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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53333	The blessedness of good men after death a sermon preach'd at the funeral of the Revd. Mr. Henry Cornish, B.D., who died on Sunday, Decemb. 18th, in the eighty ninth year of his age and was interred on Thursday, Decemb. 22d, 1698, in the Church of Bisiter, in the County of Oxford : with a preface to rectifie some misrepresentations &c. in a late pamphlet, entitled Some remarks on the life, death, and burial of the said Mr. Cornish / by John Ollyffe ...	Ollyffe, John, 1647-1717.	1699 (1699)	Wing O286; ESTC R7832	31,135	36

are all but to promote Religion Faith Purity and Charity among Men. And 't is Pride Interest Passion Stiffness and Revenge that spoil and hinder all But whosoever they are that do not prefer Religion and Peace above every Thing else all violent Incendiaries all Self-seekers all Carnal Politicians that to gratifie an Humour to serve an Interest or to keep up a Ballance make it their Business to foment Discord and to keep Divisions a-foot I will be bold to say they know not what manner of Spirit they are of they seek not Christ but themselves their God is their Belly and their Glory is in their Shame And let them be Dissenters or Church-Men or of what Denomination they will they are not true Christians This Wisdom descendeth not from above but is Earthly Sensual Devilish For where Envying and Strife is there is Confusion and every Evil Work But the Wisdom that is from above is first pure then peacable gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality and without Hypocrisie And the fruit of Righteousness is sown in Peace of them that make Peace Jam. 3.15 This Peace I am for I love neither Faction nor Fury Obstinacy nor Revenge but could be glad to do any thing in the World to convince heal or reconcile And so I hope would many others But I can see but little success of Attempts that have been made this way and can have but little hopes till God is pleased to take the Matter into his own Hands to bring the Spirits of Men to a certain Temper on all sides which yet the most do not seem to be inclined to which hath been no small Trouble to me to observe so that I have been almost tired out with vain Expectation in this Matter But if I can do no good towards a Composure or Accommodation of these our Uncharitable and Unchristian Differences I am resolved however I will not irritate or inflame what I would be glad to heal as I dare say I should have done if I had taken this Reflector's Measures But now we are upon it let us consider what Methods He would have had me used to bring those People to Church more frequently at other times First he saith I should have taken the opportunity to Commemorate the great Charity of the Church of England which like a Natural and Indulgent Mother hath always open Arms to receive even her Froward and Rebellious Sons and alloweth her Offices of Christian Burial to those who despise her other Ordinances that she patiently waits their Submission while they live and affords them the last Offices of Piety when they come to Die which sure might win upon all Ingenious Spirits to oblige her with Conformity and Obedience in all reasonable Service But I am apt to be of Opinion after all that they would hardly have thought this Argument to have any great Weight in it Charity is a very good and obliging Thing But unless they can have Satisfaction given them about the Reasonableness and Unexceptionableness of the Service it self which they Dissent from which this Reflector doth not proceed to nor doth advise me to it tho' that was the chief Thing and would have been most to the purpose I doubt the Churches Charity alone in the respect which he mentions would hardly bring them to Conformity and Obedience to it But to give Him his due He doth not insist upon this as the chief Thing being apprehensive 't is likely of the weakness of it taken by it self It was something else he had principally in his Thoughts as appears by his long Harangue about it which I cannot but wonder at viz. That it was an Holy Place where they were now Assembled and where their Beloved Teacher chose to lie at Rest which He had hinted before And that I might have inferred That they do not Die so much out of Charity with the Church as is commonly imputed to them For they like well enough to be Buried there in the Church Ground And when they come to depart out of this World they leave their Bodies as a Legacy to it And to leave a Legacy to one is justly thought a Sign and Seal of Reconciliation and perfect Love I never heard indeed that they were much out of conceit with the Earth of the Church-Floor And if that be a sign of their Reconciliation to the Church I find they are contented to give a Testimony of it at any time when there is the like Occasion And tho' these Brethren chuse to serve God in a Common and Unhallowed Barn