A SERMON PREACHED IN S. George's Church SOUTHWARK, AT THE FUNERAL OF THAT Pious and Worthy Gentlewoman, Mrs FRANCES FENN. By R. SPARK of NEWINGTON, M. A. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. LONDON, Printed by T. James, for Joseph colyer, and are to be Sold at his Shop at the Angel on London-Bridge, a little below the Gate, 1679. Imprimatur C. ALSTON. Novem. 30. 1678. TO THE Right Worshipful AND His Honoured Friend, JOHN TREGONWELL, Esq; And his Virtuous LADY. UPon Request I have assumed the Confidence to Expose this following Sermon to Public View; and if it meet with a kind Reception and a candid Interpretation (which I question not) from yourself, and your worthy Family, it is all I beg: As for Others, if they be truly Learned, they will be Civil; If Critical and Captious, I say to them in the words of Catullus, (Non vident id manticae quod in tergo est.) Let it be sheltered under your Protection, it is enough, and the greatest Ambition the Author aims at. I am happy it hath so Noble a Patron: I shall not trouble you with a prolix or tedious Discourse of this nature. And therefore desiring the Great God to Shadow You, your Pious Lady, and invaluable Stems, under his Almighty Power, and establish You and Yours, not only on Earth, but in the highest Heavens; is the Prayer of Your most Obliged Servant ROBERT SPARK. A Funeral Sermon. The Text is in GENESIS the XXIII. the first Clause of the 2. Verse; Then Sarah died. THat silent Witness of Mortality presents the sad Occasion of our Assembly, to Celebrate the Funeral of Mrs. Frances Fenn; and for a Mournful Meeting, what more convenient and necessary than Psalms, Sighs and Tears of Sorrow and Lamentation. Discourse with Matter, Matter with Action, Action with Affection, Affection with Opportunity, Opportunity with Occasion, should concur, and concord together. Suitable for which occasion I have elected and chosen out this Text which speaks of Death, a sad and doleful Messenger, and end of all: And whilst I apply to this sad Spectacle, apply your Hearts to Sorrow, your Eyes to Tears, and yourselves to Mourning; If not for her that is dead and gone, for she is happy, and acquiesceth from her Labours, and her good Works shall follow her, yet for your own sins; which will cause you, Volens nolens, will you, nill you, the Lord knows how soon, to follow her. But to my Text; Then Sarah died. Was Sarah the first that ever died! Was not Grandmother Eve, with many more, dead long before? If dead, why not recorded in Sacred Writ? What was eminent, what was admirable? What was remarkable or singular in her, or in her death, that she above all her Sex, above Eve herself, should merit the first Memorial? Then Sarah died. Certainly I know no other reason can be rendered, but this, That as Abraham was the Father, so Sarah was the Mother of the Faithful; and therefore the Holy Ghost, confers that upon her, which he denies to other Women, even a Noble and Honourable mention, both of her Age, how long she lived, and of the time of her death, when she died. When Sarah was 127 years old, so long she lived; Then Sarah died. Sarah though the Mother of the Faithful, though a holy and religious Matron, though a Saint and dear Child of God, yet Sarah died: Whence observe, Obs. The General and Universal condition of all Mankind, and that which the holy Apostle hath many hundred years since abundantly confirmed. Statutum est omnibus semel mori, It is appointed for all men once to die: Appointed and decreed it is, and that by Elohim, the Mighty God, who hath the disposing, ordering and appointing of all things, and whose Decrees and Appointments are like those of the Medes and Persians, they shall not, they cannot be altered or changed: All must drink of Sarahs' Cup, the Cup is full of one and the same Liquor, the Liquors drawn from one and the same Spring; now the Spring itself is poisoned, and if the Spring be corrupted the streams will be disturbed too, if the Root be cankered the branches will whither and die, and if the Head be out of order, the whole Body will be indisposed also. Now the head and the root, as of Sarah, so of all Mankind, was Father Adam. But Adam disobeying his Creator and transgressing the Law of his God, sinned not only in his own person, but in his humane nature, and so incurred the wrath and displeasure of his good and gracious God, and purchased the punishment of sin (which is death) not only unto himself, unto his own person, but also to all his Posterity. To this I may add that of the Apostle, Rom. 5.12. By one Man Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sin entered also. By one Adam, one Eve, two in Sex but one in Nature, one in offending, one in disobedience, the Woman seduced by the Serpent, the Man induced by the Woman, sin entered into the World, and Death by sin entered also; so death passed upon all Men, for that all have sinned. Adam at first might have lived freely, fully, happily, and plenteously, eating of all the Trees in Paradise except one: Now having tasted of that one, a necessity is laid upon him, and he must die. The cause of his death was the breach of diet, God forbade him the fruit of one Tree; this he hungreth for, and taste it he will, though it cost him his life. S. Augustine bringeth in our first Parents thus disputing in a Dialogue, concerning that fruit; If this Fruit be good, why may I not eat of it? If it be not good, why groweth it in Paradise? Demine dedisti hortum & negasta pomum, Lord hast thou given us the Garden and denied us the Apple. Therefore, saith he, God hath given thee the fruition and benefit of Paradise, that thou mayest know his beneficence, his bounty and goodness towards thee; but hath denied this one fruit, that he may find thy Obedience and Duty to him. This Duty and Obedience, neglected by our Grandfather Adam, Death the Lodge of every man's life cometh with insensible degrees upon the Children of Men. So that now assoon as Man gins to live, he gins a continual Voyage unto death, and there is none but is nearer death at the years end than at the beginning, to morrow than to day, to day than yesterday; by and by, than just now; and now, than a little before; each part of time, if time may be said to have part, that we may divide it, divides and cuts off so much of our life; and the remainder still decreaseth. Veniente pueritia (saith S. Aug. in Psalm. 127.) moritur infantia, veniente adolescentia moritur pueritia, veniente juventute moritur adolescentia, veniente senectute moritur juventus, veniente morte moritur omnis aetas: When childhood approacheth or cometh on, infancy dyeth, when adolescence cometh childhood dyeth, when youth cometh adolescence dyeth, when old age cometh youth dyeth; but when Death the King of Terrors cometh, all and every age dieth. Look how many degrees of ages we covet to live, so many degrees of death we desire to die. After an Old man, where is his Infancy, where is his Childhood, where is his Adolescence, where is his Youth? Shall he not truly speak, if he answers, All these are dead and gone? What speak I of ages, every year, month, day and hour of our lives, that we have lived in this vale of misery, is dead to us; and we are dead with them. What therefore is our life, but a gradation unto death? What is every minute thereof but a motion to our graves? Quotidie morimur (saith Seneca) Lib. 3. Epist. 