A FUNERAL SERNOM, DELIVERED Upon the SAD OCCASION OF THE Much Lamented Death OF JOHN GOULD, Late of CLAPHAM, Esq Who put on Immortality, Aug. 22. 1679. By P. Lamb, Minister of the Gospel. Be ye Followers of them, who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises, Heb. vi. 12. LONDON, Printed by M. C. for John Smith, at the Sign of the Hand and Bible on London-Bridge, 16●9 TO The truly Pious and Religious GENTLEWOMAN, Mrs. JUDETH GOULD, Late Wife of JOHN GOULD, Esq AND To all the rest of the Inhabitants of CLAPHAM, Grace, Mercy, Peace, etc. I Did not know how to pay may Respects to the Memory of so Eminent a Saint, and Worthy a Person, as our late (too early) Deceased Friend; nor how to give so lively a Testimony of my entire affectionate love to your Souls; nor make my serious Sentiments and Sympathy (which I bear with you in this our common loss) manifest to the Worlc; nor answer the Call of so Stupendious awakening a Providence, if I had not according to my little skill broken the bonds of Modesty, and reared this Pillar (In perpetuam hujus Rei Memoriam) inscribed with that golden Sentence from Heaven; Mark the Perfect man, and behold the Upright, for the end of that Man is Peace. You have here presented to you, that from the Press, which once you heard from the Pulpit, wherein I follow the counsel and conduct of wiser heads than my own. The Lord hath lately alarmed us with much Sickness and many Deaths: Death and Judgement, Heaven and Hell, are no little things; yet I am afraid we are no more affected with them, than the People of Israel were with Amasa's Death, 2 Sam. xx. 12. While he lay dead in their sight, they all stood still; but when he was removed, and a Cloth laid over him, they all went on in pursuit of Sheba, the Son of Bichri. So while we see our Friends dead, or dying, we are a little serious; but when they are laid in their Graves, we follow this World, and are apt to forget Death and Judgement to come: Though we know it is not the Riches of this World, but the Righteousness of Christ; not greatness, but goodness, that will stand us in stead when we die. May this little Book lie before you, to mind you of these things; it will serve as King Philip's Boy, who saluted him every Morning with a Memento Philippe quod sis mortalis. It contains nothing but seasonable plain truths, concerning a Plain and Upright man, from one that had rather speak five words in plainness to Edification, than ten thousand in a forced style, or vain affectaion. That which I greatly desire (at this time) is Elisha's wish to Elijah, 2 King. 2.9. that now you have sustained a very great loss in the departure of so useful a Friend, A double portion of his spirit may be upon you. I shall now leave you to read and transcribe in your hearts, and copy out in your lives these few Characters and Rules of a Perfect and Upright man, that you may have Peace at the last, which the God of peace grant both to you and to him; Who is Your most entirely Affectionate Friend, and Faithful Servant, P. L. A FUNERAL SERMON ON PSALM xxxvii. 37. Mark the Perfect man, and behold the Upright, for the end of that man is Peace. A Little before Israel (after their long Wilderness-Pilgrimage) were to pass over Jordan, Moses, that eminent Servant of the Lord (to whom he had committed the conduct of his People died; in the last Chapter of Deuteronomy, and at the 8th. ver. the Children of Israel wept and mourned for him 30. days; and rather than he should want a Funeral Sermon, the Great God (with reverence be it spoken) became the Preacher himself; Joshua 1.2. saying, Moses my Servant is dead. This day (you all know) there is a Great Man fallen among us, and what Terrible waters of Jordan we must pass through, who can tell? He is taken away in the fullness of his strength, and in the day of his usefulness and activity; your bitter mourning, sad countenances, and weeping eyes, proclaim your sad and serious Resentment; and whiles we are grieving here upon Earth, that we have lost the Company of so Excellent a Person, and so Dear a Friend, we may take an easy prospect, and see how the Glorious Angels, and Glorified Spirits rejoice and sing together in Heaven, at the approach of his refined Spirit to be of their Society. Out of that respect and honour that I bear to his Name and Memory, and from that Reverence and Holy awe that is due to such a sad and signal Providence of the Almighty, that neither He, nor It, may be slighted, or too soon forgotten, I have erected this Monument, with this Inscription, Mark the Perfect Man, behold the Upright, for the end of that man is Peace. As men are wont to preserve the Memory of their dear Deceased Friends and Relations, by drawing their Pictures as much to the life as they can, that so they may have some shadows by them of their unexpressible worth: So I would present you with this Character of our departed Friend, wherein if my Pencil fail, the Spirit of God hath done it to the life in this Text, which is both a lively description of this deceased Saint, and a full breast of living Counsels and Comforts for us his surviving Friends, viz. Mark the Perfect man, and behold the Upright, for the end of that man is Peace. This whole Psalm is the Golden Key of David, that opens the Cabinet of the hidden mysteries of Providence. There are mysteries in the Works, as well as in the Word of God. The Psalmist undertakes a Vindication of those unintelligible and astonishing Dispensations of Providence, when the Supreme Lord and Governor of the World shall send Prosperity into the Houses of the Wicked, and cause the Sunshine of outward Mercies to rest upon their Tabernacles, and crown their Families with an affluence of all temporal Comforts: When his dearest Saints sit solitary, their Habitations full of darkness, their Night's wearisome nights, their Days, days of trouble, and nothing but sufferings, sickness, and sorrows attend them to their Grave. He imparts to us this Heavenly art or skill, how to discern and understand aright these various workings and deal of God; and that he doth these two ways. First, by showing us the use of that Spiritual Telescope (Faith) by which we may perceive and give a right judgement of these things, and behold the purpose of God through his Providence, and be able to reconcile Providences and Promises when they seem most contrary, and in the Saints most cloudy and darkest day of trouble, see the bright side of the Cloud, and apprehend the Sunshine of Divine favour upon their Spirits, and that when he gives the Wicked their hearts desire, at the same time he sends leanness into their souls. Secondly: By directing us to judge of men, not so much by what they have of Visibles, or things seen, as what they have of Invisibles, or things not seen, nor by what they have of this World in their present possession, as by what they have of another World in futurition, nor by what they are, but what they shall be; not according to the occurrences of Life, but their happiness in Death, which he thus demonstrates from his own observation and experience in the Text and context. In the 35. v. of this Psalm, he shows us the Wicked in all their pomp and grandeur; I have seen the Wicked in great power, and spreading himself as a green Bay tree, or as in the Margin, a green Tree