy Name made a cloak for Licentiousness and his faithful Servants trampl'd on by the foot of Pride and scorned by men at ease and forc't to own his Truth with the peril of their Lives And can we say It is good to be here or is it not far better to forsake such a Place and Company that we may be with Christ 3. Let us consider what are the grounds and Principles by which a Christian is assured of this Blessedness in the presence of Christ after his dissolution This Inquiry is necessary because the discourse of our future Bliss with Christ cannot be supposed to have any effect or influence upon us to make us desire our departure while we disbelieve or make a doubt of the matter I hope it were needless to prove the Possibility of the Souls existence in a state of seperation from the Body Whether in the body or out of the body 2 Cor. 12 2. would not have been a doubt to this great Apostle if he could not possibly have liv'd but in it neither could he desire to depart that he might be with Christ if after his departure he should not be at all And supposing the existence of the Soul notwithstanding the dissolution of the Body we have as full an assurance as the nature of the thing is capable of that holy Souls shall be present with the Lord in glory when absent from the body 1 Thess 4.17 Joh. 17.24 Matth. 25.23 Rev. 3.21 c. But because the Text hath a special relation to Christ and to be with him is the Blessedness on the account whereof 't is desirable to depart I shall only mention his Death and Resurrection as a sufficient ground to confirm our Faith in the certainty of being with him and to excite our Desires of a departure in order to it 1. The Death of Christ He hath cancell'd the Hand-writing against us and put away Sin Eph. 1.7 which is the sting of Death by the Death of the Cross a way is now open for us into the holy of holies by his blood not for our Prayers only but our Persons Heb. 10.19 He hath wounded the Head of the old Serpent even by permitting him to bruise his Heel by crucifying his humane Nature which was only Vestigium Deitatis 2 Sam. 23 21. Heb. 2.15 As Benaiah slew the Egyptian with his own Spear Having destroyed death and him that had the power of it and delivered those who were all their Life time subject to bondage through the fear of death He hath set his foot on the neck of this Adversary disarm'd it of it's weapon and rob'd it of it's sting and abolisht the ugliness and poyson of it He hath dismounted Hell and Damnation from behind him who Sat on the Pale-horse Rev. 6.8 Whether the first Adam were buryed in Calvary where the second was crucifyed as some affirm I need not enquire we know that his Death was our Victory and his Cross may be our Triumph since the Devil is conquered and death Sanctified and the Grave perfum'd by his burial so that we need not be afraid to lodge in a Sepulchre where our Lord himself hath slept Yea since the effusion of his Blood there is an amiable ruddiness in the Face of death for that which was the Instrument of Justice is now the messenger of Peace and Joy that which was the gate of Hell is the way to Life He hath brought sweetness out of the Strong and meat out of the Eater 1 Cor. 3.21 and therefore Death as well as Life is reckon'd in the Inventory of the riches of the Saints All things are yours because you are Christs and Christ is Gods 2. His Resurrection and Exaltation his rising from the Dead not only discovers the possibility of our Resurrection and gives us a pledge and assurance of it as declaring the sufficiency and acceptation of his Sacrifice Rom. 8.11 Is 26.19 that therefore the Dead in Christ shall live and with his Dead Body arise But being punctually effected according to his prediction and promise it confirms the Truth of all his Word and seals the promise of eternal Life unto all Believers He hath open'd the Prison doors and loos'd the bands of Death 1 Cor. 15. â—0 and roll'd away the heavy Stone from the Graves of his people he is now become the first fruits of them that Sleep in Jesus And
attended As a proper Remedy in the present case let us familiarize the Thoughts of Death by frequent serious Meditation Let us view it oftner in our way that it may not meet us with so much Terror at our Journeys end Let us admit the Thoughts of a departure with particular application to our selves and improve the Funerals of our Friends as a seasonable memento that our own is near Let us lay open the Picture of Death naked to our view and urge it to our Hearts with the Infinite Glory that immediately succeeds and take in the Death and Promise of Christ as our assurance of it And this will reconcile us more to a Departure and help to overcome our unreasonable fears of pain and sickness antecedent to it 3. The weakness and declension of our Love to Christ is another ground of our unwillingness to depart and to be with him To a degenerate Soul that is destitute of the Love of Christ an Everlasting distance would be more desirable than a Local Presence For that could not make him happy he would still be as far remov'd from Bliss by being with the Lord as the Center of a Milstone in the bottom of the Sea would be from moisture But the company and converse of those we Love must needs be eligible and the more we Love them the stronger still will be our desire of being with them and the more impatient shall we be of every delay And is it not the sence and secret language