be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 2.6 a redemption-price so great and valuable that there needs no further satisfaction to be made for any St Paul saith that he gave himself a ransom for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an emphatical word denoting the exchange of condition with another the laying down of ones life to save another And so did our dearest Lord and Saviour Tit. 2 14. Rom. 8.32 he gave himself for us and in our place and stead that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous ofâ—â— good works The price which he paid for our Redemption was his own blood not a few drops for then what he shed at his Circumcision and bitter Agony when he sweat drops of blood might have sufficed but it was his hearts blood Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold 1 Pet. 1.18 19 from your vain conversation and course of life which is unprofitable for your souls and insufficient for Righteousness and Salvation but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Precious in the Esteem of Angels and Men but most of all precious in regard of the Glory and Dignity of the Qualifications and Endowments of the Gifts and Graces of the Person that shed it Coloss 2.3 In whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge in whose mouth no guile was ever found who needed not to offer Sacrifices for his own Sins being a person so perfectly holy harmless and undefiled No! it was for us and for our Salvation that he died Rom. 4.25 He was delivered by the determinate counsel and fore knowledge of God for our offences Acts 2.23 to make full satisfaction to his Father for them and to reconcile us to God By his own free and spontaneous act he laid down his life Joh. 10.17 Gal. 1.4 and gave himself for our Sins Not only to take away the Guilt with all the causes and consequences thereof Once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.26 Rom. 5.19 to the abolition of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself by whose obedience many are made righteous but also to ease guilty souls of the pain and anguish of Conscience which doth fill them with dreadful fears and terrors and a certain fearful looking for of wrath Heb. 9.14 and fiery indignation The Blood of Christ doth purge your Conscience from dead works and not only justify and absolve the true penitent Sinner but also meritoriously purify the Soul from inherent corruption and sanctify it by infusing holiness So that body soul and spirit becomes one frame of Holiness to God to serve him here in the Beauty of Holiness and to enjoy communion with him in his Ordinances till he is pleased to fit him for the full fruition of himself in the Holy of Holies in Heaven This is the effect of Christ's Blood which was shed to put a silence to the clamours and accusations of Conscience and also to pacify the wrath of God for Sin Jesus being the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 1.10 Who delivers us from the wrath to come and is now actually delivering us by his prevailing Intercession and the supplies of his Grace enabling us to subdue the power of Sin and temptation and will most certainly compleat and perfect our deliverance at his second coming So that now the penitent Believer may safely make that bold challenge which the great St. Paul doth Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect Rom. 8.33 It is God that justifieth and absolveth them who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died and by his Death hath made a sufficient attonement to God for all our Sins and washed them away in his Blood which is a Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Laver to wash away the pollution and filth of all our Sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness he is a propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only 1 Joh. 2 2. but for the Sins of the whole World Eph. 5.25 27. He delivered himself up for the Church that he might sanctify and cleanse it i. e. Purify all its members from the guilt filth and power of Sin endue them with a principle of Holiness and consecrate them to God a glorious Church without having spot or wrinkle free from the smallest remainder of sin and misery 1 Joh. 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifest to destroy the works of the Devil the original word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might dissolve those chains wherewith Satan holdeth all his Vassals in bondage 4. So great was the care of our Lord to make men truly good and virtuous that when he left the World he sent the Holy Ghost the Promise of the Father to superintend the Affairs of the Church Vicarius Christi in Ecclesia whom Tertul. calls Christ's Vicar a Metaphor borrowed from certain Church-Officers who are so denominated as our Civilians say Quasi vice fungentes Rectorum to attend the Offices of the Church in the Rectors absence To oppose the Torrent of Vice and Wickedness to instruct people in the fundamental Principles of Religion to guide direct and encourage them in the paths of Holiness and Virtue and by a continual residence upon his Cure to be ever ready to perform the Duties belonging thereunto Even so the Holy Spirit was sent to supply Christ's room in the Church Joh. 16 