Of Mourning for the Dead. How far allowable, &c.

COnsidering what I have Formerly preach't and publish't for the Assist­ance of other Mourners, you will ea­sily believe, that since the late Providence [Page 4]which occasions this Discourse, that passage of Eliphaz to Job hath often been suggested to me, Chap. 4. v. 3, 4, 5. Behold thou hast in­structed many, and hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was fal­ling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees: But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Thro' the Mercy of God, I hope, I do not murmur or faint; but should it be thought strange, that I am Troubled, when the Desire of mine Eyes is removed by a sudden stroke? Would it not be faulty and provoking to be other­wise affected? to disregard the Hand of God? despise his Chastening? or be unconcerned at the Voice of his Rod? How far, and how long, and to what degree to mourn, I con­fess, is a matter of some Difficulty; to keep within the Christian limits, so as neither to offend God, nor lay a Stumbling-block be­fore the less judicious, or less candid Ob­servers. And of like difficulty is it, rightly to understand and use the proper grounds of support under such an Exercise. For Ex­perience will attest, that divers things are wont to be offer'd for our Relief in such ca­ses, that will by no means administer it, but are weak and ineffectual to any such Purpose. Thô thanks be to God the Gospel doth not leave us destitute of sufficient Instructions, to di­rect our Mourning, to regulate our Fune­ral Sorrows, and sustain our Souls in an [Page 5]humble submissive Adoration of the Divine Good Pleasure. Some of these I shall endea­vour to recollect, after I have considered the extraordinary Instance of this Text; where we find the Prophet Ezekiel is forbid­den by God to mourn for the death of his Wife; having receiv'd an express order not to testifie his Affection by any of the Fune­ral Rites, and Customs of Mourning, used among the Jews on the like Occasion. Also the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of Man, behold, I take away from thee the Desire of thine Eyes with a stroke, yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy Tears run down:—

For the better understanding of this Pas­sage, you must know, that this Prophet had for several years publish't the orders of God, and denounc'd Judgments in his Name unto Judah and Jerusalem; but without the desi­red fruit of his Ministry, without the suc­cess of his important Messages and Commis­sion. The generality of the People applaud­ed his Rhetorick, but continued to do after the Lusts of their Hearts, and the sight of their Eyes; and would not hearken to his repeated Calls to Repentance; or be awa­ken'd by the most awfull Threatnings of ap­proaching Calamity. Hereupon God re­solves to take another Method, and try if his Sufferings would not be instructive unto those to whom his Preaching had been little [Page 6]so. The Prophet himself should be a Sign un­to 'em: and the surprizing Death of his Wife be made a Warning of what God would do against that Nation. And his not being permitted to mourn for her, should signifie the ^(a) Extremity of that Judgment, which would quickly overtake them: and repre­sent the Horror of their Distress, that they should not have leave, or opportunity to perform Funeral Rites, or make a regular mourning for their Dead Relations. The following part of the Chapter declares this to be the general scope and meaning of this Passage.

Wherein we may consider, First, The Li­teral Sence of the words, in relation to this Prophet. Secondly, The Parabolical meaning of them in relation to the People of the Jews. Thirdly, The Practical Improvement of this Instance, as to Ordinary Cases of the Death of Relations, and Mourning for 'em. The former will tell us what these Expressions signifie in themselves: the Second what they were designed by God to represent to the Jews; which will make way for what may be instructive from both, whenever God takes away the Desire of our Eyes, by Sick­ness, or any other stroke.

Under the First Enquiry we may take no­tice of three things. 1. The Title here gi­ven to the Prophet, Son of Man. 2. The Calamity threatned, Behold, I take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a stroke. 3. The Pro­hibition in that case, not to mourn or weep, or use the ordinary Expressions of Funeral Sor­row.

First, This Title, of Son of Man, we find given him almost an hundred times in this Prophecy. That it should be giv­en him as a Type of Christ, who is so of­ten called the Son of Man, I know no suffici­ent reason to prove, for that Appellation seems to have respect to his Mediatory Of­fice, as that true Son of Man, or promised Seed, who was to bruise the Serpents head; and not only to be the Saviour of Israel, but a light to the Gentiles, and allied unto all Mankind: Ʋnto whom all Power and Authority is given, and all Judgment Committed, because he is the Son of Man, Joh. 5. It may either referr to his mean Original and frailty, as a Son of Adam; (whose Body was formed out of the dust of the ground, and must re­turn to it; which might help to prevent his being lifted up by the extraordinary Visions and Revelations God had favour'd him with:) that he might not think of himself above what was meet; 2 Cor. 12.7. or count it strange, that he should be called to so dif­ficult a Service, and prov'd by such an af­flicting [Page 8]Stroke, since he was but a Son of Adam. Or the expression may ^(b) import no more but simply O man, which is usual in all Languages, when a Superiour directs his discourse to an Inferior. So Rom. 9.20.

Secondly, N. The Calamity threatned by God, I take away the Desire of thine eyes with a stroke. By a Plague, or Apoplexy, or some very surprizing more immediate Hand of God; such as the First-born of the Egyp­tians were smitten with, Exod. 12.29. where the word is used, The Desire, or ^* Desires of thine Eyes, as the Septuagint Translation ren­ders it; who this was the eighteenth verse tells us. So I spake unto the people in the morning, and at Even my Wife dyed. 'Tis manifestly supposed that she had many qualifications to render her Desireable, and make the loss exceedingly afflictive: otherwise the dread­ful Calamity that was coming upon the Jews would not have been properly represented by it. If the Spirit of God had not reck­on'd this Instance to have been one of the most smarting and afflictive of all private and particular losses, it could not have been fit­ly made use of here. If the loss of a tender Parent, or of a beloved Child, or any other Relation, had been superior or equal to this, [Page 9]the death of some or other of those Relations would rather have been mention'd instead of this.

It may therefore be thought reasonable, that when the Inferiour Priests were forbid­den under the Law to defile themselves for the Dead, save only for their nearest kindred, Levit. 21.3, 4. that the Wife must be com­prehended, thò not express'd. Allowance being given them to mourn for a Father or Mother, a Brother or Sister, a Son or Daugh­ter, this Relation is much more supposed, for whose sake a Man is to leave all others. It were needless to tell him, he might afflict himself in that case, when it is granted as to the lesser, and more remote Relatives. The Margin of some Bibles would intimate it was forbidden unto a Priest, being an Husband among his People, to defile himself by Fu­neral Mourning for his Wife; but it may better be read, He shall not defile himself for a Chief man or Magistrate, among his People, there­fore much less might he do so for any other, save his nearest Kindred and Relations. The general reason of such ^(c) a Prohibition seems to have been, to keep up the Reputa­tion and Respect due to the Sacred Office and Ministry, which by being ordinarily pre­sent [Page 10]at Funeral Solemnities, might have been lessen'd: that he might not, (being a publick person, and employed about the worship of God) by any sorrowful indecorous Ceremo­nies disparage his Office, or lessen his Digni­ty, and esteem among the people; for it fol­lows, v. 6. They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the Name of God. i. e. They are peculiarly separated for the service of God, and the Offices of Religion, and oblig­ed to greater strictness and Purity than o­thers; it doth not therefore become them to do as others on the like occasions, lest the honour of God's Name and Worship should by that means be abated. For all that were employed about, or assisted at Funerals, by the Ceremonial Law must needs be Ʋnclean; not only by touching a dead Body, but abi­ding in the same House, or eating of the Fu­neral Banquet, &c. Num. 19 So that if the Priests had been allowed to be ordinarily present at Funerals, and comply with the usual Rites and Customs of Mourning, they must either neglect their Sacred Work, or perform some part of it with polluted hands. And because the Unclean were not to con­verse with others, till after their purificati­on, this would have been a publick Incon­venience to the People, unto whom by their Office they were to be serviceable on all oc­casions. Upon the like reason it is required of the Nazarites, or such as separated them­selves [Page 11]to the Lord by a Vow, Num. 6.6, 7. He should not make himself unclean, no not for his kindred, if they dye. The Service of God to which he was so particularly de­voted, was to be preferr'd before any Ex­pressions of his Affection to his own Rela­tions. And doubtless so far as these Testi­monies of our Love to deceased Relatives would hinder us from, or in, our Sacred work, even Ministers under the Gospel are obliged to endeavour to deny themselves. Which is the principal ground of my not desisting from preaching as formerly, any longer than my imperfect health obliged me to.

Thirdly, Here is a Prohibition of Mourning, according to the usual expressions of Funeral Sorrow. First, It is more generally laid down. Secondly, by an Enumeration of some of the most solemn Rites used by the Jews on such occasions. Bind the Tyre of thine head upon thee, put on thy Shoes upon thy feet, cover not thy Lips, and eat not the bread of Mourners.

First, The Prohibition is express'd in more general Terms: Thou shalt not mourn, or weep, or let thy Tears run down: forbear to cry, make no mourning for the Dead. Tho' some of the ^(d) Heathens refused to make solemn Mourn­ing for their Dead, yet many of them in the Neighbourhood of Judea, were very extra­vagant [Page 12]and Superstitious in such things. And the Jews, too apt to imitate the Pagan Rites, are often reproved on that account, and have many particular Institutions of their Law to prevent their symbolizing with the Gentiles, Lev. 19.27. Chap. 21.5. Deut. 14.1, 2. &c. And some of the Heathen being immoderate in their Sorrow for the Dead, may probably be referr'd to, in those Laws of God by Mo­ses, which make the persons to be unclean, who touched a dead Body, or came into the House, &c. God would put such a note up­on it, the better to keep up their Faith, and Hope of the Resurrection of the Dead, which the Custom of excessive Mourning might by degrees have lessen'd.

The time of Mourning among the Jews was sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, according to the Dignity and Quality of the Person deceased. We read of Mourning for the Dead, ordinarily seven days, and sometimes for a month, or thirty days. Among the ^(e) Egyptians for seventy days, Gen. 50.10. Deut. 21.13. Num. 20.29. Deut. 34.8. 1 Sam. 31. ult. among the ^(f) Persians seven. A­mong the Romans the time of Mourning ordinarily lasted but [Page 13] Nine Days; as appears by their Novendial, or Nine Days Sacrifices; which they offered to the Manes or Ghosts of the Dead: Tho' ^(e) some of them continued it longer, for Ten Months, or a Year; which time, on many particular Occasions, was to be contracted, and afterwards was left to Discretion and Inclination.

But saith God, Thou shalt not Mourn, or WEEP. The word signifies Weeping with lifting up the Voice. He must not vent his Sorrow, or ease his Heart by Tears, or Sighs, or Cries: For it follows, Forbear to Cry, make no Mourning for the Dead. i. e. Do not Lament, and Sigh, or lift up thy Voice; but restrain and curb thy Sorrows, and all the ordinary Expressions of them. There were solemn mourning Lamentations among the Jews: Thus for Josiah, 2 Chron. 35.24. It is threatned against Jehojachim, That they should not lament for him, when he died, Jer. 22.18. saying, Ah! my Brother! And the contrary promised as a Favour to Zedekiah, Jer. 34.5. The first solemn Lamentation, or Cry, was at the Closing of the Eyes, by those who had assisted the Deceased, during that last Sickness: And then by those Rela­tions, unto whom the first News came of such [Page 14]a Person's Death. They lift up their Voice, and with Cries and Tears repeated several times the Name of the Deceased. Thus did David, when he received the Tydings of Absalom's Death: O my Son, Absalom! my Son, my Son Absalom! would to God I had died for thee, O Absalom my Son, my Son! 2 Sam. 18.33. There was likewise a Solemn Lamentation before the Burial, in the presence of the dead Body, or before the Effigies of it, exposed in a publick place: Which is called, Mourning over the Dead. This the Jews should not be allowed, saith God, concerning their own Children slain by the Sword, Ver. 23. of this Chapter.

It was also ^(f) customary to hire Persons on purpose, who were to act the part of Mourners, artificially to express, and to ex­cite to Sorrow; to provoke and assist Grief, by their Lamentations, and Funeral Songs. Such we read of, Jer. 9.17. under the Name of the Mourning Women, and Cunning Wo­men, and such as are skilful of Lamentation, Amos 5.16. By mournful Postures and Actions, tearing their Hair, and beating their Breasts, forcing Tears, and by doleful Tunes assisting the Sorrow of the Mourning Relations. These Lamentations were often in Verse; in­somuch [Page 15]that what we translate to Lament and Wail, in divers Passages may be rendred to Sing, Ezek. 32.18. Mic. 2.4. &c. So David wept over Jonathan and Saul, and lamented over them, 2 Sam. 1.18. and bad them teach the Children of Israel the Ʋse of the Bow: Which some will have to be a Musical Instrument, used on such Occasions; though it is more probable, that by the Ʋse of the Bow, he meant to match the Philistines in Archery, and so to be avenged for Saul's Death; for by their Archery he was slain: Or in general, the Use of the Philistines Arms, whereof the Bow was one of the Chief: and in that Song Jona­than is commended for his Dexterity in it: Because in the Old Testament we read of no Musical Instruments made use of in Mourning; but 'twas ordinary among the Gentiles, of whom the Jews did afterwards learn it. ^(g) Accordingly we read of Minstrels in the Ruler's House, on the Death of his Daughter, Mat. 9.23. Which Custom it is supposed the Jews had not, till after Palestine was subject to the Roman Empire.

Secondly, After the general Prohibition, there is an Enumeration of some particular Rites, which, among many others, were wont to be used in such Cases. Several of these are mentioned in Chap. 27.29, 30, 31. [Page 16]One of the ancient ^(h) Writers of the Church, in an Oration concerning the Macchabees, brings in their Mother refusing and disclaim­ing all the ordinary methods of Mourning for her Sons; among which, these in the Text are particularly named.

I. Bind the tire of thine head upon thee. The Expression of Grief and Sorrow, by the Hair, was different, according to what was the Custom of wearing it at other times. And therefore the Jews, who were accustomed to long Hair, and used to tye it up in the Form of a Crown or Mitre; not only for Orna­ment, but Covering, ⁽ⁱ⁾ either let it hang loose, in a time of Mourning, after a careless neglected manner; or pluck'd off a good part of it, or caus'd it to be shaven. And having made their Heads bare in deep Mourning, did sometimes throw Job. 2.12. Josh. 7.6. 2 Sam. 1.2. Nehem. 9.1. Lam. 2.10. Ashes upon their Heads; which, min­gling with their Tears, dissigur'd their Countenance, and gave it a rueful Aspect. Thus Job, upon the News of his Childrens Death, [Page 17] shaved his Head, or caused his Hair to be cut off, Chap. 1.20. But because the Jews were forbidden to imitate the Heathen ^(k) in round­ing the corners of their Heads, &c. Ezra, as a Testimony of his Sorrow, only pluck'd off some of the Hair of his Head, and of his Beard, Chap. 9.3. Thus the Leper was ob­liged to make bare his Head, Lev. 13.45. Hence is Lev. 10.6. Ezek. 7.18. Jer. 16.6. Chap. 41.5. Baldness so often joyn'd with Mourning and Weeping. Cut off thine Hair, O Jerusalem! cast it away, and take up a Lamentation—Jer. 7.29. for the Lord hath rejected, and forsaken thee. The like Amos 8.10. I will turn your Songs into Lamen­tations: I will bring Baldness upon every Head, and will make it as the mourning for an only Son. So Mic. 1.16. O Judea, and Israel! make thee Bald, and poll thee, for thy delicate Children: enlarge thy Baldness as the Eagle, for they are gone into Captivity. Tear off thy Hair, or shave it, and make thy Baldness greater than usual. As the Eagle, when she hath lost her Feathers, as at certain times they do, ^(l) unless some particular Kind of 'em, that is naturally Bald, be alluded to. But the Prophet is here forbidden to make himself Bald, or shave his Hair: Bind the tyre of thine head upon thee.

II. Put on thy Shoes upon thy Feet. It was a Token of Sorrow to walk bare-foot: As David, when he fled from Absalom, and went up the afcent of Mount Olivet, 2 Sam. 15.30. It was used at Funeral ^(m) Solemnities: And 'tis the Custom of the ⁽ⁿ⁾ Modern Jews, when they return from the Funeral of a near Rela­tion, after having taken off their Shoes, to sit down on the Ground for Seven Days: But saith God to the Prophet, Put on thy shoes upon thy feet.

III. And cover not thy Lips. They were wont in deep Mourning to cover the Lip, the Mouth, and the Chin; but especially the Upper-Lip. Sometimes the whole Head; as when David wept, and went bare-foot, he also covered his Head. The covering of the Face may be meant by such an Expression. Thus we read, Mic. 3.7. The Seers shall be ashamed, and the Diviners shall be confounded; they shall all Cover their Lips, because there is no Answer from God: because his Providence contradicted their lying Predictions. So the Lepers were to cover their Lips; not only to prevent the Contagion of their infectious Breath, but as a Sign of Mourning, Lev. 13.45. But cover not thy Lips, saith God to Ezekiel.

IV. Nor eat the Bread of Men, or the Bread of Mourners, of afflicted, sorrowful Men, as the word signifies. It was customary among the Jews, to send in provisions to eat with the nearest Kindred and Relations of the deceased. It was designed for the solace and refreshment of the Mourners, who con­cern'd not themselves to get their own sood, but had it thus sent home to 'em. Of this we read Jer. 16.7. Neither shall men tear them­selves for them in Mourning, or (it may be better rendred) neither shall men break Bread for them in Mourning, to comfort them; neither shall men give them the Cup of Consolation to drink, for their Father, or Mother. All man­ner of Food is express'd by Bread, and both the Food, and the Guests were all Unclean in such a case, Lev. 19.11, 14. which the Pro­phet alludes to Hos. 9.4. Their Sacrisices shall be unto them, as the Bread of Mourners, all that eat thereof shall be polluted. The ^(o) Jews in the Levant, and other places, do observe the like Custom to this day: and send in provisions to the House of Mourning, eve­ry Morning and Evening, for seven days to­gether, and sometimes come and eat with them. Almost such a ^(p) Banquet is descri­bed [Page 20] Job 42.11. when Job's Kindred and Ac­quaintance came to eat bread with him, and to bemoan him. But saith God to this Pro­phet, Thou shalt not eat the Bread of Men, not taste of a Funeral Banquet, or the bread of Mourners, as is usual for others to do.

Accordingly, we find he did not Mourn, or weep, or shed a Tear, or lift up a Mourn­ing cry, or cover his head, or put off his Shoes, or cover his Lips, or eat the Bread of Mourners, or drink the Wine of Conso­lation for the deceased, or express any to­ken of Grief. But as he had acquainted the people, that this Calamity should befall him, and this should be his Deportment, the next morning, he tells them, it was actually come to pass, and that God had thus forbad him to mourn. Which being so unexpected and surprizing, could not but put them upon considering, what should be the meaning of so extraordinary a passage, v. 18.19, 25, 26. So I spake unto the people in the Morning, and at Even my Wise dyed, and I did as I was com­manded. And the People said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us, what these things are to us, that thou doest so? And then he tells them, what God would do against 'em, and how they should not be able to use the customary Rites of Mourning, no more than he: Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign, v. 25. According to all that he hath done, shall you do: And when it comes to pass, you shall know that I [Page 21]am the Lord: for I will take from them their strength, the Joy of their Glory, the desire of their Eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their Sons and Daughters, &c.

II. Having consider'd the literal meaning of this passage, as to the Prophet, you must know, that how severe soever this stroke was to him, thus to lose the Desire of his Eyes, in that sudden and surprizing manner, it hath a Typical, Parabolical meaning; and was designed by God, not so much (if at all) as a Token of his Displeasure against the Prophet, as a sign of approaching Judg­ments on the Jewish Nation. It was usual with God to instruct this People, and the Ten Tribes, by parabolical. Actions, and Exam­ples, as well as by Verbal Messages, Hos. 12.10. I have spoken by my Prophets, I have multiplyed Vi­sions, and I have used Similtudes by the Hands of the Prophets, i. e. various Emblems, and Represen­tations of my Mind, I have formerly given them: Instructive warnings of several sorts I have sent unto them. Thus the Prophet Isaiah, and his Sons were given for a Sign and Wonder to the House of Israel, from the Lord of Hosts, Isa. 8.8. their very Names were Prophetical, and significative of future events, Ch. 7.3. and 8. Ch. 3, 4. Thus Isai­ah walk'd barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder to Egypt and Ethiopia, to repre­sent the Captive miserable condition they [Page 22]should be brought into, Isa. 20.3. He went abroad without his upper Garments, after the manner of 1 Sam. 19.24. 2 Sam. 6.20, Prisoners and Slaves, for men are said to be naked when they are ill clad, Job 22.6. we read of stripping the naked of their cloathing. Captives and Mourners are like­wise wont to put off their upper Garments, 2 Sam. 15.30. Jer. 2.25. thus was he to walk for three years, to denote the duration of that Calamity.

This Prophet Ezekiel was likewise to give an Emblem of that Judgment the Text re­ferrs to, by the removal of his stuff, &c. Chap. 12.15, 16, 17. digging through a Wall, as if a Watch had been set at the door, and all ordinary Passages block'd up: to signifie the extremity of their distress, when every one will be willing to put a helping hand. He was to bear it on his shoulders, as Servants that carry Burdens, to represent the Servitude and Slavery to which the Jews should be reduc'd. And this in the Evening, or Twilight, to denote the stealing away of the King, Nobles, and Men of War, by Night, 2 Kings 25.4. He was to cover his face, that he should not see the ground, as fill'd with shame, and unwilling to be known: thus was he to be a Sign unto the house of Israel: for the signification of this refers to them of Jerusalem, whose Desolation and Captivity was now at hand. Which Calami­ty, [Page 23]they, who were already Captives in Ba­bylon, had escaped, v. 9. This Burden concerned the Prince of Jerusalm, and of all the house of Israel, that were among them. As the Prophet had done, so should it be done unto them. And accordingly it came to pass, for the King Zedekiah escap'd out of Jerusalem with a bur­den on his Shoulders, as if he were some common and ordinary Person, digging thro' a Wall, and escaping in the Twilight, but is taken by his Enemies, his Sons slain before his face, and his own eyes put out, and he is led into Captivity, and there remains a Prisoner till he Dies. In this was Ezekiel un­to them a Sign.

He was so likewise by this passage in the Text, which was one of the last Prophetick warnings before the destruction of Jerusa­lem, and the last great Captivity of Judah and Benjamin by Nebuchadnezzar ^(q). It was within two years of it. And 'tis observa­ble, that the tenth month, 2 King 25.1. Jer. 50.3. ch. 52.4. & 5. and the tenth day of the month, when this Prophet, (a Captive then in Babylon,) received this Message from God, at the same time, the same day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar began to lay siege to Jerusalem. Within two years after this, is the [Page 24]last great Captivity and Destruction of Je­rusalem: the three hundred ninety days for the house of ^(r) Israel, mentioned Ezek. 4.5. some think now to be Accomplished. ^(ſ) This was above a hundred and thirty years after the Destruction of Samaria, and the Ten Tribes, by Salmanasser King of As­syria. At the very time when the Seige be­gan, he is told of it by God; and by the Parable of the death of his Beloved Wife, he informs the People of the approaching destruction of their City, and Temple, which was the Desire and Delight of their Eyes: For then God suffer'd the Chaldeans to desile and destroy the Temple, the Holy and Beautiful House, where their Fathers praised God, was burnt with Fire, and all their pleasant things laid waste. As it is lament­ed by the Prophet Jeremy, Lam. 2.7. And your Sons and your Daughters, saith God, who are the Desire of your Eyes, shall fall by the Sword, and shall perish with my polluted Sanctua­ry: For thus he explains this passage in the 24, 25, verses of this Chapter. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a Sign: according to all that he hath done shall you do, and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God. Also thou [Page 25]Son of Man, shall it not be in the day, when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereup­on they set their minds, their Sons and their Daughters? You shall do as I have done, you shall not be able to make a regular Mourn­ing, you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of Men, you shall not make any solemn Lamentations, or Funeral Solemni­ties for your dead Relations: So perplexing will be your distress, and so great the mul­titude of the slain: but you shall pine a­way in your Iniquities, and tho' you shall mourn inwardly, (and have cause enough to do so) you shall not dare to shew it, for fear of the Chaldeans. As is foretold by ano­ther Prophet, Jer. 16.6, 7. Both the great and the small shall dye in this Land, they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. Neither shall men tear themselves for them in Mourning, to comfort them for the Dead, neither shall men give them the Cup of Consolati­on to drink, for their Father, or for their Mo­ther.

Thus Ezekiel was to be a Sign unto them; for tho God removed from him one of the most valuable Blessings that could be, yet the stroke was not so severe and afflic­tive unto the Prophet, but the Calamity sig­nified by it, to come upon the Jews, was much more dreadful.