of our Hearts Whom have we in Heaven but Christ And are we not desirous to forsake this Earth to enjoy his presence Certainly the growth and strength and exercise of Holy Love to Christ would even render our dissolution grateful in order to it and make our Hearts rejoyce at the approach of Death as it did old Jacobs to see the Waggons that are sent to fetch us to our beloved Jesus who is Lord of that Country whither we are going 4. Immoderate Love to this present World and our Temporal Life Were we crucifyed to fleshly Pleasures and sensual Joyes to worldly Honours and earthly Riches we should less regret the thoughts of dying and more heartily desire to be with Christ For as the pangs of Death are not ordinarily so violent and intolerable to one whose strength is wasted by a pining Sickness as to him who is arrested suddenly in his full strength and vigour so will he more easily leave this World who for some time past hath been dying to it Gal. 6.14 Were we more crucifyed to the World and the World to us by the Cross of Christ we should not so affectionately hug the Carkass of a dead Enemy whom we our selves have crucifyed and slain but wait for the Time and long for the happy hour when we shall leave it and be gone to our Eternal Rest Let us therefore make use of all the Christian methods of Mortification and look on this world as a strange place and our selves as Pilgrims and Strangers here as Exiles from our own Country and hastening to it And we cannot but wish our selves at home and desire a departure as necessary thereto and in the Interim sigh to think of the vast disproportion and difference between the slender entertainments of our Inn and the plentiful Provisions of our Father's house 5. Blotted Evidences and the want of Assurance concerning our Title to the Heavenly Glory And this we all pretend as the reason of our unwillingness to dye A Sadducee is loth to dye least he should not be at all an unprepared sinner for fear of being miserable and a doubting Christian because he knows not whether Happiness or Misery shall be his portion after his departure For were we well assured we should be with Christ for ever we could not be so backward and unwilling to be dissolv'd Had we any better grounds to hope that sin was pardon'd and God our Covenant Father that Heaven would be our Inheritance and we should not come into Condemnation we might rejoyce to think of our departure when and how it shall please God to call us When the Psalmist could say The Lord is my Shepherd Ps 23 4 6 he could boldly venture upon death and walk through the valley of darkness without fear of evil But when distress had brought his sin to remembrance and made him doubt of his condition he cries Ps 39.13 Oh spare me a little longer that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more seen Could you say with the Spouse of Christ in the Canticles Cant. 6.3 My Beloved is mine and I am his you might chearfully joyn your Amen when you hear the Spirit and the Bride say in the Revelations Come Lord Jesus Rev. 20.2 Come quickly Therefore Try your State and examine your selves afresh and endeavour with your utmost care and diligence to obtain a well grounded Assurance founded on the Testimony of a good Conscience by comparing the Promises of Remission and Eternal Life with the requisite qualifications and Conditions of them For if our hearts condemn us not we shall have confidence towards God Joh. 3.21 even in a dying hour To which end let us endeavour by daily acts of Repentance to obtain a daily pardon Let us summe up our accounts at the foot of every page I mean reflect every Night on the passages of the preceding Day That we may rest on our Beds with the sence of a daily pardon and be as fit to dye as we are to sleep 6. Our fond affections to our Friends on Earth may make us loth to dye though we hope to be with Christ in Heaven But is not his Bosom more desirable than the arms and embraces of our dearest Friends and nearest Relations must we not abandon and hate them all for his sake Luk. 14.26 i. e. use them as contemptible and hated things if they keep us from him Have we not solemnly engag'd to do so by our Covenant with God and shall we not stand to our agreement Is there no difference between our Friends on Earth and our beloved Saviour How often is an unactive pity vouchsafed in the room of succour when they need our assistance or we intercede for theirs We know if they are unholy they shall forever be banisht from the presence of Christ and we may well be asham'd to be unwilling to dye on their account and if they are holy though we shall not return to them yet we know that they shall shortly come to us And cannot God instruct them in his fear order their Conditions dispose of their affairs provide for their comfort and answer all our prayers in reference to them after our departure yea hath he not often done so Have we any Friends on Earth that are every way so accomplisht as alway to delight and please us or are we so perfectly wise and good as never to disgust and disoblige them Is there not some selfishness
