the Sea 't is a hot fire surely that is not cooled with so much water Others will have it in Mount Aetna Vesuvius or some such burning Mongibels Another is so ridiculous as to fancy it in an hill of Ireland the Torments one will have them to be only by fire another by fire and water a third neither by fire nor water but by the violent convulsions of hope and fear The Tormentors some say they are the Holy Angels others say they are the very Devils The extremity of Pains according to some are as violent as Hell according to others they are more mild Their continuance some will have it to be to the end of the world others about ten years others during the Popes pleasure so that if he speak but the word they are free They likewise contradict Scripture for that saith The bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 John 1.7 and if this be so what need of purging by the fire of Purgatory That saith when the Righteous die they enter into peace and they rest in their beds Isai 57.2 And if this be so that they are at peace and rest then they are Lyars who say they enter into Purgatory-Torments That saith Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth that they may rest from their Labours as it is in the Text and if this be so that they are Blessed from the time of their death and thenceforth rest from their Labours then surely they never feel the pains of that hot Region for Blessedness cannot consist with misery nor rest with trouble nor reward with punishment This Text is so clear against it that as we are told a Famous Doctor of the Church of Rome and one of the Sorbon-Colledge Picherellus by name did ingeniously confess St. John had in these few words put out the fire of Purgatory They that die in the Lord rest from their Labours they suffer nothing only they do something that is cease not day and night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Rev. 4.8 should serve our turn True Faith can no more be without Good Works than the Sun without light or the Fire without heat shew we then our Faith by our Works always abounding in the work of the Lord for our labour will not be in vain being our works will follow us So much of this Text of Scripture Now of the Text of Nature a Text dead indeed in the Letter but alive in the Spirit and well may he become our Text who was himself a Living Sermon for his life was truly Doctrinal he living in the Lord and his death a good Application he dying in the Lord. As for his life it was according to the designe of the Gospel and the character of a true Christian for it was sober righteous and godly His Sobriety appeared in all his deportment in his personal and private capacity He was a man exceeding humble notwithstanding the great temptations he had to be Proud both upon the account of Birth and Fortune he was it is well known of an Antient and Honourable Family and he had Providence so ordering it a large and plentiful Estate and to use the words of the Psalmist his Lot fell into a good ground yea he had a goodly Heritage notwithstanding he was so Great in the eye of the world that he was little in his own he was so humble and lowly He was likewise very discreet and reserved not apt to be familiar with every one and with whom he was so it was not suddenly but after he understood them and their humor He was a man of few words but they were wise and to the purpose He observed with Solomon that in many words there wanteth not sin and folly and that he that refraineth his lips is wise He knew how to govern his Tongue and his Passion for he kept both from all extravagancy His calmness and moderation of Affection was very remarkable though he knew how to be angry yet he seldom practiced it for he so ruled his passion that it was a hard matter to discover any in him Chastity a rare Virtue indeed in this Debauched Age wherein many take a pride in sin that they may be of the fashion adventuring to take Crimes upon Trust and to perish by Credit this rare vertue of Chastity was conspicuous in him And so was Temperance his moderation in this Point is well known unto all men how free he was from all Excess His Righteousness appeared in his Dealing and Carriage towards man giving every one his due He was a Loyal Faithful Obedient Subject to the King whom he served in the Office of a Magistrate and a Souldier as a Justice of Peace and a Deputy-Lieutenant he thought nothing too much either to do or give for his Soveraign being always ready to serve him in Person and Goods And as he served his King so he served his Country willingly truly and faithfully I may say of him as a Roman Historian does of another he was Vir bonus Reipublicae necessarius a good man and necessary in the Common-wealth His practice was according to his Office to do justice The cause which he knew not he searched out and when it lay in darkness his strict and Impartial examination often brought it to light and then did truth and justice meet How many were beholding to him for justice how many for Counsel how many for peace for partly by counsel and partly by authority he reconciled many differences and prevented more his deportment in his Office was grave and something severe to discountenance and awe unruly people but his carriage at other times was sweet and affable He was not like Nabal that was so proud and churlish that a man could not speak unto him no he despised no man but would speak to the meanest and hear the meanest speak to him again Access to his person was easie for though his condition were High yet he was not apt to over-look his Neighbours He was a good Common-wealths man improving his Estate and maintaining divers other mens by keeping them at constant work all the year As for his charity to the Poor though some perhaps suspected it because he joyned with others in putting the Law in execution against Vagabonds and wandring Beggars there was a mistake in it he had charity for the Poor though not for Beggars There is a difference put between these by the Law of Moses by the Gospel of Christ and by the Laws of most Nations God in the Law ordered that there should be no beggar among his people Israel and yet he sayd that the poor should never cease out of the Land The distinction between them is this Mendicus est qui Publice stipem petit Pauper qui non potest se sustentare c. a Beggar is one that publickly seeks for Relief wandring about betaking himself to no calling when he is able
