Sincerity I will add but one thing more and so I shall have done with this first part of the Text it is to mind you of that Scripture you have in Ecclesiastes 7.29 God made man upright at first but he sought out many inventions This Uprightness my Brethren was a part of that perfection wherewith Man was endow'd in his Primitive state but man had no sooner fallen but presently he discovered the doubling of his Spirit with God and seeks for hidings and coverings to himself Since the fall our hearts are as full of this deceit this falshood as ever they can hold the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all that we are able to know we have the poison of the Serpent in us and are become full of turnings and windings you may see it in your little Children one of the first things they learn is to lye and to equivocate and to excuse and to hide things and to play the Hypocrites I say we have it all in us by Nature By Nature we do seek our selves and aim at our selves in all we do and not God Do not think that the Pharisees only were prone to this Hypocrisie to draw nigh to God with their lips and to have their hearts far from him or to do Duties to be seen of men I tell you we have every one a Pharisee in our bellies therefore we have need to beg of God that he would make us upright again and to pray as David did Lord create in me a new heart and renew a right spirit within me I come now to speak of his death and I see I must be shortest there where I thought to have been longest having been longest already where I intended to be shortest well the end of this man is peace His end is peace in a twofold opposition First To a wicked man though his life may be pleasant and his way smooth and strew'd with Roses yet his end is bitterness his Death-bed stuft with Thorns as the Cloud which had a bright side toward the Israelites had a dark side to the Egyptians so Death that hath a bright side to a godly man it hath a dark and blackside towards a wicked man as they say in Logick the conclusion always follows the worser part So it is with the wicked his conclusion follows the worser part of his premises Secondly His end is peace in opposition to his own life Perhaps a godly mans life may be full of trouble he may meet with many Temptations with great Trials but his end is peace he shall be brought to a quiet Port and land on a shore of Rest But how is a godly mans end peace and why is it peace Let me speak a little of these two How is his end peace His end is peace these five ways First If you take Peace for Peace with men so his end is Peace he doth endeavour as much as in him lies to live peaceably with all men and he desires to die in peace with all men As he did not live in Quarrels so he doth not die in Quarrels he doth not suffer the Sun of his Life to go down upon his Wrath. Possibly men are at War with him malign him persecute him even unto death as they did Stephen yet he is at amity with them and prays Lord lay not this sin to their charge And with Christ Father forgive them for they know not what they do He hath learnt that Lesson which Nature will never teach a man Matth. 5 To love his Enemies to bless them that curse him to pray for them which despightfully use him Secondly They have peace with Angels for when they die these blessed Spirits do conduct and accompany their departing Souls unto Abrahams bosom Luke 16.22 and at the Resurrection will gather together the bodies of the Elect from all corners of the Earth where their dust hath been scattered Heb. 1.17 We read how Angels who are Executioners of Gods Judgments upon the wicked do stand ready to avenge the quarrel of God upon his Enemies as Joab the Captain of David's Host was ready to have taken off Shimei's head when he cursed the King if he had but said the word These Angels which are the Hosts of God are sent forth as ministring Spirits as friends to the Saints Thirdly His end is peace with God God is reconcil'd to him and he is reconcil'd to God and to all his ways being justified by faith we have peace with God no more anger in his Bosom no more frowns in his Face towards him but all his anger is turned into Love Oh that peace of God which passeth all understanding that fills his heart and mind What a sweet thing is it my Brethren to be at peace with that God whom we have so offended by our Sins to have his Face smiling upon us and his Arms embracing us Who knows the sweetness of such smiles but those that have felt his frowns therefore Christ calls them his Friends for a man when he lies sick to have the bosom of a reconciled God and Father to be his pillow and when he dies to die in the Arms of Christ this must make it sweet dying indeed Fourthly He hath peace in his own Conscience peace in his own Bosom This is our rejoycing the testimony of a good conscience and that bird in the bosom does oftentimes sing most sweetly when the man draws nearest to his death Great peace have they that love thy law says the Psalmist and nothing