rather than in a Place Solemnly Devoted to be God's House of Prayer yet on Death-Bed Thoughts they cannot Will their Bodies to be committed to the Threshing-Floor but make it their last Option to be Buried with their Forefathers as it is Natural or Customary for all to desire and let their Sepulchres at least be on the good old Consecrated Ground tho' I dare say they never think of the Consecration when they do so And who knoweth but the Better Sort of Dissenters may have such Scruples on them as these That if they should be too soon admitted into the Bosom of the Church they could by no means live up to the Rules and Orders of it whereas delaying their Admission to the last when their Bodies are brought to Church They may possibly suppose that such a final Action may determine their Salvation and to be Buried in the Church be a sufficient Atonement for their long Absence from it And then upon this he saith I might have took occasion to perswade the Brethren there present that they would be as well affected in their Life and Health as they generally come to be in their last Sickness and point of Death that is to bring their Bodies to the Chuich whilst their Souls are yet in them which would be a more acceptable Sacrifice than the bare Carcase and Refuse of Mortality And why should they desire to be Interred within the Precincts of the Church unless they think it their own last Home and proper Place Would any of us request that our Dead Bodies should be carried into an Enemies Country rather than be laid up in our Native Land It must argue some good Affection sure to the Spot of Earth where we resolve to lay down our Mortal Man and to mix our common Dust And moreover therefore I should have encouraged these Brethren not to forsake the Assembling of themselves together in that Holy Place where the Mournful Occasion had now brought them The Ground was not Polluted with Idolatrous Worship if it had their Reverend Teacher would not have desired to have found there an Ark of Rest for his Earthly Tabernacle By these extraordinary Arguments and Motives I should very powerfully have Exhorted the Brethren there present to come to Church every Sunday in the Year And if any of them should have an Humour more Obstinate than ordinary such rare and

The Blessedness of Good Men-after Death A SERMON Preach'd at the FUNERAL OF THE Rev d. Mr. Henry Cornish B. D. Who died on Sunday Decemb. 18th in the Eighty Ninth Year of his Age and was Interred on Thursday Decemb. 22d 1698. in the Church of Bisiter in the County of Oxford With a Preface to Rectifie some Misrepresentations c. in a late Pamphlet Entitled Some Remarks on the Life Death and Burial of the said Mr. Cornish By John Ollyffe Rector of Dunton in the County of Bucks LONDON Printed for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden-Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1699. THE PREFACE I Had not the least Intent when I first Composed and afterwards Preach'd this Sermon to make it Publick But there being a very busie and angry Reflector who it seems was then an Auditor who hath concern'd himself to Print Remarks upon it in a very little time after it was Preach'd which I cannot but take for very dis-ingenious and hard Usage and not knowing what may be the Consequence thereof among those who may frame their Judgments only by his Report and may be apt to kindle at his Fire I think my self obliged for my own Vindication as also to satisfie the Desires of some whom I have a Respect for at length to send it abroad and to take some little Notice of his Reflections upon it And I am not without hope but that by the Blessing of God it may be of use to some devout Minds at least howsoever He or some Others took it This Reflector saith He is really as much against a Persecuting Spirit as any of those Men whose Interest or Coldness it is to be for what they call Moderation He knoweth himself best Far be it therefore from me to charge him with that which he denieth of himself But it seems tho he be against Persecution yet he is not for Moderation For this he reckons to be from Coldness or Interest which are too low Principles for him to be influenc'd by And so one would think by him Now I must own to this Reflector and to all the World that I am not only against a Persecuting Spirit and so have always been but am for Moderation too yet not from Interest or Coldness but because I think it is a very great Christian Vertue And I believe if the Reflector had something less of a Persecuting Spirit and a little of Moderation it would be never the worse and then I am apt to think he had spared these Reflections He saith He is as much by Temper and by Conscience against Railing and Rudeness as against Fawning and Flattery 'T is great pity that a good Temper should ever be spoiled by bad Customs or that Passion or Heat shou'd ever over-rule such a Principle as Conscience But yet so we see it comes to pass