of this wiâ—â— be as much cause of Joy as their Death was of Sorrow and more abundant In the first of these three things give me full satisfaction 1. Taken from God 2. From Christ 3. The absurdities that must unavoidably follow the denial of the Resurrection of the Dead First in this Article of our Faith from whence I check my Sorrow for the Dead that it may be kept within bounds three things in God so considered by us tho one in him remove my Doubts confirm my Hopes in this Case 1. The Wisdom 2. The Power 3. The Will of God 1. God being Infinite in Wisdom and Knowledge I am fully satisfied that he knoweth the number of the dead and where their Bodies were buried or consumed and which are the bones and Skull and Dust of one and which of another for this is knowable in it self and therefore God knows these and all other circumstances of the Dead or else his Knowledge would be limited and finite Knowledge and not extended to every thing that may be known which is contrary to Natural Reason to Scripture and Religion and to the Infinite Perfection of the Divine Nature to deny this Knowledge in God is to Blaspheme him 2. God being Infinite in Power is able to raise all the Dead all which and every particle of all of them being thus known to him to raise the Dead is an Act of Power and not of weakness and is possible and not a contradiction Cannot the same Power that made all things out of nothing cause these dead-out of something to live again Cannot the same Power that at first formed Mans Body of the dust of the ground and caused it to live make these Bodies to live again thô they be turned into dust Cannot God do what he hath done Cannot he do all that is possible to be done Is not that which hath been done to some possible to be done to others Are there not many Examples in the Scripture that this hath been done Have not many Dead been raised to Life The Resurrection of the Dead being in the rank of things possible comes within the reach of Divine Almighty Power which to deny is to blaspheme these two being manifest to compleat the Argument add 3. God hath declared his Will and Purpose that the Dead shall live again We cannot argue from the Power of God that a thing shall be because he is able to do it because he doth not will to do all that he can do but we might argue from his Will that what he doth will to do shall be done because he hath Power to do whatsoever he will Men might have a will to do some things but they have not Power answerable to their Will and they often would but never can but tho' God be not Omnivolent to will every thing he can yet he is Omnipotent to do whatsoever he will Wherefore our reasoning issueth in this Whether it be the Will of God that the Dead shall be raised to life The fundamental Error of the Sadduces denying the Resurrection of the Dead Christ shews was in their Ignoronce of these two Principles the Power and the Will of God which is revealed in the Scripture Mat. 22.29 Jesus answered and said unto them Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God The Scriptures do abound in this fully assuring us that it is his Will that all the Dead shall be raised the Wicked to Damnation the Righteous to Life everlasting If you doubt read these Texts Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth 26. And thô after my skin Worms destroy this body yet in my Flesh shall I see God 27. Whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another thô my reins be consumed within me Joh. 5.28 The hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his voice 29. And shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of damnation Joh. 6.38 For I came down from Heaven not to do my own will but the Will of him that sent me What 's that 39. And this is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day These are comfortable words of Christ to us What a strict Charge is here of the Father given to Christ My Son I give you so many men and charge you with them that you lose not any one of them but that you raise every one of them at the last day and set them before me in Body and Soul in my heavenly Kingdom Do you fear lest among so many millions to be raised any one of yours should be left in the Grave and never raised Would not then such be lost and is not that contrary to the Charge given to Christ and contrary to the Fathers Will Are not you satisfied that Christ hath and will do his Father's Will in every Point Hear his words 40. And this is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Are not you yet satisfied with these words of him that is able and can and faithful and will do what he saith reaching to every one without the losing of any one The Father that sent me hath declared his Will that I should and so I will raise every one of these at the last day Believe and sorrow for your Dead with no more degrees of Sorrow than becometh one that doth believe that Christ will raise them up at the last day John 11.24 Martha said to him I know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the last day 25. Jesus said unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me thô he were dead yet shall he live John 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day 54. Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath Eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day 1 Cor. 15. throughout Rev. 20.12 And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God 13. And the Sea gave up the dead which were in it and Death and Hell or the Grave delivered up the dâ—ad which were in them Now the Grave and Death hold your Relations that are under their Power fast so fast that now there is no help and you therefore sorrow but the day will come when Death and the Grave shall deliver them up and hold them no longer here is matter of Hope therefore do not sorrow as those that have no Hope Secondly The indissoluble connexion betwixt the Resurrection of Christ and Believers that sleep in
the Lords if I had not had it from him I could have told no such thing that we that are alive and remain unto the Coming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep V. 16. The dead in Christ shall rise first The like Order and precedency he affirms 1 Cor. 15.52 The dead shall be raised Incorruptible and we those that shall be alive shall be changed We think that those that shall be found alive will have an advantage above those that are dead But they shall have this advantage above the then Living that they shall be first raised and be made immortal glorious and incorruptible Bodies sooner and before those that shall be alive As they put off the mortal and corruptible Body before them so they shall put on the Immortal and Incorruptibble Body sooner than they These died a Temporal Death which the other shall not but they shall live an Immortal Life sooner than those that are not to die a Temporal death The Living must wait for their Change till those that were changed from Life to Death shall be again changed from Death to Life Do you mourn because your holy Relations are dead and do not Live Rejoyce also that they shall Live and have the preeminence before those that shall not die but only be changed because God hath told you how mindfull and careful he will be of those that sleep in Jesus Forgotten by Men remembred by God IV. Is it nothing to moderate your sorrow that Christ and yours shall surely meet Death was a parting you and them and that parting day was a sorrowful day And you record the day of their Death and your parting and mention it with Grief and Tears Remember a meeting day will come not only when they and you shall meet but when they and Christ shall meet and let the Thoughts thereof cause you to rejoyce What tho you and they shall meet no more while you live yet Christ and they and you also if you believe shall meet and never part But where shall this Meeting be In the Air. But how shall they get up They shall be caught up by the Power of God or be such agile and nimble Bodies that they shall be as able to move upwards as now they are proue to fall downwards You follow them to the Grave and see them there let down and you are filled with Sorrow Think again as if you saw that Body raised again and mounting aloft as swiftly as any winged Bird into the Air to meet the Lord and let such a Foresight abate your present sorrow CHAP. XVII After their meeting with the Lord THEY shall be with HIM for EVER Comfort from all Recollected SHall not a believing Prospect that those that sleep in Jesus shall awake and live with the Lord for ever make some abatement of our sorrow or rather turn it into Joy in the hopes thereof This is the last and highest and most Soveraign Remedy the Apostle giveth in this place against Excessive Sorrow saying and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Short words but matter of lasting everlasting Joy Soon said but not so soon understood for indeed they contain more than we can conceive and none know so well as they that are with him Yet that we may have a relish of this Remedy and a taste of this Spiritual Comfort for the correcting of extravagant Sorrow let it be enquired 1. With whom it is that these must be with the Lord and what it is to be with him 2. Who they are here meant that shall be with the Lord We. 3. How long for ever Blessed shall they be whoever they be that thus shall be with the Lord for ever 1. It is the Lord himself with whom these shall be And to be with him is the summ of all our Hopes the end of all our Prayers and the top of all our Happiness The Misery of the Ungodly and Impenitent when raised judged and condemned is that they must depart from the Lord and be in flaming fire and then with Devils The Happiness of the Godly then acquitted and absolved will be to be called to come to the Lord and to go with him into Glory and there abide and remain with him Mat. 25.34 41 46. Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World 41. Then shall he say also to them on the left hand Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Some are called to come to him the others commanded to depart from him some to be with Him the rest to be with Devils therefore those are declared to be blessed the other accursed for 46. These shall go away into everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal Do we believe these things or do we not All these things are spoken of Men when raised from the Dead and judged and sentenced and the Sentence put into Execution and do not you by Faith see with whom they shall have their abode that now do sleep in Jesus enjoying the beatisick Vision living in the comfortable glorious and immediate Presence of God the Father of Christ the Redeemer and of the Eternal Spirit their Sanctifier Now your Thoughts run to the Grave look down into it and you see them with Worms and with Rottenness and therefore sorrow Let your Thoughts run as far as the day of Christs coming and then suppose you look for them in the Graves you will not find them The Voice will be They are not here for they are risen come see the places where they lay Where are they Look up they are gone to meet the Lord in the Air and whither are they next to go to be with the Lord And is there nothing in the belief of all these things not only to asswage Sorrow but also to beget great Joy but because we are of so little Faith therefore we are of so much Sorrow 2. Who are these that are to be with the Lord What we doth the Apostle mean whom doth he say this great thing of of all those that shall be caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air. Who are they those that shall be alive and remain when the Lord shall come Together with them Who are they the Dead in Christ that did rise first before the Living were changed so then it comprehends those that slept in Jesus and shall be raised and those Believers that shall be found alive and changed and caught up together into the Air to meet Christ who will adjudge them to Everlasting Life and so after that shall be with Christ in Glory Are these the Dead we Mourn for and why because they are dead in their Grâ—ves and with the dead but have we no Fâ—ith in this Word of the Lord. If we havâ— let us set their Resurrection over against their Death
had you to do to keep his Own from him when he would have them with him 7 Q. Is not God Soveraign Lord and absolute Disposer of all in the World Are not Kingdoms and Nations Princes Lords and Nobles at his disposal And what are you above all others in the World that you and yours should be exempted from the disposing Hand of God 8 Q. Did your Happiness lie in the Enjoyment of the Creatures you have lost In them or in God If in them you are miserable if in God tho they are dead yet he doth Live Why then do you thus mourn so long as your Happiness remains 9 Q. Tho your Relations are cut down and withered like Grass yet doth not the Word of the Lord stand and continue for your Support Isa 40.6 7 8. And cannot you find as much Comfort in all the standing Promises of God as you did in a withering Creature Go and try by reading believing applying of them as your Case requires and by turning Promises into Prayers 10 Q. Did not your Relation live out the Time appointed by God Job 14.5 Or did he not die when God did foreknow he would die And do you thus take on because Gods Purpose is performed Would you have a Child tarry in the Womb beyond its appointed time or in the World beyond what God intended it should 11 Q. Did not you know your Relations were mortal or do you sorrow because they were so Is not that to sorrow because they were Men or Women or Children Would you have had them to have been here Immortal that they might not have been subject to Death Did you ever see any Men Women or Children that were not mortal 12 Q. If so did not you know a parting time would come Was there not some Intimation and mention of Deaths separating you in your conjugal Covenant And do you now mourn as if something had befallen you that you never knew or heard of Is it so intolerable to you to see a dying Creature dead 13 Q. When would you have been willing to have parted with them If God had continued your Child ten years longer would not you have been more unwilling and so more sorrowful than now you are After Forty years would you be willing 14 Q. Hath any thing befallen you that hath not been the common Case of all the Generations before you will shortly be of all this Age and of following except those that shall be found alive at the Coming of Christ And would you have your State to be singular Or if it be not will you be sullen 15 Q. Could your Relations Souls have gone to Heaven if their Bodies had not died Or would you have had them never lodged there except as Enoch and Elias without seeing Death If the Soul could not have been happy above except the Body dyed and took the Grave in its way to Glory are you excessively troubled for a dead Body which must be for the greater advantage of the Immortal Soul 16 Q. Would not you have been as loth to leave them behind you as now you are sorrowful they are gone before you And will you be pleased neither way Would you have died all together You are sorrowing now for Wise and Children because removed by Death and if God had laid you upon a dying Bed then your trouble would be for them if alive because you are like to be taken from them and say What will my small Children do if I die And what will their Mother dâ— when their Father leaves the one â— Widow and the other Fatherless I could have been glad if God would have spared my Life to have seen them well brought up It is hard for you to say which would be less trouble to you to leave them behind you or have them go before you But if you have that which you had rather have why do you so sorrow when you have that which is best for the rest of your Family 17 Q. Do not you know that all your Family have sinned and that therefore they have all deserved to die Why then do you sorrow so much for one captivated by Death when you should be admiring the Patience of God and praising him for his Mercy that so many are continued in Life 18 Q. Is not this Ingratitude to God that the loss of one should make you unsensible of the many Mercies of your own Life Is all gone in one Look about you and you will see the abundant goodness of God to you in your outward Accommodations in this World many spiritual Blessings as Pledges of Eternal Glory and will you bury your Thankfulness for these in the Grave of your dead 19 Q. Do not you provoke God hy your sinful excessive Sorrow to go on to make more Breaches by Death that you might have something more to sorrow for Do you sorrow thus for one Might not God say There is another Child Death lay it dead and bring it out and lodge it by the other There is an Husband or a Father yet left Death go and seize him and have him away and if they are delighted in such discontented Sorrow let them havâ— more to sorrow for 20 Q. Have not they lived a long life before they die they enter into Eternal glorious life when they die Do you sit and sorrow and say if he had not died so soon if he had not died so young How soon if he lived to be Converted to be sanctified and prepared for Heaven did he not live longer than a Man at Sixty and then dies in Sin and is Damned at last Do you reckon length of Life by multitude of years or ripeness and fitness for Heaven When you Sorrow he died so soon Bless God he lived so long as to be saved when he died 21 Q. Will you compare with God in point of Wisdom in governing and disposing of his Creatures with all the circumstances of Life and Death Are you wiser than he dare you entertain such a Thought would you not resist it with abhorrence why then do you think it would have been better for you that your Relation should have lived longer Is not this to set your Folly against Gods Wisdom Doth not he best know what is the most fitting time for any to be born how long to live and when to die If so why do you oversorrow for that which is done with highest Wisdom 22 Q. Why hath God implanted such Graces in your Heart as are suitable for a time of Affliction but that you should exercise them in their season As Faith and Patience and Submissiveness of will to his holy Will and Pleasure Are not Habits given for Act and when will you act your Patience and Submission but when Tryals are upon you but doth your excessive Sorrow look like Patience under or fretting against the hand of God 23 Q. Do you say you did exceedingly desire their Eternal Good in Gods accepted time and excessively
