An antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead. Being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of Mr. Thomas Bewley junior, December 17th. 1658. By Sa. Clarke, pastor in Bennet Fink, London. Clarke, Samuel, 1599-1682. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A79887 of text R208174 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E1015_5). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 109 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 31 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A79887 Wing C4501 Thomason E1015_5 ESTC R208174 99867151 99867151 119443 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A79887) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 119443) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 150:E1015[5]) An antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead. Being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of Mr. Thomas Bewley junior, December 17th. 1658. By Sa. Clarke, pastor in Bennet Fink, London. Clarke, Samuel, 1599-1682. [8], 55, [1] p. printed by E. M. for George Calvert, at the Half Moon in Pauls Church-yard, neer the little North-door, London : 1659 [i.e. 1660?] Annotation on Thomason copy: "ffebr 2". Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Funeral sermons -- 17th century. A79887 R208174 (Thomason E1015_5). civilwar no An antidote against immoderate mourning for the dead.: Being a funeral sermon preached at the burial of Mr. Thomas Bewley junior, December Clarke, Samuel 1660 20187 11 15 0 0 1 0 18 C The rate of 18 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2008-04 Jason Colman Sampled and proofread 2008-04 Jason Colman Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST IMMODERATE MOVRNING For the DEAD . Being a Funeral SERMON Preached at the Burial of Mr. THOMAS BEWLEY junior , December 17th. 1658. By SA. CLARKE , Pastor in Bennet Fink , LONDON . Quid interest utrum Febris , an ferrum de corpore solverit : Non quâ occasione , sed quales ad se exeant , Dominus attendit in servis suis . August . Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? are not his dayes like the dayes of an hireling ? Job 7. 1. LONDON , Printed by E. M. for George Calvert , at the Half Moon in Pauls Church-yard , neer the little North-door , 1659. TO HIS Honoured and much esteemed Friends Mr. Thomas Bewley , Merchant ; AND Mrs. Mary Bewley , his wife . Dearly beloved in the Lord : IT was at your request that I first preached this Sermon ; and it is more to satisfie your desires than mine own , that I now print it . They that know me , cannot but withall know how backward I have ever been ( being conscious to my own weaknesse ) to publish any of my labours in this kind ; and your selves can bear me witness , that it was my earnest request , that you would have laid this burthen upon abler shoulders , especially having so great choise of godly and learned Ministers whom you invited to the Funeral : But when you persevered in your desires and requests to me to undertake it , my chiefest care was to make choise of such a subject , as ( through Gods blessing ) might come home to your hearts , and direct your behaviour under so great a burthen , as is the losse of a dear and and only Son . I knew that your affections were strong , and that you had need of a great deal of heavenly wisdom to enable you to moderate them ; and whence is this wisdom to be learned , but from the sacred Scriptures , which are richly stored with precious promises , as with so many cordials to revive and strengthen us in our greatest necessities . Vnless thy Law ( faith David , meaning principally the promises contained in it ) had been my delights , I should have perished in mine affliction , Psal. 119. 92. But as those which are faln into a swoon , may be fetched again with hot waters poured down their throats : so they that are troubled and pressed down under the heavy burthen of sorrow and grief , may by patience and comfort of the Scriptures recover hope and joy . The Text which God directed me to treat of was both seasonable and suitable to your present condition ; as not onely teaching you how to behave your selves under such an affliction , but holding forth to you sound and sufficient arguments to perswade and induce you to the practice of the same : I beseech you therefore to read it over and over again , and remember what the Father said ; these are Verba vivenda , & non legenda solùm , words to be lived and practised , and not to be read only : Such a sentence it is as a man would fetch from China upon his bare feet , rather than be without it . Take , I pray you , your correction as from Gods hand , and humble your selves under the smart of it : yet withal look to Christ , and entreat him that your Faith , Hope , and meeknesse may not be overturned by it , but rather that the affliction may bring forth Patience , and Patience Experience , and Experience Hope . Consider who it is that hath done it : Is he not your heavenly Father ? Now if your natural Father had done some shrewd turn at unawares , by breaking a thing wherein you much delighted , when you heard that he did it , you would be quiet , though before you were much moved : Should you not say with Christ ? Shall I not drink of that cup , that my Father will have me to drink of ? Remember , I pray you , what the Apostle suggesteth , Hebr. 12. 9. We have had Fathers of our flesh that have corrected us , and we gave them reverence : Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of our Spirits , and live ? v. 10. For they verily for a few days chastned us after their own pleasure ; but he for our profit , that we might be partakers of his holinesse . Consider , I pray you , if God when you were first married should have told you , I will give you two children , and you shall bring them up so many years , and then I will take them away again ; would you not have accepted gladly of this offer , and taken it thankfully too ? why ? the event doth tell you no lesse than if he had spoken so afore-hand , and will you now murmur or repine at his dispensation ? Is not God the chief Father of all the Families in Heaven and Earth , and we but Foster-parents to our own children under him ? Is it not a mercy that God hath made you instrumentall for the enlarging of his Kingdom , though he hath taken both your children from you ? Say therefore with Job , The Lord hath given , and the Lord hath taken away , blessed be the Name of the Lord . At least say with David , I was dumb , and opened not my mouth , because thou Lord didst it . Oh! labour for good old Eli's temper , It is the Lord , let him do what seems good in his eyes , 1 Sam. 3. 18. Consider that God who hath done it , is Love , and if you look upon it as an effect of his anger towards you , yet be of good comfort , that God that would not have sinful man to let the Sun go down upon his anger , he will not retain his anger for ever , because he delighteth in mercy , Micha . 7. 18. But I presume that one thing addes a great sting to your affliction , which is , that hereby you want an Heir to enjoy your Estate , and to preserve your name : for all men naturally affect immortality , and because they cannot enjoy it in themselves , they desire it in their posterity that survives them : But for a medicine to this malady , remember what the Lord speaketh , Isa. 56. 3 , 4 , 5 Let not the Eunuch say , Behold , I am a dry tree . For thus saith the Lord to the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbath , & choose the things that please me , and take hold of my Covenant ; even unto them will I give in my house , and within my walls , a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters , I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off . Let me but adde one word more , and I have done ; Consider what a mercy it is , that God hath given you so many Christian friends that sympathize with you , and help to bear your burthen ; so many godly and able comforters to speak a word in season to your afflicted souls , so many faithful Ministers and Christians that daily pray for you , and beg of God that he will support you under this heavy losse , and make it up in some better blessing . Remember , I beseech you , what our Lord and Saviour Christ saith , Luke 14. 26. If any one come unto me , and hates not his father , and mother , and wife , and children , and brethren , and sisters , yea and his own life also , he cannot be my Disciple . Now the God of comfort be your comforter , and give you a large measure of prudence , patience , self-denial , with a full and free resignation of your ▪ self , to the absolute disposal of the All-wise and All-merciful God , that you may as well in heart , as in words say , Thy will be done in earth , as it is in heaven , which is the servent prayer of From my Study in Thred-needle-street Jan. 14. 1658 / 9. Your affectionate friend to love and serve you , S. CLARKE . AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST Immoderate Mourning for the DEAD . 1 Thes. 4. 13 , 14. But I would not have you ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep , that ye sorrow not , even as others which have no hope . For if we believe that Jesus died , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in Jesus , will God bring with Him . THe Apostle Paul , by Gods blessing upon his Ministry , had gathered a large Church in Thessalonica , the chiefest City of Macedonia : For besides that some of the Jews believed , there were also multitudes of the Greeks , and of the chief women not a few , that readily entertained the Gospel , and conforted with Paul and Silas , Act. 17. 4. whereupon the Devil , moved with envy , raised a great persecution against them by the Jews that dwelt there , and other lewd fellows of the baser sort that they adjoyned to them ; upon which occasion Paul and Silas were forced to fly to Berea , and from thence Paul went to Athens : And after a while Silas and Timotheus coming to him thither ; he , not being unmindful of his flock that he had left at Thessalonica , sent Timothy to confirm them in the faith that he before had preached , and they had received . At Timothy's return to him at Corinth , being informed by him of their estate , he thought fit and expedient to write to them this Epistle , as appears , 1 Thess. 3. 1 , 2. wherein after the Apostolical salutations , c. 1. v. 1. the Epistle consists of two principal parts . In the first , the Apostle indeavours to confirm and strengthen them in the faith received , to the end of the third Chapter . From thence to the end of the Epistle , he exhorts them by a Christian conversation to beautifie and adorn their profession ; and this he doth : First , in general , ch. 4. v. 1 , 2. Secondly , in particular , by perswading them to the practice of sundry Christian Vertues , and Duties ; as , 1. To chastity , v. 3 , 4 , 5. 2. To justice and equity in all their dealings , v. 6. 3. To brotherly love , v. 9 , 10. 4. To a quiet life , and attending their own businesses , v. 11 , 12. 5. To be moderate in their sorrow for their deceased friends , seeing they shall be raised up again by Christ , v. 13 , 14. and thereupon he takes occasion largely to describe the glory of Christs coming to Judgment , and the order of the resurrection of the dead , declaring the certainty of it , though the time was uncertain , and this he doth to the fourth verse of the fifth Chapter . In these two verses of my text , the chiefest scope of the Apostle is to perswade them to keep a mean in their mourning for the dead ; wherein are considerable , First , the friendly compellation that he uses , Brethren . Secondly , An information concerning the state of the dead , set down negatively , I would not have you ignorant , as if he should say , I would have you well informed of this Doctrine , the knowledge whereof will conduce much to your comfort . Thirdly , the end why he was so careful to inform them of it , that they might not sorrow , as did others which had no hope , viz. as the Heathen did : For although they believed the immortality of the soul , yet they were never able to comprehend or believe the resurrection of the bodies , and re-uniting them with the souls , whereof he speaks in the subsequent verse , as appears , Acts 17. 