several passages of the Apostle St. Paul the Parable of Lazarus and the example of the Penitent Theif upon the Cross But this leads me to the last thing I propos'd viz. 3. To touch at the time from whence the Blessedness of good Men commences and in this I have already in great measure prevented my self and therefore shall be very short upon it I doubt not therefore in a word to affirm that it begins immediately after the dissolution of Soul and Body Which whether it may be justly infer'd from the particular force of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate henceforth I shall not now dispute For however that be the thing it self is sufficiently clear from many other places of Scripture The whole Scope of the Parable of Dives and Lazarus is a convincing and undeniable Testimony Luke 16.19 c. 1 Phil. 2.23 2 Cor. 5.6 8. The Apostle St. Paul has assur'd us that to depart out of this Life is to be with Christ and that to be at home in the Body is to be absent from the Lord and to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord. Which Places are so clear and full to the purpose that more need not be added And therefore I shall now proceed to the Application of what I have said so as to influence our general Belief and Practice and in particular to temper and allay our Grief which this Melancholy Solemnity is so apt to excite in us And 1. From what has been said I might take occasion to shew the gross absurdity and falshood of that conceit which some have entertain'd concerning the Sleep of the Soul as they call it supposing it in its separate State intirely bereft and strip'd of all Vital Energy or Operation Which how it can be reconcil'd with those Scriptures which assert the immediate Blessedness of the Saints departed I cannot see unless a state of perfect inactivity and stupid senslessness either is or may be accounted a Blessed State 2. I might likewise represent what a direct contradiction the Doctrin of Purgatory as it is taught in the Church of Rome is to the words of the Text. Says the Text Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord No says the Church of Rome they are consign'd for many Years no body knows how many to Purgatory i. e. as they explain themselves to a place whose Torments are very exquisite little less than the pains of Hell to suffer as they speak the Temporal Punishment of those Sins for which they have not compleatly satisfi'd in this Life Can an immediate rest from their Labors and suffering very exquisite Pains and Torments consist together And then 3. From hence also I might shew how vain and useless it is to pray for the Saints who are departed this Life Their Sins and Sorrows are at an end They rest from their Labours They are Blessed and wherein can our Prayers Profit them Is it not absurd to pray for what they already enjoy Tho' the Words give just occasion to discourse upon all these things yet I shall choose rather to insist upon what is plainer and more practical And therefore 1. Are they who die in the Lord Blessed from hence you see the great Necessity the Reasonableness and Advantages of Christian Faith and Practice What greater Motive and Incouragement to live well than to be assur'd that if we do so we shall be happy by an abundant entrance into the joy of our Lord. Blessed are the Dead says the Text but then it is with this Restriction who die in the Lord. Which plainly shews that Blessedness appertains to them to them alone exclusively of all others Unless we live the Life of the Righteous it will be impossible for us to die the Death of the Righteous Unless we live to the Lord resigning our Selves Soul Body and Spirit intirely to his Will and Pleasure we can never die in the Lord never die in his Favour nor partake with him in his Glory The constant exercise of Faith and good Works will give us courage and confidence at the time of our dissolution and after death also If these go before or accompany us they will assure our Hearts and plead our Cause and through the Merits of Christ procure a full approbation and an ample reward But without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. Tribulation Anguish and Horror and black invincible Despair will be the portion of the Ungodly after their Dissolution The end of this life will be to them the beginning of a life of eternal Misery and Torment Impure wicked Souls will be so far from the end of their Labours that they will just then enter upon Labours infinitely more vexatious and insupportable than any they groan'd under in this Life Their Works as well as the Works of the Righteous will follow them into their future State But for this reason to enhance and aggravate their Shame and Misery For then the unreasonableness the folly and turpitude and horrid baseness of their behaviour will be represented to