Sermon V (continued, part 9)
if they stand like oUve plants about our tables, it would grieve see the least twig amongst them broken down. But surely the (
of one out of many is much more tolerable than all in one -f-.
Hence it is noted in scripture as the greatest of earthly son
Jer. vL 26. *• O daughter of mv people, gird thee with sackc " and wallow thyself in ashes. Make thee mourning as for an
*• son, most bitter lamentation.'' Yea, so deep and penetrating ii grief, that the Holv Ghost borrows it to express the deepest spii
troubles by it, Zech. xii. 10. " They shall mourn for him, (na " Christ,) whom thev have pierced as one mourneth for an only
Fourthlij^ And yet, to heighten the afl3iction, it is superadded,
1 2. " And she was a widow.'' So that the staff of her age, on ^ she leaned, was broken : * she had now none left to comfort or i her, in her helpless, comfortless state of widowhood ; which condition not only void of comfort, but exposed to oppression, contempt.
Yea, and being a widow, the whole burthen lay upon her al she had not an husband to comfort her, as Elkanah did Hanna
1 Sam. i. 8. *' Why weepest thou, and why is thy heart grie ** Am not I better to thee than ten sons t"" This would have b great relief; but her husband was dead, as well as her son, gone, and she only surviving, to lament the loss of those conr that once she had. Her calamities came not single, but one another, and this revi^nng, and aggravating the former. Thi: her case, and condition, when the Lord met her.
Secondly, Let us consider the counsel which Christ gave her.
610 A TOlfEN FOK MOURNERS.
respect to this, her sad, and sorrowful case : " And when
*' saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto h " not." Relieving and supporting words ; wherein we «ider,
1. The occasion. 2. The motive. 3. The counsel itself.
1. The occasion of it, and that was his seeing of her. ' ing at the gate of the city, how accidental, and occasions seems, yet without doubt, it was providentially suited to tl tended to be wrought : The eye of his omniscience foresa this meeting was by him designed as an occasion of tl miracle which he wrought upon the young man. Christ hi eye to discern poor, mourning, and disconsolate creati though he be now in heaven, and stands out of our sig we see him not ; yet he sees us, and his eye (which is uj troubles) still affects his heart, and moves his bowels for
2. The motive stirring him up to give this relieving, an able counsel to her, was his own compassion : She neithei nor desired it from him ; but so full of tender pity was tl wards her, that he prevents her with unexpected consols heart was nothing so full of compassion for her son, as Ch
her ; he bore our infirmities, even natural, as well as mo the days of his flesh ; and though he be now exalted to 1 glory, yet still he continues as merciful as ever, and a touched with the sense of our miseries, Heb. iv. 15.
Lastly, The counsel itself. Weep not ; herein fulfilling i a comforter to them that mourn, whereunto he was an( Ixi. 1, 2, 3. Yet the words are not an absolute prohibiti and sorrow ; he doth not condemn all mourning as sinful pressions of grief for dead relations as imcomely ; no, Chris have his people stupid, and insensate ; he only prohibits tl and extravagancies of our sorrows for the dead, that it sh such a mourning for the dead as is found among the Itei sorrow without measure, because without hope, being i
that grand relief, which the gospel reveals.
The resurrection of her son from the dead, is the gi which Christ builds her consolation, and relief; well mi^
Weep noty when he intended quickly to remove the ct tears, by restoring him again to life.
Now, though there be somewhat in this case extraord
A TOKEN FOR MOUIIXERS.
vet those that now bury their relations, if they be guch as dit
Christ, have as good and sufficient reason to moderate their passic as this mourner had, and do as truly come within the reach and c(
pass of this Christ's comfortable, and supporting counsel, Weep ' as she did : For do but consider, what of support or comfort ca particular and present resurrection from the dead give us, more t that it is, and as it is, a specimen, handsel, or pledge of the gem resurrection ? It is not the returning of the soul to its body, to an animal life again, in this world of sin and sorrow, and shortly a to undergo the agonies, and pains of death again, that is in it any such privilege as may afford much comfort to the person rai: or his relations: It is no privilege to the person raised, for it rett him from rest to trouble, from the harbour back again into the oce It is matter of trouble to many dying saints, to hear of the likelib of their returning again, when they are got so nigh to heaven.
It was once the case of a godly minister of this nation, who ' much troubled at his return, and said, I am like a sheep driven of the storm almost to the fold, and then driven back into the st( again; or a weary traveller that is come near his home, and then re go back to fetch somewhat he had forgotten; or an apprentice, wh time is almost expired, and then must begin a new terra.
But to die, and then return again from the dead, hath less privilege, than to return only from the brink of the grave ; for sick hath not yet felt the agonies and last struggles, or pangs of dea but such have felt them once, and must feel them again, they m die twice, before they can be happy once ; and, besides, during little time they spend on earth betwixt the first and second dissc tion, there is a perfect a/Mvr,?ia, forgetfulness, and insensibleness, all that which they saw, or enjoyed, in their estate of separatic It being necessary both for them and others, that it should be For themselves it is necessary, that they may be content to live, s endure the time of separation from that blessed and ineffable sU
quietly and patiently ;* and for others, that they may live by fai and not by sense ; and build ujjon divine, and not human author and report.
So that here you see, their agonies and pangs are doubled, a yet their lives not sweetened by any sense of their happiness, wh returns and remains with them ; and therefore it can be no such |
vilege to them.
And for their relations: Though it be some comfort to receive th again from the dead ; yet the consideration that they are return
612 A TOKEN FOR MUURNEItS.
part with them again, and feel the double sorrows of a j:
Avhich others feel but once ; surely such a particular i considered in itself, is no such ground of comfort a: might imagine it to be.
It remains, then, that the ground of all sohd comfor against the death of our relations, lies in the general an rection, and what is in a particular one, is but, as it were,
and evidence of the general : and there the apostle place 1 Thes. iv. 17. that we shall see and enjoy them again, a coming. And surely this is more than if (with this m text) we should presently receive them from the dead, a son: And if we judge not so, it is because our hearts are measure things rather by time and sense, than by faith i
Thus you see the counsel, with its ground, which, 1 part, is common to other Christian mourners v.ith her ; tl
being but inconsiderable, and of little advantage.
Here, then, you find many aggravations of sorrow n ther ; a son, an only son, is carrying to the grave ; yet mands the pensive mother not to mourn.
