Cains look with fallen Countenances Gen. 4. 6. Let the Pharisees please themselves in their sowr Looks Mat. 6. 16. A Christian's Countenance should shew him to be above his Misery sprightly and chearful though you take away their Coat as Ioseph's Mistress did you cannot take away their Comfort they are glad they can escape with their Conscience though they should leave their Coat behind them I remember Scaliger playeth the Critick with Homer because Champion Achilles is brought in weeping his beloved Briseis was taken from him So it is a Disgrace to our high Profession when a Christan is brought in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weeping it is beneath you It is said in Acts 5. 41. They departed from the Presence of the Council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ. Philpot's Stocks in the Bishop of London's Coal-house was but a pair of Organs as he saith Nor is it true only in these honourable Sufferings for the Glory of our Religion but in the Strokes of Providence in this very Business of deceased Friends The Apostle makes it the Property of Pagans to mourn excessively 1 Thess. 4. 13. Sorrow not as those that have no Hope i. e. as Pagans they did abound in it as see Gen. 50. 3. compared with v. 10. Ioseph mourned for Iacob but seven Days the Egyptians seventy even ten times as much Nay Pagans err so much this way that if they could not find Grief they would force Grief and therefore at their Funerals if they had no Sympathy they would slash their Faces and cut their Flesh that they might be sorrowful And therefore God saith Deut. 14. 1. Ye shall not cut your selves and make Baldness in your Eyes for the Dead ye are the Children of the Lord your God that is you have higher Principles you know such Sorrow needless And hence was it that the Primitive Christians were wont to sing triumphant Psalms at Funerals as it appeareth out of many Places of Chrysostom to shew they had higher Hopes of their departed Friends 3. It is very prejudicial You have no Benefit but a great deal of Hurt by it 2 Cor. 7. 10. there it is summed up in one word Worldly Sorrow worketh Death that is chiefly Sorrow for worldly things that works Death temporal and eternal in its Desert temporal Death as it exhausteth the Spirits wasteth the Marrow Worldly Sorrow leaveth a very strong Impression upon the Body as Solomon saith Prov. 17. 22. A broken Spirit drieth the Bones it dulleth and deadens the Heart If a Man would not save his Tears yet he should reserve them keep them up for holy Uses God may give you many spiritual Occasions to empty your Bottle do not be over-free of them Affections over-exercised are usually restrained against the next Occasion And as they procure Death in respect of the Vigour of the Body and Soul so an eternal Death too it deserveth it And so the Apostle is to be understood for he opposeth it to Godly Sorrow which hereafter you shall see you have no cause to repent of as you have of Worldly Grief is a most serious Passion and though a Man may forget himself in his Joy he should not forget to think of the Danger Worldly Sorrow worketh Death 4. It is very unreasonable If Men would cite their Affections before the Tribunal of Reason and ask them what 's the matter why they are so violently stirr'd they might discern much of their Folly Psal. 42. 5. David calleth himself to an account Why art thou so disquieted O my Soul why art thou cast down within me Ask why it is and you will see either no reason or a corrupt one Iniqua lex est quae se examinari non patitur saith Tertullian And so it is an evil Heart that will not be called to an account Suspect those Passions that are loth to be examined Do but ask your selves why do I grieve now you shall see the Answer will be foolish unreasonable unthankful or savouring of Discontent Why it may be you will say Many dear Comforts are taken from me O Brethren that is an ill Expression no outward Comfort can be taken from a Christian We should live in such a continual waiting for God's Pleasure and in such a quiet Submission thereunto as not to look upon our Comforts as taken from us Iob indeed useth the word Iob 1. 23. The Lord hath given the Lord hath taken but he useth it so as if he would be understood as if the Lord had accepted of the Resignation for he blesses God for it Even our highest Comfort our Lives the Lives of the Saints are not taken from them God doth but as it were accept of the Resignation As Stephen Acts 7. 59. Lord Iesus receive my Spirit So Rev. 22. 20. Even so come Lord Iesus come quickly It is said of the Wicked indeed that their Lives are snatched or taken away as Iob 27. 8. What Hope hath the Hypocrite when God taketh away his Soul or snatcheth it away So Luke 12. 20. Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they shall challenge and get away thy Soul from thee Therefore we should resign up our holy Friends to God as well as they do themselves But let us see how unreasonable this very Particular is of Mourning for the Dead Is it to do them good They are not the better for our Tears they are past Recovery by our Weeping Is it not to envy their Blessedness to wish them alive again 2 Sam. 12. 