Massachusetts Historical Society   

The Way to Excel.  
MEDITATIONS, Awakened by the DEATH of the Reverend Mr. Joshua Moodey; With some Short Character of that Eminent Person: Who Slept in Jesus, 4d. 5. m. 1697.  
In the Sixty fifth year of his Age.  
By Cotton madder.  Josh. XXIV. 22, 23, 29. 
JOSHUA said unto the People,— ye have Chosen you the Lord, to Serve Him.  
Now therefore Incline your Heart unto the Lord.  
And it came to pass, after these things, that Ioshua, the Servant of the Lord, Dyed.  
BOSTON, in N. E.  
Printed by B. Green, and J. Allen.  
1697.   

Reader,  
TELL me not, that the Peoples being Taken with Publicola's Funeral Oration in Praise of the Dead Brutus, or the Decree of the Roman Senate, That it should be Lawful to make a Funeral Oration on such as deserved well of the Common wealth, made Polydore Virgil say, Hinc mortuos Laudandi mos fluxit, quem nos hody Servamus. The Book of Lamentations, on the Death of Josiah, is of an Elder Date; The Roll of Lamentations, on the Death of Jonathan, is of yet an Elder; And certainly, to be Imitated among the faithful People of God. Tell me not, that some Eminent Nonconformists have therefore Scrupled, the Preaching of any Funeral Sermons: that in some Reformed Churches, the practise of them is wholly omitted; that in the Primitive Churches, they were not practised until the Apostasy began; and that there have been Decrees of Councils against them. I readily grant, That the custom of Praising the Dead, has been Scandalously Abused; but I cannot grant, That the Abuse is best Corrected, by taking away all public Meditations, on the Funerals of Those, in whose Deaths God from Heaven speaks Great Things unto the Living. We do but wisely Fulfil our Ministry, by Watching, to svit the Words of God, unto those Works of His, which occur to our Notice, when Men of Note are taken away. Behold, According to the Laudable usage in the Churches of New England, the Meditations which have been Awakened, by the falling Asleep of an Eminent Person, who was, A Memorable Servant of those Churches! I am out of measure Astonished, when I red in an Author as old, and as great as Austin, the Wonderful Effects, which the pretended relics of the Martyr Stephen had upon those who repaired thereunto, for the cure of Maladies. The best sort of relics, are those which we have here preserved, & proposed; & it will be no Superstition, to hope, that a cure of Spiritual Maladies too generally prevailing, may be promoted, by Repairing unto them. And, I do not more question the Opinion of a very Learned man, concerning the Angels, whom we find mentioned in the Scriptures as doing very human Actions, Veros Homines fuisse, qui a Spiritu Messiae, et a Spiritibus Angelicis agebantur; et movebantur ad ea Agenda, quae ipsi non intelligebant, phantasia Eorum obsessa, et a Cogitationibus consuetis abducta: Qui Homines, Negotio peracto▪ ad quod fuerant a Deo adhibiti, discusso veterno, et cessant Ecstasi, ad Consueta munera reversi sunt, immemores eorum, quae Impulsore Spiritu Divino, aut Angelico, egerant: Than I do believe, That in our Actions, there is an Imitation of the Holy Angels to be endeavoured, by which a man, may become another Stephen.   

The way to Excel.  Acts VI. 15. — Looking steadfastly on him, they saw his Face, as it had been the Face of an ANGEL. 
SInce the Oracles of Heaven, have( with a most significant Admonition!) allowed a well served Church, to call its Pastor, by the Name of its Angel, we may now say, The Angel of the Church of Portsmouth, has newly taken wing! Yea, not the Least of the Angelical Chariots and Horsemen of New England, have departed from us, in the Withdraw of One, after whom that Bereaved Church, is crying, My Father, My Father!  
To praeserve the Idea, and Memory, of his Face, as far as the Infirmities of this Mortal State permitted any Approaches to the Angelical Character in it, is that whereto not only Nature does Invite us, but also Scripture does oblige us: 'Twill be but a compliance with that Edict of Heaven, Remember them who have spoken to you, the Word of God; whose Faith follow, considering the End of their Conversation.  
'Tis well known, That among the chief Works of the Most High, Created by the Son of God, at the First Beginning of Time, there were His Good ANGELS: Angels, which are Spiritual and Rational Substances, Created by the Lord, for His own Immediate Service and Honour. None Deny, None Dispute, the Existence of those Good Angels, but men that are under a more than ordinary Possession of Evil Ones.  
Our Lord Jesus Christ, has given it, as a Description of that Future State, wherein He will make us Happy for ever, Math. 22. 30. They are as the Angels of God in Heaven. And if we Hope, to be Happy in that Future State, we must endeavour to Anticipate it, by being very Holy in our Present State. But the way for us, to be very Holy, is to Resemble, and Imitate, the Angels of God in Heaven, while we are on Earth, as far as we are able. Every Holy man does a Little of This; and how much of it, was done by that Holy man, who is now gone to Live, and Praise, and see CHRIST, among the Angels for ever, may be proposed with some Advantage unto the Exhortation, wherein I have a few Things to Preach unto the People.  