Hence we note,
Doct. That Christians ought to moderate their sorri
dead relations, hoxo many ojjlicting circumstances. vations soever meet together in their death. It is as common with men, yea, with good men, to ex
sorrows for dead relations j", as it is to exceed in their lights to living relations; and both of the one, and t may say, as they say of waters, It is hard to confine their bounds. It is therefore grave advice which the ap
in this case, 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30. " But this I say, b
*' time is short ; it remaineth that both they that have " though they had none ; and they that weep, as thou< " not ; and those that rejoice, as though they rejoiced he had said, the floating world is near its port ; \ G<
tracted the sails of man's life ; it is but a point of tvav live, and shortly it will not be a point to choose whether or not, children or not. All these are time-eaten thi fore the expected fruit of these comforts be ripe, we our rotten. It is therefore an high point of wisdom to look which shortly will not be, as if already they were not, a ourselves in the loss of these carnal enjoyments, as the behaves himself in the use of spiritual ordinances ; he
lipard notand wp shnnld wppn as if wp wpnt not: tb
A TOKEX FOa MOCRNERS.
them so to hean, as to be broken-hearted for the sin they I of, or deeply affected with the glory revealed. We also ough
be sensible ot" the stroke of God upon our dear relations ; but still we must weep, as if we wept not ; that is, we must keep bounds, and moderation in our sorrows, and not to be too de( concerned for these dying, short-lived things.
To this purpose the apostle exhorts, Heb. xii. 5. " !My son, ^
*' pise not thou the chastening of the Lord, neither faint when t' «' art rebuked of him." These are two extremes, despising
fainting : when God is correcting, to say, I do not regard it, let < take all, if he will ; if my estate must go, let it go ; if my chile
die, let them die : this is to despise the Lord's chastening ; and ( cannot bear it, that we should bear it thus hghtly.
There is also another extreme, and that is fainting : if, when gc are taken away tlie heart be taken away, and when children
then the spirit'of the parent dies also; this is fainting under the i Thou lamentest, saith Senaca, thy deceased friend ; but I would have thee grieve beyond what is meet : that thou shouldest not gr at all, I dare not require thee ; tears may be excused, if they do exceed. Let thine eyes, therefore, be neither wholly dry, noi them overflow : weep thou mayest, but wail thou must not,
Happv man, that still keeps the golden bridle of moderation u his passions, and affections, and still keeps the possession of him:
whatsoever he lose the possession of.
Now the method in which I propose to proceed, shall be,
1. To discover the signs, 2. To dissuade from the sin, 3. To remove the pleas, 4. To propose the cure of immoderate sorrow. First, I shall give you the signs of immoderate sorrow, and si you when it exceeds its bounds, and becomes sinful, even a sorrow be sorrowed for ; and, for clearness sake, I will first allow what e
be allowed to the Christian mourner, and then you will the better* cern wherein the excess and sinfulness of your sorrow lies.
And, First, How much soever we censure, and condemn imi derate sorrow ; j/et tJie afflicted must be aUonced an aicakened, i tender seiise of the Lords ajfflicting hand upon tfiem. It is no vir
to bear what we do not feel ; yea, it is a most unbecoming temj not to tremble when God is smiting.
The Lord saith to Closes, in the case of Miriam, Numb. xii.
** If her father had spit in her face, should she not be ashamed sc
614 A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS.
filled her face with leprous spots, the signs of my displea her ? Surely God will be ashamed of those that are n when he rebukes them.
It is not magnanimity, but stupidity, to make light o rections ; and for this the afflicted are smartly taxed, Ji
*' have smitten them, but they have not grieved.'" smote Job in his person, children, and estate, he arose £ mantle, and put dust upon his head, to shew he was i and unaffected, and yet blessed the afflicting God ; whicl
shewed he was not contumacious and unsubmissive.
Secondly, We must allow the monrnhig, afflicted son
. comely expression of his grief and sorrow in his compli
God and men.
It is much more becoming a Christian, ingeniously troubles, than suddenly to smother them. There is nc plaining to God, but much wickedness in complaini Griefs are eased by groans and heart-pressures relieved 1]
This was David's course and constant way, who was a r tions. Psalm cxlii. 2, 8. " I poured out my complaint h
*' shewed before him my trouble ; when my spirit was o " within me, then thou knowest my path." To whom should children go, but to their father, tt moan ? Whence may they expect relief and comfort bu
The 102d Psalm is intituled, " A Psalm for the afflictec] " overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before 1
And happy were it if every afflicted soul would choose express his sorrows. Did we complain more to God, he
plain less of us, and quickly abate the matters of our cc you cannot think how moving, how melting, how pr< with God, when his poor, burdened, and afflicted peopl distress and des|x>ndency, when deep calleth unto deep, a
drives on another, then for the oppressed soul, with hi confidence, and faith, to turn itself to the Lord, and t
him.
' Father, what shall I do ? My soul is greatly bow( * trouble ; 1 am full to the brim, my vain heart hatl
* relief this way and that way, but none comes ; every < * fort is shut up against me : Thou hast multiplied my
' renewed my witnesses against me : Comfort is rcmov * outward, and peace from my inner man ; sharp afflicti * and bitter reflections within. O Lord, I am oppresse(
▲ TOKEN FOR MOURXEHS.
*' of God bath touched me.'' And it is a mercy if we have any fri( that are wise, faithful, and experienced ; tliey are bom for su time as this, Prov. xvii. 17. but be they what they will, they ca
pity as God, relieve and succour as he ; and oftentimes we may
with Job, chap. xxi. ver. 4. " As for me, is my complaint to ii
*' And if it were, why should not my spirit be troubled r" q. d. V great advantage can I get by these complaints ? I may burden
heart of my friend, but how' little doth that ease my own ? Yel very opening of the heart to an experienced, tender Christian, is i relief, and the engaging his prayers is more. Thus far you n safely, in all this there is no danger.
Thirdly, Tlie ajfiicted person may (ordinarily) accusc^Judge^ condemn hlviseIf,for being the cause and procurer of his owntrou
He may lawfullv be discontented and vexed with himself for his folly, when the iniquity of his heels compasseth him about. . trulv it is but seldom tliat any great affliction befals a gracious son, but he saw the need of such a rod before he felt it.
Hath God smitten thy child, or friend, and didst thou not foi some sharp trial coming ? Did not thy fond, secure, carnal teni need such a scourge to awaken, quicken, and purge thee r Or, il did not foresee it, it is now your duty to search and examine y selves. So the church, in her affliction, resolved, J.am. iii. 40.. "
" us search and try our ways.'' When God is smiting, we sh be a searching: Surely our iniquities will enquire after us if we
not enquire after them : Yea, in the day of affliction, a gracious is inquisitive about nothing more than the procuring and provo
cause of his troubles. Job x. 2. " Shew me wherefore thou cont
" est with me;" q. d. Lord, what special corruption is it that rod is sent to rebuke ? What sinful neglect doth it come to hui
me for i O discover it now to me, and recover me now from it.