7. If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you He was not to enter upon his Oeconomy or Dispensation till after Christ's Ascension and Glorification as we learn from John 7.39 The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Christ was not yet glorified Princes do liberally bestow their gifts and favours at the time of their Inauguration Eph. 4.9 and the Prince of Peace being ascended up on high and triumphing gloriously over all his Church's Enemies poured down a plentiful effusion of gifts and graces unto men As St. Peter acquaints his Auditors That Christ being by the power of God exalted Acts 2.33 and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear The design and end of his coming is as our Saviour saith Joh. 16.8 To reprove the world of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment To convince us of the evil and obliquity of our ways and doings and reclaim us from Sin and Error to regenerate us unto God's Image infusing holiness into our souls and giving us a right to eternal Salvation Tit. 3.5 by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the
Herald and in the Text proclaimeth the certainty of his coming but from the uncertainty of the time when presseth his Disciples to rouze up themselves and to stand perpetually upon their Watch looking for and awaiting the coming of the Lord either by Death or Judgment for it is all one in effect whether he come to us or we go to him whether the World endeth to us or we to it for when we die we then part with all our dear Delights and sweet enjoyments of this Life and go to Judgment for as Death leaves us Judgment will find us as soon as ever the Soul is separated from the body it is winged by the holy Angels to the Tribunal of God to receive its definitive Sentence to Joy or Misery according to its Works done in the body in this Life So that we had need to be ever waiting and prepared for that hour Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh Which Words were spoken by our Lord particularly to his Disciples but are of Universal concern to all Christians and do as much belong to Vs in our days as to Them in theirs and therefore I shall look upon them with particular Application to our selves they do contain two General Parts I. Our Blessed Saviours seasonable and serious Advice solemnly to prepare our selves for Death and Judgment Be ye also ready II. A powerful and cogent Motive enforcing this good Advice For in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh I. The first thing to be considered is our Saviours serious Advice solemnly to prepare our selves for Death and Judgment therefore be ye also ready for this Reason because ye must die and come to Judgment and the time when is unknown be ye ready the Original imports set in the way as all those are whom God hath set in the Path of his Commandments Psal 85.13 Righteousness shall go before him as his Harbinger and shall set us in the way of his Steps i. e. in the path wherein he walketh and which he hath prescribed and appointed us to follow him in The Vulgar Latine reads it Parati made fit Now for as much as this is a long and difficult work and requires many Acts and Duties to be performed by us to dispose and qualifie us to meet our Lord with Joy and Comfort I will therefore shew i. Wherein this Preparation does chiefly consist ii Manifest the urgent necessity hereof and the many Obligations which we lie under to be always prepared for Death and Judgment i. My first work is to shew wherein this Preparation does chiefly consist this I shall do two ways Generally and Particularly 1. Generally This preparation does consist in the constant course of a Religious Holy and Heavenly Conversation and in the daily practice of Universal Purity 1. For this end the great and wise Creator did make us noble and reasonable Creatures Neh. 5.9 to walk in the fear of God to approve our selves by a blameless and harmless life Phil. 2.15 the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a perverse Nation among whom we being enlightned by the Son of Righteousness shine as lights in the World that others may see our good works the beauty and splendor of our Gifts and Graces Mat. 5.16 Joh. 15. â—8 and glorifie our Father which is in Heaven For herein is he glorified if we bring forth much fruit of Righteousness and true Holiness Not that it is in our power to add any thing to the essential glory of God but only contribute to the manifestation of his Glory and Majesty 2 This he doth command and require from us as we are his Creatures When God had chosen the Seed of Abraham and had separated them from all Nations and from all Impurities and Idolatries and set them apart for himself a peculiar People an holy Nation a chosen Race a People purchased to himself by Temptations by Signs and by Wonders and by War and by a mighty Hand and by a stretched out Arm and by great Terrors Deut. 4.34 according to all that he did in Aegypt He charged them thus Levit. 20.7 8. Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God and ye shall keep my Statutes and do them We are the Seed of Faithful Abraham Gods peculiar People his proper portion and possession he hath brought us into a state of Salvation Tim. 1.9 and hath called us with an holy Calling not according to our works nor for any merit of ours but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began and as he that hath called us is holy so should we be holy in all manner of conversation 1. Pet. 1.16 for it is written be ye holy as I am holy Now there is a two fold likeness to God in holiness viz. a conformity to his nature and will in reference to which we are engaged to crucify the old man with his deeds to mortify the corruption of nature with all those sinful affections and actions which flow from it and to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness 3 Cor. 5.17 2 Pet. 1.4 Which is called by St. Paul the new Creature and by St. Peter the divine Nature which consists not in any communication of the divine Essence to us but in our partaking of those divine Qualities and dispositions of knowledge righteousness and holiness which do express the perfections of God and in our analogical resemblance to him in his Attributes of Meekness Humility Patience Long suffering Justice and Faithfulness Mercy and Charity Love and Purity and in our sincere endeavour to please him to do his Will and keep his Commandments which require us to do justly to love mercy Micah 6.8 and to walk humbly with God To love him with all our hearts and soul and strength and might to discharge all the Duties that we owe to his Divine Majesty and to be fervent in spirit in his service To abstain from all injurious practices against our Neighbours to perform all kind and friendly offices to all men to bear good will to them to rejoyce at their happiness to pity their miseries and commiserate them in adversity to pay all due respect to them sutable to their degree and quality to shew all meekness to all men candidly favourably to interpret their words and actions mildly to reprehend their faults and sparingly relate their miscarriages forgiving and forgetting their greater offences and conniving at their lesser injuries which make no great breach upon our interest or reputation studying by all fair means as much as lieth in us if it be possible to live peaceably with all tho we we may sometimes sail in our purposes because some men are of such a turbulent fiery and malicious spirit and such profest enemies to
Holy Ghost changing of our corrupt Natures creating good Dispositions and pious Affections in us sanctifying us with Divine Graces Dr. Bar. Creed and begetting vertuous inclinations in us reverence towards God charity to Men sobriety and purity as to our Selves with the rest of those amiable and heavenly virtues of the Soul which is the work of Sanctification leading and governing us in our Actions and Conversations that we may actually do and perform those things which are acceptable in the sight of God These are the Offices of the Holy Spirit who is therefore denominated Holy because he is the Author and efficient Cause of holiness in us and hath the special Name of Spirit given him both because of his Spiritual Essence and in regard of his Spiritual dispensations and those Graces which he bestows upon every faithful Soul which are heavenly and spiritual for the performance of which Mat. 28.20 he is to abide with his Church for ever Lo I am with you always even to the end of the world to enlighten your Understandings to sanctifie your Wills Affections to assist you in Devotion to stir up in you good Desires and to lead you in the way of all truth and obedience to Gods holy Will and Commandments 5 For this purpose the great Ordinance of the Gospel Ministry was instituted and persons in sacred Orders appointed to make men truly holy to dispose and fit them for Death and Judgment Heaven and Happiness to teach and tread the way to Glory 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to teach the way to Heaven rightly to cut out to every man his portion and to divide the Word of Truth 2 Tim. 2.15 The titles which are given them in Scripture import the business they are to perform and do They are Ministers Stewards Embassadors Ministers of Christ 1 Cor. 4.12 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. Acts 20 18. 1 Cor. 3.9 and Stewards of the mysteries of God to whom he hath committed the Ministry of Reconciliation the word of Power They are Overseers and Comptrollers of his Family Embassadors for Christ to pray beseech and court men in their great Lord and Masters stead to be reconciled to God Labourers and Co-operators with God in the work of Conversion and Edification He Joh. 20.21 22. Rom. 10.15 the principal Agent They Officers under him ordained and sent by him and furnished with Gifts and Abilities to negotiate his great Affairs He made them able Ministers 2 Cor. 3.6 fitted by a supervening act and influence of Grace to discharge the trust which he hath reposed in them to the souls of men He strictly charged them to preach all the counsel of God Acts 20.27 whatsoever he requires of any one in order to eternal blessedness even the whole doctrine of Christianity which teacheth us to deny all ungodliness c. to reprove rebuke and exhort with all long suffering and patience 2 Cor. 5.11 and as knowing the terror of the Lord to persuade men to believe the dreadful comminations and threatnings of God revealed in his Word Rom. 1.18 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and accordingly to frame their lives innocently and holy