24. We die daily every day, we lose somewhat of our life, and the more it increaseth, the more it dedecreaseth; the more it is lengthened the more it is shortened, and the longer we live, the nearer we approach unto death. Excellent to our purpose is that of Job, Job. 30.27. I know assuredly thou wilt bring me unto death; which is appointed for all the living as a Harbour or Haven for all Shipping. It may be when a Ship cometh within sight of land or near its harbour, a sudden and violent gust or blast of wind may repel and drive it back again into the vast Ocean; but thither, after it hath been tossed with boisterous waves, it will arrive at last: So must we (after many trials, crosses, and afflictions) at the gates of death. Omnes una manet mors & calcanda semelvia lethi. Saith a worthy Author. Death is the end of all, and once the way of Death is to be trod of all. As a River that riseth in the Forest, passeth by many Rocks, runneth and tumbleth, and maketh a noise, yet in the end entereth into the Sea, so fareth it with man's life: He cometh into the world with pain, and beginneth his course with pitiful cries, and is daily molested with sickness, and never ceaseth running till in the end he falls into the Sea of Death. As every man hath his Genesis, so he must have his Exodus; and as we are born to live, so we are born to die; and our dying on earth is but the taking our journey to Heaven. Why are we unwilling to lose that which cannot be kept? The good Pilot sits at the Stern to guide his Ship, and a good Christian to direct his life, must think on Death: Death is the door whereby we go out of Bondage, and Christ is the door of Liberty. Therefore, as he that is in Prison taketh great comfort to sit upon the Threshold, that when the door is opened, he may the sooner get out; so we must always have our hearts and minds fixed upon death, for die we must. We are all travelling unto one home, the habitation or house of death; which the Prophet in a proverbial manner calleth the way of all the earth; Josh. 23.14. Thus as death is certain, so it is as certain our life is short; which daily experience fully demonstrates. It is compared to a shadow, Psal. 102.11. My days are like a shadow that fadeth, and I am withered like grass; and Hosea the 13.3. it is likened to smoke that vanisheth; to a bubble that is dissolved; to a Weavers shuttle for swiftness; Job the 7.6. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they are spent without hope; and this he speaks in respect of the brevity of man's life, which passeth without hope of returning: in consideration whereof he desireth God to have compassion on him. To a spider's web, which is soon swept away; To a cloud that goeth away; Job 7.9. As the Cloud vanisheth and goeth away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more; that is shall no more enjoy this mortal life: To a vapour, that is soon dispersed, James 4.14. Ye cannot tell what shall be to morrow, for what is you life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and afterwards vanisheth away. Remember my life is but a wind; saith Job. 7.7. No wonder, if when the wind bloweth, the Leaf falleth; if when death cometh, the day ends. Is our life so uncertain, so full of inconstancy, and of so short a being upon earth? better than is it to die than to live, and the day of death better than the day wherein one is born; Eccles. 7.3. The day of death is not a perishing, but a parting, the soul is not lost to the body, but only sent before it unto joy. If the soul be carefully and painfully laid off, it is joyfully and happily laid up. Per nativitatem ad stadium per mortem ad praemium pervenimus: Through our nativity we come to the race, through death to the reward; through birth to a sea of sorrow, through death to the Heaven of Comfort; through birth to the Combat, through death to the victory; through birth to labour, through death to rest; by birth to mourning, by death to rejoicing; by birth to a life which is full of misery, by death to a life eternal, free from all sorrows. Death is rather the flight of sin, than the detriment of man dying; because to the Righteous death is not the end of nature, but of sin: As a father saith, To leave this world and inherit a better should seem nothing; Death is a passage from sin and corruption to glory and immortality; from this Earth to Heaven; from the company of Sinners, to the company of Saints; from sorrow to solace, from pain to peace, from sickness to safety, from persecution to triumph, from the bondage and slavery of Pharaoh, to the liberty and freedom of the children of God. When we are born we are mortal, but when we shall rise again we shall be immortal. We are alive in the Womb to die in the World, but dead in the Grave to live in Heaven. Our life is not compared to any thing that is permanent, but to those things that are momentary and of no long continuance. The date of our life is threescore years and ten, Psal. 90.10. and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we flee away. The Kingly Prophet could say it was but a span long. Moses and Solomon called it a life days. But what need we these Memento's or Remembrances, seeing we can turn ourselves no way, but something there is which may put us in mind of our mortality? Can you look upon your Watch, and not consider that as the hour passeth, so doth your life? Can you sit in the chairs by the fire side, and see a great quantity of wood or coals converted into smoke and ashes, and not consider with the Poet, Sic in non hominem vertitutur omnis homo: So man no man will suddenly become? Can you walk forth into the pleasant fields, and see how some grass is coming, some already withered, and some quite sprung up; Esay. 40.6. and not consider with the Prophet, All flesh is grass, and all the beauty and glory thereof as the Flower in the field? Can you feel the Air move and the Wind beat in your faces, and not consider the breath of man is in his nostrils? The strongest tenure of his life is but a puff of wind. Can you shoot in the fields, and not consider, as the arrow flieth in the air, so swiftly doth your life pass away: As Jonah's Gourd was soon come, and soon vanished, Jon. 4.6. so man is soon born, and soon dead. This World is as a Stage, Man as an Actor, when he hath played his part, he is gone. Our lives shorten, as if the Book of our Days was by the penknife of God's Judgements cut less. Our sins call for new plagues. We may observe that neither the planets above, nor the plants below, yield us expected comfort. God for our impieties