<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2014-07-15</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>*Proofed title page(s).
*Reviewed structure.
*Checked division-marking material at heads and feet of divisions (HEADS, CLOSER, OPENER, ARGUMENT, EPIGRAPH, SIGNED, BYLINE, etc.).
*Added TYPEs to DIVs in order to validate.
*Checked for N=""s.
*Checked ^s.
*Checked placement and completeness of PBs.
*Checked for foreign, damage and missing-page GAPs, PROBLEMs, #, --.
*Checked for LBs, startqs / endqs, q;s, ABBRs, LETTERs and Qs.
*Checked for FIGUREs and decorated initials.
*Checked proofsheets and made corrections found there.
*Corrected <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s etc.
*Converted <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s to GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="[vendor name]".
*Revalidated.</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B24496">
<STC T="W">H3663c</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99828214</BIBNO>
<VID>207787</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON Preached at the FUNERAL OF M^r^s <HI>Margaret Hodg&s;on,</HI> At <HI>Hesket</HI> Church in <HI>Cumberland.</HI></P>
<P><HI>March</HI> 11. 1694.</P>
<P>By <HI>Robert Hume</HI> Vicar of <HI>Lazonby.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON</HI> Printed, 1695.</P>
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="3">
<PB N="1" REF="3" MS="y">
<HEAD>Ad&s;is incoeptis, Chri&s;te, ubi&abque; meis.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>James iv. 14.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vani&s;heth away.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THE neglect of the True Con&s;ideration of the frailty and &s;hortne&s;s of our Lives, and the unrea&s;onable hopes of living long, hath occa&s;ioned endle&s;s projects, and de&s;igns far too long for the &s;hort time we have to live, and the many Mi&s;eries and Trouples we mu&s;t meet with if we will lead a godly Life.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e that have not God in all their Thoughts, that &s;well with Pride and Ambition, who&s;e Cove|tou&s;ne&s;s and Avarice is unmea&s;urable, that &s;peak great and &s;welling words of Vanity, contemning and de&s;pi&s;ing the Poor and Needy, that enlarge their de&s;ires as Hell, having immortal de&s;igns to lay up much Goods for many Years, when God is not in all their Thoughts; Such Men are by S. <HI>James</HI> put in mind of their latter end, that the remem|brance
<PB N="2" REF="4">thereof may bring down their high thoughts and proud looks, and may cure their in&s;atiable Thir&s;t after the World; who mind only earthly things, who&s;e end is Damnation: All their Care is how to Buy and Sell and get Gain, to go to &s;uch and &s;uch a City, to &s;tay a Year and more, increa&s;e their E&s;tates and Revenues, and then if Riches increa&s;e their Barns mu&s;t be larger, they will be more in|temperate and profu&s;e, &s;pend it upon their Lu&s;ts, having no regard to God, nor the Nece&s;&s;ities of their poor Neighbour, but give them&s;elves over to the intoxicating plea&s;ures of the World, which drown Men in Perdition: The&s;e Cares of the World are Thorns which choak the Seed of the Word, de|&s;troying in them all care of God and Righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;o that they &s;pend their time in Sin without any re|mor&s;e, without any hearty and &s;erious Reformation, without any care to bring forth fruits meet for Re|pentance, and continue therein till their time and &s;trength be &s;pent, and take plea&s;ure in tho&s;e that in|du&s;triou&s;ly trea&s;ure up Wrath again&s;t the day of Wrath.</P>
<P>There is no better remedy to cure this Soul-damning Sin, <HI>The Love of the World,</HI> than to con&s;i|der that our <HI>Life is but a Vapor, that appeareth but a &s;hort time and then vani&s;heth away;</HI> and then what will it avail any to have gained Earth with the lo&s;s of Heaven, with the lo&s;s of his Soul?</P>
<P>The greate&s;t Wi&s;dom in the World cannot &s;ecure the Temporal E&s;tate. Though a &s;trong Man arm|ed keep his Hou&s;e, and his Goods are &s;o long &s;afe; yet a &s;tronger than he may come, and then who&s;e &s;hall the&s;e be? Then all are in the power of him
<PB N="3" REF="4">that is &s;tronge&s;t, all the&s;e great things that Men have acquir'd with much labour, and contempt of God and Man, &s;erve only to declare the Violence and Inju&s;tice of their late Ma&s;ter, the Tyranny and Oppre&s;&s;ion of their pre&s;ent Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or.</P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;e there could be made &s;o &s;trong an Entail that your Inheritance &s;hould continue in your own Line, and your Hou&s;es be called by your own Name; yet Death will make a &s;eparation, it will &s;eparate them from the World, whom nei|ther Mercies could melt, nor God's Judgments terrifie; God will &s;end his Me&s;&s;enger for them, Death will imbitter all their enjoyments, and make them &s;ee their Mi&s;ery in &s;etting their hearts upon &s;uch good things as de&s;troyes their care of Heaven, and takes away all &s;ence of the &s;hortne&s;s and frailty of their Lives.</P>