A SERMON PREACHT Upon the DEATH OF Mrs ANNE BARNARDISTON DAUGHTER of NATHANAEL BARNARDISTON Esq late of Hackney Who departed this Life the 30th day of Decemb. 1681. at the Age of Seventeen With a brief Account of some Remarkable Passages of her LIFE and DEATH Published at the Desire of her Relations Psal 103.15 As for man his dayes are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth V. 16. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more LONDON Printed by J. A. for Benjamin Alsop at the Angel and Bible and John Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey 1682. TO The Much Honoured MADAM ELIZABETH BARNARDISTON MADAM THE sad Occasion of the Sermon and your Relation to Her whose dying request was fulfilled in my preaching it doth style the Dedication yours Though what I have mention'd of your excellent Daughter is less than others would have said on the same subject yet having given an account of her preparedness and willingness to dye methinks that should be considered as a sufficient Argument to mitigate your Sorrow and prevent its excess 1 Thess 13. 'T is the Apostles Instruction concerning them who sleep in Jesus that we ought not to sorrow as do others who have no hope Such were the Aegyptians and 't is observ'd of them that they mourned longer for the death of old Jacob Gen. 50.3 than his own Son Joseph did I know the Time of Her Death gives an Accent to the Calamity That before your Mourning Weeds were laid aside for one of the best of Husbands who hath a good Report of all men and of the Truth it self you should be forced to continue the same or put on more for the Loss of such a Child in the Prime of her Youth and Strength and Beauty A Loss for which you do not mourn alone since many others are partners of your grief not by sympathy only as pitying you but from a due Respect and Affection to her and their own Concern at her departure But as your Afflictions abound God can make your Consolations by Christ abound much more And such Losses as these though some of the smartest and most afflictive to humane Nature may turn to your Spiritual Gain And even this Rod like that of Aaron may blossom and produce the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness If in the want of their Company God himself be more depended on as your All in all If their removal out of this World promote your Mortification to it if their being taken up to Heaven assist your Preparations and excite your desires to follow God hath already made good his Covenant Promise in a very peculiar manner to those whom he gave and hath taken from you and I trust will do so as to those who remain that they may know and serve the God of their Fathers with a perfect heart and see the Felicity of his Chosen That they may tread in the steps of their departed Relatives and bear up the Name of God in their respective stations to his Glory and your Comfort and their Salvation And if God should not make your house to grow 2 Sam. 2 5. yet he hath made an Everlasting Covenant with you well ordered in all things and sure I wish the following Discourse may contribute any thing to your Support or at least be accepted as an Expression of my Obedience in complying with your request thus to make it publick And as a Testimony of my unfeigned Respect to the memory of the deceased with a serious desire of some benefit to others also by such a remarkable Instance of an Early Piety of an Exemplary Life of a peaceable Death Which God grant who alone can bring Good out of Evil all whose Works are perfect and whose Wayes are Judgment I am MADAM Your most Affectionate Humble Servant John Shower London Jan. 25. 1681 2 TO THE READER Reader I Being Earnestly desired both by the Relations of the Deceased Gentlewoman and by the Preacher of the following Funeral Sermon to Testifie what I knew of the Gracious and wonderful workings of the holy Spirit upon the Heart of this Person during Her Life I could not but yield to their Importunate requests And upon this occasion I must declare That having Known her from her Childhood and having very much observed her Conversation of late and being called to give her several visits in her sickness I do believe upon the whole that God did give her a sound Repentance for and a Full Remission of all her sins through the mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I can assure thee Reader who ever thou art that she had an awakened sight of her sins accompanied with a great measure of Godly Sorrow for them I discerned also in her a deep Humiliation and I heard her open self-Condemnation thereupon I found in her also a clear Knowledge of the Nature of the New Covenant together with a Right Apprehension of the Nature of that Faith which is Required of all men and is through Grace bestowed upon some penitents whereby the Soul doth attain to an Interest in that Covenant It being thereby united unto Christ and consequently doth partake of the Benefits of his Merits and doth receive the Fruits of his Attonement with the Inhabitation of his Spirit Saving Faith and True Repentance are alwayes inseparable and their Conjunction doth evidence and speak them to be true and saving both These I do believe were united in the Soul of this deceased person And therefore I have very great Hopes of her State All Faith which is pretended to where Repentance is wanting I account to be nothing but a presumptuous Confidence and all seeming Repentance which is not Accompanied with some Faith in the Divine Goodness and in the promises made thereof by our Lord Jesus is no other than the Repentance of a Cain or a Judas his despair Our Lord Jesus did as it were Epitomize the whole Gospel and comprehended the whole Duty of man in two words viz. Repent and Believe