sometimes He would have all Justice and Charity he saith shewed to the Dead of all Perswasions And I perceive he is willing enough that Dissenters should have as much Respect shewn them that way as other Men of the most desperate Sects and Factions as Pharisees or as the most deplorable Hereticks in the Christian Church Because there may be some laudable Qualities even in such Men and they are not so lost to God and Goodness but they say and do some things that are Praise worthy and of good Report which is a very notable Concession and which the Dissenters no doubt will Con him much Thanks for that they may be treated at least as well as Turks Infidels Pharisees and Hereticks He is not angry he saith That this Grave Ancient Man was publickly treated with so much Respect and Honour and how comes it to pass then that he is so angry with me for treating him with this Respect and Honour which I have done Especially when he grants that Funeral Sermons should be interpreted with Candour and Concession But it raised his Indignation he saith to hear such an Harangue upon a profess'd maintainer of Division and Schism What that Harangue was is to be seen in the Sermon towards the latter End which is there without the least omission or alteration of any one Word that I know of which if he had consider'd better and had not done in haste what he did he might have thought that there had been no such occasion given for this loud Out-cry which he hath made in this Business As to much of what I have mention'd in the Character of this Worthy Person this Reflector hath said as much as I and somewhat more as I shall give an account afterwards being better acquainted with some Passages of his Life of late than I was and if it be more to the purpose too I am very glad of it and thank him for it But for those Strokes of his Life and Conversation which he saith some People had objected as Blots and Blemishes to him and which I should have made an Ingenious Apology for I knew none there that had made such Objections or that expected such Apologies And I did not in the least design then that my Sermon should have gone farther The Reflector now being well acquainted with Panegyrick hath shewed me what he thinks I might have said both ways but hath inserted or added withal very slighting and undervaluing Reflections which I who have less Skill that way cannot but think he ought to have let alone and no doubt he had done so if he had designed his Remarks in real kindness to his Memory But I for my part did not think I had need to concern my self with any thing of that Nature but must be of Opinion still after all that he hath said That it would have been plainly absurd in the present Audience and that much also of what he has said hath neither relish of Decency nor good Nature in it and therefore I chose rather to express in few Words what I knew in the time of my Acquaintance with him and to omit all other Things which did not concern me For it was not my Business to give an History of his Life nor indeed could I do it being but little acquainted with it but only in short to express his Character as far as I knew And if I did deliver this with as much noise and assurance as Lungs and Liberty could take which He being an Auditor saith I did I hope it may well be ascribed to my Affection and Sense of Obligations which this Reflector grants in Funeral Orations there should be an Allowance for But that I spake it in Triumph over the Head of the Parochial Minister as this Reflector also by a most uncharitable Censure layeth to my Charge I abhor and detest it with as much Indignation as he saith he heard it Far be it from me ever to have had such an Intent or Thought which I am sure never was in my Heart nor could there be the least colour for such a Censure but my Affectionate Delivery which the Occasion drew from

me But the great Quarrel against me I perceive is That I commended him so much for his Piety and Holiness which this Reflector calls Sainting of him as it were and that I pronounc'd him Blessed that is I express'd my Belief of the Blessedness of the Man Who this Reflector saith had been the Voice and the Soul of the Schism in that Town that is had been a Preacher to a separate Congregation there In which Station of his yet it appeareth by what this Reflector himself afterwards saith of him He managed himself with very great Modesty and Inoffensiveness And this Reflector himself also pronounceth him an Honest Man that being the Appellation which he giveth him And if he was such an One then whatever his Failures or Mistakes had been in some Points either of Opinion or Practice and suppose this for One which this Reflector mentions yet he must needs believe that these Failures and Mistakes were Unwilling and Involuntary in him And sure He cannot but hold but that a very eminent degree of Piety may be very well consistent with more than one involuntary Failures and Mistakes