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<DATE>2013-01-31</DATE>
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<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>The JUST MANS FUNERAL. Lately delivered in a Sermon at CHELSEY, before &s;everal Per&s;ons of Honour and Wor&s;hip. <HI>By THOMAS FULLER.</HI></P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>depiction of a crown</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>Printed by WILLIAM BENTLEY, for <HI>John Williams</HI> at the Crown in S. <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard. 1649.</P>
<PB REF="2">
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>The JUST MANS FUNERAL.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>ECCLES. 7. ver&s;. 15.</BIBL> All things have I &s;een in the dayes of my vanitie; there is a ju&s;t man that peri&s;heth in his righte|ou&s;ne&s;s; and there is a wicked man that prolong|eth his life in his wickedne&s;s.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><MILESTONE N="1"> _THe World is a volumne of Gods works, which all good people ought &s;tudiou&s;ly to peru&s;e. Three &s;orts of men are too blame herein. Fir&s;t &s;uch as ob&s;erve nothing at all; &s;eeing, but nei|ther marking nor minding the daily accidents that happen, with <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Act. 18. 17.</NOTE> <HI>Gallio</HI> the &s;ecure deputie of <HI>Achaia, They care for none of the&s;e things.</HI> Se|condly, Such as ob&s;erve nothing ob&s;ervable. The&s;e may be &s;aid to <HI>weed the world;</HI> If any pa&s;|&s;age happeneth which de&s;erveth to be forgot|ten their <HI>jet memories</HI> (onely attracting &s;traws and chaff unto them) regi&s;tereth and retaineth
<PB N="2" REF="3"> them, fond fa&s;hions and fooli&s;h &s;peeches is all that they charge on their account, and onely empty cyphers &s;well the vote-books of their di&s;coveries. La&s;tly, Such who make good ob|&s;ervations, but no applications. With <HI>Mary</HI> they do not <HI>ponder things in their heart,</HI> but one|ly brew them in their heads, and pre&s;ently breath them out of their mouth, having onely a rational under&s;tanding thereof, (which renders them acceptable in company for their di&s;cour&s;e) but never &s;uffering them to &s;ink into their &s;ouls, or make any effectual impre&s;&s;ion on their lives.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> But <HI>Solomons</HI> ob&s;ervations were every way compleat, he mark'd what happened, and well he might, who advantaged with matchle&s;s wealth might make matchle&s;s di&s;coveries, and could afford to dig out <HI>important Truths</HI> with mattocks of gold and &s;ilver; what he mark'd was remarkable, and what was remarkable, he not onely applied to the good of his private per&s;on, but endeavoured it might be propagated to all po&s;teritie in the words of my text, <HI>All things have I &s;een in the dayes of my vanitie; there is a ju&s;t man that peri&s;heth in his righteou&s;|ne&s;s; and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> In the handling of <HI>Solomons</HI> ob&s;ervation herein, we will in&s;i&s;t upon the&s;e four parts, to &s;hew,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That it is &s;o.</ITEM>
<PB N="3" REF="3">
<ITEM>2. Why it is &s;o.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. What abu&s;es wic|ked men do make becau&s;e it is &s;o.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. What u&s;es good men &s;hould make becau&s;e it is &s;o.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Fir&s;t that it is &s;o; believe <HI>Solomons</HI> eyes who profe&s;&s;ed that he <HI>&s;aw it:</HI> But here it will be de|manded, How came he to behold a <HI>righteous man?</HI> with what care and new <HI>eye-&s;alve</HI> had he anoynted his eyes to &s;ee that which his father <HI>David</HI> (having a more holy, though not &s;o large a heart) could never di&s;cern? <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 143. 2</NOTE> <HI>Enter not into judgement with thy &s;ervants O Lord: for no fle&s;h is righteous in thy &s;ight.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4"> It is an&s;wered, Though &s;uch an one who&s;e righteou&s;ne&s;s is Gods-ju&s;tice-proof, never was, is, nor &s;hall be in this life, (Chri&s;t alone except|ed) being God and man) yet in a Go&s;pel, or qualified &s;en&s;e, he is accounted righteous, who <HI>juxta propo&s;itum ju&s;t&egrave; vivendi,</HI> is &s;o <HI>intentionally,</HI> de&s;iring and endeavouring after righteou&s;ne&s;s with all the might of his &s;oul. Secondly, who is &s;o <HI>comparatively,</HI> in reference to wicked men, appearing righteous in regard of tho&s;e, who have no goodne&s;s at all in their hearts. Thirdly, righteous <HI>imputatively,</HI> having the righteou&s;|ne&s;s of God in Chri&s;t imputed unto him. La&s;t|ly, Righteous <HI>inhe&s;ively,</HI> having many heaven|ly graces, and holy endowments, &s;incere, though not perfect, or evangelically perfect <HI>pro hoc &s;tatu,</HI> be&s;towed upon, and remaining
<PB N="4" REF="4"> within him. Such a <HI>righteous man</HI> as this, <HI>Solo|mon</HI> &s;aw <HI>peri&s;hing in his righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5"> But in the &s;econd place it will be inquired, How could <HI>Solomon</HI> patiently behold <HI>a righte|ous man peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and not re&s;cue him out of the paws of oppre&s;&s;ion? Could he &s;ee it, and could he &s;uffer it, and be onely an idle &s;pectator at &s;o &s;ad a tragedie? Did his hand &s;way the &s;cepter, and was his head inve&s;ted with the crown, contentedly to look on &s;o &s;orrowfull a &s;ight? Could he onely as in the * <HI>ca&s;e of the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Kings 3.</NOTE> <HI>harlots</HI> call for a &s;word to kill a child, and not call for it here to defend a <HI>righteous man? He that is not with us</HI> (&s;aith our Saviour) <HI>is again&s;t us.</HI> If it hold in private per&s;ons, much more in publick officers? They per&s;ecute who do not protect; de&s;troy who do not defend; &s;lay who do not &s;ave <HI>the righteous man,</HI> who have power and place to do it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="6"> It is an&s;wered in the fir&s;t place; <HI>Solomons</HI> ob|&s;ervations were not all confined to his own countrey and kingdom; though &s;taying at home in his per&s;on, his mind travelled into forraign parts, and in the neighbouring countreys of <HI>E|gypt, Edom, Syria, A&s;&s;yria,</HI> &amp;c. might behold the <HI>peri&s;hing of the righteous</HI> and long flouri&s;h|ing of the wicked. Secondly, his expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>I have &s;een,</HI> relates not onely to his ocular but experimental di&s;coveries. What <HI>Solomon</HI> got by the help of Hi&s;torie, Studie and peru&s;al of Chronicles. He that was skil'd in natural Phi|lo&s;ophie
