judgement to the parents and to the children too Vpon the Parent as farre as hee is guiltie of the neglect of his dutie and of evill example and the like so hee is punished in the shame that befalleth his posterity As it is a blessing upon a man that hee is not ashamed to sit in the Gates as Solomon speakes no man can upbraid him with his children So it is a correction to Gods children even when their children prove ungodly so farre as they have beene negligent and carelesse of their duty This was the case of old Eli a good man yet neverthelesse the hand of God was gone out against his house and familie and what was the reason of it Because thou honourest thy sonnes above mee they made themselves vile and thou restrainest them not therefore will I bring a judgement upon thy house at which both the cares of every one that heareth it shall tingle I say it may come to passe and that by reason of that naturall affection that is in Parents that that miserie that befalleth their children may bee an exceeding crosse and affliction to them God layes sharpe corrections on them when he makes those children which they accounted as comforts and the hope of their life to bee the very crosse and vexation of their life There is then yee see such a course of Gods dealing with men to visit the sinnes of the Fathers upon the children that is if the children walke in their fathers steps if the child and the father agree in a course of sinne if the father by omission or commission make himselfe guiltie of the sinne of the child c. and so if the child either by imitation or allowance goe on in his fathers way he draweth a greater judgement upon himselfe by adding to his fathers sinne and as they are alike in sinne so they shall be alike in judgement You see likewise for temporall judgements that God may and often-times doth lay many sicknesses and crosses upon the children for the sinne of their parents that they may bee smitten by the judgement that is upon their children and yet neverthelesse the children may be free from sinne for who ever was afflicted being innocent Is this so then in the first place it should teach Parents to take heede of making themselves miserable in their posteritie by sinning against God There are specially three sorts of sinnes in Scripture for which God continueth his judgements upon mens posterities and families The first are sinnes against the first Table against the worship of God Idolatrie and such like for these God smiteth mens posterities as wee may see in Ieroboam and others And so the neglect of dutie prophanenesse and negligence in Gods worship Let thy wrath come upon the heathen and on the families that call not upon thy name A familie I know in a large sense signifieth a Nation but in a strict sense a familie or posterity in that place it signifieth both A Familie or people that lay aside the worship of God and the sanctifying of his Name those that lie under this charge of not calling upon the name of God let thy wrath come upon them A second sort of sinnes are those against the second Table unrighteousnesse injustice uncleannesse and the like for those sins God visiteth mens posterities punisheth them in their children sometime by taking them away sometimes by smiting them with such sicknesses and temporall afflictions and chastisements as Parents have continuall matter of sorrow and humiliation and calling their sins to mind The Scripture is full of instances of this kinde Thirdly for the neglect of dutie to their children when Parents are too fond and remisse in their education and carelesse in their dutie therefore Iob was fearefull of this lest his sons should sinne against God and he was continually in prayer that God would keepe them in his feare Parents if they would have a blessing continued on their posteritie they should be carefull of sanctifying their Families by the worship of God and by their walking with an upright heart in the middest of their house by dealing righteously with men in all their businesses not to strive to reare their posteritie by wealth but by grace to leave them heires of the blessing rather then of much money That is the way to have comfort in children and posterity Yee see how few of those that in this Citie or other places that have got such wealth thrive in many generations nay it may be not in the next generation but come some to notorious beggarie in the sight of others that others may be warned how they get estates by unjustice and unrighteousnesse to leave to their families There is the judgement of God going along with unrighteous gaine and a sinfull life and falleth upon posteritie as farre as they approve of or walke in their fathers waies In the second place it should teach children to take heed of the sinfull courses of their Parents if they will not joyne with them in their punishment nay if they will not have the increase of their punishments take heed I say take heed of going on in their sinnes Remember the charge that the Lord gave concerning Babilon Come out of her if you will not partake of her Plagues if yee will not partake of their plagues take heed of partaking in the sinnes of your Parents Here was Davids pietie he calleth his sinnes to remembrance So ought Parents in all crosses that befall their families or posteritie if any child be sicke or weake or if there be any crosse in their estates or trade or successe in their businesse whereby they should maintaine their Families to call their owne sinnes to remembrance to looke over the severall commands of God to see what sinnes they are guiltie of that they have not yet repented of Now wee come to Davids carriage when the childe was dead But now hee is dead wherefore should I fast Can I bring him backe againe I shall goe to him but hee shall not returne to mee Here yee have Davids carriage and the reasons why he did not fast First because it was against reason wherefore should I fast in this expression he implieth that he saw no reason for it and that made him forbeare it Secondly it is altogether bootlesse and needlesse Can I bring him backe againe Thirdly I shall goe to him I have somewhat else to doe then to spend my time in unprofitable sorrow there is a matter that concerneth mee more neerely to thinke upon that is concerning my owne death to prepare for that And lastly the last reason is Hee shall not returne to mee These are the reasons of the alteration of his carriage upon the death of the child Concerning sorrow for the dead ye must understand it of excessive sorrow Here is not forbidden a due measure of sorrow that is allowed but he speakes of sorrow in the excesse
parts the maine matter whereof things were made and shall that be the destruction of that whereof it is made Yes saith the Apostle All things were made by water too and yet they were destroyed by water and why not then by fire But God deferreth the promise of his comming What of that He putteth it not quite off though he deferre yet it is not long with God for there is no time long to him that is eternall and in that he deferreth it is that some men may be brought to salvation and others made inexcusable Thus the Apostle takes off all objections of the Atheists of the world and sheweth that there shall be a day of Iudgement Secondly it serveth for instruction If there shall be such a Iudgement to come if God will have such a time of reckoning with all his stewards in the world Then it teacheth us first not to busie our selves in judging one another why because there shall a time come of Gods Iudgement Who art thou saith the Apostle that judgest thy brother wee shall all stand before the judgement seate of Christ. Asif he should say What a bold part what a presumptuous part is this that thou shouldst judge thy brother Dost thou not know that there is one that shall judge him and thee is it fit that he that is a prisoner at the Barre should come and leape up into the place of the Iudge and sit in his seat Yee are all fellow prisoners together and yee must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. So in another place the same Apostle when hee would take men off from judging saith hee Iudge nothing before the time Why for the Lord will come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God As if hee should say Thou art not able to judge aright it may bee that man that thou dispraisest at that day may find praise with God Secondly Turne the judgement on thy owne heart bee more in judging of thy selfe that thou mayest not bee judged of the Lord. Will God call thee to a reckoning then begin to call thy selfe to a reckoning first How shall that bee done There is a double reckoning that every man must undergoe that will avoid this reckoning with God First hee must reckon with his owne heart Secondly with others First with his owne heart Every man must take all the advantages and opportunities that God hath given to reckon with himselfe Doth God awaken thy conscience by the preaching of his word Descend into thy owne heart It is that that the Lord lookes for that a man should say What have I done Doth God smite thee with someafflictions if with losses reckon with thy selfe how thou hast gained thy wealth If with disgraces reckon with thy selfe about thy pride and ambition and vanitie of thy heart If God smite thy body with sicknesse reckon with thy selfe about the imployment of thy health and the well usage of the times and seasons of grace Every evening call thy selfe to an account What have I done this day where have I beene In what company how have I carried my selfe there what good have I done what good have I received In the matters of thy calling reckon with thy selfe with what heart thou hast followed it with what care to conforme thy selfe to Gods word the rule of righteousnesse If thou hast been in pleasures whether they were lawfull and if they were whether they were lawfully used Thus must every man reckon with his owne heart as the Church in Lament 3. 