of a smoaky Cottage that it may be built a stately Palace as the Southsayers said upon the burning of the Capitol by lightning the Gods did suffer it to be that it might be built better and more gloriously Now these are the actings of faith required in him who would dye to the Lord. Now a Person may dye in the Lord and be blessed who yet doth not thus dye to the Lord for these actings may be suspended either 1. Through our inadvertency not considering what duty is incumbent upon us to glorifie God in dying 2. Through violence of diseases depriving or at least dulling and stupifying the memory understanding reason which are necessarily required to these actings 3. By some fit of desertion whereby we come to doubt of our evidences which alone can make us cheerfully to submit Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace now and not till now because now mine eyes have seen thy Salvation And thus I have done with the first thing which needed to be explained who they be that are said to dye in the Lord. II. I shall now speak to the second what that blessedness is which they who dye in the Lord shall have This is an hard thing if not impossible to do the Scripture speaks of it as that which is inexpressible unutterable See 2 Cor. 12.4 Paul rapt up into heaven heard words unspeakable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which it is not possible for a man to utter yea which is more unconceivable 1 Cor. 2.9 it hath not entred into the heart of man 'T is in vain to expect that it should be spoken with the Tongue which cannot be conceived by the heart As soon may the Earth and Sea be put into a Pot as the bliss of glorified Saints into the understanding as soon may you hold the whole earth in the hollow of the hand as comprehend heaven in the heart Much hath been spoken and written concerning it doubtless to the great chearing of the hearts of Saints insomuch that some have been ravished with the newes of it that they have in a kind of impatiency been weary of life and longed for death saying come Lord Jesus come quickly yet I believe that when a Saint comes to heaven he will say in the words of the Queen of Sheba 1 King 10 6 7. It was a true report that I heard upon earth of heavens glory but behold the half was not told me The Apostle in the place before describes it Negatively Eye hath not seen c. The eye hath seen much the ear hath heard more than ever the eye saw and the heart of man can conceive more than ever the eye saw or ear heard yet the heart cannot conceive this Surely the full and perfect knowledge of this blessedness is only to those Saints who are comprehenders of it The blind man may say much of light but nothing comparably to him who beholds the light much may be said of the sweetness of honey by what is reported of it but it is nothing to what may be said from the tasting and eating of it See 1 Joh. 3.2 it doth not yet appear what we shall be or what glory we shall have till we come to see this light and eat of this honey I might therefore shut up this part in silence wishing you to wait till this glory shall be fully revealed but because something may be expected upon the method before laid down it being one of the three things promised to be explained and besides much is said of it in the Scripture to the unspeakable consolation of believers making them bear up and be of good chear under present evils whereof this life is full whiles they have an eye to the recompence of reward I shall therefore as the Lord shall enable me give you a brief collection of what is held forth in Scripture concerning this blessedness I cannot go round about Sion and tell all the Towers may I at least but point out some The Israelites rejoyced but to see some clusters from Canaan and it may refresh our hearts whilest we behold some parts or pieces of this glory laid down before us They waited for Gods time to take possession of that earthly Canaan and so must we 't is but tarry till death comes Death will put us in possession of the heavenly Canaan then it shall be said to Saints as to Abraham Genesis 13.17 Arise walk through the Land in the length and breadth of it Beleevers shall be blessed when they die but wherein doth this blessednesse consists I Answer to the making up of blessednesse it is required 1. That it be full 2. That it be lasting Fulnesse implies 1. The absence of all evil 2. The presence of all good 1. Then Saints dying are out of the reach and danger of evill Prastat non esse quà m miserum esse of what may be called evil even the very appearance of evil Though there were no good in Heaven yet it is very considerable that there is no evil Now evil is two fold 1. Of sin 2. of punishment but neither is in Heaven 1. There is no sin there this is the grand evil a poysonous weed that growes every where but in Heaven 'T is said that no venemous thing will live in Ireland I am sure it is true of heaven This weed took rooting in paradise but it was the earthly Paradise and not the heavenly whereof Christ speaks Luke 23.43 and whereof St. Paul speaks 2 Cor. 12.4 The best of Saints carry sin about with them one need not tell them so they know it to the great grief of their heart it being that which often fetcheth water from their eyes and blood from their Souls Hearken but to their Closet doors and you shall hear sad complaints against it and mourning over it This is that stone tyed to the birds legg Anselm as one well resembles it upon seeing boys play which pulleth it down when it attempts to fly aloft This is that Pharaoh which keeps Gods Israel in bondage and hinders from serving God as they should and as they would There is indeed a principle of grace in beleevers and there is also a body of sin and in this respect they are like to the tribe of Manasse half in the Land of Canaan half on the other side Jordan But death will convey them into the heavenly Canaan Col. 3.5 and the Jordan of sin shall be quite dryed up may not this be one reason why the Apostle calls sins our members which are upon earth members because of the dear love we are apt to bear to them they are as dear as the members of our body as an eye and hand and earthly because they shall not be in Heaven These sins by the power of grace are mortified in Saints whiles they are upon earth but in Heaven they shall be nullified there shall not be an hoof left behind Here they are cast down there
A VOYCE FROM HEAVEN SPEAKING Good words and Comfortable words concerning Saints departed Which words are opened in a SERMON PREACHED At SOUTH-WEAL In ESSEX 6. September 1658. At the Funeral of that Worthy and Eminent Minister of the Gospel Mr. Thomas Goodwin Late Pastor there Hereunto is annexed a relation of many things observable in his Life and Death By G. B. Preacher of the word at Shenfield in Essex 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy Sting Luk. 14.15 Blessed is he that shall eat Bread in the Kingdom of God LONDON Printed by S. Griffin for J. Kirton at the Kings-Arms in Pauls Church-yard 1659. TO The Right Worshipful Sir Henry Wright Knight and Baronet And to the Worshipful Mr. John Leech Esquire Justice of Peace And to the Good Gentleman Mr. Richard Sherbrook Together with the rest of the Inhabitants of Southweal Honoured and much Respected I Do here present you with a Sermon Preached at the Funeral of your Pastor Loth I was to Preach it not grudging the Service but wishing the work had fallen into better hands More loth I was to Print it well knowing that there is nothing in this or any thing of mine worth Publishing to the world It sufficeth me if by private Preaching I may serve God in the place where my lot is cast I dwell among mine