32. and 26. 23 , &c. Fourthly , a strong argument to inforce his exhortation for their moderate mourning for the dead , ver. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again , &c. Thus having heard the occasion and scope of these words , and the principal parts of the Text , I will make no other curious division of it , but proceed to shew you how many useful observations may be gathered out of these verses : and First , from the friendly compellation used by the Apostle , Brethren . Whence note first , that , All Gods children are brethren ; so saith Abraham to Lot , Gen. 13. 8. Let there be no strife , I pray-thee , between me and thee , &c. for we are brethren : so Col. 1. 2. 1 Thes. 5. 26 , 27. 1 Tim. 6 2. For First , they are the adopted children of the same Father , Ephes. 4. 6. Secondly , they are born of the same mother , the Church , 1 Pet. 1. 23. Thirdly , They are brought up in the same Family , Ephes. 3. 15. Fourthly , They are nourished with the same food , 1 Pet. 2. 2. Fifthly , They have all the same inheritance , Rom. 8. 17. Secondly , Again , consider who it is that calls them brethren , the Apostle Paul , the great Doctor of the Gentiles , and a man endowed with more then ordinary gifts and graces : and who they were that he calls Brethren ; the lately converted Thessalonians : most of them of mean rank , and mean gifts , in comparison of him : whence note , They which have the greatest gifts and graces bestowed upon them by God , must not superciliously overlook those which are meaner and weaker then themselves , but must own them for , and acknowledge them to be Brethren Hence , 1 Cor. 4. 7. who makes thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? Now if thou didst receive it , why doest thou glory , as if thou hadst not received it ? Thirdly , in that the Apostle was so careful to inform them of this comfortable truth ; Observe , Gods Ministers must be careful to inform their people of all such saving truths as may conduce to their edification and comfort : that when they come to leave their people , they may be able to say with the Apostle , Act. 20. 27. I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God . Fourthly , It seems that till now the Thessalonians were ignorant of these things which made them to over-sorrow for their dead . Hence observe : Ignorance of the blessed estate of the Saints departed is the cause of excessive mourning for them . Fifthly , Paul speaking of the dead , saith , They were asleep , Hence observe : The death of the righteous is but a sweet sleep : so it is often called in Scripture . Christ speaking of dead Lazarus , saith , Our friend Lazarus sleepeth , Joh. 11. 11. with 14. and when Stephen was stoned to death , its said , that he fell asleep , Act. 7. 60. and in these two verses of my Text , Paul twice calls it a sleep : and hence the grave is called a Bed , Isa. 572. and the Greeks called it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a Dormitory , or sleeping place . Sixthly . I would not have you sorrow as do others , &c. He doth not say , I would not have sorrow at all : For , it s a duty to mourn for the dead : For as a reverend and learned Doctor saith , sorrow and lamentation is the dues of the dead . It is fit that the body , when it s sown in corruption , should be watered with the tears of them that plant it in the earth , and to be without natural affections is an Heathenish sin , Rom. 1. 31. and one of those that make these later times perilous , 2 Tim. 3. 3. From whence we may observe : It s lawful to mourn and sorrow upon the death of our friends and relations . Our Lord Christ himself wept at the death of Lazarus , Joh. 11. 35. And the Church made great lamentation for Stephen , Act. 8. 2. And the widdows wept for Dorcas , Act. 9. 39. And Paul sorrowed when Epaphroditus was deadly sick , Phil. 2. 27. Seventhly , As do others that have no hope , i. e. as the Heathen do , which are ignorant of these things ▪ Hence , The Heathen use to be immoderate in their mourning for the dead ; becaue they want a hope of the present blessednesse of their souls , and the future resurrection of their bodies . Forbidden Gods people , Lev. 19. 27 , 28. Eightly , But I would not have you do so , saith the Apostle . Hence , Christians which know these things must be moderate in their mourning . Ninthly , Vers . 14. For if we believe , that Jesus died and rose again , &c. Hence observe , first ; The resurrection of Christs body from the dead is a sure and certain pledge and evidence of the resurrection of out bodies : So the holy Apostle Paul makes it , 1 Cor. 15. 12 , &c. If Christ be preached , that he rose from the dead , how say some among you , that there is no resurrection of the dead : But if there be no resurrection of the dead , then Christ is not risen : and verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead , and become the first fruits of them that slept , &c. Tenthly , Even so them also which sleep in Jesus . Hence observe . That the bodies of the Saints departed sleep in the arms of Jesus : He takes care of all the bones , yea , of the very dust of his Saints , that none of it shall be wanting when he comes to raise their bodies again at the last day . Our bodies , even whilst they lie in the grave , are members of Christ ; and therefore it s no marvel , though he takes such care of them . Eleventhly , Will God bring with him . Whence I gather . That when Christ shall come to judgment , then shall the resurrection of our bodies be : This is an Article of our faith . It was typified by the budding and blossoming of Aarons dry rod : By Jonas deliverance out of the belly of the Fish , where he had been three dayes and three nights . It was believed by the Patriarchs of old , Heb. 11. 13. And its an infallible truth , that these bodies of ours that are sown in corruption , shall be raised in incorruption , 1 Cor. 15. 42. And for our further security , Enoch before the flood , and Elijah after the flood , were taken into heaven in their bodies . Neither indeed is this contrary to reason , though it be above the reach of reason : For why cannot Christ as well raise a body out of the dust , as at first he made it out of the dust ? especially considering that the soul is preserved in heaven for this very end , to be joyned to the body again . This Job was confident of , Job 19. 26 , 27. Though after my skin wormes destroy this body , yet in my flesh I shall see God , &c. Nay , it s not contrary to the course of nature : For we yearly see that the resurrection of the Spring succeeds the dead Winter , the day the night : and thou fool , the corn that thou sowest , is not quickned , except it die , saith Paul , 1 Cor. 15. 36. and the same Apostle tells us , Rom. 8. 11. That if the Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us , he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in us . Besides , Christ is the second Adam , and as we did bear the image of the first Adam in corruption , so we must bear the Image of the second Adam in glory , 1 Cor. 15 22. 45 , 49. Twelfthly , But that which is the principal thing that I intend to insist on is a Doctrine held forth to us in the latter end of the fourteenth verse , That ye sorrow not as do others that have no hope : Whence , A well-grounded hope of the happinesse of our friends deceased should moderate our mourning for them . This ( without question ) moderated Abrahams mourning for Sarah . Mourn indeed he did , for the text saith , Gen. 23. 2. that Sarah died — and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah , and to weep for her ; but that he kept a mean in his mourning , appears by the next words , v. 3 , 4. And Abraham stood up from before his dead , and bespake a burying place to bury his dead out of his sight ; and this he did , that the object being removed , his sorrow might be mitigated . This also moderated Josephs and the Israelites mourning for Jacob , Gen. 50. 1. where it is said , that Joseph fell upon his fathers face , ( when he died ) and wept upon him , and kissed him : and vers. 10. it s said , that Joseph and the Israelites made a mourning for him seven dayes : but v. 3. It s said , that the Egyptians ( who mourned as men without hope ) mourned for him threescore and ten dayes . This also moderated Davids mourning for his child , 2 Sam 12. 23. Now he is dead , wherefore should I fast ? can I bring him back again ? I shall go to him , but he shall not return to me : And this was Martha's comfort , when her dear Brother Lazarus was dead , I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day , Joh. 11. 24. In the prosecution of this Point , I shall shew you , First , what is meant by a well-grounded hope . Secondly , Wherein the happinesse of our friends departed in the Lord , consists . Thirdly , why the consideration of these things should put a mean to our mourning for them . Fourthly ; I will answer some objections that may be made against it . And fifthly , make application of it . For the first : What do you call a well-grounded hope ? I use this Epithite , to distinguish it from that ill-grounded hope wherewith so many do delude themselves . as First , because their friends were born of Christian Parents , Baptized , and brought up in the Church . Secondly , Because they had gotten some knowledge , and made an outward profession of Religion . Thirdly , because they used to attend upon the publick ordinances , and that with some seeming devotion . Fourthly , Because they were free from grosse sins , and dealt justly with every man . Fifthly , Because they enjoyed outward peace and prosperity , the Sun of God shining upon their Tabernacles . Sixthly , Because they died quietly like lambs , and it may be , went out of the world with some good words in their mouths , Psal. 73. 4 , 5. There are no bands in their death , but their strength is firm ; they are not in trouble as other men . From these and such like weak grounds , they presume that their friends after death must needs go to heaven , and therefore they comfort themselves , and one another with these words : whereas the truth is , they may go to Hell after all these things . Our Saviour Christ tells us , Matt. 5. 20. that except our righteousnesse shall exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees , we shall in no case enter into the Kingdome of Heaven : And these men are so far from exceeding , that they come short of the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees , who were frequent in Alms-deeds , in prayer , in fasting , Mat. 6. 2. 5. 16. and yet Christ calls them hypocrites . Yea , they made long prayers , Matth. 23. 14. they compassed Sea and land to make one Proselyte , v. 15. they payed even their smallest tithes , v. 23. They outwardly appeared righteous unto men : v. 28. they blamed their fathers for murthering the Prophets , and by way of compensation to free themselves from the guilt , they built Tombs for those Prophets , and garnished the Sepulchres of the righteous , v. 29. 30. notwithstanding all which , Christ pronounceth many woes against them . Thus we see what are ill-grounded hopes , which prove but like a spiders web to those that trust in them . I shall therefore in the next place shew you what is a well-grounded hope of the happinesse of our friends departed , which consists in this : When our deceased friends have in their life-time given us some good evidence of the work of grace and sanctification wrought in their hearts , whereby we could discern that , by Gods blessing upon the means , their eyes were opened , that they were turned from darknesse to light , and from the power of Satan unto God : For then we may conclude , that they have received forgivenesse of their sins and an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified by faith that is in Christ , Act. 26. 