<P>The Words are a reproof of all tho&s;e that &s;eek only an earthly Paradi&s;e, that hope to Live long and get much Wealth, and con&s;ider not that their Days are numbred, that our Time is in the hand of the Lord. From which ob&s;erve</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>I. That it is the duty of every Chri&s;tian to re|member, That their Lives are very &s;hort.</ITEM>
<ITEM>II. That this Truth, if throughly believed, would moderate our Affections, wean us from the love of the World and worldly things.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">I. That it is the duty of every Chri&s;tian often to meditate on the &s;hortne&s;s of their Lives.</P>
<P N="1">1. This is that Wi&s;dom God wi&s;hes his own People, <HI>Deut.</HI> 32. <HI>v.</HI> 29. <HI>O that they were wi&s;e, that
<PB N="4" REF="5">they would remember their latter end.</HI> And &s;ure it is a chief point of Wi&s;dom, which God wi&s;hes for his cho&s;en People; he is not wi&s;e that &s;pends his Wit and parts to no purpo&s;e, that provides not in Time for Eternity, but &s;pends his Life in Rioting and Drunkenne&s;s, and the cares of this World. The Lord will come, tho we do not prepare for him, and then the Unbelievers will be &s;hut out of Heaven and &s;hut up in Hell; the good and faithful Servants of Chri&s;t &s;hall enter into the Joy of their Lord.</P>
<P>All the Captivities, Mi&s;eries and bondage that the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were overwhelmed with, are reducible to this head, <HI>Lam.</HI> 1.9. <HI>They remembred not their latter end, therefore they came down wonderfully.</HI> Worldline&s;s and incon&s;ideration are a&s;&s;igned by this Prophet, as the rea&s;ons of the great afflictions that befel the <HI>I&s;raelites;</HI> and becau&s;e we know not the day nor the hour, therefore the Wi&s;dom of God hath commanded us to be ready.</P>
<P N="2">2. In Holy Scripture we are frequently in|&s;tructed, that we are Strangers and Pilgrims, as all our Fathers were: Heaven is our Country, the World but the place of our Pilgrimage, our Life only a time of &s;ojourning, <HI>Heb.</HI> 13.14. We have here no continuing City, therefore we ought to &s;eek one to come, in the Heavens, which is perma|nent, <HI>who&s;e builder and maker is the Lord.</HI> In this World all things are frail and mutable, all &s;ublu|nary things are &s;ubject to change. He that is to day on the Throne, may be to morrow on the Dung|hil; to day a Husband, a Father of many Children, many friends and admirers, (as <HI>Job,</HI> while his Cup &s;tood even) to Morrow bereaved of all &s;uch Com|forts:
<PB N="5" REF="5">like <HI>Rachel weeping for her Children and would not be comforted.</HI></P>
<P>Our Life is called a Tabernacle; an earthly Ta|bernacle mu&s;t be di&s;&s;olved: And if in Truth we be|lieve it, we will lay a good foundation for the time to come, leave the World and go to the Father; if we leave it not in our Affection and Practice, in the Follies and Impieties of it, if we &s;tudy not a direct oppo&s;ition to the World, the World will at la&s;t leave us with a hard Heart and polluted Con&s;cience; &s;uch Furniture is neither to be envied nor coveted.</P>
<P N="3">3. This was the practice of the Saints, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> prayed for it, <HI>So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wi&s;dom, P&s;al.</HI> 90.12. In the Death of others good Chri&s;tians &s;ee their own, and do wonder, and with grief complain of the &s;tupidity and prophanity of many, who do not con&s;ider their Mortality: it's nece&s;&s;ary that good Chri&s;tians be|wail their own and other mens mi&s;eries: The le&s;s care that many take of their Salvation the more will good Men pity their ca&s;e, and with Tears pray for tho&s;e who will not pray for them&s;elves to any good purpo&s;e; with the Royal Prophet, Fa&s;t and put on Sack cloath, Fa&s;t and Pray for them, endeavouring to imitate in &s;ome mea&s;ure that great example of Compa&s;&s;ion in Chri&s;t Je&s;us our Lord, who wept over <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> bedewed them with his Tears and blood, before they were drowned in their own.</P>
<P>This is a &s;ort of Wi&s;dom that inlightens the un|der&s;tanding and purifies the Heart, makes us &s;ee the World pa&s;&s;ing away, that we may experimen|tally &s;ay, <HI>Vanity of vanities, all</HI> in the world <HI>is vanity and vexation of &s;pirit:</HI> So that the Soul will not
<PB N="6" REF="6">much be affected with the deceiving and de&s;troying plea&s;ures of Sin.</P>