39. Wherefore is the living man sorrowfull Man suffereth for his sinne let us search our wayes and turne againe to the Lord. There are many that thinke to out-face God and men in their sinnes but know this who-ever thou art that if thou forbeare to reckon with thy owne heart God will assuredly reckon with thee thou must reckon here or hereafter with thy selfe or with God therefore saith David Psal. 4. Commune with your owne hearts upon your beds that is bee sure to take time from your sleepe rather then to neglect this businesse of reckoning with your owne hearts Secondly Reckon with others too Let that man that is in authoritie a Magistrate so carry himselfe in his imployments that he may reckon with the people and give an account to them if need be as Samuel did Whose oxe have I taken or whose asse have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith The Lord saith hee is a witnesse that yee have not found any thing in my hand And not only so but that they may bee able to witnesse that they have beene great instruments of Gods glory and of the good of others Let Ministers reckon with the people committed to their charge as Paul did when hee tooke his leave of the Ephesians and was to goe up to Ierusalem I take you to record this day saith he that I am pure from the bloud of all men for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsell of God and I have kept backe nothing that was profitable unto you but have shewed you and taught you publikely and from house to house And because I know that after my departure there will somewhat remaine to be done for Grievous wolves will enter in not sparing the flocke therefore I will be carefull that there be a succession of faithfull Ministers after me and therefore I give charge to the rest that follow that they take heed to themselves and to the flocke over which the holy Ghost hath made them overseers to feed the Church of God which hee hath purchased with his owne bloud Let Masters reckon with their Families their servants and children whether they have done their dutie as faithfull Masters not only in furthering the service of God but also in furthering of them by instruction and example to all good Let those that are in a way of traffique learne to reckon with those that they deale withall If thou hast wronged any by unjust gaine thou must reckon with him by restitution there is nothing that thou hast gotten unjustly for which thou dost not reckon now but as Saint Iames saith at that day shall eat thy flesh as it were fire Therefore Zacheus when salvation was brought to his house If I have done unjustly and wronged any I restore it Doubtlesse there are many men that cloathe themselves in Sattin and Velvet and abound in all varietie and bravery that would now be houselesse and monilesse and apparellesse it may bee if they should make restitution of their unjust gaine Well doe it as yee love your owne soules you shall reckon as you are Gods stewards with him how you have come by every penny that you have in
to heart they consider not the causes wherefore God takes away those good men A Land a Kingdome a State a People a place is much weakned when those that are righteous and mercifull men when those that stand in the gappe and use their endevours to prevent judgements are taken away The house will certainly fall when the pillars are removed They are the people of God only that hold up a state that hold up the world Assoone as Noah is put into the Arke presently commeth the deluge upon the World Assoone as ever Lot was got up to Zoar presently the Lord rained downe fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah Assoone as ever the mourners are marked presently commeth the destroying Angell upon the rest Beloved when wee see those that are mourners for the evils of the times and places where they live tooke away we should lay it to heart and consider it as a signe of Gods displeasure as a signe that hee is a going and departing when he takes away his jewels as a signe that he is a comming to judge the world when hee beginneth to separate to take to himselfe his owne Certainly as soone as ever that number of the elect shall bee accomplished when the company of those that God hath determined to eternall life shall be fulfilled when the sheepe of Christ that are yet to be brought into his fold are gathered together when the fulnesse of the Gentiles is come in and the nation of the Iewes added then the world shall bee burnt with fire and the day of Iudgement shall come nothing shall hinder that generall destruction that shall be the end of all things here below As it is with the generall Iudgement of the world so with particular Iudgements upon Nations when God takes away his people when the Saints goe out of Ierusalem to Pila then commeth the sword of the enemie upon Ierusalem when God drawes out his owne people presently commeth judgement upon the rest It is good to observe Gods method and order that he takes in governing of the world at this day that in the death of the servants of God wee may consider our owne time that wee may prepare for those evils that are a comming and for those greater judgements that are hastning Thus you see what use may bee made of laying to heart the death of others God is much glorified thereby For all his attributes are seene in all his workes and the glorifying of God is a declaring of God to be as glorious as hee hath revealed himselfe to be in his attributes which is by shewing of them forth in his workes When men can see the wisedome the justice the power the mercie the truth the soveraigntie of God and all in the death of others then they glorifie God in taking to heart the death of others You see likewise what good commeth to a mans selfe by laying to heart the death of others He sees thereby the certainty of his owne death He sees the nature of death and what the proper worke of it is viz. to separate betweene him and all those outward comforts all those props and staies whereupon his heart rested too much on earth in the daies of his vanitie And lastly he sees the end and cause why God sendeth Death into the world sometime in judgement that men should take heed of sin sometime in mercie in mercy to the men themselves and in mercy also to those that live that they seeing the servants of God lodged up before the tempest may learne to feare and to hide and secure themselves under Gods speciall providence who can either hide them amongst the living or the dead in the worst times Now let us conclude with some application to our selves In the first place it serveth for the just reproofe of that great neglect that is in the world at this day that men lay not to heart the death of others I wish that this were only the sinne of worldly men I know to a worldly man it is of all things the most unpleasant thought that can be to thinke of death hee cannot endure to heare this they shall fetch thy soule from thee It is as unpleasant to him as it is to a bankrout to heare of a Sergeant comming to arrest him as unpleasant as it is to a malefactour to heare of being brought before the Iudge And that is the reason why men in the time of feasting cannot endure such discourses at their Tables as might put sad thoughts of death into them oh these are to melancholy thoughts Yea but in the meane time it is thy folly thy want of wisedome Hee that was guided by the spirit of wisedome and had now bought some wisedome at a deare rate by wofull experience of his former follies hee now seeth that it was farre better to goe to the house of mourning that is seriously to consider of that which men account the most ordinary cause of mourning that is the death of others and of themselves then to goe to the house of feasting that is to sport a mans selfe in the pleasures of the world and to give libertie to a mans selfe to all manner of delights But I say I wish that this were their fault onely and that it may die with them But it is too much the fault of Gods owne people Moses is faine to pray for Israel in the Wildernesse where they saw so many die before them that God would give them wisedome to number their dayes And Ministers have still the same cause to pray for the people and Christians to pray one for another that God would give them wisedome to lay to heart the death of other men Have you well considered of Death when you can only discourse that such a one that was profitable in his instruction is dead such a one by whom we have had good in conversing with is dead such a one that was young and likely to live many yeares longer is dead What of all this this is but idle and emptie discourse What use makest thou of this to thy selfe dost thou gather from thence the certaintie of thy owne death Dost thou consider what Death will doe to thee when it commeth how that it will separate betweene thee and all things in the world as it hath done them Dost thou consider for what cause God sendeth Death abroad into the world Dost thou consider this with thy selfe as thou oughtest to doe This is an act of wisedome This is that wee call due consideration when the soule reflects upon it selfe it is their case now and it will be mine and mine in the same manner therefore it is good for me to set my accounts straite with God When thou accompaniest another to the grave dost thou conclude thus with thyselfe the very next time that any death is spoken of it may bee mine or as Saint Peter speakes to Saphira after the death of Annanias The feet of those that have buried
