must call to mind that as this Blessedness also is the Offspring of Comforts so are they of Mourning And therefore as we would be blest in such Comforts as shall free us from extravagant Fears when we dye or as shall turn our Fears into Desires of Death we must live holy Mourners CHAP. XIV The Tenth Motive to Mourning in General being the Seventh Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They sweeten our Life by conducing to our Health and by bettering the Temper of our Minds as well as the Habit of our Bodies THat holy Comforts are blessedly useful and beneficial to our Souls what hath been said on the foregoing Heads does sufficiently prove But then they have a benign and blessed Influence on our Bodies too Nor is it at all strange that those Comforts which are no other than the sweetness of Heaven in our Spirits should sweetly affect the bodily Part of our Beings For while the Spirit and the Flesh continue in this state of vital Union as what is agreeable to the Flesh or Body is frequently pleasing to the Soul or Spirit so on the contrary what is highly delightful to the Spirit will often be recreative to the corporeal fleshly Part of us A most excellent Man who knew this in himself hath transmitted his happy Experience to us in the infallible Book * Psal 84.2 My heart and my Flesh says he rejoice in the Living GOD. Where by the Heart cannot be meant that musculous piece of Flesh in the middle Region of the Body properly so called for then the Expression would have been tautological and might as well have run thus My Flesh and my Flesh rejoyce in the living GOD. But by it we are to understand the Mind or the Soul which is the Source of Understanding and of all Sense and the Spring of all Thoughts Desires and Actions But then this informs us that when Joy or Comfort descends upon the Soul it snatches the Body into Sympathy with it For here it is said of the Heart and the Flesh at once * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have rejoyced or they have broken out into †To 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 usurpatur etiam de dolore sed praecipuè de gaudio cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ☊ conjunctum ut hic significat ovationem c. Pol. Synop. Jubilations or Ovations in which excessive Joys do commonly shew and naturally spend themselves Not that divine Joy affects the Body no farther than just the visible Gesture or the audible Voice in which it sometimes runs out or discharges it self for the Body hath its share as well in the sweet Passion as in those Expressions of it As it is said of the Soul and Body both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Septuagint well renders the Hebrew they have exulted tho' the Soul in strictness cannot leap for joy but must leave that chiefly for the Body to do so the Body cannot strictly rejoyce neither but must leave that principally to the Soul Yet as when the Body leaps for joy the Soul must have a Perception of that Exultancy so when the Soul rejoyces for Comfort the Body hath some sense shall I say or shares in the effects of that heavenly Gladness The holy Psalmist cries out Psal 63.1 My Soul thirsteth for Thee ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Flesh longeth for Thee Whence it is plain that when the good Soul is carri'd with passionate and thirsting Desires after GOD her very Flesh at the same time pines and languishes through their Eagerness and Ardency as if that were capable of divine Longings too So when the Soul is ravisht with transporting Joys the fleshly Body it wears rejoyceth with her according to its measures It is affected I mean with the Blessed Passion Which rising at first from a spiritual Motion begun in the Soul does yet terminate in the Body which is the Instrument of Passions and by causing grateful Motions there which return upon the Soul in way of Sensation she is thereby pleased with reflected Delights Now when holy Comforts that descend upon the Soul do thus influence the Body its partaking of them may be a means to keep it in a regular state and to sweeten Life by preserving of Health The Scripture seems to insinuate as much Psal 118.15 The voice of Joy and * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnimodam salutem significat tam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Health is in the dwellings of the Righteous Where by Joy a great †Interiora gaudia August Man understands the inward Joys of righteous Livers And as they have cause to lift up their Voice in praising GOD for those Joys so many times they have cause to do it likewise for that Health which is the Fruit or Product of them For the HOLY GHOST may not only signify here that the Righteous have more Joy and Health than others to praise GOD for but also that their Health may be derived from their Joy And in the Third of the Proverbs Solomon suggests something like this For there he tells us that Wisdom or true Religion ‖ Ver. 18. is a tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her