<PB N="5" REF="4"> from the Cedar to the Shrub, was (no doubt) well ver&s;ed in all civil occurrences from the Prince to the Pea&s;ant, from <HI>Adam</HI> to the pre&s;ent age wherein he lived, &s;o much as by any extant records could be collected. To &s;et hu|mane writers a&s;ide, the Scripture alone afforded him plentifull pre&s;idents herein. Open the Bi|ble and we &s;hall find (almo&s;t in the fir&s;t leaf) <HI>ju&s;t</HI> Abel <HI>peri&s;hing in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>wic|ked</HI> Cain <HI>prolonging his life in his iniquitie.</HI> To omit other in&s;tances, <HI>Solomon,</HI> by relation from his father, might &s;adly remember, how <HI>Abimelech</HI> the High prie&s;t <HI>peri&s;hed in his righ|teou&s;ne&s;s</HI> with all the Prie&s;ts, inhabitants of the citie of <HI>Nob,</HI> while&s;t <HI>Saul</HI> who condemned, and <HI>Doeg</HI> who executed them flouri&s;hed long in their iniquitie. So much for the proof <HI>that it is &s;o:</HI> Come we now to the rea&s;ons <HI>why it is &s;o.</HI> The&s;e rea&s;ons are of a double nature, &s;ome fetcht from nature, others from religion. For the pre&s;ent we in&s;i&s;t onely on the former, re&s;er|ving the re&s;t till we &s;hall encounter the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> in the &s;equels of our di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="7"> Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e good men, of all others, are mo&s;t envied and maligned, having the fierce&s;t adver&s;aries to oppo&s;e them. With the mo&s;t in the world it is quarrel enough to hate a good man, becau&s;e he is a good man. S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith of him&s;elf, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Phil. 3. 14.</NOTE> <HI>I pre&s;s towards the mark.</HI> And the &s;ame is the endeavour of every good man. Now as in a race the formo&s;t man who is near|e&s;t
<PB N="6" REF="5"> the mark, is envied of all tho&s;e which come after him, who commonly u&s;e all foul play to|wards him, (ju&s;tling him on the &s;ide, &s;eeking to trip up his heels; yea, &s;ometimes thru&s;ting him forward on the back, that &s;o he might fall head|long by his own weight and their violence) &s;o often cometh it to pa&s;s betwixt rivals in the race of honour and virtue. Ill-minded men percei|ving them&s;elves quite out &s;tript by &s;ome emi|nent per&s;on who hath got the &s;peed of them, and di&s;pairing fairly to overtake Him, re&s;olve foully to overturn Him, by all means po&s;&s;ible contriving his de&s;truction.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="8"> Hence comes tho&s;e many millions of devi&s;es and &s;trategems contrived for his ruin, endea|vouring either to</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Divert him from his righteou&s;ne&s;s. or</ITEM>
<ITEM>De&s;troy him in his righteou&s;ne&s;s.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>If the fir&s;t takes no effect, and if his con&s;tan|cie appears &s;uch as <HI>without regreet</HI> he will per&s;i&s;t in pietie, leaving them no hope to <HI>bya&s;s</HI> him to ba&s;e ends, then di&s;pairing to <HI>bow him from,</HI> they contrive to <HI>break him in his righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> Thus while&s;t he hath many enemies which con&s;pire his de&s;truction, &s;eeking with power to &s;uppre&s;s, or policie to &s;upplant him. The wicked man on the other &s;ide, hath the generalitie of men (the mo&s;t being bad as him&s;elf) to befriend him, a main cau&s;e of his prolonging him&s;elf &s;ucce&s;sfull in his wickedne&s;s.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="5">
<P><MILESTONE N="9"> Secondly, <HI>Righteous men peri&s;h in their righ|teou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e not &s;o warie, and watchfull to defend them&s;elves in danger, being deaf to all jealou&s;ies and &s;u&s;pitions, over-confident of other men, mea&s;uring all others by the integri|tie of their own intentions. This makes them lie at an open guard, not fencing, and fortifying them&s;elves again&s;t any &s;udden &s;urpri&s;al, but pre&s;uming, that de&s;erving no hurt, none &s;hall be done unto them. Thus <HI>Gedaliah,</HI> governor of the remnant of the <HI>Jews</HI> after the captivitie, twice received he expre&s;s intelligence of a con|&s;piracie to kill him, yet was &s;o far from giving credit, that he gave a &s;harp reproof to the fir&s;t di&s;coverer thereof. Yea, when <HI>Johanan</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Kareah,</HI> tendered his &s;ervice to kill <HI>I&s;h|mael,</HI> (&s;ent, as he &s;aid, from <HI>Baalis</HI> king of <HI>Am|mon</HI> to &s;lay <HI>Gedaliah) Gedaliah</HI> rejoyned, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jer. 40. 16.</NOTE> <HI>Thou &s;halt not do this thing, for thou &s;peake&s;t fal&s;ly of I&s;hmael.</HI> His noble nature gave no entertain|ment to the report, till he found it too late to prevent it. While&s;t wicked men, partly out of policie, more out of guiltine&s;s, &s;leep like <HI>Her|cules</HI> with their club in their hand, &s;tand always on their guard, are jealous of their very &s;ha|dows and appearances of danger, a great cau&s;e of their &s;afety and &s;ucce&s;s, prolonging them|&s;elves in their wickedne&s;s.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>They peri&s;h</HI> becau&s;e of a lazie prin|ciple which hath po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the heads and hearts even of the be&s;t men, (who are unexcu&s;able
<PB N="8" REF="6"> herein) namely, that God in due time will de|fend their innocence, which makes them more negligent and remi&s;s in defending them&s;elves; as the Prophet makes mention of <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Dan. 2. 34.</NOTE> <HI>a &s;tone cut out without hands,</HI> they conceive their cau&s;e will without mans help hew its own way through the rocks of all re&s;i&s;tance; as if their cau&s;e would &s;tand Centinel for them, though they &s;lept them&s;elves; as if their cau&s;e would (fix their Muskets) though they did it not them&s;elves. Thus the <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> in their bat|tels again&s;t the <HI>Turks,</HI> having <HI>wonne the day</HI> by their valour, have <HI>lo&s;t the night</HI> by their negli|gence, which principally proceeded from their confidence, that God intere&s;ted as a Second in every ju&s;t cau&s;e, was in that quarrel concern|ed as a Principle, and it could not &s;tand in his ju&s;tice to &s;uffer it to mi&s;carrie.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="11"> Whereas on the other &s;ide wicked men u&s;e double diligence in promoting their de&s;igns. If their lame cau&s;e lack leggs of its own, they will give it wings from their carefull &s;oliciting thereof, and will &s;oulder up their crackt title with their own indu&s;trie. They watch for all tides, and wait for all times, and work by all wayes, and &s;ail by all winds, each golden oppor|tunity they cunningly court, and greedily catch, and carefully keep, and thriftily u&s;e: in a word, <HI>they are wi&s;er in their generation than the chil|dren of light.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="12"> This may be perceived by the paralel be|twixt
