THE HAPPINESS Of those who Sleep in Jesus, OR, The Benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the Saints even while they are in the Grave, Sleeping in Jesus. Delivered in a SERMON Preached at the Funeral of that Pious and Religious Lady, the Lady Anne Waller, At the New Church in Westminst. Oct. 31, 1661. Together with the Testimony then given unto her. By Edm. Calamy, B. D. and Pastor of Aldermanburic. Rev. 14.11. And I heard a Voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their Labours, and their Works do follow them. John 11 11. Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of Sleep. Upon which words St. Austin saith. Domino dormiebat qui eum tantá facilitate excitavit de Sepulchro, quanta tu cx citas dormientem de Le●to, hominibus autem mo●taus erat, qui eum suscitare non poterant. 1 Thes. 4.16. The Dead in Christ shall rise first. London, Printed by I. H. for Nathanael Webb, at the Royal Oak in St. Paul's Churchyard, near the little North-Door, 1662. Royal Oak printer's or publisher's device To the RIGHT WORSHIPFUL, Sr WILLIAM WALLER. Sir, IT hath pleased the wise God, & your heavenly Father, to exercise you with variety of sad Providences, & to train you up for himself and his Kingdom, by many Troubles and Afflictions. It hath always been his Method to prepare his Children by light and moment any crosses, for a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory, and by embittering the pleasures of this world, to sweeten the delights of a better This, Sir, hath been your Portion, And I doubt not but you have learned, and are instructed by God in whatsoever state you are, therewith to be contented, and are made able to say with David, It is good for you that you have been afflicted. This last Trial was one of the sorest that ever yet betided you, being the loss of so Precious a Lady, so suitable a Wife, full of so much Goodness and Prudence. But when you consider, that your Loss is her Gain, that she is taken away from the evil to come, that she is not lost, but gone before to her Father, and your Father, to her God, and your God; that her Soul is at rest in Abraham's bosom, and her body, even while in the grave, asleep in jesus, and who it is that hath taken her from you; this doth much allay the immoderateness of your sorrow, & enables you to say with holy job, Job 1.21. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh, blessed be the Name of the Lord; and with holy David, Psal. 39.8. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. There are three great Truths, which if well digested, will prove heart-quieting, and compose the Spirits of God's people, and make them calm and satisfied in the worst of days and dangers. 1. That all the Providences of God, though never so dark and mysterious, and seemingly contrary to his Promises, shall all of them at last concur to the fulfilling of his Promises; For we know that all things shall work together for good to those who love God. 2. That sanctified Afflictions are great blessings, and that Correction, when joined with Instruction, is a certain Character of Election. That God had one Son without sin, but no Son without Sorrow; That Afflictions are Divine Touchstones, to try the truth and strength of our Graces, Divine Furnaces, to purge out the Dross of our sins; Divine Files to pair off our spiritual Rust, and Divine framing Houses, to dress us, and make us fit for Heaven. 3. That jesus Christ hath altered the Nature of Death, and made it a Gate to everlasting Life. That Christ hath sanctified, sweetened, purchased, conquered, and disarmed Death, so as it is now become the best Friend we have next to jesus Christ For we shall never be free from sin, nor perfected in Grace, nor see God Face to Face, till we die. This last grand Truth is made out fully in the ensuing Sermon, wherein also is showed the Benefit that the Bodies of the Saints obtain while in the Grave, by sleeping in jesus. Many Sermons tell us the Advantage that the Soul reaps by death, but this will discover what our vile Bodies gain even while they are rotting in the Grave. Sir, It was your desire it should be made public, and out of pure obedience so it now is. For there is nothing in it that is elaborate, and more than ordinary, or that renders it worthy the perusal of a judicious Eye. But the Testimony given of your Noble Lady, as it is true, so (I conceive) it is worth reading and imitating, and may well be called a Lookingglass for Ladies to dress themselves by every Morning. It will teach them to make Religion their Business, and to spend more time in decking their Souls with Grace, than their Bodies with vain Attire, that a Necklace of Graces, is more worth than a Necklace of Pearls. St. Hierom writes much in commendation of many Holy and Religious Ladies, Paula, Marcelia, Euslochium, etc. living & dying in his days, and proposeth them as Patterns to others for their Imitation. In like manner, I thought meet to propound the example of your most Excellent Lady, which if well followed in those things wherein she was praiseworthy, will without doubt bring us to everlasting Happiness. The Lord give a Blessing to what is said in the following Discourse, and make up to you in himself, what you have lost in the want of your Dear Consort, and be your Comforter and Counsellor in all Conditions. So Prayeth, Your Servant in the Work of the Lord, Edm. Calamy. THE HAPPINESS of those who Sleep in Jesus, OR, The Benefit that comes to the dead Bodies of the Saints, even while they lie in the Grave, Sleeping in JESUS: 1 THESS. 4.14. — Even so them also which sleep in jesus, will God bring with him. _●N the former Verse, the Apostle persuades the Thessalonians not to mourn immoderately for the Saints Departed. He doth not forbid them to mourn, but not to mourn without measure. Religion doth not abolish natural Affections, but only mode 〈…〉 him. Grace doth not destroy, but rectify Nature; it dep 〈…〉 ot of sense, but teacheth the right use of Senses. And he b 〈…〉 divers Arguments to dissuade us from immoderate M 〈…〉ning. Because this would bewray our Ignorance of the blessed estate of God's Children after this Life. This is set down, v. 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, Brethren, concerning them which are asleep. 2. This is to act as hopeless, Heathens, not as Christians. This is put down in the same Verse,— That ye sorrow not even as others, that have no hope. Though Heathens who have no hope of a better Life after this, do mourn immeasurably, yet this doth not become Christians, who have hope in death, and who believe the Life Everlasting. 3. Because the death of a Saint is not an utter Extinction, and abolition of the man, but only a quiet and comfortable sleep. Verse 13, 14. 4. Because they are so far from being abolished, and utterly extinct, that they are asle●● in jesus. They are, even while they are in their Graves, at rest in the Arms of Jesus. The Greek is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they that sleep by Jesus. But as Grotius observes, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so it is taken, Rom. 4.11. 1 Tim. 5.14. And so it is expressly said, v. 16. of this Chapter, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the dead in Christ And also, 1 Cor. 15.18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, They that sleep in Christ. 5. Because at the great day of Judgement, they shall be raised from out of their Graves, and raised to the resurrection of Life, and raised by the power of God, and by virtue of their Union with Christ, v. 14. For if we believe that jesus died, and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in jesus, God will bring with him. Even so, That is, as Christ died, and rose again, so shall all that are dead in Christ, rise again, by virtue of their Membership with Christ (For if the Head be alive, the Members must live also) and by the Power of God. The same God that raised Christ from the dead, will raise all that are united to him, and bring them with him at the dreadful day of Judgement. 6. Because Christ will carry all his Saints whom he shall raise, up into Heaven with him, where they shall be for ever with the Lord, in perfect Happiness. The Text that I have chosen contains three of these Arguments, which I shall sum up in these three Doctrinal Conclusions. Doct. 1. That the death of a Saint is nothing else but a quiet, comfortable, and blessed sleep. Doct. 2. That the bodies of the Saints, even while they are in their graves, are asleep in jesus. Doct. 3. That jesus Christ will raise the dead bodies of the Saints, and join their souls to them, and bring them with him to judgement, and then carry them into heaven, where they shall be ever with the Lord. Doctrine 1. That the death of a Child of God is nothing else but a quiet, comfortable, and happy sleep. For the understanding of this I shall answer to three Questions. Quest. 