That is it is like * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tree of Lives which GOD planted in the midst of Paradise And that we know was to keep Man from Sickness as well as from Death and so not only to prolong his Life but to preserve his Health And as we find in the same Chapter also to fear the LORD and depart from evil which is Wisdom or Religion in other Terms * Ver. 8. shall be Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones A good Evidence that where-ever true Religion dwells in Men in the due Course or just Order of things it will have Health for its Inmate Unless GOD for great Reasons best known to Himself shall please to order it otherwise But then we must enquire whence is this Or how comes it to be thus Why should Religion in the Soul conduce to Healthfulness in the Body The making out this is the Scope of that Point which we are upon and Solomon hath done it to our hand I mean where he declares that the ways of Wisdom are ways of Pleasantness and that all her paths are Peace Prov. 3.17 That virtuous Livers by being virtuous have great Advantages of Health on their side beyond others who are loose and vitious in the World cannot be denied For their Piety and Purity their Self-denial and Sobriety their meek or dispassionate Temper and the Like besides that they entitle them to the Blessing of Heaven do effectually secure them from those Disorders of Mind and Distempers of Body which the contrary Evils naturally breed in them or bring upon them And then they as certainly prevent those dreadful Visitations which as often come down judicially from above and are
vanquisht and the Parties urged and solicited by them most happily secured Now this Kindness divine Comforts do us when Temptations assault us They dash them to pieces or help us to do it by diluting or deadning the Pleasures which they proffer And that they do by out-shooting Temptations as I may say in their own Bow or by producing higher Pleasures in us than any that they can allure us with For when two sorts of Pleasures are tendred to us common sense will incline us to the sweetest And look how far one sort excells the other and so far it recommends it self more forcibly to our choice tho' at the same time it diminishes our Estimate of the other and causes us to despise it as inferior to it and the more for thrusting it self into competition with that sweeter pleasure Now when Temptations court us tho' they bring pleasures with them to recommend them yet if comforts strike in at the same Juncture they will come attended with so much nobler and sweeter Pleasures that those of Sin which gild the Temptation or set it off will be nothing to them For be they never so high these will far surmount them be they never so sweet these will far out-vie them And therefore for us to close with them and to reject these would be to go against inward Sense as well as against Reason and to prove our selves stupid as well as inconsiderate Whence it will follow that if Comforts and Temptations chance to be co-incident or to come together we must as certainly refuse the Pleasures of the latter for the Pleasures of the former and so by resisting bring the Power of Temptations to a stand it is impossible but People in their right Wits must preferr Gold before Dirt. As it is impossible but Christians * Heb. 5.14 who have their senses exercised to discern Good and Evil must preferr Life before Death and the solid vital Delights of Heaven before the frothy deadly and damnable Complacencies of lewd and vile and vitious Satisfactions And if Comforts do not always keep Time with Temptations yet that will not hinder them from strengthening us against them For as when they come before them they fortify us in way of Preparative so when they follow them they fortify us against others yet to come by recompencing our Constancy in those already past To what hath been said we may add that these sacred Comforts do not baffle Temptations and sink them only by their own proper Weight but also as they help us to look upward and inable us to form fair and lovely Idea's of those Superlative Joys and Consolations above The Man that never beheld the glorious Sun will know the better what to make of it if he sees but the twinkling Stars And the viewing and sounding some large and deep Lake will help us to conceive what the Ocean is So from the holy Comforts we feel in this Life we may argue and conclude what shall be in the next And if our present Comforts can convince us that there are more and better to come and our present Capacity of injoying these Comforts can also convince us that better Capacities of injoying better Comforts are now dormant in us and shall at last be awakened and drawn forth into Action than which nothing can be more probable then these Comforts which we have as they point out others which are ours in Expectancy and Reserve must strengthen us more against Temptations still For when the single Pleasures of the Comforts we possess