instances of this in the word of God But I hasten You see the reason Let us now come to make some use of it that we may not be prevented Wee have told you that it is true of States and Kingdomes of particular persons of every man that when in a course of sinne and impenitencie they cry peace to themselves then judgement and destruction is comming upon them It serveth therefore to informe us what to thinke of our selves of the estate of this Land wherein wee live of these times wherein we are fallen What can we expect when we consider to what a height of sinne wee are come how impenitent men are how obstinate and hard-hearted and stiff-necked against the voyce of God in the Gospell and the meanes of Grace but destruction to come upon us If we looke upon the sinnes of men wee may perceive even a generall ripenesse for judgement When the sinnes of the Amorites were full Judgement came upon them How neere the sinnes of this Land are come to that fulnesse wee know not wee have cause to feare Wee see in other Countreys the shaking of the sword upon us it hath not yet awakened us to feare God At home wee have had the voyce of the Prophets the Ministers crying unto us from day to day to returne lest destruction come upon us it hath not brought us to returne from our sinnes Wee have seene the mercies of God upon particular persons and families it hath not awakened men to walke conscionably in their places Wee see no reformation there is rather an increase of sinne And what can we expect there wants but one sinne and when that is come sudden destruction commeth What is that Securitie And have wee not cause to bewaile the generall securitie that is amongst us May not the Angell of the Lord returne that answer as hee did in the first of Zephany All the world is at rest Goe into the streets the houses the shops of men every man is at rest no man is troubled about his estate nor affected with Gods displeasure either against himselfe or the Land wee live in See is not the Land as secure as they of Laish or worse They were secure because they did not heare of the danger of the purpose of the Danites against them therefore their securitie was not altogether so culpable and blame-worthy But I will tell you what securitie ours is nay the holy Ghost hath told us to our hands Prov. 23. 34. That judgement there that is threatned against a man that goeth on in sinne seemes to bee a judgement executed upon us at this time Thou shalt be as a man that lies downe in the middest of the sea or as hee that lies upon the top of a must They have striken mee shalt thou say and I was not sicke they have beaten mee and I felt it not when I awake I will seeke it yet againe Our security I say is like that of a man in the middest of the sea and yet asleepe as a man upon the top of a mast and yet asleepe Nay men not only in danger but such as have the stroke upon them They have striken mee and I was not sicke they have wounded me and I felt it not Is it not thus with us in these dead and secure times that wee live in And shall wee say that wee are not asleepe Hath not the Lord sent the destroying Angell amongst us that hath smitten thousands in our streets and yet we have not felt it Shall we say we are not in danger Wee are as a man that sleepeth on the top of a mast at Sea Nay as a man in the middest of the waves in a dead sleep like such as are drunke and yet wee feele nothing Truly we have little cause to be secure we have little cause to flatter our selves with vaine conceits of peace and continuance of prosperity if wee looke well about us Where is any man that takes occasion by what he heares abroad or sees at home to enter into the reformation of his owne house of his owne heart It may be some men will say It is an unjust tax that you put upon us wee are not so secure as you speake of You shall scarse come to any mans table but they will bee talking of the judgements abroad You shall scarse meet a man in the streets but hee will leave other occasions and tell you how ill it goes with the Churches beyond the Seas You shall scarse meet with one in the field but all the time is tooke up with discourse of the evils at home or troubles abroad And is this a signe of security Alas beloved this is to bee asleepe in the middest of the waves Every man is in the middest of danger and yet is secure How shall that appeare I will make it appeare by demonstrations and signes that may convince you before the Lord that wee adde this to the rest of our sinnes that in the middest of our sinnes and impenitency we are secure and therefore that destruction is comming upon us What are the signes whereby wee may bee convinced of securitie I will give you a few that by those you may see whether the Land the Citie your families your selves and all be not asleepe and at rest this day The first signe shall be this When men profit not by the judgements of God Certainly it is an evident signe of a deepe â—…eepe in sinne when neither the afflictions that are upon others or upon our selves doe any good upon us Looke how God hath smitten others Hath that awakned us You will say that it is a secure child that seeth his brother beaten for the same fault before his eyes and yet goeth on in it you will say that that is a secure malefactour that seeth such a person executed before his face and yet goeth on in the same fellony and theft And must we not say that we are a secure generation when we can see our brethren in other Countreys how they have suffered and yet goe on in the very same sinnes that wee our selves thinke the hand of God is upon them for We can talke of their sinnes of their unrighteousnesse and injustice wee can talke of their neglect of the Lords day and other holy duties and for these wee judge them smitten of God How is it then that we are such our selves how is it that wee goe on in unrighteousnesse in prophaning the Lords day in neglecting the house of God and our owne families Have they found such sweetnesse in these sinnes that wee walke on in the same Is it a pleasant and comfortable thing to be driven from Gods house and from our owne houses to be a reproach to all the world If we thinke that the hand of God is upon them for these sinnes how is it that wee are not awakened I remember Daniel in the fifth Chapter of his prophesie taxeth Belshazzar for this though thou knowest saith
in a carnall and sinfull security wee see then so many of us at least that are children of the light and of the day what cause we have to be awakened and to doe that for others which they will not doe for themselves to bee more earnest in prayer more frequent in humbling our soules for our owne sinnes and theirs that God may lay aside and cast away his judgements and displeasure that either are feared or lie upon us It is not a fearfull thing that when the Lyon roareth the beasts of the Forrests tremble Yet the God of heaven roareth against the world at this day and the proud hearts of men doe not tremble before him Shall the beasts of the Forrests bee afraid of the Lyon more then the poore wormes of the earth of the mighty God of heaven and earth But this is the horrible Atheisme and infidelity that is in the hearts of men that they beleeve not Gods power and justice nor his threatnings I beseech you let every man be exhorted to stirre up his soule to this businesse to awaken himselfe in his owne particular person Consider that there are others that are awake that may bring you sorrow enough bee you awakened to prevent those miseries Sathan is awake to tempt you Bee sober and watchfull saith Saint Peter for your adversary the divill goeth about seeking whom hee may devoure Sathan is busie and watching to make you his prey watch you therefore that you enter not into tentation Your owne Corruptions are alwayes awake The concupisence and depraved disposition of the soule it is awake still to further every evill motion to draw you aside by its tentations Therefore saith the Apostle I beseech you abstaine as pilgrims and strangers from fleshly lusts that warre against the soule Doe as men in warre when they know that they have a waking enemie against them they will be sure to keepe their Watch. Beloved you cannot but know that your corruptions are awake you may perceive it in your sleepes and dreames take heed that you bee not found in a spirituall sleepe that corruption prevaile not over you Besides these the enemies of the Church are awake Heretiques are awake every where to bring men from the faith to pervert the faith of many oh be awake to prevent those Besides others are awaken to ransack houses to destroy Cities oh be awake that you may bee at peace with the Lord of Hosts the God of Armies that hath all power in his hand to keepe you safe Againe secondly consider the evill of this security you are in of this disposition of heart when you cry peace peace to your selves in the middest of Gods displeasure It is an evill disease a spirituall lethargie That disease we know in the body it takes a man with sleepe and so he dieth Oh how many are in this spirituall lethargie in this deepe sleepe of sinne at this day the Lord awaken them It is the more dangerous because it is a senslesse disease A disease that takes the senses from the soule and diseases we know that take away the senses are dangerous for it is not only a signe that nature is overcome by the disease but besides it draweth men from seeking for cure Thus it is with the spirituall lethargie it shewes not only that sinne hath prevailed in the heart that it hath overcome grace and thereupon you have yeelded unto it to your pride and covetousnesse and vanity as those that are subdued under a disease but it hindreth you from seeking the meanes to escape out of it Thou saist saith Christ to the Church of Laodicea that thou art rich and needest nothing and that was the reason shee sought not to Christ. It is our condition we have knowledge enough therefore we care not for the ordinances of God Wee have faith enough and therefore wee care not for increasing it though none of us say thus with our tongues yet most of us beleeve thus with our hearts As David saith of the ungodly man the wickednesse of the wicked saith in my heart So may I say the neglecting of the ordinances the carelesnesse of men in the use of the meanes of salvation saith in my heart that there is abundance of securitie that they are in a spirituall lethargie that leadeth to death As it is an evill disease so it causeth much evill It is that which driveth away the Spirit of God It is the counsell of the Apostle Grieve not the Spirit quench not the Spirit When wee neglect the motions of the Spirit the Spirit withdraweth it selfe Doth not your owne experience tell you this Consider a little what motions you have had how God by the checks of your consciences sometime by secret incitements as it were a spurre upon your hearts hath moved you to dutie and to leave your sinnes How have these moved you you have had purposes it may be to performe these duties to walke in the wayes of God to please him in all things the neglect of these purposes hath driven away the Spirit it may be God now leaveth you to finall hardnesse Againe it letteth in Sathan When the uncleane spirit is driven out hee goeth about seeking rest and finding none at last hee returneth from whence hee went and findeth the house swept and garnished and he entreth in and bringeth seven spirits more worse then himselfe Alas how many men are there that for a fitt in some particulars have altered their course and have thought to become new men yet rushing upon former occasions and temptations to sinne they have growne secure and carelesse and now Sathan hath gotten stronger hold of them with seven spirits worse Nay this is that that drives away Christ and the comfortable influence of his Spirit in the heart The Church in Cant. 5. was asleepe was in a spirituall slumber and Christ goeth away Shee seekes him whom her soule loved but shee could not find him I speake now to those that were awake and are now asleepe their hearts it may be are awake but they walke not with that watchfulnesse and humility of spirit before the Lord as they ought therefore now they are heavy and destitute of the comforts of the Spirit Well they may thanke themselves Christ hath hid himselfe to teach them to be more watchfull And to conclude This is the cause of positive Judgements You know what came upon the old world and upon Sodome and Gomorrah for their securitie And likewise of future Judgements it is that which casteth men from heaven to hell That servant that saith in his heart my Master deferreth his comming and therefore hee eates and drinkes with the drunken what is the issue of it Hee shall have his portion given him with hypocrites where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Mat. 24. Here is enough I suppose to awaken you Whensoever the heart of man is held downe with secure