1. What part of a Child of God is it that sleepeth when he dieth? Ans. There are some who say, That the soul sleepeth as well as the body, and that when a man dies both Body and Soul lie asleep till the Resurrection. And this they prove from the example of Stephen, Act. 7 57 because it is said of him, That he fell asleep. But still the question is, What part of Stephen fell asleep? Not his Soul: For he commends that into the hands of Christ; Lord jesus receive my Spirit. And he saw the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God ready to receive his Soul immediately. It was the Body of Stephen fell asleep, but his Soul was presently received by the Lord Jesus into heaven. When a man dies, his body returns to dust from whence it came, but the soul returns to God who gave it, Eccl. 12.7 either to be judged to everlasting happiness, or everlasting misery. Indeed, In one sense the soul may be said at death to fall asleep, that is, It is at rest in Abraham's bosom: But it is not asleep in the Anabaptistical and Socinian sense, so as to lie in a dead Apoplexy or Lethargy▪ neither capable of joy or sorrow, of happiness or misery till the Resurrection. This is a most uncomfortable and unscriptural opinion. When St. Paul desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ, he doth not desire to lie asleep till the Resurrection, and neither to see, know, or enjoy Christ, but to be made happy with him, and by him. When Christ promised to the penitent Thief, Anima eorum sint colligat● in horto Edenis, Amen, Amen, Amen, Selah. That that day he should be with him in Paradise; his meaning was, That he should enjoy unspeakable pleasures with him. Thence the Jews write upon the graves of their dead friends, Let their souls be gathered in the Garden of Eden, Amen, Amen, Amen. Selah. The Souls under the Altar, of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the Testimony which they held, are not in a dull Lethargy without sense or understanding, but cry with a loud voice, Rev. 6.9, 10. How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth, etc. The Souls of just men made perfect in heaven are not asleep, Heb. 12.23 but enjoy Celestial felicity. And the soul of Lazarus was immediately upon his death received into Abraham's bosom, and filled full of consolation. Polycarpe, Euseb. lib. 5 cap. 11 that ancient and stout Champion of Jesus Christ, when he was at the Stake, amongst many other excellent words which he uttered, this was one, That his soul should that very day be represented before God in heaven. The truth is, This opinion of the Soul-sleepers is as pernicious as the opinion of those who say, That the Soul dies with the Body, and riseth with the Body. For this sleep must be either Natural, or Metaphorical; Of the first the Soul is not capable, and the second is nothing else but Death itself. The Book is called, Psychopannychia. Therefore Calvin, in his Book written on purpose against these Hypnologists, saith excellently, They that say, that the soul lives when out of the body, and yet deprive it of all sense and understanding, Qui animam vivere fatentur, illamque omni sen●u spo●●ant, prorsus animam fingunt quae nihil animae habcat aut animam ipsam a se ipsa avellunt; cum cjus natura, sincqua consistere ullo modo ucquit, sit. moveri, sentire vigere intelligere: atque (ut ait Tertulli●ous) animae anima sensus slt. do feign to themselves a Soul which hath nothing of a Soul in it, and divorce the Soul itself from itself: For the nature of the Soul, without which it cannot any way consist, is to have motion, sense, and understanding. And as Tertullian saith, That Sense is the very soul of the Soul. So much in answer to the first question. Quest. 2. Is not the death of a wicked man called a sleep as well as the death of a Saint? Answ. This cannot be denied. It is said of Baasha, Omri, and jeroboam, who were three wicked Kings, that they slept with their Fathers. But then I answer: 1. That this is but very seldom used. 2. That the death of an ungodly man, though it be a sleep, yet it is not a quiet, and comfortable, but a disquietting and terrifying sleep. As Nabuchadnezzar was much troubled in his sleep, and, as many sick men have very unquiet sleeps, so as they are more sick when they awake than before they slept, so is it with a wicked man. Both good and bad (saith St. Austin) sleep at death; But it fares with them as with those who dream in their sleeps: Dormit omnis mortuus, & bonus, & malus, sed quomodo interest in ipsis qui quotidie dormiunt, & exurgunt, quid quisque videat in somnis, alii sentiunt laeta somnia, alii torquentia, it a ut evigilans dormire timeat, ne ad ipsa iterum redeat: sic unusquisque hominum cum causae sua dormit, & cum causa sua surgit; & interest quali quisque custodia recipiatur, ad judice● postea recipiendus, etc. Some dream of things delightful, and are comforted: Some of terrifying things, insomuch as when they awake they are afraid to sleep again, left their terrifying dreams should return. So (saith he) every man sleeps at death according to the condition of the life he hath led, and accordingly riseth and is judged. The Souls of good and bad at death have different receptacles; The good have joy and happiness: The wicked, misery and torment. The Soul of the wicked goeth immediately to Hell, where it hath little list to sleep, and his body lieth asleep in the grave. But how? Even as a Malefactor that sleeps in Prison the night before he is executed, but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution. So the wicked man falls asleep at death, but when he awakes, he awakes to everlasting damnation. But a Child of God, when he sleeps the sleep of death, he sleeps in the arms of his Eldest Brother, and when he awakes, he awakes unto everlasting happiness. Quest. 3. In what particulars may the death of a Child of God be compared to sleep? Answ. I have already in a Sermon printed (without my knowledge) given thirteen resemblances between death and sleep, and therefore must of necessity here omit them lest I should seem actum agere. At the present I shall only mention these two. 1. The death of a Child of God is called a sleep, Habent omines animae cum de seculo exierint, divers as receptiones suas haebent guadium boni, & mal● tormenta. because he is thereby laid to rest. The Scripture calls their graves, their beds of rest. And the Apostle tells us, That they which die in the Lord rest from all their labours. They are at rest from all corporal and spiritual evils. First, From all corporal evils. 1. From all sicknesses, diseases, pains, and all other bodily infirmities. Tract. 49. in Joan. Death is that great Physician which will cure God's people of all diseases at once, and for ever. Thus the blind and lame man said one to the other at the Stake: Isa. 57.2 Bishop Bonner will cure thee and me this day. Rev. 14.13 2. From all worldly grief and sorrow. For at death all tears shall be wiped from their eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow, Rev. 21.4. 3. From all laborious and painful employments; Martha shall have no more need to complain of Mary, nor shall the Prophets of God waste their bodies by preaching. Ipsa cessabunt misericordiae spera ubi nulla erit indigentia, nulla miseria. 4. From all the wrongs, injuries, and persecutions of the wicked world. In this life they are mocked, scoffed, and persecuted, but when death comes, they are like a man above in the upper Region, where no winds nor storms can come. 5. From the evils to come upon the wicked world. Thus St. Austin was laid to rest immediately before Hippo was taken by the Vandals. Luther, before the Wars broke out in Germany, and Paraeus before Heidleburgh was sacked by the Spaniards. Secondly, From all spiritual evils. 1. From the hurt of the Devil and his temptations. Death puts them above his reach, so as he shall not be able to hurl one fiery dart any longer at them. 2. From evil company, and evil examples. In this life the Wheat are mingled with Chaff and Tares, and cannot but hear the name of the Great God blasphemed and dishonoured, which is a great vexation to them, 2 Pet. 2.7, 8 as it was to Lot in Sodom. But at death they shall be separated from all chaff and tares, and shall never hear God dishonoured any more. 3. From Divine desertions. In this life God many times withdraweth the light of his countenance from his sinning Children, which is more terrible to them than death itself: For if his loving kindness is better than life, Psal 63.3 than his frowns are worse than death. But after death the light of God's countenance shall shine perpetually upon them, and never admit either of a cloud, or Eclipse. 4. From the very being and existence of sin. The death of the body frees them perfectly from the body of death. Death drieth up the bloody issue of sin, Peccatum peperit mortem, & silia devoravit matrem. root and branch. As sin at first begat and brought forth death, so death at last destroys sin, as the worm kills the tree that bred it. Therefore St. Austin saith, Plus restituitur quam amittitur. More is restored to a Child of God than he lost in Adam: For Adam had only a power not to sin, but he by death hath an impossibility of sinning. Sin was Obstetrix mortis, a Midwife to bring death into the World, Homo non moritur sed peccatum mori●ur & miseria. and death is Sepulchrum peccati, a Sepulchre to bury sin in. Insomuch as death is now become not so much the death of the man, as of his sin and misery. Hence it is that our burying places are called by the Greeks Dormitories, K 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. or sleeping-places, and by the Hebrews, The houses of the living. 2. The death of a Child of God is called a sleep, propter spem resurrectionis. To intimate unto us the assurance of a Resurrection. Joh. 11.11. Thus Christ saith of Lazarus, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Death is nothing else (saith St. chrysostom) but a temporary sleep. Mors non est mors, sed somnus & do●miti● temporaria, Homil, 22. ad populum Antinchenum. Somnus est mors quaedam brevior, mors vero somnus longior,— Consanguineus lethi supper. Scriptura eos qui mortui sunt, vocat dormicutes ob spem Resurrectionis, qua celerim●●vigilabunt (x somno mortis, & ex lecto, id est, ex sepulchro. Serm. 32. de Verbis Apostoli. Tom 10. Sleep is a short death, and death a longer sleep. As he that goeth to sleep, sleeps but for a certain time, and awakes in the morning out of sleep: So he that sleeps the sleep of death, when the Trump of God shall found, shall awake, & arise out of his grave as out of his bed in the morning of the Resurrection: St. Austin saith, That the Scripture saith of those that are dead, that they are but asleep, because of the certain hope of a Resurrection, by which they shall speedily be awakened from the sleep of death, and raised out of their Sepulchers as out of their beds. Hence it hath formerly been, and still is a godly custom amongst Christians when any of their religious friends die, to say of them, They are not dead, but Obdormi●nt in Domino, They are asleep in the Lord. And this they do for the comfort of their Relations, and to create in them a contempt of this present life, and a sure and certain hope of a Resurrection unto life everlasting. Before I make use of this, I shall speak something to the second Doctrine. Doctrine 2. That the bodies of the Saints, even while they are in their graves, are asleep in jesus— They that sleep in jesus. This is a very excellent and singularly comfortable expression, worthy to be seriously weighed and considered. For the understanding of it I will show, First, What it is to sleep in jesus. Secondly, What glorious benefits and advantages come to the bodies of the Saints by this privilege. 