And a Man may be a very Good Man tho' in some Things He be in the wrong And if I believed him Pious as I verily did I can see no Reason but that I might at that time openly express my Belief thereof And then sure I ought to believe him Blessed too if I ought to believe Pious Men to be Blessed And then why might not I express my Belief thereof likewise But he saith I should have consider'd the Place wherein I stood upon Courtesie and Sufferance and should in good Manners have said nothing offensive to the Person by whose Leave I came there I verily thought I had done so as he saith I should have done I commended him for his Goodness Humility and Piety and I think he deserved it And I could never imagine That the Commendation of the Piety of any Man who did deserve that Commendation could be offensive to him or any other worthy Person But it seems I spoke as if I had his Person in Admiration and taught those present to have it so And what then It was for that which was Good and Excellent in him and what harm could there be in that That sure could never as this Reflector adds seal up the Obstinate or confirm them in the Error of their Ways when I did not commend him for any Error but for that which was Good in him Nor can it be a delivering up of the Church which I hope is as much for Holiness in all Men as I or any other Person can be Nor can the Commendation of a Person 's Piety and Goodness tho' in some Things differing from me and from the Church of which I am a Member be to countenance Disorders and Divisions to daub with untempered Morter or to prophesie Deceits all which are the judicious and kind Remarks which this Reflector makes upon my Performance What! Cannot a Man commend a Dissenter but that must be to commend his Dissent And if I did not commend his Dissent how was that to countenance Divisions And if I commended him for that Good which was really in Him I spake the Truth however this Reflector would insinuate the contrary and if a Man speaks Truth is that to Prophesie Deceits I am no Dissenter but I love and honour Dissenters that are good Men for their Goodness sake tho' not for their Dissent and so I ought to do To speak plainly I believe the Constitution of our Church to be Justifiable and in the main Primitive and the Terms of our Church Communion to be Lawful or else I should Lie to God and Men in what I have done in Conformity which God forbid or now must renounce it which I see no Reason for And therefore I know I ought not to do any thing that I think might tend to alienate or withdraw any Person from it nor did I ever intend any such thing in the whole Course of my Life but to sweeten Men's Spirits and to reconcile them to it as much I could But I see many Persons have invincible Prejudices against some Things which the Church of which I am as well as my self think Indifferent And if this Reflector thinks they cannot be Good Men because of such Prejudices and certain Practices of theirs following thereupon I am of another Opinion For I believe there have been and are a great many such notwithstanding and as such I am bound to Love and Honour them and not only to exchange with them the common Offices of Humanity which is all that this Reflector seems to allow Tho' 't is their Goodness and not their Prejudices or Dissent that I Love and Honour in them And on the other side to speak as plainly If any be Bad Men let them be of the Church never so much if they can pray and swear almost in a Breath if they are drunk with Wine or strong Drink tho' not with Opinions if they hate Faction and nothing else besides if they have a Zeal for Forms and outward Observances and there it rests I shall never have much respect for such Puppits and Apes in Religion that have nothing at all of the Life and Spirit of it I have indeed these Expressions in the Character of this Good Man That his Labour in that way wherein he thought he might Glorifie God even to extream Old Age for now he was in the Eighty Ninth Year of it was an Instance of his great delight therein of his Pious Zeal for the promoting of Religion and of his Earnest Desire of the Eternal Welfare of Men. I did not speak this to justifie his Way in the Circumstances of it but to commend his Holy Intention and Zeal for the promoting of Piety in it which I thought his long-continued Labour was a great Indication of For so I perswade my self it was intended by him and that the matter and end of his Service and Performances allowing for Human Frailties were for the glorifying of God and promoting of true Religion and not of Disorders and Divisions For this Reflector himself observes enough to clear him in that Matter if his Preaching was like the rest of his Conversation For he himself observeth That notwithstanding many Disadvantages of Education and Interest which he lay under that he was no Bigot no violent angry Man That he had really a Meekness of Disposition which kept him from Wranglings and Disputes That he had a goodness of Nature which inclined him to a fair Correspondence with some Church-Divines and that it seemed his peculiar frame of Spirit to be reserved and inoffensive That like a Wise and Good Man he took only the defensive part in those short Discourses that had been held with him That he never in his hearing railed at or run down the Constitution of the Church but pleaded calmly for Moderation and Liberty of Conscience and bearing with one