own people But the urgent importunings both of Ministers and other Christians have wearyed me and being not able to withstand the many Sollicitations I have forced myself to send abroad this Sermon which I Dedicate to your selves to whom of right it doth belong The occasion of it was the Death of him who was your Pastor your Minister and whose Flock and People yee sometime were It comes to you by way of Dedication be pleased to own it with your Christian Acceptation It is indeed very plain without any flourishings and therefore can scarce expect a welcome for its own sake but it tends to keep up the memory of him whom you sometime loved and delighted in you may welcome it for his sake and moreover it contains heavenly comforts Counsels which being the Truths of God you must welcome it for Gods sake and for the sake of your own souls It comes out somewhat long after the Preaching and no marvel if it come late I had much a do to perswade with my self to let it come at all Though indeed the hand of the Lord upon me in a sore sickness made it much longer than otherwise it would have been It is enlarged beyond what it was when I Preached it because the straits of time we being benighted and many persons far from their home would not suffer me to deliver scarce one half of what was then intended I then only delivered the heads now you have the enlargements upon those heads And Now Honoured and Worthy Friends give me leave a little to vent the sorrows of my heart for this great loss The blow indeed lights upon you mainly but not upon you only but upon the Neighbour-hood also yea the whole Church of God I have had many sad Letters since his Death bewailing the loss If others at a great distance be so affected how should you your selves much more lay to heart you may justly call your selves Ichabod Glory is departed The Ark is for the present taken from you God can Glory over you and set up the Ark again among you Amen the Lord grant it but yet remember you had a Goodwin among you some of you I am perswaded being the Seal of his Ministry will remember him as long as you have a day to live Your Town of Brentwood is famous for its situation upon an Hill but its eminency of late years was much from Mr. Goodwins Ministry in that place Your Hill seemed to be the Candlestick whereon this burning and shining light was set He was a Tower a Beacon on this Hill His monethly Lectures which the Neighbours round about did partake of made it as the Hill of Hermon and Mount Sion distilling dewes upon the Valleys round about He is now gone and is as water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered up again Though his Person be dead let his doctrines live yea because he is gone let them the rather remain He shall Preach to you no more unless it be by his former labours and holy life by both which he being dead yet speaketh Mr. Goodwin still lives in Weal if ye his people stand fast in the Lord which that you may do as also be blessed with one to succeed who may call home the uncalled and perfect what is lacking in the faith of others is and shall be the Prayer of him who is Your Servant in Christ Jesus GEORGE BOWND REVELAT 14. v. 13. And I heard a voyce from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth THe words which I have read unto you are part of a Sermon Preached by an Angel the third Angel mentioned in this Chapter That they depend upon the foregoing words Ad superiora hac refero Aret. in loc and that the voyce from heaven in the Text was uttered by the same Angel is the Judgement of a good expositor This Sermon as it may fitly be called begins from verse the 9th and we may observe three things concerning it 1. The Preacher 2. The Matter 3. The Method First the Preacher viz. God by an Angel from Heaven Preaching and Prophesying to Iohn what things should come to pass in the latter dayes In what age these things were fulfilled whether in the time of Martin Luther as some or later Preachers as others I shall not spend time to enquire The Preacher is an Angel from Heaven and though the Lord ordinarily Preach to his Church by men upon earth yet in some extraordinary cases he preaches by Angels from heaven Ministers indeed are called Angels Rev. 1.20 and it is no small honour which ariseth to that office from the name which the Persons bear yet though called Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pares Angelis they are inferiour to them which are in heaven when they come to Heaven they with other Saints shall be Angels fellows Luc. 20.36 Secondly The matter of the Sermon is destruction to the wicked both here and hereafter but Salvation to the Godly if not in this life yet certainly hereafter in the life to come That which this Angel Preached is such as to which the Scripture in the whole tenour of it consenteth and is agreeable to the Analogy of Faith Angels from heaven will Preach can preach no other that of Gal. 1.8 Is the supposition of an impossible case say Expositors There be indeed Angels that Preach other Doctrines the Devil and his Angels from Hell in their Instruments false Teachers upon Earth There be many Errors among the School-men though they be called Angelical Doctors This Angel in the Text is from heaven and accordingly his doctrines Scriptural as all
such as are of a meek Col. 1.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui idoneos nos fecit Trem. Beza gentle and loving Spirit 'T is the inheritance of Saints for which persons must be made meet or fitted The Spirit of God finds persons sinful but it new moulds them and changeth them into holy ones before it brings them to Heaven 'T is said of one of the Roman Emperours when he came to the Empire he found the City built of Brick but before he dyed their buildings were of Marble I may apply it to the change which the Holy Ghost makes in the Soul Invenit lateritiam reliquit marmoream Suet. in vit August he makes a sinful Soul holy which is more then to pull down buildings of Brick and to erect buildings of marble The result of all is this that Holines is the way to blessedness they who would take Christ for a Saviour must take him for a Sampler they who would have the benefit of his death must take the example of his life The Exhortation therefore is labour to be holy as ever you desire to be happy Be divorced from your lusts cast away your idols subdue the strength of sin bid no welcome to the Friends of sin watch against the wiles and fetches of sin make you a clean heart get a regenerate heart the image of God renewed upon your Souls Qui vult finem vult media ad finem cease not till you be partaker of the Divine Nature In a word be godly in Christ Jesus you must use the means in order to the desired end Must go to the School of Grace before you can come to the Vniversity of Glory I shall now lay down 4. things by way of caution and then a few closing Counsels and so I will have done For the cautions 1. Do not think that all shall be blessed for onely they shall be blessed who are in the Lord when they die To be in Christ and to be godly is all one Now the Scripture saith not onely that all are not godly but that the number of godly ones compared with the ungodly is but small absolutely considered they are many Matthew 8.11 Many shall come and sit down with Abraham c. Revel 7.4 An hundred and forty and four thousand were sealed But comparatively they are but few Matth. 