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<DATE>2007-08-22</DATE>
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<NAME>Robyn Anspach</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<P><PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
A SERMON, PREACHED At S^t. <HI>Gregories</HI> Church by S^t. <HI>Paul</HI>'s on Sunday the 13^t^h. day of <HI>Iune,</HI> 1658.</P>
<P>INTENDED For the <HI>Funeral</HI> Solemnization of IOHN HEWIT, D^r. of Di|vinity, and late Mini&s;ter there.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed, and are to be &s;old in S^t. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard, 1658.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>The Mourning BUSH. <HI>A Funeral</HI> Sermon <HI>upon</HI> I&s;aiah 57. 1.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>The Righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and mercifull men are taken avvay, none con&s;idering that the righteous are taken avvay from the evil to come.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<HEAD>The INDUCTION.</HEAD>
<P>_OUR Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> in the 22 Chapter of this Prophecie ver&s;. 12. makes mention of a day wherein the Lord of Ho&s;ts doth call to weeping and to mourning. And beloved, al|though there is no day where|in we are without Sin, and &s;o confequently no day wherein we &s;hould be with|out &s;o now; yet there are four &s;peciall dayes where|in our Lord God expects this duty from us, <HI>viz.</HI> The day of any heynous wickedne&s;&s;e comitted by our &s;elves or others. The day of any grievious judge|ment, whether per&s;onall or national inflicted. The day wherein the wicked pro&s;per and the ungodly
<PB N="2" REF="3">
triumph. Finally the day wherein any of Gods emi|nent and faithfull &s;ervants are &s;natch't away by death; It is not many dayes &s;ince there was &s;uch a day among&s;t us; and of &s;uch a day my Text &s;peaks of; and the want of a due &s;ence and &s;orrow, and Mourning when &s;uch a day comes, is that which the Prophet bemoans in the words of my Text. <HI>The rightous peri&s;heth &amp; no man layeth it to heart,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>This Text is a &s;orrowfull and dolefull complaint in every part and clau&s;e of it, and looketh 2. wayes.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Upon the good, and bemoans their mi&s;ery.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Upon the wicked, and bewailes their ob&s;tinacy.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>It complains of the Righteous, that their per&s;ons are de&s;troy'd. It complains of the wicked, that their hearts are hardned. The former complaint is pure|ly from grief, the latter is from grief mixt with anger, both are very vehement and fervent. witne&s;s the reiteration of the words in both parts. The former in three clau&s;es. <HI>The Righteous peri&s;h. Mer|cifull men are taken away. The Righteous are taken away from the evil to come.</HI></P>
<P>The latter in two clau&s;es, <HI>no man laying it to heart, none con&s;idering it.</HI> In which we may &s;ee what an holy pa&s;&s;ion our holy Prophet was in; and I pray God grant that we may re&s;emble him in grief and &s;orrow, when we heare both of the righteous, and of the wicked.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of the complaint the Prophet makes con|cerning the Godly. <HI>The Righteous peri&s;h, and mer|cifull men are taken away. The Righteous are taken away from the evil to come;</HI> And this complaint
<PB N="3" REF="3">
concerning the righteous you have it fir&s;t propoun|ded, and then mitigated. Fir&s;t 'its propounded in the two clau&s;es, (which are for &s;ub&s;tance and &s;en&s;e one and the &s;ame) <HI>The Righteous peri&s;heth, and merci|full men are taken away.</HI></P>
<P>But withall &s;econdly, The complaint is in the latter part of the ver&s;e, leviated &amp; mitigated, where 'tis &s;aid. <HI>The Righteous are taken away from the evil to come.</HI></P>
<P>Look upon the matter of the complaint it &s;elf as &s;et down in the&s;e two clau&s;es. <HI>The Righteous peri&s;h, and mercifull men are taken away.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Where you have &s;et before you both their di&s;po&s;ition and their condition.</P>
<P>Their di&s;po&s;ition is very good. Their con|dition is &s;eemingly very bad. Their pious di&s;po&s;i|tion. Their mi&s;erable condition. The Characters of the one, <HI>viz.</HI> their di&s;po&s;ition are the&s;e two, <HI>Righteous, and mercifull men.</HI> The other <HI>viz.</HI> their condition is &s;et forth in the&s;e two Characters, <HI>Peri&s;hing, and taking away.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t we will take the Character, that &s;ets down their di&s;po&s;ition. <HI>The Righteous and mercifull men,</HI> tho&s;e that the Prophet bemoans are &s;aid to be <HI>Righ|teous and mercifull men.</HI> The fir&s;t word is &s;ingular in the <HI>Hebrew</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> where Interpreters, glo&s;&s;ing upon the Text, &s;uppo&s;e it to be &s;ome particular per|&s;on that the Prophet points at, and the glo&s;&s;e under|&s;tands it of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, who&s;e pa&s;&s;ion he fore&s;aw, and con&s;equently foretells: and the&s;e titles mo&s;t &s;trictly and fully belong to him who is called the Son