can swallow up the biggest unlawful Pleasures that can tempt us then when they open us a Window into Heaven as it were and back their own Force with the Prospect of others much beyond themselves the sight of those Comforts in Reversion together with the sweetness of these in our Fruition cannot but double our Courage against Temptations Be they never so pressing and importunate here 's enough methinks to make us so inflexible to them that even Stiffness it self should bend and yield sooner than we Will not this be a most blessed Circumstance Yet thus Blessed thus really and highly Blessed shalt Thou be if thou wilt but make one amongst Holy Mourners For they that mourn shall assuredly be comforted and Comforts will fortify against all Temptations CHAP. XIII The Ninth Motive to Mourning in General being the Sixth Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts annexed to Holy Mourning They animate us against the Fear of Death and instead of Dreading make us Desire it THO' Good Men differ greatly from others in regard of their Principles and their Practices their Perfections and their Privileges yet they are made of the same Matter and so must consist of the same Nature and consequently must be liable to the same Destiny with the Rest And so they are for Death being the * Eccles 7.2 End of all Men the very best of Men cannot escape it And as the best are mortal and must die as well as others so they are too subject to the Fear of Death also tho' others are more afflicted with it than they To the Heathen for Instance it was the most dreadful thing According to †Aristot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one of their greatest Philosophers the most Terrible of all Terribles And well might it be so to such as knew so little what they should be after it Nor is it less formidable to ill living Christians when they come to suffer it And in Reference to the Impious it is that Bildad calls it ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the King of Terrors or Conturbations Job 18.14 And as it is called so it really is to all ungodly Persons the most terrible and troublesome Evil that can befall them They fear to think of it They fear to bear of it and they fear to view it at a distance but when it approaches them they faint and sink and are amazed and astonished Nor can I blame them for being so over-powred with Dread For as Death is their Enemy so when it comes GOD knows 't is to do them a sad Office To rend their immortal Souls from their Bodies and to hale them out into the eternal State And there we believe but two Conditions of abode Heaven and Hell For the first they are unfit and for the second how shall they endure it Well therefore may they fear and tremble too when they are about to die nor can they ever do it too much Now tho' good Men are not thus afraid of Death as indeed they have not equal cause for it yet in them the Fear of Death is too predominant It may be somewhat of this Timorousness discover'd it self in that good Man's Petition when he prayed O my GOD take me not away in the midst of my Days Psal 102.24 For what but Fear should make him more loth to die in his middle-age than when he should be older And therefore the Philosophic Emperour who knew
the sad Revenges of divine Justice upon the Dissolute and Licentious as they are natural Effects of their being so And farther as the wisest of Men we see hath told us they that walk on in the ways of Wisdom that are regular and persevering in the several Duties and progressive in the noble Perfections of Religion shall not fail to meet with Pleasantness and Peace With such Peace and Pleasantness as come from GOD and fill the Soul with inexplicable Comforts And these Comforts as little as some think it may be good and great Instruments of Health unto us As where the Body is well and strong they help to confirm it in that State so where it happens to be weak and low they raise and mend its Constitution They put a spring of new Life as it were into the Soul which excites most pleasing Motions in the Body even such as serve to inliven and invigorate it For as raking Grief does not only fret and imbitter the Mind but withal casts a sad Damp upon the Body and deadens the liveliness of those inward Motions on which its Health depends and by which it is conserved so heavenly Comforts where they are often and liberally imparted do ordinarily produce the contrary Effects They quicken the Spirits where they move too slowly and help the Bloud to circulate more freely and nimbly where 't is subject to Stagnancy and by taking off the sharpness and sowreness of them they insensibly sweeten and rectify both By peculiar Motions which they put them into they alter the Figures of their disordered Particles and so better the Mass or Substance of them with more Ease and Efficacy than the best Physic can possibly do And the Bloud and Spirits being thus corrected and the Ferments of the Body made light and soft and smooth and unctuous the Wheels of Nature will by this means be freed from cumbersome Cloggs and Entanglements within and in case no Violence happens from without may run on a great way in a regular Course And thus not only Life is prolonged as Length of Days is in Wisdom's right Hand Prov. 3.16 but that Life is made more happy because the Person injoying it is made more healthful And therefore we are taught by an incomparable Writer that the Fear of the LORD which maketh Peace or produceth Comforts where it dwells does thereby make perfect health to flourish Ecclus. 