that at the dreadful day of Judgment which the Prophet calls a day of wrath Zeph. 1.15 He alludes to it in the ruin which he foretold should fall upon the Jews by the Chaldeans a day of trouble and distress a day of wasting and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess a day of Clouds and thick darkness and the Apostle a day of terror because there will be a very strict scrutiny a narrow search made into the thoughts words and actions of men done in the flesh nothing but holiness will then stand in any stead therefore the Ministers of the Gospel are commanded to use the most prudent and effectual course Acts 26.18 to open mens eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith which grace doth purifie the heart from sin corruption They must not connive at or comply with the lusts of men as Ahabs Priests did but handle the Word of God sincerely with zeal and courage not fearing the faces of men in the work of the Lord who hath charged them at their peril not to be dismaid at the presence and frowns of great men Jâ—r 1.17 or presumptuous sinners yet at the same time when they do shew their zeal against their sins to manifest their reverend esteem and love of their persons and tender affection to their souls instructing those that oppose themselves with all gentleness and winning insinnuations and restoring them in the spirit of meekness which is the most probable way to enamour them with the love of Vertue and to save their Souls 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To tread the way to heaven and to walk uprightly Cal. 2.14 according to the truth of the Gospel So passionately desirous is God of mens happiness that he would have his Ministers to be Shining Lights as John the Baptist was shewing the power of Godliness in their lives that by their good Conversations their People might be drawn to imitate them in the practice of all Christian Graces 1 Tim. 4.12 St. Paul exhorts his Son Timothy to be an example of Believers in word in Conversation in Charity in spirit in faith in purity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Believers not of moral honest men only but of Gods Jedidians Pro. 12. the excellent of the earth in whom he delighteth of those first-born Souls Mal. 3.17 those bright and sparkling Jewels of whom the world is not worthy those darlings of heaven that are the Apple of Gods Eye Heb. 11.38 Deut. 32.9 those precious Sons of Sion who are the lot of Gods inheritance and the glory of Christ 1 Cor. 8.23 To such noble and vertuous persons as these are the Ministers of the Gospel to shew themselves patterns in Sacerdotal exemplariness and in the habits exercise of grace Prov. 4.18 and in holiness of life which is a shining light that hath influence and powerful operation upon others to excite them to bring glory to God For this reason they are stiled Presidents Shepherds Guides because they are not only to preach Angelical Sermons but to live heavenly lives to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour by the purity and lustre of their Conversations For the greatest part of Mankind are like Sheep Heb. 10.24 Prov. 27.17 which go rather as they are led then as they are taught A good Example is greatly influential to Vertue to provoke unto love and to good works as a bad one is an occasion of much harm faciles imitandis Turpibus pravis omnes sumus we having a great proclivity to follow ill Examples Those therefore that are to teach others that are to
The Great Necessity of Preparation for Death and Iudgment A SERMON Preached in the Parochial Chappel OF MACCLESFIELD In the County Palatine of CHESTER AT THE FUNERAL OF Mr. John Corker al 's Cor Cor of HURDESFIELD on the Eleventh Day of November 1693 and since Revised and Enlarg'd at the Request of the Relations of the Deceased By Samuel Corker al 's Cor Cor M. A. Rector of Alderley in the County aforesaid and sometime a Student in Trin. Coll. in Cambridge Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him Mat. 26.5 Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh c. Luke 12.40 Veniet fratres veniet sed vide quomodo te inveaiet Aug. Ser. 140. de Tempore DUBLIN Printed by Joseph Ray 1695. TO HIS TRULY HONOURED AND MUCH VALUED COUSIN Edward Corker al 's Cor Cor Esq The Authour wisheth Grace Mercy and Peace THE death of Friends who were loving and amiable in their Lives and Encouragers of Vertue is very piercing and grievous but most of all pensive and afflictive when they are taken away as your dear Brother and my truly loving Kinsman was by a sudden surreption without a foregoing Visitation and Sickness which severe and startling Providence made a very great breach in his Family and Neighbourhood and a deep impression upon my Thoughts But the Great and Wise God in whose Hands our Lives are hath a Sovereign Right to dispose of and put a period to them when and in what manner his Infinite Wisdom seeth meet without being accountable to his Creatures for his Actions Our Duty is humbly to submit to his Holy Will and with good Old Eli to say It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good When Your Affectionate Brother had paid that Debt which We yet owe to God and Nature His mournful Relict desired that I would perform the last Ministerial Office for him at his Interment I had