<PB N="4" REF="4">
of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Malachy</HI> 4. <HI>v.</HI> 2. All others are but &s;tars of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &amp; their lights borrowed from him: he it is who is compleatly righteous, and of him it was verified, he peri&s;hed and was taken a|way, none laying it to heart. But we mu&s;t not con|fine it to Chri&s;t; for although the fir&s;t word be &s;in|gular, the &s;econd is plurall. The mercifull men, and men of mercy, which is meant of tho&s;e righteous ones that were cut off &amp; di&s;troyed by <HI>Mana&s;&s;es</HI> that fill'd <HI>Ieru&s;alem</HI> with bloud. But that you may &s;ee how ju&s;tly the&s;e Characters belong to tho&s;e per&s;ons; take them a &s;under; fir&s;t he call's them <HI>Righteous</HI> and the <HI>&s;ervants of God.</HI> Mini&s;ters or others may have this name given them in a qualified &s;en&s;e, <HI>for there are none righteous, no not one,</HI> (&s;ave him that I named even now) not but that it may belong to them too, for they are Righteous, really, interpretatively and comparatively.</P>
<P>They are righteous really, in as much as their per|&s;ons are ju&s;tified before God, through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is called by the Prophet <HI>Ieremy, The Lord our Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</HI> Ierem. 23. v. 6. who is &s;aid to <HI>co|ver us with a robe of righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> I&s;a. 63. who is &s;aid by <HI>S.</HI> Paul <HI>to be made to us righteou&s;ne&s;s, and that we are righteou&s;ne&s;s in him.</HI> Thus they are righ|teous becau&s;e ju&s;tified, and not onely &s;o, but al&s;o becau&s;e their natures are renewed after the Image of God, that is cretaed in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and true holine&s;&s;e, in which re&s;pect they are partakers of the Divine nature: and al&s;o righteous in ordering their lives according to the rule of the word, which all
<PB REF="4">
Gods &s;ervants &s;ets before them, and &s;eek to live ac|cording thereunto, that they may give God his due, and men their due; and thus it is true of the &s;ervant&punc; of God, they are righteous really. And Interpreta|tively they are &s;o, for as much as God is plea&s;ed to accept them notwith&s;tanding their weakne&s;&s;es, When <HI>Abraham</HI> was to offer up his Son <HI>I&s;acak,</HI> it is &s;aid, he offered his &s;on, in regard he was willing to do it, it was therefore Interpretatively &s;o. So the &s;ervants of God in as much as they are lovers and followers of God, and &s;trive after righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, not allowing them&s;elves in any wickedne&s;&s;e, making con&s;cience of all known duties, &s;o that God accepts them as perfectly righteous.</P>
<P>And comparatively they are righteous, though not ab&s;olutely, yet comparatively in re&s;pect of o|thers, as it's &s;aid of tho&s;e Worthies St. Ambro&s;s &s;peaks of. The righteous if compared with the wicked of the world are Worthies, &s;o they are righ|teous compared with the ungodly.</P>
<P>In the foregoing Chapter ver&s;. 12. the Prophet &s;peaks of certain Epicures and others, which &s;ay, <HI>we will fill our &s;elves with &s;trong Drink, and to morrow &s;hall be as this day, and much more aboundant.</HI> So in re|&s;pect of &s;inners, the &s;ervants of God may have the ap|pellation of righteous, and not righteous onely, but merciful men, or as the Hebrew hath it <GAP DESC="foreign"> men of mercy: which may admit of a double con&s;tructi|on, whether taken in a pa&s;&s;ive or active &s;ence; In a pa&s;&s;ive &s;ence they are men of mercy: or as the He|brew word will further carrie it men of good
<PB N="6" REF="5">