7.14 Narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock or as the Original will bear little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 little flock 2. Do not think that Christ and grace and a right to blessedness may be had when thou wilt to be at thy beck come and it comes There is this presumptuous conceipt in many which makes them not so much as look after getting into Christ till they come to die when they have extreme need of being in Christ and not to have Christ then to get Luke 19.42 Let Sinners hear and fear that word and wish of Christ Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that concern thy peace yea but they might say we will know them t is yet all in good time He answers they had lost their day and season and now they were hidden from their eys Will not some bemoan themselves when it is too late in the words of the Prophet Jer. 8.20 The Summer is past the Harvest is ended and we art not saved The time of grace ends with the time of life to all Manna must be gathered on the six dayes of thy life there is no gathering on the seventh resembling thy rest in death there is no devise nor knowledge in the grave But yet the day of grace may end with some before they come to the end of the days of their life And though we know not the expiration of it nor can say of any particular person nor any particular person say of himself that the day of grace is past unless it were known that he had sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost Yet Scripture expressions hold forth the truth of the thing that it is so And therefore let all presumptuous delayers look well about them and O Sinner to day on this thy day hear the voice of Christ believe and repent How knowest thou but this may be the day this the Sermon which if thou rejectest Mercy and Peace may be for ever hidden from thine eyes Blessedness is not to be had when thou wilt 3. Do not think though thou livest in sin and goest on in thy wickednesse yet thou mayest come to Heaven at last for all that Consider and seriously weigh but these Scriptures Deut. 29.19 Gal. 6.7 1 Cor. 6.9 And if this have been thy thought thy inward thought for none will say so whatever they think they may well make thee be of another mind 4. And lastly by way of caution think not that every remiss way of serving of God will serve the turn to bring thee to blessedness Lukewarmness is the sin of our age and the bane of our Souls Many Christians by profession are in their spiritual condition 1 King 2.1 like David in his old age as to his bodily condition so cold that though they covered him with cloathes yet he gat no heat All the Ordinances under which they lie will not warm them into any Zeal but they continue either very cold and frozen or at most but lukewarm Like the Climat wherein they live which is neither extreme cold nor violently hot but temperate they have a profession but no power they keep in a round of duties without being quickned in any love to God or zeal for God but alass this will not bring to Blessedness as was shewed before in the opening of the Text. These are the cautions Now to draw to a Conclusion I have from the Scripture before us held forth the bliss and happiness of Saints and thereby an offer hath been made of the same blessedness unto Sinners It offers it self to you Oh that you would offer your selves to it In this Sermon you may say Salvation came to your House it came to your Doors Heaven goes a begging that it may be accepted But it fares in this case as we commonly observe in other cases proffer'd things find little acceptance because proffered And indeed if we consider the multitude of Sermons that are preached and how in every Sermon Christ and Heaven and Blessedness are offered yet by very few accepted We must needs think and judge the frequent tenders do through the corruption of our hearts occasion the horrible sleighting of them Silver in the days of Solomon being common was of no account The Lord grant this sin bring not upon us the scarcity of the Word that it should be with us as in the dayes of Samuel 1 Sam. 3.1 The Word of the Lord was precious in those dayes there was no open vision The time may come when we would give a world
Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven at Gods table Here in this life a Beleever hath sweet refreshments in his or her Souls peace which causeth joy that passeth Vnderstanding joy which others know not of A stranger intermedleth not with his joy but this is far short of what they shall have when they shall come to see God as he is The best Wine is kept till last The joy which Beleevers have in this life arising from their inward peace is said to be full 1 John 1.4 Mr. Saunders the Martyr seemed so full as if he had some to spare some to bequeath to his Wife and therefore in his Letter from Prison to her he legacies this to her who had no mony nor worldly goods to give her His words are thus set down in the Book of Martyrs I am merry and I trust I shall be merry maugre the teeth of Men and Devils Riches I have none to endow you with but the sweet feeling of the love of God in Christ whereof I thank my God I have a part that I bequeath to you Was not his joy full Mr. Bolton lying on his sick bed said to his Friends standing about him that he was as full of comfort as his heart could hold And truly their joy is full in comparison of the worlds empty joyes which are but from the teeth outward but in respect of Heavens joy it is but inchoative and comes far short of it What is the Morning light to Psal 36.8 Cant. 5.4 Noon-day what is a taste to a full draught to drink of the river of pleasures What is it to look in at the Key-hole to the being let in to the Chamber of the Bridegrom The manner of expression Mat. 25.21 23. Is observable where the good and faithful Servant is bid to enter into his Masters joy There is not onely shewed that it shall be a place of joy but there is hinted the greatnesse of that joy such as cannot enter into him but therefore he shall enter into it It cannot enter into a Beleever by Comprehension but he shall enter into it by fruition yea there is shewed in what measure the Beleever shall partake of it he shall enter into it not hear of it or only see it but go into it and walk it in the length and breadth thereof And further if this joy exceed the sweet spiritual joy of Beleevers no doubt but it far surpasseth the joy of wicked Men and wordlings Indeed their joy is often great and full in its kind they drink Wine in Bowles they lie upon beds of Ivory they chaunt to the sound of the Viol. Amos 6.4 5 6. I have heard of one who resolved to spend 500 l. to please his 5. senses and I have read of another who provided ponds of sweet waters to drown himself in after he had spent what time of life he might in surfeting wallowing in sensual pleasures Now can we think these joys may be compared with the joy blisse and happinesse of Heaven they are not worthy to be named the same day with the spiritual joy of Beleevers before spoken which yet as hath been shewed comes far short of what shall be in glory Worldly joyes are vain empty frothy those we speak of are full and substantial They are seeming painted joyes they do not reach the heart nor quiet the heart at least give but a light touch a kind salute and pass away but those whereof we speak are lasting and abiding they refresh both inward and outward Man the heart and the flesh Psalm 84.2 I shall here lay down one convincing Argument to prove that the joy which glorified Saints shall have must needs go beyond all other pleasures and joyes whatsoever take it thus The higher and greater the mercy is the greater must needs the joy be These keep pace and as one riseth so the other riseth also the more weight is hung on the faster the wheeles move See Psalm 126.2 Our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Now what might cause this great joy Verse 3. The Lord hath done great things for us