John La Motte Esq▪ Citizen of London: borne i. May 1577, and Deceased July 13, 1655. Abraham's Interment: OR The good Old-man's Burial in a good Old Age. Opened in a Sermon, At bartholomew's Exchange, July 24. 1655. at the Funeral of the Worshipful John Lamotte Esq Sometimes Alderman of the City of London. By FULK BELLERS M.A. Preacher of the Gospel. Unto which is added a short Narrative of his Life and Death. 2 KIN. 20.1. Set thy house in order, for thou shall die and not live. JOB 21.22. Acquaint thyself now with God, and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee. LONDON: Printed by R. I. for Tho. Newberry, and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the three Golden Lions in Cornhill. 1656. TO THE Right Worshipful, the truly Religious, THE Lady Hester Honywood. AND To her most hopeful Nephew Mr. Maurice Abbot, of the Inner Temple. Daughter, & Grandson, Coheirs of John Lamotte Esq etc. Much honoured, THe sweetness of Communion with God (whereby Saints taste and see how good the Lord is) is more clearly discerned by their own personal experience, than can be declared by any verbal expressions. This was the highest pitch of Adam's happiness, during his estate of concreated integrity, that he was admitted to the enjoyment of this grand privilege; what is it then for any of his fallen Offspring, to be restored to this great exaltation? And yet we know that Believers, by faith in Christ, are reinstated in this advancement, and are many times enabled to say, and that feelingly, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 1 Joh. 1.3. truly our fellowshp, (or our Communion) is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. This is the Heaven of Heavens, to Saints Triumphant, and Heaven here on this side Heaven, to Saints Militant, Expectants of Heaven hereafter. Unutterable is the Contentment that man finds sometimes in his Cordial acquaintance, with an Ancient, Fast and Religious Friend, to whom he may freely, and fully unbosom himself, and from whom he may receive suitable, and seasonable advice, with all candour and faithfulness, upon all occasions. Now if words cannot to the life hold out that satisfaction that man findeth in his converse with man, like unto himself, is it any wonder, if I am not able fully to display that heart-ravishing delight, which the renewed soul meeteth withal, whilst it nourisheth humble and holy Communion with God, the high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity? It is agreed on by all, that holy familiarity with him is full of spiritual solace; though all my language be too short, completely to describe before you, how satisfactory and contentful it is. How sweet are those holy Parleys with God in prayer, and how pleasant their returns? far pleasanter to a gracious, than the returns of ships (richly laden with rarest Commodities) to a Carnal heart; how delightful are the droppings of the Sanctuary, whereby the souls of Saints become as watered Gardens, as so many eden's, and whereby they come to hear of joy and gladness, so that the bones which God at any time hath broken begin to rejoice? How ensuring are the Incomes of the Spirit, in that sealing Ordinance of the Lords Supper, wherein the truly penitent and believing Soul, looking up to Christ, (by the Eye of Faith) whom he hath pierced, and being in heaviness for him, etc. receives the pledge of the Remission of his sins, and of all other Covenant-Mercies, which more exhilarates him with heart reviving joy, than the sight of a Pardon doth, a condemned Malefactor? It was upon this account that the heart of David was filled with such Pant, as the Hart after the water-brooks, to come and appear before God in soul-reviving Ordinances, and that marquis of Vico Galeatius that eminent Confessor, when offered Golden Mountains of Honours, and Riches, how resolutely did he reply, their money perish with them that think all the honours of Italy, etc. to be worth one hours' Communion with God at Geneva, a place wherein Religion flourished. Now how abundant that worthy and experimental Christian was (to whom you owe your extraction, as branches to their root) in nourishing communion with God, and how sweet he found it, both in his life, and at his death, I need not relate to you in special, who were full well acquainted with the manner of his holy Conversation in his Life, and of his comfortable departure at his end. My suit to you is Honoured Lady, Who have made such Eminent progress in Grace, Labour yet more and more to imitate your deceased Father, in walking in all the ways of holiest Communion with God, treading daily in his steps of Soul resignation, Faith, Patience, Charity, Zeal, and all other Christian graces, whereof he left an exemplary Copy to you and your hopeful Issue to write after. I need not suggest that it is constancy which is the Crowning grace. Honoured Sir, Though you have attained as yet to a little more than a fourth of the days that your Indulgent Grandfather arrived at, yet he hath left you, as a Coheir of his Estate, so I hope of his graces also; strive therefore that he may in all his soul-adorning endowments, live in you, that as he (and many others) looked upon you with a hopeful eye, whilst he lived, so the world may see you more and more, to answer all those blooming hopes, now he is removed from you. To conclude, my humble address to you both is, that you would be mindful of all the holy Counsels and savoury advertisements wherein he abounded towards you, and among others those that he communicated to you frequently by his letters, and forget not that Letter (added unto his life) whereby being dead he yet speaketh to you, and then doubt not, but there will be a full return into your bosoms, of all the prayers which he so fervently and frequently darted up to Heaven in your behalves, which is the persuasion Of your Worships much Obliged in the Lord. FULK BELLERS. Decemb. 24. 1655. ABRAHAM'S Interment: OR, The good Old man's Burial in a good old Age. GEN, 15.15. And thou shalt go unto thy Fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age. SOlomon tells us, Eccles. 7.2. It is better to go into the house of Mourning, than to go to the house of Feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living (the godly living) will lay it to heart. The Lord hath turned his own House into a House of Mourning unto us, Ubi lugetur mortuus Mercer. upon this sad account, viz. the interment of him, who as he was much esteemed of by the Citizens of this Renowned City in general, so in special of this place, whereof he hath been an ancient and worthy Parishioner, and peculiarly by that great Congregation; ●hereof he hath been a vigilant Elder near thirty years together, one aged in grace as well as years, unto whom ●his personal Promise to the Father of the Faithful was made good; though not for the number of years that Abraham lived up unto, yet for that time that Moses reckons up as the ordinary term of the oldest age. Psal. 90. Promises passed of general Mercies to particular persons may be fulfilled over and over again, Josh. 1.5. Heb. 13. Id quidem Joshuae dicitur, subesse vero generalem consolationem piorum, Apostolus h●c allegatione docet. Paraeus. as that, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, made first to Joshua, extended by Paul to all Believers, and in them daily fulfilled. The like I may say of this Promise here in some sense, there is somewhat that may be enlarged to all in Christ, as to go to their Fathers in peace, though for the latter branch of it, it be only made good to some, not to all, as to be buried in a good old Age, since all attain not to that period in the letter of it; yet in both the Branches of it, it may some way be accommodated to our deceased Brother, as in the sequel of our Discourse will plainly (by Divine assistance) be made out unto you. The words may be looked upon with a double aspect. 1. Relative, 2. Absolute. 1 Relative, in reference to what goes before, and follows after; so they contain a cordial given to Abraham, against a fainting fit that might surprise him; God had passed many Promises to Abraham, in the former part of this Chapter. 1 I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great reward; I am so, and will continue to be so; for the passage in the Hebrew is Elliptical, and the Supplement may be made up by the future, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as by the present time, or we may take in both, I am, and will be so unto thee. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 He will give him an Heir out of his own Bowels, whence should arise an innumerable Issue, as the Stars in Heaven for number, Zehne●i. Simil. p. 18. or multitude, vers. 4, 5. 3 He will bestow the Land of Canaan for their Revenue, and that by Covenant, vers. 7.18. a large income for to support them▪ Q. Abraham seems astonished at the hearing of these things, and Questions, Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it verse. 8. a question that sprang not out of diffidence, or a●●solute unbeleef, but out of an holy Admiration, as one ecstasied with joy, and desiring more fully to be informed about it. Sol. To this God gives a double answer. 1 Visional. 2. Verbal. 1 Visional, They should have it when they had been first grievously afflicted, many of them slain, many chopped in pieces, which seems to be something of the Mystical meaning of those Ceremonies in that Sacrifice, by which the Covenant should be confirmed, vers. 10. viz. the dividing of the Sacrifice, Pezel. & Pareus in loc. and laying each pe●ce one against another; and when the Birds of Prey should come down, i. e. Pharaoh and the Egyptians fall on to devour them, the Lord would raise up one of Abraham's Seed, implicitly Moses, to fray them away, and to deliver his Off spring, vers. 11. they should not want protection. 