1.18 Nor can it seem strange that holy Comforts should thus conduce to Health if we do but remember what wonderful Effects they have had upon Martyrs turning their dying Pangs into rapturous Pleasures as was * Chap. 11. But then the Martyrs Comforts are there said more than once to be extraordinary ones and so much above those we here speak of noted above And another Instance may abate the strangeness of the thing As 't is commonly said Witches are †Note VI. suckt by their Familiars And to this end as we may reasonably suppose that thereby they might taint and disorder their Bodies And when Distemper of Body proceeds from the influence of wicked Spirits well may Healthfulness be an Effect of the Comforts of the HOLY GHOST And divine Comforts being such Preservatives and Restoratives of Health upon this Account they must be Blessed Things Health being necessary to our present Happiness For as he that would be wise must first put off Folly and as he that would be virtuous must first throw off Vice so they that would be Happy must first be Healthful Else in spite of all Rules and Principles of Stoicism a sickly Body will disquiet the Soul and a pained Body will disturb the Mind and Trouble and Unquietness in the Soul and Mind will soon convince all Persons concern'd that if they would build up Felicity to themselves they must lay its Foundation in Ease and Indolence However * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Diog. Laer. in Anaxar pounce the Sack of Anaxarchus for Anaxarchus thou dost not strike were big words in that Abderite's Mouth when cruel Nicocreon was braying him in a Mortar and might express a stout and resolute Humour yet they were as far from rendring the Sufferer happy as the Thumpings he endured were from rendring him easy Nor do heavenly Comforts conduce more to mending the Habit of our Bodies than they do to bettering the Temper of our Minds For as Pleasures that are sensual and impure do sink and soften and emasculate the Spirit as they fill it with pensive Solicitude and fretful Anxiety to find that it is fallen below it self and inslav'd to things unworthy of its Dignity so where it is ravisht with the Comforts of Heaven and nobly transported with frequent Returns or Iterations of them it will rise by Degrees into a very delicate and desirable Frame So that if before we were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tart and waspish and peevish and passionate these in time will work a thorow and an excellent Change in us They will cool our Heat and quench our Fury and rebate the sharpness and fierceness of our Disposition and polish the Ruggedness and Unevenness of our Minds and take off the Bitterness and Sowreness of our Nature and so make us not only to be easy in our selves but obliging to others And to have our Passions thus curbed and tamed in us and all Harshness and Roughness thus taken out of us and to become moderate and well composed in our selves and meek and mild and pleasing unto all must needs be a great Improvement of our Temper And as this Improvement sweetens our Life which how it should do it the meanest Capacities can apprehend it must add considerably to our Blessedness upon Earth But then as we would live sweetly in this present World as we would have our Souls blessed with Health of Body and good Temper of Mind let us heartily take up Religious Mourning from which will result those holy Comforts that are productive of the same CHAP. XV. The Eleventh Motive to Mourning in General being the Eighth Branch of that Blessedness which springs up from the Comfort annexed to Mourning They supply us with noblest Delights in this Life when those that are less generous fail and forsake us Which they do by acquainting us farther with GOD and by inflaming us with Love to the LORD JESUS CHRIST IN our declining Years as our Strength decays so other natural Abilities and Perfections which depend upon it flag and decay with it Particularly our Faculties grow dull and our Appetites grow down our Pleasures wear off and by degrees wear out and the sinking Body so depresses the Soul that Men dye to most of their corporal Satisfactions even while they live But here the Force of holy Comforts again is blessedly felt this being a chief Juncture wherein they exert it For when in these our Declensions they dwell plentifully with us they are an inexhaustible Spring of rich and high Complacencies They do not only fill us with great Thoughts and