And having found the root and cause of their troubles, ino^eni souls will shame themselves for it, and give glory to God by an 1; ble submission and vindication of the equity of his proceedings,
xvi. 20. ** I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee, thou pres€ " of men f He thmks it no shame freely to discover unto God, deeply to abase himself before him for his folly.
I remember a choice note that * Mr. Brightman hath in his ( mentary upon the Canticles.
* Holy men, saith he, after their hearts are renewed by rej * ance, are not ashamed to remember and confess their slips, * shameful falls to the glory of God ; for they account that the g
616 A TOKEN FOft MOURNERS.
how willing should we be to take such shame to us ? Hoi} not ashamed to acknowledge, Psal. xxxviii. 5. " My wo
*' and are corrupted, because of my foolishness.'" He is man that thus befools himself before God.
It is true, God may afflict from prerogative, or for tr may always see cause enough in ourselves, and it is safei it upon our own folly.
Lastly, The afflicted Christian may, in an htimble, suhm ner, plead with God, and be earnest Jvr the removal of tit
When affliction prcsseth us above strength, when it dig duty, or when it gives advantage to temptation ; then \
with David, " Remove thy stroke from me, I am consu *' blow of thine hand," Psal. xxxix. 10. Even our Lord Ji in the day of his troubles, poured out his soul with stror
many tears, saying, " Father, if thou be willing, let tli
*•• from me," Luke xxii. 42. Oppressed nature desires even our renewed nature desires freedom from those clog tations, which hinder us in duty, or expose us to snares.
Thus far we may safely go. But sorrow then becomes sinful and excessive, when, First, It causeth us to slight and despise all our other rt enjoi/ments as small things, in comparison of what we Jn
It often falls out, that the setting of one comfort, clot nights all the rest. Our tears for our lost enjoyments s eyes, that we cannot see the many other mercies which y We take so much notice of what is gone, that we take J notice of what is left. But this is very sinful, for it in
both ignorance, ingi'atitude, and great provocation.
It is a sin springing from ignorance. Did we know t] our sins, we should rather wonder to see one mercy lefl twenty are cut off. They that know they have forf mercy, should be thankful that they enjoy any, and pj they lose any of their comforts.
Did we know God, even that sovereign Lord at whose comforts come and go, who can the next moment blast main, and tvirn you into hell afterwards, you would prize he yet indulges to you, at an higher value. Did you the fickle, vanishing nature of the creature, what a fIo\ bubble it is ; O how thankful would you be to find so n in your possession !
JDid you know the case of thousands, as good, yea, bett( «.rV»*-\i-.r* ^itI"»,-»1<^ KovTTQct £^T r^r\YY^rr\^f in f V»TO itrz-^i'lrJ i^ r\iif o MO
A TOKEN FOR MOUnXEKS.
Well, but still you have a husband, a wife, other children ; or if you have comfortable accommodations for yourselves, with heal enjov them ; or if not, yet have you the ordinances of God, it be, an interest in Christ and in the covenant, pardon of sin, and h of glory. What, and yet sink at this rate, as if all your mei comforts, and hopes, even in both worlds, were buried in one gi
Must Ichabod be written upon your best mercies, because mort is written upon one ? Fy, fy, what shameful ingratitude is her
And reallv, friend, such a carriage as this under the rod small provocation to the Lord to go on in judgment, and makej end of all that remains, so that affliction shall not rise up the se time.
^^'hat if God, taking notice how little thou regardest the man; deserved favours thou yet possesses!, should say, well, if thou thii them not worth the owning, neither do I think them worth the tinuing.? Go, death, there is a husband, a wife, other childrei left, smite them all. Go, sickness, and remove the health o; body yet left ; go losses, and impoverish his estate yet left ; gc proach, and blast his reputation, which is yet sweet; what would think of this ? And yet, if you be out of Christ, you are in dang a far sadder stroke than any, or all yet mentioned ? what if
should say, Prizest thou not my mercy .'' Hast thou no value fo goodness and forbearance towards thee .'' Is it nothing that I spared thee tlius long in thy sins and rebellions? Well then, I stretch out my hand upon thy life, cut off that thread which kept thee so many years from dropping into hell.
O think then what you have done by provoking the Lord, thr< your vile ingratitude ! It is a dangerous thing to provoke God, ^ he is already in a way of judgment. And if you be his own pe< and so out of the danger of this last and worse stroke; yet ki you have better mercies to lose than any you have yet lost. Sh God cloud your souls with doubts, let loose Satan to buffet you move joy and peace from your inner man, how soon would yo convinced that the funeral of your dearest friend is but a trifle to 1
Well then, whatever God takes, be still thankful for what leaves. It was the great sin of Israel in the wilderness, that the God had delivered them from their cruel servitude in Egypt, n culously fed them in the desert, and was leading them on to a flowing with milk and honey ; yet as soon as any want did but b to pinch them, presently all these mercies were forgotten and sligh Num. xiv. 12. " Would to God (say they) we had died in Eg3
618 A TOKEN FOR MOtHNEllS-
Some Christians have such public spirits, that tlie church' swallow up their personal troubles. Melancthon seenn
little notice of the death of his child which he dearly lov almost overwhelmed with the miseries lying on the churcl
And it was a good evidence of the graciousness and pul
Eli's spirit, who sitting in the gate anxiously waiting for tic the army, when the tidings came that Israel fled before 1 tines, that his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were dead the ark of God was taken, just at the mention of that wo Arh of God, before he heard out the whole narration, quickly presaged the issue, he sunk down and died, 1 Sam. O that was the sinking, the killing word ; had the messe at the death of his two sons, like enough he had supportec den ; but the loss of the ark was more to him than sons or i
But how few such public spirits appear even among pr this selfish generation ? May we not with the apostle comp
ii. 21. " All seek their own, and not the things that are c Few men have any great cares or designs lying beyond t of their own private interest. And what we say of cares of sorrows : If a child die, we are ready to die too, but p mities pierce us not.
How few suffer either their domestic comforts to be swj
in the church's troubles, or their domestic troubles to be up by the church's mercies ! Now when it is thus with u regard what mercies or miseries lie upon others, but are tent upon our own afflictions, this is a sinful sorrow, ani be sorrowed for.
TJdrdly, Our sorrows then become sinful and exorbit? they divert us from, or distract us i7i our duties, so that course with heaven is stopt and interrupted by them.
How long can we sit alone musing upon a dead creature thoughts easily flow ; but how hard to fix them upon the li
■when our hearts should be in heaven Avith our Christ, the^; grave with our dead. May not many afflicted souls justly
that their troubles had taken away their Christ from them, to sweet sensible communion) and laid the dead child in
Poor creature, cease to weep any longer for thy dead re weep rather for thy dead heart. Is this thy compliance design in afflicting thee ? What, to grow a greater stran, than before ! Or is this the way to thy cure and comfort i
to refrain prayer, and turn thy back upon God.-* Or if thou darest not whollv nep-lect thv dutv. vet th
A TOKEX FOR MOURXEHS.
