Exhortations to those that have patiently watied on God even in Old Age.

Reflect. 1. How gracious he has been to you, in giving you many years, wherein to get Oyl, and to trim your Lamps, and to prepare for another World. How many storms have you out-lived that made others sink? Many, many young People are gone to Judgment a great while ago, while that Hand that crusht them, has been very gentle and merciful to you. You have survived the dangers, and the sins, and the giddiness of Youth, and are now almost at our Journeys end.

2. Endeavour to do good to others, that have not had such experience of God [Page 41]as you. Thus you bring forth fruit in old age, and are fat and flourishing, Ps. 92.14. you do, as it were, grow young again, with a vast accession to your Spi­ritual stature. When you are full of pa­tience, and by your Example and your Words declare to others how faithful and how kind God has been to you: So, by teaching them knowledge, you will rekindle and inflame your own Light; whilst others younger then you decay, you shall thrive and prosper. He that planted you makes the green Tree to wither, and the dry to grow. You'll not only go to Heaven fully ripe for Glo­ry, like a shock of Corn gathered in due season, but there will be something for others to glean when you are gone: And in the mean time Summer and Win­ter. Youth and Old Age, doe as it were meet in you; the decays of one, and the fruitfulness of the other. In your Evening there is Light, Zech. 8.4, 5. Fortifie your selves with the Ex­periences of God, goodness whenever your patience is like to tire, as Polycarp [Page 42]said, when he was urged by the Procon­sul to deny Christ, or to do something like it: These fourscore and six Tears, have I served Christ, and he never did me any harm; and how can I then bla­spheme my Master and my Saviour. Ex­hort others to fear, and love, and trust God, as you have done; by your Holy Awe and Reverence, seek upon all oc­casions to Correct their Lightness and their Vanity. You have served a good Master, and you have had the Honour to serve him very long; be not now wea­ry of his work, be not now for going out of his Vineyard, when he that em­ployed you, is just coming to reward your diligence. Be of good Courage, The Lord is at hand; O ye aged People bless the Lord your Preserver, and dai­ly sing his praise; let your Winter, as well as the Spring of Youth, praise the Lord. How few have had that time for Heaven, that you have had? Oh the blessed Seasons and Days of Grace, that you have had! It's a wonderful Honour to those that are old, that they have so [Page 43]large a space, wherein to do a World of Good, to enlarge the Kingdom of Christ, and to make their future Crown more weighty: And none should grudge to labour for fourscore or an hundred Years, when for so short a Duration of painful Diligence, he shall have an Everlasting Recompence. By living to old Age, you have more Wisdom, and Experience, and Skill, than others; your Graver Years teach you to beware of several Rocks that they split upon. And all these Mercies are heightned to such as arrive to an Healthful old Age, not loaded with the usual Pains and Griefs, and Languish­ing Motions of decaying Age, for then the longer the Life, the more the Mi­sery, Joshua 14.10, 11. Thus Life does smoothly take its course, without meet­ing with great Obstructions in the way, and is not only Long but Happy too. This was the peculiar Felicity of the Pa­triarchs before the Flood, their Lives were extended to almost a thousand Years, and yet we read of none of those Sad Symptoms attending them, that at­tend [Page 44]us now at fourscore, Psal. 90.10. It's a very comfortable thing, to have neither a poor nor sickly Age, neither to want Necessaries, nor to be in Pain: 'Tis a Blessing to live to see your Poste­rity, and a greater Joy to see them walk­ing in the Truth, Psal. 128.6. but yet none can expect to be freed from the evil days mentioned Eccles. 12.1. full of trembling Palsies, grievous Aches, lin­gering Pains, and innumerable Evils; but if you patiently wait on God, and improve well your declining Years, you'll at length be satisfied with living as 'tis said of Job, Chap. 42.17. He died, being old and full of days. He rose as from a Feast, not Surfeited, but well pleased with the Joys and Plenty of his latter Days. He was once indeed in ano­ther Frame, when his Spirits were over­clouded with Melancholy, and his Soul was burnt with Anguish, when he had restless Pain by day, and no sweet Sleep at night, Chap. 7.4. then he wish'd for any sort of Death, tho' Shameful and Untimely, tho' Violent and Uncommon, [Page 45] Verse 5, 16. But this was more Job's Disease than his Grace, 'twas a most rash and hasty Wish; to die in Terror and Anguish, is a forlorn and doleful way of dying: He eagerly thirsted for the Grave, but at last he looked upon it with ano­ther Eye, and went to it as a weary Traveller goes to Bed: He looked for the finishing of his Course with submis­sive regular Desires, and Quiet Hopes: So refresh'd and satisfied with living, are those that are good in Age, but a Sinner an hundred year old is accursed. Cursed in his neglect of the Business of Life, Cursed as condemned by a perpetual De­sire of Longer and Longer Time, he is pained with Trouble, and afraid to die. The Sins of his Youth have a Resurre­ction in his Thoughts, and scare him with the sight of Death, as knowing they will not only lye down