God had long and often admonish'd them to repent, but they slighted his Messages, and hated and persecuted those that brought them, despising the Remedies, and Physici­ans too; so that at length he resolves to spare them no longer, and forbids his Pro­phet to pray for them any more, Jer. 7.16. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry, nor pray for them, neither make in­tercession to me, for I will not hear thee. He had charged them at the 4. verse not to trust in lying words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these: not to put confidence in the Flatte­ries of the false Prophets, who told them that this City should not be destroyed, nor this people go into Captivity, because of their particular relation unto God, above all other Nations of the Earth, and because of his special presence in the Temple; these were but lying words, which would deceive them. For since they had polluted his Sanctua­ry, turned the House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves, God would even consume his own house, and ^(t) suffer it to be burnt with fire, its Walls to be broken down, and the Ves­sels of Gold and Silver, and Brass, with all its Treasure and costly Furniture, to be car­ried to Babylon: Their Feast-days, and [Page 27]New-Moons, Sabbaths, and Solemnities, all to cease, and the very place where the Tem­ple once stood in it's Beauty and Glory, to become the ^(u) Dunghill of another City, call'd Elia. And to render this probable, he bids them consider the ruine of Shilo, ver. 12. Go unto my place in Shilo, and see what I have done to my house there, for the wickedness of my people Israel, 1 Sam. 4.11. Psal. 78.61. How God forsook his Tabernacle, and deliver'd his strength into Captivity; how he gave his people to the Sword, and was wroth with his Inheritance, &c. Shilo was a City belonging to the Tribe of Ephraim; where, before the building of Solomon's Temple, the Ark had it's usual residence, tho' occasional­ly removed sometimes. The Ark of the Te­stament, which contained the two Tables of the Law, and so testified their Covenant re­lation: The Ark, which was the Glory, and the strength of Israel, the Symbol of Gods presence with them, and the Terror of their Enemies; for the Seat of God was between the Cherubims, which was over the Ark, where he promised to meet, and commune with his people, Exod. 25.21. before it Sa­crifices were offer'd; 1 Sam. 6.14. and when it set forward in the Wilderness, Moses said, [Page 28] Arise, O Lord, and let thy Enemies be scattered; and when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel, Numb. 10.35. But after the Land of Canaan was subdued, the Ark was lodg'd in Shilo, being removed from thence into the Israelites Camp, 1 Sam. 4. When in the Fight against the Philistines, Ely's Sons were slain, the Ark was taken, and Israel routed: And afterwards it was removed to another Tribe, for the wickedness of Israel, (viz.) from Ephraim to Judah, from Shilo to the Temple at Mount Sion: which very Temple, with the Ark it self, God here resolves to destroy, for the Iniquity of the House of Ju­dah. And to assure the Prophet that he would not alter his purpose, he forbids him to pray against it. Now least the people should take it ill, that he did not use his utmost endea­vours to hinder this Calamity, or least the Prophet himself should be discouraged, by praying to no purpose; God condescends to double and treble the prohibition: Not to pray, not to lift up a cry, not to make Intercession; for, says he, I will not hear. q. d. I will not repent of my denounced Vengeance: I will not be diverted from that destruction, I have resolv'd to inflict; neither shall the inter­cession of any others for them be prevalent and effectual. There are six eminent Persons mentioned by name, Jeremiah, Moses, Samu­el, Noah, Job and Daniel, yet neither of them singly nor all of them together, should prevail, [Page 29]by their Intercessions, to preserve Jerusalem, or deliver the Jews from this Captivity into Babylon, Jer. 15.1. Ezek. 14.16, 18, 20.

A few Verses before this Text will manifest this resolv'd Purpose of God, concerning this Matter. Ver. 13, 14. In thy filthiness is lewd­ness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy fil­thiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee: I the Lord have spoken it, it shall come to pass, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy do­ings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God. q. d. Think not that my Prophets have invent­ed a sad Story of their own, and denounced Judgment without my warrant; for it is I the Lord have said it. They did only reveal my Purpose, and declare my Counsel; I will do according to their Prediction: I that sent them, will most assuredly bring it to pass. And think not that this Judgment is a great way off, and you need not be concern'd for any thing at such a distance; for it shall shortly come to pass, it is even at hand. And think not that your Fortresses, and Strong-Holds shall be your defence; that your City is im­pregnable against the force of the Chaldeans Army; that the King of Babilon is too weak and impotent to prevail against Jerusalem; for I my self will do it: I have Commission'd him to perform my Pleasure, and I will assist [Page 30]him to execute my Threatning: And flatter not your selves, that my Purpose may alter, and I may be intreated to delay for some time, for I will not go back, or spare you any longer: Do not imagine, that because I have formerly been intreated to repent, I may now be so again; for it is added, I will not Repent: And it is but just and equal I should thus resolve; for according to thy ways and doings thou shalt be judged, saith the Lord. And then in the Text he hath a Sign of all this, by the Death of his nearest Relation, the taking away the desire of his Eyes with a stroke.

III. Having considered this Passage, as to the Literal and Parabolical sence of it, what the Expressions signifie in themselves, and what they are designed to represent to the Jews; let us now consider how far they are Applicable to us in ordinary Cases. For when God removed from the Prophet Ezekiel the desire of his eyes, he forbids him to mourn or weep: But from such an extraordinary Case, which had so plain a design, and direct re­ference to the Jewish Nation, we cannot ar­gue against all Mourning for the Dead, or Ex­pressions of Sorrow, when a Delightful and Beloved Relation is taken from us. No, Mournings and Lamentations are allowed, and commendable, if we keep within the Bounds of Reason and Religion. It is a piece [Page 31]of Justice to the Deceas'd, to Bewail them. It is threatned as a Judgment, Jer. 21. when any Die without being Lamented: Yea, it is said to be the Portion of the wicked from God, and the Heritage of the Oppressor, that they are cut off, and their Widows shall not weep, Job 27.13, 14, 15.

Holy Abraham we find Lamenting and Weeping when Sarah died; (who is the first Woman whole Burial is mentioned in Scrip­ture, and the only Woman, the number of whose Years are accounted there.) Tho' he had pass'd many Difficulties before, and met with many Temptations, and been tried with many Conflicts, as leaving his Countrey, hazarding his Life, obliged to Banish one be­loved Son out of his House, and commanded to Sacrifice another with his own Hands; yet we do not read of his mourning and weeping till the Death of his beloved Sarah, Gen. 23.1, 2. neither is he here any where condemned for dropping a Tear upon this Occasion.

But our great concern, in such Cases, is to keep within Bounds; as upright Job, who rent his Cloaths, and shaved his Head, and fell upon his Face to the ground, when he heard the News of his Childrens Death; and yet even there he worship'd God, and had this Testimony, That in all this he sinned not, or charged God foolishly, Job. 1.22. For Mourn we may, and Weep we may, and Lament we may, but not with an undue Violence, as [Page 32] David for Absalom, 2 Sam. 18.33. Nor as Rachel for her Children, who refus'd to be comforted: Or as Rizpah, who attended the Carkasses of her Sons, and would not be parted from them, 2 Sam. 21.10. Or as Jacob, when Joseph was missing, who will go down to the Grave to his Son mourning, Gen. 37.35. Or as Jonah, when GOd smote his Goard, and made it wither, Jonah. 4.8. His Spirit droopt, and he resolves to die too.

If God takes away the Joy of our Heart, and Delight of our Eyes; (such Relations as he made so, one that from him, and by him, and in Subordination to him, was so;) we must not yet forget our Relation to God; we must not over-look the Designs of his Providence, or the Encouragements of his Word; we must not Mourn as Ignorant, Hopeless Hea­thens, that never saw the Bible, or heard of Christ.

I shall therefore comprize what I have to say as to this Occasion, under Two Generals: The one of Duty, the other of Support, when­ever God takes away the desire of our Eyes with a stroke.

First, We are call'd, in such a Case, to consider upon what Grounds, and with what Design, and for what Ends, it pleaseth God thus to Afflict and make a Tryal of his Ser­vants. And thereby we may learn, in what manner we ought to Regard and Improve [Page 33]such Dispensations. This will concern the Duty of those who are thus exercised.

Secondly, As to Support and Comfort, for the Prevention of immodoerate Sorrow and Mourn­ing; I shall consider what is proper and suf­ficient to bear up a Christian Spirit in such Cases; and withal take notice how vain and ineffectual are all the little Considerations which some are wont to offer, and others to have recourse to, for Encouragement under such Tryals, without going into the Sanctuary, and consulting the Holy Oracles.

First, When the like Case doth happen, as it may to the best of Men, we are to consider upon what Righteous Grounds, and with what Merciful Designs God doth thus afflict and prove any of us; or may do so, if as yet he hath not. Though God had imparted his secret Counsels to this Prophet, and employ'd him in the most Honourable, Noble and Excel­lent Work, though he had been true to his Commission, and faithfully delivered the Mes­sages he received; pleading the Cause of God with undaunted Courage and Resolution, notwithstanding the Hatred, and Persecution, and Hazard of his Life, whereunto his Fi­delity expos'd him; yet God thinks fit by such a stroke as this, to Afflict and Prove him, and make him a Sign and a Warning to others.

We should not therefore wonder, as if some strange and new thing hath happened to us, when God takes from us our most desirable Relations: If he remove our dearest Comforts, and that with very little warning: If he wound and smite us in the Apple of our Eye; and pluck from our Embraces that which of all Earthly Blessings our Heart is most set upon: We ought not in such Cases to say, with Gideon, Judg. 6.13. If the Lord be with us, if he accerpt us, if he favours us, how is it, and why is it, that this evil hath befallen us? As if God were obliged to gratifie us in all our Wishes: As if he were bound to take no­thing from us that we are unwilling to part with, though it be his own, more than ours.

My Brethren, I find it to be no such easie matter, in practical Instances, to reconcile the belief of God's gracious Presence with smart and pressing Afflictions. We are ready to say with the Sisters of Lazarus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my Brother had not died.

If the Lord were with us, it would have been otherwise; we are all too prone to think and say so. Such are our mistaken Apprehensions concerning God, under the darkness of our present state: Such is our inordinate Esteem and Affection for Tem­poral Blessings: So Ignorant or Inconside­rate are we about the Design and End of [Page 35]God in Afflicting us: So little do we under­stand, or consider that great Revenue of Glory which God may bring to himself by our smar­test Tryals: So apt are we to look back on the Comforts we have lost, and let our Thoughts loose to aggravate our present Wants, by reviewing the Advantages we once enjoy'd, and are now deprived of: So par­tially, so slightly, so seldom do we contem­plate the Nature and Tenure of the Covenant of Grace, which does suppose, and make al­lowance for such Visitations, and hath pro­vided for our Relief under them: And so it comes to pass, that we are too ready to que­stion his Fatherly Love, by reason of such Rebukes: Not considering that whom the Lord loves, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth, Heb. 12.6. But the Usefulness and Necessity of such Providences, and the Wisdom and Faithfulness of God therein, may be made conspicuous to a con­sidering Mind: And it is frequently acknow­ledged by the Experience of those who are exercised in this kind, That it is no more than is needful, that we should sometimes be in heaviness by such Dispensations: As will appear by considering a few things.

First, Such Providences are proper to Awa­ken Repentance, for our many Omissions and Failings, in the Relation we stood to them whom God hath taken from us. How se­riously [Page 36]should we reflect, Did I discharge the Duty of my Place to such, or such a deceased Relative? Did I value and prize such a Mercy as I ought? Did I thankfully Improve such a Blessing as I might? It is our fault and folly, as well as our unhappiness, that we seldom know how to prize and use such Mercies, till God hath depriv'd us of them. And that neglect is no way to be re­triev'd, but by a penitent sense of our Error, in compliance with the Call of God: That Call of God, I mean, which he gives us by their Removal. And it is part of the Wisdom of God's Government, to order our Tryals and Afflictions, for the kind, for the man­ner, and for the season of them, as may best serve to convince us of our Sin, and promote our Repentance.

For Example, Children should consider upon the Death of Holy Parents, in what Instances they failed of hearkning to their Counsels, and following their Instructions, Admonitions, and Examples; of paying that Honour, Reverence, Duty, and Obedience which God commands. They should then remember, consider, and mourn, to think how often their Miscarriages against God, and them, was a Grief and Burthen to their Souls, and made them walk softly: They should re­call the Vanity of their Childhood, and review the Stubbornness, and Frowardness, and In­tractableness of Youth; and the many par­ticular [Page 37]provocations they were guilty of while their Parents lived; against their fre­quent Reproofs, against the cry of their pray­ers, and the meaning of their Tears, against their many Warnings, and Compassionate Calls to Repentance, against all the methods God used to awaken, humble, and reform them: Is not this the voice of such a Rod to many Children, when their godly Parents are taken away by Death? And the like Reflections should Parents make, when God removes their grown Children; whether they have answered their Trust, and been faith­ful to their Souls; solemnly dedicating them to God, endeavouring to instruct them in the Principles of Religion, and Educating them in the Christian Faith, and saving them from the Temptations of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil; endeavouring by all means to make Religion amiable, and Sin odious, and practical Godliness lovely, by their own Circumspect walking, by keeping up the Authority of God, and his daily Wor­ship in their houses, by faithful Instructions, and prudent seasonable Reproofs, and fer­vent Holy Prayer to God for them, and with them, &c.

The like for other Relations, when the Desire of our Eyes is removed, as a Dear Hus­band, or a beloved Wife. God expects we should reflect, and consider, whether we en­ter'd into such a Relation, as becomes CHri­stians, [Page 38] marrying in the Lord: Whether we did walk as Heirs of the Grace of Life together: whether by tenderness and Affection, by Meekness and Wisdom, by Watchfulness and Prayer, by Counsel and other Assistance, we faithfully performed the Duty of that Rela­tion. We ought to reflect in such cases, How much more good we might have receiv­ed, and done with reference to the Deceas'd? How much more we might have contributed than we did, to the furtherance of their Grace and Holiness, their Knowledge and Comfort, their peace of Conscience, and meetness for Heaven? or what Advantage and Increase of our own, we might have had by their means, and did not improve. You that are now Happy in one anothers Affecti­on, remember this, before a parting time do come: for such thoughts as these will be apt to follow us, under such providences, and it is fit they should.

And if we have the warning of their Ap­proaching Change by Sickness; it may then be proper to reflect, how we then demean'd our selves? whether we were duly sensible of it? what was the Temper of our Spirits in prayer for them? and what our carriage and deportment toward them, and toward God, with relation to their case: How far we expected and prepared for a Separation by Death? what solemn acts of Resignation of them, and of our selves, to the Will of [Page 39]God, our Spirits were formed to? what im­pressions their Sick-bed Discourses, their Dy­ing Speeches, Comforts, or Counsels, with their last Agonies, had upon us? what Duty lyes upon us at such a time, in reference to these things, is sufficiently obvious: But how far we then comported with it, ought seri­ously to be inquired, when God hath remo­ved them by Death; that wherein we have failed, we may be awaken'd to Repent, which is one Design of God by such a stroke.

Secondly, To testifie his Displeasure for our fond Inordinate Affections to those Rela­tives he snatcheth from us, and to prevent the like as to those that survive.

God is Jealous of his Honour, and he will not bear a Rival: and if the Desire of our Eyes lay too near our Hearts, and rob him of our Delight, and Love, and Time, no wonder if he make a Separation. When Ja­cob's Affection to his Joseph and Benjamin were so excessive, that his Life was bound up in theirs, he and his must then be parted: And the good Old Man be brought to say with a doleful accent, and aking Heart, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and must Ben­jamin go too? all these things are against me. A Husband, a Wife, a Mother, a Father, a Child, a Friend which is as thy own Soul; Any of them, All of them must go, if we Love them too well. i. e. if we value them too [Page 40]highly; if we delight in them excessively; if we rejoyce in them more than in the pre­sence of God; if we place the satisfaction of our Minds, the solace of our Lives, too much in their Company; if we love them not only in the Lord, or in subordination to him; if we reckon too much content in their Con­tinuance; if we are too unwilling to part with them at the Call of God, &c.

This we may be sure of, God will break that from us, from which we would not be broken, or turn it to our Cross. And that stroke which makes the breach, should teach us to moderate our Affections to surviving Friends; to Possess, Enjoy and Use all things and persons in this World, as if we used them not, because the time is short, and the fashion of the World passeth away, 1 Cor. 7.31. That we may be brought to speak it as the inward sence of our very Hearts: Lord, I see all Earthly Comforts are wither­ing Gourds, how quickly, how easily, how suddenly are they gone! O let me hence­forward, make thee my only Portion and Treasure; let me seek thy Favour, value thy Love, prize thy presence, in and above all things: thou art the only Fountain of Liv­ing Water, all Creatures are but broken Ci­sterns, that can hold little or none; and how unexpectedly may they be dry'd up! Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and who or what is there desireable on Earth besides thee? [Page 41]Happy is that Soul who Answers this design of God, and is brought to this frame by such a stroke.

Thirdly, God may sometimes intend to Try our Sincerity, and Improve our Trust in him alone. To know what is in our Hearts, i. e. To let it be known unto our selves and others, whether we can love him as a Father, though we feel his Rod: whether we can stoop to his Disposing Authority, and submit to his Hand, when it is most heavy: and ac­quiesce in his Orders, when they are most se­vere. To try whether we can receive Evil from God, as well as Good: and bless him for Taking, as well as Giving: to try whether we can trust him, though he slay us; and say with Hezekiah, Good is the Word of the Lord, even when he calls for the Desire of our Eyes. To try whether we can believe his Word, trust his Providence, and depend upon his Care, and hope for his Salvation when the Helps, and Asistances, and Instruments of his Mercy, which we formerly had, are withdrawn. In a word, whether God alone he enough for our Souls to live upon; and be reckon'd suf­ficient for our Stay, Suport, and Strength, whatsoever Disappointments, Losses, and Difficulties we meet with. Whether we will abide by our Agreement, when we first yield­ed our selves to the Lord, to be absolutely dispos'd of, as well as rul'd by him. And [Page 42]how often have we since renew'd that Cove­nant, and given up our selves and ours to the Lord: He will try by such providences, whe­ther we are satisfied he shall take us at our word.

Fourthly, Sometimes he does it as a Prepa­rative for Patience under further Tryals, either Personal and particular, or publick and National. God in wisdom inures our Spirits to a suffering State, and brings us off by degrees from the Love of this World. He trains us up in Self-denying-Exercises, that we may be the better prepared to meet him in the way of his Judgments: That by Suf­fering, we may learn to suffer. He takes away somewhat which we dearly loved, that it may be less difficult for us to part with the Remainder: That our proud Hearts being humbled, and our stubborn Wills bowed, we may be more ready to bear, and suffer, and lose, as he shall think fit. We need be in­structed a good while in the School of Afflicti­on, perfectly to learn Patience, and Resigna­tion to the Will of God. So difficult a Lesson as that of Self-denial, will not be learned all at one time. One Instance of a calm Submis­sion to the Divine Will, may dispose us for another that is more difficult; for if we cannot give up our Relations to the Will of God, how shall we be able to resign our Selves? If the Foot-men tire us, how shall we contend with [Page 43]Horses? If we can't part with the Life of a Friend we love, how shall we surrender our Own, if he shall call us to do so? If we send up our impatient Murmurs to Heaven, when any of them die, (though it be peaceably on their Beds,) how shall we be able to resist unto Blood? or to die at a Stake, if that should ever become our Duty? If the Cala­mities common to Men be so heavy for our Shoulders, what shall we do in a Fiery Tryal? Therefore God in Wisdom remembers our Ignorance and Frailty, and considers our Weakness, and accordingly he trains up and prepares us by degrees.

Fifthly, The Last and General Reason of all such Strokes, is to mind surviving Rela­tions and Acquaintance, and all that hear of it, to prepare to follow. All the frequent Warnings of God, which you have lately had of this kind, speak very loudly the Lan­guage of our blessed Lord, Mat. 24.44. Be ye also ready. Consider your Latter End; Number your Days; Know that you hasten to an Eternal State. Some of us especially should take the Warning, unto whom the Blow comes nearer home. When Death enters into the very House where we sojourn; and lessens or dissolves our Families; when God draws away the Veil, and exposes the Picture of Death naked to our view, and holds it before our Eyes; he bids us, of all others, [Page 44]make haste with our Work, and be ready; and not foolishly slatter our selves, that we have many Years to come in this World. Do we not see our own Friends and Rela­tions, that were more likely to live than we, Month after Month, drop into the Grave? And is it not the House appointed for all the Liv­ing? Shall we not think our own turn is coming? May not Thine be next, or Mine next? Does not every deceased Friend tell us, we are living-dying Persons, who shall shortly follow them, but they not return to us: Their Seats and Places, here and at home, shall hence­forth know them no more: And will it not e're long be as certainly true of us, of every one of us, as true as if our Breath were gone, and our Eyes closed, and our Teeth set, and our Friends had left us as if, we were laid in the Graves, and the Funeral Ceremonies were over, and our Bodies cover'd with the Bones and Earth that must be our Compa­ny in, the house of Darkness? Oh that we were wise to understand, and believe this, and consider our Latter End! Thus con­cerning the Duty of Mourners.

II. For the prevention of Immoderate Sor­row, and Irregular Mourning, which is next to be considered: I desire it may be ob­serv'd, that many persons seek for Comfort in such Cases, where it is not to be had; and hope to encourage and support themselves from [Page 45]weak, mistaken, or deceitful Principles: we are apt to lean on some broken Reed, that will not sustain but pierce us. Under this and the other leaf we seek for Consolation, and find a Serpent lurking there; but all our turnings of devices proves but like the Pot­ters Clay, which breaks and moulders be­tween our Fingers: We would fain draw the Water of Comfort out of this Brook, or the other Puddle, instead of going to Jacob's Well, the true and only Fountain: I mean, instead of consulting the Holy Scriptures. We disquiet our Minds in vain, stretch our Imaginations, and busie our inquiring thoughts, to find out Remedies against the Evils we suf­fer, but till we go into the Sanctuary, we search in vain.

All the Precepts and Instructions of Philo­sophers are weak and ineffectual to a Chri­stian. To change the Nature of Afflictive Evils, or wholly to extirpate our own Af­fections, will be found impossible: Fatal Ne­cessity asserted by some, and the Doctrine of Contingency and Chance, explained by o­thers, will not quiet or satisfie an Afflicted Mourner. To say we should have constant­ly expected this, and the like Calamity be­fore-hand, is in some sence true; but does not that inflict as much of the Evil before, as it takes off afterward? For such ^* a fore. [Page 46]sight and Expectation cannot be without An­xiety, and many sad and melancholly thoughts: I mean, upon Principles meerly Philosophi­cal, it cannot. And therefore it is a Dispu­table point among that fort of men, whe­ther it be best to be surprized by an Evil, or to pre-meditate and foresee it's approach. Both grant we are condemned to be misera­ble. Think upon it before-hand, says the one sort, that you may feel it the less: Ne­ver think of it before, says the other, with equal reason, that you may not feel it twice.

But others more plausibly, and with some Weight, will be ready to say, You knew a Parting Time must come: You knew the Ma­trimonial Union might easily, and suddenly, be dissolved and broken by Death. What did you not know, that you and your Rela­tions must Die? or did you not live toge­ther with this design, to help and prepare one another for Death? And the Providence of God continued such a suitable Relation to you for so many years: might he not have made this breach sooner? you ought to be thankful for such a blessing so long.

Besides, it may be added as to the manner of their Disease, they had what Art and Care could do to preserve their Lives; and earnest prayer to God was added, if it did consist but with his Holy Pleasure, that they might be longer spar'd. And after all, they [Page 47]Died quietly on their Beds, and went to the Grave in peace, and died Lamented, and the last Offices of Friendship were perform'd at their Funerals, &c.

Moreover, you know not but they are ta­ken away from the evil to come; for notwith­standing the beginning and progress of Na­tional Deliverances thus far, some of us may live to see the Cup of Trembling, that our Neighbours and Brethren have drank of, come round to us, so that the dead may be accounted more happy than the Living: As the Prophet speaks, Jer. 22.10. Weep not for the Dead, but weep for him that goes forth, and escapeth Death. You know not but such a Calamity may befall this Land, this City, or their own Family, or Dearest Friends, as would have made their Lives bitter, and mi­serable, if they had been prolong'd.

And were nothing of all this to be consi­der'd, it might yet be said, It is in vain to weep and mourn, you cannot call back the De­sire of your Eyes to Life again. You only tor­ment and hurt your self, for heaviness in the Heart of Man makes it stoop, it dries the bones, and deadens the Spirit, and very much unfits for the Duties and Comforts of Life. Yea, which is worse, Immoderate sor­row for your departed Friends, does but prove that you love this World too well; it shews too plainly, that your Faith concerning the Invisi­ble Future World is very weak; that you your [Page 48]selves as yet are too unprepar'd to die; or count upon tarrying longer here, than it may be God intends you shall. These and such like considerations have all their influence and use, in their proper place, to contribute somewhat to our support, but of themselves are not sufficient.

There are four things, (among others,) that a Christian Mourner ought to consider for his Relief.

1. Whose Hand it is that gives the stroke, who it is that does it.

2. The Faithfulness of God to his Covenant Promise, notwithstanding any such Provi­dences.

3. The Gain of those who Die in the Lord, by our loss of their Company.

4. Our Belief and Hope of meeting them again, with all the Children of the Kingdom, and being with them for ever with the Lord in Glory. And let me add, our Expectation of knowing them there; for that to me is more than probable.