2 Verbal, vers. 13, 14. which make out the former Mystery. Know of a certainty thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs (viz. Egypt) and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, and also that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance. Probably the Searcher of all hearts saw Abraham in some doubt, why livery and seisin, or peaceable possession of that Land should be deferred so long? He therefore assigns the cause in the Verse after the Text, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. He was minded to root them up, and that none might in after times censure his proceedings as injurious, he will suffer them to fill up the measure of their iniquity, that they might be without excuse, and the mouths of all stopped, at the beholding of their total extirpation. Q. It may be yet some scruple might rest upon the spirit of Abraham, what shall become of me when all these evils betid my posterity? A. The Lord bids him rest satisfied, for before all these evils surprise thy Seed, Leo Judae. Junius. Pareus. thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace. And hence the best Expositors render the Hebrew Particle (translated by ours as copulative) discretively, yet thou shalt go, or, but thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace. This Relative consideration of the words may yield unto us this profitable instruction. That Doct. The Lord in his abundant Mercy sometimes takes away his by death, from the beholding of future evils. This we see is promised here to Abraham. Lest his heart should rend in pieces upon the sight of all the miseries that should befall his Offspring in future times; he shall first go to his Fathers in peace. The like for substance was promised to pious Josiah long after; 2 Chro. 34.28. when evils were approaching apace, Caesus fuit Josias 31. anno Regni, aetatis 39 quoties ei moriendum fuisset si diutius vivendo vidisset veram religionem everti, filios Captivos abduci, regnum exscendi. Lavat. the apprehension whereof did much scare, and deject him, God cast in this Promise for his support; Behold, I will gather thee to thy Fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and the inhabitants of the same; the bare sight of which (had he lived to have seen it) would probably have broken his heart, viz. the sight of Religion ruined, his Sons captivated, his Kingdom rooted up, etc. God therefore removes him by death, from the beholding of any of these. Now that it savours of abundant mercy, to take away the righteous from beholding evils to come, let us consider; First, Is it not a great mercy, that a man shall be removed, before he come to be a spectator of other men's sins? the seeing and hearing of all the unlawful deeds of those wretched Sodomites, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2.8. amongst whom Lot lived, was a trouble of heart unto him, and keeps him as it were upon the rack. This drew not a few, but many brinish tears, yea rivers of them, Psal. 189.136. from the eyes of holy David, professing that rivers of tears ran down his eyes, because men kept not Gods Law. This filled the hearts of those Mourners in Ezekiel, Ezek. 9.4 with heartrending sighs, and their tongues with heaven-peircing cries, for all the abominations that were done in the midst of Jerusalem; the more grace, the more sighing and sobbing, weeping and wailing for other men's sins. God snatches away a gracious Father, Master, Husband, or Prince from the beholding of the graceless practices of his Issue, Servants, wife or subjects, that would be a corrosive unto him. Secondly, Doth it not savour much of Mercy to be taken away from beholding of other men's punishments? was it not upon this account that the long lived patriarchs were taken away by death, before the flood came? yea Methuselah the year of the deluge (if that Chronologer be not out) lest his eyes should see that dismal sight, ●ucholcer. Chronol. the drowning of all flesh. I persuade myself, that when Abraham looked upon the smoke of Sodom and the Country about it, Gen. 19.28. ascending as the smoke of a furnace, it did occasion no little grief of heart unto him; Septuagint. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and what the beholding of the miseries of Jerusalem in the besieging, sacking, and ruining of it, did create to Holy Jeremy, his book of the Lamentations, penned upon that doleful occasion, may abundantly declare. The death of Jacob and Joseph before the oppressions came on, and strange cruelties of the Egyptians made seizure upon their offspring, Possidonius. savoured of mercy; and it was a great blessing for Augustine to be taken away by a natural death, when Genserik had besieged Hippo, that he might not see the cruelties of the Vandals, that were breaking in upon the Church of God; O Heidelberga▪ Heidelberga. In vita Parei. and for Pareus, that he should die at Heidelberg before the enemy was Master of it, a place that he so entirely loved. Thirdly, Is it not a great mercy to be taken away from the tasting of evils in their own persons? that they may not feel the smart of grievous and direful Judgements? he that is omniscient foresees calamities and judgements a coming which we cannot see; He took notice of the deluge in his own decree, before the Cataracts of Heaven were opened, he therefore snatches away those that he was minded to secure, lest they should be in wrapped in the common calamity. Our God (rich in mercy) deals as a prudent rich man, when he sees the fire come near his own habitation, he removes his Jewels, or his treasures, into another place, where they may be secured from danger, or as a careful Husbandman in catching weather in Harvest; when he sees the Heavens be clouded, or a storm up, he will do his utmost to get his Corn into his barn, if possible before it be wet. We read of the Egyptians, when they heard that God would cause it to rain a grievous hail, such as had not been in Egypt since the foundation of it to that present, Ex. 9.20. he that feared the word of the Lord amongst the Servants of Pharaoh, made his Servants and his cattle fly into their houses; so dealeth our God, when he sees a storm a coming, he driveth in his, that as they shared not with others in their sins, so neither shall they partake with them in their sufferings; yea even that Heathen observed, that when God brings on any remarkable destruction or Alteration in a Nation, Plato. he first takes away them that are good in it. Use I shall dismiss this Relative observation with this word of improvement, Lay to heart the Lords taking away of any godly professors at any time; for albeit the dispensation savours of mercy to them, yet many times it proves ominous to them that are left behind; when Swallows fly away, winter is then approaching Their death indeed is a blessing unto themselves, for blessed are they that die in the Lord, Rev: 14.13. and not only they that die for him; yet mostly it portends evil to survivers: however it shall be well with themselves, as is here promised unto Abraham, which leadeth me to the second. The Absolute consideration of the words, which affords two soul cheering Cordials. 1 Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in Peace. 2 And be buried in a good old age. A couple of Promises, or a couple of Branches of the same Promise, that would require a couple of hours for the unfolding of them, to view them exactly. I must deal as a Traveller that is on his way, who may glance his eye here, or there, but makes no stay till he comes to his Journeys end, no more shall I, till through help from my God I shall have spoken something of both these, as they lie before you. And for the opening of the first, we shall inquire. Quest. 1 What is meant by his going to his Fathers? Was he to go back to Haran, or Ur of the Chaldees, in his life, or be carried thither, to be interred after death; or was he to go to that place whither their souls went upon the dissolution of their bodies? Sol. 1. Abraham was not to go to his Fathers, first, In Body; the place of his local Interment, was to be (a) Gen. 25.7▪ Macpelah in Canaan, and not any other place; secondly, Nor in Soul, that removed to the immediate fruition of God in glory; whereas many of his Ancestors were Idolators, serving other Gods, Josh. 24.2. and doubtless many of them died in their Paganish condition. 2 But the sense of this expression is, Abraham shall die, that's the meaning of the Hebraism; thou shalt go to thy Fathers, that is, corporal death shall arrest thee as well as it did do them. Now if you compare these words with verse the sixth, where we read that Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for Righteousness; though he were a believer in Christ, yet he must go to his Fathers, that is, he must die as well as they, this may inform us, Doct. That albeit faith in Christ doth exempt Believers from the second, yet it will not free any from the strak of the first death. Abraham though a Believer, yea the highest in the form of Believers, being the Father of the faithful, yet he must die; Dan. and it is no wonder, since the Decree is gone forth from God, which is far more irrevocable than the laws of the Medes and Persians. It is appointed unto all men (Believers as well as unbelievers) once to die. When the Scripture saith all, Heb. 9.27. none is exempted; some indeed have had a writ of Privilege from some kinds of death, yet none from death in the main. Moses was freed from the bitings of fiery Serpents, as Magistrates sometimes (through mercy) are privileged from death in times of common mortality, Deut. 34.5. yet death surprised them in the end; for Moses the servant of the Lord died in the land of Moab. Daniel was secured from being devoured by those hungry Lions, Joh. 8.52 yet his body became a prey to Death, as well as the bodies of other Prophets. Elisha was spared from being torn in pieces by the Shee-bears out of the Wood, 2 King. 13.2 yet Death took him away in the end. 2 This Decree hath made seizure in all Ages, even where faith hath been in an eminent way, as in Moses, witness his undertaking that difficult Embassage to Pharaoh, to deliver Israel out of Egypt, Faith in the end did eat up all his fears, and engaged him in that difficult work, yet Death at last did arrest him, as was hinted before; so in Job, a great Practitioner in the life of faith; that made him draw up this Resolution, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. David, a Believer, a man after Gods own heart, and yet Death overtook him; and Paul, who professed, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, etc. yet, did not death surprise him? I might be endless here, to show you how Death attached Believers, both before, as well as under the Law, yea even in the time of the Gospel; had the debt of Sin been taken off, and the Decree rescinded, that Pursuivant of Death would not go on daily to Arrest Beleeurrs at God's Suit. Thirdly, The holiest Believer hath in his body the Principle of death, viz. sin, and that entwisted even with his very Nature; Rome, 5.12. As by one man sin entered into the World, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all, etc. The holiest may cry out, as those Sons of the Prophets, O thou man of God, death is in the pot, death is in the body. Bodies of Sin will become bodies of Death, because sin is in the Soul as a Canker at the root, that will kill the Tree, as the Worm that smote Jonahs' Gourd, that made it wither away; this drew out that Emphatical Quere, Psal▪ 89▪ 49 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul (himself) from the hand of the grave? A question that carries a Negative answer in the bowels of it, q. d. no man, even the most eminent believing, or holiest for living, can free himself from the tasting of death. Use. Look not you now that are Believers to be freed from the common fare of all real Christians, viz. Death; count upon this, Dye I must, I know not how soon. Q. But if my faith exempt me not from death, what avails me to be a Believer? Sol. Much every way, chiefly because by Believing though thou be not freed from the stroke, yet sure thou art to be protected from the sting of death, so that even in the very jaws of death a Believer may 1. holily exult, O Death, where is thy sting! O Grave, where is thy victory! 