with him in the Grave, but rise with him thence. And yet amidst such hideous Views and Ap­prehensions, he has an unquenchable and painful Thirst after those Pleasures that are past away: His Lust is fresh and [Page 46]lively when his Head is grey; every thing about him grows old but his Sin; and a long Life to such an one, is but a continued Load of Guilt, a daily trea­suring up of Wrath against the Great Day: But nothing is more Decent or more Lovely, than to see a remaining Green under the Snow of Age: The Beauty of an old Man, is his Grace as well as his Years: To be full of Days, and to be full of Grace, full of Faith, and Hope, and Joy in God, is to be as beau­tiful as ever any was in the most bloom­ing gayest Youth. Job 5.26. Thou shalt come to thy Grave in a full Age, like as a Shock of Corn cometh in his season. It sheds and spoils if it stay too long, if it be not gathered when 'tis fully Ripe, and the Season of it is as well lost, as when 'tis taken too green. Do you that are Old, take care of all the Evils proper to your advanced Age, of Peevishness, and Morose­ness, and Sourness, and Covetousness; and let those that are Young, be Temperate and Sober, and useful to the World, that they may either live to be old, or get to [Page 47]Heaven betimes. Do you that are Aged improve your leisure Hours to prepare for your Change; and do you that are Young, listen to the Speeches and Dire­ctions of those that are near their latter end. In your old Age recreate your selves with looking forward to a better State; and when you do but very faintly draw your Breath, yet be breathing after Hea­ven; and your sincere Sighs and Groans shall be as acceptable as all the Motions of your swifter Youth: And when your Tongues begin to faulter, let your Actions speak your Patience and Submission to the Will of God: And when you are even like to sink with Pains and Miseries, Oh remember you are almost at home; you have but a little while to run, and you shall obtain; a little while to fight, and you shall be Crowned: Watch a little longer, the Sun is just setting, and in a few Moments you may be allowed to go to sleep; there is but a little Sand left in your Glass; your Life is like a Candle burnt quite to the bottom: And though the Religion of young People is very [Page 48]pleasant in the Eye of God, their Graces send forth a sweet Perfume; and when he walks in his Garden, 'tis agreeable to him to see the moist Flowers breath out their Morning Incense; yet he loves old Disciples too, and he gives them his Word and his Promise for their tottering Age to rely upon. Be sure to improve the lei­sure of your declining Years to the best Purposes, and be thankful that you are now retiring from the Noise and Hurry of the disagreeing busie World. As Sir Henry Wotton said after a kind of tem­pestuous Life, I have a great Advantage from my God, that makes the Out-goings of the Morning to Praise him; I daily magnifie him for his particular Mercy, of an Exemption from Business, a quiet Mind, and a liberal Maintenance, even in this part of my Life, when my Age and Infirmities seem to sound a Retreat from the Pleasures of this World, and invite me to Contemplation, in which I have ever taken the greatest Felicity. You may make use of all the Remembrances of the places where you have lived, to help you [Page 49]in the best things. As Mr. Walton tells us of the aforesaid Politician, that he said upon his being in his old Age in Winche­ster School, My being in this School, and seeing the very place where I sate when I was a Boy, occasioned me to remem­ber the Thoughts of my Youth that then possessed me, Sweet Thoughts indeed, that promised my growing Years nu­merous Pleasures, without mixtures of Cares; and those to be enjoyed, when time (which therefore I thought slow paced) had changed my Youth into Manhood: But Age and Experience have taught me, those were but empty Hopes; for I have always found it true, as my Saviour did foretel, Sufficient to the day is the Evil thereof. I have, says he to Mr. Hales then of Eaton, in my passage to my Grave, met with most of those Joys of which a discursive Soul is capa­ble, and have not wanted those that were inferior. Nevertheless, I have not in this Voyage always floated on a Calm Sea, but have often met with cross Winds and Storms, with many Troubles of Mind, [Page 50]and Temptations to Evil. And yet though I have been and am a Man compass'd about with Humane Frailties, Almighty God has, by his Grace, kept me from making Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience, the thought of which is now the Joy of my Heart, and I most humbly praise him for it; and I humbly acknow­ledge, that it was not my self, but he, that hath kept me to this great Age, and let him take the Glory of his Mercy. And now my dear Friend, continues he, I now see that I draw near my Harbour of Death; that Harbour that will secure me from all the future Storms and Waves of this restless World; and I praise God I am willing to leave it, and expect a better; that World, wherein dwelleth Righteousness. And to him I add the Ex­ample of Mr. George Herbert, that blessed Man, that other David, that tuned his Soul with Heavenly Thoughts, and Musically lived, and Musically died. Mr. Walton in his Life tells us, that in the time of his last Decays, he did often thus express himself to Mr. Woodnot and his other [Page 51]Friends, that attended him in his Lan­guishing Condition.

