Elisha his Lamentation, Upon the sudden Translation of ELIJAH. Opened in a SERMON At the Funeral of Mr. William Strong, That Eminently Faithful Servant and Minister of CHRIST. By Obadiah Sedgwick, B. D. and Preacher of the Gospel in Covent Garden. ZACHARY 1. 5. And the Prophets, do they live for ever? HEBREWS 3. 7. To day if ye will hear his Voice. LONDON, Printed by R. W. for Francis Titan, at the Sign of the three Daggers in Fleetstreet, near the Inner-Temple Gate. 1654. To the Right Worshipful, Colonel Boswell, Henry Scobel, Esq Mr. Thomas Rushall; and to all the rest of the Congregation, lately pertaining unto the care of that Faithful Pastor, Mr. WILLIAM STRONG, Preacher of the Gospel at Westminster ABBEY. YOu were pleased to put me upon that sad service of Preaching at the Funeral of your worthy and dear Pastor; And shortly after that, upon another service of Printing what I then had publicly Preached; I confess that I never Preached a Sermon (in this kind) with more grief of heart, and never did I discern a Sermon heard and attended with more weeping eyes: certainly God had given in unto him the affections of many persons, who loved him in his life, and bitterly lamented him at his death. I was almost fallen out with the thoughts of publishing any occasional Sermons, as being most proper for scope, and use, and working, to the present Auditory: But your general desire hath prevailed upon me to deny my own judgement; and since it must be so, here you have those sudden and weak fruits (such as they are) and the blessing of the Lord go with them. Of what other advantage they may be (besides the keeping up a while the name and memory of so precious a servant of Christ) I know not; but yet I trust that God may intent them, and now doth send them abroad for the good of the living. Of this I am sure, that every personal change in the world is an effect of his providence; and that there is a doctrinal will for the living, in every providential will of God concerning the dead: and the greater that any person is in his relation of usefulness, and serviceableness to Christ and his Church, the more emphatical Selah doth the Lord (in the removal of him) print out for the children of men. There was honey found by Samson in the carcase of the dead Lion, so are there many sweet instructions and lessons to be gathered, not only out of the lives, but also out of the deaths of the Ministers of Christ. The last Sermon which a people are to study, and diligently to peruse, is the death of their Godly Pastor; for in this God himself doth immediately preach unto them. As when Ministers do live, it is but hypocrisy to give them only a few good words: so when they die, it is but a formality only to shed over them a few sad tears. O that you yourselves, (& the many other Congregations) who of late have carried their Faithful and laborious Ministers to the grave, would seriously remember that you must answer God for the quick and for the dead, for your living Ministers, & for your dead Ministers: there are living uses to be made out of dead instances: Live, and live the better, live up to the power of Truth and Godliness, live like such as are even parting with life, and in hazard about a season: Live like such, who did enjoy, and who again would enjoy a choice servant to your Minister. Though Ministers die, yet Christ lives, and he is present with you, & he observes all your heart & ways: therefore as you formerly have, so now especially strive to abound much more in heavenly wisdom, in sound judgement, in Faith and Love to our Lord jesus, in meekness, and gentleness, and profitableness one towards another, and in all exactness of holy walking before your God; hereupon shall you find your late great loss graciously supplied in the answer of your fervent prayers: hereupon shall you find the testimony of a good conscience; hereupon shall you find peace in death, and after that, the Crown of life, which God will give to all that love him. And for other People, let them Repent of the evil handling of their Faithful Ministers, and beseech the Lord to give them hearts in their day of Grace, yet to know the things which do concern their Peace; which that we all may do, shall be the prayer of Your Servant in the Faith of Christ Obadiah Sedgwick. A SERMON LATELY PREACHED In the Abbey of Westminster, July 4th. 1654. At the Funeral of Mr. William Strong, Preacher of the Gospel there. 2 KINGS 2. 12. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My Father, My Father; The Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof: and he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own Clothes, and Rend them in two pieces. IN the Former Verse, Elijah and Elisha are passing on, and discoursing together: What that Discourse was, it is not Expressed. Some do presume to tell us particularly what it was: but very probable it is, that the discourse As Lyra and others of the Papists. was altogether suitable unto so great and Holy a Prophet as Elijah was: It was very profitable, and very Heavenly, he being presently to be taken up into Heaven. Whiles they were thus discoursing, on a sudden there appeared a Chariot of fire, and Horses of fire, and parted Verse 11. them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a Whirlwind into heaven. By the Chariot and horses of fire, Peter Martyr P. Martyr In Locum. understands the Angels of God, who at this time did put on the species or appearance of fire: And with this fiery Apparition God was pleased to honour Elijah at his departure: who in his life time had so much honoured his God with the fire of Zeal for his Truth, and Worship. And he went up by a Whirlwind into heaven. Some do read it, that he went up by a Whirlwind of heaven, or by an heavenly Whirlwind: which denotes the manner of his Ascension: but our General Translation and Reading is best, which doth more significantly denote the place unto which he was then carried, Namely, Heaven. Therefore that Opinion of the Papists is very fond: who do Affirm that Elijah was carried into Paradise, there to stay with Enoch until towards the end of the world, and then both of them are to come forth, and to Preach against Antichrist. But this is a mere fancy all along, the Text saith plainly, Elijah went up by a Whirlwind Contra perfidium Antichristi. into heaven. But what heaven he went into, is somewhat argued, especially by the Papists, who it A threefold Heaven. seems will by no means have that Zealous enemy to Idolatry to be carried into the heaven of the blessed: There is indeed Coelum Aerium (the Airy Heaven, where the Fowls of Heaven do flee) and there is Coelum Astriferum, where the Stars of heaven are: and there is Coelum Beatorum, the heaven of the Blessed, where God appears in eminency, and where Jesus Christ is in Glory, and the souls of just men made perfect, thither is Elijah carried up, after all his Pains, and Sufferings, and Troubles, and Faithfulness: Thither I say, is he carried up, to receive his Reward, and Elisha is left behind to do his Master more service. But how doth Elisha take this sudden parting, and loss of precious Elijah? The Text tells you (Elisha saw it, and he cried my Father! my Father!) These words may be called, The Lamentations of Elisha: upon the sudden Translation of that eminent Prophet Elijah: In which you may discern. 