First, We should not Grieve immoderate­ly, when Dear Relations are remov'd by Death, because it is the Lord that doth it; he who hath a Soveraign Authority and unquestiona­ble Right to dispose of us and them, as seems him good. I take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a stroke; I have done it, saith the Lord. We mistake our Tenure, if we [Page 49]think he may not call for for his own, when­soever he pleaseth. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes, we must adore and bless his Holy Name in both: He is not responsible at our Bar, or Accountable to us, for eve­ry thing he does: He hath not given us an account of all his matters: He does not think fit to answer all our Questions, or say all he can, to vindicate the Righteousness, and Wisdom of his present proceedings, — therefore, why dost thou strive with him? Job 33.13. Asa Ruler, it is true he hath shewed us reason enough in the general for such Providences, but as our absolute Lord and Owner, he need not.

It may be we importunately prayed for their Recovery, that God would spare them longer: But if we did not pray with a hum­ble submission to his holy Will, our very Prayer was a Provocation, and we need to repent, and mourn for our selves. And do not all holy Parents, pray more earnestly for the Salvation of their Children, and yet you know they are not all answer'd in kind: if they were, all the World would be sa­ved; for doubtless holy Noah prayed for all his Children; and they, if they were holy, would do so for them, &c. But do we not daily supplicate for the honour of Gods Government, for the Glory of his Name, the accomplishment of his Councels, and the fulfilling of his unerring Will? and [Page 50]shall we Repine and Murmur, when our pray­ers are answer'd?

Consider then, whose Hand it is: It is He hath taken who gave thee that, and all thy other Mercies, and prolongs innumerable ones, which thou hast forfeited: And shall we not receive evil at the hand of God, as well as good? Job 2.10. Especially since he may have the same kind, and merciful design in taking as he had in giving, and hath promised that all things (this not excepted) shall work for good: It is He hath done it, who is In­finitely Wise and Gracious, who loves, and pities, and spares us as a Father does a Child. And shall we not drink of that Cup which our Heavenly Father hath put into our hands? His Soveraignty might justly silence us, but his Goodness, Righteousness, and Wisdom, should calm and settle our Hearts, and make us resign our Will to his. It is He hath done it, who hath purchased a people out of the World, and is collecting them one after another, so soon as they are ready, and have served the ends of his Glory up­on Earth: And how shall the many Sons and Daughters be brought to Heaven, (for which end the Son of God was incarnate and dyed) if we and others should have our wish, that God should take whom he would, and when he pleased, but our Relations should be excepted? It is He hath done it, who told us, that whosoever loves Father, or Mo­ther, [Page 51]Wife, or Child, more than Christ, cannot be his Disciple, Luke 14.26. It is He, unto whom our Relation is nearer, sweeter, and more indissoluble, than that unto any of our Friends on Earth can be. It is He hath done it, who said, Father, I will, that those whom thou hast given me shall be where I am, to behold my Glory, John 17.14. And when he would remove any of such a Character, how dear soever unto us, shall our Reluctant will oppose and gainsay his Wife and Just, and Holy Pleasure? Shall any of us dare say in such a case, that he is mine, or she is mine, I cannot yield to let them go? would we in­sinuate that they are more ours, than his? did he not make them? did he not renew them? and make them meet for Heaven? and ought he not rather to dispose of them according to His Will, than ours? ought not ours to subscribe to his?

Secondly, Consider the Faithfulness of God to his Covenant promises, notwithstanding such Providential Tryals. Whatsoever change He makes in our Families, and condi­tions, the Blessed God is still the same, what, and where he was, tho our Relations and Friends are not what they were, or where they were. Thô a House be broken up, and a Family dissolv'd, tho one or more of the principal Members of it be snatch'd away, we who are left, may yet with David encou­rage [Page 52]our selves in the Lord our God, 2 Sam. 23.5. saying, Tho' my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, and this is all my Salvation, and all my Desire: And is not this All enough? Ought we not so to reckon it? that tho' we should be forsaken of all Creatures, God will never leave us, nor for­sake us; that we shall not be left alone, he will still be with us; the Husband of the Widow, and the Father of the Fatherless; shewing Mercy to them that sear him, and to their Seed after them, and his Righteousness (or promised Mercy) to their Childrens Chil­dren, Psal. 103.7.

Can he not be better than all Relations? could any one of them be a Blessing or a Comfort to us without him? Was it not from God, if any of them were so? how ea­sily might he have imbitter'd their Compa­ny, who were the Delight of our Eyes? And can he not supply that Loss out of his own fulness? Was he the Author of all the Comfort we enjoyed in, and by them, and cannot he make amends for their Absence? Is not the Presence of the God of all Conso­lation, equivalent to theirs? May he not make us Gainers? and oblige us to own by Com­fortable Experience, that in very faithful­ness he hath thus afflicted? Did we better clear up our Covenant-Interest in the Alsuffi­ciency of God, it would be a special Means of [Page 53]our Support, in this, and all other afflicting Cases.

Thirdly, Let us look from our selves to Them, whom God hath taken from us, and compare their Gain with our Loss; and that will infer a Defect, either in our Faith, or in our Friendship, if we Mourn immo­derately for those who Dye in the Lord, and sleep in Jesus.

I Confess the Death of Wicked Relations is a very perplexing, and humbling Case. But yet we must remember, God is Wiser and more Merciful than we, and doth all things for his own Glory: And we cannot doubt, but when we come to Heaven, our Minds and Wills shall be entirely Conform'd to his. And for the present it cannot well be Answer'd, Why one or two of our parti­cular Kindred, that Dyed in Sin, shou'd be so much more lamented, than the many Hundreds and Thousands, that every Week or Month are cut off under Damning Guilt. Let us thank God for his distinguishing Grace, if He have brought us to Repent, and Be­lieve, and Obey the Gospel; and do what we can that others also may, especially those of our Kindred and Acquaintance: with un­feigned Sorrow that we have done no more to further their Conversion and Salvation; and then we may rejoyce in the Glory of God, and our Blessed Redeemer, by the Faith [Page 54]and Holiness of those that are or shall be saved.

Were this our Temper, as it ought to be, we should not be apt to grieve excessive­ly at the Death of our Holy Friends: For they are delivered from the Guilt and Pow­er of Sin, and have received the End of their Faith, and Patience, and Hope: They have overcome the difficulties that we must longer Conflict with, and have safely pass'd those Changes we must yet be proved by. We have many Dangers yet to escape, ma­ny hazardous Temptations yet to resist; a difficult Warfare yet to manage, against the Enemy of our Souls; many weary Dayes and Hours to pass, under the troublesome Effects of Sin, and the Assaults of the De­vil: We must yet tarry in the Wilder­ness, and know the Tryals of a sojourning State, while they are got safe to the Pro­mised Rest: We must yet toil, and labour, and strive under the Cares, and Fears, and Wants, and Difficulties of many kinds, in­ward and outward, Personal and Relative, publick and private, but they are beyond the reach of either; they shall be allur'd, or disquieted, by the suggestions of the De­vil no more; they shall be in fear of Hell, and under Apprehensions of Gods Displeasure no more; they shall be in hazard of infection by bad Company, or grieved by the scandals and ill Examples of the Ungodly no more, for [Page 55]they are joyned to the Holy Society above, in the blessed Visions, Services, and Rejoy­cings of that better World.

Not only are they deliver'd from what is now afflictive to us, but bountifully reward­ed, and Happy in the Knowledge, and Love of God. Not only have they their iron Fetters knock'd off from their feet, but a Crown of Grory put upon their Heads: Not only stript of their filthy Garments, but cloathed with the pure and immortal Light: Not only all their Sorrows vanisht, but their Souls filled with unutterable Joy, waiting for the Com­pletion of it, at the Resurrection of the Dead.

We think, it may be, we stand in need of their Company; we are certain they need not ours, having left an Imperfect, Dark, Desiling, Tempting, Troublesome, Misera­ble World, and are gone to a Blessed Socie­ty, and State of Holiness and Peace; from Doubts, and Darkness, and Complaints, to the Bosom of Insinite Love, where they shall Complain and Weep no more for ever. And therefore tho our Saviour Wept when Lazarus dyed, because it is said he loved him, the reason seems to be, because our Lord knew that ^† Lazarus was to return to be up­on the Earth again; he knew that it was [Page 56]for the Glory of God, that he should be rai­sed from the Dead, and return to be Tryed, and Tempted, and Troubled again. But it is not so with our departed Friends: Oh let us believingly look upward, where they are, and think what they are doing, and remem­ber how much otherwise it was with them not long ago: And can we wish them back again? while we sigh, and weep, and mourn, we know all Tears are wiped away from their Eyes, and they are singing the Song of the Lamb. They are now seeding on the pleasant Fruits of Paradise, and would we have them back again to eat the Bread of Affliction, and drink the Waters of Afflic­tion? Would we, they should return from the state of Triumph, after Victory, to en­gage again in new Combats? From the Port and Haven of Eternal Rest, to be tost again upon a Tempeltuous Sea? And this, because they were [...] Kindred, and our Relations; for you do not mourn, that the Prophets, and Apostles, [...] all the Faithful mentioned in Holy Scripture, or since in former Ages, that they are gone to He [...]n. The ancient Chri­stians kept Days of Thanksgiving for the safe Departure of such. But how dear soever they were to us, we shall go to them, they shall not come to us: We are very unkind if we desire they should have Tarryed longer, when God hath made them ready; they are gone to better Friends than those they have [Page 57]lest behind. And if you Loved me, said Christ, you would rejoyce that It said, I go to my Father and your Father, to my God, and your God.

The Friends they have left are imperfect, Sinning, Sorrowing, troublesome and unsuit­able, compared with those they meet above. And there only our Friendship, and Affecti­ons to one another, will be without any mix­ture of Grief, or Sin, without any Infirmi­ty, Suspicion, Discontent, or other allay, by their Weaknesses, Sins, or Sufferings: There shall we have all our Wishes, and De­sires, for our Friends, as well as for our Selves; and converse continually together, without being weary of one anothers Compa­ny: they had once such a vile Body as we have, and such disorderly Passions, such Er­rors, and Mistakes, and Actual Sins as we are guilty of; they were troubled with such Temptations, Doubts, and Descrtions, as we complain of: but their probationarry State is now over, their Warfare is accom­plish'd, their Work done, their Race ended, their Course finish'd, and they are enter'd into the Joy of the Lord: Oh let us remember that they are so, while we Weep and Mourn, partly for their Departure, and more (it should be) for our unfitness as yet to be with them But we have the same God and Sa­viour, the same Way and Rule, the same blessed Recompence of Reward, propos'd and [Page 58]promis'd, and prepar'd; the same Grace and As­sistance, offered to enable us to Persevere and Overcome. It is but a little while, since they had as malicious Enemies to oppose and con­quer, and as difficult a work to mind as we, and were as unlikely to hold out, as some of us; their inward and outward Troubles were like to ours; their bodily Weaknesses, and Spiritual Distresses like to ours, but they have overcome them; yet a little while, and we hope we may do so too. And it is but a little while; let us not then grieve immo­derately, being our selves to follow so soon after, to partake (we hope) in that Blessed­ness with them for ever, which we have of­ten joyned together in Prayer, to ask of God for them, and for our selves. And this we need not question, if we choose the same Felicity ^* as our End, and Christ as the Cap­tain of our Salvation, to direct and lead us in the way thither; if we build on the same Word of Promise, and follow the Conduct of the same Spirit of Holiness; if we live in the exercise of the like Grace, and are conform'd to Christ our Head in Spirit, Purpose, and Be­haviour, and hold on in doing and suffering his Will, with constancy to the Death. If we do thus, we shall shortly be with them; and because we were wont to mourn with [Page 59]them, when they mourned, and to take part in their Afflictions, let us do so in their Joys also; Thanking God for their Deliverance, and Rejoycing in their Felicity.

Fourthly, The last Argument for our Sup­port, is the Belief and Hope of the Resurrection of the Dead, when we shall meet them, and all the Children of the Kingdom, in the pre­sence of the Lord. We know that those who sleep in Jesus; he will bring with him, and open­ly absolve, and own them before all the World, and give them the full possession of the promised Inheritance. We are bid to Com­fort our selves, and one another, with such joyful words. 'Tis Comfort that there is a Redeemer, and that he is their Redeemer, as well as ours; that he Lives, and will come again; and that we know this, on certain and infallible grounds; and that when he shall ap­pear, we shall be like him, by seeing him as he is. It is Comfort, that even these Bodies that must be buried out of sight, and putrifie in a silent Grave, shall be raised, and enliven­ed, and made like the glorious Body of our Redeemer. Thô Death devour their Beauty, and the Grave hold them Prisoners for some thousands of years; tho they should be burnt to Ashes, or devour'd by Worms, Beasts, or Fishes, however crumbled and divided into little parts, and these scatter'd and dispers'd into a thousand distant places; yet he will [Page 60]raise, and re-unite, and restore them, fresh and spritely, beautiful and glorious. That Power which at first did form, and fashion them in the Womb, hath engaged to do it. This Corruptible shall put on Incorruption; and this Mortal put on Immortality; and Death be swallowed up in Victory. What was sown in Weakness shall then be raised in Power: our Bodies shall then be Active and Nimble, quick and free, easily passing in a little space to a great distance, and readily obeying the Mo­tions of our Glorified Spirits. What was sown a Natural, Earthly Body, shall be rai­sed Spiritual; suited to the spiritual State, and Life, and work of Heaven; not needing the supplies of Food or Physick, or any of those things which now employ so much of our Time and Care, in reference to the Bo­dy. In a word, they shall be raised in Glory, however vile they now are, as the Bodies of our Humiliation: And shall shine brighter than the Sun in it's Meridian Splendor, with a Glory suitable to the Excellency of that Power exerted in their Resurrection, suita­ble to the Dignity of our Glorified Souls, sui­table to the Glory of that Place, where they are to inhabit; and of the Noble Services, wherein they are to be employed; and es­pecially suitable to their Excellent Exem­plar, the Glorious Body of Christ, whose Resurrection and Exaltation is the Cause, Pattern, and Pledge of ours.

And this we may depend upon, for our Lord hath not only left us the Earnest of his Spirit, to assure us of the Resurrection, that our Mortal Bodies shall be quicken'd by the same Spirit, that raised him from the Dead; but he hath carried the Earnest of our Flesh into Heaven with him, to assure us, that all his Friends, Favourites, and Follow­ers, shall one day be with him, to behold his Glory.

Let this then be remembred as the mat­ter of our Christian Hope, that we may not mourn, ^* as strangers to the Gospel, for such as dye in the Lord. We sind the Egyptians mourned longer for Jacob than Jo­seph did, even threescore and ten days. They that have little Knowledge, and Expectation con­cerning another Life, and the Resurrection of the Dead, may more excusably extend their Funeral Sorrows, and grieve for the loss of this, and equal the Days of their Mourning to the number of the years of the Life of Man: but so tedious a Funeral Solemnity would have been unsuitable to Josephs Faith. Had he shown himself more a Son, by such a Testimony of his Natural Affection, in Mourning longer, he had shown himself less a Patriarch.

When God restored to Job, after his long Tryals, double for all his Cattel and Goods which he had lost, as Fourteen thousand Sheep for Seven thousand, &c. he gave him but the same number of Children again: for they were not really lost, though Death remov'd 'em; they were Alive in another State: And if they were Holy Persons, he had the like number in Heaven, as God gave him on Earth. It's a great Relief to a Christian Mourner to con­sider, that his Deceased Friends are not Lost, but Live. I know very well that the Holy Will of God must take place of mine: I know that I ought to love God and Christ above all, and absolutely resign my self, and All that's mine, or cannot hope to see his Face: I know that I shall shortly follow the Desire of mine Eyes: I hope I shall be silent, and adore, and not charge God foolishly. But methinks I know (with sensible supporting Insluence from such a Thought) that She is not Dead, but Sleepeth; She is not Lost, but Lives: And if I get to Heaven, shall meet her there, in the presence of the Lord our Redeemer. And then the Company of our Holy Relatives will be more Sweet than ever it was on Earth.

For though the Blessed Vision of God be our Chiefest Hope and Joy, yet the Presence of all the Blessed Spirits will make a Real, though Subordinate, part of our Happiness, [Page 63]and Delight. ‘I am so far from doubting whether we shall Know and Love one another in the Heavenly State, that the Belief and Expectation of it, is, or should be, one great Motive why we love 'em so well now.’ If we thought we should not Know and Love them after Death, we ought to Love 'em but as Earthly, Transitory things, and not as Heirs of Heaven, with such a Love as shall be perfected, and last for ever.

Neither can it well be imagin'd how the Process and Proceedings of the Judgment-Day, according to the Scripture Account of it, can be manag'd by the Man Christ Jesus, (or the Lord Redeemer cloath'd with Hu­mane Nature,) without our Knowledge of One Another in the other World, who were acquainted, and convers'd together in this. 'Tis true, the present Relations by Marriages and Blood will then cease; but there is no reason to think, that the Remembrance of those Relations must also cease: Yea, their Knowledge and Remembrance of us, and their Affection to us, whom we knew, and lov'd in the Lord, is not like to be abolish'd, but perfected by Dying.

Doubtless the Angels who rejoyce at the Conversion of a Particular Sinner, and the Departed Saints too, do know more even of the State of this World, than we do, who are ^* [Page 64]acquainted with so very little a part and spot of it. Which, by the way, should check an [...] inordinate fond Desire, of living to see Glo­rious Times on Earth: For if we get to Hea­ven, we are like to know much more of those Happy Times, than if we remain'd alive in a Corner of the Isles of the Gentiles.

But as to our Mutual Knowledge in the Hea­venly state: Shall those whom we Reliev'd on Earth, Welcome us to Heaven? And are there­fore said to receive us into Everlasting Habita­tions, Luk. 16. And shall not the departed Saints know one another in Glory? Shall we then know, as we are known? And shall the Thessalontans be the Joy, and Crown, and Glory, and Rejoycing of the Apostle Paul, in the Day of Christ? And shall he not know them, or they him, who prosited by his Mi­nistry? Did the Rich Man in Hell know Abra­ham afar off in Heaven, and can we think a blessed Lazarus shall not? For though that be a Parable, there is some Truth as the Foun­dation of it. Shall it aggravate the Misery of lost Souls, to meet their wicked Companions in the place of Torment? as few deny, or doubt: And shall it not Rejoyce the Blessed, to meet their Holy Friends whom they knew in this World? Did Peter, James, and John know Moses and Elias in the Transsignration, whom they never saw before? (and we read not that Christ told em 'who they were:) And shall those who were acquainted upon [Page 65]Earth, and helpt one another to Heaven; utterly forget, and lose the remembrance of any such thing?

It is a pleasant Thought, (and proper to support under the Death of those we have honoured, and loved, and profited by, on Earth,) to think that hereafter we shall meet, and know, several Ministers of Christ, whose Preaching, and Converse, and Writings, have been useful to us: That we shall then meet, and know, several of our Holy Relations and Acquaintance, with whom we were wont to walk together to the House of God, and meet often at the Table of the Lord; with whom we conferr'd about the Misteries and and Promises of the Gospel, and many a time discours'd together of the Heavenly Inheri­tance; believingly to foresee, and consider, that though they are gone before, we shall meet 'em again, at the last great Supper of the Lamb, in the Celestial Kingdom.

And why may not I suppose such a distinct and personal Knowledge, and Remembrance of one another, as to be able to say, This was the Person, whom God employed to bring me into the World, and educate me in his Fear; who instructed my tender Years, and taught me early to Know the Lord. Or, This was the Person, who was at so much pains to con­vince me of my Sin, and reclaim me from the Errour of my Ways: This was He, or She, who tendred my Salvation as their own; who [Page 66]watch'd over me, and pray'd for me, and with me; and often told me of the Evil of Sin, of the Excellency and Pleasantness of Wisdom's Ways, of the Freeness of the Love and Grace of Christ, and his Willingness to receive Returning Penitents at first, and even Backsliders afterwards. This was the Person, who was assisted by God to encourage, strengthen, revive, and comfort my despond­ing, my doubting, my unbelieving Heart; and establish me in the way of Truth: Yea, to be able to say, This was the Person, with whom I lived, and so journed in yonder World; whose sincere Affection I so much valued; whose delightful, useful Company, I so much prized, whose Sickness and Removal I so much lamented, &c.— But lest I run too far, let me draw to a Close.

Let us therefore, after what hath been said, resolve to have Communion with them, though they are Departed; by Contemplating what they are, and where they are, and what they do, and what they possess; and by Rejoycing in their Blessedness, more than we would have done for their Temporal Advancement in any kind on Earth. Let us desire and endeavour to be as like 'em as we can, by imitating their Temper and Work above, in the Love of God, and the delighful thankful Praises of the Redeemer. When we look up to Heaven, let us think they are there. When we think [Page 67]of Christ in Heaven, let us remember they are part of his Family above. When we think with hope of entring into Heaven our Selves, let us think with Joy of meeting them there. ‘Oh welcome, welcome, happy meeting with Christ, and them; Never more to Part, never more to Mourn, never more to Sin. O Happy Change! O Blessed Society! (shall we then cry out,) with whom we shall live for ever, to Know, and Love, Admire, and Praise, and Serve our Common Lord! We formerly Sinn'd together, and Suffer'd together. But this is not like our old Work or State: Our former Darkness, Complaints, and Sorrows are now vanisht. This Body, this Soul, this Life, this Place, this Company, these Visions, these Frui­tions, these Services and Employments, are not like what we had in the former World. And yet, which is the Quintessence and Spirit of all, this Happiness shall last to all Eternity, and after Millions of Ages be as far from ending, as when at first began.’ Fit us, Lord! for such a Day, and Come, Lord Je­sus! Come quickly. Amen.

Prepare to Follow. OR A DISCOURSE

UPON a like Exhortation of our Bles­sed Lord to Watchfulness, and Prayer, to Faithfulness, and Dili­gence, in Expectation of his Coming, the Apostle Peter makes bold to ask the Question, whether it concern'd only the Apostles, or was spoken to all, Luke 12.41. The answer whereto doth sufficiently express the Uni­versal Obligation of such a Duty. For our Lord replies, Blessed is that wise and faithful Servant, who when his Lord comes shall be found doing his Masters Work. And yet more ex­presly by another Evangelist, where the like Parable is apply'd with this addition, What [Page 74]I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch; Mark 13. last. which Watching is the general Com­prehensive word for being Ready. This is the repeated Voice of Christ in his Word, where-ever he speaks of his Second Coming: This is the distinct and loud call of his Pro­vidence unto this Congregation by the Death and Funerals of one of our number; you know, I mean our Friend Mrs. Gearing, which speaks the same language to all of us, Be ye also ready. And being desired on this Occasi­on, to preach from these words; I shall re­serve the mention of some things, that were Instructive and exemplary in the Deceased, for the close of my Discourse, and in the mean time consider this seasonable Admoni­tion of our Blessed Lord, Therefore be ye also Ready; for the Son of Man cometh in such an hour, as ye think not of.

This and the foregoing Verses are part of the Answer, which our Saviour made to the Disciples question, in the beginning of the Chapter, v. 3. Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the World? According to the com­mon Apprehensions which the Jews had of the alteration of the present state of things among them, by the coming of the Messiah, and that general destruction of the World, and the State of Eternity which would thereupon follow, they enquire of both to gether: as reckoning his Coming and the End [Page 75]of the World, would be at once. And throughout this Chapter, we find our Lord's Answer to both Questions are intermixed; some whereof referr to the destruction of the Jewish State, and his coming to execute judgment upon that Nation: and others, to the end of the World, whereof the former was but a figure.

It is plain that some passages referr to the Jewish State, several of the signs of his coming were literally fulfilled, a little before their destruction by the Romans, as Josephus, and Tacitus, and others mention; particularly the 15. and 16. verses: When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the Ho­ly place, (whoso readeth let him understand) then let them which be in Judea, flee into the Moun­tains.

And again 34. v. he says: This Generation shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfill­ed. There is yet no reason to confine the whole of this Chapter, to the Calamities which befell the Jewish Nation, which was but as a Type and Representation of the ge­neral Judgment, preceding the final Doom of the World; for some passages do as plain­ly referr to the end of the World. As when he speaks, of [...]s coming in the Clouds with pow­er and great glory, and of the Angels sounding the Trumpet, and of two men in the Field, and of two Women grinding at the Mill, one taken, and [Page 76]the other left; referring to the great Discri­mination of persons, that shall be made at the end of the World, as when it is said in the 36. verse, Of that day and hour no man know­eth, no not the Angels of Heaven, but my Father only. And by another Evangelist, the Son himself is excluded from knowing that hour, Mark 13.33. But did not Christ know the time of the destruction of the Jews, their Temple, City, and Nation? when he him­self foretells the time, when it should be? And therefore those words in the 35. v. Hea­ven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, seem to be a transition from answering the first Question, concern­ing the Destruction of the Jews, to answer the other question, about the End of the World: whereupon follows the Exhortati­on in the 42. v. Watch, for you know not what hour your Lord will come. But know this, (or you do know this, as the Original word will bear, and may better be rendred;) You do know this, That if the good man of the house had known, in what Watch of the night the Thief world come, he would have watched, and not suffered his house to be broken up: Therefore be ye also Ready, for the Son of Man cometh in an hour that you think not of.