I now look back upon the Pleasures of my Life past, and see the Content I have taken in Beauty, in Wit, in Musick, and pleasant Conversation are now all past by me, like a Dream, or as a Shadow that re­turns not, and are all now become dead to me, or I to them: And I see, that as my Father and Generation has done be­fore me, so I also shall now suddenly (with Job) make my Bed in the dark and I praise God I am prepared for it; and I praise him that I am not to learn Patience, now I stand in such need of it, and that I have practised Mortification, and endeavoured to die daily, that I might not die Eter­nally: And my Hope is, that I shall shortly leave this Valley of Tears, and be free from all Fevers and Pain: And which will be a more Happy Condition, I shall be free from Sin, and all the Tem­ptations and Anxieties that attend it; and this being past, I shall dwell in the New Jerusalem, dwell there with Men made perfect; dwell where these Eyes shall [Page 52]see my Master and Saviour Jesus, and with him see my Relations and my Friends: But I must die, or not come to that happy Place; and this is my Con­tent, that I am going daily towards it; and that every day that I have lived, hath taken a part of my appointed time from me: And that I shall live the less time for having lived thus, and the day past — And to another he said, My dear Friend, I am sorry that I have nothing to present to my merciful God but Sin and Misery; but the first is pardoned, and a few hours will now put a period to the latter.

Thirdly, Do not murmur, if some that began to wait upon God later than you, yet have more Joys. He is gracious to you still, and he may do with his own what he will. Though it is your Privilege to have served him long, yet remember you are at the best, and when you have done all, but unprofitable Servants; they that came in later to the Vineyard, may have as much Joy as you, but you have as much as you deserve: He may give [Page 53]to his Returning Prodigals very noble Entertainment, but you that are elder are not excluded from the Feast, you may come and taste of the Fatted Calf, and share in all the Festival Solemnities and Joys of others. The Surliness of the elder Brother in the Parable, discovered a great deal of Spiritual Pride; made him undutiful to his Father, and unkind to his Brother, whom in Union to his Father's Carriage, he should have welcom'd home. There was in all the Behaviour towards him, nothing of Injustice or Partiality, he took nothing from the Elder to give the Younger, he did not strip him to cloath his Brother. Can you who are Aged murmur who must have Heaven at last? In the mean time God is yours, all that he hath is yours, his Son, his Word and Promises, and Innumerable Blessings. It should rejoyce you, to think that these younger Servants of your Ma­ster may prove eminent Instruments of his Glory, when you are at rest from your Labours.