Rouse up thyself, Christian, and consider this is not right. S ly the rod works not kindly now. What, did thy love to Goc
pire when thy friend expired.? Is thy heart as cold in duty, a bodv is in the grave.
Hath natural death seized him, and spiritual deadness seized t Sure then thou hast more reason to lament thy dead heart, thai dead friend. Divert the stream of thy troubles speedily, and la to recover thyself out of this temper quickly ; lest sad experi
shortlv tell thee, that what thou now moumest for is but a trii what thou shalt mourn for hereafter. To lose the heavenly wa and spiritual liveliness of thy affections, is undoubtedly a far considerable loss, than to lose the vnfe of thy bosom, or the sw<
child that ever a tender parent laid in the grave.
Reader, if this be thy case, thou hast reason to challenge tht place among the mourners. It is better for thee to bury ten
than to remit one degree of love or delight in God. The e God in smiting was to win thy heart nearer to him by rem(
that which estranged it ; how then dost thou cross the very d of God in this dispensation ? Must God then lose his delight i:
fellowship, because thou hast lost thine in the creature.'* Si when thv troubles thus accompany thee to thy closet, they are !
and extravagant troubles.
Fourthly^ Then you may also conclude your sorrows to be exc<
and sinful, When they so ovei-load and opprsss yoxir bodies^ ' endanger your lives, or render thevi useless and xavfitfor serx
Worldly sorrorc works death, 2 Cor. vii. 10. that is, sorrow
the manner of worldly men * ; sorrow in a mere carnal, natural
which is not relieved by any spiritual reasonings and considers This falls so heavy sometimes upon the body, that it sinks und weight, and is cast into such diseases as are nevermore wrougl or healed in this world. " Heaviness in the heart of a man i
" it stoop,"^ saith Solomon, Prov. xii. 2o. The stoutest body
stoop under heart-pressures.
It is with the mind of a man, saith one, as with the stone tyrh as long as it is whole it swimmeth ; but once broken, it sinks gently. Grief is a moth, which, getting into the mind, will, short time, make the body, be it never so strong and well-wr a ]jiece, like an old seary garment.
Philosophers and physicians generally reckon sorrow amon chief causes of shortening life. Christ was a man of sorrow; acquamted with grief, and this some think was the reason tl
620 A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS.
Many a man's soul is to his body, as a sharp knife to a t\ which easily cuts it through ; and what do we by poring dering upon our troubles, but whet the knife that it ma deeper and quicker ? Of all the creatures that ever C (devils only excepted) man is the most able and apt to l: tormentor.
How unmercifully do we load our bodies in times of a How do we not only waste their strength by sorrow, but c
and necessary refreshment.'* They must carry the load, but ed no refreshment : If they can eat the bread of affliction, tears, they may feed to the full ; but no pleasant bread, sleep is permitted them. Surely you would not burden t you do your own bodies : You would pity and relieve a bi groaning and sinking under an heavy burden, but you wiJ
nor relieve your own bodies.
Some men's souls have given such deep wounds to the that they are never like to enjoy many easy or comfort more whilst they dwell in them.
Now, this is vei'v sinful and displeasing to God ; for i such a tender care for our bodies, that he would not hav( lowed up of over much grief, no, though it be for sin, 2 but even to that sorrow sets bounds ; how much less witl sorrow for tem}X)ral loss ? May not your stock of natural st
employed to better purposes, think you, than these .'* 1 come, that you may earnestly wish you had that health an( again to spend for God, which you now so lavishly waste, digally cast away upon your troubles, to no purpose or a(
It was therefore an high point of wisdom in David, and no doubt for our imitation, who, when the child was dead mourn, arose, washed himself, and eat bread, 2 Sam. xii.
Fifthly, when affliction sours the spirit with discon makes it inwardly grudge against the hand of God, trouble is full of sin, and we ought to be humbled for it 1 Lord.
Whatever God doth with us, or ours, still we should good thoughts of him. A gracious heart cleaves nearer ai to God in affliction, and can justify God in his severe sti knowledging them to be all just and holy, Psal. cxix. 75.
" also that thy judgments are right, and that thou in fai
*' hast afflicted me." And hereby the soul may comfort dence to itself its own uprightness and sincere love to God hath hppn nf sinoi-iilflr iisp to some Roiils. to take rifrht me
A TOKE\ FOR MOtRN'EKS.
ftst comforts, argues plainly that we love him for l)imself, an< for his gifts only. And thus his interest in the heart is deeper any creature-interest is. And such is the comfort that hath res to some from such discoveries of their own hearts by close smj afflictions, that they would not part with it, to have their eon
(whose removal occasioned them) given back in lieu of it.
But to swell with secret discontent, and have hard thoughts of as if he had done us wrong, or dealt more severely with us than O this is a vile temper, cursed fruit springing from an evil n> very carnal, ignorant, proud heart ; or at least from a very di pered, if renewed, heart. So it was with Jonah when God i
his gourd : " Yea, (saith he) I do well to be angry even unto d< Jonah iv. 9Poor man ! he was highly distempered at this and out of frame ; this was not his true temper, or ordinary f but a surprize ; the effect of a paroxism of temptation, in wlii( passions had been over-heated.
Few dare to vent it in such lan^uaffe : But how manv have hearts imbittered by discontent, and secret risings against the I Which, if ever the Lord open their eves to see, will cost them trouble than ever that affliction did, which gave the occasion (
I deny not but the best heart mav be tempted to think and frowardly concerning these works of the Lord ; that envious a sary, the devil, will blow the coals, and labour to blow up our « at such times into high discontents: The temptation was strono upon David himself, to take up hard thoughts of God, and tc
elude, •' Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain ;" q. d. Ho tie privilege from the worst of evils hath a man by his godli
But he soon suppressed such motions: "If I should say thus, Isi
" offend against the generation of thy children :'' ^Meaning, ib. should condemn the whole race of godly men through the world ; for who is there among them all, but is, or hath bee may be, afflicted as severely as myself ?
" Surely, it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne ch£
" ment, I will not of!end any more,"" Job xxxiv. 31. Whi God doth with you, speak well, and think well of him, an works.
Sixthly, Our sorrows exceed due bounds when zee continual
cite and provoke them by Tcilling irritations.