18. But this work of grace being inward and secret , how shall we be able to judge of it ? Our Saviour Christ gives us a rule for our direction in judging of others , Mat. 7 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20. Ye shall know them ( saith he ) by their fruits . Do men gather grapes of thorns , or figs of thistles ? even so every good tree brings forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit . A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit , neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit : wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them . From whence we may gather , that as wicked men , for the most part , may be known by their wicked lives ; so gracious persons may be known by their gracious lives . For it s as easie to carry fire in our bosome , or oil in our hands without discovery , as grace in our hearts without the manifestation of it . Now many signes might be given , whereby we may judge of the work of grace in others , but I shall content my self for the present with these three . First , if living with them , we observe that they make conscience of , and practise private and secret duties as well as publick . Hypocrites when they do duties , do all to be seen of men , that they may have glory of men , Matth. 6. 2. 5. 16. and therefore in their very private prayers they love to make them in the Synagogues , and in the corners of the streets , v. 5. they have Jacobs voice , but Esaus hands : the Lord indeed is much in their mouths , but far from their reines , Jer. 12. 2. they lay claim to Christ , but yet have no share in him : they deeply affirm of him , but have no manner of right to him : their faith is but phansie , their confidence but presumption ; they are like the mad man at Athens that laid claim to every ship that came into the Harbour , when he had no part in any ; Like Haman , that hearing the King would honour a man , concluded ( but falsly ) that himself was the man : or like Sisera that dreamed of a Kingdome , whereas Jaels nail was neerer his temples then a crown : and thus they deceive themselves with their shews , and think to deceive others ; but Gods children can usually discern them , and discover them to be like Harpyes that are said to have Virgins faces , but Vulturs talons : but on the contrary , a sound-hearted Christian , though he dare not neglect , yea , though he prefer the publick , yet he also makes conscience of private duties , and prayes to his Father in secret ; so that if we observe this in them , its one good ground that they have the work of regeneration wrought in their hearts . Secondly , if we observe them , that they labour to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God , and towards men , as Saint Paul professeth that he did , Act. 24. 16. If they have had respect to all Gods commandments , as David , Psal. 119. 6. If they have made conscience of the duties of both Tables , serving God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the days of their lives , Luke 1. 75. hiring themselves unto him for term of life , not desiring to change their Master , knowing that they cannot mend themselves neither for fairnesse of work , nor fulnesse of wages , whereas an Hypocrite is versutulus & versatilis , he casts about how to deceive God and man with meer shews of devotion , being not afraid to be damned , so he may seem to be saved , and seeking so long to deceive others , that in fine he deceives his own soul . Imposturam faciunt & patiuntur , as that Emperour said of them that sold glasse beads for pearl . They deceive , and are deceived . Thirdly , when we have heard them groaning and mourning under the remainders of corruption , and the relicts of sin , crying out with the holy Apostle , Rom 7. 24. O wretched man that I am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death ! When they have manifested their hatred against all sin , and shunned every evil way , saying with the wisest of men , Prov. 8. 13. the fear of the Lord is to hate evil ; pride , and arrogancy , and every evil way do I hate : whereas a dispensatory conscience is a naughty conscience : Neither doth he Gods will , but his own , that doth no more nor no other then himself pleaseth , as hypocrites use ; such holiday servants God cares not for . Every one can swim in a warm Bath , and every bird will sing in a Summers-day . Judas will bear the Crosse , so he may bear the bag : and the carnal Capernaits will follow Christ for the loaves , though not for love , Joh. 6. 26. But Abraham will forsake all to follow God , though he know not whither yea though God seems to go a cross way , as when he promised him a land flowing with milk and honey ; and yet so soon as he came there , he met with a famine , Gen. 12. 10. If then you have observed these three things in your Christian friends whilst they lived , you may have a well-grounded hope of their blessednesse after death , which , sure , cannot but moderate your mourning for them . But wherein consists the happinesse of our friends who are departed in the Lord ? I shall shew this in two particulars : First , in the evils that they are freed from by death Secondly , In the good things that they are put into the present possession of : so that their happinesse is both privative and positive . What are the evils that they are freed from by death ? They may be reduced to these seven heads . First , They are freed from worldly cares , businesses , and troubles . For its Gods institution since the fall , that every one shall live , either by the sweat of his brain , or by the sweat of his brow . And Eliphaz tells us , that man is born to trouble , as the sparks fly upward , Job 5. 7. and the Apostle tells us , that he that careth not for his own , and especially for those of his own house , he hath denied the Faith , and is worse than an Infidel , 1 Tim. 5. 8. So then whilst we live here , we cannot be free from multiplicity of cares , businesses , and troubles . The world is like a tempestuous Sea , where troubles succeed one another , as one wave follows another . — Dolor & voluptas Invicem cedunt , brevior voluptas . Joy and sorrow ( as one wittily saith ) make chequered work in our lives : Sorrow bedews our cheeks with tears , and joy wipes them off again . Our condition in this life is not unlike to that of the Israelites in the wildernesse , where they met with many troubles , dangers , and occasions of sorrow . Are we hurt then , if by a tempest of sicknesse we are driven out of the Sea of this world into the safe harbour of the grave , the onely place where the weary are at rest , Job 3. 17. where they enter into peace , and rest in their beds , Isa. 57. 2. For which cause amongst others , they are pronounced blessed by God himself , Rev. 14. 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord — for they rest from their labours . Indeed the messenger of death is to most men and women very terrible ; but to a dying believer , then acting faith , it s nothing so , but it s entertained by him as a welcome messenger sent from the Father to a child at nurse , to bring it home , where it shall be better provided for , whilst it transmits him from all his cares and sorrowes into that place and state of blisse where all tears shall be wiped from his eyes , and he shall never sorrow more , Revel. 21. 4. Secondly , they are freed from the company and society of the wicked , which ( whilst they lived ) was a cause of much sorrow to them , and that First , because of their sins , which were a continual grief to their godly hearts . Hence David professeth , that Rivers of waters ran down his eyes , because men kept not Gods Law , Psal , 119. 136. and the Apostle Peter tells us that just Lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked . For ( saith he ) that righteous man dwelling amongst them , in seeing & hearing , vexed his righteous soul from day to day , with their unlawful deeds , 2 Pet. 2. 7 , 8 Gods children are so tender of their Fathers honour , that they cannot see , or hear his Name blasphemed , his truths adulterated , his Sabbaths profaned , his Ministers , and Ordinances despised , &c. but it goes like so many daggers to their hearts , neither can they be free from such occasions of sorrow whilest they continue in this wicked world , death only removes such objects of grief from them . Secondly , Because of the wrongs , injuries , and persecutions which they meet with from them These Goats will be pushing at Christs Sheep : sometimes wounding them in their good names : sometimes wronging them in their estates : and othersometimes raising greater persecutions against them . For the Apostle tells us , that this is the portion of all Gods children in this life ; All that will live godly in Christ Jesus , shall suffer persecution , 2 Tim. 3. 12. and our Saviour Christ tells his Disciples , that the time should come , that whosoever killed them should think that he did God service , Joh. 16. 2. Thus Cain persecuted Abel : Ismael , Isaac : yea , which of the Prophets or Apostles did not the wicked of their times persecute ? This made David to cry out , Wo is me that I fojourn in Mesech , that I dwell in the tents of Kedar . My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace , Psal. 120. 5 , 6. But now in the grave the wicked cease from troubling . There the prisoners rest together , and hear not the voice of the oppressour , Job 3. 17 , 18. Thirdly , Death frees them from evils to come , God herein dealing as Parents use , who have children forth at nurse or at school , when troubles or dangerous diseases come into those places where their children are , they send for them home , that they may be in safety . So God many times takes his children out of this world , that he may secure them from imminent dangers : Or as when our houses are in danger of firing , we remove our treasure and jewels in the first place into places of more security : So where God wrath , s like fire , is breaking in upon a place , he removes his children to heaven , as to a place of greater safety . It s the fathers love and care ( saith one ) then hastily to snatch away his child , when the wilde Bull is now broken loose , and running upon him . The wise Husband-man hastens to get in his corn before the storm cometh , or the swine be turned out into the field to root up all . This is that which the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah long since assured us of , Isa. 57. 1. The righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . As it was a sign that Sampson meant to pull down the house upon the heads of the Philistines when he pulled down the Pillars that bare up the roof : So its a shrewd sign that God intends to ruine a State , when he takes away those that were the Pillars and props of it . When Methusala died , the flood came upon the old world : when Josias was gathered to his Fathers , the Babylonish captivity hastened . When S. Augustine died , Hippo was taken and sackt by the Vandals , and Heidleburg by the Spaniards , shortly after the death of Pareus . Fourthly , Death frees them from all sicknesses , Diseases , pains , and all other bodily distempers . It cures the blind eyes , the deaf ears , the dumb tongue , the lame legs , the maimed hands , &c. It easeth the tormenting stone , the painful gout , the aking head , the intolerable twisting of the guts , the loathsome strangury , &c. Death to the godly is the best Physician , it cures them not of one disease , but of all , and of all at once , and of all for ever ; yea it cures them of death it self . Fifthly , it frees them from the fiery darts and temptations of Satan , from which they cannot be free whilst they live here : For the whole world is the Devils Diocesse : He goes to and fro in the earth , and walketh up and down in it , Job . 1. 7. yea , as a roaring lion he walketh about , seeking whom he may devour , 1 Pet. 5. 8. No place can exempt us from his tentations whilst we live in this world . He assaulted Adam in Paradise , Lot in the Cave , David in his Palace : Josuah the high Priest , in the presence of the Angel of the Lord ; Christ in the wildernesse ; Peter in the High Priests hall , &c. But when Death comes , these Egyptians which you have seen to day , ye shall see them again no more for ever , Exod. 14. 13. Satan shall never more molest Gods children after this life is ended . Hence , saith Saint Ambrose , Diabolus per quod potestatem habuit , victus est . The Devil , who had the power of death , Heb. 2. 