1 Cor. 15 the sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the Law, but thanks be to God that gives us victory through Christ Jesus our Lord; Rev. 20.6 Rom. 8.2 2. yea sure thou art to be delivered from the Second Death, thy faith interesting of thee in the first Resurrection, and implanting thee into Christ, it frees thee from Condemnation. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, viz. even here someway in possession, Joh. 3.36 as well as hereafter fully in reversion. Besides, thou mayst be certain the condition of death is altered to thee, it being not now formally the wages of sin, but turned into a part of those advantageous chattles that do belong unto thee, 1 Cor. 3.23. All is thine, even Death, as well as other things. Death to thee is only the final period to all thy miseries, and the ready inlet to thy full and eternal happiness. Now God permits his Decree to take hold upon thee for divers gracious ends and purposes, viz. 1 To cast out perfectly the remainders of sin, that even after our Conversion do still abide within us. When the Priest under the Law had been to view the house infected with the Plague of the fretting Leprosy, Leu. 14.43, 44, 45 the house was to be broken down, stones, the timber, and all the mortar of it: Jesus Christ sees the fretting Leprosy of Sin to be in thee, that will not be outed of its Habitation, till that earthly Tabernacle of thine be pulled down. 2 To put an end to all the perplexing miseries that do befall thee here. Whilst Israel was in the Wilderness they were infested with fiery Serpents, never totally freed from them till they came to Canaan; so whilst thou art in the wilderness of the World, thou art liable to the stingings of many fiery Serpents, the fiery Serpents of Sin and Misery. Absolute immunity will be obtained by Death from them, and not before. 3 To be a gate for thy Admission, or entrance into Heaven. Death indeed to on unbeliever is the door of Hell, but to a Believer it is the entrance of Heaven; this in eagered Paul with so much panting to be dissolved, and to be with Christ; Gen. 28.17 what Jacob spoke in another case, is true here of the death of a Believer, this is the gate of heaven. Use 2. Yet know this for thy comfort, though death be unavoidable, die thou must, yet thou mayst assure thyself thou shalt die in peace; which leads me to the manner how Abraham shall be gathered unto his Fathers, which is the Elixir of the Promise; He shall go in peace; whence we may observe, Doct. That it is a Believers transcendent Privilege to go unto his Fathers, (or to die) in peace. For the profitable handling of this truth; 1 I'll endeavour to show you what is meant by going to his Fathers, or dying in peace. 2 I'll study clearly to make it out: 1 That it is a privilege to die in peace. 2 A transcendent privilege belonging to Believers. 3 I'll cast in something by way of improvement. Q. 1. What is meant by going to his Fathers, or dying in peace? Sol. The Phrase is of different construction in different places of Scripture. I find it sometimes opposed to a violent, immature, or forcible kind of end. Thus to Zedekiah, as bad as he was, it was promised▪ Thou shalt not die by the Sword, viz. a violent, but thou shalt die in peace, i. e. come unto a Natural death, Jer. 34.4, 5. so David advising Solomon to cut off Joab by a forcible death, he useth almost a parallel expression, not in a promissory, 1 King. 2▪ 6 but minatory way; Let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace, i. e. let him die a violent death, and be rolled to his grave in blood. But sometimes I find it opposed to an uncomfortable end, and then to die in peace is to die in the sense of inward peace, or in an estate of reconciliation▪ and this I look upon as the common privilege of all believers. Josiah had this in promise, 2 Chro. 84.28 though he died of his Wounds, yet he died in a reconciled condition with God; and this is the main of the Promise to Abraham here, compared with vers. 6. Abraham believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness, Rom. 5.1. being now justified through faith he had peace with God, And when he comes to die he shall die in peace, being sensible of his standing in the grace and favour of God, Joh. 8. Gen. 25.8 and resting on the invaluable merits of Jesus Christ, whose day he saw, and upon that account with a placid spirit he resigned up his Soul unto him. Q. 2 How it may be made out, that to die in peace is a privilege belonging to believers? 1 We call that a Privilege which is an Immunity, Privilegium est privata lex. Privarum seu singular jus contra jus common indultum. Hostien. Reginald praxis, ●ori praenit. vol. prioris, p. 547. granted to some of favour, and denied to others of justice. We all deserve as to die, so to die with fear, terror, and amazement; but our God in mercy exempts Believers from the common Law of death, as it is the * Job 18.14 Es. 57.20, 21 King of Terrors, and vouchsafeth them this favour, to depart in peace, when others depart with horror. 2 This we say is the Believers privilege; for, as for 1 Unbelievers, and all wicked men whatsoever, there is no peace to the wicked saith my God, they are as the troubled Sea, when it cannot rest; whose waters cast out in re●a●d dirt; an elegant Similitude, whereby the Prophet setteth forth to the life the restlessness of wicked men, though the Sea hath no Winds, nor Tempests from without to infest it, yet it is restless of its own nature from within; so it is in wicked men; though they have no outward causes of trouble, yet still they have causes of inward trouble upon point of Conscience, than which what more exquisite torture or tormenter can there be? The Heathens tell us of the Furies lashing wicked miscreants▪ and these were only the lashes of an enraged Conscience, every man's own sin creating Soul-racking trouble to each impenitent sinner. But 2 For Believers, it is unto them promised, they being the persons alone that love the Law, Psal. 119.165. Great peace have they that love thy Law, and nothing shall offend them. The Law of God, it is the picture of the mind of God, which a Believer loves no less than a loving loyal Wife the Letters of her endeared Husband, yea, infinitely more, they being the persons that alone are righteous, being justified by faith they have peace with God, and they alone shall enter into peace; they had peace entering into them living, Es. 57.1, 2 and they enter into peace when dying; it is they, and they alone that are able to say when Death approacheth, Luke 2. Lord now letest thou thy servant depart in peace, etc. 2 I will make out, that to die in peace is a transcendent privilege: Sol. 1. That Logicians call Transcendent, that exceeds in Nobility, Scheibler Me●aph. lib. 2. c. 1 ●. 15. transendunt praedicamenta Communitate effendi. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praesidio custodier. Beza. Eminency, Sublimity, all Aristotle's Categories; besides, to die in peace, in true Gospel peace was a thing he knew not of, and we shall not trouble ourselves to labour to reduce it to any of them; this peace is the peace of God that passeth all understanding, it is that peace of God whereof he is the Author, and Conferror, that keeps our hearts stayed in peace, as in an impregnable Garrison; this peace is prayed for as a privilege of greatest worth; Peter prays not only that Grace, but that Peace might be multiplied to those to whom he wrote. Col. 3.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so Paul, Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, as a Judge deciding all Controversies between them that are contending for Masteries; nay, this was conferred by Christ as the greatest mercy that we might receive on this side Heaven, witness that Golden bequest of his, Joh. 14. 2● My peace I give to you. Princes in power seldom promise toys or trifles, but things of moment and greatest worth. It was a great favour of Jesus Christ to his Disciples at sea, to allay the Winds, and the Storms that were up against them, & what is it to allay the storms of Conscience that are upon them? Christ among other titles is dignified with this, Es. 9.6▪ that he is the Prince of peace, yea our peace, who hath taken away the enmity between us and our God, having purchased peace for us, by no meaner price than the blood of his Cross; that privilege must needs be transcendent that was purchased at such a transcendent rate. 2 Besides, if we do but look unto the nature of this peace, it is that peace that doth transcend all the Ken of Nature; Nature may take notice of peace with man, but for that peace with God, and peace with Conscience, it is out of Nature's Horizon. Rom. 5. ● Psal. 85.9▪ He that hath peace with God, shall always have peace in God, he will speak peace unto his people. Prov. 16.7▪ If we have peace with him, he can make our enemies to be at peace with us. The Prince that hath peace with any State, hath peace with all the Forces belonging to it; we having peace with him, he can make all his Creatures to be at peace with us, not only the Beasts, Job 5.23 but the very stones in the Field to be in an amicable League with us; and when peace rules in Conscience, having tranquillity within, we need not care what storms are without. When Christ speaks peace to Conscience, as once to the raging Sea, peace and be still, who then can create trouble? 