1. What it is to sleep in jesus. This expression signifieth two things. 1. That a true Saint dieth a Member of Christ, united to him by a lively saith. Rev. 14.13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. He is one that abideth in the Faith till the last gasp, and (as the Apostle saith) dieth in the Lord; that is, engrafted into the Lord jesus Christ. 2. That he doth not only die in Christ, but continueth a member of Christ, and united to him even while he is in the grave. For this Text speaks of all Saints departed from the beginning of the World— So also they that sleep in jesus; that is, They that are now in their graves, and are there asleep in Jesus. The like phrase is used, 1 Cor. 15.18. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. The Apostle speaks of such who had been long in their graves, and yet all that while were asleep in Christ. The bodies of the Saints in the grave, though turned to dust, are yet notwithstanding united to Christ, and Members of his Body; and though separated from their Souls, yet are not separated from Christ: Even as the Body of Christ, while in the grave, was even then united to his Divine Person. Though soul and body were separated one from the other, yet neither of them were separated from the Divine Person. So the Body of a man in Christ, though separated by death from his Soul, yet it is not separated from Christ Though it say to Corruption, Thou art my Father, and to the Worms, Thou art my Mother, and my Sister, yet it may say also to Christ, Thou art my Brother, and to God, Thou art my Father. And therefore the Saints, even while they are in their graves, are said to be Christ's, 1 Cor. 15.23.— Afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming. And are said to be dead in Christ, 1 Thes. 4.16. Not only to die in Christ, but to be dead in Christ; that is, to continue in Christ even while dead. And that they do so, appears further by these two Reasons: Reas. 1. Because the Union between Christ and a true Christian is spiritual and everlasting. 1. It is spiritual, and therefore needs no vicinity of place to preserve it. A Husband and Wife, a Father and his Child are really united together, though a thousand miles distant. 2. It is everlasting, Host 2.19. I will besroath thee unto me for ever, etc. Herein it exceeds the Union between a Man and his Wife, which is only till death them do part. But the Union between Christ and a true Christian is not separated by death: Once in Christ, ever in Christ, Joh. 8.35. Reas. 2. Because Death is Christ's purchase, 1 Co●. 3.21, 22, 23. and part, of the Saints jointure. The Apostle tells the Corinthians, All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollo, etc. or life or death, etc. and ye are Christ's, &c. These words teach us these two lessons: 1. That Death is part of the Saints Magna Charta as well as Life. Death is the Believers rich Portion, and peculiar privilege. 2. That Christ hath purchased death for his children, as properly as life. He hath made over death for their jointure, and rich portion, as much as Paul, Apollo, or Cephas, nay, as much as heaven itself. Christ hath altered the nature of death, insomuch as that now it is become our best friend next to jesus Christ: For we shall never be rid of sin, nor perfected in grace, nor see God face to face till we die. It is become a gate to heaven, an outlet to all misery, and an inlet to everlasting happiness. Now than if Death be Christ's purchase, and a part of the Saints jointure, without doubt, it doth not separate us from Christ, for than it would be but an ill purchase, and jointure, obtained not for our good, but our great hurt, contrary to the express words of the Apostle, and also contrary to Rom. 8.28. All things work together for the good of those that love God. Et mors praecipue, and especially Death, as St. Austin saith. The second thing propounded, is, To show what those glorious benefits and advantages are, which the bodies of the Saints enjoy while they are in their graves asleep in Jesus. For answer to this, you must know, That as soon as ever the soul departs out of the body, the body presently loseth all its beauty and comeliness, and becomes a rotten and stinking carcase; It goeth down to the house of rottenness, to the dungeon of darkness, and is laid in the cold earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. And yet even than it hath a six-fold benefit, by being asleep in Jesus. 1. Though the body be turned to dust, yet that very dust is precious in God's sight. Psal. 116.15. As the death of the Saints, so also their dust is precious to God. There is a twofold dust that God loves. 1. The dust of Zion. 2. The dust of his Saints. First, The dust of Zion, Psal. 102.13, 14. Secondly, The dust of the Saints. The golden Ore in the Mine is not so precious to us, as this golden dust is to God. job tells us, That out of the earth comes the dust of gold; Job 28.6. but I may truly say, That in the earth there is golden dust, even the dust of God's Saints. As Balaam saith concerning the people of Israel, Num 23, 10, Who can count the dust of jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? So may I say, Who can sufficiently express the love that God bears to the dust of jacob, and to the bodies of his people, while in their graves? The Apostle tells us, Rom. 8.38. That neither life nor death is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ jesus our Lord. God loves the bodies of his Saints as well as their souls, and their bodies when turned to dust. That very dust is part of God's election, (for God hath elected the bodies of his Saints unto eternal life, as well as their souls) and it is part of Christ's Redemption, and the Spirits Sanctification. O what a comfort is this to a dying Child of God Though all his friends will forsake him when brought to the grave (the Husband will leave his dear Wife, and the Children their dear Father) yet God will not forsake him, but go down to the grave with him, and the watchful eye of his providence will be over his dust and ashes. And as Rispah kept the dead bodies of Saul's seven Sons, 2 Sam. 21.10. and spread a Tent over them, so as the birds of the air could not hurt them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. So will God keep the dead bodies of his Saints, and spread the Curtain of his protection over them, and as he took care of them while they were in the sepulchre of their Mother's womb, so he will also take care of them while they are in the sepulchre of their Mother earth. He that loved them in Sepulchro uteri, will love them in utero Sepulchri. 2. They that sleep in jesus have this benefit by it, That Christ by his burial hath sanctified the grave, and sweetened it, and perfumed it, insomuch, that though in its own nature, it be as loathsome prison, a house of rottenness, and a place of terror; yet to a man dead in Christ, the nature of it is altered, and to him it is as a soft bed, wherein he is laid down quietly to take his rest, and there to remain asleep, free from all cares, fears, and troubles till the Resurrection of the dead. Though the grave in its own nature be a dreadful place, a stinking charnel-house, and a rotten prison to the wicked and ungodly, where they lie waiting for the Great Assizes; yet to the Children of God, Christ hath made it a Magazine and Storehouse to keep their bodies safe till the great Resurrection. And he hath also made it a beaten and plain way to heaven. Christ Jesus himself went to heaven through the grave, and so must we and all the Godly. We must first put off the rags of Mortality, before we can put on the robes of Immortality. To a wicked man, the grave is a thoroughfare to hell, but to a man asleep in Jesus it is a passage to heaven, where Christ is. And if St. Austin was willing to go even through hell to Christ in heaven, much more may we be willing to go through the grave to him. 3. They that sleep in jesus have this benefit also, That by their Union with Christ, and by the watchful Providence of God, there is a substance preserved, so as they are not utterly extinct, and annihilated by death, but something of their bodies remain undestroyed. There is nothing utterly, totally, and finally destroyed in a Child of God by death, but sin and misery. The rotting of the body in the grave is but as the rotting of the Corn in the earth, as the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 15.36. The Seed is cast into the earth, and there it dieth, and rotteth, but is not utterly extinct, but rotteth in the ground, that it may be quickened again: So the bodies of the Saints rot in their graves that they may be raised again, and made like unto the glorious body of jesus Christ And this is another reason why the death of a Child of God is called a sleep, because as a man asleep is not extinct, no more is he in the grave. There is a substance preserved, and as David saith of an afflicted righteous man, Psal. 34.20. that God keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken: So God keepeth the dust and ashes of his Children, so as they shall not be utterly and totally consumed. Object. But is there not a substance preserved also in the bodies of the wicked? Answ. It is true, Their bodies are not utterly destroyed, but remain, not by virtue of their Union with Christ, but preserved by the Almighty power of God as a terrible Lord, and severe judge, and remain, as in a prison, till the great day of Judgement, in which they shall appear before Christ, and then be condemned to hell. Happy were it for a wicked man if his body were annihilated by death, (as it were happy for a Traitor if he died in Prison, and escaped hanging.) But herein consisteth the difference between him and a man asleep in Jesus, A man out of Christ is not properly preserved in the grave, but rather reserved by the power of Christ to be afterwards tormented in hell: But a man in Christ is not only reserved, but by virtue of his Union with Christ, and preserved to enjoy Eternal glory with their souls at the Great Day of Judgement. 