that groweth in his own Soil: And what is this goodly show? in the 36. verse he saith, Yet he passeth away, and lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. And why could he see no more of him? He gives a reason in the 38. verse, The Transgressor's shall be destroyed together, the end of the Wicked shall be cut off. But is it so with the Saints? No: Though they be like a dry Tree, yet mark the Perfect man, trace him through all the troubles of life, Behold the Upright, for the end of that man is Peace. The Text is a description of the Life and Death of a Pious man. First his Life; that is Perfect and Upright. Secondly, his Death; and that is Peace: The conclusion arises out of the Premises. Mark the Perfect man, and behold the Upright, etc. From the doubling of the terms, we may learn these three things, as intended thereby. First, to mark him with a curious eye of observation, and serious consideration; to mark how he carries it toward God, & towards man; how he is at home and abroad; how he deports himself in every condition of Life; mark him exactly in all his Natural, Civil, and Spiritual actions; observe him Inside and Outside; the more you know him, the better you will love him; and the better you love him, the more you will look upon him: Behold his Life, and if there be no comeliness in the outward appearance, yet there is comfort enough in his Death. The end of that Man is Peace. Even Balaam did wish, Oh that I might die the death of the Righteous, that my latter end may be like his. Secondly; Mark him, and behold him with an eye of imitation; let the Upright man be the Copy, after which you writ: Though we cannot safely follow Man in all things, because the best Lights out of Heaven are but Moon-lights at best, and have their blemishes, yet we may safely follow them in their Uprightness; and 'tis our duty to follow them, as they are followers of Christ Jesus, especially in these three Specimens of their Uprightness. First, the Purity and Singleness of their heart, having the testimony of a good Conscience, that there is no way of Wickedness in them; but they are like the followers of the Lamb, in Rev. 14.5. In whose mouth was found no Guile, for they are without fault before the Throne of God. Secondly, in the Beauty and Purity of a spotless life, whose Conversation as well as Conscience is without spot and blame, abstaining from all appearance of evil, according to that Exhortation in Phil. 2.15. That ye may be blameless and harmless, the Sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the World. Thirdly, In a faithful perseverance in the ways of God, to the end, as in Prov. 4.25, 26, 27. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look strait before thee: Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established: Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left; which implies these two things especially; First, That there must be no decays nor faintings in the way, and work of Holiness, but a continual increase, as in Prov. 4.18. The path of the Just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day; lest it be with us, as it was charged upon Ephesus, as in Rev. 2.4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love: As some understand, she had left Christ, who was the Object of her love; or as others, She left that degree and measure of love, wherewith she at first loved him. We must not only keep up the same heat of love, and height of affections to Christ, but love to Christ, being a Divine fire, must increase more and more, till the Soul ascend in a holy flame into his Bosom. Secondly, There must be no diversion, or turning from the ways of God, neither to the right hand, nor to the left, (i. e.) either to avoid the frowns on the one hand, or to enjoy the smiles of the world on the other hand: Or else First, Not turn to the right hand by any excesses, or doing more than God hath commanded; for God will say to men ●hat do so, Who hath required these things at your hands? Or charge us as he did the People, Jer. 7.81. That they did that which came not into his heart: Their hearts can never be right with God, that is only right in their own eyes. Secondly, Turn not to the left hand, by any defects or neglect of what God hath commanded, but go strait on, as the Kine that carried the Ark, 1 Sam. 6.12. They went strait on, and turned not as they went. Let it be your aim to be thoroughpaced in Religion; throughout with God, that though you cannot do all the good, and shun all the evil you would, yet you may be able to say, as in Psal. 18.21. I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God; and in the shutting up o● our days, appeal with good Hezekiah, Isa. 38.3. Remember now O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart. Thirdly, It implies, To behold the Upright man, till he comes to the Grave; Mark the Perfect man, observe his Life, behold him till ye see his latter end, till ye see how he comes off the Stage; the end of that man is to be considered, as well as his beginning; see him in Life, see him in Death. Death is said to be a man's End in several respects. 1. As it puts an end to all the actions of his life, when death appears, it shuts the Windows, binds up or breaks the Working-instruments, Eccles. 9.10. Solomon tells us, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. 2. 'Tis the end of man, because it brings man to the end of his Journey; therefore when man dyeth, he is said to go to his Long home, Eccles. 12.5. the Grave is said to be his Long home, not his last home, for the body must not lodge there for ever; nor is it said to be his long home, because he is long going thither, for many times we step from the Womb into the Tomb, or in the midst of our days, drop into the Grave; but 'tis called our Long home, because of our long stay there. 3. Death is called the end of man, because it puts an end to all the troubles, temptations, fears, and pains of life; it is the Outlet of all Misery, and the Inlet to all Happiness. When Death cometh to put an end to the days of the Upright, he than gins his Triumphs, and may go away with Colours flying, and Trumpets sounding, O Death, where is thy Sting? O Grave, where is thy Victory? From the whole, Observe. I shall give you this Doctrinal point; That He that is Perfect and Upright in his Life, shall certainly have Peace in his Death. When the Question is asked, Who shall be admitted into the Mount Zion below, or enter into the new Jerusalem above? the Answer from Heaven is, Psal. 15.1, 2. as you may see, Lord, who shall abide in thy Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy Hill? He that walketh Uprightly, and worketh Righteousness, and speaketh the Truth in his heart. That great Gospel-promise, Isa. 26.2, 3. Open ye the Gates, that the Righteous Nation, which keepeth the Truth, may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. It is also promised in Isa. 57.1, 2. The Righteous perisheth, and no man lays it to heart; and Merciful men are taken away, none considering that the Righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their Beds, each one walking in his Uprightness. In opening and confirming this Doctrine, I shall show you three things, First, What is meant by these terms, Perfect, and Upright, as they are understood