removed from them Mary and Martha lamented the death of their Brother Lazarus John 11.19 Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother 31. The Jews which were with her in the house and comforted her when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out followed her saying she goeth to the Grave to weep there 32. When Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying unto him Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died 33. Jesus saw her weeping Can Brethren and Sisters that descended from the same Parents that were bred in the same Womb sucked the same Breasts brought up together in the same Family see any of them carried to the Grave before them and not follow with weeping Eyes and sorrowful Hearts 4. Ministers heretofore have not died unlamented nor followed to their Graves without Weeping and Sorrow They that watched over the People while they lived were bewailed by the People when they fell asleep When Death did tye their Tongues and silence them when the Seers eyes have been closed and the feet of them that brought the glad tidings of Salvation to lost Sinners are fettered by the bands of Death that they can come and bring no more When they that brake the Bread of Life became meat for Worms and could pray with them and for them and preach to them no more when they had done their work then the Peoples sorrows did begin The children of Israel wept for Moses thirty days Deut. 34.8 And for Aaron Numb 20.29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead they mourned for Aaron thirty days even all the house of Israel When Samuel died all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him 1 Sam. 25.1 Stephen was not buried without much sorrow Acts 8.2 Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him But now Ministers Widows and Children might mourn when many others are not concerned for them living or dying 5. Tho now in our Iron Age some can scarce sorrow for departed Relations yet in former times they have greatly mourned for servants that have died out of their Families Deborah that was Rebecca's Nurse belonging to Isaac's house had her Funeral attended with Tears Gen. 53.8 Deborah Rebecca's nurse died and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak and the name of it was called Allon Buchuth that is the oak of weeping because of the many Tears that were shed at her burial 6. The compassionate Bowels the troubled Heart the weeping Eyes of our Lord Jesus for a departed Believer are significant Indications of the Sorrow there should be upon such Dispensations of Divine Providence When Lazarus was dead Mary and Martha wept the Jews wept and when Jesus came after he was buried he wept also he was troubled with them that were troubled and wept with them that wept for their dead on which occasion he was troubled he groaned he wept John 11.33 35. If all these did thus sorrow fo their dead may not we for ours Dear Jesus when thou didst not rebuke Martha and Mary weeping for their deceased Brother but didst weep with them didst not shew thine Anger but thy Pity to them in their Sorrow for the removal of a Brother from them keep us that are concerned because afflicted from sinful Sorrow and shew thy Compassion to us whilest we do case our burthened Hearts by venting of our Sorrow and weeping out our Grief Since we have so many approved Examples of Holy Men and Women that in the like case have sorrowed in the like manner Secondly Defect of Sorrow where there is true cause of Sorrow is a falling short of the exercise of those Affections which God himself hath implanted in our Hearts Why hath God given us the Affection of Love but that it may be set upon objâ—cts of Love And the Affection of Delight and Joy but that we may rejoyce when God affords us matter of Joy And why the Affection of Grief and Sorrow but that we should duly grieve when his dealings with us call aloud and provoke us to it And if Losses are causes of and calls to Sorrow what greater loss in things below than the loss of such as should be dearer to us than all things here below Religion doth not destroy Nature but rectify it Grace doth not abolish natural Affections but directs them to their Objects and keeps them in their due Proportion that as they should not be excessive so not defective in their measure Thirdly Love to and delight in Relations while they live must needs constrain our Sorrow when by death removed from us What is that which you truly and duly love and delight in the enjoyment of that you can forbear to sorrow for the loss of Nay if it be unduly loved as a worldly Man doth his Riches when lost can sorrow be concealed And shall not we be allowed to love near Relations more than worldly Riches and so to sorrow more for the loss of the one than of the other I do know what it is to meet with losses of the World but I do not know that they did break my Sleep but I cannot deny but my late loss of one so near hath kept mine Eyes waking in the deep silence of the Nights How any should have due due degrees of Love to Husband Wife Parents or Children while they live and not have equal Sorrow for them when they dye is not easy for me to give a rational Account of For if the Goodness of the Object beget love to it the Absence of it excites desires after it the loss of it must fill us with Sorrow for it Want of Sorrow when they are taken from us doth argue want of Love while they were continued with us If you groan not at their Death there is room for this question Were not you burdened with their Life Did you look upon that Relation when alive as one of your Enjoyments when you do not look upon the Death of such a one as one of your Afflictions When Husband and Wife are known not to live in love every one hath a Tongue to say Such will not mourn for her Death How should he afflict his heart with Grief when separated by Death when it was empty of Love when joyned in Life David's different Carriage at the death of his Son Absalom and of his young Child doth not shew that when he had so much Sorrow for the one he had no Sorrow for the other but that he had something to moderate his sorrow for the one which he had not for the other when he had hopes that the one was saved and fears that the other was damned Fourthly The want of lamentation and mourning is a punishment that God inflicts upon Sinners at their Death Job 27.13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive of