1 Joh. 3 And if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God, so that triumphantly we may break out, The Lord is near that justifies me, who shall contend with me? When a man hath been arraigned for his life, and after is acquitted, how is he inwardly comforted? it was this inward peace that enabled the Martyrs with serenity of soul, and undauntedness of spirit to pass through the fiery Trial; and for Confessors, though surrounded with many troubles, yet hear their acknowledgements, the Father loveth me, the Son hath redeemed me, Maul. 118. 12●. the Spirit comforteth me; how then can I be sorrowful? in the most racking pain of the Stone cries out another, one ask him what he felt, he answered, I have peace within, though in my flesh I am sensible of most exquisite torments; it is this peace that is Heaven upon earth while we live, and rendereth us undaunted even in the jaws of death. Use. Now for the improvement of this truth, be persuaded to get an interest in this privilege, I mean to get well-grounded peace, that when Death comes you may go to your Fathers in peace. It may be some may quere, Q. Do all that die peaceably, die in peace? R. Yes, all that die in an estate of true real Gospel peace. I confess there is as much difference between true and false Peace, as between true and counterfeit Gold, Silver, or Jewels; yet this observe, that then peace is well grounded according to the tenor of the Gospel, when 1 It flows in after the convincing sight of sin, Joh. 16.7, 8 when a man beholding his face in the glass of the Law, and the Curse of it, Act. 16.30, 31 hath been brought to cry out, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? False peace springs out of a senseless, benumbed, sleepy, or seared Conscience, that never met with any trouble at all, according to that of Christ, When the strong man (armed with strong corruption) keeps (possession of) his palace, Luke 11.12 (i. e. his heart) his goods are in peace, all goes well, all is at peace; but when the Spirit comes in, and convinces of sin, he ejecteth the strong man out of his Dominion. Mar. 4.39 Christ spoke not peace, and be still, to the Sea, until the storms had been upon it; So neither speaks he to Conscience. 2 It comes from heaven, even from the God of peace who is in heaven, Psal. 85.9 and speaketh peace (upon the sense of their Justification) unto his people, who are a willing people, to serve him in all duties that he requires; yea, an obedient, and holy people before him; false peace is altogether from Satan, who promiseth peace, though men go on to add drunkenness to thirst, Deut. 29.19 and strikes a Covenant with the sinner, which makes him fond conclude, Es. 28.15.18 that he hath made a Covenant with Death, and with Hell he is at an agreement, this sinful peace God sooner or later will dissolve, it shall not stand. But as for that true peace begun here, when we are made sensible of the blood of Sprinkling, Heb. 10.22 and have our Consciences purged from dead works, it will endure unto eternity. 3 It is attended with Sanctity, and that's the ground of Paul's conjunction of them, Now the God of peace sanctify you throughout; 1 Thes 5.23 to whom God speaks peace, he is always a Sanctifier, a purifier of the heart and life from sin. Q. It may be some may say, how may we get into such an estate that we may be sure to die in peace? S. If thy heart be touched with what thou sayest, 1 Presently fall upon the duty of repentance, bewailing sins of Nature, of Practice, against the light of the Law and Gospel, crying mightily for pardon; this ushered in true peace to David's Soul, and brought him in ease in the setting of his bones, Psal. 51 and making him to rejoice after their breaking. So that heart-smitten Publican cries out, Lord be merciful to me a sinner, and then goes away in a justified condition. Luke 18.13 Till Sin be removed by Repentance what peace can there be? What peace so long as the Whoredoms of thy Mother Jezabel, and her Witchcrafts are so many? What peace so long as iniquities remain unrepented of? So long as Wind remains shut up in the bowels of the earth that can get no vent, an Earthquake daily is to be feared; so here, an Heart quake is to be expected, until you have repent. 2 Labour by faith to take hold of Jesus Christ, whose Blood alone is able to cleanse our Consciences from dead works, Heb. 9.14▪ i. e. from sin; when we look up to him (with the eye of faith) whom we have pierced, Zech. 1● and be in heaviness for him, as a man is in heaviness for the death of his first born, this brings peace. Faith devolves all our guilt upon our Surety Christ, and then takes hold of his Meritorious Righteousness, which becoming ours by application, we are justified in God's sight, Rom. 5.1 and thereby acquitted from sin. 3 Walk up unto the Gospel; the promise of peace is made alone to them that walk according to this rule, not according to the flesh, Gal. 6.16. but according to the Spirit, this brings peace. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright (in heart and life) for the end of that man is peace. Psal. 37: 37 4 Keep a good Conscience; this is as a continual Feast, Prov: 15.15 Es. 38: 1, 2, 3 not only in Life, but when Death stairs thee in the face; as we see in Hezekiah, Remember, O Lord, now I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And upon this account Paul was so careful to exercise himself, Acts 24.16 in keeping a good Conscience, free from offence, both towards God, and man. A polluted, corrupt Conscience, will sting a man in the end, as we see in Spyra, and many Apostates; whereas an undefiled Conscience will cheer us in the worst of times. 1 Cor. 15.31 5 Dye daily to sin; make it thy work every day to drag thy corruptions to the Cross of Jesus Christ, never leaving till thou hast fastened them there, and gotten them Crucified, even thy beloved sins mortified within thee; and die daily unto the World; get into Christ, by whom the World may be crucified unto thee, and thou unto the World, Gal. 6.14 and carry thyself as a Crucified man in respect of it, not heeding, minding, or regarding of it, and if thou dost thus, thou mayest expect an interest in this common Mercy among all Saints, to die in peace, whether ever thou share in the later part of the Promise or no, to be buried in a good old age. Which leads me now to the second Branch in this Promise, Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. Whence we may take notice of this last observation. Doct. That burial in a good old age is afforded unto some Saints by God's special indulgence; For the prosecution of this truth I shall labour to show 1 What is meant by Burial. 2 What by a good old Age. 3 How it may be made out, that for a Saint to be buried in a good old age is an evidence of God's indulgence Q. 1. What is meant by Burial? Sol. Burial speaks nothing, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the covering of the dead body of man with earth, or the interring of it. Now touching Burial I have nothing to say, operuit, terra humavit for any thing that savours of the least of Superstition in it, I neither look upon it if denied by cruel men, as any badge of God's Curse to Believers, though sometimes he gives way to some such stupendious dispensations, which was the ground of that sad complaint of old, The dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat unto the Fowls of the Heaven, and the flesh of thy Saints unto the beasts of the earth, Psal. 79.2 their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them. Men indeed have discovered much inhumanity this way, especially Papists against Protestants, by prohibiting their Burial, or digging up their bones again, as they did of Bucer, Acts & Mon. Fagius, etc. such acts savour of wrath in men, but none in God towards them that were in Covenant with him. So neither do I construe it if afforded, or permitted, as any help to heaven, because upon the dissolution of the body, the Spirit returns to God that gave it, the Soul is admitted immediately into the embraces of God, though the body be kept above ground divers days together; yet this I may say, upon a Scripture account, concerning Burial, that the decent interment of the bodies of Saints, when death hath divorced those old companions, the Soul and Body, speaks 1 Mercy in the Interrers, 2 Sam. 2.5, 6 which David acknowledged in burying the body (the trunk) of Saul; though we know he was a bad man, yet he so far resented this act of the men of Bethshemesh, that he sends unto them this Message, and with it this benediction, Blessed are ye of the Lord, that have showed this kindness to Saul, and have buried him; and he adds this prayer for them, The Lord show kindness and truth to you, and passed this Promise unto them, I also will requite this kindness, because ye have done this thing. 2 Justice, in them that discharge this office; when the Soul is returned to God that gave it, Eccles. 12.9 it is a part of justice that the Body should return to the earth whence it was taken, the Earth indeed is the common Mother of all, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who receives all that came from her, as the Mother the Child into her lap. God I know laid this in justice upon man for sin at the first, Gen. 3.19 Thou shalt return to the earth, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. 