<P>This is that &s;tudy, which in the opinion of a great Emperor, is able to purifie and adorn the Mind: The art of Holy Living and Holy Dying, to medi|tate much upon God and our &s;elves, will make us happy and wi&s;e, This is <HI>that wi&s;dom that is from above, and is full of good fruits,</HI> Jam. 3.17. P&s;al. 39.5. <HI>Lord let me know my end</HI>&mdash; Doubtle&s;s he lives well that <HI>all the days of his appointed time waits for his change,</HI> Eccl. 7.2. <HI>It is better to go to the hou&s;e of mourn|ing than the hou&s;e of fea&s;ting; for this is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to heart.</HI> No Medita|tion will better qualifie us, u&s;efully and Religiou&s;ly to conver&s;e with Men on Earth, and in Heaven with God and Angels.</P>
<P>This was S. <HI>Paul</HI>'s practice to Die dayly &s;uch &s;hall never die eternally: This is the u&s;e we are to make of it, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.29, 30, 31. <HI>The time is &s;hort, it remains then, that we u&s;e this world as not abu&s;ing it:</HI> then follows a very &s;trong rea&s;on, <HI>for the world pa&s;|&s;eth away and the fa&s;hion thereof.</HI></P>
<P>Our Lives are but a &s;pan long, our Soul is conti|nually in our hands, no &s;ooner do we enter into Life, but we are upon the brink of Death; many are bu|ried ere they are born, and their Lamp's wa&s;ted as &s;oon as lighted.</P>
<P>The days of our Age, &s;ays the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> are 70 or 80. years, but if we deduct the days of Vanity and Sin, we &s;hall find the time much &s;horter than we are aware of; our fir&s;t Age, our Infancy and Child|hood is almo&s;t &s;pent without the u&s;e of Rea&s;on, in childi&s;h Vanities; our youth and &s;trength is mo&s;t
<PB N="7" REF="6">&s;pent in Sin and Jollity, our Old Age in the thorny Cares of the World: all which being deducted, there will remain only a &s;hort &s;pace, of many years, (as one hath well ob&s;erved)</P>
<P>Mo&s;t Men never mind their End till it &s;eize on them either in Old Age or Mortal Di&s;ea&s;es: Our condition then would require Joy and Re&s;t; which we cannot expect, unle&s;s the meditation of the &s;hortne&s;s of our Lives, prove the mortification of our Sins: if we &s;pend our time in doing nothing, or in doing evil; &s;uch mu&s;t needs be in great perplexity at the hour of death, when the Time is &s;pent, and the work of Sal|vation neglected, when their Life hath been mi&s;|&s;pent in the Cares of the World; then, tho' they may cry with much bitterne&s;s and many Tears, tho' they, with much earne&s;tne&s;s, may de&s;ire to &s;ee one of the days of the Son of Man, they &s;hall not &s;ee it.</P>
<P N="2">II. This Truth if throughly believed, would moderate our Affections, wean us from the love of the World, and worldly things.</P>
<P>This is the de&s;ign of the Holy Gho&s;t in this Scri|pture, <HI>For what is your life?</HI> &amp;c. That &s;eeing <HI>it is a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vani&s;heth away,</HI> then certainly Men &s;hould make u&s;e of their Time, &s;pend it in God's Service, who only can give them immortality, <HI>an eternal and exceeding weight of glory.</HI></P>
<P>A worldly Mind is God's great enemy, the end of tho&s;e that mind earthly things is damnation, <HI>Phil.</HI> the &s;ight of the grave is an effectual motive to cure covetous de&s;ires; he is de&s;perately in love with the World, and the things thereof, that having but one
<PB N="8" REF="7">day to live, would yet &s;pend it in gra&s;ping after the pelf of the world, or gaping after &s;ome ambitious de|&s;ign, or airy applau&s;e: whatever be our enjoyments and temporal Felicities, <HI>yet we &s;hould remember the days of darkne&s;s, Eccl.</HI> 11.8. Which if we do to any good purpo&s;e, the gaieties of the world will not much affect us, &s;eeing their full confluence and enjoyment are but vexation of Spirit, and leave a &s;ting, a fearful remor&s;e and agony in the Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>If one pa&s;s his Time in the height of the Plea&s;ures of the world, in the ways of Sin; walking in the ways of his own Heart, and in the &s;ight of his own Eyes&mdash;<HI>Know thou, that for all the&s;e things God will bring thee to judgment, Eccl.</HI> 11.9. And after all their time is &s;pent in wealth, after the imaginations of their own Hearts, how will they an&s;wer that a wakening que|&s;tion of S. <HI>Paul</HI>'s, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6. <HI>ult. What fruit have ye in tho&s;e things whereof you are now a&s;hamed?</HI></P>