I hope none will be so weak, as to be stum­bled at the Comparison in this passage of the coming of Christ unto that of a Thief, because the all [...] is only as to the unexpe­ctedness [Page 77]of the time, and season of his com­ing. It is a comparison, or allusion, as one says, Non personae ad personam, non negotii ad negotium, sed temporis ad tempus. q. d. The pa­rallel does not hold between Person and Per­son, between Business and Business, but only between the Time of the ones coming, and that of the other, (viz.) The Suddenness and Unexpectedness of it. In which sence the Apostle mentions the coming of Christ as of a Thief in the Night, at a time when he is not expected, 1 Thes. 5.2. 2 Pet. 3.10. Therefore be ye also ready, for He comes in a time when you think not of it. His last Coming, at the end of the World will be surprizing; and so is his other Coming to summon us out of the World by Death, which will transmit us over to his sinal Judg­ment. For nothing can be done to make us Ready, and prepared to meet him as our Judge, but on this side the Grave. Our readiness therefore for Death, and for the Coming of our Lord to Judgment, is all one.

In the words we have three parts. 1. The Certainty of Christs Coming again suppo­sed. 2. The Suddenness and Unexpected­ness of it asserted, it will be in an Hour that you think not of. 3. The Necessity and Obligation that results from thence, of en­deavouring to be Ready. Accordingly I shall, I. Explain the Nature of this Readiness, for [Page 78]the Coming of Christ. II. Show the force of the Argument, in several Considerations, from the suddenness and unexpectedness of his Coming, and our uncertainty of the time thereof, therefore to be Ready. III. Shall as­sist you to make the Application.

1. The Certainty of his second Coming is supposed: The Son of man cometh in an hour you think not of. It supposeth then that he will come again. The Son of man is a title ve­ry often given to Christ, and assumed by himself, particularly with relation to the Final Judgment; for we read, that the Fa­ther hath committed all Judgment to the Son, and given him Authority to execute Judgment, as the Son of man, (or because he is the Son of man) and it follows, For the hour shall come, that all they who are in their Graves shall hear his Voice, and shall come out of their Graves, they that have done good to the Refurrection of Life, and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of Damnation, John 5.27, 28. And with par­ticular relation to this, he himself speaks, Mat. 25.31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the Holy Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory. And when the High Priest adjured him, to tell whe­ther he were indeed the Christ, the Son of God, Mat. 26.63, 64. observe what he answer'd, Here­after shall you see the Son of Man, sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the Clouds of Heaven. Some would have it an instance [Page 79]of his Humility to assume this Title, as re­serring to the meaness of his present condi­tion in the World; but that does not seem to reach the sence of the Expression, For all Judgment is committed to him, because he is the Son of Man, or because He is Mediator; because He is the true Seed of the Woman, promised to bruise the Serpents head; The true Son of Man, to whom Dominion and Glory, and a Kingdom was given by the Ancient of days, Dan. 7.13, 14. So that this Title is a Name of Office. All Supremacy, Authority and Power that belongs to the Office of Mediator, is given to him: And the Gentiles, as well as the Seed of Abraham, may by him be justified, and obtain everlasting Life. The Jews would appropriate the Messiah to them­selves, as the Son of David, and the King of Israel, forgetting that he is the Son of man, promis'd from the beginning to be the Desire of all Nations, and the Hope of all the Ends of the Earth; to redeem us unto God, out of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds, and Peo­ple.

The coming again of this Son of Man is here supposed. He came once as the promi­sed Redeemer, to be incarnate in our Na­ture, and to offer himself a willing Sacrifice for the expiation of Sin: But he is to come again as the Judge of Quick and Dead; even this same Jesus who after his Resurrection conversed forty days upon Earth, and then [Page 80]ascended in Triumph and Glory to Heaven; This same Jesus, said the Angels to the two Witnesses of his Ascension, who is taken up into heaven, shall so come again as you have seen him go into it, Acts 1.11. This was prophe­sied by Enoch the seventh from Adam, Jude 14. This was foretold, and prefigur'd vari­ously in the Old Testament; this was ex­presly promised by our Lord, in the days of his Flesh; especially for the encouragement of his Disciples, when he was about to leave them, and speaks of his departure. This is insisted upon by the Apostles, in their seve­ral Epistles, as a Motive to Humility, to Patience, to Perseverance, notwithstanding the many difficulties, and discouragements, which they met with for their Fidelity to Christ, and the Gospel.

But I need not insist on the proof of this, among those who own it as a fundamental Article of their Creed; That He who dyed on the Cross, and rose again, tho' he now sits at the right Hand of God, and the Hea­vens shall contain him 'till the Restitution of all things, yet He shall come again to judge the World, and determine the sinal Everlasting State of all Mankind. But because he is not yet come, men are ready to conclude he ne­ver will; because things continue as they were, one Generation passing, and another coming; men that walk after their own Lusts, (whose interest it is to have it true, that he [Page 81]shall not come, are ready to cry out in scorn, Where is the Promise of his Coming? 2 Pet. 3.3, 4. But for us to be ignorant that he will come again, must be a wilful, willing, chosen Ignorance: Because the Lord is not slack, as Men count slackness; but a thousand years are to him as one day: It is not Slackness, but Long­suffering, which should lead Men to Repen­tance, and to Prepare for his Coming: And so would be Salvation. For so it is called, from the tendency of it, ver. 15. And if it be not so to us, it is our own fault.

So unquestionably Certain is this Appear­ance, and Second Coming of Christ, that the Apostle Paul adjures Timothy, in the most solemn and affecting manner, to the faith­ful discharge of his Duty, by that Conside­ration, I charge thee before God, and before the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and dead at his Appearance, and his Kingdom: or when he shall appear in his Kingdom, 2 Tim. 4.1.

The Jews knew and granted, that the Messiah was to come as a Judge, by the Tra­ditional Prophecy of Enoch, which began with those words, The Lord shall come. This they understood long before the Incarnation of our Saviour: So that they were wont to begin their Writs, or Instruments of the Greatest Excommunication, with those words of the Prophecy of Enoch, The Lord shall come. As if, besides all other Punishments, [Page 82]they Bound over the Excommunicated Per­son to the last great Assize, to be Judged by the Messias. And the Apostle seems to allude to this, 1 Cor. 16.22. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Ma­ranatha: i.e. Accursed with that great and terrible Excommunication, The Lord shall come. For so they call it from the first words, as we often give Names to Writs, and other Instruments, by reciting the first words of them: He shall come again: he shall be revealed from Heaven, in slaming sire, with his mighty Angels, to render vengeance to them which know not God, and obey not the Gospel, &c. 2 Thes. 1.7, 9. We shall all be made to stand before his Judgment-Seat, 2 Cor. 5.10, 14. Rom. 14.10. And every one shall then give an account of himself to God, and receive accord­ing to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. He is dele­gated and appointed by God for this Work, and every way fitted and qualified to under­take it, Acts 17.31.

II. The Suddenness and Ʋnexpectedness of his Coming again: The hour of it no man knows, no, not the Angels of God in Heaven. It will surprize Mankind, as the Deluge did the Old World in the days of Noah. The time of it is lock'd up in the Treasuries of Heaven, and we have no Key that will open it. Neither the time of Christ's coming to [Page 83]Judge the World, or the time of his calling us by Death to come to him, is certainly known. Behold! I know not the day of my death, we may every one say with Isaac, Gen. 27.2. The Knowledge of this time and Season he hath reserved in his own pow­er; it belongs not to us, it is no part of our Priviledge to know it, Acts 1.7.

If it had been fit and becoming, adviseable and expedient for us to understand it; if it had been for our Advantage, to know the precise time of our own Death, or of the Final Judgment; if it would have added any whit to our Spiritual Stature, and Growth in Grace; if it would not have much better promoted our Watchfulness, and serious Diligence, and forwarded our Preparations, to have remained Ignorant, he would not have drawn such a Veil over that Day and Hour: But would have left it written in fair Characters. But he every way consulted our Interest, and the general Good of the World, by hiding this Knowledge from us. God's Government of the World, and the Magistrates influence under God for the Good of Men, would very much be weak­ned, if every Man did certainly know before­hand the time of his Death. Our Usefulness to others would be very much check'd, and the necessary Preparation for being so, if we knew we should not out-live such a Year, or such a Stage of our Lives. Our Joys and [Page 84]Sorrows, with respect to our Relations and Friends, would then be immoderate; our Carriage, in Prosperity and Adversity, would be more unbecoming; our Depen­dance upon God and his Providence, the Redemption of our Time, the Contempt of this World, and the Preparation for ano­ther, would all be very much hindred by the certain knowledge of the time of Christ's Coming to call us to Judgment. Therefore he tells us, That in an hour we think not of, the Son of Man cometh. It shall be suddenly, when he is not expected; and therefore All should be Ready.

It is sometimes represented by the tra­vailing Pangs of a Woman with Child, which may over-take her at a distance from her own House, when she looks not for it, 1 Thes. 5.3. 'Tis set forth by the surprize of a Thief entring the Window of a House by Night, when the good Man of the House little expected him, Rev. 16.15. Behold I come as a Thief; blessed is he that watcheth. And again we are told, As a snare, shall it come upon all that dwell upon the face of the earth, Luk. 21.35. When Men are careless, and secure, and confident of Long-life; when they are busie in pursuit of great things for themselves in this World, when they are big with mighty Projects and Designs for hereafter, when they enlarge their Imaginations to contrive the Satisfactions, they shall have for many years [Page 85]to come, in the Pleasures, and Dignities, and Wealth, which they count upon before­hand: when they say in their Hearts, Our Lord delays his Coming; I have yet time enough to get ready; Then shall this day overtake them, when they think not of it: The Lord of that Servant will come in a day that he looked not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware, Luk. 12.46.

III. The Necessity, and Obligation of be­ing Ready, because of the Certainty and Suddenness of the Coming of Christ. Where I shall, First, Consider the Nature of this Readiness, and Explain something of it. Secondly, Shew the Force of the Argument, and amplifie it in several Considerations, to urge it the more effectually upon All to make Ready.

I. What is the Nature of this Readiness? In the general, it is expressed by Two or Three Evangelists, under the term of Watch­ing: Which, as the summary Preparation for the Coming of Christ, takes in all the Duties of a Christian, with respect to the Affairs of his Soul, and the Everlasting World; as awaking out of Security, fore­seeing our Danger, providing against it, carrying it suitable to the Expectation of the Appearance of Christ from Heaven; Looking for, Waiting for, Praying for, [Page 86]Hastning to, or hastning of, the Coming of the Day of God: It comprehends an awaken'd Heart, an active Faith, a lively Hope, a diffusive Charity, and persevering Diligence in all the Fruits of Righteousness: That we may perfect Holiness in the Fear of God, lay up a good Foundation against the time to come, and at last lay hold of Eternal Life: That we may have Confidence at Christ's Appearance, and be able to stand before the Son of Man, with exceeding Joy. This in general under the Name of Watching, and being Ready, is the Duty of all.

2. Besides this General Account, we may consider some of the Particular Metaphors, under which our Lord represents himself, (or is set forth in Scripture,) when he comes again.

First, As a Bridegroom. And so our Readi­ness consists, in our Accepting him, and Choo­sing him in such a Relation: I have espoused you to one Husband, even Christ, 2 Cor. 11.7. And we read of the Marriage of the Lamb, and the Readiness of the Wife, cloathed in fine Linnen, which is the Righteousness of the Saints, Rev. 19.8, 9.

Now if you think you are ready for the Coming of Christ, under this Notion, ask your selves, Hath there been any such Agree­ment between Christ and your Souls, which [Page 87]the Scripture represents by a Marriage-Cove­nant? Have you penitently and thankfully Accepted him for Yours? and given up your selves entirely to be his? To as many as have thus Accepted and Received him, He gives Power and Priviledge to become the Sons of God. Do you renounce all other Lovers? Do you prefer Him alone, aban­doning all Competitors and Rivals? so as not to be for another, but for him, Hos. 3.3. The like we read, Psal. 45.10, 11. Hearken, O Daughter, and consider, and encline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy Fa­ther's house. So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. Is there a Supream Superlative Correspondent Affection, on your part to him, who hath said, That as a Bridegroom rejoyceth over a Bride, so will He rejoyce over Thee? Isa. 62.5. Is this express'd by an entire Subjection to him, as the Head of his Church, and the Saviour of his Body? Eph. 3.23. And this not for a time only, but for ever, Hos. 2.19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovsng-kindness, and in mercies.

The publick Solemnity of this Marriage will be at the Resurrection of the Dead, when he shall come again to conduct his Spouse to his Father's House, and more fully to evidence his Love, by the Mani­festation [Page 88]of his own Glory. Our Readiness therefore for the Coming of Christ, implies our hearty Choice of him, and Consent to be his; to Love, Serve, Honour, and Obey him with Faithfulness, Diligence, and Per­severance to the end.

Secondly, Christ is represented as a Houshol­der, and Lord; who is gone into a far Coun­trey, and hath intrusted his Servants with various Talents, which they are to employ according to his Order, and trade with for his Service, expecting to be accountable to him at his Return, Luk. 19.23. Though our Lord be gone to Heaven, he hath left a Family upon Earth, and committed a Trust to every of his Servants. Now our Fide­lity and Care in the Improvement and Use of our Talents, will be our Readiness for the Coming of Christ; under these Considera­tions we are to be Responsible to him for all the Blessings, Natural or Spiritual, that he hath committed to our Trust, and we have no Right in them any other way: We are but Stewards, He is the Proprietor, and Absolute Lord. And according to the number and kind of our Talents, he ex­pects proportionable Care and Diligence, as good Stewards to manage and improve them. For to whom much is given, of them much will be required. Every one hath some Talents, some Trust; our Reason, and our [Page 89]Health, our Time, our Parts, Reputation, Estate, Interest, Authority, Power: All the Blessings of any kind that we have, are Ta­lents, to be used for the Service of our Lord: And Blessed is that wise and faithful Servant, who at his Lords Coming shall be found to have done so. Our Faithfulness and Care herein, is our Readiness for his Coming. For he may demand an Account of our Stewardship, when we expect it not, Luk. 16.2. There­fore if we would be Ready, we must be Di­ligent in his Work, and not bury our Talents in a Napkin, or waste our Lords Goods; but be sound faithfully doing his Business in the Places and Relations he hath set us. In this consists that Readiness for his Coming, that will intitle us to the Blessing, Luk. 12.43.

But lest it should be said, Who can come up to this? Who is able to be always thus diligently Employed? Who then can be Ready? Let us therefore,

Thirdly, Distinguish concerning this Rea­diness. There is an Habitual Readiness, and Actual: The one of our State, and the other of our Frame.

1. An Habitual Readiness, which concerns our State: When our Peace is made with God, so that she shall be found with him in peace, at the Coming of Christ, 2 Pet. 3.14. [Page 90]When we have so put on the Lord Jesus, as at the Great Day we shall not be found naked, 2 Cor. 5.3. When we are interested in the attoning Sacrifice of Christ, so as to be reconciled to God, and shall find Mercy of the Lord in the Great Day, Rev. 3.17. Persons of this Character will manifest in their Course and Carriage, that they expect the Coming of Christ, by walking in all holy Conversation and Godliness, 2 Pet. 3.10. Denying all Ʋngodliness, and worldly Lusts, they will live Soberly, Righteously, and Godly in this World, as those that look for the blessed Hope, and glorious Appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, Tit. 2.12, 13.

But because all that are Ready as to their State, and as to their general Course, are not so as to their Frame, therefore Consider,

2. There is an Actual Readiness, as to the Disposition of the Heart; which upon the near Prospect and Approach of any Messen­ger of Christ, to call us out of the World, is a Christian Duty. This Actual Readiness we should all endeavour after: That we may have greater degrees of that Readiness of Mind, and Preparedness of Spirit, to Obey the Summons and Call of Christ, tho' it should be with very little Warning; be­ing Prepar'd, and Willing to go to him whensoever he shall call: I am ready (saith the Apostle) to be bound at Jerusalem; yea, [Page 91]to Die there for the Name of Christ, Acts 21.13.

All holy Persons (though Habitually ready) do not reach this: Some cry out with Da­vid, Lord remove thy stroke from me! spare me a little longer! Psal. 39. Or as Hezekiah, when he received the Message of Death, turn'd his face to the wall, and wept, Isa. 38. But if we have Warning of the Approach of Death, we ought to stir up our selves actu­ally to Prepare, to trim our Lamps, and set our Souls in Order, reviewing our Lives, renewing our Repentance, exer­cising our Graces, exciting our Hopes, re­collecting our past Experiences, getting our Evidences ready, and the Promises on which we may venture our Souls in a dying Hour; that we may say with old Simeon, Now let thy Servant depart in peace: And with the Apostle Paul, I have finish'd my course, hence­forth a Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me: And with our Lord himself, Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit: Or with Holy Stephen, Lord Jesus receive it.

Christians! Are we not too Unready, the best of us, as to Frame and Actual Prepara­tion? Do we sit as loose from this World, and all the Personal and Relative Comforts of it, that accommodate the bodily Lise as we should? Have we conquer'd the Fears of Death, and familiarized the Thoughts of the Grave, to that degree as we ought? Is [Page 92]our Love to Christ so sprightly and vigo­rous, that we could heartily welcome any Messenger to call us to him? Be the Instru­ment what i [...] will, and the Manner and Cir­cumstances of our Departure as God shall please, and the Warning never so short and sudden? Are we ready to go presently, at the first Call? That were it not for doing Service in our Places, (which God, who needs not our Help, can do by other ways,) we should rather choose to be with Christ, as far better. Could we Answer to such a Call of God, as Samuel, Lord, here I am, thoudidst call me? O let me pass through the dark Valley! that nothing may keep me longer at such an uncomfortable distance from my Lord and Saviour, that where he is, I may be, to behold his Glory. This Readi­ness, Habitual and Actual, we have need to look after; because the Son of Man comes in a time when we think not of him. And there­fore,

II. To urge your Diligence and Care to be Ready for the Coming of Christ, let me amplifie and enforce the Argument in this Text, by several Considerations. As,

I. That whether Ready, or not Ready, e're long our Lord will come. Our particular Judg­ment by Death, which shall confine us to the eternal and final one, is at no great di­stance. [Page 93]We are hastning to this Day of God, whether we believe, and mind it, or no: As Passengers in a Ship, to the end of their Voyage, whether they sleep or wake: whether we be wise Servants, or foolish; faithful Stewards, or unfaithful; whether we expect the Coming of our Lord, and Prepare for it, or do not: He will shortly come, and call us to an Account. O how soon shall you and I be gone! What a Change will a few days make in this City, and in this Con­gregation? We may judge of it, by what it hath made in few years past? In less than Twenty Years, what Changes in Families, and Churches, and Cities, and Nations? Husbands and Wives parted, Parents and Children, Friends snatch'd away out of the Bosom of their Friends: Those we loved, and lived familiarly with, Called before us, and gone home: And we are hastning after a pace, whether our Readiness and Pre­paration do, or do not, answerably hasten. One Relation, and another Acquaintance drops into the Grave: Some are ready, and some unready: One Pastor after another is removed to Heaven, and the Pulpits where they preach know them no more; and others will start up in our rooms, and are preparing to fill our Places, who suc­ceed any of those, whose Funerals you Remember. And after a sew Lords's-Days more, and at most after a few Summers [Page 94]and Winters more, you and I shall be cal­led likewise, whether we be Ready, or not Ready.

2. When once thou art called to thy particu­lar Judgment by Death, nothing more can be done to get Ready for the Coming of Christ, Eccl. 9.10. John 9.4. What, if you were now leaving this World? and how near and sure is such an hour! You would then be sensible, that now or never is the time to prepare, and get Ready. Awake there­fore, and Mind it without delay, that you may not cry for more Time, when time is gone; and for the mercy of God, when it is too late. O how shall my unprepa­red Soul Appear before my God! How shall I pass into Eternity unready! What shall I do, to meet my Lord with Com­fort! as if you had never heard till that time, that you must dye, and come to Judgment. O what Hearts of stone have Sinners, that can hear these things so often, and not resolve without delay to get Ready! That will not consider the Judge is at the Door, his Venge­ance at their back, his Wrath pursues their sins, and woe be to them if it overtake them. Before their Friends have laid their Bodies in their Graves, or wrap'd them in their Burying cloaths, their Souls shall feel, that God is in earnest, and that now is the only time to get ready for Judgment.

3. When men think not of it, and least ex­pect his Summons, the Lord doth often come. When thou art most regardless of Death, thy Head and Heart taken up with other things, the Hand-writing on the Wall may appear, and strike thee into a sit of trem­bling; a Voice from God may be heard, Come away Man, or Woman! Come away, thy Time shall be no more; this Evening, or the next Morning, this Night, or the next Day thy Soul shall be required of thee. Be­lieve it, no Place, no Age, no Time, no Portion of thy Life, is certainly exempted. Do not then put off thy being Ready, lest thy Resolutions for hereafter should bare longer date than the time of thy Life.

4. All the Time of our Lives is little enough, to get Ready for the Coming of Christ. 'Tis little enough to learn to Live, says the Moralist, it is short enough be sure to learn to Dye. Ask those who have taken most Pains, and spent most of their Time to get Ready: Yet after all their Prayers, and Tears, after all their Watching Striving, Running, and Preparedness, they complain they are Ʋnready still; unready for the Spi­ritual Coming of Christ, when they are to meet him at his Table; much more Ʋnrea­dy for his last Coming. Therefore let us give Diligence, that we may be found of him in Peace, without spot, and blameless.

And if the question be seriously ask'd of all of you, one after another, ARe you pre­pared for Death? are you Ready for the Coming of Christ? or are you not? How few will have the Heart, or Face, to say they are? The best will say, they need further Preparation: But what must they think, and say of themselves, who own they are habitually, as to their State un­ready; no way sit to Dye? I cannot say my peace is made with God: I have not yet enter'd into Covenant with him: I have not subjected and yielded my self to Christ: I have not taken on his Yoke, or I have cast it off, after I took it on: I am yet a Stranger to him, or I have shameful­ly left him after some Acquaintance? And will you put it any longer to the ven­ture, when your Lord may call within an hour?

5. God is now ready to Assist you by his Grace, if you will awake, and Mind your Work; but if you delay, he may justly refuse, and withdraw it. And if once the case comes to that, you can no more make Ready for Death and Judgment, than if you were already dead; it being as possible for us to Repent without life, or after we are dead, as to Re­pent without Gods Grace, while we are liv­ing. Therefore they that promise for them­selves, that they shall Repent, and Prepare for the coming of Christ, (some time [Page 97]hereafter they resolve they will) they must not only promise for themselves, but for God too; that he will wait their lei­sure, and dance attendance after them through all the Stages of their Delays; and yet be as ready to assist them hereaf­ter as now; otherwise it is as uncertain, whether you shall Repent hereafter if you live, as whether you shall live to that here­after, wherein you say you intend to Re­pent.

6. Consider, How great and Important a thing it is to Dye, and to meet the Lord our Judge. It is so even for good men that are habitually Ready, after such a life of sense, and the deep Impressions we are under by sensible Objects, after our many Backsli­dings, and actual Sins; to look into the House of darkness, and think of lodging there; to lay down these Bodies, to corrupt and Putrifie there; to bid adien to all our Re­lations, and take a solemn leave of all our Friends; to think of passing thro' this dark Entry, through which as we go right or wrong, we are made or undone for ever; to think of the Majesty, and Holiness of God, his Truth, and Justico; to consider the strictness, and Spirituality of his Holy Law, and the awful Solemnity of the Try­al and Judgment, that all Mankind must come under: These and such things [Page 98]consider'd, which are obvious to any con­sidering man, make it no easie matter to dye, even for the best. But for an unpre­pared Soul, that is Unready as to his State, who hath done little or nothing, ever in his whole Life of such Work, no Expres­sions can describe the Terrors of that mans case; especially for careless, carnal Pro­fessors, that attend the preaching of the Word, and are deceived by the Devil, to think they are in the way to Heaven, while yet they live in secret Sin, and are Ene­mies to God; what killing disappointment will they meet with, one moment after Death? when they expect with the foolish Virgins, to enter Heaven, and find the door to be shut.

Sirs, believe and tremble! If you are not ready for the Coming of Christ, you are ready for his condemning Sentence, and ripe for Ruine. If you are not ready, as Vessels of Mercy prepar'd for Glory, you are ready, as Vessels of Wrath, fitted for Destruction. That Place and Portion which you are fit for, you shall have at Death. If you are not fit to be with Christ, if you are not made meet for the In­heritance of the Saints in Life, if you are not formed, and wrought by the Spirit of Christ, for this self-same thing, you shall have another Place, and Company, and Portion, with the Devil and his Angels, in [Page 99]unquenchable Fire, where is weeping and wailing, and gnashing of Teeth for ever.