Fourthly, With humble reliance on the Grace of God, endeavour to persevere in his Service to the last moments of your Lives. You have done a great deal for Christ, which is matter of Joy, but you have done it all with his assistance, which is matter of Humility, 1 Cor. 15.9, 10. Alas, how little have you done for God, of what you might have done: It was a great Favour to you, that you did not grow old among his Enemies; but it is a Favour that obliges you to a particular Acknowledgment. Oh take heed least having begun in the Spirit, you end in the Flesh, and degenerate to Formality and Worldliness, and a vain Religion: Take heed least your latter end be not worse than your beginning; Paul the Aged, and a Prisoner, was still doing good, Philem. 9. Some will say I have laboured so hard, and done so much, I hope I may now sit still and take mine ease. You must labour till your last Sand be run; you must la­bour from your first Morning to the con­clusion of your day, from your Con­version to your Death; and you must [Page 55]strive that your last days may be your best.

To all such aged Servants of our Lord, so Steddy, so Religious, and so Fruitful, there is a great Reverence due from young People: We must not despise those that are Old, for if we live we shall be so too, and then others may with justice treat us as we treated them; a good old Man or Woman are never to be spoke of, but with terms of Respect, and not with such a slight Air, and jearing Con­temptuous sort of Expression, that is usual with many giddy People; with all ima­ginable deference does St. Paul speak of Andronicus and Junia who were in Christ before him, Rom. 16.7. And as Solomon observes, Prov. 16.31. The heary head is a Crown of Glory, if it be found in the way of Righteousness, that is, Old Age is very honourable, if it do not dishonour it self by a Course of wicked Actions. The wise King intimates, that a great re­spect is to be paid to one who has long travelled in the best way, somewhat re­sembling that which is to be given to [Page 56]a Crowned Head. It's a most comely thing to see Grace ripening with the Maturity of Age; and the number of Services to God and Men, bearing pro­portion with the number of increasing Years: Old Age, though decrepit, is honourable, like the Ruins of some noble Palace, there remains in the Fragments of the stately Structure, some Graceful­ness and Beauty, something uncommon and Magnificent. It may be said of Good­ness of a long standing, as of old Gold, old painting, Sculpture, Statuary and Archi­tecture; the Pieces that have most Anti­quity, are generally most valuable, their Duration does not lessen, but increase their Excellence: Good old Age is, to the true discerners of things, full of Wonder and Observation, as in a Winter or a Frost Landskip may be expressed a curious deal of Art, though such as are young Practitioners in Painting, may perhaps be more affected with those Descriptions that represent the blooming Spring. 'Tis certain that Persons advanced in years and Grace, have a more establish'd Love [Page 57]to God than younger People; and we may, as to this, prefer their more grounded Knowledge, before that of such as have been but a while tutored and disciplin'd in the School of Christ.

The more General Ʋse.