Grief, like a lion, loves to play with us before it destroy us. Etrange it is that we should find some kind of pleasure in rousin
sorrows. It is * Seneca's observation, and experimentally true
622 A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS.
" When they saw that she went out hastily, followed hei
*' she goeth to the grave to weep there," John xi. 32, as saith* Calvin, ' that seek to provoke their troubles, by go
* grave, or often looking upon the dead body.' Thus we delight to look upon the relics of our decease and often to mention their actions, and sayings, not so mui matter of holy, and weighty instruction, or imitation, for tl warrant, and commend the action ; but rather to rub the W( fetch fresh blood from it, by piercing ourselves with some lit yet wounding circumstances. I have known many that w talk of the features, actions and sayings, of their chiJ hours together, and weep at the reliearsal of them, and many months after they are gone ; so keeping the wound c< open, and excruciating their own hearts, without any ber by them : A lock of hair, or some such trifles, must be kej purpose to renew their sorrow daily, by looking on it. (J count, Jacob would not have his son called Benoni, lest renew his sorrow, but Benjamin.
I am far from commending a brutish oblivion of our dear and condemn it as much as I do this childish and unpro membrance. O friends ! we have other things to do unde than these : Were it not better to be searching our hearts, ai
when God's rod is upon us, and studying how to answer 1 it, by mortifying those corruptions which provoke it .'' Sure works not kindly till it comes to this.
Seventhly^ Lastly, Our sorrows may then be pronounc when they deafen our ears to all the wholesome, and i words of counsel, and comfort, offered us for our relief, anc
Jer. xxxi. 15. " A voice was heard in Ramah, lament;
*' bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children, wou " comforted for her children, because they were not." SI] mit no comfort, her disease is curable by no other means I storation of her children ; give her them again, and sli quiet ; else you speak unto air, she regards not whatever ;
Thus Israel, in the cruel bondage in Egypt, Moses br:
the glad tidings of deliverance ; '' But they hearkened ni
" because of the anguish of spirit, and their cruel bondage vi. 9.
Thus obstinately fixed are many, in their trouble, that of advice, or comfort, find any place with them ; yea, I ha some exceeding quick and ingenious, even above the rat
A TOKEN FOE MOURNERS.
sav wliat you will, they mind it not, or, at most it abides not them. Let proper, seasonable advice, or comfort be ten( they refuse it ; your counsel is good, but they have no heart
now. Thus, Psal. Ixxvii. 10. " My soul (saith he) refused
" comforted."
To want comfort in time of affliction, is an aggravation of c fliction ; but to refuse it when offered us, wants not sin. Tim come when we would be glad to receive comfort, or hear a w
support, and shall be denied it.
O it is a mercy to the afflicted to have Barnabas with them, terpreter, one among a thousand ; and it will be the great sin folly of the afflicted, to spill like water upon the ground, tho
cellent cordials, prepared and offered to them, out of a frowa dead spirit, under trouble. Say not with them. Lam. iii. 1 " My hope is perished from the Lord, remembering mine afl
" and mv misery, the wormwood and the gall.'" It is a the pities the wormwood and gall of affliction should so disgust a
tlan, as that he should not at any time be able to relish the ness that is in Christ, and in the promises. And thus I ha^ patched the first part of ray design, in shewing you wherein 1 of mourners doth not lie, and in what it doth.
Secondly, Having cleared this, and shewn you wherein the s danger lies ; my way is now prepared to the second thing pro namely, to dissuade mourners from these sinful excesses of so
and keep the golden bridle of moderation upon their passions ii of affliction. And O that ray words may be as successful ujxtr
pensive souls that shall read them, as Abigail's were to Da Sam. XXV. 32. who, when he perceived how proper and seas( they were, said, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sei
** this day to meet me, and blessed be thv advice." I am sensible how hard a task it is I here undertake, to down and allay mutinous, raging, and tumultuous passions ; t a check to the torrent of passion, is ordinarily but to provoke make it rage and swell the more.
The work is the Lard's, it wholly depends upon his pow( blessing. He that saith to the sea when the waves thereof n
still, can also quiet and compose the stormy and tumultuous se rages in the breasts of the afflicted, and casts up nothing b froth of vain and useless complaints of our misery, or the dirt ful and wicked complaints of the dealings of the Lord with w
The rod of affliction goes round, and visits all sorts of p
624 A TOKEN FOR MOURXEllS.
Here, therefore, I must have respect to two sorts of •whom I find in tears upon the same account ; I mean, the los dear relations, the regenerate, and the unregenerate. I am to both, and shall endeavour their support and assistance, fo; unregenerate call for our help and pity, and must not be and wholly slighted in their afflictions. We must pity them not pity themselves *. The law of God commands us to hel if fallen under its burden ; how much more a man sinking load of sorrows ?
I confess, uses of comfort to the unregenerate are not (oi in use among us, and it may seem strange whence any thing c should be drawn for them that have no special interest iu the promises.
1 confess also I find myself under great disadvantages for t I cannot offer them those reviving cordials that are con
Christ and the covenant, for God's afflicted people ; but ye the goodness of God even to his enemies, that they ar< wholly without supports or means to allay their sorrow.
If this, therefore, be thy case, who readest these lines ; and unsanctified, mourning bitterly for thy dead friends, j cause to mourn for thy dead soul, christless and graceless, i childless or friendless : no comfort in hand, nor yet in hope
trouble, and no vent by prayer or faith to ease thy heart.
Poor creature ! thy case is sad, but yet do not wholly sink fer thyself to be swallowed up of grief: thou hast laid thy in the grave, yet throw not thyself headlong into the grj
him ; that will not be the way to remedy thy misery : but a while, and ponder these three things.
First, That of' all persons in the icorld, thou hast most ret tender over thy life and healthy and careful to preserve it.-j ti'OtMes destroy thee, thou art eternally hst, undone for ever.
*' ]y sorrow (saith the apostle) works death." And if it v* death, it works thy damnation also ; for hell follows that pj Rev. vi. 8. If a believer die, there is no danger of hell to second death hath no power over him ; but woe to thee if it thee in thy sin : beware, therefore, what thou dost against tl and life ; do not put the candle of sorrow too near that tl which thou hangest over the mouth of hell.
O it is far better to be childless or friendless on earth, th less and remediless in hell.
Secondly, Own and admire the bounty and goodness of G ^„„»«,i ♦^ *i — ;>, +k;, „flfj;^*;^r. . *K„f ,.,u^., ^i^.,«u ^o,v,« ;^f^ fV
A TOKEN rOR MOURKEES.
thy name been in the commission, thou hadst been now past h
b the sparing mercy of God ! the wonderful long-suffering of towards thee ! Possibly that poor creature that is gone never
voked God as thou hast done : thy poor child never abused me neglected calls, treasured up the ten thousandth part of that guili thou hast done : so that thou mightest well imagine it should r have cut thee down, that hadst so provoked God, than thy
little one.
But, O the admirable patience of God ! O the riches of his suffering ! Thou art only warned, not smitten by it : is there no in this worth thankful acknowledgment? Is it not better to black for another on earth, than in the blackness of darkness for ( Is it not easier to go to the grave ^vith thy dead friend, and there, than to go to hell among the damned, where there is wee and wailing, and gnashing of teeth ?