<PB N="9" REF="6"> the wife and the harlot, many wives (though herein they cannot be defended) know|ing their husbands obliged in con&s;cience to love them by virtue of their &s;olemn promi&s;e made before God and the congregation at their marriage, are therefore the le&s;s carefull to &s;tudie compliance to their husbands de&s;ires; they know their husbands if wronging them wrong them&s;elves therein, and pre&s;uming them|&s;elves to de&s;erve love as due unto them for their hone&s;ty and loyalty of affections, are the le&s;s &s;ollicitous to gain that which they count their own already. Whil&s;t the harlot con&s;cious to her &s;elf of her u&s;urpation, that &s;he hath no lawful right to the embraces of her parramour, tunes her &s;elf to the criticalne&s;s of all compla|cencie to humour him in all his de&s;ires. And thus always tho&s;e men who&s;e cau&s;e have the weake&s;t foundation in pietie, getteth the &s;trong|e&s;t buttre&s;s in policie to &s;upport it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="13"> La&s;tly, the <HI>righteous man,</HI> by the principles of his profe&s;&s;ion, is tied up, and confined onely to the u&s;e of &s;uch means for his pre&s;ervation, as are con&s;onant to Gods will, conformable to his word, preferring rather to die many times, than to &s;ave him&s;elf once by unwarrantable ways. Propound unto him a project for his &s;afetie, and as <HI>Solomon</HI> promi&s;ed to favour <HI>Adonijah,</HI> &s;o long as he <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 kings 1. 52.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hewed him&s;elf worthie,</HI> otherwi&s;e <HI>if wickedne&s;s were found in him he &s;hould &s;urely die.</HI> So our <HI>righteous man</HI> onely accepts and embra|ceth
<PB N="10" REF="7"> &s;uch plots to &s;ecure him&s;elf thereby, as acquit them&s;elves hone&s;t and honourable, &s;uch as appear otherwi&s;e, he pre&s;ently di&s;patches with dete&s;tation, de&s;troying the very motion &amp; mention thereof, from entering into his heart. On the other&s;ide, the wicked man is left at large allowing him&s;elf libertie and latitude, to doe any thing in his own defence, making a con&s;tant practice of <HI>doing evil, that good may come thereof.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="14"> Yea we may ob&s;erve in all ages, that wic|ked men make bold with religion, and tho&s;e who count the practice of pietie a burthen, find the pretending thereof an advantage, and there|fore be the matter they manage never &s;o bad (if po&s;&s;ible) they will intitle it to be <HI>Gods cau&s;e.</HI> Much was the &s;ub&s;tance in the very &s;hadow of S. <HI>Peter,</HI> which made the people &s;o de&s;irous thereof as he pa&s;&s;ed by the &s;treets. And the very umbrage of Religion hath a &s;overeign virtue in it. No better cordial for a dying cau&s;e, than to over&s;hadow it with the pretence that it is <HI>Gods cau&s;e;</HI> for fir&s;t this is the way to make and keep a great and &s;trong partie: No &s;ooner the watch-word is given out <HI>For Gods cau&s;e,</HI> but in|&s;tantly GAD, <HI>Behold a troop cometh</HI> of many hone&s;t, but ignorant men, who pre&s;s to be li&s;ted in &s;o pious an employment. The&s;e may be kild, but cannot be conquered, for till their judge|ments be otherwi&s;e informed, they will triumph in being overcome, as confident, the deeper their
<PB N="11" REF="7"> wounds got in <HI>Gods cau&s;e</HI> gape in their bodies, the wider the gates of heaven &s;tand open to re|ceive their &s;ouls. Be&s;ides, the pretending their cau&s;e is <HI>Gods cau&s;e</HI> will, in a manner, legitimate the ba&s;e&s;t means, in pur&s;uance and pro&s;ecution thereof; for though it be again&s;t Gods word, <HI>to do evil that good may come thereof,</HI> yet this old error wil hardly be beaten out of the heads and hearts of many men, that crooked ways are made direct, by being directed to a &s;treight end; and the lu&s;tre of a bright cau&s;e will reflect a &s;eeming light on very <HI>deeds of darkne&s;s</HI> u&s;ed in tendencie thereunto.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="15"> This hath been an ancient &s;tratagem of the wor&s;t men (great Politicians) to take pietie in their way, to the advancing of their de&s;igns. Thus <HI>Rab&s;hakeh</HI> pretended a Commi&s;&s;ion from God, for all the wickedne&s;s he com|mitted, and complements bla&s;phemie, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2. Kings 18. 25.</NOTE> <HI>Am I now come up without the Lord, again&s;t this place to de&s;troy it? the Lord &s;aid to me, Go up again&s;t this place to de&s;troy it.</HI> The Prie&s;ts of <HI>Bell</HI> were but bunglers, which could not &s;teal the meat of their Idol, but they mu&s;t be di&s;covered by the print of their foot-&s;teps. Men are grown more cunning thieves now adays; fir&s;t they will put on the &s;hoes of him they intend to rob, and then &s;teal, that &s;o their treadings may tell no tales to their di&s;advantage. They will not &s;tride a pace, nor goe a &s;tep, nor &s;tir a foot, but all for <HI>Gods cau&s;e,</HI> all for the good and glorie of
<PB N="12" REF="8"> God. Thus Chri&s;t him&s;elf was &s;erved from his cradle to his cro&s;s; <HI>Herod</HI> who &s;ought to kill him, pretended to wor&s;hip him, and <HI>Judas</HI> ki&s;&s;ed him, who betrayed him.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="16"> By the&s;e arts and devices, it cometh to pa&s;s, that wicked men prolong them&s;elves in their wickedne&s;s. Traiterous <HI>Zimri</HI> indeed continued <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1. Kings 16. 15.</NOTE> but &s;even days, that was not long: wicked <HI>Jehojachin</HI> reigned but three <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2. Kings 24. 8.</NOTE> moneths in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that was not long: ungodly <HI>A|mon</HI> reigned two <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2. Kings 2. 19.</NOTE> years in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that was not long: idolatrous <HI>Ahab</HI> reigned in <HI>Samaria</HI> twentie <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1. Kings 16. 29.</NOTE> and two years, that was in|different long: cruel <HI>Herod</HI> the King who &s;ought to kill Chri&s;t, reigned in <HI>Judea</HI> wel-nigh fourtie years, that was long indeed; he prolong|ed him&s;elf to purpo&s;e in his iniquitie.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="17"> Seeing therefore (to recollect what hath been &s;aid) the righteous hath mo&s;t foes, the wicked many friends; the righteous free from, the wick|ed full of jelou&s;ies; the righteous two often overcarele&s;s, the wicked over carefull in his de|fence; the righteous limited onely to lawful, the wicked left loo&s;e to any means for his own advantage; No wonder if it often cometh to pa&s;s, that the <HI>righteous man peri&s;heth in his righteou&s;ne&s;s, and the wicked prolongeth his life in his wickedne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="18"> Come we now to the abu&s;es which wicked men make of the righteous mans peri&s;hing in his righteou&s;ne&s;s. And hear the whole kennel of