doth cause the Heaven to be Brass, and the Earth Iron, and the Air with the Winds, to be tempestuous; Deut. 28. So almost every thing which was erected for man's use is become his enemy; and all because we unthankfully turn all things to Vice's corruption, which out of mercy were given for Nature's protection: And therefore what we have diverted to wickedness, God hath reverted to our revenge. We are sick of sin, and the world is sick of us; how soon doth the Sand run down the Hourglass? how quickly doth the Sun set? So speedily doth our time pass away. Future things are always beginning, present things always ending, and things past are dead and gone. While we live we die, and then we leave dying when we leave living; better is it therefore to die to life, than to live to death: because our mortal life is nothing but a living death, and life continually flieth from us, and cannot be withheld; and death hourly comes upon us, and cannot be withstood: No wisdom shall appease it, no policy prevent it, no riches bribe it. If all perils spare our life, yet time and age in the end will consume and annihilate it: S. August. (speaking upon those words of St. Paul) Rom. 8.2. Christ hath made me free from the Law of sin and death; saith thus, Lex peccati est ut quicunque peccarit morietur, Lex mortis terra est & in terram reverteris. The Law of sin is, whosoever offends, shall die; the Law of death is, dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return We are all going to our long and last home, to the house of eternity, Eccles. 12.5. Man goeth to his long home. How doth he go? He goeth swiftly, always in motion, night and day, sleeping or waking, labouring or loitering, this Post hastens; time and tide stays not. Again, He goeth insensibly, he doth not discern or perceive how his precious time doth fly from him; the shadow on the Dial passeth from one hour or figure to another, from the Suns rising to its setting; though its speedy transcendent motion is not observed or considered. So man passeth from one year to another, till he come to old Age and the Grave, and we take little or no notice of it; so insensibly doth our time pass away. There was never Orator so learned or eloquent, that could persuade Death to spare him or prolong his days; never Hector so valiant or Monarch so mighty, that could resist him. We must all submit and fall down at Death's feet; if he commands we must obey, if he calls we must away; no tears, no entreaties, no threaten will serve the turn or release us at that time; so strong, so stubborn, so implacable, and inexorable is Death. No man nor ways, no means, can oppose it; no not length of years, nor wisdom, nor riches, nor honours, nor beauty, nor strength; no nor that excellent grace and gift of Holiness and Piety. (Nay, if age) if virtue, if pity, if innocency, charity, or godliness, could work any relent or compassion in Death, from embrewing his cruel hands in mortal blood. See where age, where virtue, where pity, where charity, where innocence and godliness lies entombed; wholly defaced, clouded, eclipsed and over-shadowed with death. Oh Death how ir-relentful is thy heart, how bloody are thy hands, how impartial thy stroke, how general is thy arrest! The Ancient Fathers and Patriarches before the Deluge lived to vast years, to a great and miraculous age, some 700, some 800, some 900 years and more; yet at length, of all and every one it is said, he died. Samson was endowed with extraordinary and wonderful strength; at one time he slew 1000 with the Jawbone of an Ass, and yet he died: Judg. 16.3. Solomon was a wise King, the wisest that ever was, he knew the nature and the virtue of all Simples, from the meanest Herb to the biggest Cedar; therefore if any, surely he above others, might have preserved and kept himself from Death; and yet of him in the end it is said, he also died; 1 Kings 11.43. Abraham the Father of the Faithful, Noah a Preacher of Righteousness, David a man after Gods own heart, and many more, dear and precious in the sight of God, of whom the Scripture saith, They died. The Prophets were endowed with a greater measure of sanctification than their brethren, yet the Prophet Zechary joineth them altogether in one condition; Zech. 1.5. Your Fathers, Where are they? and do the Prophets live for ever? But what speak I of the Prophets, Patriarches, or Ancient Fathers, Christ Jesus our Holy and Blessed Saviour, the Son of God, his only Son, in whom he was well pleased; more Wise than Solomon, more Mighty than Samson, and more Righteous than Noah and all the Prophets; who did no wrong, who knew no sin in himself, yet assuming and taking the burden of our sins upon him, became subject to the same doom of mortality with us; and he died also: Nay, Sarah in my Text, though she lived 127 years, and was Wise, , Beautiful, and Innocent, yet neither he Wisdom, Chastity, Beauty, or Innocency, could defend her in this case; for saith the Text, Then Sarah died. There have been, and there are, ways and means discovered and found out to subdue and make gentle the most cruel and savage Creature; to break and mollify the hard Flint, yea, the hardest thing in the world; but not any thing to assuage and mitigate Death's fury; Resistitur ignibus, resistitur nudis, resistitur ferno, resistitur regibus, resistitur reguis, & imperiis, venit una mors & quis ci resistat. Fire, Water, and the Sword, may be resisted; Kings, Kingdoms, and the greatest Empires may be resisted; but when Death comes, that is invincible; and who can resist it. Non miseretur inopum. Death pitieth not the Poor, respects not the Rich, feareth not the Mighty, spareth not any. Man goeth irresistably; neither Men nor Angels, Physic or Physicians, can keep him here; for here he hath no abiding place: it stands him in hand therefore to look for one to come. It is as easy to obstruct the Course of Nature, or to hinder God's Covenant of day and night. Man may as well restrain the Sun from rising, the Sea from flowing and ebbing, and the Wind from blowing, as keep Man from dying and going to the place appointed for all living; for this condition, as the wise man saith, is the condition of all times and continueth still; thou shalt die the Death: for this is an universal truth of all men to be received and believed, and duly and truly pondered. It is appointed unto men that they shall once die. Now having cleared and proved the Doctrinal part, That Death is the general condition of all men, let us consider how nearly it doth concern us to bethink ourselves of this, and to fit ourselves for Death; to take care for another Life, a more glorious and eternal Life; and seeing we must die, therefore let me persuade you to take three or four considerations with you, which may serve as incentives to encourage and stir you up to the execution and performance of this Duty 1. Be moved to consider, That when you come to die, all earthly and worldly things will fail you and forsake you