7. You need not fear that you shall hasten your Death, by Thinking of it, and being Ready. Christs Summons will not be hastened, tho' thy Preparation be. The stroke of Death will not be sooner, but the easier, and make Life, and Death it self sweeter, by now endeavouring to be Ready. You will not then be afraid of every Sickness, and threatning Danger that brings you to the borders of the Grave. They were the foo­lish Virgins, who were affrighted at the Mid­night cry, The Bridegroom cometh, because their Lamps were out, and they had no Oyl; they were struck to the Heart, their Hopes dyed, and they presently sunk in­to Despair. But of such as are Ready, we find them speak of Dying as of an easie sleep; I must put off this Earthly Tabernacle shortly, saith one Apostle; The time of my Departure is at hand, and I am ready to be of­fer'd up, saith another, 2 Pet. 1.14. 2 Tim. 4.6. But as Christ will not delay his Com­ing, tho thou be unprepared, so neither is thy Readiness for Death, a likely means to shorten thy Life.

8. Consider, It is for this end, that our Lives are continued, and all the mercies of our Lives, that we may be ready. What have you Life given you for? why were not you [Page 100]cut off many years ago? but that you might have Time and space to Repent, and Prepare for the Coming of Christ? How many years have some of you been spa­red? It may be twenty, thirty, forty, fif­ty years? and yet after all you are not rea­dy. What have you been busie about all this while? How have you employed your Time? What is the end of God, do you think, in all the merciful helps He concinues you? Such as Ministers, and Books, Or­dinances and Providences, your own Sick­ness, and others Funerals? You lose the benefit and use of all your Mercies of Life, Health, and Time, and some of you of Wealth and Honour, &c. of all the Ser­mons you have heard, of all the Providen­tial warnings of God to Awaken you: you have lost them all, if they have not fur­thered your Readiness, for the Coming of Christ: And if you shall live many years to come, you must say it was all lost Time, and wish you had never had an hour of it, while this preparation for Death and Judg­ment is neglected.

9. Consider the unspeakable Difference be­tween a prepared and unprepared Soul, in a dy­ing Hour. The one is going to see the things he hath Believed, and possess that which he hoped for, and hath the promise of God, that he shall enjoy. The other [Page 101]is going to feel, what he would not in time believe; to endure the threatned Wrath, he would not Fear, so as to escape. The one is come to the end of all his Prayers, and Patience, Labours, and Sufferings: The other, to the end of all his Ease, and Pleasure, Mirth and Joy. The one hath the promised Felicity, with God, and Christ, and all the blessed Spirits above, in view before him; the other hath Death and Hell, the Judgment of Christ, and an Eter­nity of Misery before him, ready to over­whelm his Soul. The one can look back with Comfort, and reflect upon his upright Holy persevering Obedience, mixt with Repentance for many Sins and Failings, and yet can hope in God for his acceptance thro Christ; the other must review his Heart and Life with horror and regret, and read over the black Items of his care­less Impenitent Course, with Bitterness and Torment, and the fears of greater. The one is leaving this World, where he spent his days in preparing for Eternity, (thô he heartily laments, that he began no sooner, and minded it no more;) the other is passing into the invisible Eternal World, for which he hath made no provision. The one by Death shall be translated to a bles­sed State of Holinefs, Love, and Peace, in the everlasting joyful Praises of God, his Maker, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; the o­ther [Page 102]sort are passing into the Regions of Darkness and Despair, among Devils, and unholy miserable Souls, with whom they must dwell, under the Hatred and Curse of God, and the unspeakable Terrors of his Wrath for ever: O the difference be­tween one that is ready, and one that is unready! when the Summons from Christ shall come to call them both away. Con­sider this, endeavour to be Ready; for the difference between one mans Death and a­nothers, depends on the difference between Heart and Heart, Life and Life, Prepara­tion and Unpreparedness.

10. Consider, that all the Readiness you now can get, will be little enough to support your Souls, when Christ shall call. Our utmost Diligence to Prepare will not be too much, to ena­ble us chearfully to commend our Souls in­to the Hands of Christ, in expectation of all the great and glorious things, which he hath Purchased, Revealed, and Promised. Then all the Grace you have treasured up, will be little enough, for that is a time to use it, not to get it. Our strongest Faith will hardly be sufficient; the clearest Evi­dences of our Acceptance with God, will be no more than needs; the most apropri­ating, particular, applicatory Faith, say­ing, I know that my Redeemer liveth, will be little enough to give us confidence in a dy­ing [Page 103]Hour. You know of none can help you, if then you cannot look to Christ with hope. If the Devil say, this sinful Soul is mine, and Christ disown thee, and say so too, what shall overcome the fears of Death? No wonder if Doubts and Fears arise, from the weakness of our Grace, our Negligence and Remisness in the service of God, our Folly and Offences, and ma­nifold Backslidings, our familiarity with this World, and natural Love of Life, no wonder if it be difficult to conquer all these. And how can that be done, if we be not now diligent to get Ready?

11. Consider for your Encouragement, that Ʋprightness and Sincerity shall be accept­ted, as your habitual Readiness. We are un­der a merciful Covenant, and serve a gra­cious Redeemer: we find by the parable of the wise and foolish Virgins, that tho the former, who had Oyl in their Vessels, had many faults; (for they slumber'd as well as the Foolish, when they should have been actually waking, and Watching,) yet they were not shut out of Heaven: and then your conformity to Christ shall be compleat, and your weak imperfect Graces shall be perfected.

12. Remember this also, that if your di­ligent Preparation be a difficult Work, it is but [Page 104]for a little while. The allotted season to Watch, and Work, and Wrestle, to strive and run, and use all Diligence to be Rea­dy, is not long. And Christ may say, Will you not watch with me one hour? that you may lift up your heads with Joy at my appearing, and then dwell with me for ever? O how soon will the labour of Repentance, and hum­ble self-denying Diligence in our prepara­tory Work be all over!

Soon will all the Affairs of humane Life be over; all these little things which men call Business, be past and gone; those, I mean, of Trade and Money, of Farms and Merchandize, they will all be over e're it be long: So will the Difficulties and Trou­ble of holy serious Diligence, in making ready for the Coming of Christ be over too. Now we must Fight and Wrestle, and hold on unto Victory, but the time of Triumph is approaching: Now we must watch, and stand upon our guard, but the promised everlasting Reward, and Rest, is not far off: Now our Life is, or should be, a Life of Prayer, e're long we shall re­ceive the full Answer of all our Prayers, and all our Enemies be under our feet, ne­ver to Disturb, or Tempt, or Disquiet, or Indauger us more for ever. It all de­pends upon our sincere and persevering Diligence, to get ready for the Coming of Christ.

The Improvement, which may be made of this, shall be, First, To Lament our great and manifest unpreparedness for this Coming of Christ.

1. Many such as are truly sanctified, and have Oyl in their Vessels, are yet too Ʋnready, for want of frequent believing Considera­tion, concerning this Coming of Christ, and for want of Actual Preparation for it. How many are intangled with the Cares, and Hurry of worldly Affairs, to that degree, that they do not take Time enough, to re­tire and bethink themselves of the glorious Appearance, and Revelation of Christ from Heaven, and so their Faith is weak, and their Preparation flow. Alas! we are but too unready, our unmortified Affections to earthly things, and unbecoming Fears of our lust Enemy, do plainly prove it. The many breaches between God and our Souls, by particular backslidings, tell us we are Ʋnready. The vanity of our Minds and Spirits, discovered by an undue conformi­ty to this World, shows that we are Ʋnrea­dy. The excess of our Passions, upon Worldly Losses and Disappointments, at­test it too plainly. The declension of live­ly Hope, unto which we are begotten and born by Regeneration, the grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit, as the Spi­rit of Adoption, and Earnest of our Inhe­ritance, [Page 106]show that we are yet too unrea­dy.

The Promises, on which we must venture our Everlasting Hopes, are not studied, and understood, digested, and applyed, as they should be, and therefore we are not Ready. Our Desires of the Coming of Christ, our Prayers for the hastning of it, our anticipated Joy in the fore-thoughts of it, are so low, and so imperfect, to what they ought to be, that they prove we are Ʋnready. We do not Labour and Watch, Pray, and Hope, with a resolved perseve­ring Zeal, and Constancy, for the Grace that is to be brought to us, at the Revelation of Christ, as those that are Ready for his Com­ing.

2. 'Tis further to be bewail'd, that mul­titudes fancy, and suppose they are ready, when indeed they are not. O how great is the number of such! who imagine themselves to be too well prepar'd already, to learn to Prepare. And therefore all the Warn­ings and Exhortations of the Word, make no impression on them, because they think themselves not concern'd, tho they have ne­ver accepted Christ, as the Bridegroom of their Souls, by an humble, penitent, unfeigned De­dication of themselves to him, to love, please, and obey him above all. And their own Consciences (if they would consider, reflect, [Page 107]and search) must tell them, that they are not Faithful Stewards of their many Ta­lents, as expecting to be call'd to an Account.

3. The general Ʋnconcernedness of the most, about any such thing as this being Ready, ought greatly to be Lamented. The most reckon it at that distance, they will not trouble themselves to enquire whether they be pre­par'd, or no. Others are conscious of their own Unreadiness, and therefore do not care to think of Dying: Tho they know not how soon they may be called; for many younger, and more likely to live, have dyed this last Year. Parents may survive their Children, and lay those little parts of themselves in the Grave, before they make their own Beds there: Yet such is the powerful craft of Sathan to befool the Sinner, and such the deceit­fulness of Sin to harden the Heart, that some of the most unprepared, make a shift to live in peace, tho they cannot tell but Death may open the Door into Eternity the next moment. They will not yet con­sider it, and apply it to their own case; they will not know, that their Judge is at the Door, that their Day of Reckoning is at hand, that they are hastening to the Tribunal of Christ, that their Judgment lingereth not, and their Damnation slumbereth not. One would wonder, what Apprehensions, and [Page 108]Thoughts of these things, such careless Christians have, who durst not say they disbelieve, or deny the Scripture Revelati­on, and yet feel no correspondent Impres­sions answerable to the Nature, Weight, and Tendency of such things.

Let me ask thee, O man, that hast neg­lected hitherto to make Ready: Dost thou think, that Christ will receive thy depart­ing Soul at Death, or no? Will he acquit and own thee in the Judgment, or no? What say'st thou, hast thou enquired, and examined, and made it thy business to know this? and to make sure of it? How is it, that thy Mind is fill'd with other Thoughts? thy mouth with other Talk? and thy Time employed about other things? when thou art so near to the final Judg­ment of Christ, and seest so many Souls daily passing into another World; and yet wilt not consider what shall become of them, and of thy self: but wilt continue to pursue some transitory Pleasure, or Profit, while God and Heaven are neglected, and Christ despised, his Favour lost, and thy own Soul lost, or in the extreamest danger of being so, because thou art not Ready. Canst thou think that Christ will then accept thee, if thou now neglect him? Canst thou hope, that he will prove himself a Lyar, by own­ing such as he hath often declared he never will? O pity your selves in Time! that [Page 109]you may not be denyed his pity at last. The door of Grace is yet open, but how soon, how speedily may it be shut! if now you will not enter. O what an unspeak­able Mercy is the offer from God, that yet you may enter! what would departed Souls, that dyed Unready, give for such a Call of God? Hold a little, Tremble, and Believe, and delay no longer.

For Direction, in the general, Since the Bridegreom will come, and it may be in an hour when you do not look for him, see that you have Oyl in your Vessels, and Lamps, as those that wait for the Coming of their Lord. If thou hast no Oyl, buy it; if thou hast, burn it; if thou hast no Wedding Garment, get one; if thou hast, put it on; if thou hast no true Love to God, never leave till the Holy Flame be kindled; if thou hast any in truth, exer­cise and use it, as one that expects the Coming of Christ. More particularly,

1. Seek Reconciliation to God, by a Cove­nant Dedication of your selves to God in Christ, accepting him as offer'd in the Go­spel, and resigning, and yielding your selves unfeignedly, and without reserve, to be his.

2. Let the Work of Mortification, both as to Sin and the World, be progressive, [Page 110]and constantly carried on, that you may be found of him in Peace, as to your State; and without Spot, as to your Frame, as well as blameless, as to your Conversation, 2 Pet. 3.14. Sit loose in your Affections from Earthly things, that Death may not rend and tear you from that, which hath the chiefest possession of your Hearts, for then you cannot meet the Summons of Death, but with an excessive Sorrow.

3. Be much in Self-Examination, that you may get over your Doubts and fears, con­cerning your Adoption, and attain to a more well-grounded Hope, and Assurance of the special Love of Christ. What will it avail us, to think we are Pardoned, and shall be saved, and e're long to find our selves mistaken when there can be no Re­medy? You must now understand your danger, if ever you will be saved from it. And we have the same Rule and Law given to judge our selves by, that God will judge us by at last. Therefore retire, and exa­mine your selves, whether you can observe the Seal and Earnest of the Spirit of Grace upon your Hearts; whether you can re­view your Conversation and Course, as transacted in simplicity and godly Sinceri­ty, as in the sight of God, under the con­duct of the same Spirit? whether this san­ctifying Spirit hath drawn out your Desires [Page 111]after Holiness, and your Love to God, his Word, his Worship, and his Servants, so as to wean you from the World, and make you place your Hopes and Happiness a­bove, choosing God for your only Portion and Christ for your Teacher, Saviour and Lord; enabling you to live with sincere Desires, and Endeavours to please and ho­nour him, in the believing expectation of what he hath purchas'd and promised, pre­ferring the Hopes of it before all the Plea­sures, and Advantages of Sin, and the pre­sent Life. And if upon serious search, your Hearts condemn you not, you may have confidence towards God: But how can you know these things without Examining? and how can you have this confidence, without such a Knowledge? and how can you think of the Second Coming of Christ with com­fort, without some such good Hopes thrô Grace.

4. You should likewise, Endeavour to carry it in every Relation and Condition, as expecting to be called to an Account, when your Lord shall come. Do nothing now, but you would be willing to hear of then; nothing that you would be ashamed, or afraid to have ript up, opened, and discovered in that Day. Think with your selves often, Is this that I am now doing, the Life which I now lead, the Designs [Page 112]that I now pursue, such as will be sweet, or bitter to be remembred, when Christ shall come? will it be to my Shame or Ho­nour, to my Joy or my Confusion, in the Day of Reckoning, when I must stand be­fore my Judge? How many Temptations to sin might this repell? How many neces­sary Duties might this awaken us to per­form, especially toward Relations?

It may now be a terrible thought to some of us, to consider and foresee that those of our Relations whom we most tenderly Love, are like to fall under the condemn­ing Sentence of Christ, and perish Eternal­ly. You can hardly bear up now under the weight of such a thought: will you not then awake, to Counsel, Warn, Reprove, Exhort, Admonish, and Intreat them, and do all you can to prevent it? But if they will not hearken, your Faithfulness shall be your Comfort, and their Condemnation shall not diminish your Happiness, tho' it will aggravate their Doom if you have done your Duty. I will instance in one Relation.

Suppose a Wicked Child, to behold his Parents on the Right Hand of the Judge, (one or both of them) owned by Christ, rejoycing in his Love, and taking part with him, so as to be pleased with the Exe­cution of his Righteous Sentence, without any such Bowels of Pity toward them, as [Page 113]now they feel: And if we could imagine them to discourse together, how might Holy Parents mind them of the various Methods they used to prevent their Ruine; and of all the Counsels, Reproofs, and Prayers, with which they follow'd them from year to year. ‘I begot thee, or brought thee forth; I laid thee in my Bosom, I carried thee in my Arms; I took care of thee in Infancy; I instructed thee in Childhood; I look'd after thy Education; I brought thee to the pub­lick Assemblies; I put thee upon Secret Prayer; I warn'd thee of thy Danger by bad Company; I urg'd thee to flee youthful Lusts; I told thee what would be the End and Issue; I forewarn'd thee of this day; and of the Everlasting De­struction that Christ had Threatned; and of thy too late Repentance in the other World; and that hereafter I should see thee condemned to Hell, without being able to pity thee. And now the Case is thus, I cannot but approve the Righte­ous Sentence of the glorious Judge; for thou wouldest not prepare, and get Ready for this Day, notwithstanding thy many Warnings and Calls from God and Man to do it.’

Moreover, 5. Labour to strengthen Faith concerning the Certainty and Glory of Christs [Page 114]Appearing, and the most important awful; Consequences of it, both to the Righteous, and to the Wicked.

1. As to the Certainty of his Coming. Un­belief is at the bottom of our neglect to make Ready. We do not consider the confirming Reasons of the Truth of the Go­spel, and beg the Light and Influence of the Spirit, to perswade us fully of this foundation Article. We take up with the name of Faith, and do not Believe; with a notional weak, ineffectual Faith, that may dwell in the Hearts of Hypocrites, or Devils; and therefore feel no influence by it to excite our Hopes, or Fears, or Pre­paration.

Did we indeed believe it, as an unque­stionable Truth, that Christ shall come again to judge the World, we could not but Fear to be found Unready: For whatever the distance be between this and that, Our Faith would represent it near, as if the thing were present; as if we saw the Redeemer in the Clouds, with the glorious Retinue of Blessed Angles, and ten thousand of his Saints: It would realize the Solemnity of his Tribunal, the Books being opened, and the Wicked trembling before their Judge, and the Righteous justified, and rejoycing in the Approbation of their Saviour.

Did we believe it Certain, we should of­ten put the Question, How shall I appear and stand in the Judgment? How shall I give an account of all my Talents? What shall I answer when I am call'd to his Bar? what shall I do to be befriended, when I am tryed for my Life? Therefore beg that God would fix a believing sence of this up­on your Hearts, that your Faith may be the Evidence of things not seen: That you may believe it as firmly, as if Dooms-day were already come, as if you heard the Trump to sound, and that Amazing voice, Arise ye Dead, and come to Judgment.

2. Strengthen and increase Faith, concern­ing the Glory of the Second Coming of Christ, as well as the Certainty of it. He shall be re­vealed from Heaven, with visible Glory in flaming Fire, with his mighty Angels, so that every Eye shall see him, and they al­so that pierced him. He shall come again with Power and great Glory, and the voice of the Arch-Angel shall awaken the World, and fill them with an awful Reverence of their Glorious Judge. He that stoopt so low at first, to be cloathed with a mean disguise, and to glorifie the Father in the form of a Servant, by the Sacrifice of him­self for our Redemption, shall be publick­ly Honoured in the view of all Mankind. [Page 116]At his first Appearance he was a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with Grief, he made himself of no Reputation, was despised and rejected of men; but he shall come again, o­penly to vindicate himself from the Con­tempt of his Enemies: Every knee shall bow before him, and every Tongue confess him to be Lord: And they who affronted his Throne, and lift up the Heel against him, shall be made his Footstool. At first he appear'd with all the sinless Infirmities of Humane Nature, but shall a second time with all the Demonstrations of the Divine Power, and Godhead.

3. How awful and important will be the Consequences of his Coming to all Mankind?

1. To the Wicked. With what Amaze­ment and Confusion, with what Fear and Horror, with what Dread and Trembling, shall they, as guilty Prisoners, be made to stand before his Judgment Seat? What killing despair will seize their Hearts? what Paleness and shadow of Death will cover their Faces? what Convulsions, and gripes of Conscience will then torment them? Where can they go? where can they hide? How can they appear? How can they avoid appearing? What can they say? How can they answer the Charge? or de­ny [Page 117]the Accusation? or evade the Sentence? or put off the Execution for a day? or bear it for a Moment? Since they can never escape the Tryal, or corrupt the Judge, or be pardon'd after Judgment, or get the Sentence to be reprieved, or the Execution deferr'd. It will then be in vain to cry for Mercy, for now the Day of Vengeance without Pity, and of Judg­ment without Mercy, is come: what Friend wilt thou go to then? where are they? who can plead for thee, or save thee, but he that will not? I would not for ten thou­sand Worlds, appear in thy Case, among those that shall then be found Naked, and Ʋnready. And are not these things sit to be now consider'd, believ'd, and prepared for? What is all the Business and Affairs of this World? What but a Play, a Game, a Trifle, to these things?

2. To the Righteous. The Bridegrooms departure is not upon a Divorce: He shall come again, to be glorified in his Saints, and be admired of all them that believe. They shall see him and meet him in the Air, and say, Yonder is He whom our Souls Love; yonder is the blessed Jesus, who once came from Heaven, to dye for us, and now comes to bring us to Heaven: we believed his Word, and behold now he [Page 118]comes to make it good. They shall hear his absolving Sentence; their Persons shall be justified; their Cause shall be pleaded; their Sins shall be blotted out; their Suf­ferings, and Sorrows shall all be ended. They may therefore rejoyce in hope, and lift up their Heads in expectation of that Day; for the blessed Sentence shall ravish their Hearts, when they shall be bid to Enter into their Lords Joy: And hear those endearing Words, from the great Redeem­er, Come ye blessed Children of my Father, take Possession of the Inheritance prepared for you.

Let us therefore pray for the Second Coming of Christ, and the hastning of it, as all Believers under the Old Testament and New, have done. And in this posture, Watching, Praying, Waiting, and pre­paring for his last Appearance to Judgment, we should be Ready for his particular Com­ing to us by Death.

Lastly, Let us improve every Warning of Divine Providence, every Death and Funeral of our Relations, and Acquaintance, to pro­mote our own Readiness to follow. This is the Language of the late Providence that occasions this Discourse. This is the voice of God, by every breach he makes in our own, or our Neighbours Family. Be you [Page 119]also Ready: for you know not the Hour, when the Son of Man comes. We lose the Exam­ples, and Holy Lives of our deceased Friends, for want of Imitation; and we lose their Deaths too, if we be not awaken­ed to prepare for our own. But alas? How soon do the Impressions wear off, of such awakening Spectacles? It may be the ghastly looks, or dying groans of dear Friends, or departing Relatives, gasping out their last breath, and just passing into the other World, for the present may affect us a little: It may be when we see an open Coffin in our own House, or a Grave gaping to receive the Body of one we knew, and loved, and lately conversed with, this may move and startle us a little: It may be when we behold the mournful Looks, and Habit, the Funeral Pomp and Solemnity, that attends them to the House of Darkness, some serious Thoughts are excited; our Minds are aw'd into some reflections upon our own Mortality. But when the Cere­mony is over, and we are gone from such a Spectacle; when the Dead are buried out of our sight, and we engag'd among the living World again, how soon alas! is all this forgotten? and how few are Gainers by such a Loss, in the manner they should be, i. e. To take the Warning, to be Rea­dy, and Prepared for the Coming of Christ to [Page 120]us, which is as sure, as if we were alrea­dy dead.

One Help to get Ready our Selves for Death and Judgment, is to consider and improve the Death of Others. Either of such, who were called, and not Ready, whose case speaks loud­ly to us not to delay, and trifle as they did: or of such as were Prepared, and fit to Dye, their Death hath also the like voice of that in the Text, Be you also Ready. Our Deceased Friend, Mrs. Gearing, I am perswaded was of this latter sort.

THE SAINTS DESIRE TO Be with Christ.

SAint Paul writing from Rome to the Church at Philippi, in this Chapter acquaints them with his Bonds and other Discourage­ments; which he tells them by their Prayers and the Assistance of the Spirit of Christ ob­tained thereby, would turn to his Salvation and the furtherance of the Gospel, and had already been attended with some considerable success in that kind; ( V. 12, 13, 14.) to for­tifie [Page 2]and confirm the Professors of the Christi­an Faith, and to propagate and promote it even in the Court of Caesar, and in other pla­ces. And if Christ might be magnified, he was perfectly indifferent to Live or Dye; ( v. 19, 20.) For to me to live is Christ, and to dye is gain, v. 21. His Life, he hop'd, might ad­vance the Honour of Christ; and his Death would be subservient to the same design: By his further service if he live, and by his suf­ferings if he dye; by his Ministry supposing his Life, and by his Martyrdom in case of his death.

But if I live in the flesh, this, saith he, is the fruit of my labour, v. 22. or, it is worth my La­bour to glorsie the Redeemer by continuing in this World. Yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far bet­ter.

To Depart, or be dissolv'd: The Original word is used both by Christian and Heathen Writers for a departure from any place to return home, Luke 12.36. And when the same Apostle speaks of his approaching death, he tells us, that the Time of his departure was at hand, 2 Tim. 4.6.