shall offend them thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee This follows upon our reconciliation with God peace of Conscience that is more worth than a Thousand worlds and to have Conscience to be our enemy continually accusing and upbraiding of us striking us with fear to have the worm gnawing in the Soul before the worms are feeding on the flesh This is a continual dropping this is an Hell upon earth As a good Conscience is a Heaven begun so an evil guilty Conscience is a Hell begun That is a fourth thing they have peace of Conscience as the sting of death is taken away so the sting of Conscience is taken away likewise Fifthly and lastly His end is peace for he enters into peace into full and perfect peace so in Isaiah 57.1 2 Where the Prophet is bemoaning the righteous mans death that no man lays it to heart he shews that they need not lay his death to heart in reference to him for he enters into peace And so Simeon Luk. 2.29 30 Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation and blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours In the Third Region the upper Region of the Air they say there are no Clouds nor Storms no Thunder nor Lightning In the Third Heavens in those coelestial Mansions I am sure there are no troubles no
next verse Yet he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found He is soon wither'd root and branch all his pomp and bravery it does quickly end in dust and ashes Now in opposition to this the Prophet does here draw the Picture of a godly man and he gives us these two lineaments of him he calls him the perfect man and the upright That is the Picture of his Life And then he gives us the Picture of his Death too or of him dying and so his end is peace Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The observation or lesson I shall commend to you is this It is our duty to observe and take special notice of the good and godly man both in his life and death Such as are holy gracious and godly men it is good for us to observe them living and dying to mark how perfectly and uprightly they live and behold how peaceably and comfortably they dye Here are three things to be spoken too 1. The Life of the godly man 2. His Death And 3. Our duty with reference to him in both these First Let us a little view the Life of this godly man as 't is given us here under these two Characters of the perfect man and the upright The perfect man who is he or what is it to be perfect That is perfect in a strict sense to which nothing needs be added and so he only is a perfect man that hath nothing of imperfection remaining in him But then where shall we find this perfect Man For if Noah and Abraham had their imperfections if Elias is said to be a Man of like passions with us if Job and David were not without their defects where then shall we find this perfect man We must therefore distinguish Perfection is either absolute or comparative Absolute and so they only are perfect who are free from all sin and imperfection and thus the Angels in Heaven and the spirits of just men above are perfect And Secondly there is a comparative perfection and so the godly man may be said to be a perfect man if compared with the wicked who have no grace at all or compar'd with the hypocrite who hath grace only in appearance or compared with other Saints who have less grace than he Or secondly we may thus distinguish it Perfection is either Legal such as the Law requires or Evangelical such as the Gospel accepts of First Legal perfection That lies in a sinless obedience and an exact conformity to the Law of God and such a perfect man is not to be found amongst men in this World For the Scripture concludes all men under sin Job durst not avouch himself to be thus perfect Job 9.20 If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse And St. John durst not aver himself to be thus perfect John 1 Epist 1.8 If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us To find a Man that hath nothing of darkness or ignorance remaining on his mind that hath no evil thoughts or inclinations rising in his heart that hath no defects or imperfections in any of his duties and services you may as soon find a man that hath no ill-humours no seeds of sickness or death in his body But then Secondly There is an Evangelical Perfection such as the Gospel does accept of and thus the godly man may be said to be perfect and that these Two ways First Perfect as to his justification before God through Jesus Christ a godly man he is perfectly justified that is his sins are fully pardoned they are all blotted out and remitted as if they had never been committed he that truly repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ he hath the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to him and upon that account is perfectly justified he is acquitted from all his sin Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Rom. 8.33 We are compleat in Christ Col. 2.10 Compleat in him not in our