for ever; All your terrestrial and natural Endowments, external and outward Enjoyments, your excellent Parts, great Parentage, noble Birth and Breeding, your ingenious Wit, wonderful Wealth, stately Crowns, vast Kingdoms, invaluable Pearls, costly Diamonds, magnificent Houses, fruitful Lands, dear Wives, loving Parents, sweet Children, and precious Friends; when Death comes all these are gone: Prov. 27.24. Riches are not for ever, neither doth a Crown endure to all Generations. The glittering Sun of all earthly glory and pomp, will certainly set; which your own experience and Scripture evidence doth sufficiently evince (Prov. 23.5.) Riches have wings and they fly away; 1 Cor. 7.29, 30, 31. The fashion of this world passeth away; 1 Tim. 6.7. We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we shall carry nothing out. What was there that the World was able to afford to delight the heart of man, which Solomon wanted? Surely nothing. He had stately and glorious Buildings, fruitful and pleasant Vineyards, Orchards, Gardens, and what not; all manner of excellent Trees, rare Fruits, variety of Servants, a vast Exchequer, ravishing Music, Men and Women Singers, and whatsoever his Eyes desired: yet when he had taken a serious view of all things, his conclusion is, All is vanity; Eccl. 2.11. It is strange to see how men here toil themselves, beat their Brains, tyre their Spirits, break their Sleep, perplex their Thoughts, rack their Consciences, ingulf and drown themselves in Cares and Troubles, hazard their Souls, thinking to eternize their Names and Mansions; and when they have done all, like the poor silly Silkworm, die in their Work. Therefore let not Riches and Honours lift up your hearts and prompt you to Pride, which is too too common; and if Riches increase, set not your hearts upon them, for they are mutable and uncertain, and cannot satisfy the capacious soul of man, nor profit him in the day of trial; but will perish and that for ever. O then think of your precious souls and dying bodies, and provide in time for death, for die you must; and what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul. 2. Seeing if to die is the general condition of all men, consider with yourselves whether you are going to Heaven or to Hell. O beloved, I do hearty wish, that all that hear me at this time, would truly ponder this, and effectually apply it to their own souls; That there is one place for the Just, another for the Unjust; one place for Believers, another for Unbelievers; one place for Saints, another for impenitent Sinners; one place for the Sheep, another for the Goats: A dreadful Night or a glorious Day; endless Torments or endless Pleasures; a perpetual Happiness, or a perpetual Infelicity; an eternal Life, or an eternal Death, a glorious Heaven, or a dreadful Hell. Now my dear friends stop here, and consider unto which you do belong. Have you any certainty of a blessed and glorious Estate, that Heaven and not Hell will be your place and inheritance? A man that knows he must resign his habitation in a short time, is very unwise and unprovident, if he takes no care or order for another: So will it be with us, that inhabit these Houses of Clay; Job 4. We are sure we shall leave them, how soon we know not; perhaps to morrow, peradventure to day, it may be presently; we are therefore silly and imprudent if we take no care for the future. What said Saint Bernard (de Eccles) to his Soul, Adhuc domum quidem habes (O anima) sed certum est, quoniam in brevi casura est domus tua, nisi tu provideris aliam, eris pluviae, vento, & frigori exponenda. O my Soul, thou hast yet a House to dwell in, but be assured thy House will shortly fall and moulder away to dust, and unless thou provide thee beforehand of some other place of abode, captive, forlorn, and naked, shalt thou be exposed unto the wind, the rain, and the cold. Alas, Who can stand in this stormy tempest? Happy therefore, thrice happy, and for ever happy, shalt thou be my soul, if then thy conscience tell thee, thou canst say unto thyself in faith and full assurance, Egredere anima mea, Egredere, Go forth my soul, go forth, I know, that if my earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God; 2 Cor. 5.1. That is, an house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens. Let us therefore look about us, and make it our business to search and try ourselves, prove our own hearts, examine ourselves whether we are in the Faith; for whatsoever we sow we shall undoubtedly reap; and in the place where the tree falleth there it shall lie; Eccles. 11.13. If it falleth to the West, it lieth to the West; if it falleth to the East, It lieth to the East; if you live and die towards Heaven Heaven, will be your place and habitation; but if you live and die towards Hell, Hell will be your place and home: for according to your works and actions in this world will be your sentence and portion in the world to come; 2 Cor. 5.10. And is it not sad and dreadful to believe that you have precious and immortal souls, and do not know nor consider whether they shall be saved or damned; stand or fall, live or die everlastingly: yet this is the case of millions of men and women in this terrestrial Globe, that are making post-haste to Hell, and think and hope they are in the way to Heaven. Let us therefore believe, and repent and amend our lives, that Heaven that glorious place, and not Hell the place of terrors, may be our Country and Inheritance. 3. Consider when Death comes to strike the fatal blow, your conditions are stated, your places of abode are determined without mutation to all eternity; then your immaterial souls are for everlasting joy or endless sorrow; for an everliving life, or a never dying death; for eternal glory, or eternal ignomy. Oh therefore, all ye that are careless and remiss, know and call to mind in time, that if ye be found without faith and repentance, and holiness, but a moment after death, ye are miserable and undone for ever; for Ab infernis nulla redemptio. After death all ways, all means, all hopes and helps fail: there is no wisdom, no work or device in the grave; Eccl. 9 God will then be implacable and irreconcilable, thyself unpardonable, heaven not attainable, and your souls lost irrecoverably. There is no repenting in the Grave, nor working out of Salvation with a filial fear and trembling; no Prayers, no Sermons, no Ministers there: It is in the time of Life that you are to labour and make preparation for Death; and know that delays breed danger. Take heed, it is a fearful thing to neglect the offers of Grace, and the sweet invitations of Divine Love and Mercy. Remember profane Esau, who for one morsel of Meat sold his Birthright, but afterwards, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of Repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears (Heb. 12.17.) So the foolish Virgins; through their procrastination lost their admission into the Bride-chamber, and fruition of the