their guilty Minds with such Force and Efficacy and the impossibility of undoing their Evil Deeds or making any Satisfaction for them be so clearly imprest upon them that they will lie down in everlasting Confusion Astonishment and Despair expecting the Resurrection of Damnation Joh. 5.29 and cursing their own obstinate Folly as the only cause of their ruine And since it is thus we plainly see how much it is our Duty and our Interest to live in the sincere Belief and Practice of our Holy Religion that so at the time of our Dissolution we may receive the exceeding great and glorious rewards of it 2. From hence we may draw a very powerful Argument to lessen our Opinion of this World and to animate and fortifie us against the fear of Death What is there in this World that we should be over fond of it What is there in Death that should make us either afraid or unwilling to die Is not this World a place of Injustice and Violence of Subtiltiy and Deceit full of noise and brawling of Strife and Contention Are we not daily expos'd to Detraction and Reproach The Peevishness of some the Stubbornness of others the Treachery and Ingratitude of Friends the Hatred and Injuries of Enemies the contempt of Superiors the jealousie of Equals the envy of the Meaner sort the different Humours the divided and contrary Interests of those we converse with do perplex and almost distract and confound us Are not our best Counsels too often rejected our faithfulest Reproof scorn'd our well-lay'd Designs defeated Is not every thing subject to mutability and a ground of Care and Vexation And since it is thus since this is the State the Guise and manner of this World Why do we admire and dote upon it Why so unwilling to leave it Especially since Death will put an everlasting end to all this Labour and Sorrow and vexation of Spirit
A SERMON AT THE FUNERAL OF Mrs. ELIZABETH FISHER Sister to the Honourable Sir WILLIAM DAWES Bar. D. D. And Wife to the Reverend Dr. PETER FISHER Preach'd at Bennington in Hertfordshire June the 2d 1698. By WILLIAM MILNER Vicar of Shephall in Hertfordshire LONDON Printed for Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal-Exchange in Corn-hill MDCLXXXXVIII To the Honourable the Lady ELIZABETH BENET WIFE OF Sir Richard Benet Bar. Of Babram in Cambridgshire Madam THE honest Plainness and Truth of the following Discourse found such acceptance with the Relations and Friends of that Excellent Person whose immature and much lamented Death was the sad Occasion of it That They have prevail'd with me to make it more publick than I at first intended Believing it would be as acceptable to your Ladyship in the Reading as it was to them when they heard it I was the more willing to comply with their Desire not only that it might be a publick acknowledment of my gâ—eat Obligation to Your Family and to Your Ladyship in particular for Your many great and lasting Favours towards me but because I am sensible the Subject is such as will recommend it to Your Favour Your Ladyship was a Witness and a Lover of the many great Vertues of Your Dear and Excellent Friend Her affectionate care and concern for Your Good the Sincerity of her Friendship the Piety and Prudence of her Counsels the great Vsefulness and Advantage of her Example at such a time when you stood most in need of it by the otherwise irreparable loss of Your truly Pious and most tenderly Affectionate Mother had deservedly endear'd her to You and I perswade my self just Allowances being made for the difference of Your respective Condition and Circumstances You will always imitate whatsoever was Excellent Amiable and Praise-worthy in Her This will recommend You to the esteem of such as are Wise and Good Hereby You will be an Ornament to Your Own Family and add a Lustre to That into which by the successful Care and Endeavours of Your Dear deceased Friend You are so happily transplanted If what I now offer may contribute any thing towards so great and good an End it will be the greatest accession to all the other Favours You have shewn to Madam Your Ladyships Most Obliged and Obedient Servant W. MILNER A SERMON AT THE FUNERAL OF Mrs. ELIZABETH FISHER Rev. 14.13 I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them VVHosoever shall consider these words in their more immediate Connexion with the foregoing parts of the Chapter will see great reason to conclude that in their Original and Primary intention they were deliver'd by the Blessed Spirit and by him commanded to be written for the support and comfort of the Church under that severe Persecution which should befall it But since the Wisdom and Piety of our own Church has thought fit â—o insert the Words into her Office for the Burial of the Dead I shall at this time consider them in a greater Latiâ—ude as of general use to the Church of