will or favour, they are men to whom God bears a &s;ingular favour, an e&s;pecial love; There is a Philan|thropie which God hath to all men, and though he hates the work of their hands, yet he loves the work of his own hands: but God here &s;peaks of a fa|vour and good will, which he hath to his &s;ervants, and you have it fully and &s;ummarily &s;et down in the 24^t^h P&s;alme latter end; <HI>The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield, the Lord will give grace and glory,</HI> &amp;c. And according to this con&s;truction it may be taken: the Prophet I&s;aiah &s;peaking of the righteous, how that they are taken away by men of crueltie, intimates though they are hated by the wicked, they are men of love, in re&s;pect of God: whil&s;t the world re|proches and reviles them, yet God loves them, though they peri&s;h and are taken away we mu&s;t not think that God hates them, they are his favorites. Some men think God &s;hould not let the wind blow upon his &s;ervants: but it is not that of a mother, but a fatherly love, with which God loves his children, nor was <HI>Benjamin</HI> the le&s;&s;e beloved becau&s;e the Cup was found with him. The righteous they are &s;till men of mercy, yet I rather conceive we ought to take it in the active &s;ence, they are men that love mercy and &s;hew mercy, and to this I encline in regard of that paralell place the 7. Micah. 2. <HI>The good man is pe|ri&s;hed from off the earth,</HI> &amp;c. So here men of mercy, that is, men that are practi&s;ers and lovers of mercy. Mercy is a condolencie of others mi&s;ery, and withall an endeavour to deliver them out of it, &s;o that there is both pittie and bountie, bowels of mercy and
<PB N="7" REF="5">
works of mercy, thus a righteous man is a mercifull man: the wi&s;e man joines them both together Prov. 21. and 21. And indeed they never goe a&s;under: our Saviour hath coupled them together, <HI>ble&s;&s;ed are they that hunger and thir&s;t after righteou&s;ne&s;s, for they &s;hall be filled,</HI> then it followes ble&s;&s;ed are the mercifull, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The righteous have bowels of mer|cy, their inwards are troubled at the mi&s;erie of others, and hence their heads con&s;ult which way they may do them good: the liberal man devi&s;es charritable things upon his bed, and their hearts ake for their brethren, they inquire how, what, which way, to do them good, they are &s;til going out of their doores in mercy, their eyes behold which way they may do acts of mercy, their ears li&s;ten to their complaints, and their hands are ready to relieve; it would be too much time &s;pent to let you &s;ee how this &s;piritual River overflowes, by giving and forgiving, by vouch&s;afing to our Brethren &s;piritual and corporal Almes, that concerne their &s;ouls and bodies, by re|mitting all tho&s;e injuries they do again&s;t us: and thus it is true, they are men of mercy as for the wicked, Solomon &s;aith, their very mercies are cruel, when they pretend mercy it is in crueltie, nay they &s;hew mercy that they may be wicked, but the righteous he &s;hews mercy even to his bea&s;t, it runnes down even unto them, and hence it is here called merci|full men, or men of mercy: but now look upon the complaint it &s;elf, and that &s;ets forth their &s;eeming mi&s;erable condition,</P>
<LIST>
<PB N="8" REF="6">
<ITEM>The one, of perishing.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The other, of taking away.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The righteous peri&s;h, the mercifull men are ta|ken away: the fir&s;t of the&s;e is very &s;trange and hard, e&s;pecially of the Righteous that he is &s;aid to peri&s;h; Peri&s;h is capable of various acceptations.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>1.</HI> There is a perishing that neither &s;eaZes on the Righ|teous nor the wicked.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>2.</HI> There is a perishing befalls the wicked and not the good.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>3.</HI>And there is a perishing befalls both the godly and the wicked.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">1. There is a peri&s;hing that befalls neither the Righteous nor the wicked: a peri&s;hing of totall de|&s;truction and annihilation. The P&s;almi&s;t &s;aith: Wick|ed men are like the bea&s;ts that peri&s;h. Sen&s;uall men are &s;o in their di&s;po&s;itions, but not in their natures: the bea&s;t peri&s;hing di&s;&s;olveth into his fir&s;t being to nothing, and happy were it, if it were &s;o with the wicked, that there were annihilation.</P>
<P N="2">2. And then there is a peri&s;hing that befalls the wicked and not the Righteous: the memory of the wicked &s;hall not, but it &s;hall not be &s;o with the ju&s;t; No dying, no marrying can obliterate their names: but the wicked, their names peri&s;h, &amp; which is wor&s;e there is a peri&s;hing in the Soul, and it is that peri&s;hing which is oppo&s;ed to good, to Eter|nall good, the Righteous is &s;carcely &s;aved, it is not almo&s;t, they do not peri&s;h hereafter, but the wicked peri&s;h Eternally. But then,</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="9" REF="6">