But my Exhortation must be introduced, with a Report of that Glory, which the Martyr Stephen, while he was yet on Earth, attained unto.  
There being occasion to choose Deacons in the Primitive Church, that so they who were to give themselves continually unto the Ministry of the Word, might be Released, by the faithful Cares of those Deacons, from Secular Encumbrances; One of them was the Blessed Stephen; who being the First that arrived unto the Crown of martyrdom for our Lord Jesus Christ, in the New-Testament, had in the Name of Stephen, which signifies, A Crown, a notable Specification, of the Event and Reward, which will attend all our Sufferings for the Lord.  
It was then an Age of many Miracles wrought by the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ; and such a measure of that Spirit, possessed this Excellent man, that by the Impulse of that Spirit, He could, with all Assurance, perceive when the Spirit was going to work Miracles, and apply himself to accompany the Miracles of the Spirit, by some wonderful Actions of his own. This Illustrious Worker of Miracles, was Accused before the Council at Jerusalem, for saying, That it was the Design of Jesus, to destroy the Temple, and the City, and alter the Rites, which Moses had, from God, commanded unto Israel. When he appeared before the Council to answer this Accusation, 'tis here said, They saw his Face, as it had been the Face of an Angel.  
Concerning the Face of an Angel, we have a Remarkable Account, in what we red about one of the Angels, in Mat. 28. 3. His Countenance was like Lightning. And we red concerning a Great man, who had got the Face of an Angel, by being much with the Angels, in Exod 34. 10. Behold, the skin of his Face shone. If we carry the passage now before us, unto the Highest sense, which it would lay claim unto, we are to suppose, That such a splendour was discernible upon the Face of Stephen: And surely, if they who discerned it, had not had the Heart of a Devil in them, they durst not have gone on, to Abuse a man, that Appeared before them, with the Face of an Angel. Alas, the more of an Angel there is in any man, the more Stones will the Devil procure to be thrown at such a Man! But, behold, the Agreeableness of the matter; Stephen was persecuted for vilifying of Moses; and, behold, at this very Time, he is vindicated with a Shine upon his Face, like that once upon the Face of Moses. The Things here spoken by Stephen, were those very Things, which the Angel Gabriel, had formerly spoken unto the Prophet Daniel; and behold, the Aspect of an Angel adorns him, in his Discourse.  
We may from hence, take Leave to Observe, That a Saint on Earth, may arrive to those Attainments, that shall make him Look like an Angel of Heaven.  
There are Angelical Excellencies, a Degree whereof, poor man, sorry man, sinful man, even while such, may very much attain unto.  
But now, this CASE calls for our Attention; What are those Excellencies, that would make a Saint, Look like an ANGEL?  
And the General Answer hereunto is, The Excellencies of Holiness, For,  
First, The Angels of God, have many Excellencies, the Imitation whereof cannot by men in this Life, be Reasonably proposed. The Angelical Majesty, as a Mortal Eye would not be able steadily to Behold it, much less, in this Mortal State, may we Affect it. A man may not wish to Shine like Stephen, in this World, and have a Face, that may dazzle the Spectators. Or, what would it avail, if a man could make a Glare on his Face, by smearing it with some of the Noctiluca's invented by the Modern chemistry? A Devil has before now, pretended unto such a Face. 'Tis not the Face, but the Grace, of an Angel, which is here to be Aspired after. It were a Foolish, and a Faulty Thing, for any man, to be ambitious, of wearing in this World, such a Figure, as that in Dan. 10. 6. His Body like the Beryl, and his Face as the Appearance of Lightning, and his Eyes as Lamps of Fire. Immortality itself, is one of the Angelical Excellencies. But, while we are among Mortals here, we must submit unto the Laws of Mortality, and be willing to Dy, When, and How, the sovereign God shall order it. There are also, those Flights of Wisdom, and those Heights of Power among the Angelical Excellencies; wherein, 'tis not for us, to Dream of being Like them, until we are become, The Children of the Resurrection▪ It was the ruin of our First Parents, to imagine, in Gen. 3. 5. They might be as Elohim! No, this cannot be, until our Lord Jesus Christ, has by a New Birth brought us into that World to come, where, the Wise Converters of many to Righteousness, will be those, who shall Shine as the Brightness of the Firmament, and as the Stars for ever and ever! Our Lord Jesus Christ, will make us the Angels of the New World. Indeed the Angels now turn and move all the Wheels of the Kingdoms of this World, but we are they that shall Receive the Kingdom that cannot be moved.  