God in all Ages â—nd under all circumstances holding forth this great and comfortable Truth Viz. That all Good Christians immediately upon their dissolution or departure out of this Life are in a blessed or happy condition A Truth which deserves our more serious and attentive â—egard and meditation because deliver'd by an audible Voice from Heaven expressly commanded to be written and confirm'd by the solemn asseveration of the Spirit And therefore for the more distinct and proffitable handling of the Words give me leave to exercise your Meditation and Patience upon these following things 1. Let me inquire what it is to die in the Lord 2. In what respect or upon what accounts such as die in the Lord are pronounc'd Blessed 3. Let me touch at the time from whence their Blessedness commences And then I shall apply the whole for the directing our Practice and in particular to temper and alleviate our grief upon the Mournful occasion of our present meeting together And 1. Let me inquire what it is to die in the Lord And this will be dispatch'd in a few words Now tho' this Phrase to die in the Lord if consider'd with respect to the particular occasion of the Words may signifie only to die for the Lord i. e. for his sake and in his cause and so may relate to the case of such who suffer Martyrdom for the sake of Christ Yet I doubt not but in the more general and ultimate sense of the Words to die in the Lord is the same as to die in the Faith and Fear and Favour of God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent To die Christians Christians both in Faith and Practice adhering to God through Jesus Christ by an Uniform and Constant Obedience to his Will and a stedfast Faith and Hope of Redemption and Salvation by him For iâ— to be in Christ and to be alive to God through Jesus Christ and to live to him who died for us and rose again are forms of Speech denoting the sincere Belief and Practice of Christianity and the Participation of the Grace and Priviledges of the Gospel in consequence of such Faith and Practice I think their can be no reason to doubt but that these Phrases of Sleeping in Christ and Dying in the Lord must likewise be understood in the same sense so as to imply our Perseverance in such Belief and Practice to our lives end And Blessed are they who thus die in the Lord continuing stedfast without wavering even to the end in all holy Faith and Obedience Which leads me to the Second thing I am to account for Viz. 2. To inquire in what respect and upon what accounts they who die in the Lord are pronounc'd Blessed Or in other words to point at the Nature of that Blessedness which Holy Souls enjoy in their state of Separation from their Bodies But before I enter upon this permit me to premise a few things 1. That as yet we are very much in the dark as to our future State I do not mean as to the certainty of such a State for Life and Immortality is brought to light thro' the Gospel But we are left to uncertainties as to the distinct nature and compleat degrees and measures of its Happiness And 2. We have just reason to believe that the Blessedness of departed Holy Spirits in their State of Separation is less perfect in Quality and Degree than it will be at the Resurrection when their Souls and Bodies shall be reunited by the most intimate Vital Union But nevertheless there is enough reveal'd concerning their present Happiness to convince us that 't is very great far beyond any of the transitory mixt perishing Pleasures of this Life enough to engage good Men to aspire and pant after it at
least to make them neither afraid nor unwilling to die And 3. Lastly I add That whatsoever we know concerning this matter is principally if not wholly owing to Revelation and therefore it becomes none of us to pretend to be wise above what is written We should not exercise our selves with curious perplex'd and useless inquiries but rest contented with what we find plainly deliver'd in Holy Scripture striving always so to order our whole Conversations as that we may be found worthy to be receiv'd when we depart hence into those Mansions our Blessed Lord is gone before to prepare for us These things being thus premis'd let us proceed to consider wherein the Text has plac'd the Blessedness of departed Holy Spirits Now this it tells us lies in these two things They are Blessed 1. Because they rest from their Labours 2. Because their works follow or accompany them into their future State 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The meaning and importance of which things must be the subject of the following Discourse 1. They are Blessed in that they rest from their Labours i. e. They are compleatly deliver'd from all the Troubles and Sorrows all the Evils and Calamities Infirmities and Miseries of this frail Mortal State I say