Having a desire to depart, a vehement and earnest desire, as the word imports; and to be with Christ, to be absent from the Body, and pre­sent with the Lord, 2 Cor. 5.8. with that mer­ciful Saviour, who had compassion on me, [Page 3]when as an ignorant Blasphemer, I persecuted his Members; who call'd me to be an Apostle, and enabled me by his Grace to own his Truth in the face of Dangers, and hath hi­therto comforted me in all my Tribulation. I desire to depart, that I may be with him. With him, not with the blessed Angels or de­parted Saints, though their Society will make a part of the heavenly Joy: Not the former, they are but ministring Spirits and menial Ser­vants employed under him; and though they shine as Stars, yet he is the enlivening Sun, from whom they derive their Lustre, and bor­row their glory. Not the latter; they have no Blessedness but by his Donation and Pur­chase, no Crowns of Life but what He puts on. Therefore 'tis not to be with them only or chiefly, that made them thus groan to be dissolv'd, thus earnestly desire to depart, but to be with Christ: Which is far better, simply and in it self more desirable, by much more better, the Comparative being double in the Greek Text; and yet I wot not what to choose, for I am in a strait betwixt two. On the one hand, his Love to the Philippians who needed his presence, (many false Teachers being at that time crept in among them,) made him will­ing to abide in the Flesh, and deferr his own Felicity for a time upon their account, v. 24. But the Glory of Christ's presence on the other [...] and his own unspeakale advantage by it, made him desirous of a Departure; and [Page 4]therefore though he determines for the former, and was content to live, and 'tis probable had some secret intimation from Heaven, that all his Work in this World was not yet si­nish't; yet he grants the latter to be simply more eligible: having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far Better. Which words are not more suitable to a Funeral So­lemnity, than expressive of the dying Thoughts and Temper of our deceased Friend, and were chosen by her as the Subject of my present Discourse. That I may comprehend the Sub­stance of the Text, according to the desire of the Dead, for the Benefit and Instruction of the Living; let us consider,

1. When, and how far, it is Warrantable for a Christian to desire Death?

2. In what respects to depart and to be with Christ is far better than to abide in the Flesh.

3. On what Grounds and Principles a Chri­stian may expect a future Blessedness with Christ, after his departure, so as to encourage and excite his desires after it?

4. Whence it comes to pass, that even those who acknowledge it far Better to be with Christ, than to continue in the Body, are yet Ʋnwilling to depart in order to it? and what Remedies are proper to the case of such?

5. The Application of the whole, particu­larly with respect to the sad Occasion of our present Meeting.

1. When and how far is it Warrantable for a Christian to desire to be dissolv'd? This In­quiry may be answered in the following Pro­positions.

1. Our Dissolution and Departure as a natural or penal evil, as contrary to Nature, or as the Punishment of Sin, cannot possibly be the Ob­ject of a rational Desire: If God hath promi­sed a long Life as the Encouragement and Re­ward of our Obedience, and threatned an ha­sty death as the punishment of Impiety; If it be universally true, that the Soul of Man de­sires Union with the Body, and unavoidably dreads a separation from it; If torturing pains, and loathsome Diseases are the usual Antecedents of dying: If the Corruption of the Body, and it's Imprisonment in the Grave till the general Resurrection be the certain Consequent of our dissolution; We cannot but think of Death as a matural Evil, and as such decline and fear it.

Much less desirable will it appear, if consi­dered as the Wages of Sin, and the fruit of Gods Displeasure, and the Just Sentence of his Vin­dictive Justice: but how far our dissolution in this latter Notion of it is changed by the death of Christ in reference to Believers, is another question, and will more properly be considered under the third Inquiry.

2. Our dissolution and departure ought not to be desired, Only as a freedom from Tempo­ral Evil; as preventive of present suffer­ing, [Page 6]or delivering us from it. The Apostle doth not mention the uneasie Circumstances of a Prison, or the continual hardships to which he was exposed from the malice of his Adversaries, as the ground of his desire to de­part, but to be with Christ. He knew very well that a Christian may serve the end of Gods glory, and be useful to others in a state of suffering: and therefore when he saith in a­nother place, We that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burden'd, he adds the limitation in the following words, not to be uncloth'd but cloth'd upon, that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life: not meerly to avoid the inconvenien­cies of our abode in so poor a dwelling, but to come to the possession of the Building not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens, 2 Cor. 5.3, 4. Not meerly to find relief and deli­verance from our present burdens, when through melancholly or discontent we are weary of Life: Job 7.13. Jon. 4.3. when we have set our Hearts on somewhat we cannot obtain, or struggle with some Difficulties we cannot master: or are impatient under bo­dily Pains, or quite dispirited by the sad prospect of approaching Calamities; in such a case to wish for Death, and desire to depart, is unbecoming the Character, the Encourage­ment and Hopes of a Souldier of Christ. Much Iess will the Gallantry of a Roman, or a Philo­sopher legitimate the desire of Death, only to prevent Slavery, or avoid Disgrace, or miss [Page 7]the sight of an unwelcome object. As Cato resolv'd to dye, that he might not behold Victorious Caesar, whom by all means possible he had endeavoured to ruine. And ^* Cicero saith expresly of him, that the reason of his Choice was just, and that Cato ought to dye rather than see the face of a Tyrant. But we have not so learn'd Christ, for

3. We must not designedly precipitate or hasten our Departure; nor wilfully neglect any probable means to preserve our Lives, how desirous soever we are to be with Christ. We acknowledge God as the Author and Own­er of our Lives, and shall we presume to dis­pose of what is his, without a declaration of his consent and order to authorize us? Are we bound by the sixth commandment to pre­serve the life of our Neighbour, and may we be negligent and careless of our own? Is not every man nearer to himself than any other can be? And is not self-murder a violation of the Law of Nature, and condemned by a general suffrage? And can we suppose it a sufficient Justification of our selves, that we profess a desire to be with Christ? whereas we may not do this or any other evil, though the greatest good may come of it: He that hasteth to be rich, even in this sence, shall not be innocent, Prov. 28.16. We must be in­tirely devoted to serve and glorisie the Re­deemer [Page 8]as long as we live; and rather dye upon the Spot, than quit our Station without the order of our General: and yet we must not shipwrack our Health, or expose our Lives to hazard, without a Warrant from Heaven.

4. A Sincere Desire to be with Christ, is consistent with some Fear of Death, and a reproveable Ʋnwillingness to depart and be dis­solv'd. The Example of Christ himself is usually urg'd in vindication of a natutal sen­sitive fear of Death, viz. the discovery there­of which he made in his Agony and Prayer in the Garden. A Socinian only will assert, that therefore he was more affected with the fear of Death than many of the Martyrs have been, because of the exquisite Temper and tender constitution of his Body; and that there was nothing but what was natural and ordinary in his case. Whereas he was to con­flict with the Wrath of God, and bear the Curse, and be wounded for our Transgressi­ons, &c. otherwise his own Innocency and perfect Resignation to the will of his Father, and the prospect and assurance of Victory and Reward, would certainly have prevent­ed his Terrible Agony, and bloody Sweat, and importunate Cries, that if possible the Cup might pass from him. However I doubt not, but a Timerous Temper may render some Persons extreamly apprehensive of the pains of Death, and on that account unwilling to [Page 9]depurt, though they are truly desirous to be with Christ.

Others through the weakness of Faith or overmuch concern in the Affairs of this Life, &c. though they grant it unspekably better to be present with the Lord, and have cho­sen it as their Portion and sinal Happiness, may yet be loth to pass through the dark Valley. They cannot joyn with the Apostle in desiring to be dissolv'd, though they can speak it from their very hearts, that they desire to be with Christ: And that desire is so far prevailing as to keep them upright, and yet not efficacious, so as to conquer the fears of interposing Death. How unwelcom was the message of Death to an upright He­zekiah, even then when he could plead his Integrity before the Lord! he turn'd his face to the wall, and wept, and besought the Lord that he might not dye, as is evident by Isa. 38.3. 5, v. compar'd. But I dare not say, his unwillingness to dye at that Time, was a sinfull weakness, because he might well be concern'd for the Kingdom after his decease, least the faithful should be staggered, and the People revolt to Idolatry, there being no visible Successor to advance the Reforma­tion so hopefully begun; for Manasses was not then born, being but twelve years old when he began to reign, and we know that Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his Life, 2 Kings 20.6.

5. Though we desire to be with Christ, we must not be Peremptory as to any deter­minate Time; but referr our selves to Gods good pleasure for the season of our depar­ture. Though with Job we should be ready to answer, when God doth call, yet with humi­lity and Resignation we must expect his sum­mons, and wait till our change come: Job 14.15. though the dayes of our appointed Time should be longer than ordinary. Although in a dutiful observance to our Heavenly Father we should be willing to return home as soon as he shall please to call us, and the felicity of his Presence should render it desireable; yet his Soveraign will, and unerring wisdom must be practically acknowledg'd in refe­rence to the Season. He alone, of whom and to whom are all things, is fit to determine how long we shall tarry, or how soon we shall depart: even the Light of Nature may teach us this. And therefore, when ever we pray Thy Kingdom come, we must not limit the Holy One of Israel by pre­scribing the Time; Seneca Epist. 24, 61. but immedi­ately subjoyn, with respect to that, Thy will be done.

6. Not the Time only, but the Kind and Manner, of our Dissolution must be referr'd to God. Some have wisht for a Sudden Death, and others have pray'd against it. Some have desired to dye by one disease, and o­thers by another.

Some holy persons of a timerous Temper and a tender Body, would choose to depart by a Consumption; not only as allowing them a longer Time to prepare for Death, but as an easier kind of Death than several others: Whereas, besides the uncertainty and de­ceitfulness of that disease, 'tis more than possible, that the Languishment of that pi­ning sickness may be as irksome and insup­portable, as the shorter pains of more vio­lent distempers. But God is the Judge (to whom we must submit, as the wise disposer of all events) not only of the Time, but the Manner of our departure: not only how long we shall sojourn in this earthly Tabernacle, but what shall dissolve and pull it down.

7. Our Desire to depart, and to be with Christ, must not be Rash and hasty, but the re­sult of many Serious and deliberate thoughts, comparing both states together, and under­standing the difference. The Apostle knew his duty in compliance with the Will of God, and therefore for the service of his Master, and the advantage of the Philippians, was willing to Live: But he knew withal, it was far better in it self to depart that he might be with Christ, and as such he desired it. And a due Comparison between our pre­sent and our future life, our inconveniencies and sufferings in this world, and our Felicity in the next, is proper to regulate and quick­en [Page 12]our desires to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord. Therefore,

2. In what respects is it far Better to be with Christ, than to abide in the flesh? what is the difference between What we are, and What we shall be? that the expectation of the Latter should even make Death and dissolution de­sireable in order to it. And here it will be necessary to consider,

1. The Expression of our Felicity after death here used by the Apostle, Being with Christ.

2. In what respects 'tis far better to Depart, and be absent from the Body, that we may be present with him.

1. The Expression of our future blessedness, by being with Christ. Till we are present with the Lord, and see him face to face, and know as we are known, we must con­tent our selves with such Representations of it, as God is pleas'd to reveal in his Word: Such as our ignorant earthly minds can bear, and may be most affected with. But when once the vail of darkness is remov'd by death, we shall see him as he is, and all our Facul­ties be purified and inlarg'd, and suited to the blessed company and work above. We shall see him whom our Souls love, and reap a Happiness by doing so, bigger than our pre­sent Hopes, and far above our highest thoughts about it: For in his presence is fulness of Joy, and at his right hand are Everlasting pleasures. [Page 13]And can we imagine, that a Blessedness, pur­chas'd by infinite Merit, contriv'd by infinite Wisdom, and prepared by infinite Power, and bestow'd at length through infinite Grace, will in any thing be defective? Doth not our Apostle describe it best, by assuring us it cannot be describ'd; that 'tis greater than we ever saw, beyond what we ever heard, and far above what we can ever think? Doth not the very hopes of seeing him, re­vive our drooping hearts? Oh what will be the Glory of that blessed sight! is not the pledge and Assurance of it by the Harbin­ger of his holy Spirit exceeding comforta­ble? Oh what transcendent Satisfaction will his presence give us! We now comfort our selves with the Contemplation, and one ano­ther with the Discourse of it: and if our dark Faith and our faint Hopes, can give us such a Joyful prospect of what shall be con­sequent to our dissolution; into what ravish­ing Joy shall we enter, by the open Vision and full enjoyment? Is the encouragement and support of a Christian now, from his presence with us here; and will it not be far better, to to be present with him above, to be for ever with the Lord? When we shall never question his Love to us, or doubt of ours to him, but have a full assurance of the one, and a glori­ous exercise of the other?

And because our knowledge will be still encreasing, our flames of Love shall still rise [Page 14]higher. But what additional bliss the Soul shall have by the Resurrection of the body, and the great Transactions of the Judgment Day, we know but in part. Blessed be God we know so much in this imperfect state, enough to excite our desires, and quicken our preparations, and encourage our Perseve­rance. And let's bless him more, that he hath prepared such a glory for us in the pre­sence of the Redeemer, as we cannot fully understand, till death convey us to him.

But to be with Christ, is not only eligible in it self, as expressive of our future Glory; but much rather to be desired, if considered comparatively: Therefore,

2. In what respects is it preferrable to an abode in the flesh, so as to make us rather choose to depart, that we may be with him; than continue in the Body, and be absent from the Lord?

1. Is not a state of Rest and Joy much more desireable, than to be continually harrass'd with Trouble and Sorrow? We ordinarily be­gin this World in Tears, and solemnize our own Nativity as we do the Funerals of our dearest Friends: as if we were then sensible of that universal Curse which hath afflicted Mankind since the first Transgression; and had a clear prospect of the miseries we are born to, and must afterward suffer: And in all the Portions of our little time, what and how many do we every where encounter! [Page 15]How many things are there which we find are wanting, both as to our Accomplishments and Enjoyments? and how much are we disap­pointed, if we look for satisfaction from the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life? which, saith the Apostle, is all that is in the world: 1 Joh. 2.16. Earthly Pleasures, Wealth, and Honour.

Do we not find, that what doth rejoyce and please us one day, appears with ano­ther Face when we view it next? or if we think it would please us still, 'tis gone e're we are aware, and with all our skill and power we cannot protract it's duration. Do not evil accidents overtake us on a sudden? and our most probable designs miscarry in the birth? as if all things were governed by Chance, and there were no Intelligent Dire­ctor to oversee and regulate the Affairs of the World, and the Actions and Conditions of men: Insomuch, that the Race is not to the swift, nor the Battle to the strong, nor Bread to the wise, nor Riches to men of understanding, nor Favour to men of skill, but time and chance hap­pens to them all, Eccl. 11.9. Our Pleasures flatter and deceive us, and our Afflictions trouble and disquiet us: We are imposed upon by our Senses, and misguided by our Passions; cross'd in our Desires, and frustrated in our Hopes; griev'd by present evils, or perplext with the sears of future; and our Spirits for the most part discompos'd either by personal or [Page 16]relative Calamities. Some rueful Spectacle is ever now and then presented before our Eyes; some evil tidings or unpleasant sound doth grate our Ears. We bewail the wants of the poor, which we cannot supply; or envy the prosperity of the Wicked, which we cannot hinder; or grieve at the Afflicti­ons of the Righteous, which we cannot remedy.

We have some suffering Friend with whom to sympathize, some distressed or deceased Relation to lament; some unhappiness of our own, or of those we love, to be con­cerned for. Besides the Treachery and un­faithfulness of our seeming Friends; the Hatred and Malice of our open Enemies; the scandalous Actions of professing Christians; their Divisions and Animosities among them­selves, and their despiteful usage and en­tertainment from the World; the Com­plaints of the miserable, the Groans of the Sick, the Cries of the Oppressed, and our own bodily infirmities, weaknesses and pains, &c. enough one would think to make us de­sire to depart, and render us extreamly willing to lay down and dye, (if God think sit,) that we may be at rest; especially ha­ving the expectation of being for ever with the Lord. For otherwise even ^* Hea­thens have spoken excellently of the Ad­vantages of Death, as the period of our present Sorrows.

2. Is not a state of Holiness and Perfect pu­rity, far better than a Life of Temptation, Corruption and Sin? How are we now buf­feted by Satan? by his Sinful suggestions, his subtile devices and snares, and his sie­ry darts? and by that means our Integrity assaulted, our peace of Conscience unsetled, and our Perseverance indangered?

Our Conflict with him is so difficult, and the issue of the Battel, as to what depends on us, so very uncertain; that we are of­ten ready to throw down our Arms, and give up all as Lost. For though he be a conquer'd and baffled Adversary, through the Victory which our Captain hath obtain'd a­gainst him; yet we cannot now Triumph over him, as hereafter we shall. And is it not far better to abandon this world, of which he is the God, 1 Cor. 4.4. and get above that Air of which he is the Prince, Eph. 2.2. that we may be with Christ?

Moreover, how doth our depraved Na­ture continually cast forth mire and dirt? what remaining Filthiness is there yet to be purg'd? what powerful Lusts to be morti­fied and subdued? which indispose us for Spiritual duties, and derive a damp and deadness upon all our Religious Exercises; which cool our Zeal, and abate the servour of our Spirits in the service of our Redeem­er; which weaken our Considence in Pray­er, and shame our faces before the Lord in [Page 18]secret. And is it not far better to part with the body of Flesh, that thereby we may be rid of this body of sin and death, Rom. 7.24. and be like our Saviour in perfect purity?

Do we not complain of our Ignorance of Divine Truths, and the blessed Mysteries of the Gospel, notwithstanding all our means of knowledge? of our earthliness and unbe­lief? of unbecoming Thoughts of God and holy things? of proud Imaginations and car­nal reasonings against his Works and Word? of languishing and imperfect Graces to be recovered and perfected, &c? And is it not better to be with Christ, where that which is imperfect shall be done away?

Is not God dishonour'd and provok't, by our frequent Omissions and slight Perfor­mances of Duty? do we not resist and quench and sadden his Holy Spirit? and are we not often griev'd by God's rebukes and frowns, by the wounds and smart regrets of our own Conscience? so that we remember God, and are troubled, and cry out in the bitterness of our Souls, Hath he forgotten to be gracious, and will he be merciful no more? Are not our holy Purposes inconstant, and our best Re­solutions wavering and unstedy, and very quickly, very easily shatter'd by the breath of a small Temptation?

Have we not a constant Watch to keep over our Hearts and wayes? a perpetual War to manage with the infernal Trinity, [Page 19]the World, the Flesh, and the Devil? and do we know his rage, and malice, and ser­pentine policy, with the Multitude, Strength and Power of his Temptations? How often we have been foil'd already, and how soon we we may be so again? and shall we not be desirous of a sinless state in the presence of Christ; where no Tempter, no Temptation shall ever be admitted?

Yea, had we no corruption, or Sin, of our own to be delivered from, yet our concern at God's dishonour by the sins of others, should make us willing to depart; as much more desireable than our abode on earth: Job. 24.9. Which is given into the hands of the wicked, and defiled by it's Inhabitants, Isa. 24.4: Where the very Air is infected with Oaths and Blasphemies, prophane discourse, and filthy talk: Where the very Being of a God is question'd, his Providence deny'd, and his Authority mockt: Where the Gospel of Christ is disparag'd and despised, his Laws contradicted, his Worship polluted, his Institutions subverted, and his holy Name made a cloak for Licen­tiousness, and his faithful Servants trampl'd on by the soot of Pride, and scorned by men at ease, and forc't to own his Truth with the peril of their Lives. And can we say, It is good to be here? or is it not not far bet­ter to forsake such a Place and Company, that we may be with Christ.

3. Let us consider what are the grounds and Principles by which a Christian is assured of this Blessedness in the presence of Christ after his dissolution. This Inquiry is necessary, be­cause the discourse of our future bliss with Christ cannot be supposed to have any ef­fect or influence upon us, to make us desire our departure, while we disbelieve or make a doubt of the matter.

I hope it were needless to prove the Pos­sibility of the Souls existence in a state of separation from the Body.

Whether in the Body or out of the Body, 2 Cor. 12.2. would not have been a doubt to this great Apostle, if he could not possibly have liv'd but in it: neither could he desire to de­part that he might be with Christ, if after his departure he should not be at all. And sup­posing the existence of the Soul notwith­standing the dissolution of the Body, we have as full an assurance as the nature of the thing is capable of, that holy Souls shall be present with the Lord in glory, when ab­sent from the body: 1 Thes. 4.17. Joh. 17.24. Mat. 24.25. Rev. 3.22, &c.

But because the Text hath a special rela­tion to Christ and to be with him, is that Blessedness, on the account whereof 'tis desire­able to depart; I shall only mention his Death and Resurrection, as a sufficient ground to confirm our Faith in the certainty of being [Page 21]with him, and to excite our Desires of a departure in order to it.

1. The Death of Christ. He hath cancell'd the Hand-writing against us, and put away Sin, which is the sting of Death, by the Death of the Cross: Eph. 1.7. A way is now open for us into the holy of holies by his blood, Heb. 10.19. not for our Prayers, only but our Per­sons. He hath wounded the Head of the old Serpent, even by permitting him to bruise his Heel, by crucifying his humane Nature, (which was only Vestigium Deitatis.) As Benaiah slew the Egyptian with his own Spear, 2 Sam. 23.21. Having destroyed death and him that had the power of it, and delivered those who were all their Life-time subject to bon­dage, through the fear of death, Heb. 2.15.

He hath set his foot on the neck of this Adversary, disarm'd it of it's weapon, and rob'd it of it's sting, and abolish't the ugli­ness and poyson of it. He hath dismounted Hell and Damnation from behind him that sat on the Pale-horse, Rev. 6.8. Whether the first Adam were buryed in Calvary, where the second was crucified, as some affirm, I need not enquire; we know that his Death was our Victory, and his Cross may be our Triumph; since the Devil is conquered, and death Sanctified, and the Grave perfum'd by his burial, so that we need not be afraid to lodge in a Sepulchre where our Lord himself hath slept.

Yea since the effusion of his Blood, there is an amiable ruddiness in the Face of Death; for that which was the Instrument of Justice, is now the messenger of Peace and Joy, that which was the gate of Hell, is the way to Life. He hath brought sweetness out of the Strong, and meat out of the Eater; 1 Cor. 3.21. and therefore Death as well as Lise is reck­on'd in the Inventory of the riches of the Saints. All things are yours, because you are Christs, and Christ is Gods.

2. His Resurrection and Exaltation; his ri­sing from the Dead not only discovers the possibility of our Resurrection, and gives us a pledge and assurance of it, as declaring the sufficiency and acceptation of his Sacrifice; that therefore the Dead in Christ shall live, and with his Dead Body arise: Rom. 8.14. Isa. 26.19. But being punctually effected ac­cording to his prediction and promise, it confirms the Truth of all his Word, and seals the promise of eternal Life unto all Believers. He hath open'd the Prison doors, and loos'd the bands of Death, and roll'd a­way the heavy Stones from the Graves of his people; he is now become the first fruits of them that sleep in Jesus: And hath the Keyes of Death and Hell; Rev. 1.18. even the two most formidable enemies are under his Domi­nion: who though once he were dead, doth now live for evermore. And for this very end did God raise him up, that our faith and hope might [Page 23]be in him, in reference to the Blessedness of a­nother Life, 1 Pet. 1.21.

Yea, saith the Apostle, concerning that, he raised him from the dead, no more to see cor­ruption, Act. 13.34. God said, I will give you the sure mercies of David; or an Everlasting Covenant, which Death shall not dissolve, Isa. 55.3. And his being risen, is the Ground of our Faith and Hope that the Promise shall be fulfill'd. For the Resurrection of Christ is the evidence of the validity and efficacy of his Death and Sacrifice, and a sufficient proof, that his precious Blood shed upon the Cross, was the blood of an Everlasting Co­venant, Heb. 13.20. Establishing a Cove­nant of Grace, and making it truly Ever­lasting; for we know that he is a Priest for ever, after the power of an endless Life, Heb. 7.16. And therefore know, to our unspeak­able Satisfaction, Incouragement, and Joy, in whom we have believed, and that he is able to keep unto that day, what we have committed to him; 2 Tim. 1.12. to perfect what he hath be­gun; Phil. 1.6. and at last present us blameless before the presence of his glory with exceeding Joy, Jude 24. v. For our Life being hid with him in God, we are fully assured, that when he who is our Life shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory; Col. 3.3, 4. and because he lives, we shall live also; and when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, 1 Joh. 3.2.

4. Let us consider, Whence it comes to pass, [Page 24]that notwithstanding the Blessedness of being with Christ, and our assurance of it by his Death and Resurrection, that yet we are so backward and unwilling to depart? What is the true reason why so many of those who acknowledge it far better to be with Christ, yet cannot say with the Apo­stle, That they desire to be dissolv'd, that they may be with him?

1. The weakness of Faith concerning the Invi­sible World, and the future Glory of the Saints, is the reason why so many Christians are unwilling to dye. They are very sensible of the inconveniencies of their present abode; they complain to God and men of Corrup­tion, Temptation, and Sin, and they hear of a blessed Deliverance from all these by Death, and a perfect Felicity in the presence of the Redeemer after their dissolution; but unbe­lief makes them stagger at the Promise: They are not fully satisfied that such a transcen­dent Glory will be consequent to Dying. Did they but soundly believe the Testimony and Revelation which God hath given in his Word concerning it, they would choose to be absent from the body. Some of the Igno­rant Heathens have been desperate in their Choice of death, only as the Period of pre­sent Calamities: but others who were doubt­ful of the Consequence, have yet entertained it with an hearty Welcome: As Socrates for instance, who profess'd, That he ought not to fear death because he could not tell whether it [Page 25]were good or evil: And shall not we who un­derstand the Grounds and Principles, the greatness, and certainty of a future Blessed­ness after Death, be as willing to depart? A confirmed Faith is therefore necessary and ad­viseable in the present case: and the rather, that thereby we may quench the fiery darts of Satan; who if he cannot hinder us of our Crown, would rob us of our Joyful Prospect of it; if he cannot prevent out future Glo­ry, would render us dejected in our passage thither; if he cannot prevail to exclude and banish us for ever from the Presence of Christ, would darken our present comfort by the desire and Hope of it; but more especi­ally at the prospect and approach of Death, for that is his hour, and the power of darkness.