4. He that sleepeth in Jesus hath this benefit also, That though his body lieth rotting in the grave, yet his soul is all the while in heaven, where it enjoyeth the glorious presence of God, and of his Saints and Angels: I say, his soul, which is his best half, which is the Man of man, is in heaven. Indeed, his body, which is but as the Box and Carcase, is in the grave; but the substance and jewel is in heaven. Object. What benefit doth the body in the grave gain by his souls being in heaven? Answ. I gains this double benefit: 1. If his Soul be in heaven, it is certain the Body will come thither at last: For it is but as the shadow to the substance, and if the substance be in heaven, the shadow will undoubtedly follow. 2. Though the Soul be in heaven, yet it can never be perfectly and completely happy till it be reunited to the Body. For God made the soul to be the form of the body, and to dwell for ever in it: And if it had not been for Adam's transgression, the body and soul should never have been separated. This separation is the fruit of sin, and therefore the soul in heaven hath appetitum unionis, a desire to have this breach made up, and to be united again to his body, because he shall have a more perfect and complete being with it than without it. The Scripture tells us, That it waits for the redemption of his body, Rom. 8.23. Rev. 6.10. and that it prayeth that God would accomplish the number of his Elect, that so they may again be joined to their bodies, and have Coronam perfectam & publicam, a public and perfect Crown of glory. The souls in heaven (saith Bernard) pray for their bodies in the grave; They are not like the chief Butler, who forgot joseph when he was restored to his former dignity. They remember they have bodies still in the grave, which were companions with them in the service of God, in Prayer, and Fasting, and suffering afflictions for Christ And they know, that by reunion with them their happiness will be much increased; and therefore they cannot cease pra●ing for them, and Christ will in due time come in glory to raise them up unto everlasting life. A fifth benefit that accrueth to the body that is asleep in Jesus, is, That Christ himself cannot be perfect till it be raised from the dead. As a natural body cannot be perfect without all its members, no more can Christ mystical, as head of his Church, be perfect till every member of his body be glorified. Therefore it is said, Eph. 1.23. That the Church is the fullness of him who filleth all in all, which is to be understood of that voluntary condition, whereunto Christ hath subjected himself in being the Head of the Body, that is, his Church. So that as a natural body is maimed and imperfect if the least member be wanting: So is Christ, as Head of his Church, maimed and imperfect till all the bodies that are asleep in jesus be reunited to their souls, and received into glory for ever with Christ. Lastly, The body by being asleep in jesus, hath this great benefit, That though it lieth rotting in the grave, yet it resteth in hope. This was David's comfort, Psalm 16.9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth, my flesh also shall rest in hope. There is not a member of Christ, but when he is breathing out his last breath, may use David's words with David's comfort— My heart is glad, my glory rejoiceth, and my flesh also (which is shortly to be put into the grave) shall rest in hope, in a forefold hope: 1. That it shall rise again. 2. That the same body shall rise. 3. That it shall rise by virtue of its Union with Christ. 4. That it shall rise to glory everlasting. And this leads me to to the third and last Doctrine. Doctrine 3. That jesus Christ will raise the dead bodies of those that sleep in him, and raise them as their Head and Saviour, and bring them with him to judgement, and then carry them into Heaven, where they shall be ever with the Lord. All these particulars are comprehended in the words of the Text— God will bring with him. But before he brings them, he must first raise them. The bodies of the Saints shall not always dwell in the dust; Isa. 26.19. therefore the Prophet Isaiah calls upon them to awake and sing, Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust. A strange expression! Is there any cause of rejoicing for those who dwell in dust? Yes; Awake and sing ye which dwell in dust, for the Earth shall give up the dead which are in it, and the Sea also. As the Whale cast up jonah on the shore, so shall the Sea cast up her dead. When jonah was swallowed up by the Whale, one would have thought he had been utterly lost, yet God did but speak a word to the Whale, and he cast him on the dry land. The grave to an Atheistical eye is like the belly of the Whale; and an Atheist is ready to think, that the Child of God is utterly lost. But when the Trumpet shall sound, and the Archangel speak the word, the Whale shall cast up jonah; the Sea shall give up her dead, and the Earth also, for they are but God's Stewards, unto whom he hath betrusted the bodies of his Saints, and when God calls them to give an account of their Stewardship, they will give in a most faithful account, and will not leave one body behind. They are but tyring-houses or withdrawing rooms for a while; they are but sleeping-places. And as a man when he goeth to sleep hopeth to awake again in the morning; So do the Saints of God fall asleep by death with a sure and certain hope of a Resurrection from the dead. So then, All that sleep in Jesus shall rise again. And they shall arise with the same bodies, (the same for substance, though not for qualities) otherwise it were no Resurrection, but a new Creation. Joh. 5.28.29. Christ tells us, That all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. The Apostle tells us, That this mortal body shall put on immortality, 1 Cor. 15.53. and this corruptible body shall put on incorruption. This was jobs comfort upon the dunghill, Job 19.27. That with these very eyes he shoould see his Redeemeer. And it cannot stand with God's Justice, that one body should sin, and another be condemned, and one body serve him, and another be crowned. The same body then shall rise. And rise by virtue of its union with Christ This is hinted in the Text— For if we believe that jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in jesus will God bring with him. By the same power by which Christ raised up himself, by the same power he will raise all that are by the Spirit united to him: For he is the Husband of his Church, and the Husband will raise his Spouse. He is the Shepherd and King of his Church, and the Shepherd will raise his Sheep, and the King his Subjects; and therefore he is called the first fruits of them that sleep. 1 Cor. 15.2. As the first fruits did sanctify the whole lump: So by Christ's Resurrection all that die in the Lord are sanctified unto him, and assured of their resurrection by him. 1 Cor. 15.20. And it is said, As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; that is, all that are in Christ shall be raised by the power of Christ, as their Head, and as their Merciful Saviour and Redeemer. If the Head be above the water, the Body cannot be drowned, but will rise after it. And let me add. It shall rise after a most Glorious manner; 1 Cor. 15.42, 43, 44. It is sown in Corruption, but it shall be raised in Incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, but it shall be raised in Glory. It is sown in weakness, but it shall be raised in power. It is sown a natural Body, but it shall be raised a spiritual body. For Jesus Christ in his Incarnation assumed our Bodies, as well as our souls, and at his Death, suffered for us, in his Body, as well as in his Soul. Our Bodies are united to him, and Members of him, Temples of the Holy Ghost, and Instruments in his Service, as well as our Souls. And therefore he will glorify our Bodies, as well as our souls, and make them like unto his own Glorious Body. It is impossible to set out all the Glory that God will bestow upon the bodies of his Saints, at the great Resurrection. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath in entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared, even for the bodies of those that love him. Some part of this Glory I have discovered already in a Funeral Sermon in Print, and therefore shall now forbear to mention it. The Bodies of the wicked shall come out of their Graves, as out of their Prisons, as so many Malefactors, to appear before an Angry judge. They shall come out of their Graves, as the chief Baker did out of Prison, to be executed in Hell for ever. They shall rise with great Fear and Trembling, and shall call to the Rocks and Mountains, to hide and cover them from the wrath of the Lamb. But the Bodies of those who sleep in Jesus, shall rise out of their Graves, as out of their Beds, with great joy and Rejoicing. They shall come out of their Graves, as jonah out of the Whale's Belly, as Daniel out of the Lion's Den, as the Chief Butler, who came out of Prison, to be restored to all his former Dignities, and as joseph, who after his Release out of the Go●l, was made Lord of Egypt. So shall the Bodies of the Saints be raised out of their Graves, to be made like unto the Angels, and to have their Faces shine like the Sun in the Firmament, Mat. 13.43. and to be crowned with everlasting Glory. Now the Dead in Christ, thus raised, Christ will bring with him, at the great and dreadful Day of Judgement, and he will cause them to sit with him in his Throne, as he sits with the Father in his Throne, Rev. 3.21. and he will advance them to be judges of all the wicked and ungodly, and not only of wicked men, but of the wicked Angels; I say to be Judges, as coassessors with Christ, and Approvers of his Sentence. 