Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A54873
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A funeral sermon upon the sad occasion of the death of Mordecai Abbott, Esq. preach'd the 17th of March 1699-1700 by John Piggott.
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Piggott, John, d. 1713.; Abbott, Mordecai, d. 1700?
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1700
(1700)
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Wing P2220A; ESTC R28440
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25,005
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96
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the mutiny of our Passions sends up such Vapours as thicken into a Cloud which sitting on the Understanding do so confound the Apprehension both with regard to the actings of these Graces and the Objects upon which they are to terminate that they are like a musical Instrument that is unstrung and so unfit for use Indeed there is no time more proper for the acting our suffering Graces than a day of gloom and thick darkness But alas this cannot be perform'd while the Mind is under Confusion and Horror and the animal Spirits exhausted by continual sighing Therefore when we give so large a vent to our Sorrows as to impair the health of our Bodies and impede the exercise of our Graces we sorrow like those that have no hope 3. When our Grief for our deceased Friends is greater than for those Sins which might be the occasion of God's removing 'em so suddenly from us There is hardly any afflictive Providence but is properly a Reproof and Correction for Sin Now if the smart of our Afflictions gives a deeper accent to our Sorrow than the guilt of our Sins if we are more griev'd for the loss of our Friend than for the visible tokens of the Divine Anger then our mourning is criminal Indeed that Person must be very Stoical that can bear the loss of an agreeable Friend without dropping a few Tears and sending some Sighs after him but he is no less to blame that can conceive a greater Sorrow in his Soul for the loss of an outward Comfort than for Sin the sad cause of God's snatching it from him Moreover 't is a certain sign that God was not valu'd by such a one as the supreme all-comprehending Good if any temporal loss does more afflict his Soul than the Sins that occasion'd it 4. We sorrow as those without hope for our departed Friends when our Grief is more pungent and afflictive for the loss of them than for God's withdrawing his gracious and quickning Presence and hiding his Face from us in an angry Cloud The Smiles of God are better and more to be valued than the best Life of any Creature therefore to be less concern'd when he frowns upon our Souls than when he removes from us the Comforts of Life does not only discover the disorderly excess of our Grief but the defect of our Judgment in setting a higher value on a dying Creature than an everliving God But I hasten to the second Head Secondly They may be said to sorrow as those without hope that exceed in the continuance of their Sorrows rejecting all solid grounds of Comfort as did several whose Names are inrol'd in sacred Story I 'll instance in a few Good old Gen. 37. 34 35. Jacob upon the apprehension of Joseph's death rends his Clothes puts Sackcloth upon his Loins and mourn'd for his Son many days his Passion so got the start of his Reason that he refus'd to be comforted and resolv'd to mourn till he died abandoning himself to Jer. 31. 15. the most desperate Sorrow And thus Rachel is describ'd by the Prophet as weeping for her Children and refusing to be comforted because they were not And Rizpah continued 2 Sam. 21. 10. by the dead Bodies of her Sons and would not willingly be remov'd from ' em And there are not a few Christians who are too apt to slide into these Excesses upon the death of their near Relations as if all their Happiness was vanish'd and gone when the delight of their Eyes is sunk into a Grave out of their sight which immoderate Sorrow is a continu'd Reflection on the Divine Attributes as if a God of infinite Wisdom and immense Goodness were uncapable of making up the loss of a mutable mortal Creature Moreover let me remark that the invincible Patience and profound Submission of some Heathens under the most afflicting Providences condemn the Practice of those Christians who incessantly mourn for their departed Friends and refuse to be comforted I 'll mention but one in the room of several and 't is that of Stilpon the Philosopher who when the City where he liv'd was reduc'd to Ashes and his Wife and Children buried in the common Ruins himself escaping alone from the Fire being ask'd whether he had lost any thing replied * Senec. Epist 9. Omnia bona mea mecum sunt Justitia Virtus Temperantia Prudentia hoc ipsum nihil boni putare quod eripi possit All my Treasure 's with me Justice Virtue Temperance Prudence and this inviolable Principle not to esteem any thing as my proper Good that can be ravish'd from me An Instance that very much upbraids those Christians that are intemperate either in the degree or duration of their Grief Some time is necessary and decent for our funeral Sorrows but to walk softly all our days in deep mourning and anguish of Spirit because our Friends are taken from us and made more happy than ever they were with us is to grieve like stupid Jews or hopeless Heathens both which disbelieve the Resurrection of Christ which is the Foundation Model and Pledg of ours Therefore that this Disswasive of the Apostle may make a sutable Impression upon our Minds let us now consider the Arguments he uses to inforce it which is the III. General Head and here are two things to be insisted upon First The nature of their Death who die united to Christ 't is represented under the soft Character of a Sleep Secondly The great advantage that follows their Death such as sleep in Jesus will God bring with him First The nature of their Death who are united to Christ 't is call'd a Sleep Those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him An excellent * Dr. Bates Author on this Text observes how the Apostle varies the Expression Jesus died but the Saints sleep in him for he sustained Death in all its Terrors that it might be a calm Sleep to his People Under the Old Testament we find the Death of the Saints frequently set forth by this soft and gentle Character David and Solomon Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah are represented at their Death to be fallen asleep And under the New Testament our Lord uses this Phrase upon the death of one whom he lov'd Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Joh. 11. 11. And 't was St. Paul's usual Idiom to call Death a Sleep as appears from the Scriptures in the Margin * 1 Cor. 15. 6 18 20 51. Some indeed have been so weak as to imagine that this Sleep did equally seize Soul and Body and have asserted that at death the Soul passes into a state of Inactivity and sleepeth with the Body till the Resurrection an Opinion so repugnant to the true Principles of Philosophy and Divine Revelation that 't is seldom espous'd by any but Atheists Socinians and very ignorant Pretenders to Religion Our Souls are of an immortal nature they neither die nor sleep but immediately upon the death Eccles 12.