another And that he often chose to make as it were some Apology for keeping up a separate Meeting in opposition to the Church and would say he was brought thither by the invitation and importunity of such as were good People And that it was not his Intention to keep them altogether from the Church but should sometimes set them an Example of going thither himself And that he did at first resolve to begin and end his Publick Exercises at such Hours as should not interfere wirh the Solemn Service of the Church but dismiss them from one place to attend at the other And that he seemed to desire no better Character than what had been freely given to his Predecessor Mr. Troughton by one who as this Reflector saith had not the Custom to flatter that Party who was very moderate c. And that he seemed to value himself on this Happiness that he had received Holy Orders from a Bishop of the Church of England That he Married one of his Daughters to a Conforming Divine and used his Interest to possess him of a better Benefice under the Condition of Subscription and Declaration which the Law required Concerning which Relations and others which he adds I know nothing except that barely of the Marriage of his Daughter and therefore could say nothing of them But I think even from this Reflector's account of him I have Reason also to conclude That this Good Man's Pains and Zeal were intended by him not for the promoting of Divisions and Disorders but of the Service of God and of true Piety and Holiness which was what I aimed at in that which I said of him in that part of his Character Therefore to conclude this I cannot yet be perswaded but that what I said of this Worthy Man was downright Justice to his Memory and not Fawning or Flattery as this Reflector would insinuate But there is another Thing it seems that raised the Indignation of this Reflector viz. That in all my Discourse there was not a word of Exhortation to Unity and Peace nor so much as wishing those People to come more frequently to that Holy Place where they were now Assembled and where their Beloved Teacher chose to lie at Rest That there was nothing he saith but an Applause of the Person and then a silent Consent to the Merits of the Cause And thereupon he insinuates as if I made Conformity and Separation indifferent Things as if I was an Advocate for Indifference in Communion and had cowardly betrayed that Altar to the Service whereof I had been legally Ordained For my part I cannot but wonder at this Reflector's Discourse and by what Logick he could ever infer That the Applause and Commendation of a Person for his Goodness and Zeal for the promoting of Piety which was all that I designed and my omitting of that which did not concern me at that time could be a silent Consent to the Merits of a Cause or that it was to be an Advocate for indifference in Communion to say nothing at all about it But a little Wit and a great deal of ill Nature by the help of spightful Innuendo's will be able to infer any thing from any thing But I must tell this Reflector That that was no part of my Business at that time which he expected of me My Business was to Preach a Funeral Sermon at the Interment of an Old and Good Friend from whom I had received formerly many Obligations to which I was called by the Friends of the Deceased and for the doing of which they had obtained leave of the Minister of the Town In this Sermon I did endeavour plainly and familiarly which it seems was a Fault with some to represent some Things which might be for the Consolation of Good People against the fears of Death and to exhort and encourage others to espouse Religion which had so great Advantages attending upon it And this I think by this Reflector's leave was a proper Subject for such an Occasion And this Subject I having chosen this I was to pursue But yet could not omit saying something tho' it was but a little and I think if I committed any Fault it was in saying too little out of Gratitude and hearty Respect to the Memory of my Reverend and good Friend Departed But I could not think it any part of my Business upon that Occasion to insist upon the Points of Unity and Schism Let my Thoughts or Opinion about them have been what they would or tho' they were never so much such as this Reflector would have them therefore I think the Reflector blames me without Cause as guilty of a grand Omission of that which was nothing to the purpose of what I was then about but