3 It speaks hope, that the interrers have of the happy Resurrection of those bodies which now they commit to the ground, they having been Instruments of Righteousness, Members of Christ, and being still united to him, shall certainly be raised by him unto glory; and upon these accounts I deem the care of Saints to have been to see their friends decently interred, as (a) Gen. 25.9 Isaac, Abram, (b) Gen. 50. Joseph, his Father Jacob, and those devout men, (c) Acts 8.2. that stoned, Massacred, Martyrd Body of that Proto-martyr Stephen, as knowing that the bodies of Saints sown in corruption, shall be raised in incorruption; sown in dishonour, shall be raised in glory; sown in weakness, shall be raised in power. And hence the Burial-place among the Greek Fathers is called the sleeping place, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Dormitory of Saints, they only sleep, and therefore they will awake again, they still though in the dust are united unto Jesus Christ, and shall be reunited with their Souls, 1 Thes. 4. that ascending to Heaven, they may be ever with the Lord. Q. 2. What is meant by a good old age? S. 1. The Notion here rendered Old Age, properly imports grey hairs, and by a Metonymy of the Adjunct, Old Age, grey hairs being the ordinary discoverers of it, for that observation of that rabbin, that grey hairs is more than old Age, Bux●or●. because as he saith, a man at sixty is come to old Age, and one at seventy to grey hairs, after which a man becomes decrepit. This is but his mere Fancy, for how many even with us come to grey hairs before fifty years, some before forty years of age? But to wave this, it is sufficient for us to know, that in the Old Testament they are used as Synonimaes, i. e. words signifying the same thing, and that by old age we understand, the winter of man's life, the evening, or Sunset of his days, the utmost period of his time on earth. Other Ages have still another Age to succeed them, as Child hood is succeeded by Youth, Youth by Manhood, Manhood by Old Age, but old Age hath no other Successor but Death, it being the last declension, or degree of the longest life. 2 By a good Old Age we mean not barely a great age, though I confess old Age is an Emblem some way of God's Eternity, Dan. 7.9. whence he is styled the Ancient of days, and therefore so described, his raiment was as white as snow and the hair of his head as white as wool; a Periphrasis of old age; and besides, old age hath been honoured by God, in choosing men of age for weighty employments, as God chose Moses and Aaron when they were stricken in years, to lead Israel out of Egypt, and when he would establish a standing Judicatory in Israel, Numb. 11. 1● he would have seventy men of the Elders of Israel gathered unto him; Moreover, their Judges were old men that sat in the Gate to hear, Deut. 22: 15 and determine the Causes of the people that were brought before them; nay, I acknowledge that old age is some way venerable in itself, which was the ground of that Command, Levit. 19.22 Rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man; those of Gadera built a Temple to old age, Aelian. because of the reverence and respect they bore unto it. 2 Much less do we mean by a good old age, the turning over of many years in a way of sin, old age cannot be good where old men are naught, Prov. 14.34 sin being a reproach to any people, or persons, whether they be old or young; to see men stricken with age, and overrun with covetousness, when all the Limbs of their bodies grow old, only covetousness grows young, which makes them afraid sometimes to use what God hath cast in upon them, and the less of the way they have yet to travel, Quo minus resta● viae eo plus quaerunt viatici. Cicero de senectute. the more they are a coveting provision for the way; or to see an old man overrun with pettishness, frowardness, crossness, that no man can speak to him, no more than to Nabal; or to see the fruits of the old man, old corruptions to remain in strength, 1 Sam. 25.17 a man abiding in old age, an old Swearer, an old Drunkard, an old Cheater, an old Atheist, contemning the Word, or Ministry, etc. In brief, when a man remains an old weatherbeaten sinner though his age be continued to a hundred years, it can never be a good old age unto him; Es. 65.20 for a sinner of an hundred years old shall be accursed. 3 Nor yet do I mean that old age is therefore good, because only attended with Corporal, or outward good things, such as are Health, and Strength, though I deny not to be lively in old age, and to enjoy a good measure of them, to be a great blessing; when a man is able to say with Caleb, Josh. 14.10, 11 who professed, I am this day fourscore and five years old, and yet I am as strong this day as in the days that Moses sent me, as my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war both to go out and to come in; it is a great mercy but yet common with Christians and Pagans, as with Masinissa in Tully. Lib. de Senect. Neither do I look upon old age as only good when attended with Riches and Honour, though these make old age sometimes the more pleasant, when Grace is present for the managing of them; yea I acknowledge old age to be uncomfortable, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Laert. where a competency of Creature-comforts are wanting; however, if Grace be absent, though Riches be present, old age cannot be good. 4 But old age is then good, 1 When men are good in old age. I do not look that any man is, Mat. 19.17 or can be good of himself, for there is none good but God; but men are then good when they are made good by the sanctifying Spirit of God; or plainer thus, Then old age is good when crowned with Grace, the best of good things; Prov. 16.31 hear Solomon's determination, A grey head is a crown of glory, if it be found in a way of righteousness. When a man hath put off the Old Man, and put on the New, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, when he hath the Image of God repaired in him, Psal. 103.5 which makes him renew his youth like the Eagle. I shall not dispute the manner of it, how the Eagle doth renew her youth, Zenor. adag. whether it be by soaring aloft into the Element of Fire, and there leaving her Feathers, and casting herself speedily into the Sea, whereby she grows young again; yet there is this Morally in it, when the Soul soars aloft, to enjoy communion with God, who is as a consuming Fire, out of Christ, the Soul casts itself into the sea of Mercy, into that Fountain opened for Sin, and for uncleanness, whereby it doth renew its Spiritual youth; or whether it be by knocking off her beak (the upper part of her bill) by beating it against the Rock, which Morally we may thus apply, when the Soul finds corruption in itself, it gets to the Rock Jesus Christ, and there repenting and believing, yea by the highest actings of Faith endeavouring to knock off its beak, its inordinate desires to the World, a Saint becomes clad with the Sun of Righteousness, Rev. 12.1 and presently the Moon is under his feet, which makes him to use the world as though he used it not; a renewed old man is as a renewed Eagle, enabled to mount up in duties with wings as Eagles, to run in the ways of God's Commandments, and yet is not weary (of well-doing) to walk, Es. 40.31 and yet is not faint; in a word, when the Soul of man is once bathed in that Fountain that is set open for the cure of Sin, 2 King, 5.14 he comes out as Naaman out of Jordan, when his flesh was restored as the flesh of a little Child, and he became clean. Man washed in this Fountain becomes a new Creature, 2 Pet. 1.4 having a new nature, i. e. a Divine Principle of good infused into him, and this makes him good, good at all times, good in age especially. 2 When men do good in old age, Eccles. 6.3.6▪ as the Lord hath rejoiced over them to do them good, so they make it their work, Psal 91. even with joy to do all the good they may, that makes them in age more holily fruitful than ever in youth, I mean in all the fruits meet for repentance, in all the fruits of the Spirit▪ as in love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, Gal. 5.22. goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, with all the expressions of them, wherewith they abound in old age; in this, trees planted by Christ in his Church, differ from trees planted by men in their Gardens, the former are always most fruitful in age, as the Psalmist avers, such as are planted in the House of the Lord, Psal. 92.13, ●● 15. (i. e. such are implanted into Christ) they shall flourish in the Courts of our God, they shall still bring forth fruit in old age, viz. The fruits of Piety, Purity, Mercy, being desirous cordially to Consecrate, as their time and strength, so their estates to God, saying as David, of thine own, Lord have I given thee. 1 Chro. 29.14 A good old man looks upon himself only as a Steward of all outward enjoyments, and as a Steward he will be careful to dispose of all according to his Master's mind; he puts down his Imprimis for the maintenance of the Worship of God, and his Items for the poor, the sick, the lame, the blind; and in a word, he doth endeavour to do good to all men, Gal. 6.10. but especially to those that are of the household of faith, he doth desire to be rich in good works, ready he is to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for himself a good foundation against the time to come, that he may lay hold upon eternal life, 1 Tim. 6.18. In a word, he makes it his end to honour God with his substance, and with the first fruits of his increase, Prov. 3.9 as knowing this to be the most thriving way. 3 When a man grows up to be an old Disciple, then old age is good, Prov. 3.5. Acts 21.16. when a man is grown old in the sincere profession of the Gospel, as we read of Mnason dignified with this title, because he had been a Disciple of long standing in the Church of God (whether he were of the Seventy two first sent abroad by Christ, or one that came in to Christ long before others) an old Disciple he was, and Spiritual seniority carries Spiritual dignity along with it; and upon this account Paul gives pre-eminence to A●dronicus, and Junia, Rom. 16.7. because they were in Christ before him; an old Disciple as an old friend should be valued at a far higher rate than old gold 4 When a man is adorned with those Graces that are the ornaments of old age; what though his face be withered, or furrowed with wrinkles without, yet the hid man of his heart is decked with grace within, especially with those reckoned up by Saint Paul, Tit. 2. ●. as sobriety (in Opinions, in conversation) in meat and drink (which sometimes prove a snare to men in age, as they did to Noah and Lot.) 2 Gravity, consisting in a seemly, modest, yea venerable deportment in Gesture, Speech, Apparel, Countenance. 3 Temperance, which speaks the moderating of themselves in respect of their desires, but above all with 4. Soundness in the 1. Faith, not as Reeds blown up and down with every wind of Doctrine, but built upon the Rock Jesus Christ, they remain unmoveable; yea when moved to renounce Christ, or his Truth, they reply with Policarpus, Euseb. l. 4. c. 15. This fourscore and six years have I served him and he never did me hurt, and shall I now defy him? etc. 2 Soundness in Charity, in love to God, to Christ, to his Church, his Ministers, his Members, where he sees any thing of Jesus Christ. 