Bridegroom; when the door was shut then they knocked, crying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; but it was too late, for said the Bridegroom, I know you not; Mat. 25.12. It was procrastination that did undo them. Delay is the Rock, the Shipwreck, the Destruction of many Souls. No doubt but there are many in Hell which had a meaning in their life time to receive Christ, to believe in him, and to honour him as their Saviour; but God in his justice hath cut them short, and deprived them of that, which when they might they refused to accept of. It is reported of the Prophet, concerning the People that neglected the re-edifying of the Temple; Hag. 1.2. The People say, that the time is not come, that the Lords House shall be builded. So many think it is not yet time for them to look Heaven-ward: youth must have its course; the covetous bag must be filled, the pleasures of the flesh must be fully tasted, ambition must come to its height; than it will be time to retire, than it will be time to look towards Heaven, to repent of sin, and to prepare for death; Nam mora damnosa est. Deferring is dangerous. Qui non est hodie cras minus aptus enit. He that is unfit to day, makes himself the more unfit to do it on the morrow, by his procrastination. The more the Sun declines to the West, the less we feel the heat of it; for as the Sun sets, the Air cooleth: So the nearer an Unbeliever draweth to his Grave, the more his heart freezeth, and the beams of Grace have less power and force upon his Soul. Oh therefore, that we would be wise to take our time, and not neglect those blessed opportunities which God affords us. There is a time coming, and we do not know how near it is, in which many shall seek to enter into the Kingdom of God, and shall not be able. Oh what woeful yelling, what pitiful crying, and earnest knocking, there will be then at the Gates of Heaven, with Lord, Lord, open unto us; when that heavy doom, Depart from me, I know you not, shall be their portion. Behold now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation; 2 Cor. 6.2. Say not therefore anon, anon, or to morrow we will repent and believe; why not to day, why not even now, seeing now is the appointed time. Let me desire you to be up and be doing, while it is day. The night will come when no man can work; Joh. 9.4. Then to your Christian task with all speed, industry, and dilgience; work out your salvation with fear and trembling, while your Candle is burning, your Sun shining: Will you loiter and see your Glass running, yourselves dying, and your souls perishing? Are you resolved to seek and secure the Kingdom, whilst ye have time; or will you bestow nothing but the infirmities and imperfections of decayed old age upon God, and your immortal souls? Oh that ye were careful in this your day, to know the things that belong unto your peace, before they be hid from your eyes. 4. The fourth and last consideration (to move us to prepare for death, seeing it is the general condition of all men) is to consider, that it is the most dreadful astonishing spectacle on this side Hell, to see a graceless wretch, an unbelieving and profane worlding breathing out his last. There are many lamentable and sad sights in the world; as to see a man starving and languishing for want of food, or in violent pains for want of a Physician or Chirurgeon; or drowning for lack of a Boat, or some other help to receive him; or to see a dead carcase, a body without a soul. Ah, but how sad unutterrable and amazing sight is it, to behold a wicked non-repenting sinner in his cold sweats and dying groans, with his precious and invaluable soul, standing on his pale, cold and trembling lips. O miserable case, when suddenly the senses fail, the body languisheth; when thou shalt feel the sting of thy sins tormenting thy soul, and see the flames of Hell flashing in thy face, thy heartstrings ready to burst asunder, and the ghastly apprehensions of speedy and hellish horror shall dog thy conscience; Death at thy elbow to prey upon thee, and the infernal Lake wide open and ready to swallow thee up: Who in this estate would not value a minute of repentance, to a Monarchy of wealth! O woeful condition of those godless men and women, whose belly is their god, whose Heaven is their pleasure, whose cursed jollity is but a feeding up to an eternal slaughter: The day is coming, wherein every minute of their sinful unsatisfying joys shall be repaid with a Thousand thousand Millions of years frying in that unquenchable fire, and when the damned Ghosts shall forth of their incessant flames see the celestial and glorious reward and remuneration of the penitent and pensive Souls, which they have despised and unworthily abused; then shall they gnash their teeth, and tear themselves, and horridly utter that too too late recantation, We fool's thought their lives madness, and their end without honour; but now they are accounted among the Children of God, and have their portion amongst the Saints; but we with demoniacal and hellish spirits. Let me therefore beg of you all to exempt yourselves from all supine and carnal security: And seeing you must die, and your time short, and that a thousand chances may every day bereave you of your lives, make such conscience of all your ways, words and works, as if you were presently to give up your accounts to him that lives for ever: Qui consider at qualiter erit in morte pavidus & providus erit in operatione; He that considers always of dying, will be cautious and circumspect in his doing: And not like those careless souls, who spend their days, their months, their years, nay their whole time in sin and wickedness; not considering what will befall them in the end. Now let me fasten two Reasons upon you (why you should consider that you must die) and to confirm you in the truth delivered: First, if men seriously did consider, that they are mortal and must die, and shortly appear before the Tribunal of the just and great Judge; it would prove an absolute and sovereign antidote, to expel the greatest evil, sin, and the dreadful consequences of it; and a means to avoid the greatest loss the loss of our immaterial Spirits, those excellent beings; and the way to procure the greatest good, Heaven and eternal blessedness. What is the reason and cause of that inundation of profaneness and wickedness, and those prodigious sins; as Treasons, Murders, Uncleaness, Rebellion, that are now in the world, and in this Kingdom, and in all places, in most families, and persons of all qualities and degrees; but this their not duly and effectually considering, that they are mortal and must die and come to Judgement. This is the reason, if not one main ground of sin, and of the neglect and omission of all sacred duties. For did they believe, and remember they must die and come to Judgement; and that their naked Souls and their naked crimes and sins, must shortly be manifested, and stand before the dreadful Bar of the most