it seems to me would have been a downright Solecism at a Funeral Solemnity And I have never observed That Excursions of this Nature have ever had any good Effect but directly the contrary Yet I can assure this Reflector and do profess to him That I have as much desired and longed for the Peace of the Church its Security and Establishment and the Union of Dissenters to it that all our Animosities might be composed our Breaches healed and our Differences happily brought to an end as ever any hungry Man did long for his Meat and Drink and would be glad to promote it by all proper Means I am sure it is for the interest of Religion for the advancement of the Name and Honour of our great Lord and Master to have the Church of God at Unity within it self It is that which would make the Church it self Glorious and Venerable and formidable to all its Enemies or rather it will be the way to have no Enemies at all when they shall see the happy Effects of the Christian Doctrine upon the Lives and Spirits of Men and Love Charity and good Will planted and fructifying in the Christian World I am very sure from the Apostle That the whole Body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the Measure of every part maketh encrease of the Body unto the edifying of it self in Love Eph. 4.16 And therefore all that could be done should be done towards the procuring of this mutual Love and the settling of Concord among all the Members of this Body All proper Means should be made use of all Methods taken any way any expedient tried that can be unnecessary occasions of Contention should be removed Concessions made and yielding on all sides and if one Thing will not do then another and another should be tried like Physick in a difficult Case And it would be all worth the while for the promoting of Christian Love and Charity which is so great a part of Religion and which is so helpful to all the rest And 't is Religion that we must aim at and which all Things whatsoever should subserve to Order Government Discipline Ordinances Ministers and Ministry

according to their Measure made like unto God And thereby it must needs be That God's Love of Complacency must be towards them and his Delight must be in them For however there may be some Blots in this Image in them yet these being not such as to spoil the Beauty thereof God will have a favourable Respect unto them and they may depend upon it that He will not cast them off These Men are not of a Temper or Spirit for Devils or Infernal Spirits to dwell with them For they do oppose their Dark Kingdom and are grieved at the Conversation of the Wicked by whom it is promoted And therefore they may be sure they shall never be put to Herd with them in the Infernal Lake hereafter But the time will come when all shall be carried to their Like tho' it cannot be done here where the Tares and the Wheat must be suffered to grow together But at last the Sheep shall be put by themselves and the Goats by themselves all Wicked Men by themselves and with their Patrons and Masters the Devils and Infernal Spirits whose Work they have done and whose Image they bare and all Holy and Good Men by themselves together with Christ their Lord whom they have serv'd and whose Image is upon them So both Parties would have it and so it shall be For they differing so vastly in their Tempers so far as they differ are even weary of one another here so that God will certainly order a Separation of them hereafter that they shall be far enough asunder Thirdly By what hath been said it appears That the great End of Christ's Death and Resurrection and Government is obtained upon Good Men. For God sent his Son to Bless us in turning us every one from our Iniquities Acts 3.26 Cap. 5.31 And He hath Exalted him with his Right Hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and Remission of Sins His great Business was to reduce Men to their Allegiance and to bring them back to God Tit. 2. from whom they were departed The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to that End c. Now this being done it becomes Christ as their Redeemer and Head to take care of them and to look after them that they may attain the End of their Faith the Salvation of their Souls And so he assured us He will do Jo. 10.27 My Sheep hear my Voice I know them and they follow me and I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never Perish For saith he He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them He it is that Loveth me and He that Loveth me shall be Loved of my Father and I will Love him and will manifest my self unto him Jo. 14.21 And where I am there shall my Servant be and if any Man serve me him will my Father Honour Jo. 12.26 And Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me Jo. 17.24 They having heard and learned of the Father and being come unto him He hath undertaken for them Now they are his Members and therefore He will not lose them