Sin his Child did die and yet after the Childs death we do nor read he sorrowed for the Child that died for his Sin with such sorrow that he did for Absalom that died in his own Sin But is your Case and David's alike He sorrowed for his Sin and humbled himself for his Sin and fasted and prayed with weeping Tears to God but did you do so He obtained the pardon of his Sin but have you also Is it not to be questioned when you have no sorrow for Sin nor God's displeasure nor the dead when your Case which is not the case of all was such that one did cause the other 4. Want of Sorrow for the dead taken from them from want of sense of God's hand upon them and against them argues That they are spiritually Blind and cannot see spiritually Deaf and cannot hear spiritually Benummed and cannot feel When your living fall down dead God's hand is lifted up and you do not see You see them fall into the Grave under your feâ—t but you do not see the hand of God lifted up over your head Isa 26.11 Lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see When your living Relations do dye there is Gods rod upon you and it hath a Voice a loud a shâ—ill and doleful crying Voice but you do not hâ—ar did I say a Rod Nay God hath been in your House with his Ax hewing down your Living lopping off the Children as so many Branches cutting off the Father or the Mother or both and plucking up the Family by the Roots and yet you do not hear the sound of the Rod nor of the Ax nor consider who it is that did appoint both When your Relations dye it is a stroke of God upon your selves he kills them and smitteth you and yet you have no feeling of his blow What! are the living dead while they do live Are the living become like unto their dead Having eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear and flesh but cannot feel You stand before them but they do not see you you call to them but they do not hear you you strip them and put on them their Grave-clothes and remove them down your Stairs and carry them from your House to their Lodging-dust and let them down into the pit and all this while they do not feel you So are you towards God as they towards you God a displeased God is come into your House into your Chamber but you do not see him nor his anger He calls to you by your Dead that lies bâ—fore you but you do not hear his Voice He is punishing correcting of you but you do not feel the smart of his stroke Behold the dead burying their dead men spiritually dead burying their naturally dead The Lifeless corps do not sorrow that they are let down into the Grave and the Liseless-living living a Life of Nature but not a Life of Grace not having the Sense of Christians nor of Men of the death of their dead nor of Sin nor of God's displeasure do not mourn to see thâ—m lodged thâ—re 5. Want of Sorrow in this case from want of sense of God's hand that brought you into it argues That you wanted love to them and a prizing and a valuing of them Love your Money and do not sorrow when you lose it Love your Health and Ease and do not grieve when you want it in sickness and in pain Will you say you cannot How did you love your Child when living if you cannot sorrow for its Death How did you love and prize and value the Com◠〈…〉 â—f Father or Mother Husband or 〈…〉 live without Sor◠〈…〉 them If Sor◠〈…〉 of what was be◠〈…〉 bear some 〈…〉 of Lovâ— then how 〈◊〉 was the love to them when living when thâ—re is no sorrow for them when dead The sâ—ying of a poor Man seeing a rich Man burying his Child told me was this 'T is the priviledge of the rich to bury their Children when the poor must keep theirs Are not Children Husbands Wives Fathers Mothers a burden to such that look upon it as a Priviledge that they may dye that they may be buried What hearts have they that do not sorrow for their dead when want of Sorrow argues they wanted love and yet the thoughts of their want of formâ—r love to them doth not fill them with present Sorrow But something to this hath been said before 6. Want of Sorrow in this Case argues A contemning and a despising of the afflicting hand of God When God gave you a good Husband or Wife or Parents or Childrâ—n and you did not prize them when you had them this was a despising of Gods merciful and good Hand unto you when God took them from you by death you laid it not to heart this is a despising of the chastening Hand of God upon you When living you were not thankful when dead you were not sorrowful in the one you despised his love in the other you despised his anger As if you should say Let God do what he will you will despise all his doings God's command to Man is this Heb. 12.5 Despise not the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him One man despiseth that rebuke from God which another is ready to sink under One bears it without feeling of it when another faints at the smarting of it When it is a small Affliction a man despiseth it this is a light thing and easily born When it is a great Affliction man fainteth because of it saying No man's Affliction like to mine no man's Sorrow like to mine my Flesh faileth my Strength faileth my Heart and Spirit fail for this is grievous to be born but behold the Man we are speaking of is under a great Affliction for such is the loss of a near and good Relation and yet being not sensible despiseth that which another finds heavy to bear 7. Want of Sorrow in this case argues a man to be predâ—minâ—ntly a selfish man To have love to or care of none but himself What if a Child dye so long as he himself doth live What if a Father or Mother dye while he himself doth live And yet which is more what if a Wife be laid under ground among the dead so he himself hath Life and Strength to walk above ground amoâ—g the living He can set the comfort of his own Life aâ—â—â—nst all Sorrow tho he see all in his Faâ—â—ly removed by Death and tho he be lâ—fâ— aâ—â— alone it is all one to him for himseâ—â— alone is all to him It was fitter for such a man to have lived alone in some Cavâ—rn of the Earth than to have been troubled with Wife or Children whom he can part with without any trouble to himself 8. This wâ—nt of Sorrow in the â—xplâ—â—â—ed Sense is a provâ—cation to God to afflict 〈◊〉 more and more till he is sensible of the Assâ—◠〈◊〉 and of the hand that laid
not you see he doth not mourn as he is a Child and stands in that Relation but as he hath Flesh that is pained by the strokes Might not he cry out under the Rod and yet be a stubborn Child a disobedient Child and not desire his Father's love in the way of his Duty nor lay to heart his Father's displeasure for the Evil he hath done Will you ask me Sir Are you sure God is displeased with me because by Death he hath removed my Relation from me I will ask you Are you sure that he is not Which doth it look most like Love or Displeasure And if you are not sure he is not displeased with you under such a Rod should not you sorrow lest he should be displeased Is the displeasure of God so small a thing in your Eye that the fear of it should not be ground of your Sorrow And say what if God should be angry with me in what he hath taken from me What if my Father should be displeased and the Death of this Relation be the fruit of it Is not here ground to sorrow as a Christian as well as a Man The loss of a good Husband or Wife Father Mother or Child is a burden heavy to be born but the loss of the favour of God is greater and his displeasure presseth more hard upon a Soul sensible of it and therefore prays O Lord if thou rebuke me let it not be in thine anger if thou chasten me let it not be in thy sore displeasure Psalm 6.1 The loss of a Relation is a Rebuke it is a chastening and it may be in anger and displeasure when it is so Sorrow for God's displeasure as Christians as for your own Affliction as Men. 3. When you Sorrow more for the loss of your Temporal Good by the Death of your Relation than for the Spiritual Advantage you might have gained by the continuance of their Lives You sorrow too much as Men but too liâ—tle as Christians You may sorrow for the one as well as for the other but you should not sorrow so much for the one as for the other because the one is better than the other and the loss of the one a greater loss than the other By their Death you sustain the loss of some outward Comforts for your Body and loss of some inward Advantages for your Soul as now they can instruct and teach you no more they can pray with you and for you no more they can help you to answer your doubts about your Spiritual State no more nor give you Arguments against your own Corruptions or Satan's Temptations any more nor reprove you for your Sin nor comfort you under your Afflictions nor exhort you to be making holy Preparations for Death nor direct you therein any more for ever nor by their continued Example stir you up to secret Prayer to maintain Communion with God all these were great Advantages you had by the Life of your holy Relations and by their Death they cease For this you do not sorrow saying My Godly Father my Holy Mother made many a Prayer shed many a Tear for me they pleaded with God for Grace and Mercy and Pardon for me but Death hath broken off the continuance of their Prayers and what a loser am I thereby They did observe and watch my Life and Actions what was Evil they reproved me for what was Good they did incâ—urage and countenance me in but Death hath closed their Eyes that they can now see neither Good nor Evil in me and hath tied their Tongue that they can speak no more to me concerning the one nor the other and who can tell the greatness of my loss for my Immortal Soul that I am under by their Death The like might be said concerning a Religious Husband an holy Zealous Wife Wherefore if you mourn never so much for your loss by their Death as to your Bodies and outward Estate and not so much as to