tremendous Judge of all mankind (who will render unto every man according as his work shall be) no doubt it would impede and hinder their constant and desperate course of sinning. But alas it is the foolishness and unhappiness of most, that they defer and put of the consideration of death, till they feel and find they can no longer live. Secondly, Did ye believe that ye must die, and answer for all ye have done in the body, whether good or evil; this if any thing, would make you serious, diligent, zealous, and constant in the worship of God, and to work while it is day, before the night cometh wherein no man can work: For this world is for duty, the other for glory; this for repentance, the other for recompense; Hic locus luctae, ille coronae, This is the place of combating, that of crowning; this of working that of rewarding; this for thy mourning, that for thy consolating. The Apostle exhorts us to consider one another, to provoke to love and good works, Heb. 10.24, 25. And so much the more as we see the day approaching. Our work is great and weighty, Diversions are various and many, Adversaries potent and subtle; thy strength is weak and small; thy time is short and uncertain; thy account is large and great; death and judgement are at the door; therefore be sluggish and loiter no longer, but be active and vigilant, now or never. Surely, did you in the depth of your serious thoughts cogitate of your apparent and inevitable danger, that would incite and stir you up to duty, To seek the Lord while he may be found; Esa. 55.6. to call upon him while he is near. While God gives you life, opportunity, peace, strength, and liberty, to seek him; before the gate of life be shut, God with-drawn, and mercy quite gone for ever. Were profane sinners truly sensible of their peril, they would pray more ardently, more deeply, more affectionately, more effectually; than ever they have done. This Consideration of Mortaliry put holy Job upon Prayer; Job 7.21. Why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity, for now shall I sleep in the dust? Chap. 14.13. O that thou wouldst hid me in the grave, until thy wrath and indignation be past; that thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me. David, when the sorrows of Death compassed him, and the pains of Hell got hold upon him; Then, said he, Psal. 116. I called upon the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. I might also give you the example of Hezekiah, Jonah, Paul, and Silas, with many others; but I hasten to the Uses and Application: yet let me tell you a through affecting Meditation of your Dissolution and Change would make you speedy in prosecuting your known necessary and religious duties, which God requires at your hands. Therefore let me beg of you, before the Decree bring forth; Eccles. 9.10. before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, prepare for Death; for how shall ye escape, if ye neglect so great salvation? Now let me improve and apply it in a threefold Use; the first is for Exhortation, the second for Reprehension, the third for Consolation. Is it so, that Life is short, and Death certain? both which have been sufficiently cleared and proved. This then calls and cries aloud unto all those, that have made no provision for Death and Judgement, to admire at the unwearied patience, the matchless and amazing mercies of the infinitely good and gracious God. Be exhorted therefore to stand upon your guard, and watch, and be in a prepared readiness; Luke 12.40. For the Son of Man will come at an hour when ye think not. All Estates are exhorted to prepare and be furnished, Old and Young, Male and Female, Rich, and Poor, Noble and Ignoble, for the danger is great, if men be found unprovided: As Death leaveth them, so Judgement will find them. If it leave them in a state of Damnation, it will find them in a state of Damnation: So if it leaves them in a state of Salvation, it finds them in a state of Salvation. As Ishbosheth, being found asleep; 2 Sam. 4.7. was killed by Rechab and Baanah; so if we be sound asleep in Sin, and unprepared for the Lord, we shall be killed by Satan, that roaring Lion, that goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Because the Man that was not prepared, came to the Wedding, Matth. 22.13. he was cast into outer darkness. As he is left behind, that is unprovided when the wind serveth, and the Ship under sail; even so he is left in Damnation, that is not prepared for Christ when Death cometh. Many Men make all the provision they can for this Life, which is uncertain, and forget Death, which is certain. The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, 2 Pet. 3.10. in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat; the Earth also, and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up. The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. A Thief, as well for stealing on us, as stealing from us, he comes in the dark, when no body seethe; watcheth an hour which no body knoweth. It may be he will come when thou art revelling or banqueting, as on the Old World; Luke 17.27. or when thou art drunk; as on Belshazzar; Dan. 5.25. or when thou art lying, as on Ananias; or when thou art committing uncleanness, as on the Israelitish Man and Moabitish Woman; Num. 25.8. Or when thou art coveting, as on the Rich Man in the Gospel; Luk. 12.20. O Fool, this night will they fetch away thy Soul from thee, than whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Which with so much wrack of Conscience, so much breach of Charity, so much wrong to Humane Society, thou hast scraped together. No Thunder now can beat into them a dread or fear of that, which then no power shall ease them of. We know Christ will come, let us prepare for his welcome. You are yet, through mercy, on this side the Grave, and not gone down into that place of Torment. You enjoy many gracious opportunities for your spiritual advantages, and are daily exhorted to relinquish and to leave your sins, and turn to God; to accept of Christ, to think on Death and Hell; that you may never see it, nor feel it: for there is much more in the Pains of Hell and Wrath of God, than ever you heard, or is possible for you to imagine. Be therefore persuaded to redeem the precious time which you have lost, in the well managing that little time, which through the Grace and Goodness of God you may enjoy. Seeing our time draweth nigh, and that Death will be the portion of us all; What manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy and godly Conversation? How careful should we be in fitting ourselves for our Change? How vigilantly to stand upon our Guards, and Watch, that we may not be unprovided, when Death comes to summon us to appear before our Creator. Secondly, This reprehends all those that slight and neglect this great and saving Duty, that do not prepare themselves for Death; knowing that they are mortal: As the audacious Atheist and impenitent Sinner, who put the