<PB N="13" REF="8"> Athei&s;ts come in with a full crie, (oh that there were no more of them on earth, than there are in hell, where torture makes them all &s;peak truth) &s;pending their wicked breath again&s;t God &amp; his attributes. Some bark at his Providence, as if he perceived not the&s;e things, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 73. 11.</NOTE> <HI>How doth God know, and is there knowledge in the mo&s;t high?</HI> Others cavil at his ju&s;tice, that he has no mind; others carp at his &s;trength that he has no power to rectifie and redre&s;s the&s;e in|normities. This world (&s;ay they) is a &s;hip with|out a pilot, &s;teered onely with the winds and waves of ca&s;ualtie, it is a meer <HI>lotterie,</HI> wherein the be&s;t men daily draw the <HI>blanks,</HI> and the wor&s;t run away with the <HI>prizes.</HI> And, as <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2. Samuel 15. 4.</NOTE> <HI>Ab|&s;olom</HI> boa&s;ted, if he were king of I&s;rael, how far he would out-do <HI>David</HI> in right mana|ging of all matters: &s;o the&s;e impudent wretch|es conceive with them&s;elves, the Plat-form of the world had been more perfect, might they have been admitted to the making thereof. The moon would have &s;hined without any &s;pots, ro&s;es grown without any prickles, fair weather &s;hould have never done harm, becau&s;e rain &s;hould onely fall in the night, neither to hinder the plea&s;ure of the rich, or hurt the profit of the poor. Merit &s;hould be made the onely &s;tandard of preferment, no <HI>peri&s;hing of the righ|teous man in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> when &s;ucce&s;s &s;hould onely be entailed on de&s;ert. In a word, &s;uch Athei&s;ts pre&s;ume all things by them
<PB N="14" REF="9"> &s;hould be &s;o prudently di&s;po&s;ed, that nothing, no doubt, in the whole world &s;hould be out of order, &s;ave them&s;elves.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="19"> More might be &s;poken to highten and im|prove the objection, but I am afraid to per&s;i&s;t further therein. It is not onely dangerous to be, but even to act an Athei&s;t though with intent to confute their errour, for fear that our poi&s;ons pierce further than our antidots. But in an&s;were to this objection, know that God, with|out the lea&s;t prejudice to his ju&s;tice, may &s;uffer <HI>the righteous man to peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e allow him righteous <HI>ju&s;ticia cau&s;ae,</HI> he is not &s;o <HI>ju&s;ticia per&s;onae,</HI> the be&s;t man &s;tanding guiltie of many faults and failings in his &s;ight. God needs not <HI>pick a quarrel</HI> with any man, having at all times matter of a ju&s;t controver|&s;ie again&s;t him. And &s;eeing God hath often|times connived at him being faultie, he may condemn him being faultle&s;s; for <HI>nullum tempus occurrit Regi,</HI> the King of heaven is not limited to any time, but at his own plea&s;ure and lea&s;ure may take an opportunitie to puni&s;h an offender.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="20"> Secondly, grant that the cau&s;e of the <HI>righ|teous man</HI> was ju&s;t in the primitive con&s;tituti|on thereof, yet if it branch it &s;elf forth into numerous circum&s;tances appendant thereunto, (many whereof may be intricate and perplext) if it be of &s;o &s;pacious and ponderous a nature that it requires many heads and hands as &s;ub|ordinate in&s;truments in &s;everal places for the
<PB N="15" REF="9"> managing thereof. La&s;tly, if the cau&s;e be &s;o prolix and tedious, that many years mu&s;t be &s;pent in the pro&s;ecution thereof, the original righteou&s;ne&s;s of the cau&s;e may be altered with the handling of it, and much inju&s;tice annexed thereunto; for which God may ju&s;tly cau&s;e it finally to mi&s;carrie. For it is impo&s;&s;ible that a cau&s;e con&s;i&s;ting of &s;uch verietie of limbs retaining thereunto, &s;hould be carried on with|out many grand errors and mi&s;takes com|mitted therein; and the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the be&s;t man will not &s;pread &s;o broad without &s;hrinking, &s;tretch &s;o long without tireing, ap|plie it &s;elf &s;o exactly to each circum&s;tance without &s;ome &s;werving therein. E&s;pecially, when all the faults of the inferior officers em|ployed under him, are chargeable on the <HI>righ|teous mans</HI> account, the matter of who&s;e cau&s;e may ju&s;tly peri&s;h, by Gods ju&s;t anger on the unju&s;t managerie thereof.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="21"> Yea God, without the lea&s;t blemi&s;h to his Ju&s;tice, may &s;uffer the righteous temporally to <HI>peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e in the mid&s;t of their &s;ufferings his mercie &s;upports them with the inward comfort of a clear con&s;cience. In the time of per&s;ecution a woman being big with child was impri&s;oned &amp; condemned to die, which the night before her execution, was (I cannot &s;ay brought to bed) delivered of a child, when her pain (wanting the help of a midwife) mu&s;t be pre&s;umed exceeding great. The Jailor