it farewell then Farewell to all to profits and pleasures and honours we shall carrie none of them away with us None of our pompe and glory shall descend after us as the Psalmist saith Farewell to all the gold and silver we have gathered together to all the goodly lands wee have purchased to all the stately houses we have built to all the pleasant gardens and orchards wee have planted to all the sports and pastimes we have had to all our merry consorts wee have kept company with to all our Jewels and wardrope to our dauncing and feasting and musicke Death pulleth us from all these and layeth us levell with the Dust It mingleth shovels and Scepters together It makes rich and poore the Prince and the Peasant alike I shall see man no more All relations we have now shall be broken off then betweene Husband and Wife Parents and children Master and servants neighbour and neighbour friend and friend wee shall dwell apart with our selves and not so much as shake hands one with another All the services and imployments wee are tooke up with here shall cease then there shall be no frequenting of the Exchange no exercising of Trade no bearing of Office no working in our Calling Death is the night that no man can worke in and Death is the place of silence where all affaires are cut off Where there is no worke nor invention nor wisedome nor counsell as Solomon saith in the booke of the Preacher Oh saith good Hezekiah I shall see the Lord no more in the land of the living There is no more service to be done to the Lord nor no more in the Church in that manner as it is now there is no exercise of Religion no Word no Sacraments no Fasting no Almes no Preaching no Prayer no Confession and thankes-giving The Corse cannot praise thee the Grave cannot give thankes they that goe downe into the pit cannot honour thee Oh Beloved how carefull and active and vigilant and diligent should this make us to be when wee consider it for the well improving of that time that wee have lent unto us and for the well-discharging of those places and offices and duties that are now laid upon us Considering that Death is an enemie that will cut us off from all affaires and bereave us of all opportunities of receiving or doing or performing any service to God at all either in Church or Common-wealth Fiftly and lastly Conscience of sinne and certaintie of iudgement and uncertainty of salvation for brevities sake I put them together these things come along with Death and make the face of Death terrible and fearfull Conscience of sinne first of all For Sinne it is the sting of Death And which of us is there that doth not arme Death with that sting Who can reflect on the passages of his life but he shall find it as full of sinne as the Leopard of spots Wee find nothing in sinne now but oblectation and delight and therefore wee hide it under our tongue and hugge it in our bosomes Oh but when Death commeth once it thrusteth these things out and oh the horrour and anguish that the poore conscience is tormented and made to smart with Againe with conscience of sinne certainty of judgement that is another dreadfull Arrow in Deaths quiver After Death commeth judgement And wee must all appeare before the judgement seat of Christ to receive according to what wee have done in our bodies First the particular judgement that passeth upon the soule it shall never be reverst for as the Tree falleth so it lieth And then the Generall judgement when the Body and Soule shall both bee wrapped up in the same condemnation Oh who can dwell with devouring fire with those everlasting burnings And then lastly The uncertaintie of our future estate For how many thousands bee there that die that cannot tell what becommeth of them when they die but they must sing that Farewell to their soules as Adrian to his My poore wandring soule whether art thou going What will become of thee Death then being accompanied with such an Armie of Terrours as these the Apostle might well call it as it is in the Text An Enemie That is the first thing Secondly we are to consider how it is called the last Enemie For two reasons First because it is the last that shall assault us So Caietan Secondly because it is the Last that shall bee destroyed So the common streame of interpreters It is the Last Enemie that shall assault us And here I have to note two things First that while wee live in the world we have more Enemies in the world For when there are some last there must bee others going before If Death bee the last Enemie there are some others beside I we have so God knoweth Enemies on every side Without us within us The Divell he is an Enemie to us and vollies of tentation hee hath to discharge against us So many tentations so many Enemies The World is an enemie to us An enemie when it seemeth a friend When it smileth it betrayeth it kisseth and killeth On the right hand it hath prosperitie to allure on the left hand adversitie to affright in every corner wicked counsell and company and example to seduce and insnare us Lastly our owne flesh is an enemie It is a Serpent wee carry in our bosomes The Divell is a serpent in Hell the world is a Serpent in our hand the flesh is a Serpent in our bosome Wee carry it with us where ever wee goe It is a con-naturall concorporate Enemie All our other enemies could doe us no hurt if it were not for that if this enemie that cohabiteth with us did not combine against us Know who everthou art there is no Enemie like thy selfe thy selfe is the worst enemie of all All the sparkes that flie out of Sathans engines could never sindge a haire of our heads if our flesh were not as tinder All the windes that blow in the foure corners of the world could not make shipwracke of us if our flesh were not a treacherous Pilot. Death that gnaweth the thread of our soule and body asunder could not separate them or them from God if the flesh did not whet the teeth of it and sharpen it with a sting So then we see we have a great many Enemies more to encounter us besides Death some without some within Therefore how should this teach us circumspect walking to behave our selves wisely in every thing as David when he knew Saul was his Enemie and had an eye upon him to doe him mischiefe How should it teach us to pray with David Lord teach mee thy way and lead me in the right path because of mine enemie That is one thing I have to note Againe another thing I have to note If Death be the last enemie then in all probabilitie it is like to be the worst Of the Divels regiment
owne soule Secondly consider when a man sleepes and slumbers in sinne how unfit he is for any Christian dutie and exercise for the maine parts of Godlinesse and Christianitie How unfit is a sleepie man for the actions of life and of his calling and how unfit and unable and indisposed is a man that slepes in sinne to the actions of spirituall life There be some maine parts and branches of our generall Calling to which this sleepe makes us unable The first of them is the exercise of godlinesse the maine thing in the profession of a Christian to exercise himselfe in godlinesse how unfit is a sleepie Christian for this who sees a man that is asleepe that workes in his Calling that can doe any good in it So how can a Christian exercise himselfe in the actions of his generall Calling when he sleepes in his praying in his hearing in his reading if these duties be done coldly what are they worth Actions that are done in a mans sleepe they come to nothing so a man that sleepes in sinne let him doe never so many good actions they are of no value A second maine branch of our Christian Calling is the spirituall combate to fight against our corruptions Now alas how unfit is a sleepie man either to expect or to repell an enemie when he is asleepe hee lies open to all disadvantage Sisera himselfe a strong and noble Captaine was so weake that a silly woman Iael slew him when he was asleepe therefore we know this part of our Christian calling cannot hold as long as wee sleepe in sinne Thirdly another part and maine branch of Christianitie is to expect our Masters returne to waite for the comming of our Lord that we may enjoy that sweet blessednesse that he hath promised and made us expect and waite for now how unfit is a sleepie man to waite for his Masters comming to set things in order Thus we see in these particular maine duties of Christianitie they cannot be performed by men that are asleep therfore we had need to wake our selves if we will either honour God or profit our selves if will be fit to doe service to God or to his Church wee must keepe our selves awake especially in the maine duties of Christianitie Thirdly consider while we sleepe and are secure the enemie never sleepes he is then most watchfull against us We may sleep and thinke we doe well enough to take our ease but Satan sleepes not we have a watchfull enemie to deale with And then he hath some advantage by our sleeping in Mat. 13. in that Parable The enemie sowes tares while men slept hee comes into the field of the heart where the word of God the good seed is sowne and what doth he doe there he sowes a croppe of thornes and they make the heart of a Christian like the field of Solomons sluggard Prov. 24. I passed by the field of the sluggard and it was all thornes c. Thus is the heart that is neglected of a man that is sleepie and secure in sinne When doe robbers and theeves assault the house In the dead time of the night when they may take men at advantage in their first sleepe then they come and breake into the house Shall theeves and burglaries watch at midnight to breake the house and cut mens