not power to deny her Request altho at the same time I was sensible he deserved a better Orator to commemorate his Vertues The Discourse I then made and here present to You Revis'd and Enlarg'd is plain not cloathed with pomp of Words and tunable Expressions which in Sermons and Books of Divinity are like Paint laid upon Pearls which shine best in their native lustre Flourishes of Wit and fine Phrases may tickle Mens Ears and please their Fancies but rarely convince them of the important necessity of preparing for Death and Judgment or prevail with them to live holily that they may die happily The Text it self is very momentous and the subject matter of the Comment is salubrious and may claim attention and regard from all Orders and Degrees of Men who by the eternal and unchangeable Decree of God must once die and appear in Judgment But if it meet with unkind entertainment from some persons of corrupt Principles and profligate Lives who atheistically droll upon and ridicule every thing that is serious yet it may be beneficial to others who are really solicitous to know what they must do to obtain Salvation and to inherit Eternal Glory That the God of Mercy and Consolation would sanctifie and sweeten to you this sharp and afflictive Providence that he would work in your Soul a cheerful resignation to his Holy Will and enrich you with all the Blessings of Heaven and Earth is the dayly fervent Prayer of Your most affectionate Relation and very humble Servant Samuel Corker al 's Cor Cor. A SERMON Preached at the FUNERAL of Mr. John Corker of Hurdesfield November the 11th 1693. Mathew 24.44 Therefore be ye also ready for in such an Hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh THese Words are part of a Sermon Preached by our Blessed Lord and Saviour to his Disciples the Occasion was this They were all met together at the Temple of Jerusalem admiring the Magnificence Firmness and Stateliness of it and highly commending the Beauty and Order of the Fabrick which was Adorned * Luke 21.5 with goodly Stones and sumptuous Mate rials set off with all the Advantages and Curiosity of Art Pains and Industry which Josephus calls a Work of all that we have ever seen or heard the most Admirable both for the greatness of the Pile the sumptuousness of the Edifice and the Riches of the inward Furniture in which respect Tacitus calls it a Temple of Immense Riches Immensae Opulentiae Templum suitable to the Majesty of God who was therein to be Adored and Worshipped Our Lord to take off his Disciples Eyes from beholding those Gay and Stately Things with so pleasing Admiration foretold the Destruction of it and the utter Ruin of the City that it should come to pass according to the Predictions of the Prophets Jer. 26.18 Zion for your sakes shall be Plowed as a Field and Jerusalem shall become Heaps and the Mountain of the House on which the Temple Micah 3.12 one of the Wonders of the World did stand as the high places of the Forrest i. e. shall be demolished and become so desolate that Trees shall grow there as in a Wilderness See ye not all these things Verily I say unto you there shall not be left one Stone upon another that shall not be thrown down Lib. 7. de Belle Jud. cap. 10. which was fulfilled as Josephus Reports by the Roman Army who burnt all of it that was of combustible Nature expresly contrary to the command of Titus Vespasian who would have saved it but could not restrain the fury of his Souldiers tho' he charged Liberalis the Centurion of his Guard to beat them that would not Obey him and to drive them away and the Foundation which the Fire consumed not was Ralsed by Turnus Rufus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the General of the Roman Army there who at his departure thence drew a Plow over it as God had said And after this when Julian the Apostate out of spight and opposition to the Christians gave all manner of Encouragement to the Jews to Rebuild their Temple Re-edifie their Altar and Restore their Sacrifices and the Solemnities of their Worship and appointed Alypius of Antioch to over-see and carry on the Work with all possible Briskness and Activity hoping by that means to evidence to the World that our Saviour was a false Prophet and an Impostor in pronouncing the final and irrevocable Dissolution of that Church and State Heaven was pleased on a sudden to baffle the whole Undertaking and by many Illustrious and Miraculous Instances of God's Displeasure Viz. Violent Hurricanes dreadful Earthquakes and Eruptions of Fire which brake as it were under the Foundation and seized upon the Work-men and Spectators burnt their Tools and Instruments and made the place inaccessible for any such Attempts for the future A more full Relation hereof is given by the Learned Dr. Cave from Socrates Philostorgus Rufinus Am. Life of St. Cyril of Jerusalem Sect. 9th Marcellinus and others where the