<PB N="16" REF="10"> hearing her cry out in her pangs. <HI>If you cry</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>to day, I will make you &s;hreek wor&s;e to morrow, when you are to be burnt at a &s;take.</HI> The woman replied, <HI>Not &s;o, to morrow my pain will be abated: for to day I &s;uffer as an offender, for the punni&s;hment ju&s;tly impo&s;ed by God on our &s;ex, for our di&s;obedience and breach of his law; but to morrow I &s;hall die for the te&s;timony of the truth in the defence of Gods glory and his true Religion.</HI> Thus it is &s;trange to &s;ee, what alacrity a good cau&s;e infu&s;eth into <HI>a righteous man</HI> de|riving comfort into his heart by in&s;en&s;ible con|veiances, &s;o that he embraceth even death it &s;elf with a &s;miling countenance, feeding his &s;oul on the continual fea&s;t of a clear con&s;cience.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="22"> Be&s;ides this, it clears divine Ju&s;tice, and com|forts the righteous man <HI>peri&s;hing temporally in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> that his Cau&s;e &s;hall be heard over again, and rejudged in an other world. If one conceive him&s;elf wronged in the <HI>Hundred,</HI> or any inferiour Court, he may by a <HI>certiorari,</HI> or an <HI>accedas ad curiam,</HI> remove it to the <HI>Kings-Bench</HI> or <HI>Common-Pleas,</HI> as he is advi&s;ed be&s;t for his own advantage. If he apprehendeth him|&s;elf injured in the&s;e Courts, he may with a <HI>Writ of Error</HI> remove it to have it argued by all the Judges in the <HI>Exchequer-chamber.</HI> If here al&s;o he conceiveth him&s;elf to find no ju&s;tice, he may with an <HI>Injunction,</HI> out of the <HI>Chancery</HI> &s;top their proceedings. But if in the <HI>Chancery</HI> he reputeth him&s;elf agreeved, he may thence ap|peal
<PB N="17" REF="10"> to the <HI>God of heaven and earth,</HI> who in an|other world, will vindicate his right, and &s;evere|ly puni&s;h &s;uch as have wilfully offered wrong unto him. And &s;o much to a&s;&s;ert Gods ju&s;tice in &s;uffering the <HI>righteous man to peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="23"> Now on the other &s;ide, God may without any prejudice to his ju&s;tice, &s;uffer wicked men for a time to thrive in this world, and not &s;ud|denly &s;urpri&s;e them with puni&s;hment, &s;o giving them <HI>a</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rev. 2. 21.</NOTE> <HI>&s;pace to repent,</HI> if they would but make u&s;e thereof. Indeed <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 140. 11.</NOTE> <HI>Evil &s;hall hunt the violent man to overthrow him;</HI> But God is a <HI>fair hunter,</HI> he might in the rigour of his ju&s;tice knock wicked men down as he finds them <HI>&s;itting in their forms.</HI> But God will give them <HI>fair law,</HI> they &s;hall for a time run, yea &s;port them&s;elves before his judgements, ere they are plea&s;ed to overtake them.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="24"> Know al&s;o to the farther clearing of his ju|&s;tice, that wicked men, notwith&s;tanding their thriving in badne&s;s for a time, are partly pu|ni&s;hed in this world, with a con&s;tant corro&s;ive of a guiltie con&s;cience, which they carrie about them. The Probationer-Di&s;ciple &s;aid to our Saviour, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 8. 19</NOTE> <HI>Ma&s;ter, I will follow thee whither&s;o|ever thou goe&s;t;</HI> what is promi&s;ed by him, is per|formed by a guiltie con&s;cience, that <HI>Squire of the bodie,</HI> alwayes officious to attend a malefa|ctour. Fa&s;t, and <HI>I will follow thee,</HI> and thy em|ptie bodie &s;hall not be &s;o full of wind, as thy
<PB N="18" REF="11"> mind of di&s;mal apprehen&s;ions: fea&s;t, and <HI>I will follow thee;</HI> and as the <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Dan. 5. 5.</NOTE> <HI>hand on the wall,</HI> bring in the &s;ad reckoning, for thy large bill of fare; &s;tay at home, and <HI>I will follow thee;</HI> ride a|broad, and <HI>I will follow thee,</HI> or el&s;e meet thee in the way with my naked &s;word, as the Angel did <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Num. 22. 23.</NOTE> <HI>Balaam:</HI> wake, and <HI>I will follow thee:</HI> &s;leep, and <HI>I will follow thee,</HI> and affright thee with hideous fancies, and terrible dreams, as I did King <HI>Richard</HI> the third, the night before his death.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="25"> I have read of one, who undertook in few dayes to make a fat &s;heep, lean; and yet was to allow him a daily and large provi&s;ion of meat, &s;oft and ea&s;ie lodging, with &s;ecuritie from all danger, that nothing &s;hould hurt him. This he effected by putting him into an iron-grate, and placing a ravenous wolf hard by in another, al|waies howling, fighting, &s;enting, &s;cratching at the poor &s;heep, which affrighted with this &s;ad &s;ound, and wor&s;e &s;ight, had little joy to eat, le&s;s to &s;leep, whereby his fle&s;h was &s;uddenly abated. But wicked men have the terrors of an affright|ed con&s;cience con&s;tantly, not onely barking at them, but biting of them, which dis&s;weetens their mo&s;t delicious mirth, with the &s;ad con&s;i|deration of the &s;ins they have committed, and puni&s;hment they mu&s;t undergo, when in another world they &s;hall be called to account. This thought alone makes their &s;ouls lean, how fat &s;oever their bodies may appear. And as &s;ores
<PB N="19" REF="11"> and wounds commonly &s;mart, ake and throb mo&s;t, the nearer it is to night, &s;o the angui&s;h and torture of a guiltie con&s;cience increa&s;eth, the nearer men apprehend them&s;elves to the day of their death.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="26"> Now not onely wicked men, but even the children of God, becau&s;e of the corruption of their hearts, too often make bad u&s;es to them|&s;elves <HI>of the righteous mans peri&s;hing in his righ|teou&s;ne&s;s;</HI> The&s;e may be divided into three ranks:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Such as fret at Gods proceedings herein.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Such as droop under Gods proceedings herein.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Such as argue with Gods proceedings herein.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The fir&s;t are the <HI>fretters;</HI> for if the <HI>peri&s;hing of the righteous</HI> cometh to the &s;erious ob&s;erva|tion of a high-&s;pirited man, one of a &s;tout and valiant heart, he will &s;carce brook it without &s;ome anger, and indignation, fuming and cha|fing thereat. Thus <HI>David,</HI> we know, was a man of valour, of a martial and warlike &s;pirit, and he confe&s;&s;eth of him&s;elf, that, beholding the pro&s;peritie of the wicked, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 73. 21.</NOTE> <HI>his heart was grived, and he was pricked in his reins.</HI> Nor was it meer grief po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed him, but a mixture of much im|patience, as appears by that coun&s;el which in like ca&s;e, in one P&s;alm, he gave him&s;elf three &s;everal times, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 37. 1, 7, 8.</NOTE> <HI>Fret not thy &s;elf becau&s;e of evil doers;</HI> and again, <HI>fret not thy &s;elf becau&s;e of him who pro&s;pereth in his way;</HI> and the third time, <HI>fret not thy &s;elf in any wi&s;e.</HI></P>
<PB N="20" REF="12">