First. IN all your Troubles, to further your patient waiting upon God, be sure to pray unto him for Support, or for Deliverance. When St. Paul had a Thorn in the Flesh, a painful Disease, that created as much trouble to him, as a Thorn usually does in the tender Flesh; He sought the Lord thrice, which denotes his earnestness and his fervent Desire to have the Cross removed; as to that he was not heard, but he obtained sufficient Grace, which was infinitely better than external Ease and Comfort: Say when you are deeply distressed, O Master save me or else I perish: And when Troubles increase, we must renew our Cries, as the Mariners double their Cable of the Anchor [Page 58]when the Storm grows more furious; and it is far from being a Sin, to pray against violent and sharp Afflictions, be­cause it argues a right Knowledge of our own Weakness, and that we are not able to bear a Burden that is very heavy? We may lawfully desire to be freed from te­dious, and lingering, and sharp Pain, for the length of it is a very great Tempta­tion. There are two things which we may pray against, 1. Reproach, That like some Indian Poisons Murthers us by slow degrees, and shoots its envenomed Ar­rows in the dark, we are wounded, and we know not who it is that bends the Bow; the blasting of our good name, is a Persecution of the worst kind, 'tis one of the most refined Stratagems of Hell; and such as slander their Neighbour, either know not what they do, and then they are Fools, or they do it wilfully, and then they are Devils, they smell rank of Fire and Brimstone: Some are as forward to put off all the Productions of their gan­green'd ulcerated Spirits, as if they had got a Patent for Lying, as if they had [Page 59]engross'd and monopoliz'd this Sin; they think a little Backbiting has no great harm in it, whereas there may be Death in a Whisper, as well as Murther in a Wish. We may pray against Anguish and Terror of Soul, which is like a fiery Furnace and scorches us on every side, and imbitters all that others call the Pleasures and the Sweets of Life: Espe­cially must we pray, that when sickness or pain robs us of our Health, sin may not at the same time rob us of our Faith and Hope in God: as also that it would please him not to allow Satan to rake in our wounds; and when his Al­mighty hand has smitten us, that he would not leave his Enemy and ours to touch us to the Quick as he did Job: and that at last all his malice may be defeated, and that thirst extinguished whereby he so eagerly thirsts and longs for our Ruine; and if we patiently wait, we must in all our Pains maintain a most entire Compliance with the Will of our Corrector, both as to the conti­nuance and removal of our Sufferings: [Page 60]And while they last, let us open with all the freedom imaginable our whole Case, and all its circumstances to the Father of our Spirits; and when we open our Griefs, his Bowels will earn over us: our very miseries have with him a pleading and a moving Eloquence. This poor man cryed, and the Lord heard him. You may cry to the Lord, which implies a vehement eager motion of the Soul, and an outward expression of your sense of Grief: The best of men have not been insensible of pain and trouble; Abraham, and Isaac, and Ja­cob and the other Patriarchs felt these Inconveniences of Life as well as other men. 'Tis said of Jacob, Gen. 48.1. that he was sick; and ver. 10. that his eyes were dim for age, so that he could not see: he was bedrid sometime before his death, and no doubt had his Groans and his Crys like other Aged men. Da­vid with all his Musick could not pre­serve an undecaying Youth, nor charm away the cold Winter of his Life. When he was old and stricken in years, they co­vered [Page 61]him with clothes, but he got no heat, 1 Kings 1.1. And in other seasons of his Life, he says, the pressure of his grief was so very weighty, that it made him groan all the night, and he was weary with his groaning, and his bed swimmed in an inundation of overflow-Tears, Ps. 6.6. and Ps. 38.8. I am fee­ble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. This Roaring, notes the Loudness and Vehemence of his Cries. And says the poor desolate Job, when his melancholy and terrors were upon him, chap. 30.28. I went mourning without the Sun: I stood to and cryed in the Congregation. I had, during my tempestuous Night, scarce a glimpse or beam of Joy. I was in such flaming Anguish, that scorcht my Body, and preyed upon my Soul; I was in such dreadful and amazing fears that I, was not able to keep silence. My inward torment, even when I was in any publick Assembly, made me shriek and cry aloud. And Hezekiah says of his sick and languishing condition, Isa. 38.14. [Page 62] Like a Crane or a Swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a Dove. His Cry was quick, and frequent, and loud, and frightful; with a very sorrowful and doleful Tone: His Eyes failed with waiting, and his Heart was even like to break. These Examples I alledge to shew you that the best of men may be sensible of pain, and yet be submissive to the Author of it. Loud Groans and Crys are no marks of an inward Impa­tience and disorder; for by these trou­bled Nature gives it self a little vent, and it gives a little ease, tho' indeed but very little; because our returning Grief makes our Groans and Crys return. Tho' they are innocent and unavoidable expressions of some weighty sorrow that is like to crush us. Grace does not o­verthrow Nature, tho' it corrects all its excesses and disorders. We know that the Language of the Sick has not the livelyness the briskness and strength of those that speak in health: their Coun­tenance, their Looks, their Actions, their words are all changed. All indeed are [Page 63]not equally sensible, for some persons have a finer set and contexture of Spi­rits, and consequently a quicker sense of Pain than those that are of a heavier and duller Constitution. The delicate tem­per of the Body of our Saviour, was more susceptible of grief than the Bo­dies of the Thieves that were Crucified with him.