14. hath by death his power abrogated and abolished . Sixthly , Death frees them from Gods frowns , which sin often exposeth them to here , and which to a child of God is more terrible than death it self : For if in Gods favour is life , as David affirms , Psal. 30. 5. then in his frowns is death . : yea , if Gods loving kindness is better than life , Psal. 63. 3. then his frowns are worse than death . There are no outward or corporal afflictions , but a resolute and Roman spirit will stand under them : the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity , Prov. 18. 14. but the frowns of God and tokens of his displeasure are intolerable : A wounded spirit who can bear ? It made David roar , Psal. 32. 3. Hezekiah chatter , Isa. 38. 14. yea Christ himself to sweat drops of congealed blood , and to cry out in the anguish of his soul , My God , my God , why hast thou forsaken me ? But after death the light of Gods countenance shines perpetually upon them , and shall never admit either of a cloud or Eclipse : when Lazarus died , he who lay groveling at the rich mans gate , was found in Abrahams bosome , in a place of warmest love . For seeing by Death Gods children are freed from corruptions , therefore after death they have no need of Gods frowns , or corrections . Seventhly , Death frees them from the very being and existence of sin . At death , the spirits of just men are made perfect , Heb , 12. 23. The death of their body delivers them from the body of death . Death and sin do not meet in a child of God ; but so part , that when the one comes , the other is gone for ever : As when Sampson died , the Philistines died with him : so when a child of God dies , all his sins die with him . Hence Ambrose saith , Quid est mors , nisi peccatorum sepultura ? what is death but the grave of our sins wherein they are all buried ? Thus death doth that at once which grace doth by degrees . Grace indeed when it is once wrought in the heart , under the conduct of the spirit , it resists and fights against sin , and gives it such mortal wounds that it never fully recovers again : It dejects it from its regency , but cannot eject it from its inherency . It frees us from the raigning of sin , but cannot free us from the remaining of sin : After regeneration sin hath not dominion over us : But yet there is a law in our members warring against the law of our minds , and many times leading us captive unto the law of sin that is in our members , so that we cannot do the good that we would ; but the evil that we hate , that do we , Rom. 7. 19. 23. But when death comes , it wholly extirpates sin , root and branch ; and not one , or some few sins , but all sin ; and that not for a time only , but for ever : when the souls of Gods children are dis-lodged from their bodies , this troublesome and incroaching inmate shall be dis-lodged and thrust out of doors for ever . Hence one saith , Peccatum peperit mortem , & filia devoravit matrem . Sin at first begat and brought forth death , and death at last destroys sin , as the worm kills the tree that bred it . And as Bernard saith , Death which before was porta inferni , the trap-door of Hell , is now introitus Regni , the porch that lets us into heaven . And Mr. Brightman saith , what was before the Devils Sergeant to drag us to hell , is now the Lords Gentleman-Usher to conduct us to heaven . Thus I have shewed you in these seven particulars what are the evils that Gods children are freed from by death : Now in the next place I will endeavour to shew you the priviledges that at death they are invested in , and the good things that they are put into the present possession of : But yet this must be premised , that if I had the tongue and pen of men and Angels , yet should I come far short of that which I aim at : For whatsoever can be said of heaven , is not one half ( as the Queen of Sheba said of Solomons magnificence ) of what we shall finde in that City of Pearl . To expresse it ( saith a reverend Divine ) is as impossible as to compasse heaven with a span , or to contain the Ocean in a nutshel . And Chrysostom speaking of the happinesse of the Saints in heaven , saith , Sermo non valet exprimere , experimento opus est : words cannot expresse it ; we must have trial of it before we can know it . But yet that which I shall say of it is contained in these six particulars . First , Death invests Gods children with perfection of all graces . Here we know but in part , we prophesie but in part : But when that which is perfect , is come , then that which is in part shall be done away , 1 Cor. 13. 9 , 10. It 's true , when God first regenerates and sanctifies us , we have perfection of parts , there is no grace wanting that is necessary to life and salvation : For God doth none of his works by the halves : But yet we attain not to perfection of degrees till death comes : whilst we live here we are exhorted to adde grace to grace , 2 Pet. 1 5 , 6 , 7. and one degree of grace to another . We are commanded to grow in grace , and in the knowledge of eur Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , 2 Pet. 3. 18. To make a daily progress , till we come unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ , Ephes. 4. 13. But yet when we have done all that we can , our faith is mixed with doubtings , our love to God with love of the world : our tears in repentance need washing in the blood of Christ ; our humility is mixed with pride ; our patience with murmurings , and all our other graces have defects in them : But in death they are all perfected , and thereby we are put into a far better condition than we were capable of in this life . Secondly , Death puts the Saints into the present possession of Heaven , a stately place , into which there never did , or can enter any unclean thing : No dirty dog ever trampled upon this golden pavement . It 's called Paradise , Luke 23. 43. Indeed Paradise which God made for Adams palace ( though the stateliest place that ever the eye of mortal man beheld , wherein was a confluence of all earthly felicities ) was but a type and shadow of it . Heaven is a large place . In my fathers house ( saith our Saviour ) there are many mansions , Joh. 14. 2. It s a golden City , having the glory of God in it , and her light like to a stone most precious , even like a Jasper stone , clear as Chrystal : and the wall of it is of Jasper : and the City is pure gold , clear as glasse , the foundations of the wall are garnished with all manner of precious stones , and the City hath no need of the Sun , neither of the Moon to shine in it ; for the glory of God doth lighten it , and the Lamb is the light thereof , Rev. 21. 11 , 19 , 23. It 's a City whose builder and maker is God , Heb. 1. 10. and therefore having such an Architect , it must needs infinitely transcend the stateliest Fabricks that were ever made by man . It hath been neer these six thousand years in preparing , Matt. 25. 34. and Christ , ever since his ascension , hath been further preparing of it for us , Joh. 14. 2. I go ( saith he ) to prepare a place for you . Let us say therefore , as Fulgentius did , when he saw the Roman Nobility mounted in their pride and bravery . Si talis sit Roma terrestris , qualis est Roma coelestis ? If Rome be such a glorious and glittering place , what is Heaven ? How should these considerations make us to grow weary of the world , and groan and breath after heaven , where are riches without rust , pleasure without pain , joy without sorrow , youth without decay , Ubi totum sit quod velis , & nihil sit quod nolis : where is all that the heart of man can wish , and his mind desire ; where is nothing more that can be desired , nothing more than can be desired . If an Heathen could say , Fugiendum est ad clarissimam patriam ; ibi pater , ibi omnia : How much more should a Christian say , Let us flee apace to our own Countrey that is above , sith there is our Father ; yea , there is all that heart can wish , or need require . Thirdly , a third priviledge wherewith all the Saints departed are invested , is , that they have immediate fellowship with the blessed Angels , and the spirits of just men made perfect , Heb. 12. 22 , 23. In heaven they enjoy Abraham , and Isaac , and Jacob , and all the Patriarchs , and all the Prophets , and Apostles , and the noble army of Martyrs , their godly friends and relations which went before them , and all other the true members of Jesus Christ , of what Tongue , or Nation , or Kindred soever they have been . One of the greatest happinesses which the godly enjoy in this world , is the Communion of Saints . The Prophet David professeth that all his delight was in the Saints , and in those that were most excellent , Psal. 16. 3 and though he was a King , yet made he himself a companion of all them that feared God , and of them that kept his Precepts , Psal. 119. 63. He would have such , and none but such , by his good will , about him . Mine eyes ( saith he ) shall be upon the faithful of the land , that they may dwell with me : He that walketh in a perfect way , he shall serve me , Psal. 101. 6. And yet , by woful experience we see how many bones of contention the Devil casts in amongst them to sowr their society , and what breaches many times are occasioned by small and trifling matters : But in heaven they are all of one mind , which makes their society the more comfortable . When Grinaeus lay on his death bed , he told some friends that came to visit him , that he was going to that place , Ubi Luthero cum Zuinglio optime convenit : where Luther and Zuinglius ( who because they differed in judgment about the manner of Christs presence in the Sacrament , could never agree on earth ) agreed excellent well . In heaven ( if there be degreesof glory , as probably there are ) yet shall not those who have their choicest graces crowned with the greatest weight of glory , despise or over-look the meanest Saint , but they are perfectly knit together in the bonds of dearest love . Fourthly , Another priviledge which our Christian friends departed enjoy in heaven , is , that they are neerlier united to their Head Christ than possibly they could be in this world . It 's true , that even whilst they live here , they are the members of Christ . For the holy Apostle tells us , that as we have many members in one body — so we being many are one body in Christ , Rom. 12. 4. 5. yet are we now at a great distance from him . Our head is in heaven , and we upon the earth , and therefore Saint Paul tells us , that whilst we are at home in the body , we are absent from the Lord , 2 Cor. 5. 6. and this makes us sigh and groan , not for that we would be uncloathed , but cloathed upon , that mortality might be swallowed up of life , vers. 4. And this made the Church to pray so pathetically , Cant. 8. 14. Make hast , my beloved , and be thou like to a Roe , or to a young Hart upon the mountains of Spices . And Paul himself considering his distance from his Head , cties out : Dis cupio solvi , tecumque O Christe , manere . Phil. 1. 23. I desire to depart , and to be with Christ , which is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} ; by much far the better . And no marvel , though the members do so long to be conjoyned with their Head in heaven . For there ( as one saith excellently ) the Lord Jesus Christ perpetually and without intermission manifesteth the most glorious and visible signes of his presence , and seals of his love : He there pours forth all the plenteous demonstrations of his goodnesse to his members , and gives them eyes to see it , and minds to conceive it , and so fills them with exceeding fulnesse of love to him again ; so that they even swim in pleasure , and are overwhelmed with joy . A joy too big to enter into them ; and therefore they are said to enter into it , Matth. 25. 21. A glory fitter to be believed , than possibly to be discoursed : An exceeding , excessive , eternal weight of glory , 2 Cor. 4. 17. Such a weight , that if the body were not upheld by the mighty power of God , it were impossible but that it should faint under it . Oh therefore let there be continual ascensions in our hearts thitherward . Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to our head in heaven . Praying with the Church , Even so come Lord Jesus , come quickly , and then ere long he will send his chariots for us ( as Joseph did for his Father ) and will fetch us riding upon the clouds , and convoy us by his Angels through the air , and put us into that general assembly of happy and blessed souls ; and though death ( like Peters good Angel ) smite thee on thy side , yet it is only that it may lead thee out of thy prison , through the Iron gates into the City of God . Fifthly , the next priviledge which the Saints enjoy in death , is the beatifical Vision . Here indeed they see God in a measure , as they are able : but there they shall see him in all fulnesse , and perfection . Here as in a Glasse obscurely , or as an old man through spectacles , {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} ; But in Heaven they see him face to face : now they know him in part : but there they know , even as they are known , 1 Cor. 13. 12. Happier herein than Solomons servants , for a greater than Solomon is there . God looks upon them with singula complacency , and they look upon him with infinite comfort . I cannot better expresse the happinesse which the Saints enjoy in this beatifical Vision than in the words of a reverend and learned Doctor . The Saints in heaven , ( saith he ) that delight in the sight of Gods glory , do still desire for ever to be so delighted ; their desire is without anxiety and trouble , because they are satiated with the thing that they do desire , and their satiety is without loathing , because they still desire the thing with which they are satiated . They desire without grief , because they are replenished ; and they are replenished without wearinesse , because they desire still : they see God , and still they desire to see him : they enjoy God , and still they desire for ever to enjoy him : they love and praise God , and still they make it their immortal business to love and praise him . Et quem semper habent , sempere haber volunt . Whom they for ever have , with love yet higher ▪ To have for ever they do still desire . Sixthly & lastly , our friends departed in the Lord , enjoy all these and more than can be spoken ; yea such things as neither eye hath seen , nor ear hath heard , nor can enter into the heart of man to conceive of unto all eternity : hence the Prophet David tells us , Psal. 16. 11. — In thy presence is fulnesse of joy , and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore ; where is as much said in a few words as can be spoken of it . For quality , there is in heaven joy and pleasure ; for quantity , a fulnesse , a torrent , whereat the Saints drink without let or loathing : For constancy , it is at Gods right hand , who is stronger then all , neither can any take us out of his hand : It 's a constant happinesse without intermission : and for perpetuity , it is for evermore : Heavens joyes are without measure , mixture , or end . And the Apostle Paul tells us , 1 Thess. 4. 17. — we shall ever be with the Lord . It is granted by all , that one of the greatest aggravations of the torments of the damned in hell , is the thought of the eternity of their torment : and therefore it follows by the rule of contraries , that it shall much heighthen the felicity and joy of the Saints in heaven , to think that they shall continue to all eternity . But why should these considerations moderate our mourning for them ? First , because if our friends died in the Lord , they have lost nothing by death , but what may well be spared , viz. sin and sorrow : we use not to mourn for such losses of our friends , which are but small and inconsiderable , especially if it be of such things as are better lost than found : but such are the losses of our Christian friends departed . Is it not better to lose sin and sorrow than to retain them ? and upon this account it is , that the wisest of men , Solomon tells us , Eccles. 7. 1. — that the day of death is better than the day of ones birth . The Greeks call the beginning of mans nativity , the begetting of his misery . Man that is born of a woman , is born to trouble , Job 14. 1. If he lives to see the light , he comes crying into the world : A fletu vitam auspicatur , saith Seneca ; and Saint Augustine speaking hereof , saith , Nondum loquitur , & tamen prophetat : Ere ever a child speaks , he prophesies by his tears , of his insuing sorrows : Nec prius natus , quam damnatus ; No sooner is he born , but he is condemned to the Gallies , as it were of sin and suffering : and therefore in this Text Solomon prefers his Coffin before his Cradle ; whereupon one infers , One would wonder ( saith he ) that our life here being so grievously afflicted , should yet be so inordinately affected ; and yet so it is , that God is even forced to smoke us out of our clayie cottages , and to make our life to be unto us no better then a lingring death , that we may grow weary of it , and breath after a better . Secondly , Because they are not only not losers , but they are great gainers by death : they are immediately put into a far better condition than they were capable of in this life . The day of death is to them the day-break of eternal righteousnesse . It gives them malorum ademptionem , bonorum adeptionem , freedome from all evil , and the fruition of all good . And as it 's not a losse but a preferment and honour for a married woman to forsake her own kindred and fathers house to go to her husband ; so it 's not a losse , but a preferment for the souls of our friends for a time to relinquish their bodies , that they may go to Christ , who hath married them to himself for ever . Hence our Saviour Christ comforts the dying thief upon the Cross with this : This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise , Luke 23. 43. why then should we so mourn for them , seeing our loss is their gain ? they are indeed absent from us , but it is that they may be present with the Lord : they have put off the old rags of mortality , that they may be cloathed with immortality : they have parted with flesh and blood , that so they may be in a capacity of inheriting the Kingdome of Heaven , 1 Cor. 15. 50. Justi vivunt ( saith Saint Augustine ) etiam quando corpore moriuntur . Godly men live even when their bodies die . They are not lost , but laid up : our grief therefore should not exceed , either for measure or continuance . I would not have you sorrow even as others that have no hope . We mourn not for them , but for our own losse : for the loss of their sweet society , and of all the comfort that we expected in and by them ? Truly , for this we may mourn : weep not for me , ( saith Christ to those good women that followed him to his Cross ) but weep for your selves : Yet alwayes remember , that though there be reason for weeping and sorrow , yet there is no reason for excessive and immoderate mourning : For that is a sin , and there is no reason , because God hath taken away our friends and relations , that therefore we should further provoke him by sinning against him . Immoderate mourning is a cha●ging of God foolishly : so did not Job , though he rent his mantle , and shaved his head , and fell down upon the ground , yet it was not through impatience , but to worship God ; For the text saith , In all this Job sinned not , nor cha●ged God foolishly , Job 1. 20. with 22. It was Jacob fault , that he refused to be comforted , and said , For I will go down into the grave , unto my son , mourning : Sorrow indeed and lamentation are the dues of the dead ; but it ought not to exceed either for measure or duration : neither should we mourn so much for our friends departed , as for our sins against God . But our child that is snatched away by death , was young , and might have lived not only to have been a great comfort to us , and the staff of our old age , but very instrumental to Gods glory . First , we must not take upon us to be wiser than God , or to teach him , as when to give us children , so how long to continue them unto us . It 's his Royal Prerogative , that He may do with his own what he pleaseth . They are not so much our children as Gods , Ezek. 16. 21. He doth but put them forth to us to nurse , and may send for them home when he pleaseth . We who are parents would not take it well if having set forth a child to nurse , when we send for it home , the nurse should refuse to part with it , and grow into impatiency when we take it away . Neither can God take it well at our hands . Secondly , Was your child young when he died ? Yet remember that it was Gods mercy to spare him so long . For life is not long enough to deserve the title of time , Eccles. 3. 2. There is a time to be born , and a time to die : He doth not say , There is a time to be born , and a time to live . Death borders upon our births , and ( as one saith ) Our Cradles stand in our graves . Multos ostendunt terris bona fata , nec ultra Esse sinunt — finisque ab origine pendet . God deals with some , as a skilful Limner doth with his Master-piece , brings it , and sets it forth to be gazed at and admired by the multitude ; and after a while draws a curtain over it , and carrieth it back into his house again : so God sends some whom he endows with admirable parts to be looked upon , and wondred at by the world , and then draws the sable curtain of Death over them , and takes them into his own habitation in heaven . Indeed the longest liver hath but a short cut from the grave of the womb , to the womb of the grave . Orimur , morimur , we are born , we die . And considering the frailty of our lives , it 's no marvel that we die so soon ; it 's rather a marvel that we escaped so long . For Mors ubique nos expectat : Death waits for us at every turn : In the fields , in the streets , in our houses , in our beds , &c. Mille modis morimur ; we come but one way into the world , but we may go out a thoufand wayes . Thirdly , Did your child die young ? yet if he was ripe for heaven , he lived till he was old enough . Hierom saith of a godly young man , that in brevi vitae spatio tempora virtutum multa replevit , He lived long in a little time . And indeed some live more in a moneth or two , then others do in many years . A good man ( saith reverend Doctor Preston ) prolongs his dayes , though he dies young , because he is ripe before he is taken from the tree : He even falls into the hands of God that gathers him . They that die soon in Gods fear and favour , though as grapes they be gathered before they be ripe ; and as lambs slain before they be grown up , yet ( besides the happinesse of heaven ) they have this advantage , that they be freed from the violence of the wine-press that others fall into , and escape many rough storms that others meet with . Fourthly , Did God take away your dear relation whilst he was young ? What then ? Hath God anywhere promised that all shall live till they be old ? Is not mortality the stage of mutability ? Doth not experience shew us , that man is but the dream of a dream : but an empty vanity , but the curious picture of nothing , but a poor feeble dying flash ? In Golgotha there are skulls of all sizes . Bernard tells us , Senibus mors in januis , adolescentibus in insidiis : Death stands at old mens doors , and it lies in wait to surprize young men also . It 's like lightning , that blasts the green corn as well as the dry : like the thunder-bolt that dasheth in pieces new and strong buildings as well as old . Do you not know that , as for our lands , so for our lives , we are but Gods tenants at will ? Mans life is his day : and we see by experience that dayes are not all of a length ; but some longer , some shorter . Death is the Lady and Empress of all the World ; and from her sentence the youngest cannot appeal . As the Rivers haste to the Sea , and the Stars to the West , so man hastens to the grave . It's Domus Conventionis , the House of Parliament , where all estates and ages meet together . Hence it is that we are exhorted to gather Manna in the morning of our lives : To remember our Creator in the dayes of our youth , Eccles. 12. 1. To present our first-fruits to God , whose soul desires the first ripe fruits , Micah 7. 1. and who will remember the kindnesse of our youth , the love of our esponsals , Jer. 2. 2. He would be served with the Primrose of our years , and therefore he made choice of the Almond-tree , Jer. 1. 