and 't is to be observed that these two are set in the very Front as the Text to all his Ministry Mark 1.15 And by reason of the Import of them they may be accounted as the Contents of the whole Where these two Graces are not conjoyned Guilt Remains and Sin Reigns But where they are united in any Soul as that person is Justifyed so that Heart is savingly changed and that Nature is in measure Sanctified and the life of that man for the Future will be proportionably universally Holy Would the Genius of the present Age allow me to use Metaphors in Soul-concernments I should think that I did then best explicate to vulgar capacities the nature of saving Faith as when I did call Faith the Daughter of Knowledge the Sister of Repentance and the Mother of Love for the Holy Ghost tells us that Faith comes in by Hearing Ro. 10.17 That it
him Moreover I am informed that this deceased Gentlewoman was observed to spend much time in Closet-Prayer of late consider then I say whether we may not hope confidently that the Grace of God had savingly and effectually wrought upon her who was both visibly in Covenant with God and whose heart also God had disposed and prepared by such special Means of Grace which he had bestowed upon her And this is yet more evident if we reflect upon Gods dealing with her in her last Sickness whereby God did seem to seal Instruction deeply upon her Soul Her distemper was one of the worst sort of Small Pox At her first being taken she had strong apprehensions that she should dye she therefore did fall closely upon the work of Examination desiring the assistance of some Ministers therein and she was visited by many she opened her case to us all and God was pleased to make her to suspect and be jealous of the worst and to confess and condemn her self for her Sins both of Omission as well as Commission and humbly to inquire after the only way of Pardon And it pleased God so to bless these last helps as that none of us who visited her do doubt but the same Spirit who convinced her of Sin and of Righteousness did at length seal her up to the day of Redemption The Alpha the first Beginning and Foundation of all practical Religion is that act whereby a Soul doth deliberately resolvedly freely and expressely dedicate and devote it self unto God and his Service Thus the Saints in 2 Cor. 8.5 The Omega the last concluding and consummating work of a devout Soul is to commit and commend its Spirit into the hands of God as to a faithful Creator thus did Stephen Acts 17.59 Yea thus did our Lord Jesus himself Luk. 23.46 Thus also did this blessed Person she did I hope begin well in an early Consecration of her self to God I am sure she did end well and 't is the end that Crowns the work she did reckon that she had not fully Finished her course nor rightly laid the Top-stone of her spiritual Building so as to cry Grace Grace unto it untill she had most devoutly and humbly offered up her Soul to God in Prayer by the assistance of some Friend and Minister Accordingly although it were midnight and although my Habitaâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 did send for me and with the clearest use of her Reason and the most fervent desires of her Soul she did entreat me that I would in her Name solemnly and expressely surrender and Give up her Soul into the Arms and Bosom of her Saviour in whose precious Blood she did hope that all her sins were now fully washed away I did readily obey the Call and did comply with her desire for I did and do judge that this desire of hers proceeded from some extraordinary Impulse and work of the Holy Ghost And Reader thou wilt think as I doe if thou shalt read and observe the effect and consequence hereof as it is related to thee in the close of the following discourse Almost such another extraordinary Impress as it may be thought was made upon her Spirit on occasion of this Author 's presenting her with a Funeral Sermon which he had preached but a little while before she was taken sick which Sermon she having received and read and diligently considered she was heard to say That she did think that her own change would not be far off and that she could wish that the Author might preach her Funeral Sermon also and she then named the Text now insisted upon and said That she hoped that God would make her Funeral Sermon as profitable to other young ones as the Former Sermon had been to her self Her Prognosticks were too true as to the shortness of the time which she lived after those words were spoken by her God grant that her hopes be not frustrated but that all her dying words may prove truly Prophetical and especially those which related to the profitable success of the Sermon here before thee The Author hath done his part like himself as well in this as in the former Discourse Oh that he might find as diligent and as considering Readers as she was many excellent Considerations very subservient and conducing to thy Conviction and Salvation are proposed herein but all will be in vain and to no purpose without thine own Meditation and the Spirits application Concerning the Discourse I must say no more and I can do no less than to allude to the words of the holy Ghost Eccl. 12.9 And moreover because the Preacher was wise therefore in this Discourse he hath Taught the people Knowledge and hath given good heed and sought and set in order many Arguments for thy preparing for Death and moreover for preferring of Death before Life The Lord convince thee by them and also carry thee comfortably through all Time to Eternity My Paper is short and my Time shorter I must therefore conclude for the Sermon is wholly Printed and stops only untill I have told thee that I am Thy Friend and Souls Servant 〈…〉 A Funeral Sermon PHIL. I. 