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A41317
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The Failing & perishing of good men a matter of great & sore lamentation : held forth in a sermon preach'd the 26 of June 1662, being the day before the internment of that eminent and faithful gospel-preacher, Mr. John Sympson.
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1663
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Wing F93A; ESTC R40573
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25,149
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50
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glorious power in her resurrection that he may appear to be the great God that can raise deliverance out of the dust appear for his people when there is none shut up or left After Lazarus had been in the grave four days Christ he comes up to Bethany and the sisters of Lazarus viz. Martha and Mary they come out to meet Jesus first Martha she cometh ver 20. and she saith Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died ver 21. After this comes Mary vers 32. and she falls down at Christs feet saying Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled and said Where have ye laid him They say unto him Lord come and see Jesus wept There is very much wrapt up in the bowels of this little Text The text opened Here we may take notice of the humanity of Christ it appears by Christs weeping that he is perfect man as well as perfect God That Christ wept is to be referred not to his Divinity but to his Humanity and so we shall find that Christ was subject as to this so to all natural infirmities as hunger thirst weariness c. which may comfort the Saints that groan under natural as well as sinful infirmities and that from the reason why Christ was made in all things like unto his brethren namely That he might be a merciful High-priest Hebr. 2.17 18. And though Christ be now in glory yet he is touched with the feeling of the infirmities of his people here on earth Hebr. 4.15 so touched as that he cannot but have compassion on them under all their pressures and grievances whatsoever Do'st thou then groan under natural weaknesses and infirmities Go boldly to the throne of grace which is the use the Apostle makes of this doctrin Heb. 4.16 and spread thy weaknesses and infirmities before the Lord and thou maiest in faith expect grace to help in this need that Christ should enable thee to bear up under these weaknesses until mortality shall have put on immortality But to come to the thing I intend and that is the occasion of Christs weeping which was the death of Lazarus a good man whence I shal observe and prosecute this Doctrine Doctr. That it is a Christ like frame of spirit to be deeply affected with and to mourn over the death of such as are truly gracious Here 's Lazarus a good man in his grave and Christ he weeps over him you have a weeping Christ over a dead Lazarus When old Jacob an eminent person was buryed it 's said Gen. 50 10 That they mourned with a great and sore lamentation and that for 7 dayes together And so when Moses that eminent servant of the Lord that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt very neer to the good Land died and was buried by a secret hand it 's said the children of Israel mourned for him 30 days Deut. 34.8 Mâ—â—â—eerly beloved you have lost a Moses one that was valiant for God in former times when the people of God in England were coming out of Egypt he hath been an eminent leader to the saints in their wilderness state and God did often take him to the top of Pisgah and gave him their glorious visions and that not onely of heavenly Canaan but also of that glorious land of rest and righteousness that the Saints shall injoy in this world when the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be advanced upon the top of all mountains and the Kingdomes of this world become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ of which things he hath often spoke unto you in much life and power Now that such a Moses should be taken off in the Wilderness while the people of God are yet short of this good Land is matter of great humiliation Likewise you find the same spirit in those Christians Acts 20. that Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles did there take his farewel of saying ver 25. And now behold I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more It 's said 37 38 verses And they all wept sore and fell on Pauls neck and kissed him Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more David also is exceedingly affected in this kind Psal 12.1 Help Lord for the godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail from among the children of men And so the Church Micah 7. Wo is me for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits as the grape-gleanings of the Vintage there is no cluster in me The good man is perished out of the earth and there is none upright among men c. And the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 57. vers 1. laments and bemoans the spiritual security of the children of Israel exprest by this That they did not observe take notice neither were they affected with the perishing taking away of the righteous and the merciful man and chargeth upon them this senceless and stupid frame of heart as their great and common sin Now by all this it appears that it is both the duty and property of a Christian such an one as hath been baptized into the spirit of Jesus to be deeply affected with the death of such as are truly gratious especially when they are eminent for use and service to Christ and his people Reas We shall now give you the reasons why it is so and cannot be otherwise but that gracious persons must needs be affected with and mourn over the death of good men First Because every stroke in this kind puts a serious heart in mind of its mortality tells us that we are dying mortall creatures and that 's a very serious consideration to every awakened soul The living the living will lay it to heart saith Solomon Eccle. 7.2 The stroke of death upon others tells us that dye we must and how soon the Lord knows and O happy thrice happy is that person that can dye wel We are ready to say blessed is the rich man and the honourable man and the professing man the man that can speak wel and pray well and live well but above all say I blessed is the person that dyes well Now such strokes as these puts a serious soul in mind of dying Ther 's none present knows who may dye next may go to the grave next That 's the First but then 2 It springs from that Simpathy that is both in nature and in grace first in nature when God takes away a husband a father a child c. this cuts deep and affects much Abraham he mourns over beloved Sarah David over Absolon though a rebellious son To be stupid and not to mind the hand of God when he smites our near and dear relations doth declare that we do not onely want