Thirdly y This affliction for which thou moumest, may be the ^ est mercy to thee that ever yet befel thee in this world. God now made thy heart soft by trouble, shewed thee the vanity o
world, and what a poor trifle it is which thou madest thy happi there is now a dark cloud spread over all thy worldly com Now, O now ! if the Lord would but strike in with this affli and by it open thine eyes to see thy deplorable state, and take o heart for ever from the vain world, which thou now seest hat thing in it ; and cause thee to chuse Christ, the only abiding for thy portion. If now thy affliction may but bring thy sin membrance, and thy dead friend may but bring thee to a sense < dead soul, which is as cold to God and spiritual things, as his b to thee ; and more loathsome in his eyes than that corpse is, or si
Avill be to the eyes of men : then this day is certainly a day ( greatest mercy that ever yet thou sawest. O happy death, thai prove life to thy soul.
Why this is sometimes the way of the Lord with men, Job ?
8, 9. *' If they be bound in fetters, and liolden in cords of affli " then he sheweth them their work and their transgression, " they have exceeded : he openeth also their ear to discipline " commandeth them that they shall return from iniquity."
O consider, poor pensive creature, that which stole away thy from God is now gone ; that which eat up thy time and thoi
that there was no room for God, soul, or eternitv in them, is i
all the vain expectations that thou raisedst up unto thyself, fror poor creature which now lies in the dust, are in one dav quite per
I \ I
6^6 A TOKEN FOE MOURNEES.
from yoU) they belong to the people of God, and you hi
thing to do with them.
I shall therefore turn from you to them, and present so comforts to them, to whom they properly belong, which great use to you in reading, if it be but to convince you of privilege and state of the people of God in the greatest troubles in this world, and what advantages their interesi gives them for peace and settlement, beyond that state y
And here I do with much more freedom and hope of s ply myself to the work of counselling and comforting tl You are the fearers of the Lord, and tremble at his word sin is more formidable to you than the greatest affliction ; you would rather chuse to bury all your children, than pi grieve your heavenly Father. Your relations are dear, 1 is dearer to you by far.
Well then, let me persuade you to retire a while into yc redeem a little time from your unprofitable sorrows, ease ; your hearts before the Lord, and beg his blessing upon tlu quieting, and heart-composing considerations that follow which are more general and common, some more particuls cial ; but all of them such as, through the blessing of Gc very useful at this time to your souls.
Consideration 1. Consider, in this day of sorrow, who is. t and author of this rod by which you iww smart ; is it not And if the Lord hath done it, H becomes you mceMy to sub
xlvi. 10. " Be still, and know that I am God."
Man and man stand upon even ground ; if your fello does any thing that displeases you, you may not only en did it, but why he did it ? You may demand his ground sons for what he hath done ; but you may not do so here pected that this one thing, The Lord hath doTie it, shouk any farther disputes or contests, silence and quiet you, wh£
that he hath done. Job xxxiii. 13. " Why dost thou sti*i
" him ? For he giveth not an account of any of his matte Supreme being must needs be an unaccountable and unco Being.
It is a shame for a child to strive with his father ; a sh servant to contend with his master ; but for a creature to q strive with the God that made him, O how shameful is i
it is highly reasonable that you be subject to that will w proceeded, and that he who formed you and yours should
A TOKEX FOR MOUUXERS.
vvas cropt off by him that owTied it, yea, by him tliat fonne<I it. bis dominion be absolute, sure his disposal should be acccptabh
It was so to gotxi Eli, 1 Sam. iii. 18. '• It is the Lord, let hir '• what seemeth him good T And it was so to David, Psai. xxxi:
*' I was dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because thou didst it.' let it be for ever remembered, " That he whose name alone is Ji
" vah, is the Most High over all the earth," Psalm ixxxiii. 18. The glorious sovereignty of God, is illustriously displayed in things, his decrees and his providences : With respect to the he saith, Rom. ix. 1.5. " I will have mercy on whom I will have mei Here is no ground of disputing with him ; for so it is said, ver.
*' Who art Ihou, O man, that repliest against God .' Shall the tl *' formed sav to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thi Hath not the pottter power over the clay ?
And as to his providences, wherein his sovereignty is also m fested ; it is said, Zech. ii. 14. " Be silent, O all flesh, before
*• Lord, for he is raised up out of his habitation." It is spoken of providential working in the changes of kingdoms and desolations i attend them.
Now, seeing the case stands thus, that the Lord hath done it : his pleasure to have it so, and that if it had not been his will, it cc never have been as it is; he that gave thee (rather lent thee) thy r tion hath aJso taken him : O how quiet should this consideration le
thee.'* If your landlord, who has many years suffered you to d\ in his house, does at last warn you out of it, though he tells you why ; you will not contend with him, or say he has done you wro Much less if he tells vou it will be more for his profit and accomi dation to take it into his own hand, than let it to you any longe
Doubtless, reason will tell vou, you ought quietly to pack up i quit it. It is vour great landlord, from whom you hold (at pleasi your own, and your relations lives, that hath now warned ^ out from one of them, it being more for his glory, it may be, to t. it in his own hands, by death ; and must you dispute the case m him ?
Come, Christian, this no way becomes thee, but rather, '• 1
*' Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken awav, blessed be the na " of the Lord." Look off from a dead creature, lift up thine e to the sovereign, wise, and holy pleasure that ordered this afflictic Consider who he is, and what thou art ; yea, pursue this conside tion till thou canst say, I am now filled with the will of God.
Consideration 2. Ponder xcell the qualify of the comfort you t
628 A TOKEN Foil MOUKNEfiS.
said of the wicked, Psal. Ixxvii. 14. that they are full of yea, and of children that do survive them too ; for they i substance to their babes. Full of sin, yet full of children, children live to inherit their parents sins and estates toge
It is the mistaking of the quality and nature of our enjoyi so plunges us into trouble when we lose them. We thii so necessary a connection betwixt these creatures and our that we are utterly undone when they fail us.
But this is our mistake ; there is no such necessary cor dependence ; we may be happy without these things : father, mother, wife, or child, in which our chief good a lies; we have higher, better,, and more enduring things tl all these may perish, and yet our soul be secure and safe our comfort in the way, as well as end, may be safe enouj these are gone : God hath better things to comibrt his p than these, and worse rods to afflict you with than the i these. Had God let your children live and flourish ; and ease and rest in your tabernacle, but in the mean time infl tual judgments upon your souls; how much more sad hac been ?