1. His exceeding Grief and Sorrow: He cried out, and until he saw him no more (so Junius & Tremellius Read those words, And he saw him no more) And he rend his clothes in two pieces, as Anciently was the Practice upon the loss, and at the Funerals of dear friends, and of choice and eminent Persons. 2. The causes of this his great grief and sorrow: And they were 1. His own particular loss. The loss of Elijah was unto Elisha as the loss a loving and dear Father, unto a loving and dear Child (my Father! my Father!) As David once about Absolom, my Son, my Son! So Elisha here for Elijah, my Father, my Father! Ah my Father! my Father! Oh I have lost a Father, my Father, such a Father— The Chaldee Interpreter renders it, Rabbi, Rabbi: my Master, my Master: But in the Hebrew it is, Abba, Abba: my Father, my Father! 2. The public loss (The Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof) As if he had said, one of the best Instrumental helps and safeties that all Israel enjoyed, is now taken away; O the Staff and the stay is broken! What the Chariot and the horsemen are to an Army, or to a State, and what the loss of them is unto a State; That was the life, and that was the loss of this Prophet Elijah unto all Israel. There are two Propositions only which I would briefly discourse upon from this Text, at this time, and with respect to this sad occasion. 1. That even the most eminently Faithful and Zealous Prophets of God, may be, and shall be taken away from a people. 2. That the loss of any one eminently Faithful and Zealous Prophet of God, should affect the hearts of people with exceeding Grief and Lamentation. I begin with the first of these: That even the most eminently 1. Proposition. Faithful and Zealous Prophets of God, may be, and shall be taken away from a people. The Prophets or Ministers of God, they are of different Parts and Gifts, and they are of different Spirits, and they are of different Use and Service: Put them in Comparison one with another, some are as Stars of the first Magnitude, and others of a lesser Magnitude: some are as the Cedars, and others are but as ordinary Trees: Some are more richly and plentifully endowed and furnished, others are not so, they are lower by the As Elijah, Paul, Calvin and Luther. head: some are vigorously active, and are raised up, and laid out for the General Advantages and Managements of Religion, yet others are not so; though all be Builders, yet all of them are not Master-Builders. They differ much in their Gifts, in their Graces, in their Services, Gifts will free from Indiscretion, & Grace from Hell, but nothing from Death. in their Usefulness: Nevertheless they must all agree in this, they must all die, they must all be taken away: Here in the Text, Elijah was taken away, and what was he? he was a Prophet, and in some sense more than a Prophet: He was a Prophet of the highest rate, most eminent for Faithfulness and Zeal, (That was his excellency) Noah was eminent for Uprightness, and Moses for Meekness, and Job for Patience, and Solomon for Wisdom, and Joshua for Prowess, and Josiah for Tenderness, and Elisha for Miracles, and Elijah for Zeal, and Courage, and Faithfulness: All the false Prophets were nothing to him, nor Jezabel the Queen, nor Ahab the King: and although (in his Opinion) he was left alone to sustain the cause of God; yet he alone continued Faithful and Zealous. Nevertheless this Holy and Excellent man of God is taken away, and suddenly, and in a very needful time. Zachariah 1. 5. Your Fathers, where are they? And the Prophets, do they live for ever? No, No, they do not live for ever; Nor yet (many times) very long! You may find them for a while in the Study, and for a while in the Pulpit, and after a little while you may find them in their Graves. The Reasons of this Divine dispensation (besides many other) are these: 4. Reasons why God takes away his most Faithful Prophets. 1. Because even the most Faithful Prophets of God, are Stewards but for a time; of them as well as of others it must be said, Ye shall be no longer Stewards: they have their determined work, and their allotted time for that work; Their Reward shall be measured by Eternity. But their work and their life are measured by time; So much work for so much time, and then their Master calls them home. In Scripture you Read that they are sometimes called Ambassadors, who are choice persons sent abroad by a 2 Cor. 5. 20. special Commission; And when they have finished their Legation or Treaty, then must they return back unto their Prince; The Prophets or ministers of God, are the Ambassadors of God in a special manner, Authorized to treat with sinners to be reconciled, perhaps sinners will hearken unto them, and conclude upon terms of saving agreement, perhaps they will not: These have but their time to hearken, and they have but their time to offer and persuade, and when that is expired, the Lord calls them home. Again, you find them sometimes called labourers and workmen; the labourer goes forth in the morning, 2 Cor. 3. 9 and he does his day's work, which when he hath finished, than he comes home and takes his Rest. Thus it is, and thus it shall be with the best of God's Prophets and Ministers, who are also called the Messengers of God, and must return unto him an answer, what they have done, and how they have sped. 2. There is a day of recompense for them, their reward is with the Lord, they are employed by a good Master; and as there are the works of faithful servants for them todo, so there is the reward of a faithful master for them to receive: there is a Prophet's work here, and a Prophet's reward hereafter; Christ calls it our Master's joy, and Paul calls it a Crown of Righteousness; the faithful and laborious Ministers of God, though despised and injured by men on earth, yet they are loved and encouraged by Christ; and as they are a means to save others, so they themselves shall be saved, & shall shine as the stars for ever and ever, they shall be with the Lord for ever, they shall be everlastingly blessed. And therefore they must die, they must away, else they cannot take possession of the inheritance reserved for them, nor of the Crown laid up for them; indeed in this life they have the assured hopes of eternal blessedness, and the first fruits, and some Tastes; but the full and perfect possession and fruition comes not to them, nor to any in this life: that comes only after death, and therefore Paul desires to be dissolved, and so to be with Christ. 