selves 't is in him we have a perfect righteousness for our justification before God in our selves we have none but what is as a filthy rag and hath a Thousand bracks and cracks in it Secondly A godly man may be said to be perfect too as to his Regeneration and Sanctification and that in Two respects 1. Because he hath the perfect beginnings and seeds of all grace and holiness wrought in him even as a Child as soon as it is born hath the perfect limbs and lineaments of his Father eye for eye and hand for hand and foot for foot though he be still capable of further growth and increase in every member and so it is with those that are born of God they have all the lines of Gods image drawn upon their souls they have all the limbs of the new creature repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ love to God hatred of sin and so of the rest though they are still capable of a higher encrease and perfection in every grace so much the Apostle intimates 1 Thes 5.23 where he prays that God would sanctifie them throughout in Soul Body and Spirit Mark they are sanctied in the whole Man though not wholly they are sanctified throughout though not throughly there is no faculty of Soul that remains unsanctified no member of Body that remains unsanctified grace it doth extend it self as far as corruption did unto every part so that the godly man though he be Regenerate but in part for we know but in part and we believe but in part and love but in part yet he hath this perfection that he is regenerate in every part And 2. He may be call'd perfect in regard of the aims and intentions of his desires and endeavours for perfection is that which a godly man doth aim at and which he drives at as in 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Mark he speaks of it as a work that is continually a doing it is still in progress and in proficiency for there is no man that is made perfectly holy at the first as there is no man that is grown a perfect man the first day he is born and thus St. Paul Phil. 3.12 13 Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect But this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before I am pressing onward c. Thus now it is with every godly man there is no imperfection remaining in him but what he longs to be fully rid of and no grace and good thing wrought in him but what he desires to be fully perfected he would be emptied of sin to the very bottom and filled with grace to the brim and in this respect he may be called a
storms no fears no temptations but everlasting rest and peace But why is this Mans end peace It must needs be peace with him in the 〈◊〉 for the God whom he serves he is 〈…〉 and the Christ in whom he beâ—â—â—â— the Prince of peace and the Spirit that dwells in 〈◊〉 the fruits of that spirit is joy and peaces and the Gospel that is Prach'd it is call'd the 〈…〉 and the Ministers that are his Teachâ—â—â— the Ambassadors of peace their work is 〈◊〉 publish peace and the Kingdom of God in which they are or rather which is in them it does consist in peace in righteousness and joy in the holy Ghost and 〈◊〉 Covenant that is between God and them it is a Covenant of peace and the great Benediction and blessing of the Gospel it is grace and peace and they themselves are stiled the sons of peace and the children of peace and therefore they must needs have peace in the end I must not speak to all these I will content my self only with these two grounds of the point First A godly mans end must needs be peace upon this ground Because Jesus Christ hath made his peace procur'd his peace and left peace to him he made peace for us Col. 1 2â— Having made peace through the blood of his cross and the chastisement of our peace was upon him Sin had made a breach between Heaven and Earth and Christ comes to stand in the gap and take up all quarrels and therefore having made peace when 〈…〉 to dye he bequeath'd peace to all his people as their 〈◊〉 Joh. 4.27 Peace I leave with you 〈…〉 unto you not as the world 〈…〉 your heart be troubled neither 〈…〉 And the Spirit the Holy Ghost 〈…〉 â—â—â—ecutor who is a faithful 〈…〉 peace to the Soul he is the Dove that brings this Olive-branch of peace to the Soul to tell us that the Waters of Gods anger are alswag'd Secondly The end of a godly man must 〈…〉 peace too upon this account Because all 〈…〉 are remov'd and taken out of the way 〈…〉 his peace Sin and Satan the two 〈…〉 and disturbers of our peace are taken 〈…〉 1. Sin What makes God frown upon 〈…〉 and what makes us afraid of God but 〈…〉 saith Christ thy sins are forgiven thee And when sin the cause of the breach is remov'd then peace must needs follow Now all sin is fully pardon'd and forgiven to the godly Man God hath remov'd his sins from him as far as the East is from the West What then should hinder his peace And as there is no sin that is left unpardon'd by God so there is no sin that is unrepented of by the godly Man and therefore peace must needs follow when God puts away our sin