But, Secondly, The Excellencies of Holiness,[ For, the Saints, are the Excellent!] These are They, wherein the Imitation of the Angels by men, may be very far proceeded in. The Angels of God, are styled, in Mat. 25. 31. The Holy Angels; and in Dan. 4. 17. The Holy Ones. 'Tis not as they are Mighty Angels, but as they are Holy Angels, that we must propound our coming to Look like unto them. These Holy Angels, never did, and never will Sin against their God; but are continually Serving of Him; They Serve Him Day and Night in His Temple! And it may be, the Bright Garments, wherein these Angels of Light, have appeared, may be an Emblem of their Holiness and their Purity. Now it hath been the Will of God in our Lord Jesus Christ concerning us, that there should be set before us, the Greatest Exemples of Holiness for our Imitation. And hence, as we have the Greater example of our Lord JESUS CHRIST Himself given unto us, to Direct and Excite and Promote our Holiness, with a Charge, To be Holy, as He that hath called us is Holy; So, we have also the example of the Holy Angels given unto us, That we may strive as far as may be, to be Like unto them in their Holiness. Hence when the Psamist of old saw the Angels praising of God, he cried out, O my Soul, do Thou so too! Yea, some Interpreters Judge, That when the Face of Stephen looked like an Angel, it was no more than what you and I may thro' Christ who strengtheners us, reach unto. q d. The Consolations of the Holy Spirit of God, so filled him, that he discovered not the least Consternations in his Face: His Face was as Joyful, and Serene, as if he had stood free from all the Sorrows of this World, among the Angels of God.  
I remember the Apostle Enjoins the Woman in the Church to have a covering on her Head, in Token of Subjection to her Husband; Because of the Angels.[ 2 Cor. 11. 10.] Why, if you turn to the Beginning of the sixth Chapter of Isaiah, you'l find the Angels before their superior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple assuming a Covering, out of the Reverence which they pay unto Him. Hence then, says the Apostle, it becomes Women to take Example by the Angels; let them consider, how the Angels behave themselves in the Presence of the Son of God, who is the Grand Representative of the Image and Glory of God; and let them in their Habit show some Analogy to the Habit of the Angels: betokening their Subjection to the man, who is under the Lord Jesus Christ, the Image and Glory of God, while They the Women, are so of the man. But I only touch on this gloss, by the by. What I insist on, is, That the Angelical Example is to be imitated.  
Indeed, we shall, as long as we Live in this World, come far short of the Original, when we go to writ after the Angelical Example. In this Present Evil World, we cannot approach near to the Holiness of the Good Angels: Much of Sin, and Fault, & Folly, will unavoidably cleave unto us: That Leprosy will never wholly out of the Walls, until the Clay-house be utterly demolished: There will be as much Distance between the Blessed Spirits and Us, as between Giants and Children, as between Stars and Gloworms, as between the Cedars of Lebanon, and the hyssop that Grows out of the Wall; Thus it will be, until we come at length to dwell[ And, Oh! Why do we no more Long for it!] with the Innumerable Company of Angels, in another World.  
However, to Attempt the Imitation, is the ready way to be Excellent. Particularly in the Ensuing Instances.  
I. If a man could have his Eye upon the Face of God continually, would not that procure the Face of an Angel for him? It would make a man Look like an Angel, if he were Looking unto God, in the Lord Jesus Christ continually. Of the Angels there is that Account given, in Mat. 18. 10. In the Heavens, they do always behold the Face of my Father which is in the Heavens. The Angels do converse with GOD continually. And, why may not we press after a converse with GOD, a little Emulating the Angelical? To be Heavenlyminded, by having the God of Heaven almost always in our minds, and by being in the Fear of God all the Day Long; This were to be as the Angels are! Oh! That we were thus, Filled with all the fullness of God.  
First, We may have a continual Apprehension of GOD in our minds. In every Place, we may apprehended GOD Wherever we are, we may Subscribe to that Article of the Ancient Faith, in Psal. 139. 7. Lord, Whither shall I flee from thy Presence? What if we should never be from under the Awe of such a Thought as that, The Omnipresent God observes all my ways! And we may apprehended GOD, in every Thing. We need not stay at any Second Causes; but we may with a Spiritualized Soul, Soar up to some Notice of God in all. Upon all the Works of Creation we may say, The Finger of God is here! And we may make the Positions of the Pauline Philosophy, in Acts 17. 24, 28. God made the World, and all Things therein; In Him we Live and Move and have our Being. Upon all the Works of Providence, we may say, This comes from that God, whose kingdom Ruleth over all. And we may make the Conclusions once taught by our Lord, no doubt alluding to the Two Birds, whereof one was to be killed, the other to be Let Loose into the Open Field, at the cleansing of the Leper, in Mat. 10. 29. Two Sparrows, one of them shall not fall on the Ground without our Father. To be lead unto some Notice of GOD continually, This, O This, it is Angelical. 'Tis Godliness. What is Holiness, but Godliness? This were a little of the Angelical Holiness.  