grace but natural affection and to be without natural affection is a very black character 2 Tim. 3.3 And then in Grace there is also a great sympathy If God smites one member of the Church the rest are affected with it If a Paul a Minister of Christ a Pastor a spiritual Father comes to take his farewell of his people and tell them that they shall never see his face more oh what weeping and mourning and lamenting is there at his departure 3dly Another reason is Because there is much of God's anger oft times to be seen in such strokes of God's anger I say not against the persons taken away but against those that remain As when God taketh away a Father a Husband a Wife c. the soul of that Relation may be carryed to Heaven and there possessed of glory and yet nevertheless the death of that Relation may be in judgement to the Family And so in a spiritual Relation God may take away a holy Minister a faithful Pastor and this in judgement to the Flock to those that sate under his Ministry And surely it is the great concernment of you of this Congregation to hear the voice of this Rod and of him that hath appointed it and to endeavour to know the mind of God in this great stroke 4thly The perishing of good men is a matter of great humiliation and that because they are a great blessing to the nations cities families c. where they are cast It fares either the better or the worse with such places for their sake When God destroyed the old world the family of Neah was saved for Noahs sake Gen. 7. And God hath promised to bless them that bless his people and curse them that curse his people Gen. 12 3 27 29 Numb 24.9 Wo then to the ranting damning crew of this generation who make it a matter of sport to curse the saints of the most high for as sure as God is in heaven without true repentance those curses will return upon there one heads The story likewise of Abimelech is remarkable Gen. 20. it 's said God fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah Abrahams wife ver 18th and ver 7 God himself saith to Abimelech restore the man meaning Abraham his wife for he is a prophet and he shall pray for thee and thou shalt live and if thou restore her not know you that thou shalt surely dye thou and all that are thine Moreover you read that God blessed the house of Potipher and all that he had for Josephs sake Gen. 39.1 5 verses And the house of Obed-Edom was blest for the ark sake 2 Sam 6.10 11. And the Citie of Zoar was saved for Le ts sake that he might have a refuge to flie unto Genesis 19. and Proverbs 11.10.11 saith thus When it goeth well with the righteous the city rejoyces and when the wicked perish there is shouting By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked Surely then if the city rejoyceth and is exalted by the blessing and prosperity of the righteous those rulers and great men of the earth that have endeavored or shall endeavour to establish themselves in their greatness power and glory by the imprisoning banishing of the saints are exceedingly blinded and infatuated for by this they discover themselves to be of the spirit of Haman who could not be contented with his name and honour so long as Mordecai sate at the Kings gate so they they have not been content with their greatness so long as the people of God have had any breathing among them but still have designed the building of themselves and their kingdomes upon the ruines of such of whom this world is not worthy It had been well for such if they had seriously considered the just judgement of God upon this proud Haman he sought his own advancement designed that and he was advanced with a witness for he was hanged upon a Gallows fifty cubits high Mind also these Scriptures wherein this particular is further proved Isa 19.24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the land Ezek. 34.25.26 And I will make with them a covenant of peace and will cause the evill beasts to cease out of the land and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing and I will cause the shower to come down in his season there shall be showers of blessing Micah 5.7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord as the showers upon the grasse that tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the sons of men In which scripture the great encrease the remnant of Jacob shall have in and the great blesing they shall be unto the nations of the world is prophecied of The people of God must needs be a blessing to the places where they dwell for First There is God especially present that land that is planted with righteous people may be rightly called Jehovah Shammah Ezek. 48. ult Psal 46.5 for the Lord is there God is in the midst of her c. But. 2 Righteous ones are the strength and safety of the nations where they are the pillars indeed upon which the world stand and to speak the truth the world is saved for their sakes Jer. 5. ver 1. God there saith That if one man could be found in Jerusalem that did execute judgment and sought the truth he would pardon it In these words two things are to be noted First that the people of God were at this time reduced to a very small number and those that were Jer. 5.25 to the end were hid could not be seen for Solomon saith Prov. 28.12 but when the wicked rise a man is hidden The rulers and magistrates at this time were as bad as hell Divels incarnate and when there are such magistrates then righteous persons must lye hid there is no appearing for them at such a time Proverbs 28. ult when the wicked rise men that is good men hid themselves but when they perish the righteous increase But. 2 and to the purpose by a man in this text we are to understand that a very few a small number of righteous ones should serve to save the city And answerable to this Gen. 18. you have God condescending to the prayer of Abraham concerning Sodom so low that if there were but 10 righteous persons to be found in it yet he would save the city for the sake of those ten righteous And although there was but one righteous person to be found in Sodom namely Lot and therefore called by the Sodomites This one fellow Gen. 19.9 yet Gods hands were so tyed and bound up by this one righteous man that he could not destroy