your loss to your Soul and spiritual Condition it 's more like Men than Christians 4. When you Sorrow more for the want of their Company in Life than you do for want of a sanctified improvement of their Death you sorrow too much as Men and too little as Christians Nature helps you to the one but it must be Grace that must inable you to do the other Your Father or Mother Husband or Wife or Child is dead and you sit down and sorrow and say I shall never see these in my house any more they shall never sit with me at my Table any more they shall lodge in my Bed no more and dwell with me on Earth no more for ever I shall see them no more whom I did love to look upon when they were absent from me a Week or two a Month or two A Month a Day or two how glad was I at their return If their absence filled me with Sorrow their presence again did drive away my Sorrow and renewed my Joy If I parted with them when to go a Journey I did it with Tears of Grief but when they returned I received them with Tears of Joy If I sorrowed that they were gone yet the hopes of their safe return did asswage my Sorrow But now they are gone without return They have taken a long Journey and never to me will come back again They were use to take their leave and say farewel till I see you again but now they took their leave saying The Lord be with you for I shall be with you no more Oh this word no more doth even break my heart what my Father or Mother gone and shall I see them no more my Wife or Husband gone and shall I set mine Eyes on him or her no more My dear Child gone looking on whom did delight my Eyes and must I see him no more I look for my Relations at my Table but their place is empty and I cannot see them there I lock but I cannot see them I go to the Chamber where they did use to sit and Work or to the Closet where they did use to Pray but I cannot see them there I see the Work but them I cannot see I see their Hand-writing but them I cannot see I see their wearing Clothes but them that did use to wear them I cannot see to see these and not them doth renew and encrease my Sorrow when I can see these every day and no day can see them the more I multiply my Sorrow and methinks this Sorrrow is pleasent Sorrow and this Grief is delightful Grief and when I feel Sorrow added to Sorrow at the remembrance of them I must see no more methinks it pleaseth me to remember them tho it grieves me that I can not must not see them nor enjoy their Company nor my comfort in their Company any more for ever Is this your Sorrow And have you nothing else to do than to feed your Sorrow And please your self with this kind of Sorrow
desirous that the Devil's Kingdom should be destroyed and the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus should be promoted and propagated must be mourners in Heart tho not in Habit at the death of those that God did please to use for the one and for the other 4. Such sorrow argueth our selves to be of a publick Spirit and not to have such little narrow Souls as to be only concerned for our Carnal Self-interest You are afflicted in your own Person or in your own Family and you sorrow and mourn who will thank you for it What Grace or good Nature is manifested in your selfish sorrow Or who will call this good Nature in you when you are so selfish to sorrow only for Self-concerns 5. The Labours of Godly Ministers in their Life have immediate reference to your holy Living to your happy Dying and to your Well-being to all Eternity Is there any thing in this World concerns you more than to lead an holy Life to die an happy death and to be saved when you die Do they die that should direct you in all these And is there no cause of sorrow for the death of such which puts an end to all their Labours CHAP. IX Resolves this Question When is our Sorrow for our Dead excessive and immoderate THe Second Part of the propounded Method in treating of this sorrowful Subject is to shew When our Sorrow for our Dead is excessive and immoderate That in some it is Defective especially in Spiritual Respects hath been already shewed and wherein it doth come short of what it ought to be that it is excessive and immoderate in others the Practice of many deprived of their Relations by Death is a visible Proof and the Caution and Charge given in the Text doth suppose that some do exceed the bounds and that their Tears do overflow the Banks of Moderation and make a Land-stood in their Families So far as it hath already been discovered to be turbulent it is excessive which here should be reviewed to which some more might be added The Apostle's Golden Rule should be our Christian Directory for the moderating of our Joy and Sorrow in having or losing the outward Enjoyments of this Life 1 Cor. 7.29 But this I say Brethren the timt is short it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none 33. And those that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoice as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away In which Rule we might note these things 1. Some have their Wives Husbands Parents Children yet continuing with them Others have none because by death taken from them 2. Those that have them are apt to â—ver-joy in them those that have lost them are prone to over-sorrow for them 3. Those that have them shall shortly be in the same circumstances as those that are by death deprived of them Ours are dead and yours shortly will be so Life is so short and the end of all so near and sure that there is little and no long difference betwixt the state of one and of the other 4. Those that have Wives and other Relations should sometimes suppose themselves to be in the Circumstances of those that have none that the thoughts that shortly they shall have none might correct their excessive joy while they have them for though you have them you should he as though you had them not looking upon Relations that shortly will not be as if now already they were not is a point of prudence for the moderating of our joy in them Those that have them not should suppose this will be the case of those that have for the allaying of their sorrow that now this is their present state 5. The reasons of this indifferency of our Spirits in these different Circumstances of our Life 1. The time is short those that have Fathers and Mothers Wife Husband or Children shall have them but for a short time Why then are your hearts transported with so much joy when you might stand and see the end of them those that are deprived of them have themselves but a little time to live Why then are you so much cast down for so short a want of them 2. All these things are but as a shadow or an appearance of good rather than that good wherein our happiness doth lie and the solid spiritual abiding comfort of our life doth consist it is but the fashion of this world an accidental and External Figure without substance the surface and outside What is all that is in this world that is of the world but a meer surface and vain outside why then do we joy so much or sorrow so much whether we have them or be without them 3. They are in continual change like Water in the River is continually every moment passing away What! are these things neither substantial nor continual and shall we be over-affected with the having or the losing of them Christians should do as to Temporals as Worldings do in Spirituals these pray as if they prayed not they can confess sin and neithâ—r weep without nor sorrow within they are under the loss of the favour of God and yet are as contented as if they were not they can ask for an interest in Christ pardon of sin and eternal Salvation and yet not be much troubled for the present though they go without them for ever they can sit and hear the threatnings of God and never fear nor grieve can sit and hear the glad tidings of the Gospel and never rejoice hear all as if they heard them not or if they have some movings of Affections they are not deep they reach not the heart they do not break their hearts for sin against God nor for the loss of God so much as some do for the loss of a Creature Let such as are immoderately weeping for their dead stop their Tears that they may read compose tâ—eir minds for a while at first that they may consider what is said and command their Sorrow to give place to Reason and Religion or if they have not such command over it should earnestly pray to God that hath that they might at last not sorrow with such excess of sorrow as if they had no hope of the blessed present and future state of those they thus do sorrow for Let me propound some Questions to you and let Reason and Conscience in your Sorrow give in their Answer if it be not sorrow in excess Q. 1. Is your sorrow for your Dead so much as in the degrees of it tends to the shortning of your own Life and is it not then too much Is your Relation dead and will you therefore kill your self hath death broken the Relation you had in the Fifth Commandment and will you go on to transgress the Sixth hath Death killed one and will