sometimes in the same, and sometimes in a different sense; sometimes they are taken Conjunctim, and as Synonymous, signifying one and the same thing; and sometimes divisim, severally. First, As they are taken divisim, so the word Perfect here, seems to relate to the Upright man's Inside, and to the pure frame of his heart especially, and the regular motions of all the faculties of the soul: In this sense it is taken chief in that command of God to Abraham, Gen. 17.1. I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect: And in that holy Profession of David, Psal. 101.2. I will walk in the midst of my House with a perfect heart. There are two other respects also, in which men are said to be perfect. First, In respect of their Justification by the complete Righteousness of Christ, every true Believer in this respect may be said to be Perfect, having all his imperfections covered, and done away by him, whose Name is the Lord our Righteousness: As in Heb. 10.14. For by one offering, he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Secondly, Men may be said to be Perfect with respect unto their Sanctification, though the work itself be yet Imperfect. First, In respect of the Spirit of God, the Author of that Glorious work, who will certainly perfect what he hath begun, according to that Prayer of the Apostle, 1 Thes. 5.23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, In respect of the work itself, which is a tendency unto perfection, a direct tendency to the future perfect state of Saints in Glory: Where ever it is begun, the gracious heart is always breathing, longing, and working in continual motion towards that perfection; and content with no state, measures, or degrees short of it: As we may see in that Blessed Apostle Paul, Phil. 3.13, 14, 15. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be Perfect, be thus minded. Secondly, When these terms are severally understood, this word Upright seems more specially to relate to the regularity of a man's outward deportment, in a just, exact, and holy Conversation, according to the rules of Righteousness, prescribed in that Royal Law, the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, when he is holy in all manner of Conversation, without Deceit and Guile, in all his commerce and dealing with men, both in Commutative and Distributive Justice, in his private and public capacity. They that Defraud and Cheat, and deal Unjustly with their Brother, are strangers to Uprightness, the Shame and Reproach of their Holy profession. Thirdly, Here in this place (I conceive) both Perfect and Upright signify the same thing, and are exegetical, as if one Epithet had been too little to express the worth of such an excellent and incomparable Person. That you may see the excellency of that perfect Man, First, we will hear what the Scripture saith of him; not to say any thing of Noah, Lot, Job, and others, who were perfect and upright in their Generation, who were the glory of the places and days in which they lived, Gen. 25.27. there is a description of the Righteous and the Wicked, the Perfect and the Profane, as Learned Authors observe: Esau was a cunning Hunter, a Man of the Field; and Jacob was a plain Man, dwelling in Tents: Esau was like Nimrod, a mighty Hunter before the Lord, like the Hectors of our times, a man of a rugged, ranting spirit: But Jacob was Ish Tamburlaine, a plain Man, sine fuco, & fallaciâ, without Welt or Guard, as we are wont to say; non acutus ad fallendum, not cunning to deceive, though once he did supplant his Brother, which was more his Mother's contrivance, than his own; and another time which was more his Brother's folly, than his own fraud: There is so much excellency in a Perfect and Upright man, that the Lord commands Moses, Exod. 28.30. Thou shalt put on the Breastplate of Judgement, the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord: And Aaron shall bear the Judgement of the Children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. That the words Urim and Thummim were engraven on the precious Stones of the Breastplate, is agreed upon by the most; and some are of opinion, that they were done by the Finger of God himself: Urim signifieth Lights; Thummim, which comes from the same root, with that word, by which Jacob was expressed, is rendered Perfections, both in the Plural number; to imply, that abundance of Knowledge, and Holiness that should be in the Priests of the Lord. Uprightness, (i. e.) upright towards God, and upright towards Man, and to teach the Spiritual Priests of God, if they will enter into the Holy of Holies, and ask Counsel of God, they must have this Urim and Thummim, this light of Knowledge and Perfection. Uprightness is called Perfection, because the perfection of a Saint is his uprightness. I shall now give you a few Lines or Characters of a Perfect and Upright man, and you will easily observe how they suit both the Original and the Copy, (this worthy Friend, and precious Saint, for whose sake they were drawn.) First, A Perfect and Upright man is one, of a sound and single heart: A single-hearted Christian, his heart is never more divided in him, than when he cannot keep his heart undivided from God; he is inside and outside the same; he professes the true God to be his God, and is like the God whom he doth profess; he owns the truth, and is like the truth which he owns, which is said to be Una, semper sui similis, his tongue is always the Index of his heart, and his heart doth never give his tongue the lie: As they that search into the Veins of the Earth for Silver and Gold, the deeper they dig (they say) the purer is the Ore: The more you know of his heart, and the more you see him in his private Chamber, and secret Closet, the more pure, and the more refined will you observe him to be; he may indeed (as a Man) have some blemishes in his face, but his heart in the mean time, cries out with the Apostle, Rom. 7.15. That which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. He dares not indeed come to be weighed in the Balance with a God of infinite Holiness, yet is content, and humbly desires to be tried by the Touchstone of the Spirit of the Holy God: As in Psal. 139.23, 24. Search one, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Secondly, He is One, all whose motions are guided and directed by the will of God, to which he is so fixed, that nothing can make him warp from it: As they said of Fabritius amongst the Heathens, That he was so true to his principles, that it was as easy to persuade the Sun from his Ecliptic Line, as to hope that he should leave them. So this Perfect and Upright Saint regards not Traditions and Opinions of Men, without God, but exactly observes his Sacred and Divine Precepts. And when he sees how some men lose themselves by leaving the Word; as a wise Pilot, he Steers his course by Card and Compass, having Oculos ad Coelum, Manus ad Clavum, his eye to the Star, and his hand to the Helm; and as the Pin of a well-set Dial casts shadow according to the Sun's motion, so he moves according to the conduct and direction of the Word and Spirit; that he may be according to the Apostles exhortation, 1 Phil. 27. Only let your Conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ. Thirdly, A Perfect and Upright man is one, whose thoughts, words, and actions, do all tend to, and terminate in the Glory and Honour of God; as in 1 Cor. 10.13. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all ●o the glory of God. As in the welldisciplined Army of Israel, ●he Ark of God was always carried in the midst of the Host: So in all the well-ordered affairs of his life, the Honour of God ●s still in the midst of all his thought, he knoweth that he ●s not his own: as in 1 Cor. 6. ●0. But is bought with a price, ●herefore must glorify God in body, and in spirit, which are Gods. Fourthly, The Perfect and Upright man is One, who is the same at all times, in all companies and conditions. First, at all times: In the time of the Gospel's prosperity, he leads the Van in all the duties of Religious Worship: In the time of Religions Wane, he is Religion's Champion: In days of the greatest Defection, he keeps himself from the pollution of the times; like Noah in Gen. 6.9. When all flesh had corrupted their way, he had this testimony, Noah was a just man, an● perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God. He is another Nehemiah, Baruch, Jeremiah, o● Ebedmelech, or one of those few names in Sardis. Secondly, In all Companie● he is the same: He remembers he is one of God's Witnesses, and therefore out of a meal-mouthed baseness will not betray the truth. Thirdly, He is the same in every condition, Rich, or Poor, he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Homo quadratus, a square man; cast him where you will, what ever he lose, he will not make Shipwreck of Faith and a good Conscience. Secondly, I must show you what Peace that is, which is the end of a Perfect and Upright man. First, what it is not: Secondly, what it is. First, It is not meant that they shall have no pains in their Death; for sometimes they that have the most inward purity and peace, have the most outward pain; and they that have no purity nor peace within, have little or no pain without; but they go off (as they are wont to say) like Lambs, that were filthy Swine and cruel Lions in their Lives. These things the Lord doth variously dispense, as seems best in his own Wisdom, and most for his own Glory, Psal. 73.4. It is said of the Wicked, There are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm, and so sail smoothly to their Eternal torment. Secondly, Neither is this the Peace here meant, which is mentioned in Luk. 11.21. When a strong man armed keepeth his Palace, his good are in peace: That is, the peace of the Wicked arising from the Devil's possession of their hearts, or from their carnal security; not that their case is good, but they see not their own danger, and think all is well: either 1. From a blind Conscience that cannot see; or, 2. From a bribed Conscience (by some formal duties, or good works) which must not see; or, 3. From a sleepy Conscience that cannot foresee; or, 4. From a seared Conscience that will not see. But by Peace here is meant, all Good, the highest Good, Joy, Rest, and Glory; as in that Prayer of the Apostle, Rom. 15.13. Now the God of hope, (the God that worketh hope in you, the God who is the object of your hope) fill you with all joy and peace in believing; a peace that is founded in Faith, perfected in Vision, of which the Saints have some fore-tasts in this life, the fullness in the life to come, when they shall enter into peace, a true, spiritual, internal, and eternal peace; a peace arising from satisfaction; the Lord Jesus Christ having born the Wrath, and satisfied the Justice of God, that they may have full peace: Therefore in Joh. 14.2. it is called his peace: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Secondly, This Peace is the fruit of Victory, the absolute Conquest of Jesus Christ over Principalities and Powers, and triumph over the world, Joh. 16.33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have Peace: In the World ye shall have Tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the World. Thirdly, It is a peace that springs up from Purity and Sanctification; the heart being purged, the Conscience refined, the Soul is full of peace within, by the help of the testimony of a good Conscience, goeth triumphant into his Eternal rest. Thirdly, Reason Reasons. I shall give you some grounds or Reasons why they that are Perfect and Upright in their life, shall certainly have peace in their death. Reason 1 Reas. 1. Because the God of peace hath an infinite, intimate and everlasting love for his upright ones, he loves them and they love him above all the world, Cant. i. 4. We will be glad, and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. And he loves them as in Psal. xi. 7. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his countenance doth behold the upright. He bids us behold the upright, yea he beholds them with delight himself. And in Psalm iv. 3. He hath set apart him that is godly for himself, he hath made a Covenant with them, a Covenant of Peace, and because he loves them, he will lodge them in his Bosom. Though Death can break the Knot of all human love and friendship, yet it can never loosen the Bond of Divine Love; as the Apostle says in Rom. viij. 37, 38. Nay, in all these things we are more than Conquerors, through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither Death, nor Life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things present, nor things to come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Secondly, Reason 2 Reas. 2. Because he hath proclaimed and promised Peace, Rest and Glory to such, Isa. lvii. 2. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. And Rev. xiv. 13. And I heard a voice from Heaven, saying unto me, Writ, 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. And Psalm lxxxiv. 11. The Lord God is a Sun and Shield: the Lord will give Grace and Glory: no good thing will be withhold from them that walk uprightly: His time of Life is his time of War, at the instant of Death the Warfare is ended, and everlasting peace proclaimed, his life is his Seedtime, his end is the beginning of Harvest, a full Harvest of peace and joy. Psalm xcvii. 11. Light is sown for the Righteous, and gladness for the Upright in heart. When the body and soul of the Upright do part asunder, the body betakes itself to rest in the Grave, the soul flies into the regions of peace, in the Divine Presence. Thirdly, Reason 3 Reas. 3. Because God is righteous, and he will recompense his Saints, 2 Thess. i. 6, 7. It is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you that are troubled, rest with us. And thus you shall see Christ leading them into a land of peace, Rev. seven. 14, 15, 16, 17. These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his Temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the Sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. It is great trouble that Saints undergo, and a hard matter for a man to maintain his integrity amidst so many snares, frowns and flatteries of the world. This is their great comfort and encouragement, and shall be their reward, to inherit peace at the last. As Lamech said, Gen. v. 29. When the Lord gave him his Son Noah, whose name signifies Rest, and whose person was a type of Christ, This same shall comfort us concerning our work, and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. Which the Apostle also intimates, 1 Cor. xv. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Implying, 1. That Saints are not altogether hopeless in this life. 2. That all their hope is not here. Fourthly, Reason 4 Reas. 4. Because when a Perfect and Upright man dieth, he is gone out of the reach of all those things that might annoy his peace, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest, Job. iii 17. and are wafted over into Emmanuel's Land, where they have all those glorious enjoyments in which they shall eternally acquiesce. 1. He is totally freed from all evil, sin cannot be there, Rev. 21.27. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth. Here he is full of complaints, Rom. 7.24. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But when he dies, he sings this Epinikion, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 2. When the Perfect and Upright man dies, he and his Portion, and Inheritance are brought together; the Heir is restless in his expectations, till he comes to the Inheritance; but here the Portion is God himself, which the Saint hath many times with much pleasure surveyed, and hath had thereof many a delightful prospect of Faith rejoicing in it, as sweet, and full, and satisfying; and now doth possess that Inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved for him in Heaven, 1 Pet. 2.4. and shall ever be with the Lord, 1 Thes. 3.17. 3. He comes to enjoy his Beloved in Glory, of whom he said, when he saw him by Faith, Cant. 5.10. My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousands; and in the 16. verse, Yea, he is altogether lovely: What will he say when he shall see him, and be with him in his highest Exaltations in Glory? 4. All his Graces shall be then completed, and there shall be no more place for desire, for he shall sit down at that Fountainhead, where is fullness of joy, and pleasures for evermore. Verse 1 Use. Informs, that if the Perfect and Upright man's end be Peace, than his life is full of trouble; he hath trouble within, and trouble without, as the Apostle says of himself, 2 Cor. 7.5. That he had no rest in the flesh, but was troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Saints in this life, sail (as it were) upon a Sea of glass, mingled with fire, the Persecutions of men, the Buffet of Satan, the Law in their Members, make their present state unquiet. How did he deal with that holy and upright Man Job? read the History of his Patience, and you shall see: If the Devil be at any time silent, the World will make an outcry: If the World withhold its rage for a little space, the Devil will invade their spirits. It is said of him, that when he accosted the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and had spent all his Arrows against him, Luk. 4.13. When the Devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. If he left him but for a little while, in whom he could find nothing to fasten one temptation upon, as Christ says in John 14.30. The Prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me: Will he ever leave his Saints, who have too much matter in them for his temptations to work upon? He will not suffer them to be a moment quiet. 1. He is continually striving against the very Being of Grace; this Abaddon would utterly destroy it, and maintains a War against it; the Flesh lusting against the Spirit, but that greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world. 2. He is disturbing the exercise of Grace, his posture you shall see in Zach. 3.1. And he shown me Joshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand, to resist him. I have often thought in my solemn retirements, of anselm's Bird, fastened to a stone by a thread, often striving to fly up, but the weight of the stone, as often pulled him down again: A true Emblem of a gracious Soul, who many times endeavours to get up into the Divine Presence, but as oft as he attempts it, the Devil is at hand, to hinder and pluck him down again. Verse 2 Use 2. If the Perfect and Upright man's end shall be Peace, than the days of the Upright man shall have an end, the Psalmist says, Psal. 39.5, 6. Verily, every man at his best state is altogether Vanity: Surely every man walketh in a vain show: There is an Emphasis in every word, Man is Vanity; every man is Vanity; every man at his best state is Vanity; he is altogether Vanity; verily it is a certain truth, surely every man walks in a vain show, his life is but the show or shadow of a life: That Sentence is unto all, Dust thou art, and unto Dust shalt thou return; and there is no exemption from that general Statute-law, Heb. 9.27. It is appointed to all men once to die, and after death, the judgement. Heretofore to the Fathers of old, their Lives were like a long Summer's day; but as sin at first brought in death, so as sin multiplied, it shortened men's days; and now our Lives are like a Winter's day in all respects, cold, cloudy, dark, and short, 'tis no sooner Morning, but the Night approacheth, Jer. 6.4. I may allude to that place, The day goeth away, the shadows of the Evening are stretched out. Two things may be deduced from hence. First, Here is comfort for the Perfect and Upright man, though his life be trouble, yet his end will come and bring him peace; the great Devourer, the Grave, that swallows up others, shall give him meat; and the strong Lion (Death) that feeds on others, shall yield him sweetness: When Abraham had fought hard, till the going down of the Sun, and rescued Lot, that was taken Captive, Melchizedeck met him with Bread and Wine for his refreshment, who was King of the City of Peace: So when the upright Saint hath been in his hot disputes, to deliver his soul from his Spiritual Enemies, our Melchizedeck, the Lord Jesus Christ, will refresh him with Bread and Wine; for his Flesh is Meat indeed, and his Blood is Drink indeed; and will lead him into the City of Salem, a Land of Peace, as the Apostle, 2 Tim. 4.7, 8. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the Faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and after many a terrible shock, and dangerous storm, the perfect and upright Saint (through the wise conduct of his Pilot) shall arrive safely at his desired Port of peace; For there remaineth a rest to the People of God, Heb. 4.9. Secondly, If the Perfect and Upright man doth die, than here is matter of serious consideration and lamentation for the living; the life of Saints is to be desired, and their death to be lamented, unless we will incur that censure, Isa. 57.1. The Righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the Righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 1. Consider what resentment the people of God had of old of the death of the Saints; how they mourned and wept for them, when they left their Society; Jacob died, and Israel wept; Moses died, and all the People mourned for him thirty days; and when Stephen died, Act. 8.2. Devout men carried him to his Burial, and made great lamentation over him. 2. Consider the great usefulness of living Saints, especially in these three respects: First, As they are Supports, Props, and Pillars; for so they are called, Psal. 75.3. The Earth and all the Inhabitants thereof are dissolved, I bear up the Pillars of it: They that take this to be the