throates and wilt not thou watch to save thy selfe Further consider as the enemie never sleepes so Gods mercy never sleepes Gods mercie is ever watching over us to doe us good and it watcheth to keepe us watchfull for what should all the mercies of God doe to us but keepe us watchfull Our God that we serve is not as Baal the God of Idolaters perhaps hee is asleepe and must be awaked or hee is chasing his adversaries No no the strength that keepes Israel slumbers not nor sleepes Therefore let not Israel slumber nor sleepe because God watcheth over his children let them watch with him and keepe themselves neere to him Fiftly if this will not move thee then consider as Gods mercie sleepes not so Gods judgements sleepe not That man that sleepes in sinne let him know that Gods judgements sleepe not As Balaam when he was out of the way the Angell watcheth him and catcheth him in this corner and in that corner he could goe into no corner but the Angell with his drawne sword was ready to meet him and to slay him And the Apostle saith of those that were led away by false teachers Their damnation sleepeth not Gods judgements are alway waking thou maist sleepe on both sides in sinne but Gods justice sleepeth not And thou that art the Lords if thou sleepe know that correction and chastisement sleepeth not and they will awake thee thou wert better to awake by slighter meanes To conclude all consider that all of us there is no man upon the earth but we are all going to meet the mortall slâ—…epe of death and if we shall when that meets us have our owne consciences tell us that we have also a spirituall sleepe within us that we carrie a spirituall sleepe to meet that mortall sleepe what a miserable and mournfull state will that be when the heart of a man or woman that is comming to die shall say and speake aloude and witnesse against his Master O thou hast beene a sluggish and sleepie Christian thou hast had good meanes but thou hast not kept thy watch thou wouldest sleepe doe what the exhortations of the Word could thou wouldest be a drowsie Christian Hence it comes to passe that so many when on their death-bed they come to grapple with that mortall sleepe and then conscience proclaimes against them then they crie Oh that I had but one day but one houre more that I might waken and strengthen the things that are readie to die and that it might be better with me then it is But alas now their short day is past and one perpetuall night to come and now it is too late as it proves many times Therefore let not time goe but know that that mournfull day must come upon us we must meet that mortall sleepe Let us labour to shake off spirituall sleepe drowsinesse of spirit and make our peace in the meane time that conscience may witnesse with us and for us at the day of death and judgement Let us labour to be watchfull and desire to be readie for the Lord and to have our accounts readie for him This shall suffice for the words Now for our occasion because this is my first occasion of this kind I must enter with a preface and that is this that as I have ever beene in the course of my ministerie so I shall bee very sparing in the praise of the dead because I know that these exercises are appointed for the instructing of the living and the consolation of those that survive and not for the praise and commemoration of the dead Besides I know and see by daily
crazie and all things are out of order yet this man can incourage himselfe in the Lord his God he can say to himselfe feare not Saith Daved though I walke in the valley of the shadow of death a dolefull condition yet I will feare none ill Psal. 23. And in another place though ten thousand should compasse mee in on every side I would lay mee downe and rest Though the Apostles were watched by souldiers layd in the stocks and for ought they knew the next day should be brought to execution yet they sing as merrily and sleepe as heartily as if they had beene on a Throne and had beene Kings in a Pallace Thus a good conscience will make a Christian happy if he be not his owne foe but our hearts are intangled with the world and wordly things that for the most part wee see not this priviledge But I leave that Next it may serve to reprehend and chide the most of us yea all in that we are distracted with feares unnecessary such as spend our spirits and consume our precious time such things as make our lives uncomfortable and dishonour God and our Religion and profession and all to no purpose Some things we feare a great while before wee neede perhaps that we neede not feare at all One saith Lord what would become of me if I should loose my wife if I should loose my children or loose my estate What would become of me if the times should be hard if there should be a deare yeare I can scarse bring both ends together now Another saith what shall I doe when I am old and cannot take paines for my living thus men feare a thousand inconveniences What neede wee meete evills halfe way what neede wee create to our selves such troubles sufficient for the day are the troubles of it But in regard of carnall feare all things make us afraid more then we neede and the feare of ill oft times perplexeth a man more then the ill it selfe that lights upon him And men of a melancholly disposition they frame to themselves such strange Chimera's Imaginations of things that perhaps shall never come to passe and so trouble themselves with a great deale of feare Thou art afraid of such and such losses perhaps thou maiest die first and such things perhaps shall never befall thee labour to prepare thy heart before hand and then feare them not I will shew you the inconveniences of this briefly First of all these feares of losses and crosses and the like they often bring a great deale of ill to men nay it brings a great deale of ill as the naturall event and consequent of it partly by the judgement of God Esay 66. 4. I will bring their feares upon them And that that wicked men feare shall come upon them This is the way to bring ill upon them when men will needs bee miserable is it not just with God they should The Romans will come and take away our Empire and so it was Saul was afraid that David should succeede him and so hee did When men will not learne to live by faith it is just with God to bring that that they feare upon them because they dishonour him by unbeliefe In the second place it not onely brings ill but it makes the heart unfit for ill when it comes In the feare of man there is a snare but in the confidence of the Lord there is a sure reward In the feare of man there is a snare what doth feare doe it insnares a man it binds a man hand and foote and layes him flat before his enemie when he comes and then his enemy tramples upon him It so weakens the Spirits and disheartneth a man before it comes that when it comes he is no way able to beare it For the feare takes away all the joy and content that a man may take in the present good that hee enjoyes at the hand of God that he cannot enjoy that because hee feares I know not what ill that may come and then when that ill comes he is not able to beare it his spirit is so weake I might shew much hurt that this feare doth both to the soule and to the body of man To the body of man how doth it weaken and contract the Spirits and bring diseases and some times death it selfe Feare doth much hurt to the soule Naturally Spiritually Naturally it weakens a man in regard of the operations of his soule that the body is not a fit instrument for the soule to worke by It makes a man doe diverse things rashly and inconsiderately and divers things out of incogitancie that hee knowes not what he doth he is unfit for holy duties unstable in all his wayes As he is thus in regard of his place and calling so in regard of the duties of Gods service he cannot doe these with a quiet heart with a peaceable spirit while he is possest with these feares You shall see almost all the sinnes in the world come from this feare What was the reason that Abraham and Sarah did equivocate was it not feare in that particular of men more then God and so they put God upon a miracle to preserve Saraahs chastitie in the case of Abimeleck What was the reason that Aaron yeelded to make an Idoll for the people of Israel and so joyned in Idolatry with them he was afraid of the people that they might doe him some hurt he durst not trust God with his preservation So Peter denyed his Master out of feare What is the reason that a Minister doth not sometimes reproove sinne that a Magistrate doth not sometimes reforme that that is amisse It is slavish feare they will not trust God to maintaine them in his owne cause What is the reason that many servants lye c. it is out of a slavish feare of their masters And so in regard of the things of the world men are inordinately afraid that they shall loose somewhat they possesse and therefore they take indirect courses Still this slavish feare and horrour and distrust of God it is almost the cause of all sin as wee may observe in the world This being so prejudicall in the last place let us fence our hearts against this feare By this meanes we shall honour Religion and make our lives comfortable incourage other Saints of God and draw people to like Religion when it yeelds such sweet contentment to the soules of men For doe but once againe muster together all our enemies and see if we have cause of feare For our spirituall enemies Will any man feare a wounded foe for the Lord God hath wounded Satan and trampled him under our feet and brought us as Ioshua did his Captaines to set our feet upon the necke of principalities and powers that through the mightie power of God wee are more then conquerours and shall we feare such an enemie as this Shall we