<P>It's the love of the world that makes Men &s;o cruel and hard hearted, deceiving and being deceived, this makes them forget that God that made them, with <HI>Demas,</HI> for&s;ake the glorious Go&s;pel of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and imbrace the pre&s;ent World. It's the love of the World that makes them deny God in their Works, whom they &s;eem to adore by their Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;i|on, this &s;tifles all their good intentions, de&s;troys all care of their Immortal Souls, all hopes of Heaven and Happine&s;s. <HI>Love not the world, nor the things of the world; if any man love the world, the love of God is not in him,</HI> 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.15. Such as love the World are Chri&s;t's greate&s;t enemies, <HI>who have their portion in this life, P&s;.</HI> 17.14. who have no ta&s;te of any thing but what is &s;en&s;ual and worldly, have no reli&s;h for things
<PB N="9" REF="7">Holy and Divine; and whoever are friends of the World have no love to Piety and Religion, but again&s;t all the checks of Con&s;cience, again&s;t all the frequent and gentle &s;trivings of the Spirit of God, have cho&s;en forbidden intere&s;ts and plea&s;ures, and follow them down to Hell.</P>
<P>If we have any true Piety we mu&s;t keep our &s;elves <HI>un&s;potted of the world. Ja.</HI> 1.17. Chri&s;t Je&s;us acquaints his Di&s;ciples, that he <HI>hath cho&s;en them out of the world, Joh.</HI> 15.19. It's reckoned as a grievous &s;in to &s;peak good of the covetous whom God abhorreth, <HI>P&s;.</HI> 10.3.</P>
<P>To moderate our affections after the World and &s;en&s;ual Plea&s;ures, the Thoughts of Death have been thought very effectual. That cu&s;tom of pre&s;enting a &s;tone to the Emperor at his Inauguration, that they might know after what form he would have his Tomb; King <HI>Philip</HI>'s boy calling every Morning to him, <HI>remember thou art a Man,</HI> were effectual re|membrances of their Mortality. The <HI>Jews</HI> had their Sepulchres in their Gardens, as we read <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> of <HI>A|rimathea</HI> had: A Death's head will a little allay the the immoderate pur&s;uit of worldly Plea&s;ures. The Holy Gho&s;t makes the &s;ame u&s;e of our latter end; That the remembrance thereof may imbitter world|ly enjoyments, that would otherwi&s;e pierce the Soul and endanger, if not quite de&s;troy the hopes of Sal|vation.</P>
<P>Men are mi&s;taken if they think they can be both worldlings and good Chri&s;tians; a great and wealthy Churl cannot be accounted liberal by the Spirit of God, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 32.5. The Love of God and the Love of the World are incon&s;i&s;tent, they cannot &s;uffer one the o|ther. <HI>Dives</HI> that great worldling, that de&s;ired no
<PB N="10" REF="8">Heaven but the height of Wealth, worldly and &s;en|&s;ual Plea&s;ure: how did he Pride him&s;elf in his po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ions, deny the cryes of the Poor and needy, had no pity nor compa&s;&s;ion upon one that lay at his door oppre&s;t with Poverty and extreme want, and loaden with painful and acute di&s;ea&s;es, to whom he would not give any of his &s;uperfluities, but wallowed in all exce&s;&s;es, to glut and &s;atiate a proud and cur&s;ed Car|ka&s;s? How doth the Holy Gho&s;t alarm this hard-hearted worldling, as <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> was with the ap|pearance of a hand-writing, his condemnation on the wall, <HI>Thou fool, this night &s;hall thy Soul be taken from thee, and then who&s;e &s;hall the&s;e things be? Luke</HI> 12.20.</P>
<P><HI>Job</HI>'s con&s;ideration, <HI>c.</HI> 1. <HI>v.</HI> 21. <HI>That we brought no|thing into the world, and can carry nothing out,</HI> will, if duly con&s;ider'd, make us have a true e&s;timate of worldly things, that we will not de&s;ire to enjoy them upon mi&s;erable terms, nor ever make any other u&s;e of the con&s;ideration of the &s;hortne&s;s of them. But tho&s;e that are deplorably and de&s;perately wicked; who believe neither Heaven nor Hell, God nor De|vil; &s;uch as the Scripture degrades, terming them the bea&s;ts of the People, who are viler than the Earth: It's no marvel that &s;uch as live like bea&s;ts &s;hould die &s;o too; tho&s;e great and mighty worldlings make a quite different u&s;e of this Doctrine of <HI>The &s;hortne&s;s of our lives.</HI> Therefore they commit &s;in with greedine&s;s, do violence to hell, and take po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e places of Torment before their time: <HI>Their hou&s;es are &s;afe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. They &s;pend their days in wealth, and &s;udden|ly go down to the grave, Job</HI> 21.9, 13. What gifts of Nature and Fortune have they not abu&s;ed? what
<PB N="11" REF="8">Truths of Chri&s;tianity have not &s;uch wre&s;ted to their own damnation, <HI>Let us eat and drink for to mor|row we die,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. is a damnable inference from that nece&s;&s;ary Truth.</P>