3. Soundness in patience, willing to do, or suffer any thing for Christ, counting all things but loss or dung that so he may win him, Phil. 3. To conclude, when a man is grey in years, and grey in all sanctifying Graces that beautify old age, old age is good then to him, and for him. 5 When a man is every day more and more built up in all the old experiences of God's Love and goodness towards him, Psal. 35.25 as David, I have been young, and now am old, yet never saw I the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. What though others of his intellectuals do decay with age? yet he is careful to keep his memory for to be a Storehouse, a Treasury of all God's Mercies, as we see in old Abraham, what a Recognition do we read of God's old loving kindnesses. Gen. 24.7. The Lord which took me from my Father's house, and from the land of my Kindred, and which spoke unto me, and swore unto me saying, unto thy seed will I give this land. So in old Jacob, what a mercy-admiring man was he? the God that fed me all my life long to this day; Gen, 48.15, 16. the Angel that redeemed me from all evil, etc. as the Remembrance of old sins is loathsome to a gracious old man, so of old mercies exceeding grateful, etc. 6 When a man in his old age makes it his business to finish that work that God bathe given him to do. A man came not into the World to eat, drink, sleep, take his ease, or heap up Riches, but God sent every man into the World upon some special account or other; whether as a Magistrate, a Minister, or a private Christian? among other ends as private persons, Phil. 2. God sent us into the World that we should work out our Salvation with fear and trembling, to make our calling and election sure, 2 Pet. 1.10. i. e. sure to ourselves; when a man makes it his work, to work the works of him that sent him, Joh. 9.4▪ while it is called to day, because he knows the night comes in which no man can work or walk; when a man can say with Christ, Joh. 17. not long before his death, I have finished the works thou gavest me to do; or with aged Paul, 2 Tim. 4. The time of my departure is at hand; I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course; I have kept the faith, henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness; when a man with David hath served God in his Generation, than death becomes welcome. Seventhly and lastly, Old age is then good when a man makes it in old age his only work to make provision for death, his passage to happy eternity, 1 Pet. 1.14. as knowing with Peter, shortly he must put off this Tabernacle of his, he saith as Isaac, behold I am old and know not the day of my death, Mat. 27.60. 2 Sam. 19.25.37. De morte magis quam de delitiis aulieis eogitat. Lavater. only I desire to provide for it, and is always a pondering of it, it was upon this account that Joseph of Arimathea built his own Monument, and Barzillai when moved by David to turn Courtier, and to go with him to Jerusalem, he humbly begs a dismission, that he may turn back to his own City, and die there, and be buried by the grave of his father and of his mother, and that because that day he was fourscore years old, he minded more to provide for death, than to enjoy momentary Courtly delights; so old Simeon waited for (Christ) the consolation of Israel, Luke 2. 2●.37 and old Anna departed not from the Temple, but served God with fasting and prayer day and night, and all to fit themselves the more for their dissolution. 3 Q. How it may be made out for a man to be buried in a good old age is a special favour and mercy of God. S. To be buried at any time savours of some mercy, as Jer. 22.19. it savours of Judgement, to be buried with the burial of an Ass, or to lie uninterred because of sin. But to be buried in a good old age, we cannot but look upon it as a choice mercy, because very few live to be old; look upon an Appletree in the Spring, you may almost see it covered with Blossoms, yet how many fall before they come to knit? and if knit, how many fall yet before they come to be ripe? Erasmus de contempt. mundi. many are wormeaten, and they drop; many are beaten down by violent Tempests, scarce one of ten, yea twenty, yea sometimes not one of forty comes to its full maturity; so it is in regard of man, abundance of Children like blossoms seem to cover the ground, but how few of them live to Youth, fewer to Manhood, fewest of all to old age? but how infinitely far fewer do live to a good old age? it must needs therefore be a chief Mercy. Is it not a Mercy when we have done our work, then to be called home to receive our Wages? Then to be gathered when here we are fully ripe? then to come to the Grave in a full age, like a shock of Corn comes in his season? Job 5.26. To conclude, is it not a mercy then to be called to make your account, when we have been long a preparing, and making ready for it? the accounting day to a just Steward is a glad day indeed, when he can do it with joy, and not with grief; this fills the Soul with panting, Rev. 22.20. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly; because he hath now made his peace with God, and he can now lift up his head, Luke 21.28 because his full redemption draws nigh, being insured that the day is now drawing on apace, when he shall hear Christ thus speaking unto him, Come thou blessed of my Father, inherit a Kingdom provided for thee from the beginning of the world. But for the improvement of all, take these three words. Use 1. To you concerned in this great, this common loss, wherein the Daughter hath lost a tender Father, the grandchildren an indulgent Grandfather, the Servants a good Master, the Parish a worthy Parishioner, the Congregation to which he belonged a vigilant Elder, yea the City a great Ornament; I know the loss is great to all related to him, yet to alleviate your grief weigh with me 1 Gods great mercy to you in sparing him so long, a Father, a Friend, a Master, a Parishioner, an Elder, that he might be eyes to the blind, strength to the weak, a cloather of the naked, one that stood often in the gap to divert Wrath from you. 2 Gods mercy to him in gathering him to his Fathers in peace, admitting him to burial in a good old age. 3 Ponder, 1 Thes. 4. though we may mourn, yet we must not murmur or mourn as them without hope for him that sleeps in Christ, Lazarus our friend sleeps, our deceased friend is only gone to sleep, he will awake again in the Resurrection; could he now speak unto you he would doubtless say, Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves. 2 To you not only that are concerned in this loss, but to all of you that knew him, take notice of that light part of his Cloud which he held forth long before you, there were many signal things in him worth your imitation. 1 His constant attendance upon the Word, which I observed to be in him these ten last Winters, when so many went back in the late defection from Ordinances among us, he spoke in effect as Peter when the Disciples were questioned, Will ye also go away? Lord, to whom shall we go, Joh. 6.66.68. thou hast the words of eternal life? When others through sloathfulness would not rise, how diligent was he in coming to the Morning Exercise, especially on the Lord's Day, even in the sharpest Winter season, when health would permit him? 2 His real friendliness to all the Ambassadors of Jesus Christ, yea to all where he saw any thing of Christ; he was both open handed, and open hearted to all the needy Members of Christ, and would more gladly do good than receive thanks for the good he had done. 3 His sympathising with the Church of God in all her sorrows, especially heretofore in the Palatinate, and at present in Piedemont; as Lot's Captivity settled on the spirit of Abram, so did the miseries of the people of God on his heart, Es. 22.4. Jer. 9.1. he seemed to be of Esays and Jeremy's temper. O the Rowlings, Yerning, compassionate Melt for them that were Massacred, and his bounty to them that did survive, often saying of our Popish Adversaries in the Massacre of Piedemont, we have only a pattern of that Stuff which our enemies would cut out for us all. 4 His exemplary Piety, he taking up the resolution of old Joshua, Josh. 24. I and my house will serve the Lord; his known Meekness and Humility, though God had cast in a great Estate upon him, yet he was not lifted up; a meek and quiet spirit in the sight of God is of great price. I omit his walking in a way of private communion with God, which was best felt in himself, yet he gave many discoveries of it to all that came near him that were acquainted with the workings of the Spirit. To all of you now that count upon, or desire to come to the Grave in a good old age. Q. It may be some of you may be enquiring, what must I do that I may share in this branch of this Promise? Sol. I shall only give a brief answer unto this, and so dismiss you. 1 If thou be young, lay the foundation of a good old age in Youth, Prov. 22.6. Train up a Child in the way he should go, and he will not forget it when he is old. A young Timothy will prove an old Mnason, a young Disciple will become an old Disciple; but can any man look for good fruit from that tree in Autumn, Eccles 12. wherein he could not behold either Blossoms or Leaves in the Spring? Remember therefore thy Creator in the days of thy youth; remember, to acquaint thyself with him, and to make peace, that so good may come unto thee in time of age; get grace in youth, and become obedient unto thy Parents, which probably may prepare a way for thy Burial in a good old age. Exod. 20.12 2 If Youth be elapsed, or run out in vanity, yet 1 Now presently repent, repent of sins of Youth, and set upon the ways of Holiness; Paul had been in his youth a Persecutor, 1 Tim. 1 15 injurious, a Blasphemer, yet after repentance what a foundation did he lay of a good old age, 1 Cor. 5.10. labouring more abundantly than others? he had been zealous to draw others to Hell, so now he was as forward to win others to Heaven; for Augustine, how vain, vild, vicious, sinful was his youth, wallowing himself in all Licentiousness, as his confessions speak? where how doth he bewail himself, & yet after repentance, what an useful Instrument was he in the Church of Christ? many admire, and that deservedly, Chrysostoms' golden Rollings, Cyprians Martyr-like spirit; running through all his Works; but we may behold these, nay more than these in Augustine after his repentance. 2 Rest not till thou be implanted into Jesus Christ; our engrafting into him entitles us to die in peace, and to live not only long here, but even to eternity hereafter, as freeing us from Condemnation, Rom. 8.1 and ensuring us of admission into Heaven. The Science engrafted into the tree liveth as long as the tree, and we engrafted in Christ, as long as Christ, and that will be to eternity; if our implantation qualify us for eternity, it cannot but qualify us for the longest date of life here below. 