23. Wherefore should I fast can I bring him back again I shall go to him he shall not come to me Is it because they were so good that we mourn The better for God they are gone to their own home Is it because so bad 2 Sam. 13. 39. David was comforted concerning Anmon because dead though he died in Sin Or is it because they died so soon which heightens your Loss Consider who decreed it are you wiser than God Is it for your own Good you weep that is an holy Weeping Weep as if you wept not Thus if Men would expostulate with themselves they would see the Unreasonableness of their Sorrow it is to no purpose We express things to no purpose by Water spilt on the Ground certainly Tears in such Cases are but spilt Water Use 1. To instruct you to take home this Lesson so to sorrow under the Sense of your Afflictions as if you did not sorrow be it the Loss what it will though I shall chiefly speak to the present Occasion Do not let the Grief oppress your Heart Ay but how shall we do so I shall give you some Motives As 1st Be sure to get an Interest in spiritual Mercies The Doctrine saith Christians ought so to sorrow as if they sorrowed not We cannot speak to others in this Language unless we should perswade Men to slight the Hand of God We throw Bones to Dogs but Bread to Children
without that Private Griefs are nothing in comparison of the Miseries of Sion 1 Sam. 4. 21. The Glory is departed the Glory is departed Though she lost a Father lost an Husband that was sad but she reflects upon the principal Cause of Grief the Misery of the Church of God So see Ier. 22. 10. Weep ye not for the Dead neither bemoan him but weep sore for him that goeth away for he shall return no more to his native Country Not for good Iosiah but the Misery of wicked Shallum Thus it must be Godly in respect to the End to draw you to God these ways Use 1. It condemneth that Slightness of Spirit that is in most Persons God entereth into their Families and taketh thence a principal Pillar a Husband or Wife but they are not affected with it they carelesly slight it as if nothing had been done or some chance had befallen them A Roman bragged Se nunquam cum matre c. They may say they were never comforted they never needed it they lay nothing to Heart Brethren the Use of Divinity indeed is to compose and still the Spirit not to make it stupid I am sorry that I am forced to speak any thing to trouble you I had rather comfort but there is no true Rest where there hath not been a due Trouble therefore I must a little speak against this Stoical Patience and Insensibleness And because Discovery of Sin doth more wound the Heart than all the Forcibleness of Expression we can use I shall not cudgel it with barren Invectives but labour to discover this sinful careless Insensibleness to the Heart and distinguish it from an holy Patience I have been often upon such like Subjects therefore shall say the less now I shall difference it chiefly in their Grounds 1. This Slightness proceeds 1st From want of Consideration There can be no Patience where there is no Sense of Evils They will not give their Thoughts leave to work upon such Objects I do not say we must make it the Cause or Object of our Mourning yet I say we must make it the Occasion this must awaken sad Thoughts in us about our own Sins or others Sufferings but they will not think of it These are such as are described by the Prophet to put far away the evil Day Amos 6. 3. that is all Consideration of God's Dealings with them or others 2dly From indulging Pleasure A voluptuous Spirit is an insensible Spirit Eph. 4. 19. Who being past feeling give themselves over to work Uncleanness with Greediness So it is said Hos. 4. 11. Whoredom and Wine do take away the Heart that is all Smartness and Quickness of Affection When the Soul is sleeping in Pleasure there is a Brawniness brought over it Pleasure is the Drunkenness of the Soul and a drunken Man feeleth nothing Prov. 23. 35. They have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not 3dly Vain Thoughts Ier. 4. 14. How long shall vain Thoughts dwell within thee Evil Workings of Spirit either seeking a way how they may get out or contriving how it maketh for their worldly Advantage The Devil darts evil Thoughts in us how a Cross by some sinful course may work for our temporal Good our State augmented thereby or capable of farther Contentment and Advancement in the World 2. Christian Patience cometh from this Ground it doth not exclude a Sense of Evil but a quieting of the Heart against Evil. These are the Grounds and Workings of the Thoughts 1st It seeth God in it 1 Sam. 3. 18. It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Psal. 39. 9. I was dumb and opened not my Mouth because thou didst it 2dly It seeth God acting with Soveraignty Dan. 4. 35. None can stay his Hand or say to him What dost thou Job 9. 12. Behold he taketh away who can hinder him Who will say to him What dost thou Job 33. 13. What dost thou strive with him he giveth no Account of his Matters 3dly This Soveraignty mollified with Attributes As 1. With infinite Justice Dan. 9. 14. The Lord our God is Righteous in all the Works which he doth Just and righteous in all his ways It is just because God doth it His Will is the measure of his Actings Deut. 27. 