1 Cor. 6.2, 3. This is a high Preferment, not proper (as the Papists think) to the Apostles, and such who have left all for Christ, but common to all the Saints of God, who are such indeed and in Truth. I deny not, but that the Apostles shall have eminentiorem Thronum, a more eminent degree of Glory than other Saints. But yet this Honour of judging the world, is common to all Saints, to the least, as well as to the greatest. They that now are judged and condemned by the wicked of the world, shall one day, sit with Christ in his Throne, and judge their judges, They that are now tempted, buffeted, and sometimes foiled by Satan, shall one day be Judges of him and all his Angels. Now after the Day of Judgement is finished, Christ will carry up all that sleep in him, with himself into Heaven, where they shall be ever with the Lord in perfect Happiness. So much for the explication of the three Doctrines. Use 1. Let us not mourn immoderately for the death of our Godly Friends and Relations. This is the Use which the Apostle would have us to make. 1 Thes 4.13. Mourn we may, but not as the Heathen, who have no hope. Let us remember, that the death of a Child of God is nothing else but a comfortable and blessed sleep; that he goes to the Grave, as to his Bed, and there lieth free (as a man asleep) from all Cares and Troubles, and at rest from all his Labours, that even while he is in the Grave, he is asleep in jesus, and there continueth a Member of his Body; that his very dust is precious in God's sight, and part of God's Election, Christ's Redemption, and the Spirits Sanctification. That by virtue of its Union with Christ, his body while in the Grave, is not utterly extinct, but there is a Substance, not only reserved, but preserved, to be raised to everlasting Glory. That Christ hath so perfumed the Grave, as that it is nothing else to him, but as a Tiring-house, and withdrawing-Room. In a word, that he lieth down in his bed till the Morning of the Resurrection, and then he shall put on stolam immortalitatis, the Garment of Immortality, and his vile body shall be made like unto the Glorious Body of jesus Christ Let us comfort one another with these words: Let us not weep immeasurably for those from whom all Tears are wiped away, but let us consider their unspeakable g●in. Death hath put an end to all their temporal and spiritual evils, and opened a door for them to everlasting Happiness. Use 2. Let these Doctrines serve as a Precious Antidote to all the people of God against the fear of Death, and of the Grave. Why should we fear that, which if it should not happen, we should be superlatively miserable? as the Apostle saith, If we had hope only in this life, we were of all people most miserable; And therefore when there was a Rumour spread concerning St. john, 1 Cor. 15.17. that he should never die, he himself, Ch. 21.23. rectifieth the Mistake; yet jesus said not unto him, he shall not die. As if he should say, God forbid I should be so miserable, as never to die. Though a man in Christ could live for ever in this world, and be always young, rich and healthful, yet he would account himself most miserable, because while he is here, he is absent from Christ, who is his Life, and from God, who is his Happiness, and full of sin, which is his greatest Burden. And therefore as jacob rejoiced, when he saw the Chariots which should carry him to his Son joseph, so should the People of God rejoice, when Death approacheth, which will carry them to Christ And as God said to jacob, Fear not to go down to Egypt, Gen. 46.4. for I will go down with thee, and I will also surely bring thee up again: So, methinks, I hear God saying to all his Children, Fear not to go down to the House of Rottenness, for I will go with you, and tarry with you, and watch over your dead As●es with the eye of my Providence, and will surely bring you out again, and raise you unto Eternal Glory. Let us not look upon Death, as presented unto us in Nature's Looking-Glass, but as it is set down in a Scripture-dress. Nature presents Death in a terrible manner: The Philosopher calls it, of all terrible things, Job 18, 14. most terrible. job calls it the King of Terrors, It is terrible three manner of ways. 1. Because it is a Separation between two dear and ancient Friends, the Soul and the Body, who having lived long together, are very loath to part asunder. There is nothing more contrary to Flesh and Blood, than the separation of the one from the other. 2. Because it is the Fruit of sin. Rom. 6. For the wages of sin is death. Had Adam never sinned, we never should have died; By one man sin entered into the world, Rome 5. and death by sin, and this makes it terrible. 3. Because of the After-claps of Death. For after Death comes judgement, Heb. 9.27. and after Judgement, everlasting Salvation, or everlasting Condemnation. This makes Death very terrible to those who have the guilt of sin upon them unrepented of, and who are under the just fear of Everlasting Burnings, and indeed to all men out of Christ, death is of all terrible things most terrible, as you shall hear in the next Use. But to you that are in Christ, the sting of death is taken away, and it is become of all desirable things, most desirable; It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Phil. 1.23. as the Apostle saith; It is much far better. It is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep; a putting off our clothes and going to bed till the Morning of the Resurrection. Therefore Austin saith, That a Child of God should be as willing to die, as to put off his clothes, because Death is nothing else to him, but a putting off of his Body (which is Animae Vestimentum, the souls Garment) and a departure from Misery to everlasting Happiness, a letting the Soul, as a Bird, out of the Cage of the Body that it may flee to Heaven. Mors piorum est Natalis vitae e●erna. Obstetrix vitae melioris, Profect o ad Civitatem Dei. janua ad vitam eternam Porta Gloriae, Medicamentum Immor●alitatis. Death to a Child of God is the Birthday of Heaven's Eternity, a putting off of its Earthly Tabernacle, and a going to a House made without hands, eternal in the Heavens. It is an unclothing of himself, that he may be clothed upon with his House which is in Heaven. It is a going to his Father's House, where he shall enjoy perfect and perpetual Happiness. There are 10 Springs and Fountains of Consolation to a true Saint against the fear of Death. 1. When he dieth, though his Body be laid in the Grave, yet his Soul is immediately received up into Heaven, his best part is at the Instant of Death blessed and happy. 2. His Body at death doth not die, but only sleepeth (as Christ said of dead Lazarus) and is at rest, and is asleep in jesus, even while it is in the Grave, and is part of that man who is a Member of Christ, and under the Care and Love of God. 3. His Soul, though it be in Heaven, can never be perfectly and completely happy, till his Body be joined to it. 4. Christ himself, as he is the Head of his Church, can never be perfect till his Body be raised from the dead, and crowned with a Crown of Glory. 5. Christ hath conquered Death for him, he hath not only sweetened and sanctified it, but conquered it, according as it was fore prophesied,— I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave, Host 13.14. I will redeem them from Death; O Death I will be thy Plagues; O Grave I will be thy Destruction. He hath led Captivity Captive, Eph. 48. and death is one of those Captives, as well as the Devil. He hath disarmed Death, and taken away the Sting of it, so as to a man in Christ, death is a Serpent without a Sting. It is like the Viper which skipped upon S. Paul's Hand, Acts 28. which did not at all hurt him. It is like the Brazen Serpent, which though it had the shape of a Serpent, yet it hadnot the Nature of it, but was a healing, not a stinging Serpent. So is death to a Child of God. It is so far from hurting of him, that it is now by Christ's death, become his greatest Advantage, and he may triumph over it, and say with the Ap. O Death, 1 Cor. 15.55, 56, 57, where is thy Sting? O Grave, where is thy Victory? the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord jesus Christ. 6. There is this Spring also of Consolation against the Fear of death, because he that hath an Interest in Christ, cannot die suddenly, though he die never so suddenly, that is, though he die never so suddenly in regard of time, yet he can never die suddenly in regard of Preparation. For he is always habitually fitted, and prepared for Death, he is justified by Faith, and sanctified by the Spirit, and is above the hurt of damnation: For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Rom. 8.1. He hath not his Graces to seek, when he comes to die, which is no little Happiness. 