corruption to cure and purge out that And therefore it is formen to be wiser then God to ground their actions upon another principle and ground then God grounds them Indeede the servants of God doe not the actions of obedience simply because of the Law written in the Scriptures but they have the Law written in their hearts too so the Spirit of God is a Spirit that guides them according to the Law and disposeth them to those actions that are sutable to the Law yet he never excludes or puts them from the Law from subjection to the Law in point of obedience I say therefore errours creepe in amongst men to dreame of a libertie from obedience when the Scripture speaks of a libertie from the Law but in other sences not in matter of dutie Secondly let men looke to the Law for tryall too Gal. 6. 3 4. If a man thinke he is something when he is nothing he deceiveth him selfe but let every man try himselfe and prove his owne worke Let him proove his owne worke by what shall he prove it Why by the Law By the Law here we meane the whole Word of God the Law of workes and of Faith I say let him proove his workes by this Law by the written Word of God Therefore if a man would now know how it shall goe with him at the day of judgement let him begin to judge himselfe by this rule before hand Let him reason thus eyther I shall stand as condemned or acquitted if as condemned it is by the Law therefore marke so farre as I goe on in any sinne against any knowne truth of God so farre I stand in the estate of a condemned person Therefore consider beloved you doe exceedingly wrong your selves because you doe not looke thus upon your actions you looke not upon them as upon things that are transgressions against the Law that shall judge you and that therefore if the Law of God condemne such actions now then thou standest as a condemned person by vertue of that Law Alas durst men goe on without repentance in any course of sinne if they tooke themselves as condemned men in truth by vertue of the Law There is not any word that thou speakest but as soone as it is spoken thou standest in the estate of a condemned man and if thou interest not thy selfe in Christ and come not in certainly the Law will passe upon it Therefore seriously consider of this that there is no evill or particular sinne that you goe on in but if the Law condemne it Christ will condemne it too at the day of judgement Therefore you must before hand condemne your selves that you may not be condemned of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 32. Iudge your selves and you shall not be judged of the Lord. But yet this remaynes a truth still that hee that doth not condemne himselfe that doth not take off his sinnes by unfeigned repentance he stands a condemned person before the Lord because he stands condemned in the Law Therefore I beseech you beloved pleade not any priviledge in Christ I speake this the rather because men use the Gospell to their owne destruction I say plead not priviledge by Christ if you goe on in the allowance of any sinne Shall we continue in sinne that grace may abound God forbid saith the Apostle So I say when a man will come and plead I believe and I hope to be saved by Faith yet neverthelesse it may be thou art a swearer a vaine spender of thy time it may be thou art a neglecter of the duties of the worship of God and of thy duties towards men c. thou art a man in some constant course in some way of sinne or other I say this shewes thee to stand as a condemned man and in the state of a condemned man I say not that such a man shall infallibly bee damned because God may give him repentance that hee may come out of the snare of the divell but wee say hee stands for the present in the state of a condemned person and he is condemned by the Law and remaynes so till this be reversed by repentance till hee have sued out his pardon by interresting himselfe in Christ. Therefore consider this seriously that there is not that sinne in thought that thou committest not any act of sinne whatsoever but because of that sinne thou art condemned in Law therefore thou standest in the state of a condemned person for that sinne therefore there must bee somewhat done now to take off this I say a man may have a pardon and yet if he sue it not out it is of no force or use to him so letno man talke hee is a justified person by Christ but thou must sue out this pardon Therefore wee are taught upon daily suing to renew our daily prayers for the pardon of sinne There must be a daily suing out of the pardon and that upon this ground so there must be a daily condemning of thy selfe and of sinne in thy selfe Alas what shall become of a world of men and women I speake not of those that are without wee leave them they are condemned in the sight of all the world but wee speake of those that are now in the Church of those that goe some what forward in the profession of Religion and hope and are perswaded that they are in a good case and yet have little care to set things right betweene God and themselves but though such and such actions be condemned by the Law yet they hope that there is a generall mercy that will pardon it though they never sue out their pardon I say the Law shall passe on thee till thou doe that that concernes thee to be released from the rigour and sentence of the Law he that confesseth and forsakes his sinnes shall finde mercy Prov. 28. 13. This must be done and so in other particulars the Scripture is large in these things that somewhat must be done by us to sue out this pardon that though there be an act of pardon in God a free act yet there must somewhat bee done by us to sue out this pardon for our selves or else wee stand in the state of condemned persons But these things I leave to your meditations and so I fall upon the next point which I will briefly touch and that is no more but thus that since there shall be a proceeding in the day of judgement by the Law wherein mens actions and words shall bee brought to account therefore The consideration of the day of judgement should be an effectuall insentive provocation to stinmen to a holy and conscionable walking in this life So speake and so doe as those that shall be judged by such a Law Since the Apostle makes this use of it to direct us both in our speeches and actions I say we may learne hence that the consideration of the judgement to come wherein Christ will proceede according to the Law it
free gift of God And in Rom. 8. hee saith that the sufferings of this life is not worthy of the glory that shall bee revealed all our sufferings all our workes they are not worthy of the glory of God we cannot properly merit them This was the constant Doctrine of the primitive Church that a good life when wee are justified and an eternall life when wee are glorified they all grant that all that is good in us is the gift of God that eternall life is not a retribution to our workes but the free gift of God When God crownes our merits hee crownes nothing else but his owne free gift these and many other sentences wee finde among the ancient Fathers plainely convincing our adversaries that in this point they swerve not onely from Scripture but from all sound antiquitie Secondly then to come to our selves this should humble us in respect of our owne deservings doe all the good thou canst take heede it doe not puffe thee up thinke not to merit heaven Alas thou canst not doe it for what is it to the Almightie as it is sayd in Job that thou art righteous Thy well doing extends not to him thou canst doe him no good therefore thou canst looke for nothing at his hands since thou canst doe him no good but all that thou doest in his service it is not for his but for thy good yet he commands thee and thou art bound to doe it but all thou canst doe is no more then thou art bound to doe Therefore when thou hast done all that thou canst acknowledge thy selfe to bee an unprofitable servant and thou hast done no more then thy duty If thou hast many good workes yet thou hast more sinne and the least sinne of thine in the rigour of justice will deprive thee of thy interest in God Therefore thy appeale must bee to the throne of grace and thy onely plea must bee that of the Publican every one of us God be mercifull to me a sinner when wee have done all wee can it must be mercie and not any merit of ours that must bring us to heaven Thirdly here is comfort for the children of God in that this inestimable treasure of eternall life is not committed to our keeping but God hath it in his keeping It is his gift it is not committed to the rotten box of our merits then wee could have no certaintie of it the devill would easily pick the Locke yea without picking he would shake in peeces the crazie joynts of the best worke wee doe he would steale it from us and take it away and deprive us of this excellent benefit but the Lord hath dealt better for us hee hath kept it in his owne hands hee hath layd it up in the Cabinet of his owne mercy and love that never failes for with everlasting mercie hee hath compassion on us Esay 54. hee loves us with an everlasting love It is his mercie that wee are not consumed because his compassions faile not and whom hee loves he loves to the end It is layd up in the mercy of God hee will have it his gift least we should keepe it and it should be lost hee hath reserved it in his owne hands Therefore in temptations when they drive us to doubt of our attaining of eternall life let us cast our eye upon the keeper of it it is the Lord he is warie to discerne and faithfull to bestow it therefore let us comfort our selves and say every one of us as Saint Paul 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have trusted and I am perswaded that hee is able to keepe that which I have committed to him against that day Lastly seeing eternall life is the free gift of God it must make us thankefull to him for it which wee should never doe if we deserved it doth a master thanke his servant for doing his dutie So if wee did thinke heaven were our due we should never be thankfull for it Pride is a great enemy to thankefulnesse therefore the way is to humble our selves and to consider that wee deserve no good thing at Gods hands then wee will take this great benefit at Gods hands most thankefully Especially when wee consider it is all that God requires of us as he saith Psal. 50. Call upon me in the day of trouble I will heare thee and deliver thee and what shalt thou doe Thou shalt glorifie me Glorifying God and being thankefull to him is all the tribute wee are to pay to this our royall Lord and shall we deny him this It is a small benefit that is not worth thankes We set eternall life at too low a rate if wee forget to bee thankefull There was never a precious Iewell afforded so cheape as eternall life for our thankefulnesse If wee did know what it were to want it we would give ten thousand worlds rather then be without it Therefore as Naamans servants sayd to him concerning his washing in Iordan If the Prophet had commanded thee a greater thing wouldest thou not have done it So if God had commanded us a great matter for eternall life wee should have done it how much more when he saith take it and be thankfull be but thankefull Thus I have described to you this twofold seruice the wages of sinne that is death temporall eternall The service of righteousnesse the wages and reward of that eternall life which is not wages but the gift of God So that I may now say to you as Moses did to Israel Deut. 30. 