3. The Lord doth this, to punish the ingratitude of people, who do despise, and disgrace, and despitefully use his servants, the Prophets, and injuriously handle them, and there is no man that will plead for them, and right them. Of all the men in the world, the faithful Prophets of God do the most good to others, and find the worst reception from them. Jesus Christ chargeth this unworthy dealing upon Jerusalem, Mat. 23. 37. O jerusalem, jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee! And Stephen chargeth it upon them, Act. 7. 52. Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted? And Paul complains in 1 Cor. 4. 13. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things to this very day. Men do affront and contemn, they do revile and reproach, they do oppose and contradict, they do threaten and persecute the faithful Prophets of God, and those of them who are most faithful and most zealous, are most hated and most persecuted. Now the Lord will not bear with this odious ingratitude, and with this barbarous injuriousness done unto his faithful servants; he is extremely sensible of all the evil done unto them, of all the evil words spoken against them, and of all the evil counsel and devices taken against them, and of all the evil works done against them: Touch not mine Anointed, and do my Prophets Psa. 105. 15. Act. 9 4. no harm, saith God: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? saith Christ. And therefore he takes away his choice Prophets and Servants in Judgement, from such an ungracious and ungrateful people, in effect saying unto them thus much. Ye will not be taught, and you shall not be taught any more, and you will not hearken unto my messengers, but mock and despise them; therefore they shall speak no more unto you in my name, your house shall be left unto you desolate. Ye shall not see me henceforth (said Christ) till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Mat. 23. 39 4. The fourth and last reason why the Lord takes away his most eminently, faithful and zealous Prophets from a people, is this, To show unto a people the uncertainty and instability even of spiritual opportunities, that they are but a season (which is precious, but unsure) that they are a short day, and a Sun that may set a noon day. There are four things which do admit of much uncertainty. 1. One is all our earthly possessions and comforts; wilt thou set thine eyes on that which is not? saith Solomon, Prov. 23. 5. There is no earthly comfort whatsoever, which is not altogether uncertain, nay altogether uncertainty; it is but as the shade on the dial, on which you look, and may be gone before you turn back to look on it again. 2. The second is, The gracious motions of the Spirit of God working upon our spirits: My spirit shall not always strive with man, Gen. 6. 3. Rara Hora, Brevis mora, saith Bernard. The deal of God's Spirit with us, are many times like Peter's vision of the sheet, which was let down, but quickly drawn up to heaven again; and indeed there is no man who resists or neglects any one motion of God's Spirit, but he puts it upon an uncertainty, whether he shall meet with any other motion more. 3. The third is the day of Grace, our Gospel-day, wherein Christ reveals himself, and offers himself, and mercy, and peace, and salvation; this is a day for eternity, but it is not an eternal day: It may quickly be lost, and for ever lost. O if thou hadst known (said Christ to Jerusalem) even Thou, at the least in this thy day, the things which concern thy peace— But now they are hid from Luk. 19 42. thine eyes: q. d. Thou hadst thy day, Thou didst not make use of thy day, and now thou hast lost thy day. 4. The fourth is, all the lives, and pains, and labours of the Prophets and Ministers of God, they are all fluent and uncertain. This day the Minister lives and preaches, the next day he is sick and dies; you cannot say of the best Minister on earth, he shall be ours for ever, or long, or a week, or a day: such an instability is there, not only in the best of our outward comforts, but also in the best of our spiritual helps. And there is much of the wisdom of God in this very particular contingency, he hath his good ends in it, to awaken the hearts of people from carnal security and presumption, from all carelessness and neglects, and to stir and quicken them to all heavenly seriousness, and wise carefulness, both to know the day of their visitation, and likewise to improve the light, whiles they enjoy the light. There are two works upon which all spiritual uncertainties (in Friends or Ministers) should put us. 1. One is therefore to prise what is present; there is no certainty but in that which is present, that is ours, and nothing but that is ours: The present Sermon, that is ours, and the present offer of Christ; prise what is present, for the future is uncertain. 2. Another is therefore to act with all our power, to do as much in a little time, as others are doing in a long time. Nay, to be striving and treasuring up in a little time so fervently, and so diligently, as if we had no more time. There is an uncertainty in the lives of God's Prophets, therefore people should ply their doctrine, and their help with all theirs strength; hear them as if they should never hear them more, and confer and draw from them, as if they should never speak with them any more; but more of this in the uses now following: May and doth God translate even an Elijah? doth he take away the most eminently faithful, and zealous Use. 1. A double Advertisement. Prophets? Hence a double advertisement, 1. One to Ministers. 