Secondly, Our continual Apprehension of GOD, may bring a continual Dedication to GOD, upon all that we Have, and all that we Do. If we Glance at inferior Ends, yet we may not Stop there: All our Ends are to be Swallowed up in GOD. We should not, with any patience consent unto it, that any but GOD, should have our Strength, our Time, our All. Whatever Possessions are bestowed upon us, we may put them under that Consideration, which the House of David had, in Psal▪ 30. Tit. Dedicated Things. All our Possessions, all the Powers of our Spirits, all the Members of our Bodies, our Estates, our Credit, our desirable Friends; we may contrive with ourselves What acknowledgements may GOD have out of these Things: And Improve them no farther, than as Instruments, whereby GOD may be Acknowledged. Yea, and our daily Actions; may we not be driving a Trade for GOD in all? As 'tis said, in 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whatever ye do, do all to the Glory of God: So, our Eating, our Drinking, our Sleeping, what is it for? We may distinctly say, I do This, that I may be supported in the Service of God. Thus, our Labours, our Travels, our Visits, and our Exercises of Religion, we may thus Ennoble them, I do This, I will do it carefully and cheerfully, because God hath Commanded my doing of it. A Dedication to GOD, is the proper meaning of Holiness: And very Angelical would be our Holiness, if we could be frequent, and constant in such Acts of Dedication.  
Thirdly; Our continual Apprehension of GOD, may produce our continual Satisfaction in GOD, under all His Dispensations. Whatever Enjoyments are by God conferred upon us, where lies the Relish, where the Sweetness of them? Truly, we may come to Relish our Enjoyments, only so far as we have something of GOD in them. It was required in Psal. 37 4. Delight thyself in the Lord. Yea, And what if we should have no Delight, but the Lord? Let us ponder with ourselves, over our Enjoyments; In these Enjoyments I See God, and by these Enjoyments I Serve God! And now, Let all our Delight in, and all our Value and Fondness, for our Enjoyments, be Only, or Mainly, upon such a Divine Score as This. As far as any of our Enjoyments led us unto GOD, so far let us Relish it, Affect it, Embrace it, and rejoice in it; O taste, and Feed upon God in all; and Ask for Nothing, no, not for Life itself, any further than as it may help us, in our Seeing, and our Serving, of our GOD. And then, whatever Afflictions, do lay Fetters upon us, Let us not only Remember, that we are concerned with GOD therein, but let our concernment with GOD procure a very profound Submission in our Souls. Be able to say, with him, in Psal. 39. 9. I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it. In all our Afflictions, Let us Remark the Justice of that GOD, before whom, Why should a Living man Complain for the Punishment of his Sin? the Wisdom of that GOD, whose Judgments are Right; the Goodness of that GOD, who Punishes us less than our Iniquities do deserve. Let us behave ourselves, as having to Do with none but GOD, in our Afflictions: And let our Afflictions make us more conformable unto GOD; which Conformity being Effected, Let us then say, 'Tis Good for me that I have been Afflicted. Sirs, what were this, but a pitch of Holiness, almost Angelical! Oh! Mount up as with the Wings of Eagles, of Angels; be not a sorry, puiny, mechanic sort of Christians any longer; but Reach Forth unto these things, that are thus before you!  
But, in fine, 'Tis our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who is, The Face of God. That is His Name, frequently in the Old Testament; and in this Hint, I have given you a Golden Key to come at the sense of many passages in the Sacred Pages, about, The Face of God, and, The Light of that Face: 'Twas the Messiah. Tis then our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who is to be the more Immediate Object of our Apprehensions, when we would become Angolical; 'Tis God in our Lord JESUS CHRIST: Whenever we entertain any Thing of GOD in our minds, it should be with a CHRIST, and thro' a CHRIST. Those who do all they can, to Forge a CHRISTIANITY, without a CHRIST, are so far from Like Angels of the Lord, that they are Traitors to the King of Heaven!  
II. We may render ourselves Angelical, by our Endeavours of a present, and a pleasant and an Universal Obedience, unto the Lord JESUS CHRIST, the Lord of Angels. Who's are the Angels, but the Angels of the Lord? And,[ as in 1 Kin. 18. 12. and Act. 8. 39.] The Spirits of the Lord. Our Lord JESUS CHRIST is the Lord General of all the Angels; He is the Lord of Hosts; and all those Hosts of Heaven are under His Command; We red in Psal. 103. 20, 21. They do His Commandments, harkening unto the Voice of His Word: They are His Ministers which do His Pleasure. The very Highest Angel in Heaven desires and studies to be a Servant of the Lord JESUS CHRIST: The Great God, would soon strike him down from Heaven, with Hot Thunder-bolts, if he did not so. Even Michael, the Archangel, has Received that Charge from God, concerning our Lord-Redeemer, Do thou Worship Him! Gabriel himself, must give this Account of himself, I stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ; namely, As a Servant standing in the Presence of his Master.  