Psalm of Asaph, do understand these words to be the words of God, that he preserves and upholds his Saints, which are the Pillars of the Earth. They that take the Psalm to be a Psalm of David for Asaph, do understand them as the words of David, that he would countenance and encourage the people of God, who were the Pillars to uphold a shaking Kingdom. If a Moses be removed out of the gap, what should hinder, why the Judgement should not break in upon the people, Isa. 1.9. The Prophet tells us that the people acknowledge, Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small Remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. If God gather up his Jewels, and takes them away, he seems to be removing Himself, that is a great truth; Isa. 57.1. Merciful men are taken away from the evil to come; and an old saying, many times true, That they are taken away, that evil may come. Thus the Lord is said in Psal. 78.50. He made a way to his anger: When he had secured Lot, he let down the fire upon Sodom, and when he had Housed Noah in the Ark, what could the wicked World expect, but an over-whelming Deluge? Thus they observed of old, that the death of eminent Saints, was the forerunner of some great Calamity; as that long-lived Methuselah (whose name doth signify a Messenger of death) died the year before the Flood came upon the whole World. Augustine the year before Hippo was Sacked: Pareus a little before Heidelberg was taken: Luther a little time before the Wars in Germany: Ambrose a little before the Ruin of Italy. What the taking away of so many Worthies of the Lord, eminent Lights in the Church, and excellent Instruments, both here and elsewhere, may portend, I cannot tell. Secondly: Consider their usefulness in being examples of Holiness in the places where God hath set them; the examples of Saints are of great use in their generation: Justin Martyr was Converted by reading the Lives of dead Saints. The examples of Men, whether good or bad, have a mighty influence upon the minds and manners of others. Theodosius owning Religion, made all his Courtiers to become Religious. Thirdly: The Lives of Perfect and Upright men are greatly useful and desirable, for their Counsels and Instructions to propagate and promote Religion, Prov. 10.21. The Lips of the Righteous feed many: A few words the Woman of Samaria spoke to the people, brought many to seek after Christ, John 4.29. How useful this our Deceased worthy Friend in all these respects was, you all know; as a Prop and Pillar to the Family, to the place where he lived; and by his Example and Counsels, that scarce any that conversed with him, but was the better for him; let us then lament and cry out with David, Help Lord, for the Godly man ceaseth, for the Faithful fail from among the Children of men, Psal. 12.1. I need not tell you of his eminency in Religion, his Love to Christ, his Zeal for the Gospel, and for the House of God; his free and generous mind to the faithful Ministers and Members of Jesus Christ, which you know better than I: I shall say only this of him, He lived a pious life, he died full of gracious breathe after God, and is entered into his glorious, never-ending enjoyments; only my heart moves me to send up this affectionate expression after him, which was david's for his Beloved Jonathan, 2 Sam. 1.26. I am distressed for thee my Brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me. There be two Uses of Exhortation: First; To live the life of the Perfect and Upright man. Secondly; So to prepare for the Perfect and Upright man's end, that we may have peace. First: 1. Use of Exhort. Imitate the Perfect and Upright man, or rather take your measure from Heaven; let this be your Ambition, to strive who may write most exactly after this Copy, or the Original, Matth. 5.48. Be you perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect; sincere and upright, complete in all parts of piety: Be you like him, though you cannot be equal to him. 1 Cons. The Wisdom of man is to approve himself to God, who judges of men according to the integrity of the heart: Though David had great failings, and foul miscarryings, yet he hath this remark put on him, that he was a man after Gods own heart; and he is a man after the heart of God, whose heart comports with the heart of God, and in whose heart God is, who dwells with the Upright in their hearts, as on his little Throne or lower Heaven. He that is every where, per modum vestigii, is with the Upright, per modum imaginis, they bear his Image; it is no matter if men commend us, who are very free and prodigal of their praises, or what we think of ourselves; but as the Apostle says in 2 Cor. 10.18. Not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. 2. Cons. It's our work to keep our hearts upright, and it is God's promise to give us peace: He that will have the Beatifical Vision, must be pure in heart, Matth. 5.8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God; and he that will ascend to the spirits of just men made perfect in Heaven, must be perfect and upright, and of a refined spirit on Earth, Heb. 12.23. There is no comfort like this in a dying hour; to be able to say as Hezekiah, Isa. 38.3. Remember O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight; which made Paul make it the business of his life, Act. 24.16. Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a Conscience void of offence toward God and toward men, having a true and firm hope of the Resurrection; as in v. 15. and that he might have peace at the last. It is a remarkable story I have sometimes read, of an ancient Servant, when Age and Infirmity had thrown him upon his Deathbed, in a kind of soliloquy thus he discourseth; I am now a dying man, and am going to the Judge of all the World, What Friend have I to stand by me in this day? His Riches, Gold and Silver, Houses, Lands, tell him they will bear the expense of his Sickness, buy his Coffin and Winding-sheet, etc. His Acquaintants and Relations tell him, they could Weep and Pray for him, and attend him to the Grave: But his good Conscience says, He would go through Death, and to the Judge with him: O says he, This is a Friend indeed, farewell Estate, farewell Relations, I and my good Conscience will go together. 3. Cons. Without a perfect and upright heart all your Profession is but one continued act of provocation; your duties, like the Beauty-spots (as they call them) upon their painted faces, they account them their Beauty, but they are their Deformity; and such are all Religious duties without a perfect heart. This Integrity and Uprightness is the Golden thread that must run through all the actions of our life. An Hypocrite may do as much or more than others, but a perfect man (though he may not do so much) yet he does better than others: The Devil may put on samuel's Mantle, but that cannot change his nature, he is the Devil still. The Apostle tells us, That out of the dregs of time, both the Gloworm-Formalist, and such like Vermin should arise, 2 Tim. 3.1. to the 10. v. 4. Cons. Mark and consider the end of the Partial, Formal, and Hypocritical Professors, like Comets that blaze for a time, yet go off with an ill savour; so the hope of the Hypocrite fails; or, as the New Moon that shines briskly and clearly at first, until it come to the Wane, and then leaves the World under an universal darkness. They are hated of God and Man; of God, because they be not as they seem to be; of Men, because they seem to be what they are not; and at last, Isa. 33.14. The Sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath suprized the Hypocrite; who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burn? Direct. 