<P>He contemned the World who meditated much upon that voice which &s;ounded in his ears, <HI>ari&s;e ye dead and come to judgment.</HI> This is that u&s;e the Spirit of God pre&s;&s;es upon all our Con&s;ciences, <HI>Eccl.</HI> 9.10. <HI>Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wi&s;|dom in the grave whither thou goe&s;t.</HI> Great rea&s;on have all Chri&s;tians to exhort one another to a right con&s;i|deration of their latter end, &s;o much the more, <HI>be|cau&s;e you &s;ee the day approaching, Heb.</HI> 10.25.</P>
<P>That our lives are &s;hort is a thing univer&s;ally known and believ'd, mo&s;t will &s;ay, as <HI>Jacob</HI> to <HI>Pharaoh, few and evil have the days of my pilgrimage been.</HI> But they only know it in a Scripture-&s;ence, that know it for the time to come, and therefore live every hour as for eternity.</P>
<P>It's no hard matter to know, That a Body of con|trary qualities cannot la&s;t long, we know that Hea|ven hath decreed this. <HI>Heb.</HI> 9.27. <HI>That its appointed for all men once to die.</HI> For if in this life only we had hope, we were of all men mo&s;t mi&s;erable; neither is it any hard matter to have a &s;peculative knowledge of God's Word and Works, we may know that Rewards and Puni&s;hments are not in this Life proportion'd to the Crimes; a righteous Man may peri&s;h in his righteou&s;e&s;s, and a wicked Man prolong his days in &s;in, <HI>Eccl.</HI> 7.15.</P>
<P>It is not a &s;peculative knowledge that will have any great effect upon us, but &s;uch as Sanctifies and
<PB N="12" REF="9">makes us better Men: it's a heart work, its comfort is better felt than expre&s;s'd by words. 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 2.12. <HI>Eli</HI>'s Sons are &s;aid, <HI>not to know God.</HI> Doubtle&s;s they under&s;tood the Law in a literal &s;ence, but they had no &s;aving knowledge of it; nor do any improve their talent well, con&s;ider their Time aright, the &s;hort|ne&s;s and frailty of their Lives, That do not daily die unto Sin and live unto Righteou&s;ne&s;s; That make not the Meditation of Death, the Mortification of their Sins: in this &s;ence is that of <HI>Job</HI> to be under|&s;tood, 3.23. <HI>I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the hou&s;e appointed for all living.</HI> To know it for our &s;elves in particular, that we may break of our Sins by Repentance, redeem the Time we have lo&s;t, and pray for Grace to wait for the Lord's com|ing: if our Mortality have not this effect, it &s;hews our unfitne&s;s, as well as unwillingne&s;s to Die.</P>
<P>This is indeed a common &s;ubject, and &s;uch an one as experience hath made plain to Mankind, yet it's of great u&s;e, and very nece&s;&s;ary, as S. <HI>Peter</HI> tells us, He thought meet to &s;tir up their pure minds by way of remembrance, becau&s;e the time of his departure was at hand. Tho' they knew them already, yet being again pre&s;&s;ed upon them, they might prove effe|ctual motives to Piety and Godline&s;s, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.12, 16. God commands his Servants to preach this known Truth, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 40.6. <HI>The voice &s;aid cry, All fle&s;h is gra&s;s.</HI> The mighty Kings and Princes Dye as one of the mean people; Rich and Poor lye down together in the Du&s;t, Old and Young meet together in the Grave, and there is no di&s;charge in this War.</P>
<P>I proceed now to the U&s;es which may be drawn from the Truths delivered, and <HI>Fir&s;t</HI> of Exhortation.</P>
<PB N="13" REF="9">
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Seeing our Life is a Vapor, very &s;hort and frail, then &s;pend this &s;hort time well, in &s;uch works of Piety and Charity, as need no change at Death, as leave no ungrateful remembrance, no torment|ing remor&s;e of Con&s;cience behind them: Spend your time in God's Hou&s;e, in God's Service, it will bring a Man to Peace at the la&s;t, whatever may em|ploy you, yet nothing can &s;atisfie a Chri&s;tian Soul, but a due reflection upon a well &s;pent Life, which was <HI>Hezekia</HI>'s great comfort, 2 <HI>Kin.</HI> 20.3. and will be ours in <HI>our walk through the &s;hadow of Death. Re|member now, O Lord, how I have walked before thee, in truth, and with a perfect heart, and done that which is good in thy &s;ight.</HI> With an upright heart, omit no opportunity to &s;erve God in his Hou&s;e, nor in your own: One day in his Courts is better &s;pent than a thou&s;and in the Tents of Wickedne&s;s, <HI>O how ami|able are his dwelling places!</HI> S. <HI>Paul,</HI> begging a choice ble&s;&s;ing for the <HI>Romans,</HI> pray'd, <HI>That God would fill them with all joy in believing.</HI> Spiritual Com|forts are only &s;atisfying and perpetual.</P>