7. He can never die miserable, though he die never so miserably. Though he die upon a Dunghill, or in a Goal, or upon the Gallows, or at a stake, wheresoever, and howsoever he dies, he dies happily. Rom. 12.13. For so saith the Apostle, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. They are blessed, though they die upon a dunghill. Though Stephen was stoned to death, yet he died happily; for while he was stoning, he saw the Heavens opened, and Christ ready to receive him. Though Lazarus was starved to death, yet he died blessedly, because the Angels carried his Soul into Abraham's B●som. Though King josiah died in War, yet he died in peace. A man in Christ dieth in the Arms of Christ, 2 Kings 22.20. and though he dieth never so miserably, as to his outward condition, yet he may sing a Nunc dimittis with old Simeon, Luke 2.29, 30. Lord, now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation. 8. There are 3 Expressions which the Scripture useth concerning death, which are singular Fountains of Consolation against the Fear of it. 1. The Apostle S. Peter calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Mors non est exitus, sed transi●us, non obitus, sed abitus. Mortui non sunt amissi, sed praemiss●●, Cypr. de Mortalitate. Profectio est quam putas Mortem. Tert. de patientia. 2 Pet. 1.15. I will endeavour that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my Decease, etc. Death is nothing else, but an Exodus out of Egypt, unto our Heavenly Canaan. It is not a dying, but a Transmigration, a passage from the Valley of death into the Land of the Living. 2. The Apostle S. Paul calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Phil. 2.23. I desire to be dissolved, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is (as Grotius interprets it) That my Soul may return to God from whom it first came. Others say, It is a Metaphor taken from Mariners, who are said to lose from the Haven, when they depart from the shore. Death is nothing but a hoisting up of Sail (as it were) for heaven. 3. Old Simeon calls it A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Now Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace. Luke 2.29. The Greek Word signifieth a Release, and dismission out of prison. Thus it is taken, Acts 16.35, Acts 5.40 Luke 23.17. And it holds forth these two Lessons. 1. That the Soul is in the Body as in a Prison. Therefore the Greek Words for the Body, are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, vincio. And Petrarch saith, That he that glorieth in the strength of his Body, glorieth in the strength of his Prison. And when Plato saw one of his Scholars overcuriously pampering his Body, Qui gloriatur in viribus corporis, gloriatur in viribus carce●is. he said to him, What do you mean to make your Prison so strong? The Soul is in the Body as in a Prison, in 3 Respects. 1. Because the Soul is hidden in the Body, as a man is hidden in a Prison. As Plato saith of Virtue, That if a man could see it with corporal eyes, he could not but love it. So may I say of the Soul; If a man could see the Beauty, Glory and Excellency of it, he could not but admire it, and highly value it. But it is hidden in the Body as in a Prison. 2. Because the Soul is hindered by the Body, and that Three ways. 1. It is hindered from Heaven. For whilst we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord, and we cannot be with Christ, till we be dissolved. And this is truly a Prison wherein a man is absent from his best Friends and Acquaintance. 2. It is hindered from Heavenly Operations. For the Body takes up all the time from the Soul; as the Lean Kine of Pharaoh devoured the fat, so the Provision for the Feeding and Clothing of the Body, eats up the time that should be spent about the Soul. It is with the Soul and Body, as it was with Abraham and Lot. Abraham had his cattle and his Servants, and Lot his, so that the Country was too narrow for them. So the Soul hath her work, and the Body his, and there is hardly time enough for both; so as the one must needs hinder the other, and they never will be well till separated. The Cloth is too short to cover them both. And this must needs be a great Bondage when the Handmaid shall be preferred before her Mistress, Hagar before Sarah. 3. It is hindered in all its Heavenly Operations. For the Body weigheth down the Soul. As a Bird that hath a stone tied to its Leg, is weighed down that it cannot fly aloft. So is the Heavenly Soul in the best Christian depressed by the Body, that it cannot mount aloft in Prayer and other Holy Exercises. The Soul and Body are like a pair of Scales, the more the one is up, the more the other goeth down. As Saul's Armour was a Burden to David, so is the Body to the Soul. The Body is quickly tired in the Service of God. The Spirit is willing, but the Flesh is weak, like a strong man upon a Jadish Horse, etc. 3. Because the Soul is defiled by the Body, as a man in a Nasty Prison. God gave man a Heavenly Soul, and an Earthly body, that the Heavenly Soul might lift up the Earthly Body towards Heaven: But now it fares quite contrary. Our earthly Bodies have weighed down our heavenly Souls, and made them earthly and sensual. Tamdiu versata est Anima in Tabernaculo, ut ipsa versa est in Tabernaculum. The Soul hath lived so long in a Body of flesh, that it is (as it were) fleshified, and bodified. The Soul looks through an eye of flesh, and every thing seems fleshly to it. It is diverted by the Body from its true End. The true End of the Soul is to know God, to love, fear and serve him. But the body diverts the Stream, and turns the Soul to serve men, and to provide for back and belly. And therefore it may fitly be called the Souls Prison. 2. It holds forth this Lesson also, That Death is the Souls Goal-delivery. It is the letting of it lose from its Bonds and Fetters. Its is setting it at Liberty, like a Bird escaped out of a Cage. Now Lord let thy Servant depart; that is, be set at liberty from the prison of my body. 9 There is this Comfort also against the fear of death, That jesus Christ is gone to heaven on purpose to prepare a place for the dead bodies of his Saints, and he will come again, and raise them up, and take them to himself, that where he is, there they may be also, John 14.2, 3. Therefore he is said to go into Heaven as a Forerunner, Heb. 6.20. Whither the forerunner is for us entered. Now a forerunner supposeth some that are to follow. Christ is entered before, to take up Lodgings for all that are asleep in him, and hath (as it were) written their several Names upon their several Lodgings, as is intimated, Heb. 12.23. To the Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven; and keeps them empty till they come to Heaven to fill them, as is hinted, 1 Pet. 1.4.— Reserved for you in heaven. Therefore we are said to fit with him in heavenly places, because he went up to take possession of it for our use, and benefit, and fits there in our Nature, and as our Head, not as a private Citizen of Heaven, but as a Representative of all the Elect of God, and will ere long come down, and take them up to himself, and so they shall ever be with the Lord. 10. The last Spring of Consolation against the fear of death is, That Death will put a perfect and perpetual end to all his Miseries, whether spiritual or corporal (as I have showed) and open a door to infinite and unexpressible happiness for ever and ever. Let these ten Considerations be made use of, as precious Antidotes against the flavish fear of death. Use 3. The woeful and miserable condition of those, who die in an unregenerate condition, in their sins unrepented on, and whose bodies lie in the grave ● not asleep in jesus, but asleep in sin; to these men death is of all formidable things most formidable. It is a most cruel, biting, and devouring Serpent with eight Stings. 1. To a man out of Christ, death puts an end to all his outward contentments, to all his riches, honours, and pleasures, to whatsoever a wicked man accounts his Heaven, and his happiness; and this must needs be as a stinging Serpent to him. Judg. 18.23, 24. We read of Micah, that when the men of Dan stole away his Gods, he followed them crying, and they turned back, and asked him what aileth thee? he answered, ye have taken away my gods, etc. and do you say to me, what aileth thee? When a wicked man dies he looseth all his Gods, For he maketh his riches, honours and pleasures his gods, and no wonder the memory of death is so bitter to him. 2. It deprives him of all his hopes. Job 11.7. For when a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish, and the hope of unjust men perisheth. The righteous hath hope in death. His Motto is, Dum expiro, spero. But a wicked man's hope perisheth at death, and gives up the Ghost, Job 11.20. His Motto is Dum expiro, despero Death puts an end both to his Hopes. Earthly and Heavenly 1. To his earthly hopes A wicked man builds Castles in the air, and promiseth great matters to himself, and saith, as the Rich man, Luke 12.19.20. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God saith to him. Thou fool, this night thy Soul shall be required of thee: than whose shall those things be which thou hast provided. Death dasheth all his earthly hopes; and that which is worse, 2. Death dasheth all his Spiritual and supernatural hopes. A wicked man is ready to nourish in himself a presumptuous hope of Heaven, and doubts not but that he shall be saved; but when he comes to die, all his hopes of Heaven perish, and are as a Spider's web, easily swept away, job 8.14. The Lord rejecteth his vain confidence, Jer. 2.37. Now this is a misery above expression, for a man to be disappointed of his eternal hopes. 