Come then; Let every one of us, become the Servants of our Lord JESUS CHRIST. By consenting to the Methods of Grace in the New Covenant, Let us yield ourselves unto our Lord JESUS CHRIST, as unto our LORD; and say, with him in Psal. 119. 38. Lord, I am thy Servant, Devoted unto thy Fear. Let us Reckon it the Highest Pleasure unto ourselves, to be always Pleasing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Let us Esteem it the Highest Honour unto ourselves, to be always Honouring of Him. To be, A Man of God, is to be like an Angel, An Angel was called, in judge. 13. 8. The Man of God. We are Men of God, when we become the Devoted Servants of our Lord JESUS CHRIST. Sirs, The Bright Angels of Heaven, Invite us, to become their Fellow Servants, by giving ourselves up unto the work of Witnessing to the Truths and ways, of their Heavenly Lord. When we have Solemnly Consecrated ourselves unto this Work, Then, whatever Commands our Lord JESUS CHRIST lays upon us, Let us Readily, Joyfully, Universally yield Obedience thereunto. Be upon the Wing, as the Angels are, to do every thing, that our Lord Jesus Christ would have to be done. Delay none, Despise none, Refuse none, of the Commandments, which our Lord Jesus Christ shall give unto us; but say, as in 1 Joh. 5. 3. His Commandments are not Grievous. And whatever we shall know to be Acceptable unto our Lord Jesus Christ, Let us Immediately Do, what we know: Let this be Argument Enough unto us, for any thing, though Flesh and Blood[ Body and Soul] be never so much against it: My Lord JESUS CHRIST would have me to Do this Thing! Thus our Labour should be according to our Prayer, That the Will of God may be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.  
III. To be ve●y Serviceable is to be Angelical: To Do Good, is the Disposition of a Good Angel. Those men, whose perpetual Business, tis, To Go about for the Doing of Good, as, they are like the Lord JESUS CHRIST,[ Act 10. 38.] So they are like the Angels, that wait upon our Lord Jesus Christ. The Angels are always employed in some Service, for our Lord Jesus Christ, and for those that belong unto Him. 'Tis said, in Heb. 1. 14. Are they not all ministering Spirits? Oh! Let it, in like sort, be our Ambition, to Minister some way or other, for the Good of them, that are to be the Heirs of Salvation; and let us be much and oft, in studying with ourselves, What Good may I do, with those Talents, where with my Lord Jesus Christ has betrusted me? How many Good Offices, does the Bible Report, as done by the Angels of God, for the People of God? And, how many such Good Offices are still done, for the People of God, by the Angels of God, which Encamp as an Host about them that Fear Him? Christians, If we are advised of any Opportunity to Do Good, Let us be as Ready to do it, as the Angel that came down to the Pool of Bethesda, was to help the Miserables assembled there. Yea, though they should be never so Poor, never so Small, never so Mean People, that we may Do Good unto, Let us be ready to Do it, with all our Hearts. The First Apparition of an Angel, that we red in the Scripture, was to Relieve a Poor Maid, in Trouble of Spirit. The Martyr Bradford, That man had the Face of an Angel, concerning whom it was Noted, He was always, either with Purse, or Tongue, or Pen, doing of Good. Whatever Company we fall into, tis easy for us, ordinarily to Think, What Good may I do in this Company before I Leave it? That man Speaks with the Tongue of Angels, who will never dismiss his Company, without some Conscientious Essay, to Speak what shall be Profitable unto them. And, Inventions to Do Good, and be Benefactors to all that are about us, the more Upright we are, the more we shall seek out many such Inventions. There is an Angelical Air upon them!  
IV. Near Approaches to God, in Devotions and Communions, full of Intimacy with Him, will give a man, if not the Face, yet the Heart of an Angel. When was it, that the Face of Moses, had an Angelical, and an Extraordinary Lustre upon it? It was, when he had been with God, in the Mount. We red, in Exod. 34. 29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the Two Tables of Testimony, the Skin of his Face shone. They that are very much with God, in those Exercises, wherein the Power of Godliness, does mainly consist, will contract a Lustre therefrom, and be somewhat like the Angels, made Partakers of the Divine Nature. To be often in Secret Prayers, and Secret Praises, with Raised Strains of Heavenly Zeal before the Lord, This is to be as it were, of the Angelical Fraternity! Yea, 'Tis a Golden Passage of Chrysostome, That the very Angels themselves, cannot but Honour the man, whom they see Familiarly and Frequently, Admitted unto the Audience, and as it were Discourse with the Divine Majesty. Truly, whether the Angels may Reverence these men or no, these men do Resemble the Angels. It becomes more Notably thus, when men do often set apart whole Dayes, for their Prayers, and their Praises, and are With God in the Mount, for whole Dayes together. Great Things did the Angels do for Moses, Great Things for Elias, who often spent whole Dayes alone with the Lord; And what said an Angel unto Daniel, when he had been spending whole Days at such a rate, Thou art a man of Desires, and an Angel thinks not much to fly down from Heaven unto thy Conversation! Such Dayes, do leave an Angelical Savour upon the Souls of men; they Leave our Souls, for many Dayes afterward, under such a Gracious, and Generous, and Serious, & Watchful, and Useful bias, as has the Face of an Angel thereupon. And therefore, the Lords Dayes; Let us keep them with a peculiar solicitude, a singular Elevation, of Sanctity. It was the privilege of John, in Rev. 1. 