<P>Let me in the name of Chri&s;t exhort you all to make good u&s;e of your Time, make your Calling and Election &s;ure, mind and promote in your &s;elves and others, the things that accompany Salvation. If you &s;leep a way your Life in Sin, you will be awake|ned with the flames of Hell; which Sin, and the Wrath of God have made &s;o hot already. Death may come in an hour when thou art not aware of it, and then thou may&s;t have no more Time than to tell thy Companions in Sin, that thou art going to Hell; as one hath truly expre&s;t the danger of want of this con&s;ideration, Mr. G.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="10">
<P>That fearful Judgment that befel <HI>Corah, Dathan</HI> and <HI>Abiram, Num.</HI> 16.32. when Wives, Parents and Children, Ma&s;ters and Servants, were &s;wallowed up alive, hath been to our a&s;toni&s;hment repeated in our days: 'Tis not many years &s;ince we heard the a&s;toni&s;hing news of Towns and Families, that in a moment went down to the Pit, and tho' we were not Spectators of tho&s;e grievous Plagues when God did &s;hake the Earth &s;o terribly; yet the&s;e terrible Judgments were loudly &s;ounded in our ears by &s;ea|&s;onable admonitions from beyond Seas, and early alarms by the Men of God at home, that would have us healed; yet ala&s;s, their Death did not make us amend our Lives, but we per&s;i&s;ted in our Impie|ties in de&s;pite of all God's Terrible Judgments. So that what the Holy Gho&s;t hath told us of others, <HI>Rev.</HI> 9.20. is verified of our &s;elves: <HI>And the re&s;t of the men which were not killed by the plagues, yet repen|ted not of the works of their hands.</HI></P>
<P>Let nothing in the World deprive you of the hea|venly Intercour&s;e betwixt God and your Souls, nor rob you of the Sacred Opportunities of your offering up a Morning and Evening Sacrifice; allow no en|tertainment to any bu&s;ine&s;s how important &s;oever that would hinder your Private and Publick Devo|tion, in the Clo&s;et and Congregation; by &s;uch hea|venly and con&s;tant Exerci&s;es we are kept under the &s;ence of God's Pre&s;ence, and remembrance of our Duty; That God at no time may want a Sacrifice, nor we a Ble&s;&s;ing. Then will God be gracious unto his People, and endow them with Virtue from on High; Then will the Holy Spirit re&s;t upon us, and &s;hed abroad in our hearts, &s;uch a&s;&s;urances of his
<PB N="15" REF="10">Love, as no delight on earth can equal: The Joy whereof will be &s;o heavenly and &s;atisfying, that Death it &s;elf &s;hall not take it from us, but as it is by the Holy Spirit begun on Earth, &s;o &s;hall it be continued, and increa&s;ed in Heaven; where our Life &s;hall have no end, nor our Joy admit of any diminution nor alteration.</P>
<P>The <HI>Second</HI> U&s;e is of Information, To &s;hew us the danger, as well as the ba&s;ene&s;s of Earthly Mindedne&s;s; of the Men of this World, who&s;e por|tion is in this Life: <HI>Who&s;e end is damnation, who&s;e God is their belly, who&s;e glory is their &s;hame, Phil.</HI> 3.19. Tho&s;e that are grown great by Oppre&s;&s;ion, who have eaten up the Poor as Bread, who have oppre&s;|&s;ed the Widow and Fatherle&s;s, &s;uch as had no power to with&s;tand their unju&s;t pretentions and exactions, but boa&s;ted them&s;elves they were able to do mi&s;|chief. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 50.1, 2. To whom the Tears of the Op|pre&s;&s;ed reli&s;hed better than the choice&s;t Wine; and to de&s;troy Men, to make them rot in Gaol, to make them feel the power of their cruel Wrath, (as the modi&s;h Phra&s;e is) is a continual Fea&s;t. What will &s;uch do when they come to die? What will they an&s;wer when God ari&s;es to Judgment? What will your Wealth profit you? No Man can by his abun|dance deliver his own Soul, neither from Death in this World, nor Damnation in the next.</P>
<P>Let the con&s;ideration of your approaching End cure your in&s;atiable Thir&s;t after Earthly Things, and make you de&s;pi&s;e all unju&s;t gain; as indeed it would, if it were truly believ'd. How in&s;ipid and mean would all the Kingdoms of the World appear to him that dies daily, that believes this Truth for the time to
<PB N="16" REF="11">come. This would allay Malice and Hatred, That very image and repre&s;entation of Hell, that turns Men into Devils, that bani&s;hed Angels out of Hea|ven and keeps them in the blackne&s;s of darkne&s;s till the great Day, when their puni&s;hment &s;hall be in|crea&s;ed according to the Power and Wrath of God. What ever proud and cruel thoughts Men have, whatever hard and unmerciful de&s;igns; yet when their Breath is gone, all their Thoughts peri&s;h; their Love, their Hatred and Envy peri&s;h and come to an end with them, <HI>Eccl.</HI> 9.6. And that Man whom they have continually haunted, that he was hunted like a <HI>Partridge</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s; who found more Peace and Safety among brute and &s;avage Bea&s;ts, than among cruel and worldly Men: So that the poor Man who hopes for Mercy from them, who has in him the Image of God, is taken in their &s;nares; He is undone by them, and in the bitterne&s;s of his Soul, Cryes, <HI>O that I had the wings of a Dove, that I might flee away and be at re&s;t, P&s;al.</HI> 56.6.</P>