not so it is easy to judge your sorrow is over-much Q. 7. Is not your sorrow over-much when it hinders you and keeps you from rejoycing in God from praising of him and giving thanks unto him for the mercies you have mixed with your affliction Have not you more Mercies left than you have lost have not you greaeter Mercies continued than are removed is your Earthly Father dead but have not you still a Father in Heaven is your Wife dead but is not your Soul married to Christ and though the Conjugal Union be broken by Death yet doth not the Mystical Union betwixt Christ and you still remain have not you the pardon of Sin the favour of God the sense of his Love and Hopes of Heaven seriously set these over against your Dead and say if you have not more cause to rejoice in God and give him thanks for these than you have to mourn for your Dead and whether God doth not command you more and give you a stricter charge sor these to rejoice in him than to mourn for your Dead and consequently is the grand constant Duty you owe to God all the days of your Life and are you so much indebted to your dead as you are to the Living God Was their Life of so much worth to you as your Relation to God is and your Receivings from him see your Duty and cease from that which hinders your performance of it Phil. 3.1 Finally my Brethren rejoice in the Lord. Whatsoever state you are in serve God with joyful hearts Phil. 4.4 Rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say rejoice Always rejoice in the Lord What whâ—n my Father or Mother or Child Wife or Husband lieth dead in my House or is newly lodged in the Grave Is it not alway you are commanded to rejoice is there this Exception when you have any Relation dead that then this should be no Duty Have not Christians always greater cause of rejoycing in the Lord than they have of sorrow for Worldly Losses is not holy joy in the Lord and a thankful praising of God the very Flower of Religion and makes us most like the Angels and Saints above but can you thus rejoice and praise and magnifie God and triumph in his Love and Grace when you are overwhelmed with sorrow for the loss of Worldly Comforts and is not that sorrow too much that unfits you for this constant standing Duty 1 Thes 5.16 Rejoice evermore 17. Pray without ceasing 18. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you Whatever a true Believer doth lose he should rejoice because the Grounds and Reasons and Causes of Joy do still remain and in every Case and Condition of life should give thanks to God for as much as the Good that continueth to him doth exceed the Evils that do befal him This is God's revealed Will making it our Duty for the great Blessings we receive from him by Christ Job's sorrow for the loss of ten Children in one day by a strange unusual death added to all his former Losses making his Case more sorrowful than yours was kept within such Bounds as that he was able even then to bless and praise the Lord. Job 1.19 They are dead 21. He said naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. In your sorrow try if you can do so if not judge whether it be not over-much Q. 8. Is not that sorrow for your dead over-much which doth deaden your Heart towards God in all Holy Duties You were wont to pray with a lively Heart and to hear the Word of God with warm Affections but now you pray with a dead Heart and hear with dull Affections Your Love and Desires and Delights are become as cold in your Duties as your Relations Corps are in the Grave What have you done in your sorrow taken away a lively Heart towards God and laid a dead Child a dead Father or Wife in the room of it Like the Woman in Solomon's Reign whose Child did die in the Night and there being another Woman in the House that had a living Child rose and while the living Child's Mother did slâ—ep took her living Child out of her Bosom and laid her dead Child in her Bosom in the room of the living Child But these two Women contended before Solomon one saying The living Child is mine but the dead Child is thine the other also said The dead Child is thine but the living Child is mine 1 Kings 3.16 to 24. Solomon commanded a Sword to be brought to divide the living Child and to give half to the one and half to the other The true Mothers Bowels yearning towards her Child said O my Lord give her the living Child and by no means slay it the other said Let it be neither mine nor thine but divide it whereby the King discerned the Natural Mother and commanded the living Child to be given to her ver 24 25 26 27. Love filled your Heart to your living Child Sorrow fills your Heart for your dead Child You had a lively frame of Heart when your Child was living but now it is dead through over-much sorrow you have laid your dead Child in your Bosom in the room of that Activity of Soul that before you had towards God and you lay claim to the dead Child this dead Child is my Child Alas this Child that is dead is mine But whose is your Hâ—art and Love God's or your Child's Take heed this be not the true answer during this fit of excessive sorrow it is not all God's â—or all the Child's but you have divided it between both and given half to the Living God and half to the Dead Child That sorrow that causeth you to make this division is excessive sorrow Q. 9. Is not that sorrow for your dead over-much when it all runs out to them that you are not sensible of nor concerned for the Calamities of the Church nor Afflictions and Sufferings of the People of God All your sorrow is contracted and all your Tears run in this one Channel for your dead Father or Mother Husband Wife or Children are not the Concerns of the Church of God greater than your selfish Matters Are not the Sufferings and Calamities Martyrdom by Burning and Wracking and Torturing of many dear to God greater Evils than the Natural death of your Relations Did Christ shed his Blood for his Church and amongst all your Tears for your dead cannot you drop one for the Suffering Church of God Are Men shedding their Blood and for this cannot you shed a Tear when you have so many for one dead Child or Husband or Wife Should not the Concerns of the Glory of God in Publick Affairs lye nearer your Heart than a dead Relation and wound deeper and make you sorrow more You are ready to die with
Tho maâ—y things might be had out of the whole Word of God which would much enlarge this Discourse yet I shall that I may Contract pick up the Apostles Arguments in the Text and following Verses of this Chapter as Alleviations of sorrow in this Case because therein he treats designedly upon this Subject Concerning which it is as if he had said Those that are ignorant of or do not believe the Resurrection of the Dâ—ad and a better Life hereafter have ever sorrowful Thoughts of those that are taken away by Death and mourn for them to excess But I would not have you to cherish and maintain such immoderate sorrows by Ignorance of their Case at present and hereafter The Helps against Immoderate Sorrow for our dead given in this Chapter might be reduced to these Four General Heads of Argument 1. The consideration of the state of the Bodies of departed Believers They are fallen asleep and if they sleep in Jesus as they do v. 14. they shall do well 2. The Knowledge and Belief of the state of the separated Soul Their Souls are with Christ Triumphant in Heaven while their Bodies are sleeping in the Grave and these Souls he will bring back with him when he comes 3. The certainty of the Resurrection of the Dead by the Re-union of the same Souls with the same Bodies and so Christ will bring the entire Man with him at the day of Judgment Thus the Hope in the Text is the Hope of the Resurrection of the Dead and confirmed by the next words 4. The Antecedent Concomitant and consequent Circumstances of the Resurrection That is what shall go before what shall accompany and what shall follow after the raising of the dead and all these are laid down in the following part of this Chapter which is a Spring and Fountain of Living Lively Comfort against excessive sorrow for the dead And methinks I feel it already to begin to work It warms my Heart it doth begin to burn within my Breast My Affections move and it seems to me that my sorrow is turning into joy and my heaviness into rejoicing and am put to a stand whether now I shall call my Tears for my dead Tears of Sorrow or of Joy Have we