Rom. 14.8 They now Live unto the Lord and shall Die unto the Lord so that whether they Live or Die they are the Lords and He will certainly see that they shall not miscarry For He hath Power to save them all Power in Heaven and Earth being committed to him Mat. 28. Jo. 6.21 So that as the Father raiseth up the Dead and quickneth them so the Son quickneth whom he will For as the Father hath Life in himself so He hath given to the Son to have Life in himself and this Life he will Communicate to his Members as it certainly concerns him to do He would at last lose his own Honour in the work of Redemption else For it would seem either that his Merit and Satisfaction are Incompetent or that He wanted Power and good Will to do more for them But He hath faithfully assured us That He that believeth in him tho' he were Dead yet shall he Live and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall never Die Jo. 11.25 But because I Live saith he ye shall Live also Fourthly They being now brought to partake of those Qualifications which make them meet for this Blessedness they have by Vertue of God's Promise and Covenant also a Right to it Col. 1.12 For it is to be an Inheritance of Saints and they being Sanctified are therefore become meet for it And this is God's Covenant Heb. 8.10 that when He hath put his Laws into their Minds and wrote them in their Hearts that He will be to them a God and they shall be to him a People and that He will be merciful to their Unrighteousness and their Sins and their Iniquities will He remember no more And therefore they shall be freed from all that Death and Misery that would be the Effects and Consequence of them And this is the Record saith the Apostle 1 Jo. 5.11 That God hath given unto us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son So that He that hath the Son as all have that believe in him and submit to him as their Lord and Saviour hath Life by Vertue of God's Promise and He that hath not the Son hath not Life For this is the Will of him that sent me saith our Saviour That every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have Everlasting Life and I will raise him up at the last Day Jo. 6.40 Secondly I now come to the Second Thing observed in the Words viz. the Nature and Parts of this Blessedness of those that Die in the Lord which if I could throughly Explain would be an abundant Evidence of their being Blessed Now this is Express'd in two Particulars They rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them First They rest from their Labours Now Labour is a very toilsome and tiresome Thing whether it be of the Body or Mind which yet we are all here Exercised with more or less But the Comfort of it is it is this World only that is the Place for Labour and Work for Pain and Sufferings the next is the Place of Retribution and Reward where there shall be no more Toil or Trouble no more Sorrow or Pain no more Combat or Contention with any Evil whatsoever at all The Labours here meant in the Text may most properly signifie the Sufferings and Persecutions for the Faith of Christ as they that Die in the Lord may most properly signifie the Holy Martyrs and Confessors who shall for ever hereafter be freed from these Labours and Sufferings for then they are all past the Pikes The Devil the Accuser of the Brethren the Apollyon the Abaddon that gives them here so much Disturbance shall then be far enough off from them and neither He nor his wicked Instruments

not he had learned from his Great Lord and Master who was kind unto all and who by his Pattern and Precepts had made Universal Love the great Character of his Religion And by this means one would think He could not have many Enemies For who could find in their Hearts to be Enemies to one in whom there was resplendent so much Goodness And this Goodness was set off by a profound Humility and low Condescension and Respect to the Meanest the Lowest the Least By this He was apt to prefer others before himself and to set a Value upon the Parts and Performances of some Young Persons above his own Gray headed Knowledge and Experience By this Kindness and Humility his Self-distrust and Self-abasement He was preserved from the Fiery and Furious Zeal which is the Blemish of some of all Parties that differ in some Circumstantials of Religion and Worship He could not imagine why a Difference in some Circumstantials should make Men Hate and Curse one another among whom there was a good Accord in the Main and Substantial Points of Christian Doctrine Therefore He could bear a Kind and Friendly Respect to other Good Men of other Perswasions besides his own as He would hope for the like from them He had a great Calmness in his own Temper but He was Forward and Fervent in Spirit in the Service of his God as appeared in his Devotions in a Private but much Honoured Family where I have heard him And his long and continu'd Labour in the Service of God in that Way