3. There is a peri&s;hing that is common to the Righteous with the wicked: will you know what it is? Under&s;tand it either of the mi&s;eries of this life (as <HI>S. Paul</HI> &s;aith) <HI>if I peri&s;h, I peri&s;h.</HI> Whatever ha|zard we run or fall into, it may be termed a peri&s;h|ing, or chiefly, peri&s;hing by death, this is common to all: the Prophet <HI>Michael</HI> tels us <HI>the good man is peri&s;hed out of the Earth;</HI> that is he dies: when he pe|ri&s;heth it is a Relative to peri&s;hing in this world, in this pre&s;ent life. So when the Righteous die he pe|ri&s;heth, therefore it was that the Prophet made u&s;e of this word, to let them &s;ee what the wicked thought, that the Righteous peri&s;heth, it is not &s;o in reallity, and that we might not be troubled at the har&s;hne&s;s of the phra&s;e in the fir&s;t clau&s;e. Go on to the &s;econd, Taking away. God hath given mo&s;t mem|bers double; two hands, two feet, two eyes, two eares, that if one faile the other may &s;upply, &amp; &s;o the &s;pirit of God gives two phra&s;es often in Scripture, that if the one be ob&s;cure, the other may make it plain &s;o it is here, lea&s;t the one &s;hould be too hard, here is another to explain it, when he &s;aith, Peri&s;h, he means onely taking away from the &s;ociety of men, that is aIl, as we may very well read the words, the merci|full men are gathered, as the <HI>Hebrew</HI> will carry it, they peri&s;h not but rather are gathered to their Fa|thers, as that expre&s;&s;ion in <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> the body goes to the grave, and the Soul to heaven, or to him that gave it, it is that they may be gathered to the innu|merable company of Angels, to the Spirits of ju&s;t men made perfect, to the beatificall vi&s;ion; all this is
<PB N="10" REF="7">
meant in this one expre&s;&s;ion, taking away. And the Summe is, the Righteous ones, &amp; the mercifull ones were taken away by death, peri&s;hed from the earth. And &s;o this is true in re&s;pect of a naturall death, the Righteous as well as others peri&s;h, becau&s;e of the &s;ame nature and con&s;titution, and al&s;o the remain|ders of the &s;ame corruptions that are in them; there|fore they mu&s;t die and peri&s;h as well as others, but that which the Prophet aimes at is peri&s;hing in a vio|lent &s;en&s;e, and the phra&s;e taken away hints as much, <HI>they are taken away and cut of</HI> (as 'its &s;poken of the <HI>Me&s;sias) from the land of the living.</HI> The&s;e candles do not go out of them&s;elves for want of that which &s;hould give them life, but are blown out by a vio|lent wind; and very well it may be &s;o, becau&s;e of their enemies, <HI>David</HI> &s;aith; the wicked watch the Righteous, and why do they watch him, but to take advantage to &s;lay him, and this many times befalls the godly ones, and that in great wi&s;dome, even that the glory of Gods power may appeare, his power in &s;u&s;taining and upholding them, when by death he brings them to him&s;elf, e&s;pecially &s;trengthning them in the hour of a violent death, and his power will appear, in <HI>rai&s;ing of their vile bodies,</HI> that &s;hall be in the du&s;t: in rai&s;ing them, <HI>when their vile bodies &s;hall be changed and made like the glorious body of Christ,</HI> &amp; he will have it &s;o that their graces may appear, &amp; that their faith may be more eminent: if God &s;hould tran&s;late them as he did <HI>Eliah</HI> from earth to heaven, there would be &s;omething to appear of glory, but nothing of &s;trength, and therefore that the faith
<PB N="11" REF="7">
and courage of his &s;ervants may appear, he thus takes them away, and chiefly that they may be con|formable to Chri&s;t, and that he may make the mem|bers like unto the head, and go, as he did, by a vio|lent death, they mu&s;t drink of the brook and after lift up their heads, therefore this is a ju&s;t complaint, <HI>the Righteous peri&s;h, and mercifull men are taken away.</HI> The con&s;ideration of this may &s;erve partly to inform, partly to in&s;truct. Fir&s;t to inform us, That there is another world, and day of judgement, that there is a time wherein God will put a difference between the godly and the wicked, between him that &s;wears, and him that fears an oath, between him that &s;erves him, and him that rebells again&s;t him: I &s;ay there mu&s;t be a time of retribution (or he could not be a Righteous and mercifull God) when there mu&s;t be a recompence to godly men, you &s;ee how the Righ|teous peri&s;h as well as the wicked, you &s;ee the &s;ame lot befalls the one, as well as the other, it a&s;&s;ures us therefore that there is another day comming, when it will appear that there is a reward to the godly.</P>
<P>And it &s;hould, &s;econdly in&s;truct all righteous ones that they &s;hould make u&s;e of this kind of death, for the glory of Gods name, and the good of his own brethren. How &s;hould all of us <HI>Magistrates, Mini&s;ters</HI> and <HI>People</HI> approve our &s;elves in the di&s;charge of our duty, and e&s;pecially <HI>mercifull men</HI> by &s;hewing mercy, multiplying mercy, when the <HI>mercifull man is taken away,</HI> then all is taken away there is no more <HI>work,</HI> nor <HI>almes,</HI> nor <HI>mer|cy</HI> for us to do in the grave where we are a going.