11. because it blossometh first of all others ; and truly we have reason to obey his precepts , and answer his expectation , if we rightly consider the brevity of our lives . Must we keep a mean in our mourning for our deceased friends ? This then may exhort and perswade parents to be careful in training up their children in the faith and fear of God , in bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord , Ephes. 6. 4. and to labour to promote and see the work of grace in their souls , that so if they die before them ( as oft-times they do ) they may have hope in their death , and so not sorrow as do others that have no hope . Probably this much aggravated David's sorrow for Absalon , that he had cockered , and not corrected him in his childhood , and he now saw him taken away in his sinne and rebellion , whereby he could have no hope of the Salvation of his soul . So should all other relations do ; endeavouring to be heirs together of the grace of life , that so when death makes a divorce betwixt them , they may leave a well-grounded hope to their friends of their blessed estate and condition , which cannot but much moderate their mourning for them . It reproves and justly blames such , as upon the loss of their godly friends , give too much way to Satans tentations , and their own corruptions , whereby they become immoderate and excessive in their sorrow , to the dishonour of God , the disgrace of their profession , the dis-fitting themselves both for the service of God and man , in the duties of their general and particular Callings , to the prejudice of the health of their bodies ; ( for worldly sorrow causeth sicknesse , and death , 2 Cor. 7. 10. ) and to the opening of the mouths of the wicked , who scorn them and Religion for it , saying , These are your Professours , that make Idols of their children and friends , and mourn for the losse of them , as if they had lost their God . They are like Rachel , that wept and lamented for her children , and would not be comforted , because they were not . Such forget the exhortation which speaks to them as unto children ; My son , despise not thou the chastening of the Lord , nor faint when then art rebuked of him , Heb. 12. 5. Prov. 3. 11. Indeed we are sometimes in danger of setting light by Gods corrections , saying with those sturdy persons , It is my burthen , and I must bear it , Jerem. 10. 19. But more frequently we are impatient , either outwardly fretting at the rod , like those plunging horses which will not indure their Rider ; or inwardly repining , like those horses which digest their choler , by biting their bridles . And if we neither despise , nor impatiently murmur against the dispensation of God , yet our weaknesse is such , that we are ready to take the affliction too much to heart , so that our spirits droop and faint : and this is so much the worse , because it 's commonly accompanied with a wilful indisposition , which will not suffer us to entertain such things whereby we might be truly comforted : and the hearts of such many times , like Nabals , die within them , that they are not capable of counsel ; so that all consolatory exhortations are to them like water spilt upon the ground : whereas we should take our correction , and humble our selves under the smart of it : but withall we should look to Christ , and beg of him that he would not suffer our Faith , Hope and Meeknesse of mind to be overturned . Again , consider that it 's not love to them , when we are perswaded , that they are with the Lord , which makes us excessively grieve when they are taken from us : It is indeed self-love and carnal affection . Our Lord Christ told his Disciples , If ye loved me , you would be glad because I go to the Father . And what measure then do we offer to God herein ? We can many times send our children far from us , where it may be we shall never see them again , if we are but well perswaded that it will be for their good and preferment ; and yet we cannot indure to have them taken out of our sight by the Lord , though we are perswaded that their souls are with him in the highest glory . We ought to labour for such tractable and obedient hearts , as may not be content perforce to let him take them , but may willingly resign even our children ( if it were by sacrificing them with our own hands , as Abraham ) to him , who hath not thought his onely begotten Son , too dear for us , but hath delivered Him to death for our sakes . Once more remember , that it 's a sign that we felt not Gods love in them , nor received them at his hand as we ought to have done , if we do not thankfully give them back to him when he calls for them . Hannah having received Samuel as a gift gotten by prayer from God , did readily part with him to God again , and she lost nothing by that loan which she so cheerfully lent to the Lord , as you may see , 1 Sam. 2. 20 , 21. and so dealt Abraham with his onely Sonne Isaac , whom by faith in the promise he had obtained of the Lord , Hebr. 11. 17. This is true indeed ; but yet Parent-like affections cannot easily part with and yield up children so dearly beloved . But take heed , lest whilst you plead love to your children or friends , you do not bewray and discover unkindnesse unto God . Dare any of you say , Lord , if I did not so love them , I could be content to give them to thee : Surely if with a calm spirit you think of this , you would blush for shame , that your heart should be so cold towards God , as not to be willing to part with any thing you love when he calls for it : To part with that which you much care not for , is not at all thanks-worthy . It 's said of Abraham , that when God commanded him to sacrifice his own and only son , that he arose early in the morning , Gen. 22. 3. to do it : he consulted not with flesh and blood , nor with carnal reason , nor with fond affections , but ( as David said ) He made hast and delayed not to keep Gods commandments . How should this shame our backwardnesse and our many reluctancies against the will of God , when he hath declared it in taking away a dear child or relation from us ? How much better were it for us to do as David did ( that man after Gods own heart ) who when he heard that his child was dead , arose from the earth , and washed , and anointed himself , and changed his apparel , and went into the house of the Lord , and worshipped , and then came into his own house , and called for bread , and did eat , 2 Sam. 12. 20. Again , the consideration hereof may minister singular consolation . First , To every godly person , when he lies upon his sick bed , and sees death approaching , and his friends standing about his bed weeping and wringing their hands , and that upon a twofold ground . First , Because himself hath hope in his death , Prov. 14. 32. Death is to him as the valley of Achor : It 's a door of hope to give entrance into Paradise , and to translate him into a state of blessednesse , whereas to the wicked it 's a trap-door , through which they fall into hell . It 's an excellent saying , Improbi dum spirant , sperant : Justus etiam cum expirat , sperat : wicked men hope whilst they live ; but a godly man , when he breaths forth his last , hath hope . He is like unto that dying Swan , of which Aelian tells us that sang most sweetly and melodiously at her death , though in her life-time she had no such pleasant note . There is some truth in that saying of the Heathen , Optimum est non nasci , proximum quam celerrime mori . For wicked men , it had been best for them never to have been born , or being born to die quickly , seeing that by living long they heap up sin , and thereby treasure up wrath against the day of wrath : but as for good men , the day of death is best to them , because here to live is but to lie a dying ; and eternal life which they are now taking possession of , is the onely true life , as saith Saint Austine . Secondly , because as they have hope themselves in their death , so they leave a good hope to their friends , to quiet their hearts in their losse . Oh what a cutting grief is it to a godly heart , to see a child , or kinsman , or other dear relation taken away , and cut off in the midst of his sins , so that he can have no hope of his blessed estate in another life ! But on the contrary , ( if self-love be not too prevalent with us ) we cannot but moum moderately for those which die in the Lord , and say with holy Job , The Lord hath given , and the Lord hath taken away , Blessed be the Name of the Lord . How much better cause have such than Tully to cry out , O praeclarum diem , cum ad illud animorum concilium , coetumque proficiscar , & cum ex hac turba , & colluvione discedam ! O what a brave and bright day is it to our friends when they go to the Congregation-house of blessed spirits , and walk no longer in the way of this world , which is ( like the land of Chabul ) dirty and dangerous : Like the the vale of Siddim , slimy and slippery , full of lime-pits and pit-falls , snares and stumbling-blocks laid by Satan to maim and mischief them . Here is comfort also to the Parents and Relations of this young Gentleman now with the Lord , in that they have and may have a well-grounded hope of his now blessed estate in heaven : could he speak to you , you should hear him saying , Weep not for me , but weep for your selves , for I have made a blessed change , and am gone from night to day , from darkness to light , from sorrow to sollace , and from a troublesome world to a Heaven of happinesse . And this brings me to the last thing which I intended , which is to speak something of our deceased brother . But before I begin , I thought fit to make this profession : That I shall speak nothing of him , but what I either observed in him my self , or have from the faithful relations of those which were neerer about him , the truth of whose testimony I dare not call into question : And what I shall speak of him , I shall reduce to these two heads : First , to shew you what were his priviledges . Secondly , what improvement he made of them . His priviledges were these : First , that he was born of godly parents , Et nasci ex piis parentibus non minima laus est : To be born of godly parents , as it 's no small praise , so it 's no small priviledg . The glory of children are their parents , saith Solomon , Prov. 14. 6. It was a great honour to Jacob , that he could swear by the fear of his Father Isaac : To David , that he could say , I am thy servant , and the son of thy handmaid , Psal. 116. 16. To Timothy , that the same faith that was in him dwelt first in his mother and Grand-mother , 2 Tim. 1. 5. To those children whose mother Saint John stiles the elect Lady : To Mark , that he was Barnabas's sisters son : To Alexander and Rufus , that they were children to Simon of Cyrene , Mar. 15. 21. Now the priviledge of such children consists in these two things : First , that they have the godly example of their parents , as a copy or continual pattern for their imitation ; and experience tells us , that childrens manners are much moulded by the examples of their parents . It s reported of the Harts of Scythia , that they teach their young ones to leap from bank to bank , from rock to rock , and from one turfe to another , by leaping before them , by which means when they are hunted , no beast can overtake them : So godly parents , by giving a good example of piety to their children when they are young , preserve them from Satan ( that mighty hunter ) that he shall never have them for his prey . Secondly , Children of believing parents are by vertue of their parents copy & Gods gracious entail , within the compass of the Covenant , as appears Gen. 17. 7. I will establish my Covenant between me and thee , and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting Covenant , to be a God unto thee , and to thy seed after thee , and Psal. 112. 2. David speaking of the blessedness of that man that feareth the Lord , adds , His seed shall be mighty upon earth ; the generation of the upright shall be blessed : and Act. 2. 39. Peter tells us , the promise is made to you , and to your children : and Paul to the same purpose adds , If the first fruit be holy , the lump is also holy ; and if the root be holy , so are the branches , Rom. 11. 