peace and love that it is scarce possible to obtain their good-will or to maintain a friendly correspondence with them In regard to our own persons the holy God commands us to depart from all iniquity to put away the evil of our doings Isaiah 1.16 17. to cease to do evil to learn to do well to watch and be sober to cast off the works of darkness and to walk as children of the light Rom. 13.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honestly and decently as becometh those to whom the glorious light of the Gospel hath appeared shunning all those vices of Gluttony and Drunkenness Whoredom and Uncleanness all lustful and lascivious dalliances Strife and Envy which are a stain and blemish to our Nature and to our holy Profession and to live in the constant practice of universal Purity Psal 37.24 2 Tim. 2.19 Jam. 4.8 which obligeth us to depart from evil to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts i. e. to reform and amend our lives and actions out thoughts and affections and through the assistance of Divine Grace which is never wanting to those that endeavour to obey God 2 Cor. 7.1 and do his Will to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit i. e. from all bodily pollutions such are sins of Intemperance Fornication Uncleanness c. in respect of which it becomes the duty of a Christian to learn and exercise that holy skill 1 Thes 4.4 to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour for such sins as these are a real dishonour to the body Rom. 1.2 And since God hath shewed his Art in the curious workmanship of it Os homini sublîme dedit coelumque tuerj jussit c. Materiam superabat opus Ovid. Met. which was not at first made without a consultation of the whole Trinity after what eminent manner and majestick form they should make it the rare and admirable structure whereof Gen. 1.26 being exquisitely composed of Bones and Muscles and Sinews of Veins and Arteries and variety of members excellent both for beauty and use filled David's Royal Soul with such admiration of God's infinite Wisdom and Power that when he contemplated his own Body he praised God Psal 139.14 and said I am fearfully and wonderfully made and curiously wrought with various embroidery and since God I say hath bestowed so much pains and cost upon the workmanship of the Body and that it is a part of Christ's purchase and together with the Soul is become a member of his and a Temple for the Holy Spirit of Purity to reside and dwell in it is principally incumbent upon us to keep it pure and clean chast and holy and free from all carnal pollutions We ought to have a greater regard to our noble Souls which are of an heavenly Original to purify and preserve them from spiritual wickedness from extravagant passions inordinate affections and desires from Pride and Covetousness rash Anger and Contention Envy Hatred Malice and all Uncharitableness for these Sins and Vices defile our Souls and make us both afraid to dye and unfit for judgment Therefore the Apostle calls upon us to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord and assures us that this is the revealed will of God 1 Thes 4.3 even our sanctification that we should be holy both in our hearts and lives inwardly in our thoughts and affections outwardly in our words and actions both intensively and extensively holy 3. For this end and purpose the Lord of Glory sent his beloved Son into the World in great humility to carry on this work of making us holy by his exemplary and virtuous life and by his patient and meritorious death First By his virtuous and exemplary life he hath given us the most illustrious pattern in his own person in all the parts of holiness and set us the fairest copy of the most sublime and perfect virtue For which cause we find him in Scripture dignified with eminent Titles as of a Prince and Captain a Master and Guide of holy life and obedience he voluntarily undertook to subdue our Enemies and hath encouraged us with a most bountiful promise of a glorious reward a Crown of Righteousness to follow his heroick Conduct in a holy warfare against Sin and Satan to fight manfully under his Banner against all the Enemies of our Souls as Plutarch saith Caesar's Souldiers did when his presence and unparallell'd Gallantry inspired them with Courage and Valour extraordinary Fortis in armis Caesareis Labienus erat Example hath a great influence and efficacy for as Pliny the younger hath observed Melius hominis exemplis docentur qua imprimis hoc boni habent qua approbant quae praecipiunt fieri posse Men are better instructed by Examples which have in them chiefly this advantage that they do prove the things may be done which they enjoyn And as Seneca tells Lucilius Homines plus Oculis quà m auribus credunt Epist 6. Men give greater credit to their Eyes than to their Ears to what they see than to what they hear The more Eminent any persons are that give Examples the more readily are they imitated Et in vulgus manunt exemplâ— Regentâ—um Such as sit in the Gate as all uppermost in the world have many followers that conform to their manners and practice When the King of Nineveh put on Sackcloath Jonah 3.6 his Courtiers and Citizens complied with the fashion When Constantinus Mag. embraced the Faith of Christ Heathen Superstition began to creep into holes and corners and Christianity overspread the face of the Empire Now our dearest Lord being the greatest and wisest person that ever lived and his example the most perfect and transcendent that ever was we should endeavour if we would live happily and die comfortably to conform our practice to his because he was the most exact mirrour of true Goodness and Virtue of general Kindness and Charity Patience and Contentedness Meekness and Humility which he most lovingly inviteth us to imitate him in Matth. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart His Patience in bearing the Affronts and Indignities of Sinners his Contempt of all the Glories of this World his Self-denial and Submission to the will of God his unwearied diligence in his Service his Peaceableness and Gentleness to all men and readiness to perform all kind Offices to men especially to their Souls was written for our Admonition to influence our practice and lead us in the paths of Righteousness and to make us partakers of his Holiness 2dly Our Blessed Lord Saviour's patient and meritorious Death and Sufferings were primarily intended to work Holiness in us The design of his coming in the Flesh was not only as the Socinians say to give us an example of Christian Purity but to lay down his life for us We are assured of this from his own sacred lips Matth. 20.28 The Son of Man came not to
expected that he should communicate it to any of the Sons of men because it is not at all necessary that they should know it but believe it and walk by Faith and Works and labour in the Vineyard till the Son of man cometh Of that day and hour knoweth no man 〈◊〉 13.32 â—â— c. no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son as man only but the Father Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know not when the time is c. Verses 35 36. When ever he cometh Rev. 3.3 it will be by way of surprize to many So he told the Church of Sardis If thou wilt not watch I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know when I will come upon thee The Thief comes when the Master of the House least expects him in the dead and solitary time of the night when all the Inhabitants are asleep Such will be the coming of the Son of Man who a little before my Text represents it by the coming of the great Deluge in the days of Noah or as the Fire and Brimstone came upon the Cities of Sodom and Gemorrah as Thro's and Pangs come upon a Woman with Child As a Snare shall it come upon all that dwell upon the face of the Earth Now when a Fowler layeth a Snare to take a Bird he gives no warning but surprizeth it suddenly even so will the Judge of all the world come upon the generality of men when they promise themselves peace and security and walk at ease and think of nothing but plenty and pleasure of laying House to House and Field to Field of Mansions and Manors of reigning as Kings on the Earth and of Lording it over their fellow servants Behold the Judge standeth at the door ready to surprize them when they are most secure And this may be our case if we keep not up our watch If therefore the Kingdom of Heaven be worth securing and the salvation of your souls be dear and precious to you 't is both your wisdom and your interest speedily and without delays to set upon this necessary and glorious work For it is no easy matter to obtain Heaven and Happiness neither is it the work of a few spare minutes to shake off evil habits and to attire the Soul with divine Graces and Vertues that it may appear without spot or wrinkle in the Bridegrooms presence Be not deceived it is not a few penitential tears in the time of Sickness and last Visitation that can purge the soul from the pollution of Sin which it hath been contracting many years or change its temper and in a moment put it into a readiness for a future state It is not safe for us to run so great a hazard we are not sure that we shall dye deliberately and by slow degrees But suppose that a fore going Sickness should by little and little weaken the powers of Nature the Devil will then be very busy in tempting us and the Flesh unable to bear the burden of Sickness and sink under the groans of expiring Nature If we have then our great work to do our Oyl to get and our Lamps to trim when the Bridegroom comes the door will be shut upon us and we shall bewail to all eternity the folly of slipping a season which can never be regained Let me therefore bespeak you dear Christians in words of love and tenderness and beseech you by all the obligations that your holy profession lays upon you by all the kindness which you bear to your immortal souls and the desire which you have to be eternally happy seriously to prepare to meet your Lord. Go hence from the House of God with fixed resolutions from this time forth to depart from all iniquity and to live righteously soberly and godly in this present World looking for the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself To whom with the Father and Holy Spirit three Persons but one Eternal God be Glory Honour and Power now and for ever The CHARACTER I Have now performed my duty to the Living by shewing them both generally and particularly that a good life is the best preparation for Eternity and that the way to dye happily is to live holily It remains that I do now in some measure discharge my respects to the Dead whose memory will be precious among all good Christians for his many personal Excellencies and usefulness in his Generation 'T is a sad and mournful occasion that we are met upon to Solemnize the Funeral Rites and Obsequies of so dear a Friend and Relation But this is our comfort that his whole life was an excellent Comment upon this Text for tho