<PB N="12" REF="8">
and further it &s;hould in&s;truct us, that we &s;hould make u&s;e of, and make much of the <HI>Righteous men,</HI> that are in the mid&s;t of us, becau&s;e they mu&s;t <HI>peri&s;h</HI> and <HI>be taken</HI> from us: the&s;e candles mu&s;t go out, nay they may by a blu&s;tering wind be blown out, make u&s;e of them while you have them. Our <HI>Saviour</HI> bids us, <HI>walk in the light while you have the light:</HI> &s;o do you, whil&s;t Gods righteous <HI>&s;ervants</HI> and <HI>Ministers</HI> are among&s;t you, make the be&s;t u&s;e of them you can (as our <HI>Saviour</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Me you &s;hall not have alwayes with you:</HI> &s;o the&s;e you &s;hall not have alwayes with you, therefore endeavour to reap all the <HI>benefit,</HI> and <HI>profit</HI> from them you can. Finally let us not think the wor&s;e of them becau&s;e they are <HI>taken away,</HI> we are ready to be frighted, becau&s;e of the trouble that befalls them, but let us remember, that the <HI>Righ|teous</HI> whatever trouble incompa&s;&s;es them, they are delivered from it by death, nay that <HI>taking away</HI> of theirs, is a benefit to them, for it is <HI>a taking away from the evil to come.</HI> And that leads me to the other branch, which mitigateth the complaint in the clo&s;e of the ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>The righteous are taken away from the evil to come. Taken away from the evil to come</HI> is a phra&s;e which admits of a double con&s;truction, we may under|&s;tand it of being <HI>taken away from the evil to come</HI> upon them&s;elves, they are taken away from tho&s;e future evils that (if they had continued longer upon earth,) &s;hould have befallen them, thus they are <HI>taken away</HI> from</P>
<LIST>
<PB N="13" REF="8">
<ITEM>Criminall evils, <HI>and</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Poenall evils.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">1. From <HI>Criminall evils</HI> they are taken away, and thereby prevented from tho&s;e &s;ins, they might otherwayes have fallen into, for the <HI>righteous</HI> are not altogether free from &s;in, while herebelow; and therefore it is that they are delivered from that which is a great grief unto them, ever to &s;in again&s;t their Father.</P>
<P N="2">2. From Poenall evils, from tho&s;e mi&s;eries and troubles that do befall them in this world: <HI>Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers them out of all:</HI> Pain, penurie, aches, &s;ickne&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and when the <HI>righteous is taken away,</HI> he is <HI>taken away</HI> from all the&s;e. But that which is the principal mean|ing of the word is, <HI>They are taken away from the evil of the place wherein they live,</HI> from the common cala|mitie that is to &s;eize upon the people: therefore you find in the 26. I&s;a. 20. where the Prophet &s;aith <HI>Come my people, enter thou into thy Chambers, and &s;hut thy doors about thee, hide thy &s;elf as it were for a little moment untill the indignation be overpa&s;t:</HI> &s;ome un|der&s;tand tho&s;e <HI>little doors</HI> and <HI>moments, places</HI> and <HI>Chambers,</HI> to be meant of the grave, yet there God hides his people, he puts them in the grave where they are quiet: when he intends to &s;end a blu&s;ter|ing tempe&s;t, and a &s;torm upon the earth. Thus God prepares a <HI>Zoar</HI> for <HI>Lot</HI> when he brings de&s;truction upon <HI>Sodom,</HI> and an <HI>Ark</HI> for <HI>Noah,</HI> when he brings a deluge upon the world: &s;o God prepares a grave for the righteous, when he intends to bring evil upon
<PB N="14" REF="9">
the earth: but this is not alwaies &s;o, for God will &s;omtimes keep them in the mid&s;t of trouble, he &s;ets a mark upon their forehead, as in the 9. Ezek. 4. <HI>And the Lord &s;aid unto him, go through the mid&s;t of the City, through the mid&s;t of Ieru&s;alem, and &s;et a mark up|on the foreheads of the men that &s;igh &amp; that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.</HI> And &s;ometimes God makes them &s;harers and &s;ufferers in the evils, becau&s;e they have not mourned for the &s;innes of the <HI>times</HI> and <HI>places</HI> where they live; there|fore God makes them partakers of the mi&s;erie; but God many times <HI>takes them away from the evil to come.</HI> Thus Jo&s;iah is taken away from the evil that was to come upon the Jews: and St. Au&s;tin's prayers were heard, God taking him away before <HI>Hippo</HI> was ta|ken, whereof he was Bp: and Luther was taken out of the world before the de&s;olation came that fell up|on <HI>Germany:</HI> thus is Gods dealing in the taking a|way of his &s;ervants, and that upon a double account.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>1.</HI> In regard of them&s;elves.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>2.</HI> In regard of others.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">1. In regard of them&s;elves: That they may not only not &s;ee, but al&s;o that they may not &s;uffer in the <HI>evil that is to come:</HI> and this is the very rea&s;on why Jo&s;iah was cut off, that he &s;hould not &s;ee that gene|ral deva&s;tation that &s;hould come upon his native Countrie, and that they may not &s;ee the evil, he hath taken them away.</P>