great Mercies are Ecchoed again with great joyes Now what greater Mercy can a poor Creature be capable of than to sit in heavenly places If this be the greatest Mercy as sure it is in it self and in the account of gracious Souls Psa 73.24 witnesse their waiting and even longing till afterward come when they shall be received to glory then it must needs provoke the greatest joy like that spoken of Isa 35.10 Which some expound of Heaven they shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads the head being put for the whole Man as Prov. 10.6 And many other places the meaning is they shall be all over covered with joy from top to toe That which is poured on the Head will run down and thus the joy of Heaven shall be Luc. 6.38 good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over I shall close up this second part with one consideratiō more whereby besides what hath been already said it may appear that the life in Heaven and glory shall be happy in exceeding great joy and it is this The work of Beleevers in glory shall be in continual praising God singing songs to the praise of free grace whereby they are brought to Heaven whiles others otherwise alike hewed out of the same Rock digged out of the same pit are yet turned into Hell Now singing is the expression of mirth and joy as by the bush hung out we know there is Wine within singing comes not from an heavy heart Prov. 25.20 Some say it shall be the onely work with which the People of God in Heaven shall be wholly taken up the Jewes say that the sacrifice of praise or thank-offerings exceeds all other sacrifices in two things 1. In the universality being performed by Men and Angels 2. In the perpetuity when all other sacrifices shall cease this shall remain this shall out-live all legal sacrifices and be the proper work of the blessed when praying shall cease and hearing cease Yet praising and singing Hallelujahs shall continue I may apply hither Ps 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in this house they shall be still praising God still or evermore We have heard what flocking there hath been sometimes to the University to be present at a Musick act Now in Heaven there shall be continual Musick singing and making melody continual praising Some think the very forms of words wherewith glorified Saints shall praise God are set down in Rev. 5.13 Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever And Rev. 11.17 We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come I have read that holy Chrysostom's last words were Glory be to God from all creatures they are as it were the breathings of
a Soul in Heaven before it was quite gon from the earth The summe of all is this that Believers shall have perfect bliss and happiness They shall live in Heaven where shall be pleasures mirth singing and rejoycing above what we are able to express or to conceive This shall suffice for the first branch of the second part by way of Explication They who dye in the Lord are blessed Blessedness must be full that is there must be no evil and there must be all good the perfection of grace and holiness with the fulness of bliss and happiness But now 2. As it must be full so it must be lasting and enduring and so indeed the bessednesse of Saints shall be not onely for a long time but for ever It shall be Eternal such as is the Eternity of our Souls which had a beginning but shall have no ending called Eviternity to distinguish from the Eternity of God A parte post non a parte ante who alone is the first and last without beginning without ending This bliss hath a beginning henceforth saith the Text but shall have no ending it is Eternal Eternity at the very naming of it is enough to amaze our thoughts in studying to know what it is It is the continuance of any good thing which makes it a full good Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years said the rich Man in the gospel He glories not so much in the abundance of his goods as in the hope of their continuance How do Men rejoyce in the purchase of an estate because they have that not by lease for term of years but the Deeds run to them and their Heirs for ever Though indeed it is not for ever but far short of that For besides what may happen in the interim at the great day all the Evidences shall be undoubtedly burnt and it is more than probable from divers Scriptures the Land also Heb. 1.11 Isa 51.6 Matth. 24.35 2 Peter 36.10 12. Rev. 21.1 To be sure the propriety in these pronouns Mine and Thine shall cease Yet the hope Men have of its continuance for some long time doth much content them David took it as a great favour that God would bestow a Kingdom upon him to raise him from following the sheep to be King over Israel 2 Sam. 7.18 Yet Verse 19. He saith This was but a small thing that which made the mercy great was that God had spoken of continuing it for a great while to come he adds and is this the manner of Man O Lord God he seems to be much transported in admiring the continuance of his Mercy though it were not so much to him in person but to his posterity Let a thing in it self be never so excellent yet the fear of losing it darkens all the excellency of it Earthly treasures are therefore less to be accounted of because Thieves may break thorough and steal them What true content could the rich Man take in his abundance when once he heard This night all should be gone Corneliam nescie an faeliciorem talem virū habuisse an miseriorem amisisse Et invito processit vesper Olympo 'T is spoken to the humbling of the great ones upon earth that though they live like Gods yet should die like Men Though the good thing be great yet if not lasting t is not ful yea the greatness of it greatens the misery upon the losing When a Scholar hath been reading a good Book it troubles him to see Finis When the people of God have been keeping a day of Prayer in Communion with God it saddens them much that they should break off because the day is done But now the blessedness of Saints is not onely a great good as hath been shewed but a lasting good it shall have no end 1 Thess 4.17 They shall be for ever with the Lord Rev. 3.12 He that goeth in shall go out no more some interpret it of a Beleever in this life Notat gloriae stabilitatem Pisc in loc Isa 33.20 to prove no falling from grace some again interpret it of the state of glory The life of glory is such a life to which immortality is essential 2 Tim. 1.10 We read of life and immortality that is to say immortal life Heaven is a Tabernacle that shall not be taken down not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken The blessednesse of Beleevers shall be eternal but what is Eternity I shall shew you how a learned and holy Divine illustrates it to the meanest capicity Suppose saith he the whole World were a Sea Mr. Perkins on the Creed and that every thousand years expired a bird must carry away or drink up one onely drop of it in processe of time it will come to passe that this Sea though very huge shall be dryed up but yet many thousand millions of years must be passed before this can be done Now if a Man should enjoy happinesse in Heaven onely for the space of time in which this Sea is drying up he would think his case most happy and blessed but behold the Elect shall enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven not onely for that time but when it is ended they shall enjoy it as long again and when all is done they shall be as far from ending of this their joy as they were at the beginning And now by what hath been said we may in some measure understand what is that blessedness which the Saints and Children of God shall have it is great and full it is also