been sorrowing because she is dead Methinks I cannot but joy that she sleeps in Jesus Have we been mourning because the Body is in the Grave Oh how delightful is it to me to think upon such good grounds that the Precious and Immortal Soul is above in yonder glorious Heaven in the presence of the Father and Redeemer and Comforter and in the innumerable company of Angels and saved Souls perfectly Holy and Happy for ever Have we been so much troubled because the Body did fall at the parting stroke of death methinks my trouble is allayed when I am considering and certainly sure that it shall rise and fall no more Is it an aggravating sorrow to look back upon the Circumstances of the Funeral The Bearers carrying the Corps upon their Shoulders the Mourning Relations following and many sorrowful sympathizing Friends coming after to see the dead Body lodged in its long Home Methinks another Affection is ready to take its turn and to act its part even Delight and Joy when I look forward and foresee the Lord a coming and all his Holy Angels with him calling the dead to rise they hear and come forth from their sleeping places and after Judgment go with their Lord into the highest Heavens in Body and Soul not only to their long but last yea Everlasting Home to Live and Love and Joy in God to all Eternity Oh what difference is there between believing Thoughts of these great and glorious certain things and those that have been daily running to the Grave looking upon a consuming Body What wrong have I done my self in hastening to this part no more and coming to it no sooner Why have we been looking so long in the Grave in which as such we can see nothing but death and cry out as the Men to Elisha concerning their deadly Pottage O thou Man of God there is death in the Pot 2 Kings 4.40 So we there is death in the Grave But when Elisha said Then bring Meal and he cast it into the Pot and he said pour out for the people that they may eat and there was no harm in the Pot. So we should have looked upon the Grave as a place where Christ before had been laid and as a Bed for the Bodies of Believers to sleep in till the Lord shall come and we should have seen no such great harm in the Grave to fill us with excessive sorrow Concerning this representation of death by sleeping four things may be premised as to this manner of Scripture expression 1. Tho Beasts do die yet their death in Scripture that I know of is never called a Sleep for they die to live no more Death puts an end to their Life without a Resurrection to it any more They are only in this World and not to have Life in that World that Men are hastening too They are not capable here of Moral Government of Sin or Grace and so shall not be raised to undergo Eternal Punishments or to receive Eternal Rewards hereafter Tho they do sleep while they live yet their death is not a sleep because they shall die but never wake 2. The death of ungodly Men is sometimes in Scripture called a sleep tho more seldom The worst as well as the best all Mankind in general shall be raised at the last day As death is common to all so shall the Resurrection of the dead also be Tho as there is a difference in their death so shall there also be in their Resurrection but because they shall awake therefore to them death also is a sleep Tho they had better to sleep on than to awake and rise to be tormented Dan. 12.2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake some to â—verlasting Life and some to Shame and Everlasting Contempt Expressed by Christ in these words John 5.28 All that are in their Graves shall hear his voice 29. And shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of Damnation 3. It is most frequently used concerning the death of holy and believing persons that they may familiarize it to themselâ—es and get as great a willingness to die as to go to Bed and sleep So God said to Moses he should sleep with his Fathers Deut. 31.16 So of David 2 Sam. 7.12 So Mat. 9.24 When Christ said our Friend Lazarus sleepeth the Disciples thought he spake of his taking natural rest in sleep but after explained his meaning saying he is dead John 11.11 12 13. So Acts 13.36 4. The Expression of sleeping in Jesus is to be understood peculiarly of the death of true Believers that shall be awaked to live with him in Eternal
Moreover O my Soul wilt thou not grant that Sorrow is excessive which causeth thy Thoughts to run into the Grave and hinders them from ascending into Heaven and to have many self-piercing and self-tormenting Thoughts of thy dead for one serious and Heart-affecting Thought thou hast of the Living and Eternal God and which makes thy Heart as cold in all thy Duties unto God as the Body of thy dead Relation is in its Grave Besides is not thy Sorrow too much when it hinders thee from Spiritually rejoycing in God and giving Thanks to him for all the Mercies which in thy Sorrow thou dost overlook Especially when let thy Condition be what it will as to Temporals thou hast much more cause to bless God for Spiritual and Eternal Mercies than to grieve for the loss of Temporals Add to this O my Soul and then judge that thou grievest so much for thy Dead that thou hast left off sorrowing for the Miseries of the Church of God and losest much of thy little remaining Time wherein thou hast many Duties to perform many Graces to get and more degrees thereof many sins to mortifie and subdue many Temptations to resist a deceitful Heart to watch and search Children and Servants to instruct and teach and holy preparations to be made for Death and another Eternal World and while thou sorrowest all these are neglected Is it not too much By this time and from these Evidences O my Soul art thou not convinced that thy sorrow for thy dead hath been and still is excessive sorrow that thou hast and dost transgress the bounds of Christian Moderation and thereby offend thy holy Lord wrong thy self discredit that Religion thou dost profess discourage the good and cast a stumbling-block in the way of the ungodly and wilt thou still proceed herein Canst not thou sensibly feel the stroke of his hand and yet patiently submit unto his will How long wilt thou thus be cast down how long wilt thou thus be disquieted within me Is thy Relation fallen asleep and are thy Graces slumbering Is thy Faith as dead in thy Heart as thy Relation is in the Grave Shall Nature wôrk thus strongly in thee and Graces so feebly If natural Affections be exorbitant hath not God implanted Grace in thee that it may correct moderate and govern them Art thou only a Rational and not a Believing Soul Yea dost thou thus Immoderately grieve as if thou wast neither believing nor rational in thy sorrow If there be nothing in the common Book of corrupted Nature that thou canst read but what doth add grief unto thy grief yet is there not enough in that special Book of sacred Scripture that might turn thy sorrow into Joy for those of thine that sleep in Jesus Or hast thou thrown it by and neglected to look and search into it Or if thou readest dost thou understand what thou readest or dost thou consider what thou dost understand or believe with an unshaken Faith what thou dost consider whilest thy sorrow doth continue so excessive Hath not God revealed therein such certain Truths concerning the Bodies of those that dye in the Lord such glorious things concerning their separated Souls for the present such wonderful work that he will hereafter do in reuniting the same Souls with the same Bodies in raising them from the dead and Redeeming them from the Grave such desirable Glory that their Souls and Bodies thus reunited shall be joyntly partakers of and be made perfectly and eternally holy and happy in the enjoyment of the Father Son and eternal Spirit in the innumerable Company of glorious Angels and the vast multitudes of such as with them were chosen redeemed sanctified and shall be for ever saved singing triumphant Hallelujahs when they shall all be gathered together in the Immediate presence of their Lord and Saviour and be possessed of those Mansions in their Fathers House which were prepared for them Hath he made known such things as these and are they sure and infallibly certain and yet for want of Faith and Hope and Love dost thou sit here and sigh and sob and grieve and groan as thô those thou mournest for were for ever lost as if they were so dead that they should live no more or as if they were so fast bound in their Graves that they never should come forth nor be taken from that dark place to the Palace of glorious Light above Attend then O my Soul unto the Expression wherewith thy Lord doth represent the death of thy holy Relation now deceased as a sleeping in Jesus And if thou