2. The other to People. First to Ministers; loiter not, lose no time, stand not idle at all, up and be doing your Master's work; do not talk of this pain, and of that ache, nor of this weakness, nor of that indisposition, but spend and be spent, be instant in season and out of season, watch and labour, pray and instruct, reprove and comfort, pull down, and build up, always abounding in the work of the Lord, O said that eminently religious, and judicious Calvin, (who had worn himself to the very bone with often praying, and studying, and preaching, and writing; and therefore, being entreated by his friends a little to spare himself, no saith he, but) I desire that when my Master comes, he should find me working: And so that precious Jewel, his desire was that he Nec propter vitam, vivendi perdere finem. might die preaching: And learned and pious Reynolds, he would not lose time, he looked at the end of life, more than at life itself. O Brethren! Ye also have but your day, ye have but your day to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye have but your day to save you own souls; and ye have but your day to save the souls of them that hear you: And your day of working seems to be more variable and contingent than the day of other men; for if ye be impartially faithful, and zealous, ye shall be sure to meet with all discouragements and oppositions from all sorts of ungodly men: who if they cannot stop your mouths, will yet do all they can to break your hearts. And besides that, your constant studies, and diligent labours, and public preach, and private conferences, and several other employments, will weaken your spirits, spend your lungs, consume your strength, and hasten your death. However, the Lord will take you away, and perhaps he will come and take you away suddenly: therefore be diligent still, and laborious still, and faithful still, and zealous still, and wise still, in giving unto every servant his proper portion. Blessed is that servant, whom when his Master comes, he shall find so doing: this is he who shall meet with that welcome, well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. 2. Secondly to the People; Seeing that their faithful Prophets and Ministers shall be taken away from them, let them remember two things for their parts. 1. Let them encourage faithful and zealous Prophets, who do enjoy them: O do not kill them, and break their hearts, and thrust them into their graves by slight, by revile, by quarrelings, by troubling, by remaining still ignorant, and unprofitable, and barren; nor by continuing obstinate, disobedient, hardened, and unbelieving. No, by no means, but honour them, and love them, and deal kindly with them, and pray for them, and encourage them all you can: Why Sirs, They do pity your souls, and they do watch for your souls, and they do pray for your souls, and they do study and weep, and preach to save your souls. And therefore let them have love for love, & care for care, and respect for respect; they give you bread, do not give them stones; they bring mercies to you, do not you cast your curses upon them; they attend to your salvation, and peace, and comfort, do not requite them evil for good, but let them have good for good, etc. 2. Improve their present survivance, and your own They are given to you, and for you, they are your servants. present freedom: O it is a naughty frame of spirit to praise the dead, but not to prise the living; To set out with a large commendation the manifold virtues and say of Ministers that are dead; yet not to regard, nor make use of the parts and pains of those that are living, and Preaching unto us. But let us be more wise; Elisha here is found travelling and conferring with Elijah before he is taken away: Now you may hear your Ministers instructing and persuading you, but within a short time you shall never see, nor hear them more. Now you may go unto them, and open your doubts, and discover your souls wants, and diseases, and crave their Counsel, and take their Directions, and partake of their Instructions, and receive comforts by them; But within a short time they are changing, and fainting, and dying, and giving up the Ghost, and can never be Instrumental to your souls any more! O lose not your tide, and lose not your Spiritual Opportunity: Every faithful and Godly Minister is Simile. like a Garden in the Springtime, and the people should be like so many Bees, flying every day unto the Flowers in that Garden, to suck out the Honey, and carry it home to the Hive. You may now get that Counsel, that Direction, that Satisfaction about the condition of your souls, which may stick by you all the days of your life. Remember Sirs! As it will be an heavy Judgement if you make no use of your Faithful Ministers, so it will cut you to the very heart, when your Ministers are dead (and then can be of no more use unto you) that you made so little use of them living, that you Traded so slightly, that you have been such strangers to them, that you did not enrich your souls by them. O that people, who do enjoy able & faithful Ministers, were (then) possessed of two Graces; one is of humility, to see their own wants; the other is of wisdom, to see their season for the supply of them: Wherefore is there a price put into the hand of a fool seeing he hath no heart to make use of it? Thus have I finished the first Proposition; Namely, That even the most eminently faithful and zealous Prophets of God may be, and shall be taken away from a people: I now proceed to the second Proposition, which is this. That the loss of any one eminently Faithful and Zealous 2. Proposition. Prophet of God, should affect the hearts of the people of God with much Grief and Lamentation: (my Father, my Father; The Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof!) When Moses that eminent Prophet died (There arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses) The children of Israel wept for him in the plains of Moab thirty days; Deut. 34. 8. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. When Samuel, that faithful and eminent Prophet died, what a Mourning and Lamentation was made for him? Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together 1 Sam. 25. 1. and lamented him. The like you Read of Steven, Devout men carried Acts 8. 2. Steven to his burial, and made great Lamentations over him. There are three things which do concern us, when God takes away any faithful servants of his. 1. One is a serious consideration of the hand of God in this: For though their death be a mercy unto them, (Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord: And precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints.) yet Rev. 14 13. Psal. 116. 