lasting yea everlasting which cannot be said of any thing here below The best of the worlds excellencies are fading and quickly blasted No day so pleasant but ends in a darknight No Summer so fruitful but ends in a barren Winter No Body so fair but will be changed by death from Beauty to Deformity In the dayes of Noah they were eating and drinking but the flood comes and sweeps them all away Great mirth was among the Philistins but their banquetting-house becomes their burying-place The Monarch of Babel whose head was of Gold had the feet of clay Sic transit gloria mundi All the pomp of the world is like Jonahs gourd now flourishing and anon fading there is that worm in the root of all worldly comforts as will blast them But the mercies and joyes and comforts of Heaven are not such they are eternity mercies eternity joyes eternity comforts take away the lastingness or rather everlastingness and we blow up Saints happinesse Thus much for the explication of the second thing viz. What that blessedness is which they who dye in Lord shall have Now a word of the third thing and so I will come to the Application Therefore 3. Having shewed who they be who dye in Lord and what the bessedness is that they shall have it remains to shew in the third place when they shall be made partakers
Paul thence presseth they should be contented to suffer because they should be glorified Ridlie the Martyr cheered up his fellow saying Rom. 8.17 though we have a bitter break-fast yet we shall have a sweet Supper meaning in glory From these passages I may infer to your comfort who are Christians indeed that be your present burthens never so heavy yet glory yea I may say one half hour in glorie will make amends for all Some persecutors have been very witty to invent most exquisite torments yet the hope of blessedness hath made them to be as nothing The Martyrs in their undaunted courage made no more of them then Sampson of the Philistins wit hs or like the Leviathan in Job Iron is but as straw and Brass as rotten wood Job 41.27 All their troubles and sufferings are but light they are heavy in themselves but the weight of glory makes afflictions light See 2 Cor. 4.17 18. Oh Christians do but make experiment when you are apt to droop and find your Spirit is overwhelmed run to this as to your Aqua Vitae bottle take but a sip of it and it will refresh you you shall be blessed Write blessed are c. Yea saith the Spirit Oh then lift up the Hands which hang down and the feeble Knees There is no Cup so bitter but this will sweeten it no Fire so hot but this will slack and quench it I say again do but make experiment God hath provided many supports for his drooping people but I may say as David of Goliahs sword None like to this no support like the remembrance of glory One leaf of the tree of life is better then clusters of worldly comforts Be thy burthen what it will how heavy soever yet the calling to mind future blessedness will make it light and easie Gen. 21.19 But alass Saints droop and with Hagar are ready to faint when there is a Well of water by them but they see it not at least have not skill to draw The Lord open your eyes as he did hers But you will say when shall we have this blessednesse and glory I Answer at Death you shall have it not now but afterwards See John 13.36 Christ said to Peter whither I go thou canst not follow me now but thou shalt follow me afterwards Christ went to Heaven thither Peter should come at length when he dyed Death is in a sort a cause of this happinesse that is without which it will not be And indeed see how graciously God hath ordered it Death came as a curse Mal. 2.22 but it is turned into a blessing God threatneth to the wicked to curse their blessings and promiseth to the godly to bless their curses Death with one hand holds forth a Sword even over Believers to slay their Body it smites one and other hip and thigh But observe its other hand with that death opens a door of glory Who would think that Death should do this 'T is as in Sampsons riddle Edulium ex edente out of the eater came meat it is a riddle indeed but a very truth And whereas Death is dismal and dreadful the King of fears it becomes now an Anchor of hope the valley of Berachah or blessing So that the Saints can welcome it and say as David of Ahimaas He is a good Man 2 Sam. 18.27 and bringeth good tidings They can wait for it Job 14.14 He was an expectant all his dayes yea wish for it thus Paul I desire to be dissolved Phil. 1.23 They can stand as Abraham in the door of the Tabernacle to speak to the Angel or with Elijah in the mouth of the cave to meet the Lord coming to them by death Now how comes this to pass even because they know they must be as it were beholding to Death to do them this favour and kindness to bring them to their blessedness This sure affords strong Consolation to the Children of God I shall carry on this use of Consolation a little further to the particular case of any who may be excercised in the loss of godly Friends they die in the Lord and therefore are blessed But you will say this was matter of comfort concerning those who dyed under that persecution to which this relates But mark the voice from Heaven said Write intimating it is of use in all ages for what is written is for the Churches Learning and comfort to the end of the World Blessed are the dead that die now in the Lord. The Apostle in 1 Thess 3.4 Holds forth this blessedness which Saints shall have after this life is done makes it a main argument of comfort to those that survive having lost their godly friends verse 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words and chiefly with the words immediately preceding that they are dead in Christ and so shall ever be with the Lord. This is comfort indeed and it is but sorry comfort where this hope is not fixed sure this foundation and no other will bear up the building of comfort Heathens indeed who knew nothing of the blessedness of such as die in Christ had their consolatory addresses to their afflicted Friends They would tell them Death was that which none could avoid therefore in vain it was to grieve Mors ultima linea rerum They told them it was the common lot of all things Not onely Men but famous Cities flourishing Kingdoms had their periods Anaxagoras comforted himself at the death of his Children saying he begat them but mortal ones Heri vidi fragilem ftangi hodiè mortalem mori Epictetus seeing a Woman weeping for her pitcher which she had broken and next day for her Son being dead stayed her mourning telling her it was all one her Son was but as an earthen pitcher Little better are those comforts wherewith carnal Christians labour to relieve themselves and their Friends in these cases as thus Death is the way of all the earth the house appointed for all living Josh 23.14 Job 30.23 Psalm 119.109 Jam. 4.14 Isa 40.6 we carry our lives in our hand Our life is as a vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away All flesh is grass and the goodlinesse thereof as the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth These are Scripture-truths indeed and not taken out of Heathen Philosophers or Poets They are such as rightly used and applyed may be comfortable to relieve under the losse of Friends and dear relations But their intendment is not so much for Consolation as for Instruction to us that hearing of the frailty of this life we may prepare for eternity Nor indeed in themselves absolutely can they afford any solid comfort because they speak onely to the condition and state of the Body But when the state of the Soul after Death comes to be weighed 2 Cor. 5.10 Rev. 20.12 John 3.3 Rev. 20 10 Psal 9.17 as that all must appear before the