evil day far from them; saying, Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die. They will satisfy their lusts, walk in the ways and imaginations of their own hearts; but hereby they make the breach wider, and themselves sevenfold more the Children of Satan, and at last sit down in everlasting woe and sorrow; for did they believe that they must die and be judged, and that they must appear in a very little time before the dreadful God, who will in no wise clear the guilty; surely they would quickly change their courses. Nevertheless these Vipers, these Devils Incarnate, these Monsters in the shape of Men, trifle away their time, and think that they are wise, when indeed they have no understanding. Wise they are, Jer. 4.22. but it is to do evil, to cavil and spurn against the truth; dispute against Religion and a Life of Piety: but to do good they have no knowledge. Is it not lamentable, to consider, how that Men, that know they must die and leave all behind them, should be so lethargical and mad, as not to mind Death in many days, it may be in many months together; yea scarcely to entertain a serious cogitation of Death or of Judgement at a House of Mourning; but in the very sight of the Dead they can laugh and quaff, and be vain, drink, feast, and discourse of Profane and idle Stories? It may be some may seem more religious than their Brethren, but as soon as the Dead Corpse is removed, and the Grave and Coffin out of sight, Death is no more remembered. Oh! how sad is it to think, how quickly the thoughts of Mortality do pass away, notwithstanding Death is at your very heels and before your eyes. Whither can you direct your eyes, and not behold that which preacheth or representeth Death? All the Winter Death is on the Trees, in your Gardens, on every Flower, at your Tables every day: You feed on the Flesh of dead Creatures, to tell you that you must die: And is not Death in your Beds every night? What is Sleep but the picture and image of cold Death? and your Beds are the representations of your dark Graves, and yet for all this the greatest part of the World foolishly and unadvisedly spend their precious time, not considering that they shall die. This is a sin, not only that the profane World are guilty of, but some, too many that profess the Name of God, and covet to be called Christians. They conclude upon a fitness and preparedness for Death, upon every slender and unwarrantable ground: They have a name to live; as it is said of the Church of Sardis, but it is to be feared that they are dead; therefore in this great Soul-business, let none be so foolhardy as to trust without examination; But let every man (as the Apostle saith) Gal. 6.4, 5. prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another; for every man shall bear his own burden. And so I pass to the third and last Use, and I have done. Thirdly, If it be so, that to die is the general condition of all men, this must needs consolate and comfort those that are prepared for it; for Revel. 14.13. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. They are blessed in three respects: I. In respect of the Place. II. In respect of their Society. III. In respect of their Condition. All which must needs comfort them. First, In respect of the Place, which is Heaven. For if we rightly consider the World, wherein we live, it is a Vale of Misery, a Prison, or place of Ignominy, Vexation, Afflictions and Trouble; as the Apostle saith, Rom. 8.22. We know that every Creature groaneth and traveleth in pain together, until this present time; but Heaven is a place of Joy, of Rest, of Comfort. This World is of short and no continuance, but Heaven is a place of continuance; it is permanent and everlasting. It is a glorious Place, the Holy Word of God admirably demonstrates it, by those excellent things to which it is compared, or by which it is called 1. It is called, Regnum, a Kingdom; for there such as are prepared for Death and die in the Lord, shall enjoy great Liberty, Honour, Power, Pleasure, and all good Things whatsoever. 2. It is called, Regnum Dei & Christi; Eph. 5.5. The Kingdom of God and of Christ, because that Jesus Christ having overcome Death, Hell, and Damnation, together with all the Enemies that did oppose us in the way to Heaven, doth there govern his Church Triumphant, with heavenly peace and everlasting tranquillity. 3. It is called by the name of Paradisus; Luk. 23. in respect of the plenty of all good and delightful things, which such as die in the Lord, I mean the Just, can either wish or possibly desire. 4. It is called by the name of Coelum tertium, The third Heaven; 2 Cor. 12. Which is called Coelum empyreum, id est, igneum: Not in respect of Fire, but in respect of the glorious Light that shineth therein; for as one saith, it is, Situ altissimum, quantitate maximum, natura purissimum, Luce plenissimum, & capacitate amplissimum. High in situation, great in quantity, pure in nature, full of light, and exceeding large, able to receive Ten thousand times more Persons than there are drops of Water in the Sea, or Sands lying on the Seashore. 5. It is called, Sancta Civitas, The Holy City, built with most precious Pearls, because the company that dwell therein are holy and pure, shining in Holiness, and glistering in Purity and Righteousness. 6. It is called, Summa Beatitudo, Inestimable Blessedness, because the Saints enjoy the full and glorious presence of the Blessed Trinity, wherein true Blessedness consists. 7. And lastly, It is called, Vita Eterna, Life Eternal, because there shall be no more Death nor Lamentation, no more Weeping nor Sorrow, but the prepared for Death shall enjoy these blessed Joys, so long as God shall be God, which is everlasting. This is the reward promised to all that die in the Lord; a large reward, and no man knoweth it, but he that enjoyeth it: Adeo magna est quod nequit numerari, adeo pretiosa quod nequit comparari, adeo diutina quod nequit terminari. So great as it cannot be numbered, so precious that it cannot be valued, so lasting as it is everlasting; so great, so precious, so lasting, is the Reward promised and prepared for them that die in him. Secondly, In respect of the Society; for here we live amongst profane, wicked, and sinful men, but there we shall have the happy fruition of innumerable Angels; Heb. 12.22. and have the Society of Saints, Patriarches, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, and the rest; and we shall enjoy their Fellowship after an undefiled manner; with all purity, amity, and everlasting concord: Where also we shall enjoy God our Creator, a God of so wonderful Might, Majesty, Excellency, Beauty, Glory, Love, as cannot be imagined; and Christ his only and dear Son, and our dear and precious Saviour. If a man had the enjoyment of all other things, yet without this all would be but misery and accursedness. This will be the Society of those that are called from Earth to Heaven. Thirdly, In respect of their