10. To be in the Spirit on the Lords Day. sirs, If we are so, we shall be with the Angels on the Lords Day; And if with them, then like them. To be wholly under the Confinement,[ I mistook the word, I should say, Liberty!] of Religious Applications, throughout our whole Christian Sabbath, Let us not count it, as a Ceremonious person once called it, A being on the Rack a whole Day together. Angels have strangely visited and comforted some on the Rack; but never such as complained, that a strict Lords Day put 'em on a Rack. During the whole Day, Let our Thoughts be full of God, and Christ, and Heaven; During the whole Day, Let our words be Few, and Fitt, and Savoury, and such as may Minister Grace unto the Hearers; During the whole Day, Let our Earthly Defilements be Banished from us; Let our Hearts, be every Hour Sallying forth with Numberless Ejaculations to the Lord. Such Lords Dayes, will Ripen men into Angels at the Last! But on the Lords-Day, there sometimes does Recur, a most special and signal opportunity to Draw near unto God; namely, The Lords Supper; an Ordinance of the Nearest Fellowship with Heaven; an Ordinance, wherein a CHRIST Suffering for us, is, by the Symbols of Bread and Wine so tendered unto the Faithful, that in their Obeving His Appointment thereof, they do with Ineffable Advantage partake of Him. Well then, Let our Preparations for this Great Ordinance, be with as much of Solemnity, as if we were to Dy ourselves, at the Time, when we do Annunciate here the Death of our Lord. Let us Examine ourselves, & Supplicate our God, before we come to the Table of the Lord, as if we were to Dy when we come. And at this Holy Table, where Man Eats Angels Food, Let us Fix our Meditations on our LORD JESUS CHRIST, with all possible Attention, with all suitable Affection. Thus, Beholding, as in a Glass, the Glory of the Lord, we shall be Changed into the same Image, from Glory to Glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now, 'tis that Glory that makes an Angel!  
V. An Heart much affencted with the Lord JESUS CHRIST, will procure the Face of an Angel, unto the man, who hath an Heart so affencted. Unto the Angels, there is nothing so precious, & nothing so glorious, as the Lord JESUS CHRIST; yea, 'tis our CHRIST, that makes the best part of their Heaven for them. Our Lord JESUS CHRIST, is, as the Apostle Enumerates it among the Mysteries and Evidences of our Faith, in 1 Tim. 3. 16. Seen of Angels. But how Seen? Truly, Seen with Wonders, and Seen with Raptures, and Seen with Endless Hallelujahs. Would we be Like the Angels? Then Let our Lord JESUS CHRIST be Seen by us, as the Best Thing in Heaven and Earth, and as infinitely Better than the very Angels themselves. At the Incarnation of our Lord JESUS CHRIST. What were the Songs of Angels? in Luk. 2. 14. There was a multitude of the Heavenly Host, praising of God, and saying, Glory to God in the Highest! Would we be like the Angels? Let us then join in a Consort with those Morning Stars, and Sons of God. It was with Joy Unspeakable and full of Glory, that the Angels attended upon our Lord JESUS CHRIST, first throughout His Humiliation, and then, unto His Exaltation Let the whole of That, be the most Ravishing Subject of our Contemplation; Let us Love to see our Lord JESUS CHRIST, first Suffering, and then entering into His Glory. And let our Acclamations, be like those of the Angels, upon those marvelous Dispensations of the Grace of God! When the Angels do Look on the Lord JESUS CHRIST, they are Covered with Astonishment, and cry out, O Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Hosts, all Heaven is full of thy Glory! And shall not we so Look on that our Lord of Glory? When the Angels do Speak of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, they make a most reverend mention of His Holy and Reverend Name, and say, Oh! there is none among the Sons of the Mighty, that may be compared unto this Lord. And shall not we so speak of that Great King, with a Tongue, like the Pen of a Ready Writer? Something of Christ, the Angels must have; they would think themselves to be Starved, if they had not this Manna to Feed upon! sirs, Let the Meat of our Souls be the Fruit growing on this three of Life; & Let the Drink of our Souls be, the Honey of this Rock: This is the daily Repast of Angels; This Nourishment will Angelify us in a little while. What shall I say? The Mystery of CHRIST, is the most grateful Contemplation of the Angels: Those Cherubims about the Ark of God, we are  told, in 1 Pet. 1 12. They Desire to Look into these Things. I say then, Go and do Likewise.  