2dly. When you pray, do not wonder if you are not immediately answered: do not murmure at the slow pace of Di­vine Mercy. You shall have help in the most beautiful season, when the glory of God and your good may be most promoted. If he as yet delay to hear your very earnest and importunate Crys, remember that his Elect cry to him day and night, and he will at length avenge their Cause. The Souls under the Altar cry; all Nature, Groans and Crys to be eased of the miseries that our sin has brought upon it. We must pray, but not presame to tell our Bene­factor what, and when he is to give. 'Tis an excellent posture to be found [Page 64]waiting on our Knees, tho' mercy and deliverance come not just when we would have it.

1. Those things which we many times most earnestly ask might be vastly prejudi­cial to us. Many an one says, give me this or that or else I die; and the very things they prayed for, when obtained, prove a curse; and those in which they hoped to rejoyce many years, send them betimes mourning to the grave. Rachel said to Jacob, give me Children, or else I die. There was in her speech a great deal of childish weakness and impatience: She hoped the having a Child, would prolong her life, and she smarted for her wish, she died in her Lying In. Many are very importunate with God, and no­thing will serve them but this or that particular Comfort, I must have it, or I am undone; and when they have the Idolized Vanity that they doted on, they quickly find cause to repent of their hasty follies. The Israelites were fond of a King, but they had a long time wherein to repent of that fondness. [Page 65]You may perhaps have what you ask, but you may have it with a frown, with such displeasure as will change your Wine to Vinegar; and your smoothest delights into the roughest thorns, Psal. 78.31. It is a friendly act of God to re­fuse us often what we ask, when it is really for our hurt; and to save us from our misguided wishes is the love and kindness of a Father. If Paul had had his thorn removed immediately he might too greatly swell with his Gifts and Re­velations, or be like a Saul again.

2dly. Tho' God do not immediately hear our Crys, yet he may gratifie us in better things. Moses begged to enter into Ca­naan, but he had no remaining longing after that happy Land, when he was once in Heaven. The joys of Paradise had with him a sweeter taste than all the Milk and Honey of that could ever give. We have no cause to grumble that our Suits too long depend, if in the delays of desired help, he now and then gives us a sight of his amiable Face: The Cross will not overwhelm us, when his [Page 66]Arms are underneath: when, tho' he do not remove the Cup, yet he sweetens it with his Love: he delays to save us to try our faith, and to make his Salvation more illustrious. As Jesus, tho' he heard that Lazarus was sick, Joh. xi. 6, 7. he did not hasten to his dying Friend, as knowing he intended to glorifie his power in his Resurrection.

3. He delays an immediate Answer to our Crys, to see whether we can patiently wait, and believe his promise, when we have no sensible proofs of his good will. Whe­ther with the Woman of Canaan we will continue Suppliants when he seems to chide us from his presence. This is an evidence of confirmed patience when we abide waiting at his door, tho' for seve­ral hours or days he seems to take no no­tice of our Crys.

4. He suffers us to wait a long time before he hear our Crys, to bring our sins to remembrance; and to put us in mind how we used him, how long, how ma­ny a tedious hour we made him stay before we bid him welcome to our hearts, [Page 67]a long time he knockt e're we let him in: It's no wonder that he uses us as we used him, 'tis a most equitable and un­blameable retaliation, that we should tast of the Fruit that we have planted.

5. He loves to see his Servants in a praying posture, for it is an argument of Love and of Humility; their Tears are botled; he knows that these Sorrows, like April showers, will make them more fruitful afterwards; and that by pray­ing they learn to pray; and the frequent returns of duty make them to perform it with greater zeal and skill.

As to your Crys to God for help in trouble, observe these Rules.