all which either have their Foundation in the very texture and constitution of the Human Body or proceed from the Folly and Frenzie the Envy or Malice of Others In this Vale of Tears and Misery Good Men as well as others are liable to Pain and Sickness to Difficulties and Dangers to Poverty Reproach and Persecution and all the sad effects of their own infirm crazie Bodies and the inordinate Appetites and Passions of others Nay the Sons of Violence too often make them the Marks of their Displeasure and Vengeance for no other reason but because their Works are Righteous And is it not a blessed thing to be deliver'd from such a deplorable and wretched State Why this is the happy state of such who die in the Lord. They are safe out of the reach of all these their Enemies No Smart or Anguish can afflict them No Wrath or Malice overtake them To allude to that of Moses concerning the Egyptians Exod. 14.13 when good Men shall have once past through this Red-Sea they may stand still upon the Shore and look back with Pleasure and Triumph upon all these their Enemies saying we shall see them again no more for ever As Job has it Chap. 3. v. 18.19 In the grave the Wicked cease from troubling and there the weary are at rest There the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor the small and great are there upon the same level none greater than other and the servant is free from his master So that the words of Solomon if understood with reference to departed Saints are strictly true That the day of a mans death is better than the day of his birth Eccles 7.1 The day of his Birth being the beginning of a life attended with continual Care and Sorrow the day of his Death being his Birth-day into a Blessed Immortal Life of uninterrupted Peace and Pleasure This for the First 2. The Second thing wherein the Text places the Blessedness of those who die in the Lord is this They are blessed because their Works accompany or follow them By which we are to understand these Two things I. The Grateful and Pleasant Remembrance II. The Glorious and happy Fruits and Effects or the Reward of their Good Works follows them 1. The Grateful Remembrance of their good Works follows them Now that this is a real Foundation and Ground of Peace and Blessedness to Holy Spirits in their state of separation from their Bodies may be reasonably inferr'd from the Consideration of our selves how it is with us here in our state of Discipline and Trial. For if good Men reflecting upon the course of their past Lives and finding that they have behav'd themselves piously with regard to God and Inoffensively and Charitably towards Men do from this Testimony of their Consciences receive a very sensible and inward Pleasure a Pleasure greater than the World can give which none can comprehend but such as have felt it What an Unspeakable Transporting Inconceiveable Pleasure may we reasonably suppose will spring up in departed Holy Souls when all the good Works of their whole Lives shall be had in remembrance and set in order before them and represented at one view with greater force and advantage than we can suppose they are in this Earthly State How will such Blessed Spirits upon such recollection even melt away and be dissolv'd and swallow'd up in the greatest Transports and highest Extasies of Complacency and Delight 2. The Fruits and Effects or Reward of their good Works accompanies or follows them into their future State But Blessed God! What Tongue can describe what Heart conceive the good things which thou hast prepared for all those who Die in thy Fear and Favour 'T is impossible for us fully to represent the Happiness and Glory of the Saints in their future State yet to excite our Love to God and to quicken our desires after the Enjoyment of Him it can neither be useless nor unseasonable to point at some few things which are the happy Effects and Reward of the Good Works of Holy Men in the other Life And therefore 1. Good Men are compleatly deliver'd from Sin as well as Sorrow and Trouble They are no longer liable to Temptation or Danger from any of the Enemies of God's Glory and their own Salvation Whil'st they are here upon Earth the Devil and his Agents lie in wait to Ensnare them and even their own Flesh which encompasses them about sollicits them to a multitude of Sins and Follies They daily find a Law in their Members warring against the Law of their Minds the Flesh lusting against the Spirit the Animal and Carnal strugling with the Rational and Spiritual Powers which Conflict is the ground and occasion of much Dejection and Disquietness of Soul filling even good Men with many Misgivings and Fears and Perplexities concerning their present Sincerity and future Happiness How in the bitterness of their Souls do they lament their evil Propensities and Inclinations their Slips and Failings their Mistakes and sometimes more notorious Transgressions They find no rest by reason of their Spiritual Enemies and their Hearts too often fail them But it is not thus with the Dead with them who Die in the Lord. He that is once entred into his Rest Heb. 4.10 Rom. 6.7 ceases from his own Works the works of Sin and the Flesh He that is dead is freed from Sin from the fear and danger and possibility of offending God No subtile malicious Serpent can insinuate himself into the Paradise of Holy Souls this Earth is the Scene of Satans Temptation and the place of Tryal Or if we may suppose that the Evil Spirit should creep in amongst them yet he will find nothing