VI. If we would always Behave ourselves as before the Face of Angels, we should at length obtain the Face of an Angel, by the Exactness, the Circumspection, the Accuracy of our Behaviour. It was a Good Memento, written upon a Study-Wall, Angeli adstant; or, The Angels of God stand by! Did men Remember the Eye of the Invisible Angels upon them, in all their ways, how grave, how cautious, how pious would they be; and at Last, how like unto those Angels! If a man, were as bad as Balaam himself, yet the bare suspicion of having the Eye of some Angel upon him, would be enough to stop him from Rushing on to Sin. Why shouldst thou Sin, says the Wise man, in Eccl. 5. 6. Before the Angel? If we were Wise, we should often think, I am now before some Angel! and that Thought would make us Wise. The Aged Apostle said unto a younger Minister, I charge thee before the Elect Angels: from whence 'tis infallibly sure, That the Elect Angels take notice, how we Acquit ourselves, each one in his Charge. Said the Psalmist, in Psal. 138. 1. Before the Gods I will Sing praise unto thee: The LXX translate it, I will sing praise unto thee, before the Angels. Christians, The Angels take Notice of us, in all our Employments, yea, in our Closest Retirements. We give no Praises to God, we Perform no Duties, we Endure no Troubles, we Resist no Temptations, but the Angels of God, are the Witnesses of what we do; we are a Spectacle to Angels in all of our Encounters. Well, Now Let our Deportment, be mightily under the Influence of this Consideration; The Angels take Notice; What Report will the Angels of God, give of my Behaviours! It has been propounded as a Rule of Prudence, for a man, wherever he comes, to Imagine, that there is present some Eminent, Wise, and Good man, to see and hear all that passes. Man, There is an Angel to see and hear all that passes, wherever thou comest; This is no mere Imagination. Could we, like the Servant of the Prophet, in the Mount, see the unseen Regiment of the World, by the Subordinate Government of Angels, what an Awe, what an Awe, what an Awe would it strike us with! The Angels of the Lord see, how men are Disposed, and Employed, for the Service of Their Lord, and gladly contribute their unknown Assistences unto that Service. But it cannot be any other than a Grief unto those Angels, to see Enormities, in those, for whose welfare they are concerned. If they have Joy over a penitent, they must needs have some sort of Grief over a Transgressor. Yea, in all probability, the miscarriages of such offenders, work in them a sort of distaste, which inclines them, on many accounts, to withdraw from the Offenders, until they have Washed themselves over again, In the Fountain set open for Sin & for Uncleanness. Now, Let this consideration accompany us, in all our Walk; and let the Eye of an Angel be more to us, than the Eye of a Cato, could be to any Roman. The Face of Angels will at last be gained, by such a Consideration!  
VII. Let us Beware of every Sin; for Sin will Turn a Man into a Devil. Oh! Vile SIN, horrid SIN, cursed SIN; or, to speak a more Pungent word, than all of That; Oh, SINFUL Sin; how Pernicious art thou unto the Souls of Men! Tis said, in 1 Joh. 3. 8. He that Committeth Sin, is of the Devil. Holiness will make men Incarnate Angels; but Wickedness will make them Devils Incarnate. An Impenitent Sinner; hath he the Face of an Angel? No, but the Heart of a Devil in him. Let your Zeal against all Sin then, be like that of the Seraphim. The Angels, are Seraphims, or Burning ones; They Burn[ and so let us!] against all Sin, because of its being so contrary & provoking to their most Holy Lord. Sirs, Mark it; If any of you witting, and willingly, Sin against God, you do as the Devils do, and as the Devils would have you to do, and as our Lord Jesus Christ speaks, in Joh. 8. 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil, and the Lusts of your Father ye will do. Dreadful words! There is the Image of the Devil, and there is the practise of the Devil, in every SIN. To Commit SIN, is human; to Indulge it, will be Diabolical. But especially, there is much of the Devil in Apostasy from Good Beginnings. Of the Devils, we find in judas 6. They kept not their First Estate: They once joined, it seems, in Praising of God, with the Angels of the Blessed Regions; but they Left it all. You that have Left the Societies, and the Exercises, of Christianity, wherein you were at First Engaged; Behold, who your Leader is! The first and great Apostate, the Devil, is your Leader, in this Desertion; And, alas, whither will he led you? There is much of the Devil also, in Hypocrisy under Good Professions. When there was a Secret, Rotten Hypocrite, among the Disciples of our Lord. Our Lord said, in Joh. 6. 70. He is a Devil: Indeed, the Devil is never so much a Devil, as when Transformed into an Angel of Light. When strict pretenders, and pleaders, and it may be, Preachers of the Gospel, shall yet Cloak some Hidden Practices of Dishonesty under their fair pretences, Behold, Men playing the Devil horribly. What shall I say more? The Devil is an Unclean Spirit, a Lying Spirit, a Proud Spirit, a Spirit full of Envy. Oh! Take heed lest you be of such a Spirit, and so, Lest you Perish with the Devil and his Angels, throughout Eternal Ages.  
Thus, the Rules of becoming Angelical, have been set before us.  
But if we do now Humbly Reflect upon ourselves, for our not Living up to these Rules; we cannot easily be more Humble in such Reflections, than was that MAN OF GOD, the Reverend, JOSHUA MOODEY, who from his essays to obtain the Face of Angels, is now gone unto the Place of Angels.  