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better SAint Paul writing from Rome to the Church at Philippi in this Chapter acquaints them with his Bonds and other Discouragements which he tells them by their Prayers and the Assistance of the Spirit of Christ obtained thereby V. 12. would turn to his Salvation and the furtherance of the Gospel 13. and had already been attended with some considerable success in that kind 14. to fortifie and confirm the Professors of the Christian Faith 19. and to propagate and promote it even in the Court of Caesar and in other places and if Christ might be magnified 20. he was perfectly indifferent to Live or Dye For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain v. 21. His Life he hop'd might advance the Honour of Christ and his Death would be subservient to the same design by his further service if he live and by his sufferings if he dye by his Ministry supposing his Life and by his Martyrdom in case of his death V. 22. But if I live in the flesh this saith he is the fruit of my labour or it is worth my Labour to glorifie the Redeemer by continuing in this World Yet what I shall choose I wot not For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better To Depart or be dissolv'd the Original word is used both by Christian and Heathen Writers for a departure from any place to return home Luk. 12.36 And when the same Apostle speaks of his approaching death he tells us â— Tim. 4.6 that the Time of his departure was at hand Having a desire to depart a vehement and earnest desire as the word imports and
we profess a desire to be with Christ whereas we may not do this or any other evil though the greatest good may come of it he that hasteth to be rich Prov. 28. â—6 even in this sence shall not be innocent We must be intirely devoted to serve and glorifie the Redeemer as long as we live and rather dye upon the Spot than quit our Station without the order of our General and yet we must not shipwrack our health or expose our Lives to hazard without a Warrant from Heaven 4. A Sincere desire to be with Christ is consistent with some fear of Death and a reproveable unwillingness to depart and be dissolv'd The example of Christ himself is usually urg'd in vindication of a natural sensitive fear of Death viz. the discovery thereof which he made by his Agony and prayer in the Garden But a Socinian only will assert that therefore he was more affected with the fear of Death than many of the Martyrs have been because of the exquisite Temper and tender constitution of his body and that there was nothing but what was natural and ordinary in his case whereas he was to conflict with the wrath of God and bear the curse and be wounded for our Transgressions c otherwise his own innocency and perfect resignation to the will of his Father and the prospect and assurance of victory and reward would certainly have prevented his Terrible agony and bloody sweat and importunate cries that if possible the Cup might pass from him However I doubt not but a Timerous Temper may render some persons extreamly apprehensive of the pains of death and on that account unwilling to depart though they are truly desirous to be with Christ Others through the weakness of Faith or overmuch concern in the affairs of this Life c. though they grant it unspeakably better to be present with the Lord and have chosen it as their portion and final Happiness may yet be loth to passe through the dark valley they cannot joyn with the Apostle in desiring to be dissolv'd though they can speak it from their very hearts that they desire to be with Christ and that desire is so far prevailing as to keep them upright and yet not efficacious so as to conquer the fears or interposing death How unwelcome was the message of Death to an upright Hezekiah even then when he could plead his Integrity before the Lord he turn'd his face to the wall and wept and besought the Lord that he might not dye as is evident by Isa 38.3 5 v. compar'd but I dare not say his unwillingness to dye at that Time was a sinful weakness because he might well be concern'd for the Kingdom after his decease least the faithful should be staggered and the people revolt to Idolatry there being no visible Successor to advance the Reformation so hopefully begun for Manasses was not then born being but twelve years old when he began to reign and we know that Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his Life 2 King 20.6 5. Though we desire to be with Christ we must not be peremptory as to any determinate Time but refer our selves to God's good pleasure for the season of our departure though with Job we should be ready to answer Job 14.15 when God doth call yet with humility and resignation we must expect his summons and wait till our change come though the daies of our appointed Time should be longer than ordinary Though in a dutifull observance to our Heavenly Father we should be willing to return home as soon as he shall please to call us and the felicity of his presence should render it desirable yet his Soveraign will and unerring wisdom