<P N="2">2^l^y. The chief account why he takes them away, is, that they may not keep of the evil that is to befall any people: for the <HI>righteous</HI> and <HI>mercifull men</HI> are
<PB N="15" REF="9">
the <HI>Chariots</HI> &amp; <HI>hor&s;men</HI> of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that do defend the places where they live; the <HI>Angel</HI> told <HI>Lot</HI> he could do nothing again&s;t the Citie until he was out of it: &amp; you know what God &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es, Let me alone,</HI> &amp;c. A good man (as it were,) ties Gods hands that he can|not bring evil upon a place, one righteous man may do more with God by prayer, then a thou&s;and men by armes: there is a great prevalencie in the prayers of the righteous, And when God will bring evil upon a place, he fir&s;t takes away the righteous, that they may not keep it off: as when a man will take down a hou&s;e, he fir&s;t takes away the pillars and &s;upporters thereof: &s;o when God intends to de&s;troy a people, he remooves the pillars that &s;upport them; God takes away the righteous, as on the one hand they may not &s;ee; &s;o on the other hand they may nor prevent the evils he intends to inflict.</P>
<P>To wind up this in a word of u&s;e. Look on the one hand as there is little Cau&s;e for the wicked to in|&s;ult over the righteous when they are taken away, <HI>(Rejoyce not over me, O mine enemy)</HI> &s;aith the Church; I &s;ay little Cau&s;e have the wicked to rejoyce for the taking away of the good, becau&s;e it is a &s;ad pre&s;age to the bad. The <HI>Righteous being taken away, if &s;uch things be done to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry: If the righteous &s;carcely be &s;aved, where shall the wicked appeare;</HI> If that the righteous be taken away from the evil to come, it is that the evil may come upon a place: it is an undeniable con&s;equence if God deal &s;everely with his own: the wicked mu&s;t ex&s;pect his cup to be filled to the full. If the&s;e peri&s;h for a time, tho&s;e
<PB N="16" REF="10">
for ever: therefore let not the wicked triumph, and as there is no rea&s;on why the wicked &s;hould rejoyce, &s;o no cau&s;e why the friends of the righteous &s;hould be too much troubled when they peri&s;h by what hand &s;oever? for all the righteous &s;ervants of God when they are to be taken away, &s;ay to us (as our <HI>Sa|viour</HI> &s;aid to the Woman, <HI>weep not for me,)</HI> weep not for us, weep for your &s;elves, and as they are taken a|way from evil, &s;o they are received unto good; they are taken from a Pri&s;on to be &s;eated in a Palace; they are taken from a Wilderne&s;&s;e to be tran&s;planted into a Garden; they are taken away from earth and carry|ed unto Heaven; no rea&s;on therfore to weep for them, but for your &s;elves: the evil to come cannot light on them; but on us; but let them not be di&s;re|garded by us, we are not to be &s;tupid under &s;uch a divine providence, lea&s;t we incurre the &s;in which the Prophet here complaines of: and &s;o I come to the complaint of the Prophet again&s;t the wicked, be|wailing their ob&s;tinacie, the righteous peri&s;heth and no man layeth it to heart: &amp; mercifull men are taken away, none con&s;idering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come: no man layes it to heart, no man con&s;iders it; the phra&s;es which the Prophet makes u&s;e of, are very emphatical.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t phra&s;e according to the Hebrew is, <HI>no man puts it upon his heart;</HI> and the latter, <HI>no man doth under&s;tand or &s;eriou&s;ly weigh,</HI> or dewly con&s;ider: &s;o that one phra&s;e hath reference to the affections, the other to the judgement: no man laies it to heart, &s;o as to affect it, no man con&s;iders, it &s;o as to under|&s;tand
<PB N="17" REF="10">
it, and the&s;e two well agree together, and the one infers the other: that which a man laies to heart, he will con&s;ider, if the heart be affected, the under|&s;tanding will be imployed: a man cannot but revolve that which he is cut and &s;trucken with; by con&s;ider|ing it we lay it to heart: <HI>While I Mu&s;e the fire kindled:</HI> there is an affection in the mind toward the object, if it be of delight it brings joy, if &s;adne&s;s it brings &s;or|row, and the&s;e two phra&s;es are very fruitfull expre&s;t here, <HI>no man lays it to heart, no man con&s;iders it,</HI> And ob&s;erve what the &s;in is that the Prophet charges with, and complaines again&s;t: it was not a &s;in of com|mi&s;&s;ion, no, it was a &s;in of omi&s;&s;ion; it was neglect of duty: it is as horrid impiety to omit what God commands us to do, which he forbids; Remember we do provoke God as much by omitting to do good, as by doing tho&s;e things he hath forbid. Many men plea&s;e them&s;elves phara&s;aically.</P>