mournest because she is dead yet try if thou canst mourn because she sleepeth in the Lord. For this doth Sorrow fill thine Heart or mayest thou not rejoyce that being dead she so sleepeth for if she sleep in Jesus shall she not do well and if she shall do well shouldest thou not rather rejoyce than thus lament and grieve When didst thou sorrow when she went to bed and slept and took her natural Rest And now she sleeps in Jesus is she not at rest in her Grave as in her bed from all troubles from men from Sickness and Pain and from all Sense thereof from all worldly cares and piercing Sorrows that did usually accompany those cares and if her Death be but a Sleep how easie is it for Almighty Power to awaken her out of her Sleep And if she sleep she shall awake for if in the usual Course of Nature waking followeth after sleeping wherefore dost thou doubt or sear that Death being but a Sleep that it will be a perpetual Sleep And if she went sick and weary and weak to sleep when she shall awake shall she not be more refreshed and revived in the Morning of the Resurrection If the time of her sleeping seemeth long to thee now waking and not to her now sleeping why dost thou trouble thy self with that with which she is not at all concerned about If in the time of her Life thou sawest her sick and could not sleep this was a grief and trouble to thee would it not much more have added to thy sorrow to see her languish filled with pain hear her sigh and sob and groan upon a sick bed and could neither recover nor yet fall asleep and yet dost thou take on that when by all means used and learned carefull and pious Physicians consulted she could not be recovered that now she is fallen asleep Why dost thou molest and trouble thy self at the thoughts of the Length of her Sleep when it is no more trouble nor disquiet to her than the Length of time is to one that is fast sleeping in his Bed tho it may be tedious to one that sitteth by and waketh while he sleepeth Remember O my Soul and let the remembrance thereof asswage thy sorrow that it is her last but not an everlasting sleep tho it be long it shall not alwayes last and because it is a sleep that is called Death it shall
be the last that she shall sleep for when awaked she shall sleep no more for ever And yet is this the Body that thou thus bewailest and for this dost thou thus Night after Night break thy sleep and when she sleepeth quietly in the Lord and dreameth not of any of the things that are done in this World canst not thou rest nor sleep in thy Bed without dreaming of her that is so unconcernedly sleeping in the Bed of the Grave Let her quiet and resting Body rebuke O my Soul thy unquiet and restless thoughts Moreover consider O my Soul whose State thou hast more reason to lament and bewail thine own or the state of the Soul of thy Relation that was converted and sanctified that did repent and believe before Death made the separation betwixt thee and her or betwixt her Body and her Soul Dost thou not believe that her Soul being absent from her Body is now present with the Lord and being so is perfectly freed from all sin sorrow Temptation Inclination to sin and from a possibility of sinning and is possessed of all good filled with all Joy perfect in the Knowledge of God and Christ and in Love to and Delight in all the Persons in the to us unsearchable Trinity Whilest thou thy self art grieving groaning under the Burden of remaining sins conflicting with Satan and the Powers of Darkness clogged with the Flesh and ensnared with the Allurements and Affrightments of this evil and deluding World Thou in a state imperfect and Militant the Soul of thy Relation in a state perfect and Triumphant Is it not thy frequent Doubts and Fears whether thou lovest God and whether God loveth thee with a differencing special and peculiar Love Are they not thy often Complaints that thou hast but little Enjoyment of God and Communion with him in his Ordinances and sometimes none at all That thou seekest God but canst not see him and searchest for him but câ—nst not find him That thou goest from Meditation to Prayer from Praying to Hearing from Hearing to attending upon â—im at his Table and after all thy sorroâ—ful saying is I sought him whom my Soul loveth and longeth for I sought him but I could not find him That thy Sin had interposed betwixt thy God and thee and caused him to hide his Face from thee Were not these the Complaints also of thy Relation while with thee and didst not thou endeavour to satisfie her grieved and disconsolate Spirit by reason of Gods frequent withdrawings from her Soul and labouredst to resolve her Doubts to remove her Fears and to answer all the Objections she did make about the Sincerity of her Love to Christ And is her separated saved glorified Soul now above all these Doubts and Fears and Jealousies Is it now above Hope and Desire because possessed of what it hoped for and desired after Is it now perfectly Loving and delightfully Praising of its Lord and Saviour Is it now constantly beholding of Him and rejoycing in Him and can doubt no more and question his Love to it and its Love to Him no more for ever because it feels and is filled with the lively sense of both And dost thou sit here Mourning whilest it is eternally Rejoycing Cease sorrowing for her whose Soul is perfectly happy and triumphant and save thy Tears to bewail thine own Hazards Dangers and Sins in this Imperfect state and to pour them out before God in fervent Prayer that thou when separated from this Body mightest be received into that place of Light and Life and Love into that glorious Kingdom of the Ever-living God and all-sufficient Saviour to which her Soul is gone before and is now singing rejoycing and triumphing in But above all O my Soul why art thou troubled and disquieted most of all for what hath befallen the Body of thy dear Relation Why dost thou sit in thy Chamber where thou sawest her breathe her last Breath and give up the Ghost and â—use how thou sawest her pale and didst handle her cold Face when layd in her Coffin And while thou sittest here thy thoughts so often run unto the Grave and coâ—siderest how the Body is mouldring and consuming and turning into Rottenness and dust And while thou sayâ—st For this here is my sorrow let me ask theâ— in the mean time where is thy Faith Hast thou an Eye to see how the Body lyeth in the Grave and hast thou not another Eye to see how it shall be raised up Canst thou not look beyond the Coffin and the Grave to a joyful glorious Resurrection Wake O my Faith awake that I may firmly and steadfastly believe this great and comfortable Article of the Resurrection to Life Everlasting and joy more that it shall rise again than be cast down because it is cast into the Grave and for a while is lodged there Hast thou not O my Soul solid Foundation for thy Faith in this particular Doth not thy Lord that is infinite in Wisdom know where every one is buried or where the Body doth consume Doth not he know which Bones and Skull and Dust belong to this Body and which to that If this be knowable doth not he know it Or else is not his Knowledge limited and finite Knowledge because not extended to every thing that may be known And hath he not Almighty Power and so can do all acts of Power all things possible to be done Cannot he that made this great World and yonder larger Heavens out of Nothing out of something make these dry Bones to live Cannot he that formed the Body of Man at first of the Dust of the Ground and caused it to live New-make these Bodies tho turned into Dust Or doth this seem incredible to thee that God should raise the Dead Cannot he do what he hath done Did not he raise Lazarus and the Son of the Widow of Naim and Jairus his Daughter and himself when he had layn for a time in the Grave And as he can so hath he not declared that he will How often hath he spoken it How frequently hath he promised it Is not this the Fathers Will that sent his Son that of all that he had given him he should not lose any one but raise them up at the last Day And O my Soul dost thou not believe that the Son hath and will do the will of his Father in every point and particularly in this when he so often hath said he will raise them up at the last Day O be not Faithless but Believing and so cease thy excessive sorrowing Blessed Lord increase my Faith that my immoderate sorrow may decrease I have shewn my Unbelief by my excessive sorrow Now help me Lord to shew my Faith by my abating of my grief for my Dead because tho Dead yet shall certainly Live again Lord confirm my Faith in this That as sure as Christ is risen from the dead so surely shall my dead and all others be also raised because I read in