must be practically acknowledg'd in reference to the Season he alone of whom and to whom are all things is fit to determine how long we shall tarry or how soon we shall depart even the Light of nature may teach us this Seneca Epist 24. â—1 And therefore when ever we pray Thy Kingdom come we must not limit the holy one of Israel by prescribing the Time but immediately subjoyn with respect to that Thy will be done 6. Not the Time only but the Kind and Manner of our dissolution must be referr'd to God Some have wisht for a sudden death and others have pray'd against it Some have desired to dye by one disease and others by another Some holy persons of a timerous Temper and a tender Body would choose to depart by a Consumption not only as allowing them a longer Time to prepare for death but as an easier kind of Death than several others Whereas besides the uncertainty and deceitfulness of that disease 't is more than possible that the Languishment of a pining sickness may be as irksome and insupportable as the shorter pains of more violent distempers But God is the only Judge to whom we must Submit as the wise disposer of all events not only of the Time but the Manner of our departure not only how long we shall sojourn in this earthly Tabernacle but what shall dissolve and pull it down 7. Our desire to depart and to be with Christ must not be rash and hasty but the result of many Serious and deliberate thoughts comparing both States together and understanding the difference The Apostle knew his duty in compliance with the Will of God and therefore for the service of his Master and the advantage of the Philippians was willing to Live but he knew withall it was far better in it self to depart that he might be with Christ and as such he desired it And a due comparison between our present and our future Life our inconveniencies and sufferings in this world and our Felicity in the next is proper to regulate and quicken our desire to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Therefore 2. In what respects is it far better to be with Christ than to abide in the flesh what is the vast difference between What we are and What we shall be that the expectation of the Latter should even make Death and dissolution desirable in order to it And here it will be necessary to consider 1. The Expression of our Felicity after death here used by the Apostle Being with Christ 2. In what respects 't is far better to depart and be absent from the body that we may be present with him 1. The Expression of our future blessedness by being with Christ Till we are present with the Lord and see him face to face and know as we are known we must content our selves with such sensible representations of it as God is pleas'd to reveal in his Word such as our ignorant earthly minds can bear and may be most affected with But when once the vail of darkness is remov'd by death we shall see him as he is and all our Faculties be purified and inlarg'd and suited to the blessed company and work above We shall see him whom our
Account of that Excellent Person whose decease gave occasion to our present Meeting § 2. And knowing the usual Flattery of Funeral Orations I shall pass over the Advantages of her Birth the Credit of her Family the Sweetness of her Temper the best Soyl for the Fruits of the Spirit and the many other natural and acquired Accomplishments which rendred her Amiable to all that knew her and only mention some Passages that may either magnifie the Grace of God or be proper for our imitation and encouragement And therein shall deliver nothing but either upon my own knowledge or from the particular Account I have received from her nearest Relations and those Reverend Ministers who assisted with their Prayers and Counsel during her Sickness § 3. Through the Blessing of God on a pious Education and other means of Grace and in answer to the fervent Prayers of her holy Parents for the fulfilling of God's Covenant Promise to them and to their seed we have great reason to believe that she had chosen the Favour of God as her Felicity and End almost as soon as she was capable of making a deliberate choice § 4. And a Life of Seventeen years whereof so great a part is lost by Infancy and Childhood is certainly very short for the growth and ripening of such fruits of the Spirit as she discover'd A Time and Age when Vice and Vanity are wont to blossom and sprout forth in others When the Thoughts of Death and Judgment are usually rejected as unwelcome Intruders before their Time and serious preparation for it deferr'd to a reputed more Convenient Season § 5. But before that Age her diligent and delightful reading of the Holy Scripture and valuation of it above other Books was very admirable and exemplary Making this Bread of Life her daily food and tasting such sweetness and reaping such benefit by it that even at midnight while others slept she would often spend several hours in reading the Bible Lamenting on her death-bed the Loss of Time by other Books which could not assist her to a better understanding of her duty and the mind of God or take off her Affections from the Love of this World and prepare her Soul for the Heavenly Glory § 6. Notwithstanding this secret serious Piety her Humility and Modesty was such as not to make a great noise and show to others as if the Form of Godliness were the principal or only thing to be regarded § 7. For several weeks before