16. Secondly , a second priviledge was , that presently after his coming into the world , he was by the care of his godly parents presented before and dedicated unto God , being made a visible member of the Church by Baptisme , which is called a Laver of regeneration , and renewing of the Holy Ghost , Tit. 3. 5. yea , Baptisme is said to save us , 1 Pet. 3. 21. To wit , Sacramentally ; because it seals up salvation to the believer , Mar. 16. 16. and it is of perpetual and permanent use to him for that purpose throughout his whole life , ut scaturigo semper ebulliens ; as a Fountain bubling up to eternal life . And truly this his priviledge was the greater , if we consider how many poor Infants are deprived of it , through the default of their parents in these last and worst of times , who yet pretend much to Religion . Thirdly , that with Timothy , from a child he was taught to know the Scriptures , which are able to make one wise to salvation , 2 Tim. 3. 15. and his Christian parents were the more careful to instruct him therein , because themselves had found it fit milk for babes , 1 Pet. 2. 2. dainty and delicious food , sweeter than hony , Psal. 119. 103. wells of salvation , Isa. 12. 3. Breasts of consolation , Isa. 66. 11. the hony-drops of Christs mouth , Cant. 4. 11. To be preferred before gold and silver , Psal. 19. 11. Before pearls aad rubies , Prov. 3. 15. Before all other learning , Deut. 4. 6. They knew that the Scriptures are a lamp to our feet , as saith David , Psal. 119. 105. Gods Epistle to us , as saith Gregory : The souls food , as Athanasius : The souls physick , as Chrysostome : The invariable rule of truth , as Irenaeus , &c. their care therefore was so to acquaint him with them from his childhood , that he might love them as his sister , Prov. 7. 4. that he might be ready in them , and have them alwayes , as Saul had his spear at his boulster : as David had his stones at hand in his scrip . And thus ( according to the Apostles rule , Ephes. 6. 4. ) he was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord . Fourthly , It was his priviledge , and happinesse to be brought forth in such a time , and to be brought up in such a City , wherein he enjoyed more plentiful means of grace and salvation than he could have done in former times , and ( I dare boldly say ) in any other City or place in the Christian world besides . We read of Plato , that when he drew neer unto his death , he rejoyced and gave God thanks for three things : First , for that he had made him a reasonable man , and not a bruit beast . Secondly , a Greek , and not a Barbarian . And thirdly , that he was born in the time of Socrates , from whom be had learned many good instructions . How much more cause had this Gentleman to praise God for making him a man , a Christian , and a Londoner at such a time as this ? Fifthly , his parents were not onely thus careful betimes to bring him up in the knowledg and fear of God , but to have him instructed in humane learning also , that thereby ( if the Lord should please to lengthen out the thrid of his life ) he might be the more useful and serviceable in his Generation : For which end First , they took care to have him taught the first grounds of learning , and that betimes in his childhood , whereby he excelled and out went not onely many of his contemporaries , but divers that were older than himself . Secondly , when he was thus fitted at home , they placed him forth at a Boarding-school , in the family of a godly Minister , that so , whilest he went forward in humane , he might make a further progresse in divine learning also . Thirdly , when they thought fit to take him back under their own wing ( being exceeding tender of him ) and not daring to trust him in a publick school , by reason of those many evil examples that he might meet with there , they provided a godly and learned Tutor whom they maintained in their own house , to have the oversight and education of him . These were his Priviledges . Now fot his improvement of them . But before I mention that , I must tell you with what parts God had endowed him , whereby he was enabled to make a good improvement of these opportunities : and therein especially these three things were remarkable . First , that he had a quick Invention . Secondly , A strong and active phansie . Thirdly , A diligent and industrious spirit . And by help of these he quickly learned to read and write , and so proceeded to the grounds of the Latine tongue ; and after he had made a good progresse therein , the care of his Tutor was to acquaint him also with the sacred Languages of the Greek and Hebrew : and then he applied himself to the study of the Arts : first , of Logick , then of Philosophy , Astronomy , Geography ; and ( being denied the opportunity of travelling abroad ) he spent some time in reading History , and the Travels of sundry persons both by Sea & Land . And lastly , being admitted a member of that Honourable Society of Grayes-Inne , he betook himself to the Study of the Law , and made no inconsiderable progresse therein : by all which ( if God had lengthened out his dayes ) he might probably have been very serviceable to his Countrey . All which being considered , I may say with a reverend Divine , That it 's a blessed institution of younger years , when reason and Religion are together fashioned and moulded in a tender mind . But that which gave him the greatest lustre , and was ( as it were ) the Diamond in the Ring , is yet behind , which I shall reduce to these three Heads . First , his Piety to God . Secondly , his Dutifulnesse to his Parents . Thirdly , his Charity to the poor . His Piety to God manifested it self , both In his Life ; and At his Death . In his Life . by First , his constant and diligent attending upon the publick Ordinances , wherein he was not an idle and carelesse hearer , but could in the evening give a good account of what he had heard in the day . Secondly , His careful sanctification of the whole Sabbath , insomuch as if ( through inadvertency ) any unfitting and unseasonable speeches had proceeded from him on that day , his heart smote him for it , and it made him more cautious for the future . Thirdly , Besides his joyning in Family-prayers , and with his Tutor , his manner was , to retire daily into his Closet , where he first read a portion of Scripture , and that not cursorily as too many do , but endeavouring to understand what he read ; and when he met with any hard place , he used to enquire of his Tutor , therein following the advice of a worthy Divine : The difficulties which we meet with in reading the Word of God ( saith he ) should not weaken , but waken our more diligent search ; not being contented with the first oar that offers itself to our view ; but digging deeper and deeper we should search till we become owners of the whole treasure , which will sufficiently pay us for all our pains . After the Scripture read he betook himself to prayer : in which duties , if he was disturbed , he was displeased with it , and what at one time he omitted , he used to regain at another ; all which he carried on with such privacy , that scarce any , besides his Tutor , knew of it . Fourthly , to these also of late he adjoyned Meditation , which is an excellent Character of a godly person : For , as the Philosophers stone ( they say ) turns all metal into gold : as the Bee sucks honey out of every flower : and as a good stomak sucks some wholsom nourishment out of the food that it receives into itself : So doth an holy heart , so far as its sanctified , convert and digest all into spiritual and useful thoughts and meditations : and we shall find by experience , that when we go to sleep with some holy meditations in our minds , it will be an excellent preservative against foolish dreams and ●●●●cies , and we shall finde our hearts in the better frame when we awake : As he that rakes up his fire over night , shall find it again in the morning , Psal. 119. 15 , 16. Prov. 6. 22. Now of his dexterity in this kind , I shall anon give you an example , which he hath left in writing behind him . Fifthly , he reverenced and loved godly Ministers and Christians , and liked that Ministry best that was most plain , powerful , and searching . I remember that Luther in his me observed two sorts of Divines : one was Theologus Crucis , the poor Divine , that preached plainly , and told men faithfully how things stood with them : The other was Theologus gloriae , the Divine that hunted after praise , glory , and preferment ; concerning whom his prayer was , A Theologo gloriae liberet suam Ecclesiam Dominus ; that God would deliver his Church from vain-glorious Divines . Peter so preached ; that his hearers were pricked at the heart , Act. 2. 37 , 38. and Steven's hearers were cut at the heart ▪ with his words , Act. 7. 54. And truly this was the more commendable in this young Gentleman , seeing there be so many at this time , and in this City , that are like those Greeks , that counted the plain preaching of the Cross foolishnesse , 1 Cor. 1. 22. 23. so that neither God , nor his Ministers can please them , except they speak tinkling and tickling words . But such should get their ears healed ( as Demosthenes advised his Countrey-men of Greece to do ) before they can hear Gods Word with profit . They must learn of Bees to passe by Roses and Violets , and to sit upon Thime , though it be bitter ; and to preferre sound rebukes before smooth flatteries . Sixthly , he was willing to be admonished , and reproved for what was amiss in him , being herein of Davids mind , Psal. 141. 5. Let the righteous smite me , it shall be a kindnesse ; and let him reprove me , it shall be an excellent oil which shall not break my head . He was one of those that had an obedient ear to reproofs , of whom Solomon speaks , Prov. 25. 12. As an ear-ring of gold , and an ornament of fine gold ; so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear . And this is one good sign of a godly wise man , Prov. 15. 5. He that regards reproof , is prudent , and vers. 31. the ear that heareth the reproof of life , abides amongst the wise . Hesiod tells us of three sorts of men : First , such as live so well that they need no reproof ; these are best of all . Secondly , such as do not so well , but can be content to hear of it ; and these ( saith he ) are not bad . Thirdly , such as will neither do as they ought , nor be advised to do better ; these are in a very dangerous condition , such may read their doom , and see their destiny , Psal. 50. 