1. If you would be Perfect and Upright in your lives; First: Look to your heart at all times, which is the seat of affections, & the fountain of actions: 1. And especially; In your Spiritual duties observe how the Upright man carries it with God, let your heart and God be together in all your duties: If your heart be perfect in duty, there will be peace in the duty; but the prayers of the Wicked are abomination; and in Psal. 66.18. If I regard Iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 2. In your civil commerce, take heed to your spirit, that you may be Perfect, Just, and Righteous in all your deal; shall Religion suffer among them that seem to love, and own it? Shall Piety be accounted a piece of Pageantry? and Profession be esteemed no better than a Religious Cheat by the world, through your unjust practices? and so Religion have cause to say under all her Reproaches, These be the wounds that I have received in the House of my Friends. To Lie, Dissemble, violate Faith, to break Promise, and to break in Trade, with design to defraud others, and raise their own Families; shut up Shops to shut out Creditors from their just deuce, is become a most prodigious practice, a common and Epidemical sin both in City and Country, the more is the pity, if any such be concerned that should have a better regard to the honour of Religion. He that will be a complete Christian, must observe Second-table-duties as well as First-table-duties, lest the World say of us, that we are like Gods in our Meetings, and Devils in the Market; Saints at Church, and Cheats in the Shop and on the Exchange. These lose and unjust deal of Professors, are the things that hurry the World into Atheism; this is one of those great Evils of our times, that makes God angry, and Men Atheists. 2. Direct. Principle your hearts with a true love to, and fear of God. 1. A true love to God, and then you will serve God for God; not as poor Tenants serve their Rich Landlords, out of force, or servile fear; or as Lactantius said of the Grecians, That they did worship their Gods, alios, ne noceant; alios, ut prosint, their black Devils or mischievous Gods, that they might not hurt them, as well as their white Devils, or more favourable gods, that they might receive good from them. 2. With a true fear of God, without which we can never be true to God or Man: As Constantius once tried his Courtiers, when he publicly declared that those of them that would not forsake Christianity, and the Worship of the true God, and turn to the Idol-worship, should be Banished his Court; and when he found that many for Court-honours forsook their Religion, he discarded them, and entertained those only that did adhere to the true God; saying, They that will not be true to God, will never be true to Man. 3. Let Love and Fear go together; Love will make us serve God willingly, and true Fear will make us perform our duty to God and Man faithfully. Let these two be as Aaron and Hur, that held up Moses hands steady, to keep our hearts steadfast and upright with God. Thirdly: Direct. Remember the Eye of the Lord is upon all your ways, a, Deus videt, Angeli testantur; God beholds, and his Angels bear witness, is enough to make any man cautelous and upright in his walking. He sees us, whose Eyes are ten-thousand times brighter than the Sun; in Heb. 4.13. Neither is there any Creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked, and opened unto the eyes of him, with whom we have to do, Psal. 11.4. The Lord is in his holy Temple; i● Lords Throne is in Heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the Children of men, as a Judge who tries the cause and matter by the ear, and observes by his eye the Malefactor's countenance. I have often told you, and now tell you again, Man may deceive Men, but he cannot deceive God, 1 King. 22.34. Though Ahab disguised himself, and girt on his Harness never so close, yet could he not keep off the fatal 〈◊〉: So, though the Hypocrite disguise himself, he cannot hid from the eyes of God, nor escape his Righteous hand. last: Mind seriously Death, 4 Direct. and Judgement to come Jeroms, Sive edo, etc. Semper vox illa terribilis sonat in auribus meis, Surgite mortui & venite ad judicium: Rise ye Dead, and come to Judgement; would be a dreadful and awaking peal in the Ears of all sleepy and careless Sinners, 2 Cor. 5.10. For we must all appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad; and in Eccles. 12.14. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. When Death comes, it draws aside the Curtain, than all your false and vain pretences will be exposed to public view. Death plucks off the Sinners Vizor, and unmasks the Hypocrite; and then, though he lived in honour and esteem in the world, comes off the Stage, like a Fool, and dies with shame. The second Use of Exhortation is to prepare for the Perfect and Upright man's end; 2 Use of Exhort. there must be an habitual and actual preparation. First consider, 1 Consid. no man knows how soon he may die, Death is a sly and impartial Messenger, who is deaf to all entreaties and arguments, and cannot be bribed; 'tis not greatness, nor goodness, nor youth, nor age, nor riches, nor interest can supersede it; wherefore, as Christ saith, Luk. 12.35, 36. Let your loins be girded about you, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord. If Death delay its coming, it is the Bridegroom's favour that the Bride may make herself ready. But when God cuts down the sound and fruitful Trees, that are all spin, 'tis a wonder he spares the rotten, unsound, and barren Trees, that cumber the ground. There be three things, one of which we shall never escape. First, There be sudden, unseen Occurrences or Providences of God, by which men are taken off, and of these they say, Casus nunciat mortem latentem; these accidental strokes of providence do show us that death lies in ambush: Some men die at Land, sometimes at Sea, sometimes they go forth well in the Morning, and in a moment are dead. Secondly, There be Sicknesses and Diseases, of which they say Morbus nunciat mortem appropinquantem; every pain and distemper in the body, is a real warning of death's approach; if we should escape both these, there is▪ Thirdly, That which will certainly take men off (Old age) of which 'tis said, Senectus nuncia● mortem praesentem; Decrepit, infirm Old age, is Death begun in the body, so that Nil habet, quod speret senectus, Old age can hope for nothing but Death. Secondly: Consider, 2 Cons. He that is prepared for Death before it comes, shall not be afraid of the King of Terrors, when he comes: Though Death be in itself terrible, yet I may allude to that in Isa. 11.8. The prepared Saint shall play on the hole of this Asp, and put his hand on the Cockatrice-den, and not be afraid. What Agag proudly and presumptuously said, he may truly and comfortably say, Surely the bitterness of death is past; while others say of Death and the Grave, as Jacob said of Luz at first, How terrible is this place? He may say of them, This is none other than the House of God. Thirdly: 3. Cons. Consider, the wicked, ungodly, and unprepared Sinner can have no hopes in his death, Isa. 57.2. There is no peace (saith my God) to the Wicked; every pain and sickness that befalls him, is like the rattling of the wheels of the fiery Chariots, and the prancing of the horses of the terrible ones, that come to fetch away his soul, and now he hath no hope nor life left in him, Job 8.13. The Hypocrites hope shall perish; he can expect no other, but that his soul and body must shortly be plucked asunder, never to meet together but in Hell. That we be habitually prepared; 2. Direct. First, Let us get an interest in Christ, without him there is no peace with God; and without peace with God, there can be no peace in the latter end, Job 22.21. Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace: Whence once we have got an interest in Christ, we may die in peace. As Simeon when he had got Christ in his arms, could say, Now lettest thou thy Servant departed in peace: O be persuaded to receive and embrace Christ, to believe in him, and resign up yourselves to him, as you desire to die in peace, and to be happy for ever. If you were now upon your Deathbeds, and your Physician should turn Preacher, and your Doctor become a Divine, and tell you your Sickness is incurable, there is no more hopes of your life, you are not like to be men of this world, you must prepare for another world; you had best make your peace with God, and get an interest in Christ. I can do no more for you, and so the Lord have mercy upon your souls. Oh! what would the Blood of Christ be worth in such a day? how welcome would he be in such an hour? Secondly, Be sure that ye be in a Regenerate and Converted state. Except a man be born again, he shall never see the Kingdom of Heaven. And lastly, Repent of all your sins; Sin, like Jonahs' Gourd, will eat up the comforts of life, and devour your peace in death; therefore said the Heathen, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, A good and holy life prepares for an happy death. Deal with sin as the Lords of the Philistines advised, concerning David, 1 Sam. 29.4. Who, though he had lived peaceably amongst them, yet when they went down to fight against Israel, would not suffer him to go down to the battle along with them, lest he should turn his hand against them: So, though sin hath been a pleasant Companion with us all our life; yet when we go down to encounter death, we must take heed that sin don't go along with us, for it will certainly turn its hand against us, and put a sting into Death, and deadly teeth into that Lion. Secondly: That you may be actually prepared, First, 1 Direct. Let every day be well filled: Days well filled with the works of Righteousness, will make souls well filled with the fruits of Righteousness, which are Peace and Joy. Let every days work be well done; examine yourselves every night, whether your work be done, and what is done amiss; and ask your souls every night (upon doing this) whether it can willingly pass from this day into Eternity, Job 5.26. it is said concerning that upright man, Thou shalt come to thy Grave in thy full Age (Diu vixit qui bene vixit) like as a Shock of Corn cometh in his season; which implies two things. First, That he shall come willingly to his grave, as a man that hath done his work, goes willingly to his rest, so is he a Volunteer to Death, that his soul need not be forced out of his body, as Lot was out of Sodom; nor need he be dragged out of the World, as the rich Fool in the Gospel. Secondly: That when the Upright man dies, he goes as one ready and prepared, as a Shock of Wheat in its season; this Saint goes like the Ox in the Emblem, that that stands betwixt the Altar and the Plough, with this Motto, Ad utrumque paratus, as ready for the Sacrifice as for the Yoke; and thus Paul saith of himself, Phil. 1.23. I am in a straight, betwixt two, having a desire to departed, and to be with Christ, which is far better; betwixt two, (i. e.) betwixt Life and Death. In a Straight; that is, as a City that is Besieged and straitened; or as Iron between two Lodestones, loath to leave the Philippians, and loath to stay any longer from Christ; and therefore after he had stood a while in Aequilibrio, at last he inclines rather to be with Christ, who is altogether desirable. 1. His Common Presence is the preservation of the World. 2. His Spiritual Presence is the very joy and life of Saints. 3. His Glorious Presence, the Eternal happiness of Believers; and Oh! how did the heart of our deceased Friend breath after this highest of enjoyments? Secondly: 2 Direct. Let your accounts be always ready: The careless Steward can't bear the news of his Lords coming, before his Accounts be ready and adjusted. There is a secret fearfulness in all persons negligent of their Accounts, to hear of Christ's coming: Every one of us must give account of himself to God, and the sleepy soul fears to hear this Voice, Give an account of thy Stewardship, for thou mayst be no longer Steward; and having so many Debts and Talents to account for, he knows not how to set upon that work, yet he that will be always ready, must keep his accounts even, and must often ask how the case stands between God and his soul, and he need not be afraid, though he hath never so many Talents, Debts, and Arrears to account for beyond his ability, having the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus Christ to balance the account. Thirdly, 3 Direct. take your solemn leave every day of all the World, that if God should call you, the World may not be found hanging on your hearts, to make you unwilling to go at his call. Every night say to your Friends, and to your Estates, farewell, as being willing to leave them: This is to die daily, and by this means you will die comfortably and willingly. Fourthly: Let your Graces be all in a readiness, active, vigorous, and abounding, that when Christ comes, these Graces being in you, 2 Pet. 1.11. An entrance may be abundantly ministered unto you, into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Faith, Hope, and Love, must stand always expecting the Lords coming, and be renewing Acquaintance with God, and making a fresh application of the Blood of Christ, that the soul may have a clear sight of his interest in the Righteousness of Christ, and his right to Divine favour. last: 5 Direct. Familiarize Death to your souls; we are afraid of Death, and remain unprepared for Death, because we and Death are strangers. When you lie down, let Death lie down with you; when you awake, let Death talk with you; when you walk, let Death be your Companion. Make a more serious improvement of your spectacles of Mortality, & Funeral occasions, than you are wont to do; that if God bid you die, as Num. 27.12. He bad Moses go up to Mount Abarim, and die there. You may be as ready to go and die, as to go to your Beds: Only let Faith give you always the fair Prospect of Christ, of Heaven, and Glory, that your hearts may be possessed with this assurance, 2 Cor. 5.1. We know, that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, not made with hands, Eternal in the Heavens. FINIS.