3 Live piously being implanted. Piety not only hath the promises of this life, but of that that is to come; impiety cuts asunder the thread of our lives, but Piety prolongs our days, Prov. 3.1.2 as Solomon witnesseth, My Son, let thine heart keep my Commandments, for length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee. 4 Live temperately, lest thou diggest thy Grave with thine own teeth; sobriety being the best natural means for the prolongation of life, as is obvious to experience. 3 If thou art a verging, or inclining towards old age, and art implanted into Christ. 1 Show thyself to be a tree of Gods planting in all those fruits of the Spirit, Gal. 5.22 mentioned by the Apostle, as God hath made thee good by Grace, so be thou abundant in all gracious actings, in all Christian duties. Fruit-bearing trees are seldom cut down till they become fruitless. 2 Let thy life be a life of Prayer, and wrestling with God, among other things, that God would not cast thee off in the time of age, Psal. 71.5, 6.17, 18 nor forsake thee when thy strength faileth; yea let thy life be a perpetual meditation of death, Job. 14.14 and all the days of thy appointed time do thou wait upon God until thy change shall come. 3 Get old Simeons' light, or his clear sight of Christ, by faith, when thou hast once obtained this thou wilt then be panting with him, Luk. 2.26 and crying, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; old Abraham was then happy when he saw the future day of Christ by the Prospective-glass of faith, Joh. ●. 56. through the interval of two thousand years' distance, and no wonder that he rejoiced; men go to Hell with their eyes shut, Acts 7.55. but to Heaven with their eyes open. 4 Wait then for old Paul's Crown, 2 Tim. 4▪ 8.9 if in sincerity thou art able to say, The time of my departure is at hand, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; thou mayst then conclude, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give unto me at that day, and to all that love his appearing; if constantly thou perseverest, and goest on in the ways of faith, and love, and holiness, thou mayst expect the accomplishment of this Promise unto thee, to go to thy Fathers in peace, and to be buried in a good old age, if the Lord see it meet for thee. A Short Narrative of the Life and Death OF JOHN LAMOTTE Esq JOhn Lamotte Esq sometimes Alderman of the City of London, was born at Colchester in Essex, May 1. 1577. his Father was Francis Lamotte (Son of Baldwin Lamotte of Ypres in Flanders) who, in the time of the great Persecution in the Low Countries, under Duke D' Alva, was driven out of his Native Country, and came, together with his Wife Mary, to shelter themselves, and to enjoy the free profession of the true Religion (for which they had abandoned all their Temporal (very considerable) goods, and enjoyments) under the protection of that famous Nursing-mother of God's afflicted Children in those bloody times, Queen Elizabeth▪ here in England, in the fourth year of her Reign; taking up their residence at Colchester, where he lived many years in very good esteem, and was very forward and industrious for the setting up, and promoting of the great Manufacture there for the Public good, and God blessed him in the same, and in a hopeful Issue, until he died in a good age at London. Now as both these Parents had made Piety their greatest interest, and the Freedom of Religion their best Purchase, so they were ever exceeding solicitous, and diligent to season their Children, and this their Son especially, from the very Cradle with the fear and nurture of the Lord, and that with such blessed success on him, that having Piety instilled into him by their means, and public Ordinances, through God's Grace, he never departed from it to his dying day, but proved most exemplary therein, through all the course and relations of his life; so that even in his younger years he never was given to, nor delighted with those vain and sinful Sports and Pastimes, to which youth is ordinarily so prone to, and so hard to be weaned from. His Recreation was commonly to turn from one honest or pious employment unto another, as from that of his Calling, (being brought up timely to Trade and Merchandise and in which he was always very careful, and industrious) to the reading of the Bible, and other good Books, Meditation, and learning of Languages, acquainting himself with several of the best Histories, especially such as treated of the Persecutions, and Deliverances of the Church of God, and the Propagation of the Gospel, all which he made in a manner his own, such delight he took both in the perusal, and rehearsal of the same on all occasions, and yet omitting no public opportunities, whereby he might nourish communion with God at any time. He would often bless God, that according to his earnest prayers (when he came first up to London) he had kept him from bad company, and from all allurements and engaging occasions of haunting Taverns, and the like places, whereby so many hopeful young men come to be undone. Being grown up to some greater maturity of years and Grace, and acquaintance with God, and beginning to Trade for himself, his singular care and exactness, industry, and discretion, was soon taken notice of, and he had more credit when he began, than divers that had lived in pretty good repute before him, every one was ready and even desirous to trust him, and deal with him; which great advantage he nevertheless used very soberly, undertaking no more than he was well able to manage, and minding what once he had undertaken with all the vigilancy and attendance such employments, and the duty of his Calling did require; and the blessing of God was evidently upon all his ways and affairs, yet so that as he was not hasty to be rich, he would often say, he was not hastily rich. By God's good providence and direction, he was afterwards guided to Marry a party of like good and pious education, and disposition, and of a Stock likewise tried, and grown up under Persecution, Mistress Anne Tivelin, whose Parents had sheltered themselves at Canterbury: she was then the Widow of Mr. David King Merchant, of whom she had Mr. Ezekias' King, yet living, the pious and learned Minister of Fulmore in Cambridgeshire; with this Consort Mr. Lamotte lived well and comfortably many years, and they had together several gracious Children, eight in all, whereof six, two Sons and four Daughters, died in their younger years, and only two Daughters (most piously and virtuously educated) lived to married estate; the elder Hester, being wedded first to John Manning Esq an eminent Merchant of this City, by whom she had three Children, but none surviving him, and after his decease to Sir Thomas Honywood Knight, of Markshall in Essex, both living yet happily together, beloved and honoured of all that know them far and near, together with their hopeful Issue, two Sons and one Daughter, the remainder of seven Children they have had together; the younger Daughter Elizabeth was married to that worthy Gentleman Master Maurice Abbot, (Son to Sir Maurice Abbot, once an Honourable Alderman, and Lord Mayor of this City, and Brother to those two famous Abbots, George, sometimes Arch bishop of Canterbury, and learned Robert, Bishop of Salisbury) and by him she had that hopeful Son and studious Gentleman Mr. Maurice Abbot, the present Coheir with his Aunt, besides three others dying young, as she also herself was not long enjoyed, and died exceedingly bewailed for her singular parts, piety, and goodness: Thus, though Mr. Lamotte left but one only Daughter surviving, and four grandchildren, yet he saw 22 of his offspring. His first wife deceasing about the year 1626. he married again the year after M●is. Elizabeth Monk, the widow of Levinus Monk Esquire, one of the six Clerks, a Gentleman of rare parts, trust and experience in stare-affaires in King James his time; with her he lived eighteen years, but had no issue by her. During all this time, as he advanced still in years, piety, experience and estate, so he was (through the mercy of God) accordingly respected, passing through, and bearing all the eminent offices in his Parish, Company, and elsewhere in the City and Commonwealth, until he was chosen Alderman; besides the Eldership of the Dutch Church here, wherein he served that Congregation, near thirty years together, with that exemplary integrity of zeal, as will not easily be forgotten; as also in all the rest, he still demeaned himself unblamably, equally desirous and zealous still to furher and advance godliness and honesty, and to withstand and reform abuses and iniquity of all kinds. The Love unto, and constant attendance upon the Word of God in public and private, for the upholding and cherishing communion with God, by hearing and reading the Scriptures, and meditating therein, had so possessed and filled his soul, that most of his discourses and Letters were most savourly seasoned with it, and he would often express a great deal of heart-grief and astonishment, at most men's heedlessenesse in duties so highly and nearly concerning their everlasting Welfare. And how real his piety and acquaintance with God was, appeared sufficiently, as by many other discoveries, so also by those streams of true Christian charity, which uncessantly issued from him and which made him not only willing and ready to impart and communicate liberally in that kind himself, but also to solicit and stir up others perpetually, setting all (as it were) on fire of compassion, that came near him, especially where and whensoever any public calamity befell the people and Church of God: No care, 〈◊〉 pains, no cost, charge, or trouble was too much then unto him to testify his sympathising bowels, in and for their sorrows and afflictions, whether at home or abroad; whereof, especially, since the year 1620. the respective Persecutions and Troubles in France, at Rochel, in the Valtelin, in Bohemia, in Germany, and more particularly in the lower and upper Palatinate, and therein above other places, the long continued distresses of the City of Frankendale, besides many other cases nearer home, in England, Scotland, Ireland, all along, even to the late cruel and barbarous massacre of the poor Waldenses in Piedmont, could make up and show forth in this One Member, such a living Character and pattern of real Charity, as alas, we see but few now a days, to the no small discredit of our profession. And God having given him such largeness of heart, and freeness of hand, he gave also unto him understanding to manage all his affairs with order and discretion, that he knew both where