15. their death may be a Judgement to us. As a Godly Ministers Life and Doctrine is either in Remedium, or in Judieium; either they are the Savour of life unto life, or they are the Savour of death unto death: So the loss of them is certainly an advantage to themselves, and ordinarily it is a Judgement and punishment unto a people: And therefore we should not slightly pass over their death, but consider, and lay such strokes of God to our hearts, The living will lay it to his heart: Surely he should, surely he will. Eccles. 7. 2. 2. The second is a prudent reflection upon ourselves; what there is in ourselves which hath contributed unto so great a loss: For not only diseases in a Minister, but also sins in a people may have a great hand to take away the life of their Minister: and therefore there is reason for us to reflect and search. In every ordinary loss that befalls us, we should search our hearts, and try our ways, and say, Why is this evil come upon us? much more should this be done, when a Spiritual loss befalls us: When the Lord takes away from us the staff and the stay, the judge and the Prophet. Isa. 3. 1, 2. When he smites the Shepherd, and the Sheep are like to be scattered; when he removes his Angels from his Churches. Now is it a time to stand still, and to gather ourselves together, and to say, what have we been? and what have we done? how have we walked? what hath been our deportment under the Gospel? what our answerableness thereunto? hath not our unthankfulness, hath not our barrenness, hath not our disregard, hath not our disobedience caused the Lord to make this breach? to take away the light from us? 3. The third is a mournful Lamentation; we should be very sensible of such a loss: yea, in some proportion unto the kind and greatness of it: For as the enjoyment of an eminently faithful Prophet (or Pastor) is an exceeding blessing (it is promised amongst the chiefest of mercies, I will give them Pastors after mine own heart, and thine eyes shall see thy Teacher.) So the death of such a Isa. 30. 20. one is an exceeding loss, and consequently requires exceeding Grief and Lamentation. There are six great losses, and do you judge whether Six great losses. they be not so. 1. The first is the loss of a soul, how great is that loss? all is lost if that be lost. 2. The second is the loss of true Religion, and the glory is departed from Israel, when that is gone. 3. The third is the loss of God's smiling favour and presence; when that withdraws, than the Sun is set, and it is night, and darkness, and fear, and trouble with the soul. 4. The fourth is the loss of peace in conscience; Now begins the Wars and Tumuls, and the bones are broken. 5. The fifth is the loss of the Gospel; Now the gates of Heaven are shut up, and the worst of famines seizeth our souls. 6. The sixth is the loss of faithful Prophets, and Ministers of God; Now the stones are fallen, and the shields of the earth are fallen, and the interpreters, the men of thousands, and the watchmen set upon the Towers, and Bulwarks, are cut off, and the Ambassadors of Christ, and of peace are called home, and the servants and furtherers of our salvation are discharged. Now the more that any loss borders upon souls, and upon salvation, the more heavy and sharp is that loss, and with that loss we should be much afflicted and troubled. Q. But may some say, why all this Ado? Why such a crying out & such a laying to heart, such a grieving and mourning, and taking on, and troubling of ourselves upon the loss and death of faithful and zealous Prophets? What are they more than other men, For place, for use, for service, that there must be such a stir for them? They are a company of busy and troublesome Fellows, the troublers of Israel. Sol. So indeed did Ahab speak of gracious and zealous Elijah; Ahab (who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the lord) He said thus unto Elijah, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? But to let railers go, there are two Reasons to be found in the Text, for a mournful lamentation upon the death of the faithful Ministers or Prophets of God; whereof one respects the people of God, who stood in relation unto them, as children unto a father, and the Prophets stood in relation to them as fathers unto children; and the other Reason respects the public civil State. 1. In respect of the Relation between Faithful Ministers and a People. Their Relation is that of Father and Children (my Father, my Father, cries Elisha here) and truly this Relation hath in it more of Love, and more of Grief than any other Relation; When Joseph buried Jacob his Father, They mourned with a great, and a very sore Lamentation. Gen. 50. 10. Now every faithful Prophet or Minister of God is a Father unto the Saints or people of God. 1. For Spiritual Generation: under God he is a Spiritual Father, and begets them again by the Gospel; this the Apostle expressly delivers in several places. 1 Cor. 4. 15. Though you have ten thousand Instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many Fathers: For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel. He was an Instrument or means used by God for their New-Birth. So Philimon ver. 10. speaking unto him of Onesimus, whom (saith Paul there) I have begotten in my Bonds. 2. For loving and tender affection; A Father doth not more love his Natural child, than the faithful Minister doth those whom he hath begotten unto Christ; Take thine only Son Isaac whom thou lovest, said God to Abraham, Gen. 22. 2. The Elder unto the Elect Lady and her children, whom I love in the Truth. 2 Joh. 1. So Paul to the Corinthians, Apologizing for himself in not being burdensome unto them, 2 Cor. 11 11. Wherefore? saith he, because I love you not? q. d. Do you think that the want of love in me unto you is the reason of that forbearance? God knoweth: q. d. God himself who knows all hearts, he doth know that I love you. Nay, so great is the love of benevolence in a faithful Minister unto his people, That he is contented for a while to delay his own eternal Salvation and Happiness, that he may be a little more helpful and useful unto his people; This prevalent affection you may read expressly in the Apostle Paul. Philippians 1. 23. I am in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to departed, and to be with Christ, which is far better. (i. e.) For myself. Verse 24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Verse 25. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide, and continue with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith. The Apostles difficulty and straight was about his own personal interest, and their common spiritual good. If I die, I shall gain by death, I shall be with Christ: But than you will lose, I must no more be with you, to serve, and further your Faith and Joy: well saith he, I am content, I am willing to live a little longer for the beneficial service of your souls, rather than presently to departed and enjoy my happiness with Christ: O what a love was this? 3. For care and watchfulness; How careful is the Father for his Children? Children are the uncertain comforts, and the certain cares of their parents: and how watchful is the Father for the good of his Children, and against any evil that they may fall into? They Counsel them, they look after them, they follow them with their tears, and with their many Prayers. This likewise is applied unto the faithful Ministers of God: They do Naturally care for the estate of their People. Philippians 2. 20. As if they were led thereunto by inward Bowels, and by a Natural instinct: And they are watchful for them, and over them. Heb. 13. 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls: Ah Brethren! when you are sleeping, they are watching; when you are minding your Trades, then are they studying your Salvation; when you are following your delights, then are they Mourning and Praying for your Souls: They are caring and watching how to get your hearts changed, how to bring in your souls to Christ, how to get your sins mortified, your Temptations answered, your doubts Resolved, your Consciences to be settled and comforted: They fear in your fears, and they are troubled in your troubles, they mourn in your sorrows, they rejoice in your peace, etc. 4. For all the Offices and Duties of a Father: You read in Scripture of the several Duties of a Father. As First, Instruction and Direction. Secondly, Reproof and Correction. Thirdly, Compassion and Comfort. Fourthly, Provision and Expenses. In all these doth every Faithful and Zealous Minister of God abundantly appear, and put forth himself: He instructs the ignorant, directs the doubtful, warns and reproves the unruly, pities the weak, comforts those that are cast down, provides food of all sorts for his people, milk for Babes, and meat for those of full Age: Lays out himself, Heb. 5. 14. 2 Cor 13 11. spends and is spent; lays out all his received Treasure, and stock of spiritual goods amongst them; Is grieved if his children walk unworthy of the Gospel, and nothing doth more rejoice him then to see them walking in the truth, and prospering in Christ; As his first great desire is to match every one of them to Christ, so his next great endeavour is that they may abound with all the fruits of Righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. Now judge what the loss of such a person is: It is sad to lose such a faithful friend as Jonathan, and such a loving and tender Father as jacob was; much more sad and heavy is it to lose such a Father whom God hath made an Instrument to Regenerate our Souls, to rescue us from the power of darkness, to bring us unto Jesus Christ, and unto Salvation by him: When a person can say of a Minister, had not the Lord sent such a one, I had (for aught I know) been damned, I had gone on in my sinful cursed ways, and had everlastingly perished: But it pleased the Lord by his Ministry to open mine eyes, and to awaken my conscience, to make me to see my sins, and all my spiritual misery, and to humble and break my heart, and to direct me in the way how my poor soul might be brought in to Christ: Yea, and did work so effectually, that at length I did by faith close with Christ, and since that my soul hath been refreshed with the joys and comforts of the Holy Ghost: And besides all this, I have received (at several times) special directions for my walking, singular helps against Doubts, Fears, and Temptations, etc. Truly the loss of such a Minister, of such a Father will distress us, will melt us, will make our hearts to mourn and lament. 2. In respect of the Public Civil State. Unto which Faithful and Zealous Prophets are the Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof; Some Render the words, Currus Israelis & militia ejus. Faithful and Zealous Drophets of God are useful, and serviceable: Not only for the spiritual estate of men's Souls, but also for the Temporal Interest of a Civil State; Micah said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my Priest. I dare confidently Judg. 17. 13. affirm that the Faithful Ministers of God are so far from being a Curse and Detriment unto a Nation, that they are a blessing unto it, and a strength and safety unto it; Nay, let me speak truly, They are of more strength and safety than all Charets and Horsemen. There is (I confess) some strength unto a people by them, & so there is some strength unto a people by wise Counsellors, and so there is some strength unto a people by Unity and Concord at home, and so there is some strength by confederations abroad: but the chiefest strength of a state (under God) lies in Faithful and Zealous Prophets, and in Faithful and Godly persons. Quest. You will say, how can this be? what are they but a company of weak men? and (commonly) despised men? what good can they do to a Civil State, or for it? Sol. It is granted they are but weak men, and they are despised men in the world: yet it was the poor man (whom no man remembered) who did by his wisdom Eccle. 9 16. deliver the City: And you read that by a Prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a Prophet was he Hos. 12. 13. preserved: But I shall by a few Arguments demonstrate that the faithful and zealous Ministers of God are the greatest strength and safety unto a Nation. 1. There is no greater strength and safety for a people then this, that God owns them, and God is present Rom. 8. 31. with them: The greatest people on earth are nothing if the Lord leaves them, and departs from them: Therefore said Moses unto the Lord, If thy presence goes Exo. 33. 15. not with us, carry us not hence. q. d. Lord! We are nothing without thy presence, we cannot be a sufficiency to ourselves, nor a safety to ourselves at all: Thy presence is all in all, to us, and for us. But the faithful and zealous Prophets (or Ministers) of God, are a special means of God's presence with a people, which may thus appear. 1. They are a means to engage a people unto God, to bring their hearts unto him, and to acknowledge and own him only; you read this in Elijah, who brought back the hearts of the people of Israel unto the Lord, 1 King 18. 