3. Death puts an end to all the sweetness, pleasure and profit that is in sin. There are two things in the Serpent, sin. The speckled black, and the sting in the tail of it. The pleasures of sin for a season, and the eternal pains attending it. A man out of Christ while he is alive and in health, sucks out the carnal sweetness that is in sin, it is as honey to his mouth. But when death comes, the sweetness of sin vanisheth, and nothing remains but the sting and torment of it. Even as a Thief, as long as he is unfound out, lives merrily upon what he hath stolen, but when he is found, and cast into Prison and condemned to be hanged, than he feels nothing but bitterness and sorrow. So it is with a wicked man; As long as he is in health and in prosperity, he takes great delight and content in sinning, but when he comes to be attached and arrested with Death, than the misery and cursedness of sin appears before him. Then he begins to say, Where is all the carnal pleasure I once took in my sinful courses? Nothing now remains but the Sting. Momentaneum quod delectat, aternum quod cruciat. That which delighted me was but momentany, but that which will torment me, is eternal. 4. Death must needs be a stinging Serpent to a man out of Christ, because it puts Conscience into office to wound and torture him. The great design of a wicked man in health is to blind, or bribe his Conscience; but death puts it into office, and sets it on his proper Throne; and Conscience once awakened becomes a biting Serpent, and a gnawing worm, never suffering him to be at rest night nor day. Sin is like a piece of wood, which while it is in the water seems very light, floating on the top of it, but when it comes to the shore, ten men can hardly stir that, which one man before might have carried which way he lifted. While a wicked man is in health and in prosperity, his sins seem light to him, but when he comes to the shore of Death, than they begin to be heavy, than Conscience, like a Mastive Dog, flies in his face, and his sins appear in their ugly colours, with all the aggravating circumstances, and sting him exceedingly. 5. Death puts an end to God's patience, to the day of grace and mercy, and to all the means of Salvation. For there is no repenting in the grave whither we are going. This life is a day of grace and Salvation. Now Ahashuerosh holds forth his golden Sceptre. Now the Hourglass of patience is running, the drawbridge is let down, and the white Flag of mercy is hanged out; but when Death comes, the white Flag is taken down, the Hourglass run out, the Draw-bridge taken up, the day of grace and patience at an end. Et qui fluvios sanguinis nunc dabit guttam aqua in Inferno negabit. And he that will now give us rivers of his blood to wash away our sins, will not in Hell give us a drop of water. 6. A man out of Christ hath also this unhappiness, that whensoever he dieth, he dieth suddenly, though he die never so leisurely; Suddenly in regard of preparation, though not in regard of time, For he dieth like the Foolish Virgins, having his Oil to buy, his graces and evidences for Heaven to get, which is no little misery. For Death is a time of spending, not getting, whether you consider the Soul, or the Body. And as that man is in a sad condition, as to his outward estate, that hath laid up nothing in health to maintain him in sickness; So he is in a sadder, as to his eternal estate, that is unprovided at Death of a Stock of Grace, and Scripture Cordials. This man dieth suddenly though he die never so leisurely. 7. He dieth miserably, though he die never so happily; though in his bed, and in his old age; though buried in great pomp, yet dying in his sins he is cursed at death, and cursed after death. 8. Lastly, and especially, because Death opens a Door to endless and easeless miseries. It is gaudiorum finis & malorum omnium principium, The end of all his joy, and the beginning of all his misery. If Death were an utter extinction, and annihilation it were not so terrible; but herein is the terror of it, because it lets the Soul out of the Prison of the body, to go to the everlasting Prison of Hell. Death is God's Sergeant to arrest a wicked man, and after arrest to carry him to the judge, there to receive the sentence of Condemnation, and after that to be delivered over to the Gaoler, to be carried to the fiery Prison of Hell, there to remain for ever. It deals with every wicked man as it did with Dives, it carrieth him a Tenebris ad Tenebras, from the darkness of sin, to the darkness of Hell. All these particulars show unto us the woeful and miserable condition of those who die out of Christ. Use 4. Let us all labour so to live, that when we come to die, we may be sure to sleep in jesus. For all the ten forementioned Fountains of consolation, against the fear of Death, belong only to those who sleep in Jesus. Quest. What must we do that we may be made partakers of so great a happiness. Answ. We must do two things. 1. We must labour to get into Christ while we live, and we shall be sure to die in Christ when we die, and sleep in him when in the grave. We must make it not our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, not our ultimum, but our primum quaerite. Not our last, but our first and chief work to get out of the Old Adam into the New Adam, out of the root of abomination, into the root of acceptation by a Christ-appropriating Faith. For it is the great office of justifying Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (as Chrys. saith) to bring us into the possession of Jesus Christ. We must be willing to part with all our goodly Pearls to buy this Pearl of price. We must account all things but dung and dross (all creature excellencies, all Church-priviledges, and all civil righteousness) and suffer the loss of all things that we may gain Christ. 2. We must labour to get a Death-enduring assurance of our interest in Christ The reason why many of God's children are so unwilling to die, is, because they do not know their title to Christ, and the happiness of those that die in him. Before Old jacob knew his Son joseph to be alive, he received no comfort by his being alive. Before Mary Magdalene knew the person with whom she discoursed to be Christ, she was not revived by discoursing with him. Before a child of God knows that Christ is his, and hath purchased Death for his great advantage, it is impossible for him to embrace it with comfort. This then is the second work of every good Christian, and the work of his whole life to get a Tribunal proof assurance of his being in Christ. Quest. How may a man know that he hath an interest in Christ? Answ. By three Texts of Scripture. 1. By 2 Cor. 5.17. If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature. He that is inwardly and outwardly renewed (renewed in every part though imperfectly in every part) may assure himself of his interest in Christ. 2. By Rom. 8.1. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. A man may have flesh in him, and yet be in Christ, but he that walks after the flesh and makes provision for it, to fulfil the lusts of it hath no share in him. But he that walks after the Spirit, and is led by the Spirit, and is spiritually minded, may be assured of his interest in Christ. 3. By Gal. 5.24. They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. They that make it their work to crucify not only the flesh, but the affections and lusts of it, and are always crucifying and mortifying it, are in a Gospel-account esteemed as c●ucifiers of the flesh, and do crucify it (desiderio & conatu, though not actu) in their desires and endeavours, though they cannot while in the body perfectly subdue it; and may be confident that Christ is theirs, and they are Christ's, and that Christ Jesus shall be to them in life and death advantage. THat you may be the better encouraged to make it the work of your whole Life, to gain Christ, and an Assurance that you have gained him; let me set before you the example of this excellent Lady (the Lady Anne Waller) for whose funeral we are here met this night. Of whom I may truly say as Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. of his Sister Gorgonia, That we need not fear lest we should exceed in praising her too much, but rather lest we should be deficient in praising her too little. It is not my custom to speak much in commendation of the Dead; But something I must crave leave to speak at this time, not so much for her commendation (for she hath no need now of our Eulogies) but for our imitation. I shall not at all mention her birth and noble extraction, nor meddle with any thing that concerns her in her natural and civil capacities; but only speak something about her Piety and Godliness; which indeed is the truest Nobility. She was (as Saint john styles the Lady to whom he wrote his second Epistle) an Elect Lady; whether you take Elect, for a choice and precious Lady, or for one who was elected by God from all eternity unto life everlasting: She was one who made Religion her business, nor (as some Ladies do) her Idle hour, but her daily labour: One who sought first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, making it Her care to walk before God in truth and uprightness of heart, and to keep a Conscience void of offence both towards God, and towards man. She was early conversed to jesus Christ, and that she continued steadfast in Faith and Holiness to her lives end, appears by these following Demonstrations. SHE WAS 1. A diligent attender upon Gospel Ordinances, delighting much in the House of God, and preferring the Word of God above her appointed food. A constant Writer of Sermons, and wrote them in her Heart as well as in her Book, and her life was an exact Commentary upon the Sermons she heard. She hath a large Book in Folio written with her own hand, wherein under several Heads of Divinity, she hath registered the Observations of her reading both out of the Scriptures (which were her delight) and out of the Writings of our best Divines, and out of her own experiences. 2. Very conscientious in observing the Lords Day. Her custom was after Sermon both in the Morning, and Afternoon to retire into her Chamber, and to call before her her maidservants, and such boys as served in the House, to give account what they had heard; helping their memories wherein they failed, clearing up the sense of what was delivered, wherein it might seem obscure unto them, exhorting and pressing them to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, concluding all in Prayer with them. 3. Very careful in receiving the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ every Month, if she were not hindered by indispensable necessity. And in her preparation thereunto she was most diligent. For help herein she had made a Collection of the best Rules and Directions she could get about that Subject. 