19. Behold I have set before you life and death cursing and blessing Therefore choose not cursing chuse not sinne nor the wages thereof it is death but choose life that you and your seede may live If wee follow sinne the wages will be death if wee apply our selves to righteousnesse in the service of God our reward shall be eternall life not that wee deserve it but that it is the pleasure of our heavenly Father to bestow it upon us For the wages of sinne is death and the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. FINIS THE PROFIT OF AFFLICTIONS OR GODS AYME IN HIS CORRECTIONS PSAL. 119. 71. It is good for me that I have beene afflicted that I might learne thy Statutes ISA. 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquitie of Iacob be purged and this is all the fruite to take away his sinne LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE PROFIT OF AFFLICTIONS OR GODS AYME IN HIS CORRECTIONS SERMON XXX HEB. 12. 10. For they verely for a few dayes chastened us after their owne pleasure but Hee for our profit that we might bee partakers of his holinesse THere are two things among many others eminently in Jesus Christ which declare him to be an all-sufficient Saviour of his people and these the Scripture frequently setteth forth unto us in a most sweet conjunction Righteousnesse and strength So the Prophet Surely shall one
wee have sinnes enough to bring us all thither God grant they bee not so violent and full of ominous precipitations that they portend our sudden ruine portend it they do but O nullam sit in omnia c. I am loath to bee redious Hee should not be tedious that reades a lecture of mortalitie How many in the world since this Sermon first began have made an experiment and proofe of this truth of this sentence that man is mortall and those spectacles are but examples of this truth they come to their period before my speech My speech my selfe and all that heare me all that breath in this ayre must follow It hath beene said wee live to die give me leave a little to invert it let us liue to live live the life of grace that we may live the life of glory and then though we doe die let us never feare it we shall rise from the dead againe and live with our God out of the reach of the dead for ever and ever So much for the Text at this time To declare unto you the cause of this present assembly would be altogether superfluous the dumbe oratorie of that silent object doth give you to understand in a language sufficiently intelligible that we are now met to performe the last rites and dutie that we owe to the memorie of our deare Sister here before us And Christian charitie hath beene so powerfull in all ages that it hath beene retained as a pious and laudable custome at Funerall solemnities to adorne the dead with the deserved praises of their life not for any pompe or vaine-glorious ostentation but that Gods glorie here may bee for ever magnified by whose grace they have beene enabled to fight a good fight and that the surviving may be encouraged to runne the same course when they behold them discharged of this tedious combat and crowned with a crowne of glory and immortalitie This Sister of ours was borne in this parish and hath lived in it some thirtie foure yeares or there-about eighteene yeares a single woman and sixteene yeares a married Wife of whom though upon my owne knowledge I can speake but little yet having credible information from others with whom she had long and private intimacie of many yeares acquaintance I must and will speake That which I told you was recorded of Rachel that shee was fruitfull in procreation of Children may in a great measure bee spoken of her for if the Scripture account bearing but of two children fruite certainly it will make an extraordinarie fruite in bearing of twelve which shee did It is a certaine token of a true and faithfull servant of God to frequent his house to pray unto him to praise him in his Church earnestly to labour to bee instructed in his will out of his Word then and there read and preached to them all which evidences of a good Christian were found in this our Sister For her constant comming to Church I my selfe can now speake upon my owne knowledge I have seriously and strictly examined my selfe and I professe ingenously before God that knowes my heart and you that heare me speeke that I cannot call to mind that ever she mist comming to Church twice a Sabbath day since I came which I would be heartily glad I could speake as well of others of this Parish as of her For some of them have got such a fisking tricke up and downe to goe to other Churches as if there were no rellishable food at their owne that I feare at the last they will come to none at all I pray God they amend this fault It was a vertue in her that deserved commendation and it is a vice in them that deserves reprehension When shee was in Gods house shee did not as too too many doe imploy her time in sleeping or some such ill course but I ever observed her to listen very diligently and attentively to what was delivered for the nourishing of her soule I confesse I doe not remember that ever I saw her take any notes in the Church of Sermons that were preached for it seemes shee did it when she came home for since her death going to her house accidentally I met with a booke of hers wherein shee had written many texts of Scripture with notes the day when they were preached and the persons by whom most of those which I have preached I saw and perused and others of stangers that I my selfe have heard these qualities are not to be past over in silence but are worthy of your serious imitation Neither did she thinke it fit barely to set them downe for her owne instruction only but what she heard upon the Sabbath day that she constantly practised upon the weeke dayes Shee catechised her children in those points spending some time in trayning them up in the knowledge of God and putting them in mind of their dutie to him in whom wee live and move and have our being by repeating Gods word delivered by hearing them reade Gods word printed and by singing Psalmes and hymnes and spirituall songs That she was a most provident and carefull Wife and a most indulgent and loving Mother all that knew her can best testifie and some of them have informed me And this let me speake and I have it from the mouth of some that perhaps did not thinke I would have mentioned it at this time and would have had it concealed but for reasons best knowne to my selfe I hold it very fit to relate shee was ever held to be of a most sweet nature and of a very loving disposition that shee was very charitable and inclined to relieve the poore It is likewise testified of her she was liberall alway but more liberall now then usually having had a consideration of the hard and needie times to which end as if shee had prognosticated her owne death shee layd by some money according to that abilitie that God had blessed her with for the reliefe of the poore Let no man censure me for speaking these things I doe for if I should not have given her her just and deserved praises some that now heare me and knew her from her cradle might justly have censured me for too much remisnesse Thus for her life As for her death I can say little touching it It pleased God not to giue her any long time of sicknesse but to take her away though not unprepared yet on a sudden with a short warning When her bitter pangs first came upon her she called to her Husband and desired him to joyne with her in hearty prayer to Almightie God that he would bee graciously pleased to extend his mercie towards her that hee would be pleased to let her live longer that she might repent of her sinnes and beg mercie at his hands for them that shee might amend her life And if he would not grant this for her yet for those many poore Children that were young that she was to leave behind her
How prove you that By the force of the Argument here that the Apostle useth for this being a part of an Argument and an Hypotheticall proposition he reasoneth thus If in this life onely we have hope in Christ then are we miserable but now for this life onely we have not hope in Christ he doth not set our rest there therefore wee are not of all men the most miserable How prove you that because the most wicked the most wretched so the lesse wicked the least wretched and the most righteous the best blest and the least miserable Not the most not at all Not at all No for as the outward prosperitie of the wicked in this World is no true prosperitie so the outward adversitie of the godly is no true miserie it is not such as doth destitute and dissolute a man utterly but you shall have the faithfull come off with hope I and with rejoycing rather then grudging and repining at it yea they joy in their sufferings and at last are more then conquerours and all this sheweth then that that they are farre enough from miserie Well the knowledge of this lifes miseriâ—… the knowledge of our not being at all miserable thâ—… 〈◊〉 righteous should teach all of us to bee righteous to be religious to strive to be godly if not for the love of vertue and pietie and holinesse and such kinde of Graces as all good Christians and godly persons should be though there were no Hell to punish nor no Heaven to cherish a man in though there were no reward for the good nor revenge against the bad yet notwithstanding the love of vertue should constraine an ingenious Christian to strive after holinesse and pietie but if not for the love of religion let us doe it for the feare of the miserie that may befall us which wee shall prevent if wee remember now our duties that is to bee godly and to be righteous for the righteous man is not cannot be miserable And then lastly this shall serve to shew to us how it ought to keepe off the World from judging rashly there is a great obliquitie and a perverse judgement in the World men censure those that are in any kinde of miserie to bee of all men the most miserable whereas we know that this is no true misery on their part for it is but outward it is but temporall misery it is no true reall miserie And thererore this serveth to rectifie the obliquitie of such mens judgements as doe determine the godly to bee in a miserable conditon whereas the contrary is most true for wee count them sayth Saint Iames blessed that endure Do they endure to the very death Blessed are they that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and who would not dye here that hee may dwell with God there in rest who that loveth who that hopeth would not be where his love where his hope is would not have what hee hopeth for Doth not the Lord say to his servant Moses No man can see my face and live Oh sayth a Father let mee dye then for I will dye to see thee who would not dye for the present to dwell ever where his hope is If in this life we had onely hope then were we of all men the most miserable but our hope is not onely in this life of the things of this life therefore wee are not of all men most miserable no not miserable at all I have done with my Text You see the occasion of our present meeting to Interre this little Child in Christian buriall the last service and dutie we owe to deceased Saints I cannot and I know you expect not that I should say any thing of it It is a Child of the Covenant sealed in the Covenant dyed in the Covenant resteth according to the Covenant with the God of the Covenant of whom I doubt no more of a happy rest with Christ the mediatour of the Covenant then I do of the Covenant that Christ hath sealed and so I leave it in that rest and returne our selves to our owne dutie and service to call upon God for a blessing FINIS THE PLATFORME OF CHARITIE OR THE LIBERALL MANS GVIDE DEUT. 15. 