1. Be sure to offer up all your Crys in the Name of Christ, and all the while you pray think of his kind, and compassionate, and prevailing Intercession. Cry in his Name for you are encouraged so to do, from his Promises, from the vertue of his Blood and Merits, from his nearness to God, and his Love to you. You find Mat. 14.23. that he was praying on the Mountain when his Disciples were in a [Page 68]storm at Sea. As he suffers not in all our Agitations, so he is not unmindful of our Troubles: when we are tost hi­ther and thither by the changes of our Bodys or our Souls; He is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever, Heb. 13.8. How many Gulphs would swallow us up, and against how many Rocks should we be dasht if it were not for the pow­erful and tender remembrance of our Sa­viour. Let us under every Cross pray to God in his Name; for by his suffer­ings we are reconciled, and have access to the Throne of Grace, a Throne sprink­led with Blood; whereas without him we had trembled at the Bar of strict Ju­stice: And he prays for us, not only as a Favourite, but as the Surety of the Covenant; not meerly by intreaties, but in the vertue of his Blood. And when­ever we make mention of his blessed Name, it must be with the lowest reve­rence, with a due apprehension of our unworthiness, and an high value of the Love and Grace of Christ; and take care to avoid whatsoever may obstruct [Page 69]the success of your repeated Crys. For says the Apostle, Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, James 4.3.

2. When you have Prayed and Cryed, look for an answer of your Prayers. Let not your Requests be shot at random, propose to your selves some good end, and see whether you have obtained it. If you have asked peace of Soul, enquire whether all be still within, and whether his Light has shined upon you with its chearing Beams. If you have beg'd Pa­tience, enquire whether you have more willingness to suffer; and so in all other Cases it argues that we perform our du­ties as a Task, and from a slavish tem­per or a cold indifference, when we ne­ver concern our selves for the success: and it is a with-holding of that Glory that is due to God; for upon every an­swer of our prayers we should give him fresh Acts of Praise. If we have a Peti­tion depending in any Court, as we wait with hope, so we fail not on all occasi­ons to enquire whether it be remembred and kindly received; and whether we [Page 70]are like to have what we petitioned for. But if we neglect to review this part of solemn Worship, we lose that trust and hope that we might have had, and we weaken our own hands. For to mind our answered prayers would encrease our Love, Psal. 116.1. and our neighbours fare the worse for this Omission, we do not incourage and invite them to praise God with us.

3. Wonder greatly that such poor Crys as yours should reach Heaven. It was matter of great thought to Solomon, when he said, 1 Kings 8.27. Will God indeed dwell on the Earth? He that has all the spatious Heavens for his Circuit and Dominion, will he not only visit this Earth, but dwell there? So may you say, will he whose Court is throng­ed with Angels and happy Saints, re­gard such a poor Wretch as I? Will he that sits upon a Throne regard me a Pri­soner on this Earth? Will he that is sur­rounded with Hallelujah's, regard my sight, my groans, my tears? Oh what Grace is this! What adorable condescen­tion! [Page 71]I know he would not regard me, but for the sake of Christ; Glory be then given to him that fits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb. I am not worthy to look towards Heaven, what am I then that my prayers should reach thither, and enter, and be recorded, and answer­ed there? A poor Beggar is not disdained by the King of Kings, he does not trample on a worm, Ps. 34.3, 6. O what am I that I should be admitted into the Presence, and have audience of the King of Hea­ven; Lord what is man, or the son of man?

How shall I know that God has heard my Cry, and that my patient waiting has not been in vain.

1. If he bestow upon you the very thing that you requested: If after your cry for ease you are eased; if you are recovered after you have prayed to be brought from the Gates of Death? If after having had many sollicitous thoughts about your being falsly accu­sed, God is at length pleased to scatter the Cloud, and make your Innocence appear to the shame of your malicious [Page 72]Enemies? Thus Jabez prayed in 1 Chro. 4.10. That God would bless him, and enlarge his Coast. And he granted him that which he requested. It was a super­abundant kindness to one desirous of Grandeur and Dominion, for Jabez might have been a very happy man, tho' his Coast had not been enlarged; he might have governed and enjoyed himself and his Friends in a little room; and he might have gone to Heaven by the way of grief.