There is nothing next to Divine Wisdom and Power which can preserve our Kingdom and Religion but that which nourish'd Christianity in its Infancy and gave It strength to Travel into all Countries and that was God's Blessing upon the faithful Endeavours and exemplary Holy lives of its Professors Secondly Let us Seriously and Earnestly apply our selves to those other Vertues call'd Meekness Moderation and Peaceableness of Mind Our blessed Saviour gloried in this Character that He was meek and lowly in Heart and proposed it to all Men as worthy their Learning and Imitation And whatever the conveniency and comforts are which accrue to every particular Person by following and promoting Union Brotherly Love and things that make for Peace I am sure the Publick will have the Greater share in it and flourish the better for it It was the saying of our Saviour That a Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand And I heartily wish that our Popish Enemies do not believe it a Greater Truth than We do For upon this Maxim they make our Divisions as firmly believing they will certainly Ruine us And we at this very Time keep up our Divisions as supposing they will do us no harm or as if we believed that Christ was a Good Divine but no Statesman Oh Consider therefore and Mournfully Pity the Distressed and Distracted State of this our Protestant Jerusalem And let us like men of Prudence and Valour countermine this Popish Plot of ruining us by Divisions with Resolutions of Uniting to the Maintenance and Defence of our Established Government and Religion REV. 14. 13. And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them HAd Man continued as he was made Innocent without Sin he might have been what his Maker would have had him to be Immortal without death for God created him to be Immortal and to be an Image of his own Eternity he made not Death neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living but death came into the world through the envy of the Devil and the disobedience of man had it not been for this we should have been like so many Enoch's and have passed from Earth to Heaven not by death but by a Translation But because we sin'd God sentenced us all to Die and to return to the Dust out of which we were first taken It was Sin that made the first gap whereby death entred into the world death entred by sin and so death hath passed upon all men for that all have sinned The Noble the Honourable and the Rich they sin like other men and therefore they die like other men neither Riches nor Honours neither Profit nor Pleasure neither Favour nor Friends can exempt them from it Heavens decree is past that all that sin must die and there is no appeal hence death is called in Scripture the way of all flesh and the way of all the earth all must go this way though not at the same time nor after the same manner some go suddenly others by degrees not one half of the world arrives to the natural age of man threescore years and ten and those that do their bodies become their burthens and their years then but labour and sorrow Man that is born of a woman saith Job is of few daies and full of trouble he cometh forth as a flower and is cut down he fleeth as a shaddow and continueth not he dieth and wasteth away he giveth up the Ghost and where is he This is the startling and amazing question that troubles the greater part of man-kind namely what will become of them after death Some are ready to cry out with the Heathen I have lived in doubt I die in fear and I know not whither I am going Others that are taken up with the profits and pleasures and other enjoyments of this world dream of enjoying the like in another like the Mahometan's who believe that after death they shall live again to enjoy large estates stately houses curious gardens beautiful women and the like Others that live like Brutes think they must die like them too perish and come to nothing But we that have learned Christ better are assured that there shall be a life after death unto which all shall rise some to go on the right hand into joy and happiness others on the left into woe and misery They that die in their sins shall be accursed they that die in the Lord shall be blessed So the voice from Heaven bid St. John write blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them That John should hear a Voice from Heaven may be believed without any wonder if we do but remember that he was a special Favorite of Heaven he is dignified with the title of The Disciple whom Jesus loved he had the honour to be still next his Master and to lean on his bosom a sign that he had greater favour and familiarity with him than the rest he was one of the three that were admitted to Mount Tabor at the glorious Transfiguration of Christ where he saw his face shine as the Sun and his rayment white as the light and where he heard a voice out of a bright cloud that over-shadowed him and the rest saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him he was the person to whose care Christ commended his Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary for by his last Will and Testament made upon the Cross where there were witness enough by he appointed him to be her Guardian whereupon he took her into his own house and made her a principal part of his charge and care He being then so greatly beloved of Christ it was no wonder that he had some Heavenly Secrets revealed unto him and so it was for being in the Spirit or a spiritual rapture extasie or transportation he heard a voice from Heaven of which voice I may truly say what the Jews out of flattery blasphemously said of the Voice of Herod when he made an Oration unto them It is the voice of a God and not of a man Or if it were the voice of a man it was the voice of Christ the Son of God as well as the Son of man it was a voice from Heaven and therefore the more to be regarded for when Heaven speaks it is fit that the Earth should hear there never yet came any voice from Heaven but it concerned the Earth to hear it A voice from Heaven was heard by Moses on the Mount and it was to confirm the Law and establish our Faith in God the Creator A voice from Heaven was heard by Peter James and John at the Transfiguration and it was to confirm the Gospel and establish our Faith in Christ