15. All the People to say Amen it is just Lord. 2. With infinite Wisdom Isa. 28. 29. He is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in working He knoweth what is better for you than you your selves for God hath the Bowels of a Mother so the Wisdom of a Father 3. With infinite Love It looketh upon God as a Father Iohn 18. 11. The Cup that my Father hath given me shall I not drink of it Though a bitter Cup it is from my Father 4. With infinite Faithfulness Psal. 119. 75. I know thy Iudgments are right and that in Faithfulness thou hast afflicted me It looketh upon Afflictions as a Means in God's Hands I proceed to the second Point Doct. II. That Christians ought so to sorrow under the Sense of their Afflictions as if they did not sorrow Their Affections must be moderately exercised Having in the former Point shewed what Sorrow may be allowed or is required of a Christian I shall shew you here what Sorrow is disallowed or unlawful 1. Such as overwhelmeth and dejecteth the Spirit so as you are not your own Man This is called a Fainting or a sinking of the Soul under Affliction Heb. 12. 5. Faint not when thou art rebuked of the Lord. As we must not slight it so we must not faint under it Fainting is quando anima dejicitur de statu when the Soul is put out of the Condition of a free Soul and delivered over to the Possession of another God hath given every Man this Fee-simple to possess himself Now we are not our selves when we are overcome with Grief and Sorrow and therefore it is said Luke 21. 19. In Patience possess your Souls implying that a Man hath not the use and command of his Soul when he is overcome with Grief it doth as it were dispossess a Man of himself You know of a drunken Man we say he is not himself because he hath not the free Use of his Reason Now this being overwhelmed with Sorrow is expressed in Scripture by this very Term being drunk as Isa. 63. 6. I will tread them down in mine Anger I will make them drunk in my Fury that is bring such Affliction as they shall not be able to injoy themselves under it to have the free Use and Exercise of their Reason 2. Such as is peevish When Men indulge themselves in their Disquiets and will not hearken to what might make for the Settlement of their Souls When the Heart yieldeth to Passion and huggeth Grief and will not let it go There is a great deal of Pride and Stomach in Men against God's Dispensations and therefore the Prophet expresseth that intolerable Misery
Duty And indeed private Prayer conscientiously and constantly performed is a notable Sign of a gracious Heart for I think an Hypocrite can rarely be constant and uniform in this Duty for that of Iob may be very applicable to this Will he delight himself in the Almighty will he always call upon God I neither do nor dare I censure all those that make such a Bustle about their Ten and Three a Clock Devotions I hope and believe that many serious and godly Christians may in all Sincerity perform them but I think as they are now ordered they come not so near that Command of our Saviour When thou prayest enter into thy Closet Besides there 's too much Ground to fear they shut out both Private and Family-Prayer too in many Places and it 's too too common a Practice in this City to go from the Temple to the Play-house from the House of God to the House of Belial It 's very observable that such as are most zealous this way accompanied with the Neglect of Family and Private Prayer are generally very loose and irregular in their Conversation As to her Deportment under Afflictions which she was exercised withal both spiritual and temporal for God chastens every Son whom he receives it was accompanied with great Humility and Self-judging often expressing her Unworthiness of the least of the Mercies that God vouchsafed to her She was far from a querulous or murmuring Temper endeavouring after a humble submissive Frame of Spirit and under these Afflictions that sometimes did greatly depress her sweet and tender Spirit she would frequently express how much Comfort and Reviving she received from God's Holy Word and not only under her Troubles but also when freed from them in the most quiet and sedate Frame of Spirit She would bless God that this Life would not last always She had frequent Illness and was once thought by her Friends past Recovery but when restored again though thankful to God for his Favour to her she did seem to bewail her Infelicity I thought said she that I was going off the Stage of this evil World to the Place where I should sin and sorrow no more but I now see I must again be toss'd on the Waves and Billows thereof When it was told her that according to the Course of Nature she might yet live thirty or forty Years this was so far from pleasing her that Nature that usually abhors the Thought of Death did as it were shrink and recoil within her to think of being so long kept out of Heaven Under her last Ilness being with Child in which there were some more than ordinary Symptoms of her Danger at which she was not at all dismayed but said As to Application of Means I am willing to submit to any thing for the Satisfaction of my Friends but as