All the Churches of NEW ENGLAND, Considered him, as a Person, whom an Eminency both in Sense, and in Grace, had made Considerable. All the Churches of BOSTON, enjoyed and Admired, his Accomplishments for the Evangelical Ministry, many years together. The Church of Portsmouth,( a part of the Country that very much owed its Life unto him!) cries out, of, A Deadly Wound, in his Death; and is ready to cry out, Our Breach is Great like the Sea; who can heal it? His Labours in the Gospel, were frequent and fervent; whereof the Press hath given some Lasting, as the Pulpit gave many Lively Testimonies: and unto his Cares to Edify his Flock by Sermons, he added more than Ordinary Cares to do it by Visits: No man Perhaps being a kinder Visitant. He was not only Ready to Do Good, but also to Suffer for doing it; and as he was Exemplarily Zealous for a Scriptural Purity in the Worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, so, he cheerfully Submitted unto an Imprisonment, for that Cause of God, and of this Country; wherein, like Stephen, he had the Honour to be the First, that Suffered in that way for that Cause, in these parts of the World. Briefly, For Piety, for Charity, and for Faithfulness to the main Interests of our Churches; all that knew him, and know the worth of these things, wish that among the survivors, he may have many Followers.  
He was of a very Robust and Hardy Constitution, and a notable Exception to the General Remark, Raro solent Ingenia insigniter faelicia, Robusta sortiri Corpora; and, it may be, too Prodigal of his Athletick Strength, in doing the Service, whereto a Good Master called him. Nevertheless, when a Complication of Distempers, was divers Months before his Dissolution, brought thereby upon him, he Exceedingly Lamented, His Neglect,( as he accounted it) of his past Opportunities to be Serviceable. At Length, Coming to Boston, for Advice about the Recovery of his Lost Health, his Distempers here so grew upon him, as to Threaten a Quick ●eriod unto his Pilgrimage. His Distressed church at Portsmouth now Importunately made their Prayer with Fasting before the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, that they might not be deprived of so Rich a Blessing; and he was himself Exceedingly desirous to have Returned unto Portsmouth, that he might establish his Flock yet further against all Temptations to forsake the Right ways of the Lord. But Heaven determines otherwise.  
When the Last Summons of Death came to be Served upon him, he had neither Time, nor Strength, to speak very much; and they that have spoken much while they Live, sometimes must not speak very much at their Death. His Discourses, were generally full of Self-Condemnation; and indeed, that man knows not how to Dy, who thinks to Dy otherwise, than Condemning of himself, Exceedingly. The most of what he said, was, I suppose, unto a Minister, who Visited him, the Day before his Expiration. Unto that Minister, he signified, That he was rejoicing in the Hope of the Glory of God; That he was Longing to Go to the Precious Christ, whom he had choose and served; That the Spirit of Christ, had Comfortably taken away from him the Fear of DEATH. When that Minister urged him, to Leave with him, any special Desire, that he should Judge proper to be mentioned, He said, The Life of the Churches! The Life of the Churches! and the Dying Power of Godliness in them; I beseech you to Look after that! The Minister at last said, The Lord Jes●● Christ, is now, Sir, going to do for you, as once 〈…〉 Joshua [ your namesake!] He is just going to take from you, your old, sorry, ragged Garments. Those of your Flesh, and cloth you with change of Raiment, with the Garments of Heavenly Glory, and give you a place among His Angels: Whereto he Replied, with some Transport, I Believe it! I Believe it! After this, he said little, but Lay in an uneasy Drowsiness, until the Afternoon of the Day following; which was, The Lords Day; and then, even on the Day, whereon he had so often been in the Spirit, he went unto the Blessed World of Spirits; on the Day, which he had so often sanctified in a Sacred Rest, he went into his Eternal Rest. A Fatal Day was this Day unto our Land! It is an Omen of a sad Fate unto a Land, when the Angels do say, Migremus hinc; Let us be gone! How far he had the Face of an Angel, while he Sojourned here, no doubt Envy may Cavil; and I have sometimes, with wonder seen it, in the poor Energumens among us, that when the Minister, who might be the most likely to do them Good, came unto them, the Fiends that possessed them, would make the Ministers Face Look so Dirty and Swarthy, that they must by no means aclowledge him. This I may venture to say, without Flattery: It is Long ago, that in another 〈…〉 se than Aquinas, we called him, An Angelical Doctor; And he has now attained, The Face of an Angel, without the least Wrinkle in 〈…〉 He is, with Stephen, and the Angels of God, 〈…〉 ne to Behold the Glory of the Lord JESUS ●HRIST, and bear a part with the Many An●●●● round about the Throne, saying, Worthy is the Lamb that was Slain! I cannot but Recommend him to you, as one that was, A Candidate of the Angelical Life; and solicit you to Remember, not only the Lessons, and Counsils, and Warnings, which you have had from him, in private or public Dispensations, but also his Example, to Follow him, wherein he Followed,[ and in many things he Followed!] the Lord JESUS CHRIST.  
FINIS.