<P>What re&s;t from &s;uch words Harpies? None but in the Grave; There the weary are at re&s;t. But if no|thing will abate this cruel Temper, nor alter their delights; yet let them remember, that with what mea&s;ure they mete to others, they &s;hall meet with the &s;ame from the Great Judge of all the Earth: And he that hath &s;hewed no Mercy, &s;hall have Judgment without Mercy.</P>
<P>Whatever Projects may entertain us, whatever plea&s;ant Fancy may flatter us; That we will get Gain, that we will rai&s;e our Families, perpetuate our Name; yet we mu&s;t leave all the&s;e to the Man that &s;hall come after us: And who knoweth whe|ther
<PB N="17" REF="11">he &s;hall be a Wi&s;e Man or a Fool? Yet &s;hall he have rule over all thy labour, wherein thou ha&s;t &s;hewed thy &s;elf wi&s;e under the Sun, <HI>Eccl.</HI> 2.18, 19.</P>
<P>God hath &s;et bounds to our Lives, we cannot al|ter the Decrees of Heaven, nor live one Minute longer than our appointed time. Ought not God's Word to &s;et bounds to our immortal de&s;ires after the World, a &s;hort care will &s;erve a &s;hort life, <HI>Luke</HI> 12.15. <HI>Take heed and beware of covetou&s;ne&s;s: for a man's life con&s;i&s;teth not in the abundance of the things he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth.</HI> Be a&s;&s;ured of this Truth, they are the words of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>v.</HI> 20, 21. <HI>Thou fool, this night &s;hall thy &s;oul be required of thee, and then who&s;e &s;hall the&s;e things be which thou ha&s;t provided?</HI> So that by this character, you &s;ee, none are &s;o great fools as Worldlings, Nigards and Churls; <HI>So is he that lay|eth up trea&s;ure for him&s;elf, and is not rich towards God.</HI></P>
<P>In the e&s;teem of the World, He is Wi&s;e that is all for him&s;elf, <HI>Every man for him&s;elf,</HI> is the term of the World; but God's Ways are not as our Ways, He accounts &s;uch a Life mi&s;pent, &s;uch an one lo&s;t, that is a lover of him&s;elf, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.2. Let that of the Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 1. be remembred, <HI>I&s;rael is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto him&s;elf:</HI> Such bring forth unto death, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.5. Who bring not forth fruit unto God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.4.</P>
<P>I &s;hall now particularly apply my Di&s;cour&s;e to this pre&s;ent Occa&s;ion, and &s;ay &s;omething of this Gentle|woman, who&s;e Funeral we now Celebrate, who de|&s;erved &s;o much as this Congregation very well knows. She lived not long, but &s;he lived well, and did much good in a &s;hort time, <HI>Laying up in &s;tore
<PB N="18" REF="12">for her &s;elf, a good foundation again&s;t the time to come, that &s;he might lay hold on eternal life,</HI> 1 Tim. 6.19.</P>
<P>She was of a weak and tender Con&s;titution, her &s;ickne&s;s had a very good effect on her: &s;he was one who little admired the Plea&s;ures and Vanities of the World; &s;he looked upon them as very trifling and in&s;ipid, and did not reli&s;h them, as many of a meaner quality u&s;ually do.</P>
<P N="1">1. Her own &s;ickne&s;s made her affected with the condition of her poor Neighbours, towards whom &s;he was very Charitable; very ready and diligent to apply &s;utable Remedies, effectual Relief: God ble&s;&s;ed her Endeavours, and recovered &s;everal poor People, her Neighbours, to their former Health; who without &s;uch a compa&s;&s;ionate and merciful A&s;|&s;i&s;tant, might have langui&s;hed long in their Di&s;ea|&s;es: &s;ome having no Ability, and others no Under|&s;tanding to &s;eek for the recovery of their Health.</P>
<P>And in any ob&s;tinate Di&s;temper, where her own Judgment needed Information, &s;he would frequently undertake the fatigue of &s;everal Miles, to take Advice for tho&s;e that were in great Mi&s;ery and Sickne&s;s; who otherwi&s;e in all probability had been &s;een no more in the Land of the Living, as &s;everal here pre|&s;ent mu&s;t gratefully acknowledge: This &s;he thought &s;he was bound in Con&s;cience to do, in imitation of our Merciful God, who helps tho&s;e that are in Mi&s;e|ry, in obedience to his Commands, in a humble ac|knowledgment of God's Ble&s;&s;ings in many recove|ries of her Health, which &s;he had from God's great Goodne&s;s; whoever was the in&s;trument, he was the Author: and &s;eeing &s;he had her Health from the
<PB N="19" REF="12">Lord, &s;he could not better pre&s;erve it, nor be thank|ful to God at a higher rate, than to make others know what God had done to her Soul; That they might joyn in Prai&s;es to him for all his benefits, <HI>Who forgiveth all our iniquities, who healeth all our di&s;|ea&s;es, P&s;al.</HI> 103.1, 2, 3.</P>