and when to spare and to spend, whereby he was enabled still to do the more good, finding and acknowledging always both the temporal and spiritual returns and comforts of doing the same; and that made him always as God blessed him to lay aside a proportion for charitable uses, which he as carefully distributed afterward. But if God was pleased at any time to exercise him with losses or crosses of any kind, whereof he had his share too (among other of God's Children) as well in his Trade and Estate now and then, by several casualties by Sea and Land, at home and abroad, in his several functions and relations, and especially in his body by divers great infirmities and sicknesses, principally toward and in the latter part of his life, yet he always showed abundance of patience and quiet submission, to the ever-good hand and pleasure of his heavenly Father, and faithful Redeemer, comforting himself very much with the examples of Jacob, Joseph, Job, David, and others of God's Saints and servants, in all ages, with whose histories he was exactly acquainted; praising God still, that in respect of his outward man, he so long vouchsafed him the benefit of his sight and hearing in that comfortable measure, whereby he could partake still of his holy Ordinances, both in public and private; and for his inner man, that in all his troubles and afflictions, God never long withheld his gracious and Fatherly countenance from him, in Jesus Christ, wherein he found comfort sufficient to allay all his grief, and prevent all murmuring in his troubles; he did not much vent himself by discourses, but retired himself▪ and unbosomed his heart, and spread his condition before the Lord in prayer. When but three weeks before his decease, he was sore afflicted with extremity of headache and Colic, that he began to find some impatience to seize on him, he soon recollected and checked himself, saying, How often and fervently have I besought the Lord, that he would be pleased to fit and prepare me for himself, and his everlasting Kingdom, and why then should I find fault and repine, now when he thus really and effectually doth prepare me, making me by these very pains and torments, loathe this wretched World so much the more, and long for my happy change, and dissolution, and to be with my Redeemer; and thus he continued for the most part, even to his last hour, which was July 13. 1655. in the seventy ninth year of his age; looking death cheerfully in the face, as of whom he was not afraid, being implanted into Christ, and thereby freed from the imbondaging fear of death, always almost speaking of the same, and setting the remembrance of our latter end, both before himself, and others, upon all occasions, knowing there was no such effectual means to make us apply our hearts to wisdom, that is to say, to the fear of God, the only Antidote against all other fear. And as in Troubles and Affliction he showed a great deal of filial submission and resignation to God, so it was a comfort to all that conversed with him to see and observe his continual thankful remembrances of and cheerful rejoicing in God's mercies and goodness, both to the Church in general and particular, and to the Land and Nation wherein he lived; as also to any of his dear friends and relations; as well as to his own person, loving both to hear and speak much of that Argument, and ever and anon most feelingly exclaiming, O what cause have we to praise our good and merciful God, that yet preserveth, yet affecteth, yet delivers and favours us, and passeth by, and forgiveth our manifold infirmities, transgressions and provocations aggravated with so much unthankfulness, if yet we would love him and believe in him, and yet walk in his fear obediently before him, to our everlasting happiness. On Queen Elizabeth's anniversary Coronation day, he would usually bid some friends, and put them in mind of the great Mercy of God showed to England on that day, by quenching the fires in Smith field, and continuing the Gospel ever since, for so many years among us, even beyond the number of years recorded in Scripture, of an uninterrupted prosperous estate of the Church; and then, as also on his Birthday, and other joyful occasions of friends, meeting at his house he would often say▪ he had desired their company, to eat bread with him before the Lord (as Jethro and Moses did) in remembrance of such and such signal Mercies and Deliverances, whereof his memory was a living Chronicle, especially of those grand Deliverances, both before and since the Reformation, from under the great sufferings and bloody Persecutions in France, and the low-Countries, whereof he would often discourse in so punctual and feeling a manner, as if he had been an eye-witness, yea a sharer in them, taking many arguments thence of encouraging both himself and others, to be still mindful of them in bonds and miseries, as being themselves in the body; saying, why, their case might have been ours, or may be yet, who knows? And instancing often in this particular with holy admiration and thankfulness, that when his own Father (for Religion sake being fain to flee for his life) stood doubtful, whether, like as many others did, he should repair for shelter to the Palatinate and Frankendale, or to England, that yet God inclined his heart to choose England for his place of refuge, whereupon he would frequently infer, he had great cause, especially since their late sad condition in that place and Country (in acknowledgement of that preserving mercy) to have a fellow feeling of their Miseries, wherein himself and his might have been involved together with them, since God had not only kept and safeguarded him and his from the same, but likewise abundantly blessed and protected him and them hitherto. And therefore he was very mindful to send relief to many of them from time to time. Together with all these eminent graces, God had likewise endued him with a large portion of Wisdom, Judgement, and Understanding, in many things of moment and importance, grounded on much experience, observation and practice of his own, for which he was deservedly much esteemed by men of no small place and account. He brought still forth out of his Treasure old and new, and knew so pertinently to produce, compare and apply the same, that it was great pleasure and no less profit and instruction to hear him. The pious and indefatigable care and pains he took in bringing up of his Children, and governing his family, in the fear and admonition of the Lord, is hinted partly already. His perpetual endeavour was to bring them into acquaintance and communion with God, and to make them stand in filial awe and fear of him, to read and meditate, and take delight in the Word of God, to be well grounded and settled in Religion, and not shaken by every wind of Doctrine; to avoid and flee all vain and idle courses, companies and dalliances; to be painful, careful and diligent, every one in his peculiar calling and employment, orderly and exact in all their affairs, sober and frugal in the use of God's good creatures, full of bowels of compassion to the afflicted and distressed Members of Christ, and to all that were in need, and cheerfully ready to communicate unto such; loving and helpful one to another, obedient to all good orders, submissive to the Magistrate, respectful to the Ministry, Civil and upright towards all, and watchful at all times, to be in readiness when the Lord should call them hence, to give an account of their Stewardship, etc. in all which he would say and exhort them to no more than himself continually endeavoured to practise before their eyes; and that this his tender care towards them might yet extend beyond his life, and he still speak to them, and mind them of these sayings, he left for them in writing, by abundance of Letters to his nearest and dearest Relations from time to time, especially in one of his last Papers, written, as it seems, when he had set his House in order, to be ready for the Lord (a Copy whereof followeth after this Narrative) such excellent instructions, and admonitions, as showeth plainly, as he took pains and care to leave them a comfortable Temporal estate, so their Spiritual good estate was that he mainly wished their whole hearts possessed of, as his was, for to enjoy communion with God, and the abiding comfort thereof both in this life, and that to come together with him. A Letter of John Lamotte Esq to his Daughter and grandchildren, written not long before his death. BEloved Daughter, Dame Hester Honywood, and beloved grandchildren, Maurice Abbot, and Elizabeth, Thomas, John Honywood, I do wish you all the blessing and peace of God the Father, and of our Lord Jesus Christ his dear Son, our Saviour and Redeemer, and that his fear and love may be so rooted and grounded in you, that it may knit and bind your hearts together in love and amity, as my heart has been to every one of you, ever praying for you all, that God of his mercy would bless you all, and plant his fear in your hearts, and unfeigned faith in Christ Jesus in your souls. I desire that no strife, nor envy, nor grudging arise about the dividing of the Estate which the Lord of his mercy hath lent me, for I settled the Land after Prayer by the best counsels and advice I could; and my personal estate I have by Will (after Prayer) to the best of my skill in all good Conscience, as equally drawn it as I could; so I would after I am dead have you receive it from God with a thankful and contented mind, and pray to the Lord to bless it to you, and every one of you to his own posterity. I having been by Trade a Merchant, and what by God's blessing I have advanced, I have endeavoured, and laboured to gain it honestly, and to keep faith & a good Conscience always, ever acknowledging that these following Parties had a share in my estate, as in all other men's, The Commonwealth, the Service of God, the Ministers, and the poor Members of Christ, of whom, as I have endeavoured to be careful; so would I have every one of you to be zealous for the Service of God, heartily affectionate to the poor members of Christ, and to give, with the relief, a comfortable word when occasion permits. John Lamotte. Erratas marring the sense. PAge 3. l. 10 r. piece, p. 4. in the margin r. excindi. p. 7. l. last but one, r. him, p. 10. l. 10 r. an, p. 11. l. 36. r. mire. p. 14. l. v 9, r. the heart, p. 15. l. 30. r. thou, p. 25. l. 34. r. our, p. 19 l. 36. r. naught, p. 27. l. 1. r. through. Omissions p. 4. l. 1. r. or adversitively, but, etc. p. 25. l. 33. r. like as a shock.