But as long as our best mercies arc all safe, the things salvation in them remain, and only the things that havi them are removed; you are not prejudiced, or much hin( the attainment of your last end, by the loss of these thin
Alas! it was not Christ's intent to purchase for you a s( tent in the enjoyment of these earthly comforts ; but to r from all iniquity, purge your corruptions, sanctify your nai your hearts from this vain world, and so to dispose and present condition, that, finding no rest and content here, the more ardently pant and sigh alter the rest which rem; people of God. And are you jiot in as probable a way to end now, as you were before ? Do you think you are not a these methods of providence, to be weaned from the wc more ])leapant and prosperous ones ? Every wise man re station and condition to be best for him, which most pr( secures his last end and great design.
Well then, reckon you are as well without these thir them ; yea, and better too, if they were but clogs and s
your afi'ections; you have really lost nothing if the thin your eternal happiness consisteth be yet safe. Many of G( children have been denied such comforts as these, and
A TOKEN' FOR MOURXERS.
Before this relation, whose loss you lament, was born, the tii vour enjoyment and separation was unalterably fixed and limit heaven bv the God of the spirits of all flesh : And although it ^
secret to vou whilst your friend was with you ; yet now it is a and evident thing that this was the time of separation before app ed ; and that the life of your friend could by no means be protr; or abbreviated, but must keep your company just so far, and part with you.
This position wants no full and clear scripture authority fc
foundation : How pregnant and full is that text, Job xxiv. 5,6. * " ing his days are determined, the number of his months are
*' thee : thou hast appointed him his bounds, which he cannot j The time of our life, as well as the place of your habitatior prefixed before we were born.
It will greatly conduce to your settlement and peace to be W€ tablished in this truth ; that theappointed time was fully come vou and vour dear relation parted ; for it will prevent and save a deal of trouble which comes from our after-reflections.
O if this had been done, or that omitted ; had it not bee such miscarnages and oversights, my dear husband, wife, or <
had been alive at this dav ! No, the Lord's time was fullv come, all things concurred, and fell in together to bring about the pie; of his will ; let that satisfv vou : Had the ablest physicians i; world been there, or had they that were there prescribed an course, as it is now, so it would have been when they had don Only it m.ust be precautioned, that the decree of God no way exi any voluntary, or sinful neglects or miscarriages. Go<i overthese things to serve his own ends, but no wav approves them ;
it greatly relieves, against all our involuntary and unavoidable sights and mistakes about the use of means, or the timing of tl for it could not be otherwise than now it is.
Objection. But many things are alleged against this position, that with much seeming countenance from such scriptures as tl
Psal. liv. 2.5. " Blood-thirsty men shall not live out half their d
Eccl." vii. 18. " Why shouldst thou die before thv time.'' Psa 24. " O my God, take me not away in the midst of my davs." xxvii. 10. '• I am deprived of the residue of mv vears.*' x\nd, ] X. 27. '* Tlie fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years o
'* wicked shall be shortened." It is demanded what tolerable we can give these scriptures, whilst we assert an unalterable fix of the term of death.
6S0 A tOKEN FOR MOUllXEES.
or the vigour and soundness of his natural constitution ; foi
edness either drowns nature in an excess of riot and luxu
poses him to the hand of justice, which cuts him off for h ness before he hath accomplished half his days. • Again, we must distinguish of the term or limit for dei is either General, or Special.
The general limits are now seventy or eighty yeai's, Ps " The days of our years are threescore j^ars and ten, and it " of strength they are fourscore years, yet is their strength ] " sorrow." To this short limit the life of man is generall since the flood ; and though there are some few exceptioi general rule is not thereby destroyed.
The special limit is that proportion of time, which G< own counsel and will hath allotted to every individual pei it is only known to us by the event : This we affirm to 1 and immoveable term ; with it all things shall fall in, ar the will of God in our dissolution at that time. But b(
general limit is known, and this special limit is a secret hi own breast; therefore man reckons by the former account be said, when he dies at thirty, or forty years old, to be the midst of his days : For it is so, reckoning by the gcnen
though he be not cut oft' till the end of his days, reckon special limit.
Thus he that is wicked, dies before his time ; (i. g.) tl might attain to in an ordinary way ; but not before the hath appointed : And so in all other objected scriptures.
It is not proper at all, in a subject of this nature, to di|
controversy : Alas ! the poor mourner, overwhelmed -^ hath no pleasure in that ; it is not proper for him at this
therefore I shall, for the present, wave the controversy, ar this consideration with an humble, and serious motion to t):
that they will wisely consider the matter. The Lord's time your relations lived with you every moment that God inte for you before you had them.
O parents ! mind this, I beseech you ; the time of y continuance in the womb, was fixed to a minute by the 1 when the parturient fulness of that time was come, Avere y«
ling it sliould be delivered thence into the world .'' The ther would not have it abide one minute longer in the \^ well soever she loved it ; and is there not the same reason
be willing, when God's appointed time is come to have i
A TOKEN FOR ilOLUXERS.
lie that appointed the seasons of the year appointed the s< of our comfort in our relations: And as those seasons canr
altered, no more can these. All the course of providence is guit an unalterable decree; what falls out casually to our appreht
yet falls out necessarily in respect of God's appointment. 0 therefore be quieted in it, this must needs be as it is. Consider. 4. Hath God smitten your darling, and taken ai^-ay light of your eyes ivith this stroke ? Bear this stroke xtnthpatien quiet submission: For how know you but your trouble mighthax greater /"rom the life, than it noic is from the death of your chii
Sad experience made a holy man once say, It is better to we ten dead children, than for one living child : A living chili prove a continual dropping, yea, a continual dying to the p heart. What a sad word was that of David to Abishai, 2 Sai
11. " Behold, (saith he) my son, which came out of my b
*' seeketh mv life.'' I remember Seneca, in his consolatory ep his friend Marullus, brings in his friend thus aggravating the of his child.
* O, (saith Marullus) had my child lived with me, to how
' modesty, gravity, and prudence, might my discipline have f * and moulded him .' But, saith * Seneca, (which is more to b
* ed) he might have been as others mostly are ; for look, (sai * what children come even out of the worthiest families ; sue
' exercise both their own, and others lusts; in all whose life tl
* not a day without the mark of some notorious wickedness uj 1 know vour tender love to your children will scarce admii jealousies of them ; they are for the present, sweet, lovely, im
companions, and you doubt not but by your care of their edu( and prayer for them, they might have been the joy of your h
Why doubtless Esau, when he was httle, and in his tende promised as much comfort to his parents as Jacob did ; and I tion not but Isaac and Rebecca (a glorious pair) spent as many pr and bestowed as many holy counsels upon him, as they did up brother ; But when the child grew up to riper years, then he b a sharp affliction to his parents; for it is said, Gen. xx\
" That when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judi " daughter of Berith the Hittite, which was a grief of mind to " and Rebecca.'' The word in the original comes from a roc signifies to imbitter -f- : This child imbittered the minds of his p by his rebellion against them, and despising their counsels.