4. Taught of God not only notionally, but experimentally to live by Faith. For she met with many trials in her outward estate, both when a Wife, and when a Widow. But by Faith in Jesus Christ, she was more than Conqueror over them all. 5. Frequent and constant in her private Devotions, both in praying, reading and meditating at set hours. 6. A fixed Star in the Firmament of God's Church, not like a little Child tossed to and fro with every Wind of doctrine, but rooted, built up, and established in the Faith, and in the Orthodox Truths of Christian Religion. 7. Abundantly charitable to all in want and necessity, especially to such who feared God, and had his Image upon them. Yea she was ready (as the Apostle saith) even above her ability, to distribute to the Necessities of the Saints. For being advised by a Friend, (who well approved of her Gracious temper and frame of Spirit) to take care of herself, and to remember her debts, and other occasions she had to discharge, she did with much Affection and ●ears s●y, That she could not eat her Bread with comfort, while the Servants of God were in hunger and nakedness. 8. A Lover and Honourer of pious and painful Ministers. Upon the Close of the Late unhappy Wars, so soon as she had a Liberty to return to her Estate and place of Adobe near Oxford, and when her Estate (through the Calamity of those times) was at a low ebb, the first thing she did, was more than she could well do, her poverty abounding unto the Riches of her Liberality) to provide and maintain at her own cost (in effect) a preaching Minister there (the poor old Incumbent being superannuated, and unfit to serve the Cure, though he received the Profits of the Place.) Upon her remove from thence to her Husband's Habitation, immediately after she was settled there, she fell to workagain, and set up a Lecture in the Parish, which was continued by the ablest Ministers thereabouts, until it received Interruption by the Troubles which befell her Husband. This good Affection to the advancement of the Gospel, and Gospel-Ministry, she sealed up in her last Will, by a Legacy of a considerable sum to be distributed to poor Ministers. 9 Of a public spirit, not to be numerated amongst the sinners, but mourners in Zion, for the sins of Zion. She was one that sought the welfare of the Israel of God, and was as solicitous and thoughtful about the Concernments of Christ and his Gospel, as about her own, if not more than her own. 10. A very prudent Dady, a Credit to her Profession, of very good Understanding and judgement in the things of God, able by her wise and Christian Counsel, to comfort, and build up others; which she frequently did, insomuch that many have blessed God for the Advice they received from her. 11. Eminent in the Discharge of all Relative Duties (in the conscientious performance of which, the power and Beauty of Godliness doth especially consist.) She was careful to keep up the observation of Family-duties twice a day, and of catechising the Children and Servants once a week, commending those who were forward, admonishing and reproving those that were tardy and averse, and imposing little Penalties upon them, payable to the poor, and by all the ways she could, endeavouring to win them to the Service of God. As a Daughter, she was very obedient to her Parents, insomuch that her Mother did once publicly say, a little before her death, That she was the Child who did never disobey or displease her in all her Life. She was an excellent Mother, bringing up her Children in the Nurture and Fear of the Lord, and walking before them as an Example of Piety and Humility. As a Mistress, she was wonderful diligent in training up her Servants in the ways of God; insomuch, as that she was a means of the Conversion of two of them; one of them acknowledged it upon her Deathbed; the other yet living (a sober Christian) will confess the same. She was excellent and transcendently eminent in her Relation as a Wife, insomuch that her Husband saith of her, as the Wise man of the Virtuous woman, That her Price was far above Rubies, that his heart did safely trust in her, that she did him good and not evil all the days of her life, that she stretched out her hand to the poor, yea she reached forth her hands to the needy. That she opened her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue was the Law of kindness; that her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her, and saith, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Let her own works praise her in the gates. The Truth is, she was a Lady of ten thousand, and they that knew her intimately, will confess that I do not hyperbolise, and they that knew her not, will I hope, believe that I dare not (standing in this place, as God's Ambassador) give flattering titles, for in so doing, my Maker would soon take me away. Job 32.22. 12. And lastly, as she lived, so she died, she lived holily, and died happily. Her last sickness was long and violent, wherein, though she was never heard to let fall one word unbeseeming the mouth of a blessed Christian, yet she would often charge herself for complaining, though enforced thereunto by the extremity of her p●ins. But yet in the midst of all her Anguish, she ceased not to testify her Faith in God through Christ, as her only Anchor-hold and supportation, exhorting with a powerful sweetness those about her, and her relations when they came to her, to make sure of that Interest, and to apply themselves to the Service of God with all faithfulness and diligence, which was that that would bring them peace at last. Towards the end of her Sickness, she took occasion to speak to some Friends that were about her Bed, touching an unhappy difference between her Husband, and one of his Sons (wherein she had been most injuriously defamed, as a person that had done ill Offices between them, and contributed Fuel to that Flame) professing in the presence of that God before whom she was to make her Account, that she was innocent from the thought of such an Offence, and that no carriage of his, had ever so far transported her, as to make her to desire, much less to endeavour any thing that might be to his prejudice. And that she desired his good and welfare, with the same heart, as if both he, and the rest of the Children had been all her own. (I give you her own words.) The day before her death, she challenged her Husband to speak, whether she had ever instigated him against his Son, or done any thing to keep up that difference. And he did then (as in the presence of God) clear her, and avow this Truth, That she had many times made his peace, and brought him to a reconciliation with him (once with Tears) but never had done him any ill Office. One thing I must add of mine own knowledge; That this Excellent Lady was much troubled in her life time with the slavish fear of death. I told her then out of mine own frequent experience, that they that were so much afraid of death, while living, and thereupon, were careful to prepare for it, would be free from the fear of it when they came to die. And it happened accordingly: For though she had not those ravishing joys which some sometimes have, yet she had such a Calmness and quietness of mind, and peace of Conscience, that she could cheerfully and most willingly surrender up her s●ul into the hands of her Redeemer. In the l●st day of her sickness, it pleased God in some measure to allay the extremity of her Pains, and to afflict her only with shortness of Breath (which increased upon her to her last) but her understanding was clear, and her Speech free a few moments before her Departure. She continued throughout the day in an admirable composed, quiet and serene frame of Spirit, and wholly gave herself to glorify God, and to exhort all others to do the like, and to give up themselves to his Service. A Reverend Minister coming to visit her, she entertained him with a cheerful Aspect, and desired him, to search and examine her heart, what way of wickedness he could find in it, and pressed him to deal freely and plainly with her, and not to spare her. (I deliver her own expressions) His discourse was comfortable to her. She complained of the sinfulness of her Nature, and the wickedness of her heart, but still with a Confidence in the Merits of her Saviour, upon whom alone she rolled herself. After that, she desired him to pray by her; which he did, and she heard him with an unmoveable stillness and Attention, giving him thanks when he had done. She continued in the same Heavenly Temper with many Gracious Expressions, until about eight of the Clock that night, and then finding (as we had reason since to suppose, though she made no show of it) that her death was approaching, she requested the minister to pray by her again; he happened to be something long (though contrary to his Intention) when towards the latter end, she made a sign unto him, which he taking notice of, and thereupon concluding, she said, I thank you Sir, and forthwith bowing down her head, within a few Minutes delivered her blessed Soul into the hands of her heavenly Father. Thus she lived, and thus she died, and thus being dead, she yet speaketh; and now is gone to that place where she hath no more need of Prayers, but all her Prayers are turned into Hallelujahs. The Lord give us Grace so to imitate her holy Life, that when we come to die, we may die in Christ, and when laid in the Grave, may sleep in jesus, and in the Great Resurrection, may both in Body and Soul be taken up into Heaven, to be for ever with the Lord in perfect Happiness, Amen. FINIS.