But by this shield of Faith, we may be able to stand even in that evil day of our dissoluti­on, Eph. 6.11.16.

2. The Pains of Death. They pray that God would hasten his Glorious Kingdom, and bring them to it; and believe it to be most eligible to be with Christ; yet are loth their own Prayers should be answered, and the end and object of their Faith obtain'd, through the discouraging apprehensions they admit of a dying hour.

Would we not be with the the Lord, and know him better, and Love him more, and enjoy him fully? and shall we stick at a little pain, as introductory to so great a Happi­ness? [Page 26]A Pain that will speedily convey us to Eternal ease and rest; which thousands of Holy Souls in Glory have indur'd more of, than we can fear.

But suppose the Agonies of Death are ne're so frightful to Flesh and Blood, hath not our Redeemer a Rod and Staff to comfort us in the dark Valley? Ps. 23.4. Doth he not know what it is to dye, and how much we dread it? doth he not understand our weakness, remember our frailty, pity our infirmities, and bid us ask for support and Strength? yea, hath he not promis'd, that when Heart and Flesh shall fail, that he will be the Strength of our Hearts, and our Portion for ever, Psal. 73.26. Shall ignorant hopeless Heathens, without God in this world, without the ex­pectation of being with Christ in the next, be so desirous of Immortality, as to dispatch themselves, and be their own Executioners, to force an escape from the Body? And shall we resist and struggle, draw back and fear, object, and be unwilling, when our Saviour calls us to endless and unspeakable Felicity? Is not this the last Experiment of our Faith, and Patience, and holy Resolution? the last essay of our Christian Courage? Are not the antecedent pains of dying the fruit of sin, no less than the throws and pangs of Travelling Women? and are the latter tolerable in hopes of Children, and their own deliverance; and may we not support the Former by the assist­ance [Page 27]of a greater and better Hope? Are they at all considerable and worthy our fear, if put in the ballance with the promised Salva­tion to sollow on our departure? Are they comparable in the Nature of Evil, to the bles­sed Life they lead us to in the Nature of Good? or comparable to the gripes of Conscience, which unpardon'd Sinners meet with in Life and Death? yea, do we not think them greater, and make them worse by our foolish fears, than most do find them? Is not the Sting of Death remov'd, and the Heavenly Mansions prepar'd and promis'd? And is it a reasonable Request, that God should vary from his settled Course, and sixed Law, upon our sole Account? Will nothing else content and please us, but that Heaven must descend to Earth, or we be in a moment translated thi­ther, to prevent our Pain, and supersede the necessity of our Dissolution, which we fear will be so attended?

As a proper Remedy in the present Case, let us samiliarize the Thoughts of Death, by frequent, serious Meditation: Let us view it oftner in our way, that it may not meet us with so much Terror at our Journeys end: Let us admit the Thoughts of a Departure with particular Application to our selves, and improve the Funerals of our Friends, as a seasonable memento that our own is near: Let us lay open the Picture of Death naked to our view, and urge it to our Hearts with the [Page 28]infinite Glory that immediately succeeds, and take in the Death and Promise of Christ, as our assurance of it. And this will reconcile us more to a Departure, and help to over­come our unreasonable fears of Pain and Sick­ness antecedent to it.

3. The weakness and declension of our Love to Christ, is another ground of our Unwilling­ness to depart, and to be with him. To a dege­nerate Soul, that is destitute of the Love of Christ, an Everlasting Distance would be more desireable than a Local Presence: For that could not make him happy, he would still be as far remov'd from Bliss, by being with the Lord, as the Centre of a Milstone in the bottom of the Sea would be from moisture. But the Company and Converse of those we Love, must needs be Eligible; and the more we love them, the stronger will still be our desire of being with them, and the more impatient shall we be of every delay. And is it not the sease and secret language of our Hearts, Whom have we in Heaven but Christ? And are we not desirous to forsake this Earth, to en­joy his Presence? Certainly, the growth, and strength, and exercise of Holy Love to Christ, would even render our Dissolution grateful in order to it; and make our Hearts rejoyce at the approach of Death, as it did old Jacob's, to see the Waggons that are sent to fetch us to our beloved Jesus, who is Lord of that Countrey whither we are going.

4. Immoderate Love to this present World, and our Temporal Life. Were we crucified to fleshly Pleasures, and sensual Joys, to worldly Honours and earthly Riches; we should less regret the Thoughts of Dying, and more heartily desire to be with Christ. For as the Pangs of Death are not ordinarily so violent and intolerable to one whose strength is wasted by a pining Sickness, as to him who is Arrested suddenly in his full strength and vigour; so will he more easily leave this World, who for some time past hath been dying to it. Were we more crucified to the World, and the World to us by the Cross of Christ, Gal. 6.14. we should not so affectionately hug the Carkass of a dead Enemy, whom we our selves have crucified and slain; but wait for the Time, and long for the happy Hour when we shall leave it, and be gone to our Eternal Rest. Let us therefore make use of all the Christian methods of Mortification, and look on this World as a strange place, and our selves as Pilgrims and Strangers here; as Exiles from our own Countrey, and hastening to it: And we cannot but wish our selves at home, and desire a departure as necessary thereto; and in the interim, sigh to think of the vast dis­proportion and difference between the slender Entertainments of our Inn, and the plentiful Provisions of our Father's House.

5. Blotted Evidences, and the want of Assu­rance, concerning our Title to the Heavenly [Page 30]Glory. And this we all pretend, as the rea­son of our Unwillingness to Die: A Sadducee is loth to die, lest he should not be at all; an Ʋnprepared Sinner, for fear of being Miserable; and a Doubting Christian, because he knows not whether Happiness or Misery shall be his Portion after his Departure: For were we well assured we should be with Christ for ever, we could not be so backward and un­willing to be dissolv'd. Had we any better grounds to hope that Sin was pardon'd, and God our Covenant-Father; that Heaven would be our Inheritance, and we should not come into Condemnation; we might rejoyce to think of our departure, when and how it shall please God to call us. When the Psalmist could say, The Lord is my Shepherd; he could boldly venture upon Death, and walk through the Valley of Darkness without fear of evil, Psal. 23.4, 6. But when Distress had brought his Sin to remembrance, and made him doubt of his Condition, he cries, O spare me a little longer, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen, Psal. 39.13. Could you say with the Spouse of Christ in the Can­ticles, My Beloved is mine, and I am his, Cant. 6.3. you might chearfully joyn your Amen, when you hear the Spirit and the Bride say in the Revelations, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, Rev. 20.22.

Therefore Try your State, and Examine your selves a-fresh; and endeavour with your utmost [Page 31]Care and Diligence to obtain a well grounded Assurance, founded on the Testimony of a good Conscience, by comparing the Promises of Remission, and Eternal Life, with the requi­site Qualifications and Conditions of them: For if our hearts condemn us not, we shall have considence towards God, 1 Joh. 3.21. even in a dying hour. To which end, let us endea­vour, by daily Acts of Repentance, to obtain a daily Pardon. Let us sum up our Accounts at the foot of every Page; I mean, reflect every Night, on the Passages of the preceding Day; that we may rest on our Beds with the sense of a daily Pardon, and be as sit to die as we are to sleep.

6. Our fond Affections to our Friends on Earth, may make us loth to die, though we hope to be with Christ in Heaven. But is not his Bo­som more desirable, than the Arms and Em­braces of our dearest Friends, and nearest Re­lations? Must we not abandon and hate them all for his sake? Luke 14.26. i. e. use them as contemptible and hated things, if they keep us from him. Have we not solemnly engag'd to do so by our Covenant with God? and shall we not stand to our Agreement? Is there no difference between our Friends on Earth, and our beloved Saviour? How often is an un­active Pity vouchsafed in the room of Succour, when they need our Assistance, or we intercede for theirs! We know, if they are unholy, they shall for ever be banish'd from the Presence of [Page 32]Christ; and we may well be ashamed to be un­willing to die on their account: And if they are holy, tho' we shall not return to them, yet we know that they shall shortly come to us. And cannot God instruct them in his Fear, order their Conditions, dispose of their Affairs, pro­vide for their Comfort, and answer all our Prayers in reference to them, after our depar­ture? yea, hath he not often done so?

Have we any Friends on Earth, that are every way so accomplish'd, as alway to de­light and please us? Or are we so perfectly wise and good, as never to disgust and dis­oblige them? Is there not some Selfishness, Design, and private Interest; some Hypo­crisie, Flattery, and Dissimulation; some Inequality, Unsuitableness, or Inconstancy in our Friendships here? Are not the Best of those we love, Ignorant and Mistaken, Er­roneous, Deceived, Weak and Impotent; and as likely to desile and grieve us by their Corruption, as to edifie and rejoyce us by their Grace? But hereafter, when that which is imperfect is done away, they shall all have suitable Qualifications to recommend them to our most sincere and constant Affection, and be every way more fit for our Con­tent and Joy. We shall then be never weary of each others Company; we shall fully un­derstand one anothers Mind; we shall live in perfect Harmony, and full Satisfaction, with­out the dread of Absence, or fear of Separa­tion. [Page 33]Now if we have some Friends, we have many Enemies; but in the presence of Christ there shall be none but Friends, and such as shall for ever be so; their Persons be­ing more amiable, and their Society more desirable than now it can be. Now if we are pleased with their Converse, we may quickly lose it, and the desire of our eyes be taken from us, by a sudden stroke, Ezek. 24.16. that we know not how to value or love them, till 'tis too late. And shall we be unwilling, on their account, to depart, and be with Christ, since they are hastning after us, and after a few days absence, we shall meet them again, and dwell with them for ever?

5. The Application remains, which shall be only in Four Particulars, as Inferences from what hath been said.

1. We may hence take notice of the great Efficacy and Power of the Christian Faith and Hope. That notwitstanding our fondness and affection to the Body, and the contrariety of Death to our sensitive Inclinations; that yet this Faith and Hope can urge us to desire a Dissolution in order to it.

2. We may hence inferr, That the Soul doth not sleep in the Grave with its Companion the Body, until the Resurrection, but immedi­ately pass into a state of Bliss. For the Apostle to abide in the Flesh, was more expe­dient [Page 34]for the Philippians: For him to live, would be Christ, Ver. 21. i.e. For the advancement of his Glory: How then was it better to depart? or in what strait could he be, whether he should choose a longer Life, or a present de­parture, if no Blessedness were expected till the Final Judgment? And why doth he men­tion his being with Christ, as that which made Death desirable? Is not the Presence of Christ with us on Earth, and our serving the Ends of his Glory in this World, much more eli­gible than to sleep in the Grave till dooms day?

3. Is it better to depart, and be with Christ, than abide in the Body? Then the Fable of Purgatory is hereby Exploded. Were we to be transported by our Dissolution, only from lesser Pains to greater, or from a Life of Sor­row, to a State of Suffering, (such as the Romanists imagine their Purgatory to be, equi­valent to the Torments of Hell in the Extre­mity of them, though different in Duration,) how were it far better to depart, that we may be with Christ?

4. Is it the Object of a Christians desire, to depart, and be with Christ? And is that far bet­ter than to continue in the Body? Then let us not Grieve immoderately at the departure of those who have obtain'd their wish, and enjoy their de­sire.

Did they long to be with Christ, and choose to be dissolv'd in order to it? And is it their unspeakable Satisfaction that they are so? [Page 35]And do we express our Love and Kindness to them, by repining at their Felicity? Shall their desired Repose, and Rest, and Happi­ness, be our Torment, Grief, and Sorrow? Would we, that contrary to their own well­grounded Inclinations, they should continue longer here on Earth, or return back again from Heaven, meerly to gratifie our fond Af­fections? Have they obtain'd a speedy Victory after a short Conflict? and receiv'd the Crown of Life, as soon almost as they begun their Christian Race; the glorious Recompence of Reward, though they had wrought but one hour in the Vineyard, when others must la­bour twelve? And shall we mourn like utter Strangers to the Christian Faith and Hope? Would we delay the Glory of God in their Salvation, and deser their Felicity in the blessed Presence of the Redeemer; and be content that a Voice should be wanting in the Heavenly Quire, rather than we be Sadned by their departure?

Would Parents have their Children con­tinue in their Swadling-Cloaths? Or when advanc'd to riper Years, wish them back again to Infancy, and hinder their Possession of that Inheritance which they are born to, and dispos'd to enter on, and enjoy?

Are not you your selves hastning to the Grave, and hope e're long to be with Christ? And is it not a refreshing Thought, to consi­der, that your Treasure is there before you; [Page 36] with their Father and your Father, with their God and Saviour and yours; I mean, your Holy Clidren and Friends whom you dearly Love?

The Primitive Church was wont to Solem­nize the Funerals of Holy Persons, with sing­ing Psalms and Hymns of Praise to God, for their Deliverance and Felicity obtain'd by Dying: And shall we refuse to be comforted, for the Death of those who sleep in Jesus, and desired to do so; as if in this Life only we had Hope in Christ?

Something, 'tis true, of Grief and Sor­row, must be allow'd to Nature, Duty, Cu­stom, and Contracted Friendship, and the Honour of the Deceas'd; for they are reck­on'd to die miserable, who are hurl'd into the Grave without the attendance of a Sigh, or Tear, or Funeral Lamentation. But our Assurance of the future Glory they possess with Christ, (which they themselves preferr'd to a longer abode on Earth,) should wipe our Eyes, and prevent Excess. We mourn that they are gone, and desire their Company; but we know, they do not wish themselves back again for the sake of ours; no, they are gone to better Friends above, than those they have left below. And were it not for the weakness of our Faith and Hope, in reference to the Invisible World; were it not for the remain­ing Power of unmortified Selfishness, and our immoderate Love of this present Life; were [Page 37]it not for the remisness of our Love to Christ, and the blessed Saints; we could not but de­sire to be with them, rather than wish that they should be longer with us.

Therefore instead of an intemperate Mourn­ing at their departure, let us imitate their Ex­amples, and propound their holy Lives and Deaths as our Pattern and Encouragement.

Sickness and Death for the Glory of Christ. A Funeral Sermon, &c.

THE first hearing of these Words, which speak of Sickness and Death, may give some Indication of the sorrowful Occasion, that hath drawn more than usual Numbers unto this Place: From which it hath pleas'd the All-wise God to remove One, who was a principal Orna­ment of it; One whose constant Attendance, and Christian Deportment in it, carried an exciting Influence unto all who were Wit­nesses of 'em. And therefore it is no small [Page 54]loss unto this whole Society, that they shall no longer enjoy the advantage of such an Example; but even the privation of such, whose Lives were exemplary, is capable of affording very considerable advantage: As we know that not only the Light of the Heavenly Bodies, is useful unto this lower World, their Eclipse, have their advantages too, which are therefore thought worthy of peculiar Observation. It hath been a recei­ved Opinion, that the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon have an Instructive signification, by which the Inhabitants of the Earth are warn'd and admonish'd. The Truth of that Opi­nion hath been question'd, but 'tis certain that the Death of a Christian, who did shine as a Light in the World, hath an Instructive Language, and is proper to teach very pro­fitable Lessons unto them who survive. Such Providences do indeed call unto mourning and sorrow, but this is not the principal in­tention of them: there is something of far greater importance to employ our minds, on such sad occasions, and that is, to receive the Spiritual Instruction that is then present­ed unto us. It hath been counted an in­stance of the folly of some superstitious Hea­thens, that they would make a hideous noise whenever they saw the Sun, or Moon dark­ned, and variously express'd their fears of losing those Luminaries, but made no useful enquiries into the Causes and Nature of those [Page 55] Phaenomena. And 'tis very reproachful unto professing Christians, when they imagine that a passionate sorrow is the only, or chief business that the Death of Christian Friends calls 'em to: Our deportment on such occa­sions, should correspond with our Christi­an Hope, which assures us, that they who are fallen asleep in Christ are not lost, (which in the Apostles Judgment is a self-evident ab­surdity, 1 Cor. 15.18.) A deceased Christian is not only more safe, but far more happy and honourable than he or she was in this World: so that they need not our tears; which yet on other accounts are just and rea­sonable, but they must not hinder our serious enquiries into the Nature and Uses of such a Sorrowful object. When therefore we have lost a living Example in the Deceased Mrs. Shower, we are oblig'd to make such enqui­ries, with relation unto her Death, that we may get some considerable and lasting advan­tage from it; and in order unto this, I have thought these words of the Redeemer, spo­ken upon a like occasion, would afford sea­sonable Meditations, that may assist us to improve the late sorrowful Providence. And when I have laid down the general Instructi­ons contain'd in 'em, I shall endeavour to apply 'em unto the particular subject of our Sorrow.

To understand the grounds and occasion of the words read to you, we need only look [Page 56]back to the few Verses which precede the Text; and in the first verse we find, that a Friend and Favourite of Christ, Lazarus the Brother of Martha and Mary, is arrested by a threatning Sickness. The favour and friendship of Christ do not exempt from Sick­ness and Death. A Lazarus whom Jesus lo­ved, is sick and dieth. His Sisters seem to have concluded, that the affection which Christ had for their Brother, should have secur'd him from these Calamities; and (tis probable) they thought, that nothing but the distance of place could hinder Christ from relieving their Brothers Case, which therefore they take care to acquaint him with, and send this sorrowful Message un­to the Redeemer, Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick, ver. 3. They choose indeed the fittest Argument to plead on this oc­casion with Christ, when they represent to him the Interest that their Brother had in his peculiar Affection. They don't say, ‘He who is our Brother, and Beloved by us, or he who loveth thy Person, and Ser­vice, is sick:’ They knew, that such Con­siderations (tho very forcible among men) could have but little weight upon him, who cannot be made a Debtor by all the Kind­ness and Service that any can express to­ward him. No, they rightly conclude, that the Redeemers Love is free, and with­out any Obligation, and must be the only [Page 57]Original of all that Relief, which he at any time bestows. Thus far, I say, these Sisters were in the right; but the particle Behold! (which is a Note of Admiration) in­timates the Mistake which they were guilty of, and that they were surpriz'd at the sick­ness and danger of their Brother, because he was one whom Jesus loved. Had this been the Case of a Scribe, or a Pharisee (two Orders which Christ had no kindness for) this would not have appeared strange unto them, as it did, that one whom Christ loved, should languish under a painful and threatning Disease. No question they had often seen and heard the Redeemer expres­sing a peculiar kindness unto their Brother, whose sickness and danger made him now a Spectacle of Pity: And they knew not how to reconcile these two together, and there­fore were inclin'd to hope, that his love unto their Brother (as soon as he had an account of his danger) would induce him to make the greatest haste to visit, and heal him, (both which he had done unto others who were strangers.) But he intended to do neither, he determin'd to delay his visit un­to Lazarus, until he had been four days dead: But tho he would not heal and recover sick Lazarus, he sends a most excellent Remedy unto his Sisters, to cure their mistakes, to ease and heal their minds, which was the intention of this Reply unto their Importu­nate [Page 58]Message. This sickness is not unto Death, but for the Glory of God, &c.

In which we are called to consider, 1. The Manner. 2. The Design. 3. The Import of this Answer.

I would make a few Reflections upon the two former, and then shall insist upon the last, as most suitable to our present Affair.

I. As to the Manner of this Answer: 'Tis easie to perceive the obscurity and dubious­ness of the former part; This Sickness is not unto Death: For the Event did (at least) seem to contradict the literal meaning of this De­claration, which expresly denies that the sickness of Lazarus was unto Death, and yet Laxarus dyeth: This seeming contradicti­on, must render this part of the Answer du­bious and dark, unto those to whom it was sent. Indeed notwithstanding this obscuri­ty, there was a most certain Truth in this part of the Answer, which speaks of such a Death, as truly answers that Character, viz. Such a Privation of Life, as puts a final Period unto it; on which account it can tru­ly be said of the Dead, That their places know 'em no more, and that they go the way whence they shall not return: Job 8.10. c. 16.22. As also, That they see corruption, Acts 13.36. The Body quite losing that Organization, that makes it a fit Habitation for a humane Soul: This is the primary and proper notion of Death, and under which the Spirit of God [Page 59]speaks of it: (See Rom. 5.12, 14. 1 Cor. 15.21, 26, 54, 56. Not to mention several o­ther places.) Unto such a Death the sickness of Lazarus was not; his Death was not a final Period, but only a short interruption or cessation of Life, which (like some Rivers which run under ground for a space) only for a while disappear'd, and then was a­gain brought to light. This being granted, we cannot deny, that there is some dark­ness in the manner of expression. Had it so pleased the Redeemer, he could have spoken in a much plainer Language, he could have said, ‘Tho this sickness shall deprive Laza­rus of his Life, yet it shall soon be restored to him again; tho' he shall truly die, yet he shall not long remain under the power of Death; for I design to work a Miracle to raise him from the dead:’ Thus could the Redeemer have expressed himself, had it so pleased him, but he chooseth to speak obscurely not only to these Sisters, but af­terward to his Apostles, when he said, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, v. 11. Which Metapho­rical and dark way of speaking led them in­to a mistake, as we read v. 13. Many other instances of this kind might be produc'd, as that which this Evangelist relateth Ch. 16.16, 17, 18. And as the Language, so the Carri­age of Christ hath obscurity in it; his ways are unsearchable, and his footsteps are not known, both with respect unto visible Providences, and invisible dealings with the Soul.

Many there are whom Christ really loveth, who walk in darkness, are brought into a kind of a Labyrinth, where they are strange­ly perplext, and are tempted to conclude, that their Lord hath quite forsaken, and cast 'em off, when he retains the kindest and most gracious purposes toward 'em. As God did toward Abraham when he com­manded him to go out of his Countrey, and yet did not acquaint him with the Place which was design'd to be his Inheritance, Heb. 11.8. Thus was Abraham try'd, and so are the Children of Abraham; as indeed this con­duct of God is admirably suited unto the state of Probation in which we now are. All that darkness and perplexity which at any time we are brought into, are design'd by God, to try and discover the sincerity and con­stancy of our obedience. And 'tis our grand concern to stand out this Tryal, to under­go this Probation aright; and then whate­ver darkness there is now in the dealings of Christ, he will after a while scatter every Cloud, and will be an everlasting Light un­to us. 'Twere easie to make large Reflecti­ons upon this Subject, but your own Medi­tation can supply this defect; Nor may I dwell long upon the

II. Observable in the Text: The Design of this Answer made by Christ, which was to afford present Support unto the dejected Si­sters of Lazarus. He whose Eye discerns the [Page 61]most hidden and distant Objects, knows how their tender Hearts were disquieted; and that such a Spectacle as a deceased dying Brother must wound and afflict their Souls; and the more, when their Expectations were disappointed, as to the speedy visit of Christ. ‘What! (might they be apt to argue) not make so charitable, so seasonable a Visit, to one whom he loveth, to one who needs his help, and must perish without it? Is this Kind­ness, to neglect a distressed Friend, till Life and all be gone?’ Such disquieting Thoughts would begin to rush into, and disorder their Minds: Now 'twas to still this Tempest, that the Redeemer sends this Reply to 'em. This Sickness is not unto Death, but for the Glory of God, &c. q. d. ‘Though the Danger and Progress of this Sickness, joyn'd with my seeming Neglect of their Brother, will be an Occasion of Trouble unto them; Sorrow and Fear will take hold of their Spi­rits, yet let not their Hearts be troubled, there is no just ground of disquieting Fear; notwithstanding the dismal Appearances, this Matter will have a happy and honou­rable Issue.’ When our Lord Jesus doth not grant the expected Relief, yet he always provides Support and Consolation for his faithful Followers. When He determin'd to send away the Mul­titudes who had followed him into the Wil­derness, he resolves that he will not send 'em away fasting, lest they should faint by the way, [Page 62]Mat. 16.32. Though they must for a time be deprived of his Presence, yet he takes care, that they might not faint and perish. This was his Carriage toward his Apostles in general, and more particularly toward the Apostle Paul, who when he besought the Lord thrice that the Messenger of Satan might depart from him; tho' this Request was not granted, tho' the Thorn in the Flesh was not removed, yet this most supporting Answer was given to him, My grace is sufficient for thee, 2 Cor. 12.9. Sometimes the Carriage of Christ bears an Aspect of Unkindness and Neglect; but even at such a time, his Heart is fill'd with Love, and his Hand is employ'd to Support. 'Tis worthy our notice, what care the Spirit of God hath taken to remove the Suspition of Unkindness in the Redeem­er, toward his Friend Lazarus, whom he refus'd to Visit and Recover, as his Sisters requested and expected; for in the Verse which immediately follows this Answer of Christ, the Evangelist adds this cautioning Remark, Now Jesus loved Martha, and her Sister, and Lazarus. His not complying with their intimated Desire (of having their Bro­ther speedily Recover'd) did not proceed from Unkindness, or want of Affection (tho' there was appearance of them.) No, he bore the same Love unto a sick and dying Lazarus, as if he had wrought a Miracle to prevent his Sickness and Death. 'Twere [Page 63]easie to enlarge upon this Head, but I must proceed unto the

III. And Principal Observable in the Text, The Import and Sence of this Answer: And if it be remembred that the Sickness of Lazarus was Mortal, there will be found these two General Propositions contain'd in it.