<P><MILESTONE N="27"> Our Saviour ob&s;erveth, that there are a &s;tur|die kind of devils, that will not be <HI>ca&s;t out,</HI> &s;ave <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Matt. 17. 21.</NOTE> <HI>by fa&s;ting and prayer.</HI> But this humour of fret|ting and repining at <HI>Gods proceedings herein,</HI> which he under&s;tood not, could not be ejected out of <HI>David,</HI> but by prayer no doubt, and that very &s;olemnly, not at home, but in Gods tem|ple, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 73. 16.</NOTE> <HI>When I thought to know all, this it was too painful for me, until I went into the Sanctuarie of God, there under&s;tood I their end.</HI> O let men of high &s;pirits and &s;tout hearts, not lavi&s;h their va|lour, and mis&s;pend their courage, to chafe and fume at &s;uch accidents, venting good &s;pirits the wrong way, but rather re&s;erve their magnani|mous re&s;olutions for better &s;ervices, and (be|&s;ides their private devotions) addre&s;s them|&s;elves with <HI>David,</HI> to Gods publick wor&s;hip in his hou&s;e, who in his due time will unriddle unto him the equitie of his proceedings.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="28"> But if men be of low and mean &s;pirits, pu&s;il|lanimous and heartle&s;s natures, and if the&s;e nar|row &s;ouls in them meet with melanchollie and heavie tempers, &s;uch fall a drooping, yea de|&s;pairing at the <HI>peri&s;hing of the righteous,</HI> they give all over for lo&s;t, concluding <HI>there is no hope;</HI> they rather langui&s;h than live, walking up and down di&s;con&s;olate, with &s;oft paces, &s;ad looks, and &s;orrowful hearts: all their children they are ready to call and chri&s;ten <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 4. 21.</NOTE> <HI>Ichobods, the glorie is departed from I&s;rael,</HI> being affected like the Citizens of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> be&s;ieged by <HI>Sena|cherib,</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="12"> their hearts are like the trees of the wood, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 7. 2.</NOTE> <HI>moved with the wind;</HI> But let &s;uch droopers know, that herein they offend God and wrong them&s;elves, and let them gird up their loins, and <HI>tie up their &s;pirits,</HI> at the &s;erious con&s;ideration that God in due time will rai&s;e them out of the du&s;t, <HI>maintain his own cau&s;e,</HI> and confound his enemies.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="29"> The third &s;ort of people, are the Arguers or Di&s;puters, who being of a middle temper, nei|ther haughtie nor &s;tomachful, neither low nor dejected, and withal being good men, embrace a middle cour&s;e, neither to fret nor di&s;pute, but calmly to rea&s;on out the matter with God him|&s;elf: Of this latter &s;ort, was the Prophet <HI>Jeremie,</HI> who thus addre&s;&s;eth him&s;elf unto the Lord, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jer. 12. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of thy judge|ments; wherefore doth the way of the wicked pro|&s;per? wherefore are they happie that deal very treacherou&s;ly?</HI> The good man could not con|ceive Gods proceedings, and although he kept to the conclu&s;ion, <HI>Righteous art thou, O Lord,</HI> yet <HI>his heart was hot within him,</HI> and he would fain be exchanging an argument with God, that all was not right according to his humane capacity. <HI>Job</HI> al&s;o was one of the&s;e Arguers in the agonie of his pa&s;&s;ion, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Job. 16. 21.</NOTE> <HI>Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour.</HI></P>
<P>But let fle&s;h and bloud take heed of entering
<PB N="22" REF="13"> the li&s;ts by way of challenge with God him&s;elf, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 6. 9, 10.</NOTE> <HI>If the &s;ynagogue of the Libertines, and Cyre|nians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Silicia, and of A&s;ia, di&s;puting with</HI> Stephen, <HI>were not able to re&s;ist the wi&s;dom and the &s;pirit by which he &s;pake;</HI> much le&s;s can frail fle&s;h hope to make good a bad cau&s;e, by way of oppo&s;ition again&s;t God, the be&s;t and wi&s;e&s;t An&s;werer. Remem|ber the Apo&s;tles que&s;tion, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1. 20.</NOTE> <HI>Where is the di&s;pu|ter?</HI> But if we &s;hould be &s;o bold, in humility, to examine Gods proceedings, let us take heed le&s;t while&s;t we di&s;pute with God, Satan in|&s;en&s;ible prompts us &s;uch rea&s;ons as are &s;eem|ingly unan&s;werable in our apprehen&s;ions, &s;o that in &s;tead of being too hard for God (which is impo&s;&s;ible) men become too hard for them|&s;elves, rai&s;ing &s;uch &s;pirits which they cannot quell, and &s;tarting &s;uch doubts which they can|not &s;atisfie. Wherefore let not our ignorance be counted Gods inju&s;tice, let not the dimne&s;s of our eyes be e&s;teemed the durtine&s;s of his actions, being all puritie and cleanne&s;s in them|&s;elves: Let us, if beaten from our out-works, make a &s;afe retreat to this impregnable ca&s;tle, <HI>Jeremie</HI> his conclu&s;ion, <HI>Righteous art thou, O Lord,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="31"> Come we now to the good u&s;es that the godly ought to make of a <HI>righteous mans peri&s;h|ing in his righteou&s;ne&s;s:</HI> And fir&s;t, when he finds &s;uch an one in a &s;woun, he ought with all &s;peed to bring him a cordial, and with the
<PB N="23" REF="13"> good <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 10. 34.</NOTE> <HI>Samaritane,</HI> to pour oil and wine into his wounds, endeavouring his recoverie to his utmo&s;t power, while&s;t there is any hope there|of. I mu&s;t confe&s;s it is onely Gods preroga|tive, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 79. 11.</NOTE> <HI>according to the greatne&s;s of his power, to pre&s;erve tho&s;e that are appointed to die.</HI> How|ever it is al&s;o the boundant dutie of all pious people, in their &s;everal di&s;tances and degrees, to improve their utmo&s;t for the pre&s;ervation of dying innocencie, from the crueltie of &s;uch as would murder it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="32"> But if it be impo&s;&s;ible to &s;ave it from death, &s;o that it doth expire, notwith&s;tanding all their care to the contrarie; they mu&s;t then turn la|menters at the funerals thereof: And if the ini|quitie of the times will not &s;afely afford them to be <HI>open,</HI> they mu&s;t be <HI>clo&s;e Mourners</HI> at &s;o &s;or|rowful an accident: O let the mo&s;t <HI>cunning Chyrurgeon</HI> not begrutch their skill to unbowel, the <HI>riche&s;t Merchants</HI> not think much of their choi&s;e&s;t &s;pices to embalm, the mo&s;t <HI>exqui&s;ite Joyner</HI> make the coffin, mo&s;t <HI>reverend Divine</HI> the Funeral Sermon, the mo&s;t <HI>accurate Marb|ler</HI> erect the <HI>Monument,</HI> and mo&s;t <HI>renowned Poet</HI> invent the Epitaph to be in&s;cribed on the tomb of <HI>Peri&s;hing Righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> While&s;t all others, wel-wi&s;hers to goodne&s;s in their &s;everal places, contribute to their &s;orrow at the &s;olemn Ob&s;e|quies thereof; yea as in the ca&s;e of <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> his death, let there be an <HI>Anniver&s;arie of Mourning</HI> kept in remembrance thereof. However, let