37 3● and they cried out, The Lord is God, the Lord is God. 2. They are a means to keep the worship of God and his Ordinances pure, and remember this, that as long as a people do own God, and as long as his worship and Ordinances are preserved pure amongst them, so long God is present with them, who is their only rock and safety. 2. They are the special Instruments which God doth use to keep a people from sin, and to bring them unto Repentance in case of sinning: They warn and threaten them from the Lord, and testify and cry aloud against their transgressions, and will not suffer them to go on in wickedness, but strive with them, and exhort them daily, and press upon them all sorts of Arguments (from Judgements and mercies) to cease to do evil, and to learn to do well, to forsake their evil ways, and to turn to the Lord▪ this we find in Scripture, and this we find in experience, and therefore they are the most eminent means of safety unto a people. Beloved, they are our sins (and they only are) the fountains of all our miseries; our sinful evils brings upon us all our miserable evils; Thy ways and thy do have procured these things unto thee, this is thy wickedness (i. e.) the fruit and effect thereof. Jer. 4. 18. And if sins be removed, than miseries are removed, and all danger is over: God is again wel-pleased, and returns with loving kindness, and much prosperity unto a people, as you may read in the times of the Judges, and of the Kings. 3. They are the choicest Instruments which God doth use to teach a people his will and ways; by them doth God make known his Laws and Statutes, and 1 Sam. 12. 23. I will teach you the good, and the right way. ways; This is the way, walk ye in it; In these paths you shall find rest unto your souls: and by them doth God keep a people in his ways, they are the Instruments used by God to keep a people upright and steadfast in walking before him. And this is a people's strength and safety: Gods ways (and none but his) are ways of safety, while a people walks in his ways, he will be their sun and shield, their rock and strength, their God, and their salvation. 4. They are of singular use and benefit to the leaders of a people (if they will receive such among them) the faithful Prophets of God have been a means to convert wicked Governors, and to keep others of them right in the ways of God; you read of jehoash, that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, all his days; wherein jehoida the Priest instructed him: See of what excellent use that good man was unto Jehoash. 2 King. 12. 2. There are none who will deal with the Governors of a people so plainly, so conscientiously, so seriously, so earnestly, as the faithful Prophets of God: They will speak to them, when none else dare speak to them; they will tell them of their sins, as well as their inferiors; they will make known unto them all the mind and will of God concerning them; they will put them upon the power and practice of Godliness, as well as others, nay, more than others; they will stir up their hearts to be zealous for God, and his truth, and his ways, and not to suffer any provocation of God in the Land. Now this comes to be of great strength and safety to a people: As a people's misery lies very much in the iniquity of Rulers, so a people's happiness lies much in the godliness of their Rulers; if the Judgements of Rulers are right in the things of God, if their hearts do indeed love God, if they themselves do make conscience to walk in the ways of God, if they once come to be tender of the honour of God, and will own and encourage the power and pract●●● of Godliness: why such Rulers are a singular blessing unto a people, and they are a means of manifold blessings unto them: And therefore faithful and zealous Prophets are an eminent strength and safety to a Nation, who are special helps for all those gracious Qualities in such as do Govern a Nation. 5. I might add one thing more to demonstrate the assertion, and that is this; Faithful Prophets are much in prayer for a Civil State; and their prayers are very 1 Sam 7. 5. 9 2. prevailing with God: Said Samuel, Gather all Israel together to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord: And he cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. His prayer was a means to discomfit the Host of the Philist●●s: so when there was a great drought in the Land of Israel, that it was like to perish, Elijah prayed, Jam. 5. 18. and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruits: His prayer was a means to preserve the Land: many more instances might be given, but I must hasten to the Application of all this unto ourselves. Is the death and loss of any one faithful and zealous Use. 1. Prophet of God, a just cause of grief and lamentation? Then what sad thoughts, and melting affections should take us up for the death and loss of many eminently faithful and zealous Prophets of God? We have (of Doctor Hill. Mr. Wilson .. Mr. Whitaker, etc. late) lost many precious Servants of Christ, many faithful laborers in his vine-yard, I fear that we have not laid those losses to heart; that may be affirmed of most of us, which is spoken in Isa. 57 1. The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and merciful men are taken away, and no man considereth that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come. There are (unto me) yet four sad presages of some future evil, and they are; 1. The great Indifferency about the great Truths of Christ. 2. The great want of the power of Godliness in the Land: superstition and profaneness still abounding. 3. The great contempt of the Ministers of the Gospel. 4. The great Inconsideration of the death of so many choice Prophets and Servants of God: To many persons their life is a burden, and their death is a rejoicing. When Metullus heard of the death of Scipio Africanus, he ran out into the public Forum, or Marketplace, and cried out, O Citizens, come ye forth, and consult Concurrite cives, ●●bis vestrae moenia corruerunt. what is to be done, for the walls of your City are fallen down: Surely there is matter of deep thoughts, and sad afflictions in these solemn dispensations of God of late. For an Husbandman to pull out the weeds in the Garden, this is nothing: But for him to pluck up the Flowers, and the choice Plants, there is something in this: for him to take away the rotten Hedge, this is nothing, but to break down the walls about the Vine-yard, there is something in this. To take off a Tile from the top of the house, it is nothing, O but to take away the Pillars, there is some great change now indeed. We read that when Noah (that Preacher of righteousness) was