fitly render it as we do In the Lord understanding it not only of Martyrs but likewise of all others that die in the Faith and Fear of God They may be said to die in the Lord that die willingly chearfully resigning their Souls to God that gave them and freely parting with the world and that die penitently in the act of contrition as St. Austin is said to do breathing out his last gasp with a sigh for his sins and that die devoutly calling upon the Lord for mercy and forgiveness and that die charitably forgiving all the world after the example of Christ and his Proto-martyr St. Stephen and that die peaceably having made peace with God and the world and their own consciences they that depart this life with a willing resignation of themselves with repentance faith prayer charity and peace may be said to die in the Lord and be concluded blessed But if we desire to die in the Lord as all good Christians should do we must resolve to live in the Lord for they that do not live in the Lord are not likely to die in the Lord. We must not live the life of the wicked and then think to be saved with Balaam's wish Let me die the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his No if we will die the death of the righteous we must live the life of the righteous We must live then in the Faith and Fear of God in repentance and obedience piety and devotion love and charity and so shall we die in the Lord and be blessed For blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth And this denotes the time when their blessedness begins 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from henceforth Some refer this to the time of the former Vision of John as a consolation to those that should suffer the persecution fore-told therein for it was revealed to him in a Vision that a great Tryal should befal the Christians in the time of Dioclesian the cruel Tyrant and that their persecutions should be so sore that they were happiest who died soonest that within a while should be taken out of this life from doing their part in the evil to come that should die quickly or within a short time thereby to avoid such cruel storms and persecutions and to enjoy their reward of peace and bliss Others refer it to the Resurrection and the day of Judgment the time when those that die in the Lord shall be raised to a blessed life the time spoken of Rev. 11.18 when he shall give the reward unto his Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and to them that fear his Name Small and Great Others refer it to the hour of death as if the sense were this that they that die in the Lord from the time of their death from that very instant they are blessed they no sooner loose a temporal life but they find an eternal one So soon as Lazarus died his Soul was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosom The same day that the Penitent Thief expired on the Cross the same day was he with Christ in Paradice Pious Souls when once they are absent from the body they are quickly present with the Lord when once they depart they are blessed from henceforth And of this we are further assured as by the voice from Heaven so by the Spirit of God it is so Yea saith the Spirit Let Heathens and Hereticks deny or doubt the Immortality of the Soul the Resurrection of the Body and the blessedness of the dead because they know no better and let wicked and ungodly men deny these things because they live no better for they fancy them not to be because they would not have them to be their guilty consciences telling them that if such things be it will be ill with them Let such I say think or speak what they will still we are to conclude that they are cursed who die in their sins and that they are blessed that die in the Lord Yea saith the Spirit so it is for the Spirit saith so in divers places of Scripture telling us that the death of good men that die in the Lord is pretious in his sight that there is hope in their end that all tears shall be wiped from their eyes that they shall enter into joy that there is a Crown of righteousness laid up for them that they shall be with Christ that they shall rest from their Labors and that their works shall follow them And herein their Blessedness consists viz. in a relaxation of their Labours and a retribution of their Works in that they have Rest and Recompence in that they are discharged of their Work and for their Work in that they are freed from it and pay'd well for it They rest from their Labours We are all born in and to Labour we are born by our Mothers Labour and we live by our own This Life is made up of care and toyl pains and pain trouble and sorrow They that are Poor labour for maintenance and are fain in the sweat of their brow to eat their Bread all the days of their life And they that are Rich and have plenty seldom say they have enough but still Labour for more their endeavour to get care to keep avarice to increase fear to loose their Riches these torment them and disturb their happiness as well as repose They that are under a Cloud labour to get from it and appear something in the World and they on whom Fortune shines and Honors sparkles they labour for greater Lustre They that are Low labour to look up and they that are High labour to over-look one another Some labour for Honour some for Wealth some for Knowledg and some for Health The best Christians they are with Paul In labours more abundant exercised dayly in mortifying the flesh with its affections and lusts in denying and even crucifying themselves for those sins that crucified Christ instriving against temptations to sin and their Spiritual enemies in suffering affliction and bearing the Cross Thus our Life is a succession of Labours as well as Sins our sins growing with our years and sorrows with sins and troubles with sorrows so that the comforts of this life are rather Solatia miserorum quam gaudia beatorum comforts of those that are miserable rather than joyes of those that are happy and therefore we have reason to conclude those happy that die in the Lord and so rest from their Labours for such are discharged and free and that both from sin and the evil consequents thereof The Papists would have us believe that after death the Souls of men enter into Purgatory there to suffer sorrow and torment for a while till they be purged and fitted for the region of bliss but they contradict themselves concerning the place the torments the tormentors the extremity of the torments and the continuance under them The place some say is in the bottom of