21 , 22. Truth ( saith one ) is sharp , but bitter though it be , yet it is better and more savoury to sound sences , then the hony-drops of a flattering tongue . Seventhly , He ( by Gods grace ) resisted tentations frome some of his familiars , who would have drawn him to Taverns , and mildly reproved them for it . Concerning all these I shall present you with the attestation of his Tutor , given me in writing , and that in his own words . He was ( saith he ) when I came to him ( which was about four years ago ) a Christian youth , well principled in the grounds of Religion , and I left him a little before he died ( which was about the eighteenth year of his age ) knowing what was in the Assemblies Confession of faith , in Wollebius , and what Altingius in his Didactica hath written : Of late also he delighted much to read Calvins Institutions , and B. Halls Meditations , and of his knowledge of the things of God , yea of the hardest of them , I have found satisfaction after trial : He not onely knew God , but loved him , and in his last sicknesse , wept to think that he had , and did love God no more . He was a lover of the children and Ministers of God ; and amongst his acquaintance he valued them most , in whom he saw most of vertue . He heard the Word , and could retain and judg of what he heard , and did not so much affect flaunting and quaint preaching , as that which spake most home to his heart . In his Closet , before he came out of his chamber , he read a portion of Scripture , from which he hath raised pertinent observations , when put to the trial ; and what he knew not , that he asked . He read with judgment , and hath said , that all other books but the Bible did bring weariness : & to his reading he joyned prayer : I have seen him displeased , when disturbed , and what at one time he omitted , at another time he would repair ; and this he carried on with so little noise , that I only was privy to it . Thus you have heard of his piety manifested in his life : & vita qualis , finis talis ; as was his life , such was his death . For , In his last sicknesse ( which was the small Pox accompanied with a Feaver ) he bore it with great patience . He inquired of his Tutor , how he might know that he loved God ? and being answered , he brake forth into tears : and when his Tutor asked him , why he wept ? he answered , Because he had loved God no more , nor made a better improvement of his former deliverances . Yet he said , that the word of God was his meditation , the promises whereof did now comfort him . He was sensible of his approaching Death , and the night before , told some about him , that he should not live another night . One of his last words was , I must be gone . The next thing that I propounded to speak of was , his dutifulnesse to his parents , which can be testified by many : Indeed they were very tender of him , and indulgent towards him , yet did not he abuse their love to liberty , nor through familiarity contemn their authority , but was many times content to refrain from things lawfull and suitable to his desires , to give them satisfaction . Neirher was his charity to the poor lesse remarkable then the two former . For from his childhood he would often go to the servants to fetch relief fot such poor as came to his Fathers door . And being grown up to more maturity , he frequently distributed money amongst them , & would many times say , that if God ever brought him to the enjoyment of his estate , he would as constantly make provision for such as were in want , as for himself and Family . He knew that , Temporalia Dei servis impensa , non pereunt , sed parturiunt , Almes given to the poor , perish not , but multiply : that bounty is the most compendious way to plenty ; and that hereby he might lay up a good foundation for himself against the time to come , 1 Tim. 6. 18. He knew that rich mens houses should be Gods Store-houses ; and that sowing oft of this fruitful seed , we shall be sure to reap in our greatest need : and God is not unrighteous to forget our labour of love in this kind , Heb. 6. 10. Oh! how may this shame many rich men that keep no proportion between their increases for God , and increases from God : that though they are rich in this world , yet they are poor in good works : they lay not by for pious and charitable uses , as God hath blessed them , 1 Cor. 16. 2. But indeed are , the richer the harder , as children that have their mouths full , and both hands full , and yet will part with none , but spill it rather . Men when they grow fat , have so much the lesse blood : So the fatter men are in their estates , the lesse blood , life , and spirits they have for God : Or if they do give something , yet they do not love mercy , Micha 6. 8. they are not ready to distribute , willing to communicate . 1 Tim. 6. 18. their mercy doth not flow from them like water from the Fountain , or light from the Sun , naturally and freely : but it must be wrung from them , like verjuice from the crab , or as distilled water , that is forced out by the heat of the fire . It s no marvel therefore that this charitable frame of heart contributed so much towards the comfortable end of this our deceased brother . I remember what Hierom saith , Non memini me legisse malâ morte mortuum , qui libenter opera charitatis exercuit : habet enim multos intercessores . I do not remember ( saith he ) that I ever read of any one that died an ill death that was frequent in works of charity ; and no marvel , for he hath many intercessors for him ; which agrees with that of David , Psal. 112. 9. He hath dispersed , he hath given to the poor , his rightcousnesse indures for ever , his horn shall be exalted with honour , and Psal. 41. 3. the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing : Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness . Having thus dispatched those three things that I proposed to speak to , I might adde much more , by telling you of his humility in concealing himself and his own parts , as the sweet violet that grows low , neer unto the ground , and withall hides it self under it's own leaves . Of his sweet and affable nature , and loving and courteous disposition : Of his indefatigable diligence in his imployments , and shunning , yea hating of idlenesse . I shall only adde one word more of his ingeniousnesse in , and the usefulnesse of his recreations , which were divers : one while he exercised himself in the Art of Dialling ; another while he applied himself to Musick : But I shall say no more of these , because he attained not to any perfection in them ; that which he followed with most diligence and delight was the Art of Drawing , Painting , and Limning , whereof he hath left many very good Pieces for so young a Practitioner ; and had he lived longer , probably he would have attained to a great perfection therein . He had also a Poëtical Vein , whereof I shall give you a taste by and by . His meditation upon the History of Christs Transfiguration , Matth. 17. 1 , &c. Jesus Christ is so willing that we should have communion with him in this life , that he takes us up into his most secret retirements . Prayer is a divine ascention , and whosoever would pray spiritually , must have an holy elevation of spirit to meet God in that duty . High Turrets of faith and mountains of graces are the real helps in prayer . In prayer we are sure to enjoy Gods presence . It 's a sure way to see God face to face ; and ( if I may so say ) in his natural complexion : we may meet with God , as Moses did in the Mount Sinai of Prayer . It was in the Mount praying when the fashion of Christs countenance was altered : It is in the mountain of prayer that Christs purity appeareth more and more to a believer . Never more whitenesse do believers see in Christ , then in their prayers to him . In this life the Saints have a taste of the glistering and whitenesse of his out-side : But in the life to come it is that they have immediate fruition of himself : In this life we only see a sudden transfiguration to stay our stomacks ( as I may say ) till hereafter at what time we shall see him as he is : and if this transfiguration appears white He began to write a Book in Verse , which he calls Spuma Musarum , which he purposed to dedicate to his Father and Mother ; I shall only give you an account of the first Verses in it , that by them you may judge of the rest . Rete venatur ventos . To hunt the winds with a net . Thou that do'st strive the windes with net to catch , Unfruitful labours to thy self do'st hatch : What! catch the wind ? If caught , thou 'lt not enjoy Thy dear times worth to purchase such a toy : And when y' have done , look in your net , you 'l find All that remains is folly , yea , and wind . Many littles make a mickle . 'T is Unity brings strength ; if then you 'ld have Strong , Noble Vertues , Vices to outbrave , Unite your weak-limb'd forces , and you 'l see Many a little will a mickle be . T. B. FINIS . Upon the death of that pious young Gentleman Mr. Thomas Bewlije . Thomas Beulije . Anagram , O beati humiles . If either Fate or Fortune had Made such a breach among us , I should have call'd them blind , or mad , Or envious , thus to wrong us . I should have in my showers of tears exprest A weeping eye with furious anger drest . That when in all the garden did But one choice flower appear , It should be thus nipt in the bud , Who can with patience bear ? But most in that in this one flower alone , The sole hope of the Root is overthrown . But stay ! it was a better hand , More sacred and more wise , Then Fate or Fortune can command : [ Those Heathen-Deities . ] The root 's not dead , the flower is but transplanted , With added beauty which before it wanted . And happy they who humbly can submit To Him whose Wisdom hath transplanted it . Thomas Beulye . Anagram . Thy Love-beams . THY LOVE-BEAMS Lord , so strongly shone on me , That I impatient was of more delayes ; But needs must leave the Earth to go , and see The sacred Fountain of those glorious rayes . Thomas Beulie . Anagram . The Smile above . * * The posie of the Ring given at the Funeral . Set your affections on things above , Not things of sence ▪ It was THE SMILE ABOVE , loadstone of love , That drew me hence . Ad Parentes . Thomas Beaulie . Anagram . Leave me as I both . LEAVE ME AS I BOTH you , 't is for our gain ; When you know how I do , you 'l not complain . Thomas Bewlie . Anagram . I 'me well as both . I 'ME WEL AS BOTH you can be ; nay I am Better , because triumphing with the Lamb : Yet I 'me not gone for ever , our parting is , Till Death unlock for you this door of bliss . J. C. A. M. On the Death of that Ingenious , industrious , and pious young Gentleman , Mr. Thomas Bewlie Junior . OH death ! of terrors King ! could nothing move Thee to suspend this stroak ! no not the love , Nor cries of Parents , Tutor , Friends , and all That knew his worth , and now bemoan his fall ! Nor 's age ! ( but eighteen years ! ) nor that estate , To which this onely Sonne was destinate ! Not's active soul ! and hand ! nor 's nimble head ! Nor 's skill in Common-Law could thee out-plead ? Nor 's tongues ! nor 's Logick ! nor 's Philosophy ! Nor 's drawing ! Limning ! nor his Poetry ! Not disposition sweet ! nor 's gracious heart ! Not's love to God! nor that he did impart To Saints ! not's pity great to poor , and such As age and chance with want afflicted much ! No! Servant like , thou but to passe didst bring The Counsel wise , of God his Soveraign King : Who at this time , and thus , hath cropt this Rose , With 's hand of love ; and giv'n't a safe repose , In heaven above , where he doth clearly see , What in his Mountain thoughts he spied to be . Then cease you Parents , Tutor , Friends , to waile , He is with God , your grief cannot avail . Another . VIew underneath this stone , a fancy choice ; Invention good , a Sed'lous hand to poise The greatest things , a mind made wise by grace ; And Tongues with Arts not Scantlingly t' embrace . His Parents joy ; now grief : his kindreds losse . O' th' Bewlies Phoenix here remains the drosse . On the Death of his dear Friend and cousen , Mr. Thomas Bewley Junior , Gent. ARt fled , dear Soul ? and is thy purer breath Become a Victime ? ah ! too rich for death . Could not the Riv'lets from thy Parents eyes Prevail for once to drown the destinies ? Or 's death so envious ? that th' art onely shown , Cropt , like a bud , before thou wer 't well blown . Envious indeed , in that he doth deny Us the enjoyment of thy company . Which joyn'd with goodnesse , and a candid mind , Must few Aequators , no Ascendent find . But here , methinks , injustice taints my will , In that while worth'less I would take my fill In Traffique sure Divine ; ( of which each part Throughout thy Soul might make a sev'ral Mart. ) I envy thee that perfect happy shore , To which on earth 't was thy desire to soaere . Injust ( perhaps ) it seems , yet let me say That though I could have wish'd a longer stay : So great 's thy gain in thy friends greatest losse , That wee 'l conjoyn the harp unto the crosse . To thee thy parents greatest love did run , A fit Meridian for affections Sun ; And nature will have vent , perhaps immerse Their eyes in tears attending on thy Herse . Yet should but an Impartial Judge stand by , He 'd think your tears from passions contrary Proceeded , that that seeming dismal sound Did not through sorrow , but through joy abound . That 's love indeed , if Parents don't complain At their own losse , if 't be their childrens gain . 'Twixt Joy and Sorrow . T. E. Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A79887e-680 Doct. Doct. Doct. Doct. Doct. Dr , Tuck Doct. Doct. Doct. Doct. Doct. Doct. Doct. Quest . Answ . Object . Ans. Quest . Answ . Quest . Answ . Dr. S●ought Dr. Tuckney Rev. 21. 2● . Rev. 22. 20. Dr. Hall . Dr. Reynold . Mr. Trapp . Quest . Answ . Object . Answ . Gen. 37. 35. Object . Answ . Vse . 1 Pet. ● . 7. Vse . Joh 14. 28. Mr. Baines . Object . Answ . Psa. 119. 60. Vse . Gen. 31. 53. Mr. Pat. Drummond .