by pardoning it and we put away our sin too by repenting of it then peace follows God puts away our sins as far as the East is from the West so as 〈◊〉 to remember them more and when we part away our 〈◊〉 as far as the East is from the West so as never to return to them any more 〈◊〉 follows peace indeed While sin is unrepented of never look for peace when any sin is indulg'd in the Soul there cannot be peace with God whiles we are at peace with any sin one known sin kept up in thy heart is enough to breed an everlasting war between God and thy Soul But now when God puts away sin by pardoning and we put away all sin by repenting and renouncing 〈…〉 every weapon of war then peace 〈…〉 2. And then the Devil who is the great Accuser of the Brethren and Enemy of our peace he is destroy'd That by death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 What power hath the Devil over Death not of a Judg but of a Jaylor and Executioner having destroyed him How is the Devil destroyed by Christ not as to his being but power which he had to make Death terrible Well then if Sin be taken out of the way and the Devil be destroyed too then peace must needs follow to the godly man I know there is an Objejection may be made You say that the godly man hath peace in his end What are there not some whom we have cause to judg are perfect and upright men and yet have died far from this peace they have set in a Cloud died in a dark and disconsolate state For answer to that I will only say these two things First That the most general Rule may have some exceptions though this be laid down as a general Rule in Scripture yet God may make some exceptions to it it is possible a good conscience may be an unquiet conscience though 't is a rare thing for a godly man to die without any peace for the righteous hath hope in his death Secondly I say That though a godly man may not always have peace in his death as to his own sense and apprehension yet his state is a state of peace and reconciliation with God though his peace be not always clear yet it is always sure A wicked man may have no bonds in his death and yet his estate may be never the better for that and a godly man may sometimes die full of fears and tremblings and yet his estate be never the worse for that He hath matter for peace and his trouble is for want of understanding things aright though he sets in a Cloud in this life yet he rises without a Cloud in the other life There is a third part of the Doctrine behind that I should have spoken to and that is our Duty to mark this perfect man and behold this upright man And I might have shown you wherein we should mark him Mark him 1. In his Ingress in his entrance upon the ways of God mark him in his conversion to God in his turning from sin to God 2. Mark him in his Progress how he holds on in the ways of God how he walks with God Thirdly Mark him in his Regress how he returns again if at any time he go out of the way if he do fall and be overtaken how he rises again by repentance Mark how he confesses his sius and sincerely bewails them and does not excuse them as Saul did And Lastly Mark him in his Egress how he goes out of the World how he dyes and if the dying speeches of Gods Children had all been recorded it would have been a Book more worth than Gold In all these respects there are many things in the godly that are worth our observation the truth is there is no man else in the World that is hardly worth the looking at but the Godly man As the Prophet said to that great King 2 Kings 3.14 As the Lord of Hosts liveth before whom I stand were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah I would not look towards thee nor see thee Though he was a
abundantly in the work of the Lord so God prospered and blessed his labours abundantly He did not run in vain pray in vain preach in vain God made him a blessed Instrument of good of Eternal good to many Souls And he did as little mind the praise and glory of this World as he did the profits and gain of it He sought his honour in God only and was carry'd forth with pure aims and respects to his glory I have sometimes heard him profess that he scarcely knew what it was to lie under the temptation of desiring the praise and commendations of men in what he did He saw such an emptiness in all humane applause and had his eye so fixt upon his Masters glory that it put out all vain humane glory in his estimation I have often admir'd him for the good things of the Spirit of God that I saw in him for that spirit of Faith that dwelt in him he liv'd in as firm and lively belief of the Eternal and invisible things of the other World as any man that ever I knew For that Spirit of Adoption that rested upon him for he was as much above the spirit of Fear and Bondage as any man that ever I knew For that Spirit of Heavenly-mindedness that he liv'd in continually He had his heart and conversation in Heaven as much as any man that ever I knew For that Spirit of holy Courage he was fill'd withal