<P>When the &s;infull neglect of any known duty, being judgement, as &s;oon as the doing of a known &s;in, I &s;ay it is the not doing of our known duty makes us culpable, and that &s;in here charged on us is not the rejoycing, and triumphing when the godly are taken away, but the not laying it to heart that argues a man to be in the depth of wickedne&s;s, to come to &s;it in the &s;eat of the &s;corners, to deride at the calamities of the godly, and make their tears his drink, and their ruins his play and &s;port, this is the depth of wickedne&s;&s;e when men rejoyce at the mi&s;eries and ruins of the righteous, but it is not con|&s;idering, or laying to heart the mi&s;eries of the &s;er|vants
<PB N="18" REF="11">
of God that is here onely meant, though you will find that a great &s;in, the not laying to heart their being taken away. One would think it but a a &s;mall thing, but you will find it a great &s;in, not to lay it to heart when the rightous are taken away. For 1. take notice it is the peri&s;hing of the righteous. <HI>When any man dies, the living will lay it to heart,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Salomon:</HI> And &s;hall not the living lay it to heart, when not an ordinary man but a good man, one of the Prophets of God and tho&s;e righteous, mercifull and eminent ones are taken away. Shall &s;uch &s;tars fall from the firmement, and no eyes behold it? no heart con&s;ider it? Put tho&s;e altogether, it was the righteous that is peri&s;hing: and be&s;ides, when we con&s;ider, it was not an ordinary but a violent death. When a good man dies naturally, the living will lay it to heart, much more when cut of, when he might have lived lon|ger: and then con&s;ider all oportunities of doing good is taken away, and when not an ordinary per&s;on, and that not by an ordinary death, peri&s;hing, and more then &s;o, <HI>taken away,</HI> and when this <HI>peri&s;hing and tak|ing away of the righteous</HI> was a prediction that con|cerned them&s;elves of their ruin, their judgements, was at hand, and ready to overtake and overthrow them, and they not to con&s;ider it: &amp; adde to this that this &s;hall be &s;o, and that there &s;hould not be a man to con&s;ider it, not as if there was none at all; there were &s;ome though, the number be but very &s;mall that did bemoan and lay this thing to heart, yet it is u&s;uall in Scripture to expre&s;&s;e where there is but a few, as if there was none at all, as in the 53 <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 3.
<PB N="19" REF="11">
5 <HI>Ierem.</HI> 15. Becau&s;e there is but a very few, there|fore it is expre&s;&s;ed as if there were <HI>none at all:</HI> there was but a few zealous in regard of the multitude and generally it they did not con&s;ider that the <HI>Righteous peri&s;h,</HI> and they did <HI>not lay it to heart, the mercifull men are tak<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n away from the evil to come.</HI> I &s;ay the&s;e things being put together you will find it was noe &s;mall &s;in, and that the Prophet hath noe little rea|&s;on to complain, that they did not lay it to heart, if you con&s;ider it in reference,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>1.</HI> Vnto God.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>2.</HI> Vnto them.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>3.</HI> To our &s;elves.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">1. In reference unto God; this was a great work, and a&s;peciall work of Gods provience, that he was plea&s;ed to &s;uffer his righteous ones to <HI>p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ri&s;h, and be taken away.</HI> It is a very great &s;in not to ob&s;erve Gods dealing; they are equally bad, when Gods word &s;ounds in our eares, his works appears in our eyes, and neither is regarded by us. As the P&s;almi&s;t com|plains in the 26 <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> This is great impiety that God &s;hould pa&s;&s;e by us in a &s;peciall providence, and we not take notice thereof: if not a &s;parrow fall to the ground without his knowledge, nor a hair of our heads fall to the ground, much le&s;&s;e our heads, they cannot peri&s;h but by a &s;peciall providence: and they &s;hould be taken notice of when God intends to take them from us; and as it impiery again&s;t God, &s;o likewi&s;e it is a &s;in again&s;t them, it argues that as we want piety, &s;o pity, as purity, &s;o bowels, when tho&s;e that are our Fellow-members,</P>
<P><PB N="20" REF="12">
Righteous ones e&s;pecially: nay when in a higher, rank then our &s;elves, Mini&s;ters or others are in mi|&s;ery, and we are not troubled at their &s;ufferings, this argues we want much pity: they are but gla&s;&s;e eyes that weep not for &s;uch a lo&s;&s;e, and it is but a woodden leg that is not &s;en&s;ible, what the re&s;t of the members endures.</P>