And I cannot doubt but Abraham disciplined his familv ass
632 A TOKEN^ FOR MOURKERS.
many and as frequent prayers for his cliildren, and partici his son Ishmael, as any of you : We find one, and that a ve
tical one, recorded, Gen, xvii. 18. " O that Ishmael migh
" fore thee :"" And yet you know how he proved, a son tha him no more comfort than Esau did to Jacob and Rcbecc
O how much more common is it for parents to see the evils of their children, than their virtues and graces ? A one parent lives to rejoice in beholding the grace of Go forth in the life of his child, there are twenty, it may be an that live to behold, to th<;ir vexation and grief, the workin ruption in them.
It is a note of * Plutarch, in his morals, Nicoles (saith he] to see the noble victory obtained by Themistocles his son ; i ades, to see the battle his son Cimon won in the field ; no pus, to hear his son Pericles preach and make orations. Ari?
heard his son Plato's lectures and disputations ; but men i commonly live to see their children fall a gaming, revelling, and whoring: Multitudes live to see such things to the And if thou be a gracious soul, O what a cut would this very heart ! to see those (as David spake of his Absalom) out of thy bowels, to be sinning against God, that God w lovest, and whose honour is dearer to thee than thy very 1
But admit they should prove civil and hopeful children, ^ est thou not live to see more misery come upon them than th(
endure to see.'' O think what a sad and doleful sight was t] dekiah, Jer. 1. 10. " The king of Babylon brought his chi
" slew them before his eyes." Horrid spectacle ! and tha Consider. 5. How know you, but hj this stroke which
onent, God Hath taken them away J'rom the evil to corned
Is it God's usual way, when some extraordinary cala coming upon the world, to hide some of his weak and tt out of the way by death, Isa. Ivii. 1, 2. he leaves some, an( others, but taketh care for the security of all. He provide ibr Methuselah before the flood. The grave is an hidin
some, and God sees it better for them to be undcr-gr above ground in such evil days.
Just as a careful and tender father, who hath a son school, hearing the plague is broke out in or near the pL his horse presently to fetch home his son before the dangei
culty be greater. Death is our Father's pale horse whicl to fetch home his tender children, and carry them out of h
A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS. »
'• him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor sc
*' native country."^ And is there not a dreadful sound of troubles now in our ears
not the clouds gather blackness? Surely all things round abo seem to be preparing and disposing themselves for aftliction.
days may be nigh in which you shall say, " Blessed is the \ " that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck."
It was in the day wherein the fiiith and patience of the saints exercised, that John heard a voice from heaven, -saying to
" Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from h
'^forth.'^
Thy friend by an act of favour is disbanded by death, whiLl thyself art left to endure a great fight of affliction. And now if bles come, tliy cares and fears will be so much the less, and th\ death so much the easier to thee; when so much of thee is in ven already. In this case the Lord, by a merciful dispensati providing both for their safety, and thy own easier passage to
In removing thy friends before-hand, he seems to say to th he did to Peter, John xiii. 7. " What I do thou knowest not
" but thou shalt know hereafter." The eye of providence h. prospect far beyond thine ; probably it would be a harder tas thee to leave them behind, than to follow them.
A tree that is deeply rooted in the earth, requires many st to fell it ; but when its roots are loosed before-hand, then an stroke lays down upon the earth.
Consider. 6. A parting time must needs come, and zcjiy is no
as good as another ? You knew before-hand your cliild or frien^
mortal, and that the thread that linked you together must b If any one, (saith Basil), had asked you when your child was What is that, which is born .'^ What would you have answ( Would you not have said. It is a man ? And if a man, then a m vanishing thing. And why then are you surprized with w( to see a dying thing dead ?
He, (saith * Seneca), who complains that one is dead, com] that he was a man. All men are under the savne condition, to \ share it falls to be born, to him it remains to die.
We are indeed distinguished by the intervals, but equalized ;
issue : " It is appointed to all men once to die," Heb. ix. 2T. 1 is a statute law of heaven in the case.
Ppssibly you think this is the worst time for parting that coal had you enjoyed it longer, you could have parted easier ; bul
634; A TOKEX FOR MOUE^TEttS.
Had God given you such a privilege as was once grar English parliament; that the union betwixt you and yourfrii not be dissolved till you yourself were willing it should be when, think you, would you have been willing it should be
It is Avell for us and ours that our times are in God's 1 Hot in our own. And how immature soever it seemed to
Was cut down ; yet it " came to the grave in a full age, as
** corn in its season,"" Job v. 26. They that are in Chri the covenant, never die unseasonably, whensoever they c
one upon the text), ' They die in a good old age; yea, th * die in the spring and flower of youth ; they die in a goc * i. e. they are ripe for death whenever they die. Wh * godly die, it is harvest time with him ; though in a natur * he be cut clown while he is green, and cropt in the bud o ' yet in his spiritual capacity he never dies before he is ripe * ripen him speedily, he can let out such warm rays and b( * Holy Spirit upon them, as shall soon mature the seed
* into a preparedness for glory.' It was doubtless the most fit and seasonable time for thei they could die in, and as it is a fit time for them, so fo Had it lived longer, it might either have engaged you m your parting would have been harder; or else have pi stumbled you more by discovering its natural corruption what a stinging aggravation of your sorrow would that 1
Surely the Lord of time is the best judge of time ; and do we more discover our folly and rashness, than in presu the times either of our comforts or troubles ; as for our cc never think they can come too soon ; we would have them whether the season be fit or not, as Num. xii. 13. " Hej;
" Lord." O let it be done speedily ; we are in post-hai comforts, and for our afflictions we never think they enough ; not at this time. Lord, rather at any other timt
But it is good to leave the timeing botii of the one an( to him, who^e works are all beautiful in their seasons, doth any thing in an improper time.
Consider. 7. Call to mind in this day of trouble, the co have with God, and zchat you solemnly promised him in i took him for your God.
It will be very seasonable and useful for thee, Christ time to reflect upon these transactions, and the frame o in tliosc days, when an heavier load of sorrow prest thy
A TOKEN FOR MOUUXEEfl.
ili)or of iiope ; all ! what goocl news wouldst thou then have acco
ed it, to escape that clanger with the loss of all earthly comforts
Was not this thy cry in those days ? ' Lord, give me Christ, * deny me whatever else thou pleasest. Pardon my sin, save my 5 * and, in order to both, unite me with Christ, and I will never re
* or open my mouth. Do what thou wilt with me ; let m« * friendless, let me be childless, let me be poor, let me be any tl
* rather than a christless, graceless, hopeless soul." And when the Lord hearkened to thy cry, and shewed thee me