for my self I am content without any This cutting Expression she utter'd to her dear Husband with great Chearfulness She was so far from desiring to live that she much rather desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ. The Night before she died she had spent some time in secret and read one of Dr. Manton's Sermons but such was her humble and self-condemning Temper that she to her very last bewail'd her not Improvement of her last Days Mercies as she thought she ought Her Death was very surprizing to her Friends though not to her self She always believed her approaching Change was near though her Friends had some Hopes of her Recovery till by a sudden and surprizing Stroke they found her Desire accomplished and her Words true to their astonishing Grief and Trouble She died the 9th of November 1693. in the 38th Year of her Age. No more shall be here mentioned of her but refer you to the Perusal of some few amongst many of her Manuscripts in which you will perceive a Vein of Vertue and Piety running through all the Course of her Conversation an humble Avouchment of God to be her Portion and a thankful recounting of God's Mercy to her from her very Infancy her tender Regard to the Souls of her dear Children her humble and submissive Temper under her Afflictions her earnest Perswasion to others and her self to work the Work that God has given them to do with a Sense of the Sins and Judgments deserved and expected on the Nation her awful Sense of the Day of Death and Judgment with the happy State of glorified Souls with her Fear and Hopes in relation to these A Pindarique Ode to the ever glorious Memory of my honoured Aunt Mrs. Ann Terry who put on her Immortal Robes and Incorruptible Crown March the 16th 1689. in the 36th Year of her Age. Stat sua cuique dies Breve irreparabile tempus Omnibus est Vitae sed famam extendere factis Hoc Virtutis opus Virgil. Stanza I. MY melancholy Muse so ost imploy'd On the ungrateful Themes of Death Hop'd now a Vacancy to have injoy'd And for a while t' suspend her mournful Breath But lo a recent Scene of Grief appears Ponderous overwhelming Grief Without Allay without Relief Too great to be express'd by any Poets Tears For who amongst the Sons of Harmony Can give due Praises unto thee Or can sufficiently deplore The Loss of such in vulgar Excellence As took its Flight in thee from hence And will perhaps bless the unworthy World no more II. Ah! how unequally does Heaven bestow Its Favours on poor Mortals here below Sometimes it suffers us to be O'recharg'd with surfeiting Felicity Grown big with Ioy we think our selves secure Of the much-wish'd-for Blessing but alas We little know how soon from us 't will pass A sudden Metamorphosis Deprives us of our charming Bliss Bliss too Soul-ravishing long to endure Else had we not been summoned now by Fate With overflowing Eyes To sing thy much too early Obsequies And Godlike Vertues to commemorate III. From the Illustrious Manton sprung Too great a Theme for my mean Song And fit alone for his who David's glorious Actions so di In whom the Graces all conspir'd vinely sung To render him belov'd admir'd Who firmly has enroll'd his Name In the most durable Records of Fame Who with such wondrous Art conjoins Solidity and Sweetness in his Lines Great by thy Birth yet greater by thy Merit Thou didst more of his Worth than Wealth inherit Such was thy generous Stâ—â—k Nor didst thou any Lustre thence derive Thou didst not back again wich greater Intâ—rest give IV. Thy Spring with Beauties did abound With them thy riper Years were crown'd Thou all Perfections hadst and more Than any of thy Sex before The Composition of thy Heavenly Mind In which Iudgment Fancy and Wit Did every one enthroned sit Was fraâ—'d to Vertue and from Vice refin'd A kinder Wife no Husband e're cou'd boast A more indulgent Mother never Children lost Tender thou wast to an Hyperbole To all thou knew'st in Misery So very ready to relieve They scarce could ask faster than
with me as to worldly Matters I was not a little comforted and refreshed also by the last Verse of that Psalm which saith Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the Days of my Life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord for ever I am sure Goodness and Mercy have followed me to this very Day therefore I will not distrust the merciful Kindness of God to me to my Life's End But if I should be stripp'd of earthly Blessings I beg I may have the Liberty of God's House here and the Happiness of dwelling with him for ever hereafter If I should with Lazarus be clothed with Rags and fed with Crumbs all my Days if my Body should be full of Sores yet if God will own me and approve me and at Death receive me to himself I may with tolerable Patience bear the Inconveniencies of my Pilgrimage-state knowing that they will not last long And that I may with the more Confidence cast my poor fatherless Children upon God I will call to mind those Places that did quiet me under the Loss of my dear and loving and tender Father which were these that God was pleased to promise to be a Father to the Fatherless and that when Father and Mother forsake then the Lord would take them up God hath bidden poor Creatures to cast their Burden upon him assuring them that he takes Care of them and sustains them And the forementioned Place Isa. 41. 