Condition, They are Blessed; for they rest from all their Labours: For they which are prepared for Death, die in the Lord; and they that die in the Lord are with the Lord: saith St. Paul, Phil. 1.23. My Soul desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Death considered in Christ and joined with a holy Conversation, to Believers is an advantage; saith the Apostle; Phil. 1.21. Christ is to me both in life and death an advantage. Death is nothing else but a Bridge over this Tempestuous Sea, the World, to Heaven; God's Grace and Mcrcy made it so, not by making Death in itself good, but an instrument of good to the Godly. Death cannot separate them from God that live a pious life, but maketh them draw near to God; for then do we approach near to God and your heavenly Place, that excellent Society, and shall enjoy that Blessed Condition, to rest from our Labours, and to have our good Works follow us in glorious Recompenses, when we die in the Lord. And now the great and glorious God direct and enable us all, so to live and so die (that when the Trumpet shall sound, and the Dead shall be raised, and we shall be changed) we may with joy and rejoicing (and to our unspeakable consolation) hear that soul-ravishing Saying: Come ye blessed, inherit the Kingdom, etc. And now, Beloved, give me leave before I dismiss you, to speak something by way of an Encomium upon our Worthy Patroness deceased, the Relict of Mr. Robert Fenn, formerly Alderman of London. Should I be altogether silent, I should undoubtedly be prodigiously unjust to her who merited more than I am able to express. Now what came you forth to see or Hear? Of a Reed shaken with the wind, of one clothed in rich and glorious Apparel! Behold a Pillar in the Temple of our God, to whom it is given to shine in white and glorious linen, which is the righteousness of the Saints. Altogether superfluous it were to strew Rhetorical Flowers upon that Hearse, which covereth an enclosed Garden: In regard of her Candour, Innocency, Goodness, and Integrity: She was a Lily among the valleys: Though amongst Thorns, yet was a Cedar in Libanus. That House of Darkness, the Grave, is to receive the Earthen Vessel of an Heavenly Treasure till time shall be no longer. Her blessed Soul possesseth the Inheritance of the Saints; but this House of God must be filled with the Savour of her good Name, which is a precious Ointment now to be poured forth; and most deservedly in this place: For here she was built up to be an Holy Temple to the Lord. Her heart and her joy was here fixed. She Loved (Lord) the habitation of thine House, and the Place where thine Honour dwelleth. She was descended of a very good Family, and her Education was every way answerable to one of such a Quality. But I shall omit this, being (as I humbly conceive) more proper for a Herald than a Minister to give an account of. For my Discourse must take notice of her from her Second Birth, by which she became a Child of the Most High; and rejoiced thather Name was Written in Heaven; not by way of Ostentation, but as a ground of her Consolation: She was holy, just, and good; holy in her life, just in her ways, good and courteous to all. Her Life was a Looking-glass, wherein all Ladies and Gentlewomen might see to dress themselves and attire their Conversation. This Pious and Religious Matron was exceeding charitable, and made it her business, in imitation of her blessed Saviour, in the time of her life (so long as strength would permit) to go about doing good. Her House was an Eleemosinary, or (if you will) an Apothecary's Shop, where the Wounded and Diseased Poor might have Therapeuticks, Sanatives; Healing and Curing Medicines, without Price or Money. She was a second Dorcas, who delighted in Clothing the Naked, feeding the Hungry, relieving the Oppressed, visiting the Sick; and in administering to the necessities of the Saints. Her Ambition was terminated in the bounds of Moderation, that being good to the Poor, she might be rich in good Works: Discretion the Virtue of Virtues, waited on her; and that Grace, by which she so much undervalved herself, in that she most shined. The Vassal of all other Graces, Humility: for you might behold in her, when living, the most beautiful condescension in the bosom of magnitude, and make of her Manners a Censure of Vices; and of her Life Examples of Piety. But these are external signs of inward holiness. Her Heart panted after God; the Seal of Wisdom was upon her Lips, and she washed her Feet in Innocency: She turned away her Eyes from beholding Vanity; she considered her own ways, and turned her feet to God's Testimonies. That so now, they who will prepare Statues or Monuments for Virtue, may boldly plant the Basis in her Footsteps, which you shall imprint or erect. Many lament her, many desire her, but all do miss her. She trampled the World under her Feet, where Inconstancy is everlasting, and Glory but momentary; where Men live by Opinion, sin by Precepts, and amend not through impotency of offending; and as it were, never die but by sudden surprisal. She was a Directory in her Family, directing them in the fear of God and in the ways of his Commandments. Virtue is a rare thing, and so is a Virtuous Woman a rare Jewel, hard to be found; yet not so rare but may be found: for (lo) here is one; and therefore She may challenge the Character of the Wiseman, Her price is far above Rubies. The World was not worthy of her. Let not any envy at God's Grace upon her. Many Daughters have done well, but thou exceedest them all. She was zealous for the Lord, the Zeal of God's House, did even eat her up. She was fervent in Prayer, fervent in Reading. She followed the exhortation of St. Paul, not in putting on of Hair and Broidered Apparel, and the insolent impiety of these times; but in putting off of Apparel. The Ornament she had was in the hidden man of the heart, a meek and quiet Spirit. She was no scornful and curious Dame, but of a gentle, humble, and affable Disposition; and one that powered out her heart unto the Lord. She lived a Saint, she died a Saint, and precious in the sight of the Lord is the Death of Saints. Her works shall praise her in the Gates, and shall follow her with happy rewards. In a word, She hath fought the good Fight, She hath run her Christian Race with a good Conscience; She hath wrought out her Salvation with a filial fear and trembling: Therefore no doubt but her Soul is translated or metamorphosed into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God and her Heavenly Creator: and her Body, at the Great and General Resurrection, shall be reunited to her Soul, and shine like the Sun in the Firmament; nay it shall be made like unto the Glorious Body of Christ, which in glory exceedeth and excelleth all. And if her Body shall be so glorious, how glorious shall her Soul be, it is altogether impossible to imagine. But I must be silent, and put a period to my Discourse, for I want words to express her Worth. FINIS.