<PB N="24" REF="14"> them not mourn like men <HI>without hope,</HI> but let them behave them&s;elves at the interment of his <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> as confident of the <HI>re&s;urrection thereof,</HI> which God in his due time &s;hall rai&s;e out of the a&s;hes; It is &s;own in weakne&s;s, it &s;hall be rai&s;ed in power; it is &s;own in di&s;grace, it &s;hall be rai&s;ed in glorie.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="33"> La&s;tly, the temporal peri&s;hing of the righ|teous man in this world, minds us of the nece&s;|&s;itie of the day of Judgement, and ought to edge and quicken our prayers, that God would &s;hortly accompli&s;h the number of his elect, con&s;ummate this mi&s;erable world, put a period to the dark night of his proceedings, that &s;o that day, that welcome day, may begin to dawn, which is termed by the Apo&s;tle, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 2. 5.</NOTE> <HI>The day of the revelation of the righteous judgement of God:</HI> Five things there are (be&s;ides many other) in the primitive part of Gods ju&s;tice, which are very hard for men to conceive.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, How the &s;in of <HI>Adam,</HI> to which we did never per&s;onally con&s;ent, can ju&s;tly be imputed to us his po&s;teritie?</P>
<P>Secondly, How Infants, who never com|mitted actual &s;in, are &s;ubject to death, and which is more to damnation it &s;elf?</P>
<P>Thirdly, How God can actually harden the hearts of &s;ome, as he did <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Exod. 14. 4.</NOTE> <HI>Pharaohs,</HI> and yet not be in the lea&s;t degree acce&s;&s;arie to &s;in, and the authour thereof?</P>
<P>Fourthly, How the <HI>Americans</HI> can ju&s;tly be
<PB N="25" REF="14"> condemned, to whom the &s;ound of the Go&s;pel was never trumpeted forth, and they by their invincible ignorance uncapable of Gods will in his word?</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="37"> La&s;tly, How God, as it is in the Text, can &s;uffer <HI>righteous men to peri&s;h in their righteou&s;|ne&s;s, and wicked men to flouri&s;h in their iniquitie?</HI></P>
<P>In all the&s;e, a <HI>thin veil</HI> may &s;eem to hang be|fore them, &s;o that we have not a full and free view of the rea&s;ons of Gods proceedings here|in; yet &s;o, as that under and thorow <HI>this veil,</HI> we di&s;cover enough, in mode&s;tie and &s;obrietie, to &s;atisfie our &s;elves, though (perchance unable to utter what in part we apprehend) we cannot effectually remove all the &s;cruples which the pious, nor all the cavils which the profane man brings again&s;t us. But at the <HI>day of judgement,</HI> at the <HI>revelation of the righteous judgement of God,</HI> this <HI>veil</HI> &s;hall be turned back, or rather to|tally taken away, &s;o all &s;hall plainly and per&s;pi|cuou&s;ly perceive the ju&s;tice of Gods dealing in the ca&s;es afore&s;aid. Not that then or there, any new e&s;&s;ential addition or acce&s;&s;ion &s;hall accrue to Gods ju&s;tice, to mend or make up, any for|mer default or defect therein, but his proceed|ings (which before wanted not clearne&s;s in them&s;elves, but clearing to our eyes) &s;hall then be pronounced, declared, and adjudged ju&s;t, in the pre&s;ence of divels, men, and Angels; &s;o that ignorance &s;hall not doubt, nor impudence dare to denie the truth thereof.</P>
<PB N="26" REF="15">
<P><MILESTONE N="38"> But before we take our final farewel of the words in our Text, know they are al&s;o capable of another &s;en&s;e, <HI>I have &s;een the righteous man peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> that is, I have &s;een a good man, continuing in goodne&s;s, and &s;natch|ed away in the prime of his years, while&s;t wic|ked men, per&s;i&s;ting in their profane&s;s, have pro|longed their lives to the utmo&s;t po&s;&s;ibilitie of nature. I confe&s;s S. <HI>Paul</HI> will in no ca&s;e alow the word <HI>peri&s;hing,</HI> to be applied to the Death of the godly, but &s;tartles at the expre&s;&s;ion, as conteining &s;ome Pagan impietie therein, point|ing at it, as an Athei&s;tical po&s;ition, <HI>Then</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1. Cor. 15. 18.</NOTE> <HI>they al&s;o which are faln a&s;leep in Chri&s;t are peri&s;hed.</HI> However in a qualified &s;ence (not for a total extinction, but temporal &s;u&s;pen&s;ion of them in this world) the Prophet pronounceth it of a ju&s;t mans death. <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 57. 1.</NOTE> <HI>The righteous peri&s;heth and no man layeth it to his heart.</HI> Yet as if &s;u&s;pecting &s;ome ill u&s;e might be made of that term <HI>peri&s;h|ing,</HI> in the next words, he mollifieth the har&s;h|ne&s;s thereof, and (who be&s;t might) expounds his own meaning, <HI>The righteous man is taken away from the evil to come.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="39"> Indeed when a ju&s;t man dieth, with <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gen. 25. 8.</NOTE> <HI>Abraham,</HI> in <HI>a good old age,</HI> he is not properly &s;aid to be <HI>taken away,</HI> but Scripture phra&s;e, to <HI>tarrie till God comes.</HI> Thus when <HI>Peter</HI> was very inqui&s;i|tive to know, how <HI>John</HI> &s;hould be di&s;po&s;ed of, Chri&s;t an&s;wered him, <HI>If I</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">John 21. 22.</NOTE> <HI>will that he tarrie till I come, what is that to thee? John</HI> of all <HI>the</HI>