judgement seat of Christ and that the Books shall be opened and great and small must stand before God when it shall be considered that unless a Man be born again he shall never see the Kingdom of God when hear of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone and that the wicked shall be turned into Hell I say again when these things come to be weighed the other passages barely considered will be but as a spiders web wherein is no strength how finely soever it may seem to be woven But now when we have good grounds to believe concerning our dead Friends that they loved feared and served God in their life time that they were godly in Christ Jesus or in the words of the Text that they were in the Lord Jesus when they dyed when we can comfort one another with these words This will afford strong consolation for of such the word of truth saith they are blessed They are freed from sin made perfect in holiness they are entred into their Masters joy they would not live again on earth they are ten thousand thousand times better This is comfort indeed this is an Handkerchief to wipe away all tears from our eyes yea to make us go away and be no more sad This is the use of Consolation Oh that Christians would lay it up as a choice treasure for so indeed it is Some may need it for the present let them make use of it Others may soon need it therefore lay it up against a time of need 'T is ordinary with us when we find any thing though for the present we know not what use to put it to yet we will lay it up saying we may need it before seven years come about So I say of this you will ere long one and another have need of this cordial therefore keep it by you carefully you may need it before seven years come about perhaps before seven dayes yea seven hours come about God may call you your selves to die and what will be your comfort in a sick bed but to know you are in Christ and so shall be blessed if you die He may spare you and take away your Friends Relations wherein can you comfort your selves under such providences but onely in this they were in Christ and therefore are blessed 4. The fourth and last use shall be for Exhortation It directs it self both to Saints and Sinners But a word to the first because there is great need of speaking a little more largely to the other Therefore 1. Let all the Children of God and Members of Christ study their own bliss acquaint thēselves before hand with the glory that shall be revealed afterwards Sursum corda Set your affections on things above Let your conversation be in Heaven Labour in your meditations to be rapt up into the third Heaven Be often as it were drawing the Latch of Heaven door and look in yea walk thorough that holy Land in the length and breadth of it Holy Heavenly Meditations will enable you to do all this Let your hearts take possession of Heaven whiles your bodies are upon earth and this will work a disdain of things below Non satis futura gaudia nostri nisi renuat conconsolari anima tua donec veniant as also a longing after the things above which ought to be in every Child of God surely the more we study this blessedness the more will the desire after it be kindled in our breasts But I shall speak no more to this part of the use because all a long and especially in the foregoing use I have spoken to this matter in particular Therefore 2. This use directs it self to such as are yet sinners out of Christ My Exhortation to you is this that you would speedily get into Christ That you would labour to be such as that when you come to die you may be blessed Die you must Zerxes that great Commandre standing in the head of a vast Army wept to think that within one hundred years they would be all dead even those valorous Men who might seem to outbrave and defie death The impossibility to avoid death is a certain truth at all times but yet chiefly to be considered by us in these dying times times of much mortality God putting us in fear that we may know our selves to be but Men Psal 9.20 We are apt to put far away the evil day Amos 6.3 Isa 28.15 and to make Covenants with death but when we study seriously the decree of God passing upon all like the Laws of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered when we consider our own weakness and frailty our mould and metal we cannot but know we must die If our inside were turned outward it would be seen that for fear of death we are all our life time subject to bondage This lyes near our breast Heb. 2.15 and makes the heart even die within us while yet we live Oh poor Sinners die you must and no doubt but you would be glad to be blessed when you die Balaam would fain be happy in death Let me die the death of the righteous Numb 23.10 His wish implies that none shall be blessed in death but the righteous Sic mihi contingat vivere sicque mori 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now would you be happy in death be holy in life live in the Lord and you shall die in the Lord If you be gracious here you shall be glorious hereafter To whom to live is Christ to them to die will be gain But to them who live without Christ and without holiness Death will be Death and Hell into the bargain 'T is a frequent and true saying that holiness is the way to happiness not the causal and meritorious way which onely is Christ but yet a way and therefore the Apostle saith Ep. 2.10 That God hath ordained that we should walk in it that wherein we are to walk certainly is a way and if any baulk holiness the way they will never find happiness the end 'T is said of the Emperour Bassianus that coming to the Empire and being to chuse a Title he was wished by one to take the name of Pius which signifies Godly but he refusing that chose rather to be called Faelix which signifies happy which occasioned his Friend to make this witty reply and doth the Emperour think to be happy without being holy 'T is much disputed where the place of happiness is and divers opinions are about it but it is agreed on all hands about which is the way that leads to it The way is but one in this sense the way of Holiness which is not onely but one way but also a straight and narrow way opposed to all loose and sinful walkings Heaven is a place which receives not the proud but the humble not the covetous but the liberal not the unclean but the chaste not the drunken but the sober not the envious and malicious but
to see one of the dayes of the Son of Man and shall not see it To hear one Sermon of Heaven and glory but shall not hear it I have shewed Saints the blessedness which they shall have and also to Sinners the way how they may share in this Blessednesse I do again counsel Sinners to look after it yea in the Name of the Lord I charge you to close with it Now to provoke you to it I shall lay down five closing Conclusions very briefly and so leave them upon your hearts and thoughts 1. This Counsel is such as never any repented that took it It worketh repentance not to be repented of If any repent of Christ it is because he never truly knew Christ They who say it is in vain to serve God Malachi 3.4 Are such as never truly served him 2. 'T is such Counsel as if it be refused you will certainly repent of the refusal yea and that when it is too late Oh that I had known the things of my peace will be the doleful lamentation in the scorching flames of Hell 3. 'T is such Counsel as in your own Consciences when you are serious you think you ought to take Yea Sinners think to do it whereby they shew that they know they ought to do it Fertur equi Auriga The reason why it is not done is not because we do not know it ought to be done but we are hurried with our strong lusts and corruptions We are cumbred with our Farmes and our Trades we loose Heaven in the crowd of earthly businesses 4. 