I. The Sickness and Death of those who are the Friends of Christ do bring a peculiar Glory unto God, and the Redeemer.

II. This one Consideration is sufficient to quiet and support the Followers of Christ under those sorrowful Providences.

I need not spend time to prove how evi­dently these Truths are contain'd in this Answer of Christ: which though given in a particular Case, yet carrieth such a general Instruction, as reacheth unto Christians in all Ages of the World. 'Tis granted, that there were singular Circumstances that attended the Sickness and Death of Lazarus, and a most glorious Miracle was wrought in rai­sing him from the Dead: But notwithstand­ing there are other grounds which justifie the general Conclusions which are drawn from the words. In which 'tis manifest (as has been observ'd) our Lord design'd to quiet and ease the troubled Minds of Lazarus's Sisters, who had now a sorrowful Prospect of losing a be­loved Brother. And in order to this, he thought it enough (without mentioning his miraculous Raising from the Dead) only to [Page 64]inform them, That the threatning Sickness of their Brother was for the glory of God, and that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. This one Consideration, when it sinds due Entertainment in, and hath a right Opera­tion upon a believing Soul, is able to still all the disquieting Motions that Sorrow and Fear have raised there.

I have not design'd a distinct handling of these Two Propositions; 'twill be as useful to joyn both together in a plain and instru­ctive Method: And therefore shall,

1. Give a short Account of the Glory of God and Christ.

2. Shew how the Sickness and Death of those who are the Friends of Christ does con­tribute unto it.

3. On what Accounts the Consideration of this hath such a quieting and supporting In­sluence upon a Christian; and after ward draw some instructive Inferences from these memo­rable words. As to the

1. The Nature of that Glory which be­longs unto God and Christ: On which I shall only make a very few Remarks, because it may be hoped that few Christians are un­acquainted with this common Subject.

Glory, in its general Idea, or Notion, is nothing but some great Excellence mani­sested and acknowledged; whence 'tis that it makes so very strong an Impression upon Intelligent Creatures, and the desire of it, [Page 65]hath so universal an Influence. More par­ticularly,

1. The Glory of God is the Manifesta­tion of the great and adorable Excellencies which are in the Deity, both absolutely and relatively considered. When the Virtues (as the Greek Expression is, 1 Pet. 2.10.) of God are shown forth, so as to be acknowledg'd and esteemed by his Creatures: When his inflexible Justice, and spotless Purity, his unsearchable Wisdom, and infallible Truth, his Almighty Power, and inexhaustible Goodness do shine forth, and are set in a just Light, then the Glory of God appears in open view, Numb. 14.21. God sweareth that all the Earth should be filled with the Glory of the Lord; because he intended to display his Justice and Holiness, in punishing and consuming the murmuring Israelites. Thus 'tis said, Psal. 102.16. When the Lord buildeth up Zion, he shall appear in his Glory, because that Work would manifest the Power and Veracity of God.

2. The Glory of Christ, is, the shewing forth that Excellence which belongs unto his Mediatory Office; accordingly, when he wrought his first Miracle at Cana, he is said to have manifested forth his Glory, Joh. 2.11. All the Evidences which bear Witness unto his Priestly, or Regal, or Teaching Offices, do glorisie the Redeemer, 2 Pet. 1.17.

3. It must be remembred, that the Glory of the Deity, is distinct from that of the Redeemer; yet they are never separated from, much less opposed unto each other. 'Tis otherwise, as to the Glory of God, and of a Creature; these do often disagree and clash against each other. When Herod accepted an undue Honour from a flattering Crowd; this took away the Honour that was due unto God, Acts 12.23. but the Honour that is given unto Christ, doth bring Glory unto God, Joh. 17.1. These two are so inseparably joyn'd together, that they can never be put asunder. Let us now enquire,

2. How the Sickness and Death of those who are the Friends of Christ, do bring Glory unto God and the Redeemer: While our Eye is sixt only upon the dark side (or Supersicies) of this Object, we shall be tempt­ed to put such a Question as once Nathanael did concerning Nazareth, Joh 1.46. Can any good thing come from such Evil? Can so barren a Soil produce such precious Fruit as the Glory of God? Can this dark and dismal Cloud send forth such a refreshing Light? At the first view it seems dishonou­rable unto God, when these Bodies, which are his Temples, are demolish'd and laid in the Dust: This, I say, seems a disparage­ment unto him who rais'd and dwelt in 'em. When these pleasant Plants which stood in the Courts of God are overturn'd, this seems [Page 67]a damage unto the Heavenly Husbandman: But notwithstanding these Objections of Sense, 'tis undeniably true, that the Sick­ness and Dissolution of Christians, do really contribute unto the Glory of God and Christ: The Evidences which confirm this, do relate both unto those Christians who are remov'd by Death, and unto those who survive.

1. With respect unto the Dying Friends of Christ themselves: Their Sickness and Death do many ways bring Glory unto God and the Redeemer.

1. The Divine Veracity or Truth is glori­fied by executing the Primitive Sentence, which hath been given against all the Poste­rity of fallen Adam, Gen. 3.19. Dust thou art, and unto Dust thou shalt return. A peculiar Glory redounds unto God, when these Decla­rations which signifie his Councel and Pur­pose are punctually accomplisht. (As on the contrary, nothing is more dishonoura­ble in its own Nature than Falshood, which is counted, even by Lyars themselves, an in­tolerable Reproach.) Compare Num. 14. ver. 21. with ver. 35. The Death of every Christian doth seal unto the Truth of God.

2. The Divine Holiness, and hatred of Sin, are honour'd by the Sickness and Death of those Christians who have provok'd the An­ger of God, though they die in Peace. We have memorable Instances in Moses, in Jo­siah, and the Corinthian Christians; some of [Page 68]whom were cut off by Death, though not Condemned with the World, 1 Cor. 11.30, 32. Concerning Moses, we read, that by his un­advised Language he offended God: At one time he complain'd of his Service and Bur­then, and desired rather to die, than bear it any longer, Num. 11.14, 15. At another time he spoke with indecent Passion unto the Israeltes; and then God pronounc'd the Arrest which you read, Num. 20.12. That he should not bring the Israelites into the Promised Land. Now the executing of that Sentence did glo­rifie God, because it manifested his Holiness, which could not behold the desiling Ble­mishes that were in Moses, who was one of the most eminent Favourites of God.

3. The Divine Sovereignty and Dominion are honour'd by the Obedience and Resig­nation of Sick and Dying Believers; When a Christian exercises that Submission unto the Orders of God, that he willingly drinks the bitterest Cup which his Father gives him; how Honourable must this be unto God I This last act of Obedience Crowns the whole Christian course: certainly there is no Spe­ctacle more grateful unto God, than a Chri­stian chearfully yielding back his Soul unto him who gave it: 'Twas a resigning Obedi­ence that rendred the Death of Christ a Sa­crifice of a sweet smelling savour unto God, who was in a most eminent manner glorified by it: Though a Dying Christian cannot [Page 69]offer an Attoning Sacrifice, yet he is a kind of Holocaust, when his Death is perfum'd with a chosen Submission unto the disposing Will of God. On this Account the Death of the Saints, (or as the Hebrew word imports) the Favourites, is precious in the sight of the Lord, Psal. 116.15.

4. The Powerful Grace of Christ is honour'd by the inward support and refreshment which sick and dying Christians receive from him; at a time when the Daughters of Mu­sick are brought low, and all the Pleasures of Life are without relish; then to feel an invi­gorating strength which renews the inner Man, when the outer decays, and is salling down; this magnifieth the powerful Grace of God, who giveth power to the Faint; and to them that have no Might, encreaseth Strength, Isa. 40.29. A Principle of Natural Cou­rage will afford some Support; but 'tis Di­vine Grace alone which can enable a Chri­stian to triumph over the Pain and Danger of a Mortal Sickness, 2 Cor. 5.6.

5. Especially God and Christ are glorified in the Victory which a Christian gains over Death: This last Enemy is a very Formida­ble one. An Alexander, who could Encoun­ter the vast Armies of Asian Monarchs, who had despised the Terrour of Battels, in his last Sickness was so afraid of Death, that his Court was sill'd with Diviners and Victims, and all imaginable Methods were try'd to [Page 70]preserve his Life. When therefore a Chri­stian, though of the tender, fearful Sex, is raised above the Fear of Death, is confident, and willing rather to be absent from the Body, and present with the Lord, as the Apostle speaks, 2 Cor. 6.5. This doth highly Honour the Grace and Power of the Redeemer, through whom alone it is that a Christian is more than a Conqueror, Rom. 8.36, 37.

6. The Redeemer is glorified in that Bles­sedness which he immediately confers upon the Souls of his deceased Friends. No sooner had the Israelites pass'd the Red Sea, and got upon free Land, but they send up their joy­ful Praises, and mention how gloriously God had Triumphed over their Enemies: What Heart can conceive the Songs of Praise which Celebrate the Lamb, and him who sits upon the Throne, when one believing Soul is set free from the House of Bondage, and trans­planted into the Heavenly Countrey? when a Soul that is Imprison'd and Fetter'd in a House of Clay, is received into the heavenly Habitations which the Redeemer hath pre­pared? Surely, if those who heard of the Conversion of Paul, glorified God in him, or on his account; those who were Witnesses and Spectators of a far more surprizing Change, could not be wanting in their Ad­miration and Praises of that God who Crowns with unfading Glory.

7. The Death of a Christian brings glory [Page 71]unto the Redeemer, as it is the Occasion of that astonishing Operation, which will raise the dissolved Body, and transform it into the likeness of his own most glorious Body. The sinal Conquering of the last Enemy, must be exceeding glorious unto that Power which effects it. The Raising of Lazarus, and re­instating his Body in a perishing Life, did glorifie the Redeemer; and this he had his Eye upon in making this Answer: What then must be the Raising of a Corrupted Bo­dy unto a blessed Immortality? By which the Children of the Resurrection are made like the Angels of God: Read and consider that memorable passage, 2 Thes. 1.10. Let us now briesly reflect upon the

2. Evidence which I propounded, viz. How the Sickness and Death of Christians glorifie God, with respect unto them who survive, whether they be more nearly or distantly related. And

1. God is thus glorified on such Occasions, because he manifests his Divine Power in compensating and supplying that Loss. When useful and serviceable Christians are removed by Death, nothing but Almighty Power can fill up such a void empty space, and raise up others to carry on his Work; so that the Church resembles that Poetical Tree, in which as fast as one Branch was broken off, another did spring in the same place: Thus when Moses dies, God finds [Page 72]a Joshua who was qualified to succeed him: When a David is laid unto his Father's, and sees Corruption, God sills his Throne with a Solomon.

2. The Exercises of Graces in surviving Relatives or Acquaintance, doth glorifie God on such Occasions. When holy Job, upon the surprizing Death of all his Chil­dren (at the same time) doth Adore the Sovereignty of God, and blesseth his Name, when he took his dearest Comforts away; this did effectually refute the reproaching Accusation of Satan, and brought a singular Honour to God; who is also

3. Glorified in the Comforting of those who are troubled and cast down by such Pro­vidences: This is one glorious Character of the blessed God, That he comforteth those who are cast down, 2 Cor. 7.6. Did not his Hand bind up the Wound, no other could do it; all the Consolations which a Creature can pre­sent, are weak and ineffectual things; but the supports of the heavenly Comforter are ne­ver more sensible than under the sense of af­flictive Providences, 2 Cor. 1.3, 4. In the

4. And Last place, The Sickness and Death of Christians bring Glory unto God, as they are serviceable unto the Souls of them who survive: As those Fruits that fall from the Tree, and lye about it, make the Soyl more fruitful; such sorrowful Providences being excellent Instructions about our Duty, and [Page 73]powerful Arguments to excite us unto our great Work: What the Apostle saith con­cerning his Bonds, was equally true concerning his Death: They were for the furtherance of the Gospel, Phil. 1. How many have owed their Conversion and Establishment unto the Coun­sels and Examples of dying Christians? The Histories of every Church abound with such Instances. I should now have shewed,

3. On what accounts this Consideration is sufficient to Quiet and Support a Christian under such sorrowsul Providences: Of this I shall give this Threefold Account.

1. That Love which a Christian bears un­to God and Christ, makes their Honour dear­er unto him than any Interest of his own; and consequently, the advancing of that will sweeten all the Crosses that can oppress him. When Jeptha's Victory over the Amonites had got him more than ordinary Honour; this was so pleasing to his Daughter, that she was willing to endure the harsh Effects of her Fa­ther's Vow, Judg. 10.36. Such a temper there was in the Apostle, when he could declare that his chief Expectation and Design was, that Christ might be magnisied in his Body, whether by Life or Death, Phil. 1.20.

2. A Christian knows that when God and Christ are glorified, then the grand Purpose and End of God are attained: We are sure that the blessed God cannot design any Gain or Prosit to himself in his Actings, but his [Page 74]design is to get himself Glory; and it must be very delightful unto God, when this Councel of God is accomplish'd.

3. A Christian obtains his own chief Re­quest when God is glorified; all his other Pe­titions are subordinate unto this: He remem­bers that the Hallowing or Glorifying of God's Name stands in the very first place in that Exemplar Prayer which Christ hath left unto the Church; and therefore when God doth glorifie himself, though in a way that is grievous unto the Humane Nature, yet a Christian Rejoyceth. And now it were easie to draw many instructive Inferences from this Answer made by Christ: As,

1. It will follow from hence, that the sur­prizing Death of the most holy and useful Persons, Applicat. is no Objection a­gainst the Providence and Government of God. 'Twas usual among the Heathens to Accuse their Gods; yea, some of 'em proceed­ed to deny the Existence and Providence of a Deity, because some excellent and vertuous Per­sons were taken away by a surprizing Death. The Epicurean, who disputes against Provi­dence, thought his Queries unanswerable, when he ask'd, Why (if there was a Provi­dence) the two brave Scipio's were Routed and Slain by the Carthaginians, Cicer. de N. D. l. 3. with several such like Questions, which were more tolerable in the Gen­tiles who knew not God; but it is inexcu­sable [Page 75]in those who have the Oracles of God committed unto them, to think or speak at such a rate.

2. What adorable Wisdom belongs unto the blessed God, who can glorifie himself by those very events that seem most disho­nourable unto him: 'Tis observed by the Apostle, that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, 1 Cor. 1.25. i. e. In those very events which seem inconsistent with Wisdom, wherein God seems to act foolishly, yet in them he (infinitely) surpasses all the skill and Wisdom that are in men. The Divine Wisdom can build Trophies upon those ve­ry places which seem to swallow it up: The cutting off the natural Branches, the cast­ing away the Body of the Jewish Nation, at the first view appear'd dishonourable unto the Truth and Fidelity of God; but the consideration of this event draws from the Apostle that admiring Exclamation, Rom. 11. v. 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wis­dom and knowledge of God!

3. How vast is the distance between the Thoughts of God, and those of Men! Isa. 55.8. The subject of the Text gives a me­morable instance: The Sisters of Lazarus might be apt to conclude that their Bro­thers Sickness and Death would be on va­rious accounts dishonourable unto Christ: 1. As they seemed to import Unkindness, or Impotence in Christ, who on this occa­sion [Page 76]carry'd it, as if he either neglected his Friend, or was unable to help him: And 2. As they seem'd to argue the unprofita­bleness of Christs Service. When Lazarus was Dead and laid in his Grave, those who knew the Friendship of the Redeemer unto him, would be tempted to speak on this manner: ‘How little advantage hath poor Lazarus got by his Acquaintance with, and service unto Christ, who if he had Power to Recover and prevent the Death of his Sick Friend, has been guil­ty of strange unkindness.’ But in the con­clusion, the Sickness and Death of Lazarus did bring a far greater Honour unto Christ, than his recovering would have done: That Miracle which was wrought in rai­sing him from the Dead, did exalt the Name of Christ, and encreased the number of his Followers; take heed therefore of leaning unto your own understanding, but whenever the ways of God have a perplex­ing obscurity in them, imitate the Practice of the Psalmist, Psal. 73.17. Go into the Sanctuary, and view them in Scripture light; this will discover a refreshing brightness in those Events which have the most hor­ror in them.

4. How real and great a difference doth Converting Grace make between a Christi­an, and the unbelieving World! The latter are wholly insensible unto the considerati­on [Page 77]us'd in the Text; the glory of God and Christ have no efficacy to quiet and sup­port their minds; Arguments taken from their own Reputation or Interest, have some force to moderate Sorrow and keep it from excess; but the glorifying of God by their Crosses, is an Argument which hath no strength with them; whereas it hath the greatest with a Christian, to whom nothing else need be represented: Our Sa­viour well understood to whom he made the Answer in the Text; they were his sin­cere Disciples, who were capable of per­ceiving the force of this Consideration; which afterward our Saviour repeats unto Martha, v. 40. Thou shouldest see the glory of God: Unto a Martha this would be a grate­ful and transporting spectacle, when a Ju­das had far rather see thirty pieces of Silver▪ (than this glory of God.) Let us try our selves by this Rule; this will discover our State and our Character, and whether our Patience under Tryals be a Christian Grace, or but a Philosophick Virtue; this latter groweth from other Principles; when therefore our Minds are quieted under de­jecting Providences, without having re­course unto the support of the Text, 'tis a sad evidence that we are alienated from the Life of God: If the consideration of his Glory cannot over-ballance the Pain and Loss that we are expos'd to, we are very [Page 78]unlike to our Redeemer, whose troubled Soul was composed with this Thought, that his Fathers Name would be glorified by his accurs'd Death, John 12.27, 28.

5. Let us whom this sorrowful occasion hath drawn together (and all who but hear of it) give diligence to correspond with the design that God hath in this severe Provi­dence: Surely he hath not made this breach, only to open a passage unto Sorrow and Compassion, much less to furnish us with new matter of discourse: No, he designs that we should glorifie him in our Hearts and Lives, more than we have formerly done: And this leads me unto that particu­lar Application which I propounded to spend some time in, and which will assist us in making that Improvement of this Provi­dence as will bring glory unto God. All that I shall add will fall under these follow­ing Directions.

1. Let us justifie this severe Providence of God: 'Tis highly dishonourable unto him when we blame and accuse his ways, as if they were not equal; as on the other hand 'tis Honourable to God, when we subscribe every Arrest that our Heavenly Judge hath pronounc't. 'Tis related concerning Aaron, that when his two Sons were cut off, he held his peace, Lev. 10.2, 3. He made no Objections against that tremendous severi­ty of God, when he understood that He [Page 79]had glorified himself by that Act. Blessed be God who enableth the Relict of the De­ceas'd thus to glorifie God: May this In­stance of his Resignation very much exalt the Name of God, and bring Reputation unto strict and serious Religion. Let this conclusion be deeply fix'd in all our Souls, that however severe the dealings of God are, they are always Righteous and Equal.

2. Let us Honour and Imitate the Holy Example of the Deceas'd Friend of Christ, the worthy Mrs. Shower. None I hope will expect a large Historical account of her Life, or a Funeral Encomiastick; this latter she needs not, for her own Works praise her in the gate, and are a more valuable Mo­nument, than any made by Art.

Her Parentage and Beauty, her Wit and Charms of Conversation (tho' even those were Gifts from above) must now be pass'd over in silence; for all these are Praeda Mor­tis, a Prey unto Death and the Grave; which consideration ought to cure the undue Esteem of them, that many professing Chri­stians discover; and perhaps, few places are more guilty of this Ʋnchristian Error, than this City, where it seems to be the chief Ambition of many, to out-vye others in every thing, rather than in real Holi­ness, which is the only Ornament that Death cannot spoil us of; accordingly I shall only take notice of those Excellencies [Page 80]which do fit the dignifying Character of Lazarus unto her, One whom Jesus loved: (And however useful and honourable the Love of our Acquaintance and Fellow-creatures may be unto us, yet at last this Character of Sick and Dying Lazarus will be more valued, than any the most admir'd Titles of Honour.) To make good this Character, it will not be necessary to Describe her in her Personal and Relative Capacities; in both which, those who knew Her will ac­knowledge that she had not many Equals, 'Twill be enough to draw the few following Lineaments.

1. The Holy Wisdom which did shine in her Conduct, and which she discover'd, both in leaving her Native Land, to enjoy the advantages of Living in a Religious Fami­ly (to which she was related,) and in the Choice that she made when she changed her Condition: Neither the prejudices of the Age, or the Advantage of other offers, could hinder from accepting One, as the Partner of her Life, from whom she could expect the best assistance in the Service of God, and the concerns of her Soul; and this she did at a time when there was no prospect of that Tranquility, which now encourageth Per­sons of his Character and Profession.

2. Her Conscientious Attendance upon the Publick Worship: Of this I am capable to give Witness, having had the opportuni­ty [Page 81]of Living a considerable time under the same Roof; and have observ'd how Her Love unto the Solomn Assemblies, made Her overcome many difficulties, which are pleaded by others in excuse of their neg­lect; neither the Heat or Cold of the Sea­son, nor the hazard to her Health, (especi­ally when great with Child) could induce her to lose any Opportunity of waiting at the Gates of Wisdom; such Advantages were pleasant, and such Seasons were re­freshing unto her Soul.

3. The Acquaintance she had with Secret Religion: She was not one of those Pro­fessors who shut up their Religion within the Temple Walls, where they take it up, and leave it at their departure: No, she made many secret Visits unto her Heavenly Bridegroom, and from him obtain'd that Wisdom and Modesty, and other Virtues which adorn'd her Conversation.

4. Her submission unto the disposing Will of God, and the comforting hopes she had, do compleat the Character of one whom Jesus Loved in this World, and hath now receiv'd in the other, where she is plac'd out of the reach of Sin and Sorrow, of Child-bearing Pains, and Child-bed Sick­ness, and where no Clouds shall ever inter­rupt the Light of God, and of the Lamb: But if we desire to meet her there, we must imitate her Faith and Holiness: And

3. Lastly, Let us glorifie God by receiv­ing the Instruction which this sorrowful Providence presents to us.

1. Concerning the Ʋncertainty of Life: when so bright and Vigorous a Flame is suddenly Extinguisht, who can entertain a just expectation of a long Life? What folly must it be to reckon upon many years, when our Lives are in so perpetual hazard? Let us number our days aright, and fix upon our Hearts that Conclusion which David made, 1 Chron. 29.18. Our days on the Earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding; which consideration had no question a strong influence upon that famous Libera­lity toward the Service of God, which is related in that Chapter; and it would make us more active in his Service.

2. Learn the Vanity of Creature-assistances; could the Love of a Husband, or the Coun­sels of Physitians, or the Service of Friends have been Effectual, there had not been an occasion for this sorrowful Solemnity. 'Tis become Natural to us, to place an undue confidence in Created helps; exceeding apt we are to trust in Riches or Wisdom, and in the means of Health, when in them­selves they are empty and broken Cisterns, which will send us away disappointed and asham'd.

3. The necessity of speedy Preparation for Death and Judgment; every Funeral presseth [Page 83]this upon those who are witnesses of it. Ma­ny of you have lately heard From my Br. S. on those words, Matt. 24.44. Be you also ready. the Nature and Importance of this great work, and so many have discoursed con­cerning it, that I need not enlarge: It hath not been without a design worthy of the Wisdom of God, that our Deceas'd Friend should not be called out of the World by Death, until she was known unto two Societies in this City, whereby her Death is rendred more Instructive. And now that a Funeral Sermon hath drawn Multitudes to attend here, you will receive no advantage from it, yea 'twill prove very hurtful to you, if you do not seriously engage, that you will give all di­ligence to prepare for Death and Eternity. This work is never unseasonable, and no­thing can be pleaded to excuse the neg­lect of it.

You who are Young, and in the Flower of your days, do not put off this Affair; say not as the negligent Jews once did con­cerning the Rebuilding of their Temple, The time is not come, Hag. 1.2. The approach of Death will make you of another mind, when you hear the sound of that Messen­gers Feet, who will bring you to Judg­ment; you will then conclude that this is the one Thing necessary, that all the Con­cerns [Page 84]of Trade, and Offices of Civility are meer Trifles in comparison with this work, upon which your everlasting Wel­fare depends. What meanest thou then, O Sleeper! arise and call upon God, and stir up thy self that thou perish not; look of­ten down into the Chambers of the Grave; dwell (by solemn Thoughts) in the Valley of the Shadow of Death: Be not afraid lest this should make thee Melancholly or Distracted, for this path leads unto the most desireable Joy. Tho no Distracted­ness is to be feared, in comparison of the Madness which unrepenting careless Sin­ners are guilty of, and whom Death will find unprepared. And when a view of your Latter End has compos'd and awa­ken'd your Souls, then put the Question to your selves, which you find 2 Pet. 3.2. Seeing that all these things shall be Dissolved, (or are Dissolving,) what manner of Persons ought we to be, in all manner of Conversation and Godliness▪