10. is a sufficient Cordial to keep any Soul from fainting and sinking under any Distress whatsoever therefore I hope and trust and believe that the good God who hath been so bountiful so merciful and so kind to me to extend so many Favours to me will also take pity of my fatherless Babes With him the Fatherless find Mercy Lord I therefore commit them into thy Hands as unto a faithful Creator and Redeemer and beg that thou wouldst here guide them with thy Counsel and afterwards receive them to Glory Sometimes when my Children have been taken very ill so that there was no room for hope of Life to outward Appearance yet even then hath my good God supported me by some comfortable Portion of his Holy Word Once one of my Children being given over I was in great Perplexity of Mind that Place came to my Thoughts Call on me in the day of Trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me I was extremely revived at the Consideration of that Place for that was then a Time of Trouble to me And then being incouraged that if I called upon God he would deliver me I did then with firm Hopes and Confidence rely upon my merciful God and Father whom I have found ready to help and deliver me out of many Distresses Blessed and for ever blessed be his Name who was pleased to hear the Cries and Groans of his poor unworthy undeserving ill-deserving and Hell-deserving Creature And seeing God was pleased to deliver me from my great Fears my next Inquiry should be how I may glorify this good God Lord help me to make it the Care and Business and Study of my Life how I may please thee and honour thee and serve thy Blessed Majesty the remaining part of my Days Amen Amen PAPER VII WHat a Cordial to the Godly is the first of Peter the first Chapter the second Verse and so on Where we find that God intends Heaven for them and is graciously pleased to reserve and preserve them for it it being a reviving Consideration to me sometimes to see how God deals with his poor Children and what Steps he takes to bring them to Glory I will for the Benefit of my too often desponding Soul ruminate on this Place of Scripture where I find these Words of Peter an Apostle of Iesus Christ who writes to the Strangers scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia Elect according to the Fore-knowledg of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Iesus Christ Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied In this Verse I observe how the whole Trinity are imployed in the Salvation of Sinners God the Father he elects he fore-knoweth whom he will bring to himself then the Spirit sanctifieth those whom God hath elected and makes them obedient to their Heavenly Father and they are sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus Christ their Sins for his sake are all done away therefore the Apostle may well say Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied for who can want Grace or Peace whom God the Father Son and Spirit are contriving how to bring them to Glory We may well go on with the Apostle blessing God for his unspeakable Mercies saying Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the Dead to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation O Blessed Blessed Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in this Life we want Time and Hearts to bless the Lord for his abundant Mercy towards us Eternity will be little enough to sing forth the Praises of the King of Kings for giving us a lively Hope that one Day we shall be so happy to be admitted into the Heavenly Society that are continually viewing the Face of the Lamb and contemplating his Glory This inestimable Privilege is only procured and purchased by the Sufferings Death and Resurrection of our alone Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who hath provided an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away O the Emphasis of these Words an Inheritance What a poor Mortal to be an Heir of Heaven And this Inheritance is incorruptible not subject to Corruption Alteration or Change and it is undefiled The Things of this World are defiled with Sin they are vile contemptible and vain nay Vanity it self but this Heavenly Inheritance we see is incorruptible and undefiled And to compleat our Fruition it fadeth not away but continueth throughout all Successions of Ages There is no Probability nor Possibility of Decay or End for the Immutable and Eternal God hath assured us that they fade not away but are reserved in Heaven a secure Place beyond the reach of Men or Devils It is not in the power of Friend or Foe to dispossess the Children of God of this Heavenly Inheritance When I consider the Happiness the inconceivable Felicity of the Saints above that are now Possessors of this Inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that will never fade away I am apt to say with Austin's Mother when she had heard a Discourse of the Glory above What do I here then So am I reflecting What do I here in this defiling World sinning against and offending God when many are got safe beyond