Satisfaction so great which she would not fore-goe when to do it would serve any Wise and better Purpose Tho' she long'd for nothing so much as the Enjoyment of her Husband and Children in the privacies of her own House yet this she declin'd when she was sensible she could not gratifie her own Inclinations without being wanting to an Excellent Young Lady who was left to her more immediate Care and who I doubt not retains very Grateful Impressions of her Love and owes much to the Pious and Prudent Example and Instructions which she always laid before her What an Illustrious and Noble Pattern did she set us of a great and generous Contempt of the Vain Pleasures and Useless Divertisements Foolish Mirth and Impertinent Recreations with which Youth is especially Ensnar'd which have a tendency to corrupt the Mind and bewitch and steal away the Heart and often prove of very Fatal Consequence And this when Youth and Opportunity conspir'd to gratifie her in a high Degree She was always above them they were either Insipid or Distastful She aspir'd chiefly after the Pleasures of Religion and Vertue and a good Conscience which is a continual Feast These were more charming sensible and transporting Pleasures Not that she was Cynical or Morose or an Enemy to the Innocent Pleasures of Conversation or Censorious of others who took a greater liberty than she indulg'd to her self 'T is true she was not fond of these things but yet made all reasonable and fit allowances for others she sometimes gave way but when she did she kept the Reins in her Hands and would not be prevail'd with to exceed the bounds of Modesty and Sobriety If we consider her in her conjugal Relation I had almost apply'd the words of the Wise Man in the Close of that Chapter which she so often made the Subject of her delightful Meditation and daily Practice Many Daughters have done vertuously Prov. 31.29 but thou excellest them all Never was any Wife more tenderly Affectionate towards her Husband and more obsequiously Observant of him and rejoyc'd more in him than she did She always suited her Carriage with the greatest Ease and Chearfulness to the gravity of his Character and Sacred Function Nay she has been often heard to speak of it as one of the greatest Blessings of her Life that God in his wise and good Providence had so order'd it that she should be a Clergy-man's Wife And this she did for that very reason for which too many are so forward now a-days to despise not only our Persons but our Function because it might be a check upon her from that outward adorning as St. Peter calls it of plaiting the hair and wearing of gold and putting on of apparel and might be a more particular engagement to put on that Modesty and Gravity and Sobriety and Meekness and Spiritual Ornaments with which the Apostle requires the Wives of such who Minister in that Sacred Office should in a more particular manner Adorn themselves As to her Conversation among her Neighbours they must and I am perswaded will do her that right as to testifie that it was very Kind and Courteous towards all Compassionate and Tender-hearted towards them in their distress She was faithful in her Friendship unwearied in her Diligence and prudent in her Conduct her Speech was Savoury and Behaviour Graceful she was an Ornament and a Crown to her Husband a Blessing to her Family and whole Neighbourhood and a Pattern to her Sex If we take a view of her in her last lingring tedious and oftentimes painful Sickness we have an illustrious example of the due Exercise of all those Graces and Vertues which are peculiar and proper to such a Condion an invincible patience and fortitude of Mind attended with a profound and intire Resignation to the Will of God She was never heard to complain or murmur Was easie in her self and to those about her and thankful for the assistance they gave her Never exprest any great desire of Life I once heard her say with great modesty and temper she should have been glad if it would have pleas'd God to have entrusted her with the Education of her dear and hopeful Children that she might have taken the same Pious Care of them