And indeed all men have just reason to fear Death who have nothing but a gloomy prospect beyond it the terrible apprehensions of an angry God and a tormenting Tophet But such whose guilt is remov'd by the Blood of Christ and their Souls renew'd and cleans'd by the Spirit of Christ have no reason to fear Death for it approaches 'em without a sting Thirdly From the Doctrine I have establish'd we learn of what necessity it is to be united to Christ for 't is only such that shall have part in the first Resurrection over whom the second Death shall have no power 't is only such as die in the Lord i. e. united to Christ by the Spirit and Faith that are said to sleep in Jesus and that God our Saviour will bring with him I know that some men think themselves very witty when they ridicule the Doctrine of Union with Christ but I am sure they are very miserable if we may take the word of an Apostle for it who says that if any Rom. 8. 9. Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Now none but such as belong to Christ shall attend his Triumph at the last day and reign with him in his immoveable Kingdom Fourthly How great are our Obligations to our Redeemer who hath alter'd the very nature of Death by dying in our stead and given us assurance of our Resurrection by his own rising from the dead O the heights the depths the lengths the breadths of the Love of God in Christ Jesus O shall not our Hearts burn with a grateful flame and shall not his unexampled Love render him exceeding precious to our Souls and cause us to strike up with the Church Triumphant Rev. 5. 12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing for ever and ever Fifthly How little reason have those that are united to Christ to desire any long tarry in this World which is a sink of Sin and Sorrow a place of gloominess and darkness where we constantly suffer and are always in danger of sinning Moreover while here we are kept from our Inheritance and our Father's House Therefore it better becomes a true Member of Christ's Mystical Body to desire rather to depart and to be with Christ which is best of all Sixthly How great is the difference betwixt the death of a Believer and that of an Infidel Mr. Cruso They may both fall by the same diseases and their Dust be mingled in the same Pit but their immortal part will be everlastingly divided There is a great Gulf fixed between the Spirits in Prison and the Souls in Paradise We read that when the rich Man died in Hell be lift up his Eyes being in Torments Luke 16. 22 23. but when the religious Beggar left this World he was carried by Angels into Abraham 's Bosom An impenitent Sinner at death loses the very Shadows that he courted for Happiness but the Saint heightens his Felicity into Perfection Mark the perfect Man and behold Psal 37. 37. the upright for the end of that Man is peace Lastly If such as sleep in Jesus God will bring with him then let us not sorrow like those without hope when God removes our Relations and Friends by death especially such whom we have good ground to believe are fallen asleep in Jesus as blessed be God we have of that excellent and worthy Gentleman Mr. ABBOTT whose Death has given the sad occasion to this Discourse And is he dead Well but his Name lives and will be fresh and fragrant to Posterity And I cannot do Justice to his Memory without taking notice of those Graces and Virtues that eminently shin'd in his Conversation and Conduct for the Memory of the just shall be blessed and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance I am not now to give the Character of one that dwelt in a shade but of one whose publick Imploys expos'd him to a continual view so that I doubt not of a crowd of Witnesses to attest the truth of what I shall say I confess to collect all that was excellent and imitable in the deceas'd Gentleman is too big a task for so unskilful a Person as I am who can but lay the dead Colours of his Character and must leave the finishing strokes to more artful Hands to Men of better Judgment of greater compass of Thought and exactness of Stile I must own I am at a loss where to begin and what part of his excellent Character I shall insist upon but I think his Piety towards God may properly enough be spoken of in the first place He began very early to be religious devoted to Heaven the flourishing bloom of his Youth the first and best of his time he had well studied and digested the great Articles of the Christian Faith and had right Notions of the Person and Mediatory Work of Christ which had a mighty influence into his whole Conversation for tho he liv'd in a crowd and hurry of business yet he lost not his Religion in the midst of it but kept close to the private and publick Duties of Divine Worship With what seriousness and diligence did he attend on Sermons and what Pains did he take in the writing and repeating of ' em which was the more extraordinary because his publick Imploys engag'd him in writing even to toil and fatigue He was not a Gentleman that affected Singularity or pretended to more Purity than other Christians but there was a native gracefulness that attended his acts of Piety and Devotion which he manag'd without Pomp or Noise this was an evidence of his great Humility a Grace very conspicuous in him as some of the poorest in this place cannot but have observ'd to whom he carried it as if they had been his Equals which added a mighty lustre to the rest of his Virtues His Zeal for spreading the great Truths of the Gospel was strong and regular bright and flaming for notwithstanding his many necessary Avocations he would redeem time to advise and assist in the promotion of substantial Godliness His Sincerity was very extraordinary and visible for he appear'd always with great freedom simplicity and plainness in Conversation he detested all Reserves and Disguises 't was too mean for him to appear in Masquerade tho Alamode Integrity preserv'd him from the meanness of Flattery and he preserv'd his Integrity amidst a thousand Temptations He was a true Nathanael who by the Grace of God abating the common frailtys of human Life might be said to keep himself unspotted from the World for he acted like Joseph in the Court of Pharaoh only with this difference that he had not learn'd to swear by his Life In his Family he was very exemplary gave great encouragement to the beginnings of Piety but deeply resented the negligence of Servants or Children that should absent themselves from Family-worship The Company