<PB N="27" REF="15"> <HI>Jurie of the Apo&s;tles</HI> died in his bed, a thorow old man, of <HI>temper</HI> and <HI>temperance,</HI> of a &s;trong and healthful natural con&s;titution, moderate in diet, pa&s;&s;ions and recreations, (<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1. Kings 14. 13.</NOTE> <HI>Abijah,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> may be in&s;tances) are cut off by an un|timely death, &s;uch are properly <HI>&s;aid to be taken away.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="40"> Now even &s;uch men God (not onely without the lea&s;t &s;tain to his Ju&s;tice, but in great mani|fe&s;tation of his mercie) may cau&s;e to <HI>peri&s;h:</HI> Or if that be too har&s;h a tearm, may take them a|way from the evil to come. And that in three &s;everal Acceptions.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To keep him from that Evil of &s;in which God in his wi&s;dom fore&s;ees the good man would commit, if living longer and left to tho&s;e manifold tempations which future times (growing daily wor&s;e &amp; wor&s;e) would pre&s;ent to, &amp; pre&s;s on him. True it is, God could by his re|&s;training and effectual Grace keep him, though &s;urviving in &s;infull times, from being polluted therewith: But being a free Agent, he will va|ry the ways of his working, &s;ometimes keeping men <HI>in the hour of temptation,</HI> &s;ometimes from the <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rev. 3. 10.</NOTE> <HI>hour of temptation.</HI> The latter he doth, &s;ometimes by keeping the hour from coming to them, or rather from coming to the hour; making them to fall &s;hort thereof, and prevent|ing their approch thereunto, by taking them away in a &s;peedie death. Thus mothers and nur&s;&s;es &s;u&s;pecting their children would too
<PB N="28" REF="16"> much play the wantons, di&s;grace them, and wrong them&s;elves; when much companie is ex|pected at their hou&s;es, ha&s;te them to bed be|times, even before their ordinarie hour.</P>
<P>Secondly, From the evils to &s;in, which other men would commit, and he behold, to the great grief and angui&s;h of his heart, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2. Pet. 2. 8.</NOTE> <HI>Lot-</HI>like, <HI>for that Righteous man dwelling among them, in &s;eeing and hearing, vexed his righteous &s;oul from day to day, with their unlawfull deeds.</HI></P>
<P><MILESTONE N="41"> Manifold u&s;es might be made of the Ju&s;t man thus peri&s;hing in his righteou&s;ne&s;s. Fir&s;t, men ought to be affected with true &s;orrow thereat: Yet the Prophet &s;aith, <HI>The righteous peri&s;heth and no man layeth it to his heart.</HI> Sure|ly his wife or children will (or el&s;e the more un|worthy) happily he hath none when dying. His kindred will, except (which is impo&s;&s;ible) with <HI>Melchi&s;edech,</HI> he be <HI>without father, without</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">* Hebr. 7. 3.</NOTE> <HI>mother, without de&s;cent.</HI> His friends will, though rather the rich than the righteous have friends while&s;t living, and leave them when dying. But to &s;atisfie all objections at once. By <HI>none,</HI> are meant very few, incon&s;iderable in re&s;pect of tho&s;e multitudes that pa&s;s the righteous mans death unre&s;pected. Paralel to that place in the <HI>Proverbs,</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 2. 19</NOTE> <HI>None that go to her return again, neither take they hold of the path of life.</HI> Not that adulterie is the &s;in again&s;t the ho|ly <HI>Gho&s;t, unpardonable;</HI> but <HI>ve&s;tigia pauca re|tror&s;um.</HI> Be thou, by an holy Riddle, <HI>One</HI> a|mong
<PB N="29" REF="16"> that <HI>None.</HI> I mean a mourner in Sion for the righteous mans death, among&s;t tho&s;e very very few, who lay it to their hearts.</P>
<P>Secondly, Men from hence are &s;eriou&s;ly to collect and apply to them&s;elves the doctrine of their mortalities, when they &s;ee <HI>the righteous man peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> There is a bird peculiar to <HI>Ireland,</HI> called the <HI>Cock of the Wood,</HI> remarkable for the fine fle&s;h and follie thereof: All the difficultie to kill them, is to find them out, otherwi&s;e a mean mark&s;man may ea&s;ily kill them. They flie in woods in flocks, and if one of them be &s;hot, the re&s;t remove not but to the next bow or tree at the farthe&s;t, and there &s;tand &s;taring at the &s;hooter, till the whole covie be de&s;troyed. As fooli&s;h as the bird is, it is wi&s;e enough to be the embleme of the wi&s;e&s;t men in point of mortalitie. Death &s;weeps away one, and one, and one, and the re&s;t re|main no whit moved at, or minding of it, till at la&s;t a whole generation is con&s;umed.</P>
<P>It fareth with the mo&s;t mens lives as with the &s;and in this hypocritical hour-gla&s;s: behold it in outward appearance, and it &s;eemeth far more than it is, becau&s;e ri&s;ing up upon the &s;ides, while&s;t the &s;and is emptie and hollow in the mid&s;t thereof; &s;o that when it &s;inks down in an in&s;tant, a quarter of an hour is gone in a moment. Thus many men are mi&s;taken in their own account, reckoning upon three-&s;core and ten years the age of man: becau&s;e their
<PB N="30" REF="17"> bodies appear outwardly &s;trong and lu&s;tie. A|la&s;s! their health may be hollow, there may be &s;ome inward infirmitie and imperfection unknown unto them, &s;o that death may &s;urpri&s;e them on a &s;uddain.</P>
<P>Thirdly, They are to take notice of Gods anger, with that place from which the <HI>righteous man is taken away. Solomon,</HI> &s;peaking of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">* Eccl. 7. 2.</NOTE> death of an ordinarie man, &s;aith, <HI>The living will lay it to heart:</HI> But when a <HI>righteous man is ta|ken away,</HI> the living ought to lay it to the very <HI>Heart of their heart,</HI> e&s;pecially if he be a Ma|gi&s;trate or Mini&s;ter of eminent note. When the eye-&s;trings break, the heart-&s;trings hold not out long after: and when the <HI>&s;eers</HI> are ta|ken away, it is a &s;ad &s;ymtome of a langui&s;hing Church or Common-wealth.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, Men ought to imitate the virtuous examples of &s;uch as are dead. <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Exod. 14. 20.</NOTE> The cloud and pillar at the Red-&s;ea, was bright toward the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to guid and direct them with the light thereof: but the rever&s;e or back-part thereof, was dark towards the <HI>Egyptians.</HI> In the be&s;t men there is &s;uch a mixture of light and darkne&s;s, who with their virtues have many faults, failings and infirmities. Well, let the <HI>Egyptian</HI> walk by his dark &s;ide, follow his faults, while&s;t the <HI>I&s;rael of God,</HI> all pious people, en|deavour to imitate his virtues, directed in their conver&s;ations, by the lu&s;ter of his godly exam|ples. That &s;o as <HI>Herod</HI> hearing of the fame of
<PB N="31" REF="17"> Chri&s;t, conceived <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Matth. 14. 2.</NOTE> that John Bapti&s;t was ri&s;en again from the dead: &s;o let us labour that our virtuous lives may give ju&s;t cau&s;e for others to conceive, that tho&s;e <HI>righteous men</HI> which have <HI>peri&s;hed in their righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> tho&s;e <HI>champions of Chri&s;tianitie,</HI> and <HI>worthie</HI> Heroes <HI>of holine&s;s</HI> long &s;ince decea&s;ed, are revived again, and have in us a miraculous re&s;urrection.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