'T is such Counsel as if followed carries its reward with it though there were no Blessedness to ensue no glory afterwards holiness is happiness Gods work is wages 5. And lastly the contempt of it will not onely leave you short of Blessednesse but conclude you under inevitable misery and cursednesse it will bring an heavy shock of wrath and ruine upon Soul and Body Hear the Conclusion of the whole matter Get into Christ for this will free you from being cursed and also make you everlastingly Blessed FINIS CHRISTIAN READER THis Sermon presented to your view was preached at the Funeral of Mr. Thomas Goodwyn an eminent light and pillar of the Church in the place where he lived who after he had served his generation by the Will of God fell on sleep Sept. 4. 1658. He sleeps in Jesus he gave evident proof that he was one in Christ and therefore we may conclude from what hath been spoken he is now Blessed for blessed are the dead that die in the Lord or that are in the Lord when they die He was a good yea a precious Man Let him have the memorial of the righteous which is and shall be blessed He was well known to be a Minister of great worth every way qualified for the work of the Ministery It was his desire from a Youth to be a Minister as himself hath sometimes told me according to his hearts desire the Lord in due time disposed of him and drew him out to that service fitting him for it and blessing him in it How he was fitted for it the Brethen in the whole County and many others to whom he was known in more remote places will give ample Testimony How he was blessed in it the many weeping eyes at his Funeral with the sad complaints still under this great loss do speak these declare him to have been under God an instrument of much good Though success do not constitute a good Ministery for a good Man may fish all night and catch nothing yet it doth declare and evidence it These I remember were his own words long since in the time of his health at the Lecture in Brentwood and this evidence he abundantly had He was learned and godly Doctior an Sanctior which is a most blessed conjunction where ever they meet it is hard to say which of the two did bear the preeminence in him they seemed to keep pace and that no slow pace He was eminent in both He had much profited in humane Learning but especially in the studies of Divinity and in particular had gotten great acquaintance with the Scriptures He was like Ezra A ready Scribe in the Law of God he was an Ezr. 7.6 Acts 18.24 Apollos mighty in the Scriptures He was but young yet his attainments were very great God gave of his Spirit abundantly to him In Praying he was a sweet Soul full of the breathings of the Holy Ghost In Preaching he was very powerful speaking to his Hearers as if he had been within them In his walking he was an Exemplary Christian an Exemplary Minister he might say to his people as Gideon to his Souldiers Look on me and do likewise Jud. 7.17 His Preaching was such that the godly learned did admire him and yet the meanest capacities they of the Belfry as is Mr. Latimer's expression did understand him he had such a winning way that his Sermons were not tedious but his Hearers seemed to be chained to his lips He was a great Pains-taker in preaching so often and yet carried on with delight I am perswaded he might have said in the words of that holy Bishop My witness is in Heaven Cowper that the love of Christ and peoples Souls made frequent Preaching my recreation and pleasure His Words seemed to come from his very heart one that did eat the roll as the Prophet is bid Ezek. 3.1 before he gave it to his Hearers to digest An Argument that they came from the heart was his earnest driving on that they might go to the hearts of his people He thought he had done nothing till his Hearers hearts were more renewed and their Lives more reformed Till to use his own words he could read the Sabbath-dayes work in their Week-dayes conversation His Life was a looking-glass wherein the people might see to dresse and attire their Conversation I may say in the words of the Apostle 1 Thess 2.10 His people were Witnesses Ille solus praedicat vivâ voce qui praedicat vitâ voce and God also how holily and justly and unblamably he behaved himself among them being as a Minister of Christ ought to be a lover of good Men sober just holy temperate Tit. 1.8 He was very zealous in the work of Reformation The zeal of Gods House did even eat him up and in the cause of God he shewed undaunted Courage vigorously pursuing what might make for the glory of God in despite of all opposition one might stand upon his grave and say as a great person said over the grave of Mr. Knox Here lies one who never feared the Face of any Man I knew him well yet could I never perceive that he was sinfully and proudly puffed up though his large endowments might have tempted him thereunto but in his whole Conversation as far I could judge did behave himself holily humbly He lived free from worldly Encombrances
but very full of cares for the promoting Gods glory and his peoples Salvation He hath sometime told me in the time of his health how sadly it would go to his heart upon hearing the Bell ring sometime in the night which gave notice that some person was dead that any one should be sick and die and himself their Pastor have no notice of their sicknesse nor be so much as desired to confer with them about their spiritual estate His Lamentation was in these words Moriuntur oves dormitat Pastor The shepheard lies a sleeping while the sheep lie adying The great care of Souls made him study how to quit himself from being overcharged with the cares of this life declaring by his little medling with the things of the world that he sought not the things of his own but the things of Jesus Christ This should be the endeavour of every sincere Christian but especially of every faithful Minister The Palm Tree Psalm 92.12 to which the righteous is compared is least in the body or trunk near the earth and biggest in the boughs nearest Heaven The frame of the fleshly heart in the body being close shut up in that part which is towards the earth but more broad and open in the upper part towards Heaven shewes what should be the spiritual frame of every gracous heart Thus was it with this good Man 2 Tim. 2.4 and precious Servants of Jesus Christ he abhorred to be entangled with the affairs of this life that Heaven might have the more room in his heart In a word He was a Minister of the Gospel and he did Hoc agere endeavour the fulfilling of his Ministery He did intend his work he made it his businesse being one who studied to approve himself to God a Work-man that needed not to be ashamed 2 Tim. 2.15 He was taken away young but he did work while it was day yea he laboured much as if he did foresee he had not long time to work in Diu vixit et si non diu fnit He did much work in a little time 'T is much to be lamented that his Sermon notes were written so illegibly through a quick and hasty writing whereby it becomes impossible they should ever be published to the glory of God and the benefit of the Church Thus have I given a brief account of what he was in the time of his Life and Health Divers know what hath been spoken is no other than what might be spoken deservedly and in truth yea much more might be spoken without any suspicion of Flattery The summe of all is this He lived in the Lord he lived to the Lord. I may add He died in the Lord yea died to the Lord as may be judged by his deportment under that sicknesse which ended his