which her Relations and Friends had done of her however she was content knowing they were safe in the Hands of God and committed them to his Good Providence under the pious affectionate and prudent Care of her dearest Husband of which she was intirely satisfy'd When she had the quickest and most sensible Apprehensions of Death she said she was neither afraid nor unwilling to Die having nothing upon her Mind to trouble her How great an argument of Integrity and Innocence Guilt if there be any usually manifesting itself at such a time in Persons of Pious Principles and Education But she could not charge her self And it pleas'd our Wise and Good God to reward her Innocence with a calm and comfortable Death It pleas'd him to release her out of the Troubles and Miseries of this World the last Lord's Day with great hopes of keeping an Everlasting Sabbath with Him in that Glory which he has prepar'd for all those who Love Him in Sincerity and Truth And thus have I very imperfectly given you something of the Character and Conversation of that Excellent Person whose Remains are here before us I have not been sollicitious of any Method or used any Art to deceive and am perswaded that nothing but meer Malice can accuse me of Insincerity or Flattery And the sum of all is this That our Deceas'd Sister was Blest with as many truly Noble and Great Accomplishments and had as few defects and imperfections as any of her Sex and must be reckon'd amongst the best and brightest Patterns of a Refin'd and Exalted Virtue And now should not the Consideration of so Early and Exemplary a Piety and true Goodness which made her too good for this World and qualified her for a better incline us to wipe our Eyes at least not to Mourn immoderately at this our Loss which is her unspeakable Gain If Natural Affection must and will have a vent yet we must govern it by Reason and Religion We must remember what great and just Grounds we have to believe she died in the Lord and is Blessed in a rest from her Labours and that the happy Fruits Effects and Reward of her Works follow Her and must comfort our selves with such Considerations Above all since in the establish'd Method of the Divine Wisdom and Goodness there 's an impossibility she should return to us again let us strive so to order our Conversation that when our appointed time comes we may go to her and all our Christian Friends to the General Assembly of Saints and Spirits of just Men made perfect without any future possibility of ever parting with them again and give me leave to say that the best and kindest thing we can do to the Memory of our departed Friends is to Copy after them to Transcribe their Piety and Goodness into our own Practice To imitate their Virtues is most Honourable to them and Profitable to our selves this shews a true Love and Value for them and will at length Transmit us to them again where we shall partake with them in their Blessedness If amongst them there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any sense or knowledge of our Affairs we can do nothing so Grateful and Delightful to them By so doing we stand up in their Room and supply their Places and present and future Generations will call Us as well as Them Blessed and we shall enter into our Rest as they have entr'd into theirs and be for ever with the Lord. Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal-Exchange in Corn-hill THE Duties of the Closet being an earnest Exhortation to private Devotion 120. Price 1 s. 6 d. A Sermon Preach'd before the King at White-Hall Nov. 5th 96. By Sir William Dawes Baronet D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty Publish'd by his Majesty's special Command The Second Edition Quarto Price 6 d. A Sermon Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Aldermen at Guild-Hall Chappel on Sunday April the 11th By Sir William Dawes Baronet D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty Quarto Price 6 d. A Sermon at the Funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Fisher Sister to the Honourable Sir William Dawes Baronet D. D. And Wife to the Reverend Dr. Peter Fisher Preach'd at Bennington in Hertfordshire June 2d 1698. By William Milner Vicar of Shiphall in Hertfordshire Quarto Price 6 d. Of the Happiness of the Saints in Heaven A Sermon Preach'd before the Queen at White-Hall October the 12th 90. By William Beveridge D. D. Rector of St. Peters Cornhill The Third Edition Quarto Price 6 d. A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Grey Late Vicar of Dedham in Essex Preach'd in the Parish Church of Dedham Feb. 2d 92. With a short Account of his Life By Joseph Powel M. A. Rector of St. Mary on the Wall in Colchester Quarto Price Six-Pence The Death of Good Josiah Lamented A Sermon occasion'd by the Death of our late most Gracious Soveraign