her last Sickness she was observ'd less to regard the World than formerly more Seriously to be devoted to God and more to dislike vain Company and idle Talk especially if it carried with it a Tendency and design to disparage others and in all respects so to demean her self as if she had receiv'd some secret Revelation from God that her Time would be but short and her change was near § 8. Though before she fell sick she was fearfull enough of that * The small Pox. Disease whereof she dyed yet having taken her Bed and knowing the Distemper she profest her self intirely willing to acquiesce in the will of God And was displeas'd with any who would have tamper'd with her Face or discours'd to that purpose § 9. Yea during the whole three weeks of her Sickness she continued in such a frame notwithstanding the loathsomeness of the Disease notwithstanding the Troublesome Prescriptions of Physitians notwithstanding her own Pains of which her Constitution Breeding and Age considered she could not but be very apprehensive And with an admirable Patience and resignation to the will of God with a great contempt of the Vanities of this World and an holy Indifference even to Life it self she desired to Depart And that not meerly to be eas'd of her Pain but to be with Christ and the blessed Society above or to use her own words To be with her Heavenly and her Natural Father And gave this excellent reason for her desire Least if restored to health she should meet with some prevailing Temptations that might turn away her Heart from God and Heaven and therefore she had rather be with Christ than put it to the Venture § 10. Her Victory over this World was likewise evident by the particular charge she gave to those about her to let some young Gentlewomen of her Acquaintance know from her how Contemptible the best of this World will be when they come to dye and entreat them in her Name as her last request and the Expression of her special kindness to their Souls that they would not overvalue it § 11. As an instance of her submission to the good pleasure of God and satisfaction in his order she desired that her Mother and the whole Family might joyn with her in singing the latter part of the 39 Psalm I was dumb Ver. 9. and opened not my mouth because Lord thou didst it When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a Moth. Surely every man is Vanity Selah c. Which she repeated by heart according to the Metre § 12. As an instance of her joyful Hope of Glory in the presence of Christ after death she made those who attended in her Sickness frequently to read over the 1 Thess 4. cap. in the close whereof the glorious Appearance of Christ to Judgment is set forth and the Happiness of the Saints describ'd Ver. 17 18 by being ever with the Lord with this addition Wherefore comfort one another with these words § 13. With the free use of her Reason to the very last God was pleas'd to give her the great Blessing of a Tender Conscience and therefore she did not slightly overlook even little Failings without a penitent observation and some of them such as no man in a judgment of Charity would reckon sinfull Every thing that look'd like undutifulness to her Mother she heartily begg'd her Pardon for though nothing considerable of that kind can be remembred to make her need forgiveness thankfully owning the strictness of her Education the seasonable Reproofs of a discreet Parent and even the abridgement of that Liberty which other young persons take very often to their prejudice and ruine as a singular advantage and favour from Heaven § 14. In some part of her Sickness she had some humble becoming doubts and fears of her own state but having imparted them to a Reverend Person well acquainted in the Family and heard his Resolutions and Answers she was better satisfied and exprest her hopes of Pardon and Salvation through the Righteousness of Christ who loved her and washed her from her Sins in his own Blood Yea so far was she from questioning the goodness of God and the truth of his Promise so far from doubting of the alsufficiency of Christs Mediation the Merit of his Sacrifice and his willingness to receive returning Sinners that the believing thoughts of it were her greatest support and joy saying often in the time
to be with Christ to be absent from the Body â— Cor. 5.8 and present with the Lord with that merciful Saviour who had compassion on me when as an ignorant Blasphemer I persecuted his Members who call'd me to be an Apostle and enabl'd me by his Grace to own his Truth in the face of Dangers and hath hitherto comforted me in all my Tribulation I desire to depart that I may be with him With him not with the blessed Angels or departed Saints though their Society will make a part of the heavenly Joy Not the former they are but ministring Spirits and menial Servants imployed under him and though they shine as Stars yet he is the enlivening Sun from whom they derive their Lustre and borrow all their glory Not the latter they have no Blessedness but by his Donation and Purchase no Crowns of Life but what he puts on Therefore 't is not to be with them only or chiefly that made him thus groan to be dissolv'd thus earnestly desire to depart but to be with Christ Which is far better simply and in it self more desirable by much more better the Comparative being double in the Greek Text and yet I wot not what to choose for I am in a strait betwixt two