dayes Dying to the Lord as hath been shewed is when a person cast upon his sick bed endeavours the exercise and laying out of his graces to the glory of God and the profit of them with whom he doth converse Thus did he very sweetly so far as could possibly be expressed considering the shortnesse of his sicknesse being but for the space of fourteen dayes as I best remember and the Stupifyingnesse of his Disease seizing and much dulling his Spirits He did much impair the strength of his outward Man by a free letting out himself in discourse about Heavenly things to some Neighbours who came to visit him the first Sabbath after he was taken This did much increase his distempers and of this he was the day following very sensible and could not but confesse it to me at my first visiting of him At this my first visit in discourse I spake to him by way of remembrance if need were about that Christian duty of willing submision to Gods Will under every dispensation of providence and so that of his present sickness in particular To this counsel he readily concurred and withal added that it was his desire to reach further and not onely to submit which an ordinary Christian might do but to raise up himself to Courage and Cheerfulnesse under the rod Annexing also a reason why he of all Men should not droop under Affliction saying he blessed God that hitherto he could date his choisest mercies from some great Affliction I sometime in discourse held forth what desperate attempts Satan had made upon Gods Children when they were brought low by sicknesse and therefore counselled him to set Faith on work being the onely Shield to quench the fiery darts of the Devil To this he replyed that I blesse God as yet Satan hath got no ground by this Affliction This passed I think at a second visit But comming to him again after a few dayes it was on the Sabbath day the last Sabbath to him in this life I found him brought low by his sicknesse insomuch that I then began to fear he would not break it Hereupon I entred a more close discourse as to eternity hinting withal my own fears that his sicknesse might be mortal he took it as he expressed himself exceeding kindly and gave me a full Answer to what in my discourse I drove at Dear Friend said he two dayes since I overheard the Doctor speaking to my Wife as if he feared me and I blesse God who so ordered it that I should hear it For indeed till then I did not so seriously consider of death as since I have done I did all a long my sickness set my heart to endeavour a sanctified use of the Lords hand but overhearing that I thought it needful to look most carefully into my heart as to evidences for eternity and truly saith he upon a thorough search of my heart I blesse God I find good old evidences though I be but a young Man and they stick very close to me But Friend said he one thing I must tell you troubles and afflicts my Spirit very much that when I grew very serious being exercised about serious work the searching of my heart for eternity evidences I perceived this seriousness of mine was judged by some to be melancholy for the fear of death Now this indeed troubles me very much that any should take me to be such an one who am afraid to die Some other visits I gave him but for fear of wronging him being very weak I onely upon his desire prayed with him and left him At one of these times he spake privately to me that he was willing to have discoursed but because of some Company in the room he judged it not convenient Upon Fryday the day before he departed I had some discourse with him which was occasioned thus Some godly Neighbours had agreed a private meeting to seek the Lord for him and they had desired me to meet with them Now that I might know the better how to order my Petitions I thought it needful to visit my sick Friend in the way and therby to be better informed whether his sicknesse did increase upon him I
came to his Bed-side but he laystil and seemed not to know me Hereupon his Wife asked him if he knew me he said yes and called me by my name but withall asked if it were Thursday supposing I had been come to the Lecture and so by the way visited him I then told him it was Fryday and so gave him an account whither I was going even to joyn with his people in seeking the Lord for him and desired to know what he would have us most importune the Lord for on his behalf After a little pause he brake out into most affectionate speeches to expresse his own sense of his peoples love to him and how greatly his Love was set upon them I could not bear away all his words but he was full of these Oh my poor people Oh the Souls of my poor people How dear how precious are they to me Oh if God should spare me how would I lay out my self for them After this he prayed me to commend him to his people and tell them that wherein he desired their prayers was to begg of God a clearer sense of his love saying not that I altogether want it for I bless God I have it but saith he Sometimes and so laid down and said no more and I finding him to be much spent with speaking durst not urge him any further but went away partly rejoycing that though Satan did buffet yet that he had been able to prevail no further On the next day being Saturday in the evening whereof the Lord took him I went again to him in the afternoon but before I was up the stairs I heard him speaking with a very loud voice This at first hearing struck my heart perceiving his distemper was come to that height that there could be no hopes conceived of his life before I went in I stood hearing him a little time at the door Cygnea cantio Oportet Episcopum concionantem mori and by and by went in and stood by his bed-side attending to what he spake where indeed I heard a precious powerful discourse about the sweetness fulness of Christ It was spoken just as if he had been in the Pulpit preaching I could not but stand and wonder to hear a distempered head vent such a discourse so methodical and so clear with the quoting of Scriptures and no failing in sense and not much faultring in words he quoted 1 Cor. 3.21 22 23. And went as far as he could in rehearsing the words All things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things here his mouth being much clam'd he could not get out his words but yet made a shift to add because ye are Christs I know the distemper of his head was the cause of this loud speech but yet I believe this distemper was a means to draw forth what was in his heart Now perceiving that he had spent himself far beyond what his then little or no strenth would bear I spake to him saying My dear Friend though your discourse may be very profitable to my self and others that stand by yet I know it doth much spend and weaken you and so wished him to forbear and lie still Hereupon he did cease a while and after some little pause he spake again in some few but very sweet words which were these Well it is a sweet thing when he that speaks of Christ hath Christ dwelling in him at that time when he speaks After this he spake no more while I was there neither can I learn of others that he spake any more but left those for his last words And so falling into slumbrings and cold sweats before midnight he gave up the Ghost He had finished his Testimony The Witnesses cannot be slain till this be done Rev. 11.7 His work was done and now he hath his Crown Our work is not yet done but it remains that we be followers of the Saints as they were followers of Christ then shall we also receive the Crown 2 Tim. 4.8 the Crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give not to a Paul only a Minister a Preacher of the Gospel But to them also that love his appearing