his Visitation was short as for the most part is usual in such Apoplectical Distempers as carried him off and his Death sudden and surprizing to us from whom he was snatched away in a little time yet it could not be so to him who by the infirmities of a crazy body and by many sensible decays of Nature was put in mind of his approaching change and no doubt but his preparations for Eternity were answerable to his frequent and almost daily warnings For as in his youthful days he was by the mercy of God a well disposed Nature and a vertuous Education preserved from all gross Sins and Vices so in his riper years he lived a life of strict Vertue I am no great Favourer of Funeral Elogies because they look like mercenary Flattery if there be not some extraordinary merit to lay a just foundation for them but the Righteous ought to be had in perpetual remembrance and the memorial of the Just shall be praised 'T is justice to give every man his due praise and to commend those whose vertuous lives are bright and illustrious to others and it is kindness to the living to hold before their eyes a shining light a glorious pattern of Vertue to guide and direct them to walk in the paths of Holiness and Peace and to beget in them the like Goodness and Charity Thus our deceased Friend in his life and practice did shine as a burning Lamp and adorn'd his holy Profession by a good Conversation His divine Soul was inflamed with a fervent love and zeal for God and possessed with a holy fear and awe of his glorious Majesty whom he served with Reverence and filial Obedience His Piety did consist more in the vital and substantial parts of Religion than in Circumstantials He had a sincere love for the Preaching of the Word which he waited upon with diligence to the end that he might learn his duty and grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ whom to know and in whom to believe is life eternal His attendance upon the Word was with constancy if his infirm body would give him leave and he heard it with reverence as the word of Life and Salvation Great was his regard for the Lord's Day not only to keep it holy himself but to see that his whole Family did strictly observe and sanctify it not only by resting from their worldly labours and putting on finer Clothes c. but by performing religious Exercises and improving the present Vacation from the works of their Callings unto a more diligent attendance on God in the publick and private Duties of Religion and in the spiritual concernments of their Souls The Government of his Family was very decent and regular his House was an Oratory of Devotion wherein Morning and Evening Sacrifice was dayly offered to God and some portion of Holy Scripture was read with seriousness and devotion with love and delight and Prayer was the beginning and ending of every day And this I assure you is the duty of all Masters of Families which they ought to see performed in their Families for the care and charge of Souls is committed to them There they are Kings to rule Prophets to teach and Priests to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices for themselves and for those under their roof They their Children and Servants ought to serve the Lord and their neglect thereof is one chief cause of all that Atheism and Irreligion which too much abounds in the Age we live in To this may I add his secret Devotion in private which was most constantly and diligently performed by him The spirit of Religion eminently dwelt in this good man His Devotions were fervent and serious his affections and desires were in a great measure crucified to the world and all the delights and pleasures of it He was cloathed with Humility as with a Garment and beautified with the goodly ornament of a calm meek and quiet Spirit which in the sight of God is of great price His Mind was exquisitely tender and compassionate His kindness and charity truly admirable for he loved relieved and assisted all necessitous Objects according to his ability In company he was pleasant cheerful and facetiously witty His behaviour was modest and affable kind and courteous to all sorts of people By the evenness of his temper and sweet disposition and friendly deportment he gained the love and respect of good men His Servants speak him to be a kind respective Master and we all know that he was a true Friend a good Neighbour a very useful and serviceable person in his Generation a Patron to several Fatherless Children and Orphans a true lover of his King and Country sober and temperate in every thing in his Diet in his Apparel in his Words and Behaviour prudent in the management of his own and others Affairs wherein he was much employed a good Housekeeper according to his degree and ability and a great support to many indigent and needy persons In a word his many vertuous Qualities and praise-worthy Deeds deserve to be commemorated and recommended to your practice But he is gone to his unchangeable state God grant that we who survive may all of us tread in the steps of his exemplary Piety and Vertue of his unwearied diligence and patient continuance in well doing May the Eccho of his Praises tend to the setting forth of God's Glory to whom be ascribed by us and the whole company of his Saints as is most due eternal praises Amen Amen FINIS