<P>She had a right to that Ble&s;&s;ing. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 41.1. She wi&s;ely con&s;ider'd the Poor, look'd upon them as her own Bowels. God in his Law calls them ours, <HI>Deut.</HI> 15.11. on purpo&s;e, doubtle&s;s, that we &s;hould know that <HI>God hath cho&s;en the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, Jam.</HI> 2.5. It's a happy Life that's &s;pent in doing good; &s;uch have the be&s;t Approbation, the true&s;t Peace, and greate&s;t Reward, <HI>Who break of their &s;ins by a timely repentance, and their iniquities by &s;hewing mercy to the poor, Dan.</HI> 4.27. Such have the Prayers of all the Servants of God, the Prai&s;es of all his Saints; God &s;ees your Words, and will approve your Wi&s;dom; who know that there is no worth in any Temporal Enjoyments: <HI>But for a man to rejoyce and do good in his life, Eccl.</HI> 3.12. Without all controver&s;ie, with &s;uch Sacrifices God is well plea&s;ed.</P>
<P N="2">2. She was very Humble and Lowly, an ornament which in the &s;ight of God is of great Price: Her de|meanor was inoffen&s;ive, void of Pride and Vanity: She had learned, that God had made of one Blood all Nations under Heaven, &s;he remembred the mean|e&s;t had God's Image &s;tampt upon them, and that in &s;everal particulars they are to be preferred before tho&s;e of a higher &s;tation: She knew it a duty to con|de&s;cend to Men of low degree, and in honour to pre|fer
<PB N="20" REF="13">others before our &s;elves; &s;he was not given to foo|li&s;h talking nor un&s;eemly je&s;ting, but grave and di&s;|creet, a lover, a follower of godly and holy Matrons.</P>
<P N="3">3. She was very prudent and di&s;creet in her hou&s;|hold affairs, that Character of a Virtuous Woman was very applicable to her, <HI>Pro.</HI> 31.11. <HI>The heart of her husband did &s;afely tru&s;t in her; &s;he did him good and not evil, all the days of her life.</HI> v. 26 <HI>She opened her mouth with wi&s;dom, and in her tongue was the law of kind|ne&s;s.</HI> Her Children ri&s;e up and call her ble&s;&s;ed, her Husband al&s;o, and he ble&s;&s;eth her. She was a kind Relation, a True Friend, con&s;tant to the Death.</P>
<P>She was an excellent Wife, &s;he pa&s;&s;ionately loved her Husband, her Affection was never le&s;&s;ened to|wards him, till Death made the &s;eparation.</P>
<P>As her Life was full of good Fruits, &s;o &s;he was very Patient and Submi&s;&s;ive at the time of her Death; which was very &s;udden, and unexpected by her Friends till a few hours before &s;he rendred her Spirit to God who gave it.</P>
<P>Even in her greate&s;t Agony, no impatient word nor angry expre&s;&s;ion e&s;caped her, &s;he opened not her mouth but in Prai&s;es to God for every little interval of Ea&s;e; or in Prayers to God to be Merciful unto her; and in earne&s;t reque&s;ts that we would make Supplications for her happy departure out of this Valley of Mi&s;ery to Eternal Glory.</P>
<P>She dyed as <HI>Rachel, Gen.</HI> 35.16. She travailed and had hard labour, &s;he bore a Son and died. Upon which &s;ad occa&s;ion, One, in a Funeral Po&s;ture la|ments it thus<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> B</NOTE>; <Q>Who can expre&s;s the Woe of this Day, and the bitterne&s;s of this Lo&s;s to the Man of
<PB N="21" REF="13">God; <HI>Rachel</HI> his dear Wife dies in Childbed, an increa&s;e of Grief: Worldly Comforts are &s;ubject to change; wi&s;h for Eternity here, all is but Va|nity.</Q></P>
<P>Our decea&s;ed Si&s;ter was fruitful as <HI>Rachel,</HI> &s;he hath left Seven Sons: Her Husband cannot give a better demon&s;tration of the Truth of his Love to her, than by a Chri&s;tian Education of his Chil|dren, according to her de&s;igns if &s;he had lived: That they may be trained up in the Fear of the Lord, and be In&s;truments of much good in their Genera|tion. And doubtle&s;s Children are then a Singular Ble&s;&s;ing, when (as we have them of God's bounty, &s;o) by our Prayers and Endeavours we dedicate them to his Honour and Glory.</P>
<P>In a word, She was a Loving and Endearing Wife, a careful and tender-hearted Mother, a kind Relation, a Faithful Friend, and a very Charitable and compa&s;&s;ionate Neighbour.</P>
<P>Conclude we then in the Words of an Eminent Servant of God: <HI>The Lord of his great mercy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bi&s;h.</HI> S.</NOTE> <HI>by his Holy Spirit, humble our hearts with the remem|brance of our frailty, pardon our Sins the only cau&s;e of it; cloath us with Chri&s;t's Righteou&s;ne&s;s, the only ea&s;e of it; and ha&s;ten his Son's coming, the only end of it: To which Three Sacred Per&s;ons of the Ble&s;&s;ed God-head, be all Honour and Glory, Prai&s;e and Thank&s;giving for ever,</HI> Amen,</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