11. The poore shall never cease out of the land Therefore I command thee saying Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother to thy poore and to thy needy in the land PSAL. 16. 2. O Lord my goodnesse extendeth not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE PLATFORME OF CHARITIE OR THE LIBERALL MANS GVIDE SERMON XXXIX GAL. 6. 10. As wee have therefore opportunitie let us doe good to all especially to them who are of the houshold of faith IN the sixt verse of this Chapter the Apostle begins to perswade these Galatians to whom he wrote to Beneficence and having in the ninth verse the verse before the Text given them great incouragement in this course Bee not wearie saith he of well-doing for in due season we shall reape if we faint not The words I have now read to you are an inference upon that which went before seeing if wee hold out we shall reape in due time then faith the Apostle As wee have opportunitie let us doe good to all c. To speake something for the opening of the words and then to obsere the maine things the Apostle intends in this place As wee have opportunitie Cairos signifieth more then time As wee have time so the old Translation reades it but the word signifieth more there is a Chronos and a Cairos a time and an opportunitie of time There is a time taken in the largest sence there is an opportunitie of time restrained to those advantages of times that a man by wisedome may make unto himselfe for the performing of any dutie that God requires of him This must be understood with a reference to what was spoken of before Wee shall reape if wee faint not Hee shewes there is a time of sowing and a time of reaping and so in Eccles. 3. There is a time for all things there is a time to sow and a time to reape Now while the sowing time lasts for that is the opportunitie that hee now speakes of while the time of sowing lasts let us embrace those times and opportunities for the doing of good Let us as wee have opportunitie doe good to all Doe good is of a large extent it is of as large an extent as the law All is good that is agreeable to Gods will revealed Bee renewed in the spirit of your mindes that you may know what the good and acceptable will of God is But in this place it is restrained to some particular acts of Beneficence towards men towards the servants of God which are then said to be good deedes and good acts when there is a
love but besides that there is a course of affection that floweth naturally and kindly from the Father to the child as it is with those rivers that fall downward they fall more vehemently then those that are carried upward so the more naturall the affection is the more vehement it expresseth it selfe in the motion to such objects Now when the Father expresseth his affection to his child this is more vehement because it is more naturall there is more strength of nature in it I cannot stand upon this only a word by way of inference and application to our selves First are naturall parents thus to their children Then here is a ground of faith for the children of God that he is pleased to stile himselfe by the name of Father and to receive them into the adoption of sonnes and daughters This was Davids expression of God As a father hath compassion of his children so hath the Lord on those that feare him And the Prophet Isaiah expresseth it fully In all their affliction hee was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and pittie hee redeemed them and bee bare them all the dayes of old hee bore them upon his wings This giveth confidence and boldnesse to Gods children in making their requests knowne to him This was it that incouraged the Prodigall I will arise and goe to my father and say Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee c. God saith S. Bernard alwayes grants those petitions that are sweetned with the name of father and the affection of a child I should hence speake somewhat to children to stirre them up to answer the love of their Parents but other things that follow forbids me any long discourse of this Secondly here is Davids pietie expressed in this Who knoweth whether the Lord will bee gracious to mee Hee exprest not only the Pittie and affection of a naturall father to a child but pietie also arising from the sense of his guilt Hee was guiltie of sinne and by sinne he had brought this sorrow upon himselfe and therefore who knoweth whether the Lord will bee gracious to me in sealing to me the pardon of my sinne this way in adding this mercy as a further assurance of his love in granting me the forgivenesse of my sinne God had told him by Nathan that his sinne was pardoned though he told him the Child should die it may be by the same mercy he will release me from this sentence of death upon my Child whereby he released me from the guilt of my sinne before Here I say is the sense of his owne sinne The point I note hence is That Parents in the miseries that befall their children should call their owne sinne to remembrance All the sorrowes and sicknesses and paines and miseries that befall children should present to Parents the remembrance of their owne sinne It was the expression of the Widow of Sarepta to the Prophet Eliah Art thou come to call my sinnes to remembrance and to slay my childe Shee saw her sinne in the death of her Child So I say in all the afflictions and crosses that befall children the Parents should call to remembrance their owne sinne But some men will here say There seemeth to be no need of such a course for God hath said plainly That the child shall not die for the sinne of the Parent And after God cleareth his owne waies from inequalitie and injustice by that argument The sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of the father Therefore what reason is there that Parents should call their sinnes to remembrance in the miseries that befall their children I answer Though he say the child shall not die for the Parents sinne yet we must understand it a right for what doth hee meane by the sinnes of the Parent And what doth hee meane by death By sinnes of the Parent he meaneth those sinnes that are so the parents as that the children are not at all guiltie of those sins then the children shall not die By Death he meaneth as the word signifieth the destruction of nature So death shall not befall the child for that sinne that himselfe is not guiltie of But how then come little children to die before they have committed any sinne actually was this for their owne sinne or for the sinne of their Parents I answer for their owne sinne they die for the soule that sinneth it shall die and all children have sinned they brought sinne into the world and sinne brought death as the Apostle speakes therefore death reigneth over all even over those that have not sinned according to the similitude of Adams transgression that is that have not sinned actually as Adam had done yet neverthelesse they die because they have sinne upon them they have the corruption of nature In sinne they were borne and in iniquitie their mother conceived them and the wages of sinne is death therefore they die for their owne sinne But what if temporall judgements and afflictions befall them is this for their owne sinne or for the sinne of their Parents I answer for both both for their owne and for the sinne of their Parents for as death so all the miseries of this life are fruits of originall sinne which is an inheritance in the person of every child by nature as soone as it is borne but yet if the sinne of the Parents be added to it that may bring temporall judgements There are many instances and examples of this how God hath visited upon the posteritie of wicked persons the sinnes of their Fathers according to that threatning in the second Commandement And this you shall see either in godly children of wicked parents or in ungodly children of godly Parents Suppose a man leave a great deale of wealth to his children and have one that feares God amongst them it may please God to lay some losse or crosse upon him to the undoing of him he may utterly be impoverished and beggered and deprived of all that meanes that his father left him by unrighteousnesse Hee getteth an heire and in his hand is nothing saith Solomon that is God deprived him of all that estate his father left him by unrighteousnesse Now I say here is a judgement upon the father and yet a mercy upon the child A judgement upon the father that all that he hath laboured for that which hee lost his soule for should bee vaine should come to nothing and not benefit his posteritie as he thought Yet it is a mercy to the childe to the child of God He by this meanes is humbled it draweth him from the world Nay when God emptieth him of these things that were unrighteously gotten he giveth him it may be an estate another way wherein he shall see God his Father provide for him without any indirect and unlawfull courses So sometimes the very shame and reproach that falleth upon wicked children here it is a