for he was one that would stand for God in the worst of times and when he judg'd that the Cause and Truth of God required it he would not be daunted and driven from his Duty by the fear of men But above all his glory and Excellency lay in this the uprightness and integrity of his spirit that he serv'd his Lord and Master with such a single eye and such a single heart I have sometimes seen him rejoyce in spirit and speaking of the great comfort that he found in his Soul upon this account that his Conscience did bear him witness that he sought the glory of God in what he did above all the world and expected his reward from God only I have often thought that if ever I saw an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile he was one And as he was thus perfect and upright in his life so his end was peace and blessedness I saw him only the Evening before he died and asked him how he did He answered me That he had been under a very sharp rod But it was that which my heavenly Father said he hath laid upon me for as many as I love I rebuke and chasten that is a Paradox said he to the world but everlasting Arms are underneath me and I bless God he hath taken all the terror of Death quite away from me And when another asked him If he had not the restimony and witness of a good Conscience he would say Truly I have served God in sincerity and can truly 〈◊〉 I have believed and therefore have I spoken then those that were about him pitied him because of his great pains and Agonies You know not said he what my pains are and you know not what my Consolations are Oh how sweet will my glory and triumph be after these sharp pains And when his Relations wept about him he would be displeased with them saying What are you troubl'd that God is calling home his Children If you think I am afraid of Death you are mistaken for I have no fear of death upon me He had not the least Cloud upon his spirit in all his sickness that could be perceived by those about him And in the midst of the sharpest pains which could not but be very sharp by a large stone in his bladder and kidneys one of them being wasted and the other extreamly swoln under all his pains no other language came from him but Father pity thy Child But I see I must break off for the clouds return again after the rain the waters are ready to overflow the banks and I would not have you drown'd in tears What shall I say my Brethren precious in the sight of God is both the life and death of his Saints the memory of the righteous shall be blessed the name of holy men it is as a precious Ointment poured forth and so is the name of this holy man We need not bring any Spices to embalm him we need not raise him up any Tomb or Monument he hath a better Monument erected in the hearts of Gods people and of God himself than any we are able to erect unto him This I must say and this is all that I will say I verily believe there are few men that have been more belov'd whilest they lived or more bewail'd when they died Though the day of his Funeral was a clear Sunshine day without any Clouds yet I am sure there were many showrs of Tears that fell by the way as he was passing to his grave I should have spoken something to those that are left behind 1. To his Relations a word to them Do not you mourn as those that are without hope why should your eyes be pouring out tears for him when all tears are wip'd from his eyes he is with God and Christ and the innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect he is before the Throne triumphing and if you could hear him he would say to you Weep not for me shed not one tear for me but weep for your selves You have not one doubt not one fear concerning his everlasting happiness and Oh what a quieting consideration should that be to you 2. To you that were his Church and People I should have spoken a few words to you 1. Be you sensible of your loss lay to heart the breach that God hath made amongst you and such breaches as this should not be look'd upon with unbroken hearts You know how they lamented Samuel when he died and how they lamented Aaron and Stephen when they died and you have great cause of lamentation You will say We have wept again and again I but weep not only for your loss but for your sins we can many times pour out floods of tears upon our losses when we can look upon Sin that was the true cause of all with dry eyes all the while I tell you if your heads were Fountains of waters and your eyes Rivers of tears you could never enough bewail those sins by which you have sinned so many godly Ministers into their graves of late for when faithful and pious Ministers are going off so fast from us 't is a sad sign of some severe judgment that is coming on apace therefore lay this loss to heart To lose such a painful pious faithful Labourer as he was it is no little loss He had a large heart as the sand upon the Sea-shore for the doing of good he was one that did bestir himself to do good and did much work in a little time