taken into the Ark, than the flood followed; seldom doth God gather his Prophets by clusters (as it were) but there is some great evil near unto a people: nevertheless people (generally) are secure, and stupid, and foolish, though God smites them in one of the choicest blessings which he vouchsafes to the Sons of men. They see loss upon loss, and death upon death; here a Minister dead, and there a Minister carried to his grave, and usually this is all the fruits of it; Is such a one dead? and I pray you how long was he sick? and whereof did he die? and what hath he left his poor wife and children? It is great pity, the man was an honest man, and preached well; and here is all. Now to such careless, and cold, and dull persons (especially if any such have had any reference unto faithful and laborious Ministers) who can thus slightly pass over the death of their Pastors, I have four things to say. 1. It is a sign that you never truly loved their persons; No, no, for all your compliments, and for all your pretences, yet you never truly loved them; of all affections, love is most apprehensive and sensible. If it enjoys, there is much delight: If it looseth, there is much sorrow: love is very sensible of what it enjoys, and of what it loses. 2. It is a sign that you never prized them in their Ministry: if you make no more of them being dead, certainly you made little of them being living: Affections do most appear and discover themselves upon death: absence, and difficulties, and oppositions, and death, these are trials and discoveries of true love, and therefore if you can so slightly bear the loss of your faithful Ministers, assuredly you never knew the worth and use of them, as Ministers of Christ. 3. It is a sign that you never received any Spiritual good by them at all: If you had done so, your hearts would have been knit unto them in life, and at least have shed a tear for them in death. Their death would presently call up all those heavenly counsels, and all those seasonable directions, and all those spiritual satisfactions, and all those sweet comforts of God, which you by them did receive: At such a time I remember how he thus spoke, and at such a Sermon, and at such a meeting, and in such a conference; and now I shall never see him more, nor confer with him more: The heart would melt to think of these things. 4. It is a sign that God hath in Judgement taken away your faithful Ministers from you, even for your want of love to the Truth, and for your slighting and neglecting the means of Grace, for which you must give a severe account unto God. And let me tell you, that so many faithful Ministers as you have heard, and so many heavenly Sermons as you have heard, (or should have heard) the more heavy will the account be unto God, and the more dreadful will God's Judgements be upon you for your unthankfulness and unprofitableness: I grant that the Prophets die, but remember, that a people's accounts for the pains and labours of those Prophets never die, but do remain upon Record as a witness against you. The next use shall be an Item unto all of us here this Use. 2. day, and more especially to them who are particularly interessed in our great loss; That they would in a singular manner lay to heart this great breach which God hath made and this great loss which hath suddenly, and unexpectedly befallen us! Ah Sirs, Who that saw and heard that precious Minister of Christ, the beginning of the last week, did think to hear of his death towards the latter end of the same week? who that heard him preaching of laying up Treasure in heaven, did imagine that such a treasure should be taken away from earth, and himself (so suddenly) be laid up in heaven! Alas! For me to speak of this Prophet, and of one common loss, of the many losses in this one loss; truly I am not fit, I am not able, because I knew him much, and honoured him much, and loved him much: only this I will say of him; That one so plain in heart, so deep in judgement, so painful in studies, so frequent and powerful, and exact in preaching, so laborious with, and useful to his Congregation, so able to convince the Gain▪ sayer, so zealous in contending for the truths of Christ, so fit for all Ministerial services, (besides his Personal and Domestical course of Godliness) of his time, I have not known the like. Really, he was another Elijah; let me a little compare them: How zealous was Elijah against the false Prophets of Baal? How laborious was Elijah to bring back the people of Israel to the true God, and to the true worship of God? How stout and resolute was Elijah in delivering the Message of God, even to the face of King Ahab? How quick was he with Ahaziah for sending messengers unto Baalzebub the God of Ekron? How fervent and potent in prayer? How diligently laborious to his dying day? How sudden was his remove and departute? All this Spirit, and much more than this of the Spirit of Elijah was found in him. Now if you do but consider what eminent Gifts and Graces appeared in him, and how seriously, and humbly, and dexteriously these were laid out for the glory of Christ, and for the service and benefit of the Church of Christ, we have cause in the loss of such a Prophet to cry out, My Father, my Father; The Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof. But I will speak no more of him, nor to you of him; his death I see hath made a general and deep Impression Use. 3. upon your hearts: All that remains to be spoken, shall be unto you his Hearers, and especially unto you his late Congregation, there are four things which I would briefly offer unto you. 1. Grieve in a Spiritual way, and upon Spiritual considerations, that God hath deprived you of such a Spiritual Pastor, and Helper, and Comforter. 2. Remember and lay up those soulsaving Truths which you have so often heard from him, and wisely improve them, in all your occasions: when Elijah was wrapped up to heaven, Elisha took up the cloak which fell from him, and made use thereof: O take up all those gracious Instructions which fell from him in his life, and make use of them now after his death, keep them alive, and so you shall find him still living. 3. Hold fast that form of wholesome words by him from Christ delivered unto you; and as you have received, so walk in them, let not your steadfastness die, now he is dead. 4. Most humbly and earnestly strive with the Lord, by Fasting and Prayer, that seeing it is his will to take away Elijah from you, that he would be pleased in his love and mercy to give unto you an Elisha in his room. FINIS.