wherein He thought He might Glorifie God even to extreme Old Age is a great Instance of his Delight therein of his Pious Zeal for the promoting of Religion and of his Earnest Desire of the Eternal Welfare of Men. He always appeared to me to be one of Eminent Piety of Exact Walking of an Healing Spirit and to be full of Love to God and Good Men of different Denominations He was not for a Wrangling or Disputative Divinity which tends to Gender Strife but for Plain Practical Godliness in its Life and Power which hath always indeed most Sweetness in it and so will especially appear to have at the last His Afflictions I hear in many Respects have been many but that his Faith and Patience also have been as Eminent Wherein He deserves as in many other Things your Pious Imitation In a Word He Lived long in the Exercise of Piety towards God and of Good Will to Men and how He Died you know I could gladly have enlarged much more upon his Character but these few Things I could not but mention being always bound to have his Memory in Honour For I must ever acknowledge I have had him of Old in many Respects my Friend in some Respects as my Father and Patron and in some others a Guide and Director when I first entred my self upon this Sacred Function This Acknowledgment I cannot but take this Opportunity to express nor do I know any just Reflections that any can make upon it I shall now only make an Inference or two from what I have said on the foregoing Subject and then Conclude First To Comfort and Prepare Good Men for the Expectation of their Death that they may not be Frighted at the Approach of it as such a Dreadful Thing it being most certain that when they remove out of this Tabernacle they enter into an Estate of present Bliss in the presence of their Lord. If the Soul indeed were to lye in a stupid Lethargy in the Grave and have no more Sense or Reflection or Enjoyment after the time of Dissolution they should desire to continue here as long as they can that they may bring more Honour to God in the World and so might further their Reward hereafter thereby And they might have just Cause to take Death for their Enemy whensoever it comes that should deprive them of so great Advantages here and bring them none in the room But there is no fear of all this The Soul is an Active Spark the Breath of the Almighty which whilst it is in the Body by the Laws of Union that were fix'd in the Original Creation by the great Creator must sympathize with it But when the Body is no longer a tolerable Habitation for it it will then Dislodge and take its Flight and the Holy Angels wait to carry it aloft through all the Airy Armies of invisible Fiends to place it above out of the reach of all their Malice For the Soul is a Thinking Substance which hath no Relation to Matter but is of another Nature from it and hath quite other Properties in its Idea And being Immaterial it is not subject to Putrifaction or Dissolution of Parts because it hath no Parts and therefore none to be dissolved but must in its own Nature Subsist and Live still But whatever the Philosophy of the Soul may be we have full assurance from Divine Revelation of its continued Life and greater Perfection and Enjoyment after Death than before Mat. 10.28 Our Saviour told his Disciples That Men tho' they might kill the Body yet were not able to kill the Soul and therefore bid them not be affraid of them Rom. 8. The Body indeed must Die because of Sin but the Spirit the better part is Life because of Righteousness So that Good Men have no Cause to be mightily Affrighted at the Approach of Death For tho' it be the King of Terrors to outward appearance yet they may look upon it as a Routed or Conquered Enemy as a Serpent that hath lost its Sting and Strength which howsoever it may Hiss and show its Rage and Fury yet cannot hurt So that Good Men may Triumph over it and over all Things else besides because neither Death Rom. 8.38 nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate them from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But in and over all these Things they are more than Conquerors through him that Loved them Death is now rather a Friend to them the Messenger of the great King to invite them to his Supper which he hath prepared for them The same Comfort there is at the Departure of Others Friends and Relations that Die in the Lord. For now they are past from all their Labours and Troubles from all their Fears and Dangers their Pains and Sufferings whatsoever and are gone but to take Possession of the Promised Crown It is a Loss to us indeed that they are gone and Self-Love makes us to Mourn and Complain at it But what do They lose in leaving us or the World and the little Accommodations of this Life that are now entered upon the Possession of the Inheritance Tho' we lose by them because they are gone yet we ought not sure to Grudge at their Happiness Secondly To Exhort all to the Faith and