On the one hand his Love to the Philippians who needed his prefence many false Teachers being at that time crept in among them V. 24. made him willing to abide in the flesh and deferr his own felicity for a time upon their account But the Glory of Christ's presence on the other and his own unspeakable advantage by it made him desirous of a Departure and therefore though he determines for the former and was content to Live and 't is probable had some secret intimation from Heaven that all his work in this World was not yet finisht yet he grants the latter to be simply more eligible having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far Better Which words are not more suitable to a Funeral Solemnity than expressive of the dying Thoughts and Temper of our deceased Friend and were chosen by her as the Subject of my present Discourse And that I may comprehend the Substance and Design of the Text according to the desire of the Dead for the Benefit and Instruction of the Living let us consider 1. When and how far it is warrantable for a Christian to desire death 2. In what respects to depart and to be with Christ is far Better than to abide in the Flesh 3. On what Grounds and Principles a Christian may expect a future Blessedness with Christ after his departure so as to encourage and excite his desires after it 4. Whence it comes to pass that even those who acknowledge it Far Better to be with Christ than to continue in the body are yet unwilling to depart in order to it and what Remedies are proper to the case of such 5. The Application of the whole particularly with respect to the sad Occasion of our present Meeting 1. When and how far is it warrantable for a Christian to desire to be dissolv'd This Inquiry may be answered in the following Propositions 1. Our dissolution and departure as a natural or penal evil as contrary to Nature or as the Punishment of Sin cannot possibly be the Object of a rational desire If God hath promised a long Life as the Encouragement and Reward of our Obedience and threatned an hasty death as the punishment of Impiety If it be universally true that the Soul of man desires Union with the Body and unavoidably dreads a separation from it If Torturing pains and loathsom Diseases are the usual Antecedents of dying If the Corruption of the Body and its Imprisonment in the Grave till the general Resurrection be the certain Consequent of our dissolution We cannot but think of Death as a natural Evil and as such decline and fear it Much less desirable will it appear if considered as the Wages of Sin and the Fruit of Gods displeasure and the Just Sentence of his Vindictive Justice but how far our dissolution in this latter Notion of it is changed by the death of Christ in reference to Believers is another question and will more properly be considered under the third Inquiry 2. Our dissolution and departure ought not to be desired Only as a freedom from Temporal Evil as preventive of present suffering or delivering us from it The Apostle doth not mention the uneasie Circumstances of a Prison or the continual hardships to which he was exposed from the malice of his adversaries as the ground of his desire to depart but to be with Christ he knew very well that a Christian may serve the ends of God's glory and be useful to others in a state of suffering and therefore when he saith in another place We that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burden'd 2 Cor. 5.3.4 he adds the limitation in the following words not to be unclothed but cloth'd upon that mortality may be swallowed up of Life not meerly to avoid the inconveniencies of our abode in so poor a dwelling but to come to the possession of the building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Not meerly to find relief and deliverance from our present burdens Job 7.13 Jon. 4.3 when through melancholy or discontent we are weary of Life when we have set our Hearts on somewhat we cannot obtain or struggle with some difficulties we cannot master or are impatient under bodily pains or quite dispirited by the sad prospect of approaching Calamities in such a case to wish for Death and desire to depart is unbecoming the Character the incouragement and hopes of a Souldier of Christ much less will the Gallantry of a Roman or a Philosopher legitimate the desire of Death only to prevent Slavery or avoid Disgrace or miss the sight of an unwelcome object As Cato resolv'd to dye that he might not behold Victorious Caesar whom by all means possible he had endeavoured to ruine â—icero in â—uscul â—est lib. 1. and Cicero saith expresly of him that the reason of his choice was just and that Cato ought to dye rather then see the face of a Tyrant But we have not so learn'd Christ for 3. We must not designedly precipitate or hasten our own departure nor wilfully neglect any probable means to preserve our Lives how desirous so ever we are to be with Christ we acknowldge God as the Author and Owner of our lives and shall we presume to dispose of what is his without a declaration of his consent and order to authorize us Are we bound by the sixth commandment to preserve the Life of our neighbour and may we be negligent and careless of our own is not every man nearer to himself than any other can be and is not self-murder a violation of the Law of nature and condemned by a general suffrage and can we suppose it a sufficient Justification of our selves that