<P>And as it is a &s;in again&s;t them, &s;o likewayes it is an evil again&s;t our &s;elves, it argues a &s;tupid mind, a &s;ecure heart, and an obdurate &s;pirit that is not mo|ved with &s;uch providentiall di&s;pen&s;ations again&s;t us, e&s;pecially when it pre&s;ages judgement and mi&s;ery to come upon a people, and yet it &s;hould not work up|on us. All this con&s;idered you will find it was a ju&s;t matter of complaint, which the Prophet takes up, <HI>the righteous peri&s;h, and no man layes it heart,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>I be&s;eech you in the fear of God, let us learn to pra|cti&s;e the contrary, and to lay to heart the mi&s;eries, di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and peri&s;hings of the &s;ervants of God; but e&s;pecially when they die by a violent death, the Sun daily &s;hines and noe man regards it, but when once it is in an Eclip&s;e, then every eye will be upon it, neither do men mind the high mountains when &s;tanding, but if it chance to fall then every eye con&s;ider it, and &s;hall we not take notice of the E|clip&s;es of Gods faithfull &s;ervants, and &s;o lay them to heart by remembring to regi&s;ter the deeds of Gods faithfull &s;ervants. How, and when taken away, and withall bemoaning, and bewailing both the mi&s;eries they &s;uffer, and the Calamities we are like to &s;uffer, by rea&s;on they are <HI>taken away from the evil to come,</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="12">
and by imitating their vertues following their graces, &s;etting before us their exemplary lives, and treading in their &s;teps, &s;o as to prepare for dying, for &s;uffering, in the like or any other kind, that death may not find us unprovided: and if we do live to prepare for the evil to come, judgement is at hand. Let us be making our peace with God by repenting of our own, and the &s;ins of the land, that when the evil comes it may not come upon us unprepared, and though we be taken away, we may be but taken to the fruition of Glory and happine&s;&s;e; and that I may not be guilty of this &s;in, I here declaime again&s;t it. I dare not but &s;tir up my &s;elf and you, &s;adly and ve|riou&s;ly &s;tir up you and me to lay to heart this mer|cifull man of God, this righteous man that hath been lately taken from us, I hope none will envy his Character: if we look no further then his death, it was a violent death, but as for the cau&s;e of his death it concernes not me, it mu&s;t be referred to that great day, the day of judgement, I hope with|out offence to any here, I may look to the manner of his death, the righteous are &s;aid to be bold as a <HI>Lyon,</HI> and hath hopes in his death, and what is this but the &s;erene con&s;equence of a well led life, that made him meekly bold, and humbly confident, and chearful at his di&s;&s;olution: of all acts of mercies none is greater then that of forgiving enemies, which that he did, witne&s;&s;e tho&s;e lines, tho&s;e excellent lines read at his interrment, or tho&s;e gracious charitable words, and prayers he uttered upon the <HI>Scaffold,</HI> which proclaims him a man full of grace &amp; mercy,
<PB N="22" REF="13">
I want time, and tongue to go over his life; and al that knew him will acknowledge this, that the whole cour&s;e of his life was a con&s;tellation of graces and vertues, both as he was a Chri&s;tian, and as he was a Mini&s;ter. <HI>This righteous man is now peri&s;hed, this mercifull man is now taken away.</HI> But I tru&s;t nay I have &s;ome mea&s;ure, of confidence he is but pe|ri&s;hed from the earth, taken from us and removed to a better habitation, to enjoy a &s;afer, a more Glo|rious life: and I hope though he be out of &s;ight, yet he is not out of mind, and will not be forgotten, e&s;pecially by you among whom he hath been a faith|full, and painfull Laborour, he having &s;pent his time, &s;trength, and labour for your Souls good, therefore do you lay his death to heart. Remember how often&punc; you have behold him from his &s;acred Oratory How often you have heard him dropping, nay over|flowing with faithfull reproofes, &s;weet comforts, whole&s;ome admonitious: Remember all tho&s;e &s;a|very in&s;tructions you have heard from him, remem|ber and practice them, that will be the be&s;t way to lay to heart the lo&s;&s;e of this viagilant and faithfull Mini&s;ter, and lay to heart your own barrene&s;&s;e, and unfruitfullne&s;&s;e that hath provoked God to deprive, and Rob you of &s;uch a Iewell, lay it to heart, that you have been no more bettered, and mended by tho&s;e &s;aving Doctrines; and not onely you, but all of us lay it to heart, this and all others of Gods &s;er|vants that have been taken from this City, not many years ago, which is a &s;ad per&s;age, that the ruine there|of is at hand, if a timely repentance and amendment
<PB N="23" REF="13">
of life prevent not; which is the end of our di&s;cour&s;e, that all of us may be brought to a &s;erious repen|tance, as to lay to heart <HI>the peri&s;hing and taking away of the Righteous ones,</HI> &s;o not to murmur, and repine at tho&s;e that have been the in&s;truments of our lo&s;&s;e, but to repent of our &s;ins with grief and &s;orrow, as the cau&s;e thereof by contempt of the word and Sacraments, having u&s;ed all means to provoke God to take them from us. Let us for the time to come, &s;o repent, that if it be po&s;&s;ible Gods wrath may be appea&s;ed, his judgements diverted, and tho&s;e faith|full ones that are yet among us, may be continued, and that more faithfull me&s;&s;engers may be &s;ent in|to his harve&s;t, which God of his mercy grant, AMEN.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