2. Your Crys are heard when God gives you resignation to his Will, even in the absence of that which you most eagerly desired: if after having poured out your supplications, you return from his pre­sence chearful, and easie, and well plea­sed, leaving him that is insinitely wise to do with you and your Bodies, with you and your Friends, what seems best to him: when you find your hearts unbro­ken with anxious cares and solicitude whether you are gratified or no: This secret contentment is a foretast of Hea­ven, and a pledge and instance of Divine Love.

3. 'Tis a most certain sign of your Cry, being heard, when even in the delays, of the desired Comfort, you love God more than you ever did. When your thoughts of him are more frequent and delight­ful: when your love to all his appoint­ments, and even to paintful Duties is increased, and that you are thankful for the smallest mercies, for the smallest in­tervals of pain and trouble; and when even in the way of his judgments you wait for him; by all which you may plainly perceive that your prayers may be heard when your affliction is not removed, and many times the Mercies may be given, and they are so sudden or surprizing, that you scarce can believe your selves delivered, even when you are delivered, Psal. 126.1. and Acts 12.14. tho' they had the faith to pray for Peter, they had not the faith to believe that he was es­caped, and knocking at the door.

The Second General Head, in order to your patient waiting upon God, you must endeavour to keep up in your minds [Page 74]good and honourable thoughts of him all the while you are in trouble. It is with great industry and art that the Devil takes occasion from our affliction to pos­sess us with unbecoming thoughts of him that is our best Friend: and to make him, during our dark and gloomy sea­sons, to pass for an Enemy; as the Dis­ciples in the storm mistook their ap­proaching Saviour for a Spirit; and in hideous consternation shouted out, as thinking some Evil Spirit was come to make their Death more terrible, for they looked upon themselves as just drowning. If we have irregular appre­hensions of God, as rigorous and inexo­rably severe, as rouzing up the greatness of his Power to crush and ruine us, such undue thoughts breed black and super­stitious fears, and shrink all the facul­ties of our minds with despairing unbe­lief; our minds are weakned and cramp­ed by the terror of our thoughts; and the consequent of this will be, that we shall either give him no service, or that which is very trifling, and full of vain [Page 75]and idle Ceremonies: For to such a sort of pompous insincere Worship does Superstition lead those poor People, whose Eyes are hoodwink't and blinded with it. Under our dark mistaken thoughts of God and his Designs, our Obedience is the Action of a Slave; 'tis with unwillingness and constraint that we Obey, retaining at the same time a disposition to throw off the Yoak. We proceed in our Devotions like those that Row in Galleys; 'tis with a backward Heart, and an unwilling Shrug. What­ever we give to our Maker, is with a convulst and stingy Hand; for we ap­prehend him as a severe and a rugged Master, as full of stern and ghastly Majesty. Now to remedy these uneasie fears, our Saviour came into this World, to give us admiring thoughts of God, to represent him as aimable and worthy to be delighted in; to make him the ob­ject of our Trust and Hope, and not of our Dread: As a Benefactor, or a most liberal Physician most tender and com­passionate, that wounds us in order to a [Page 76]lasting Cure; and his Spirit is sent to promote our Love to him: and St. John, whose Soul was most full of Love, was the most beloved. God has in a great measure left off dealing with Men in vi­sible terrors, as he did heretofore. Nay, says the Apostle, Tho' we know the ter­rors of the Lord, yet 2 Cor. 5.11. we perswade Men, we use towards them the most gentle, and soft, and easie Methods; we are to say to them, Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world; and there is nothing frightful in him, that has all the tender Qualities of one of the meekest of all Animals, a Lamb.

Thirdly, If you would patiently wait upon God, beware of having only little Faith. We are not to lay the blame of our being troubled so much on the great­ness of our danger, as on the weakness of our Faith; when we doubt and trem­ble, then, with Peter in the Storm, we begin to sink. That our Faith may grow, we must use all the good means we can to enlarge our knowledge of God and [Page 77]Christ; for the dwarfishness of our trust, is owing to the darkness of our Minds; They that know thy Name will trust in thee. Knowledge of its self does not produce this admirable reliance of the Soul: The Devils are very Learned and Knowing Spirits, but their Light does only serve to scortch them; it gives no comeliness to their horrid shape, nor to their Flaming Torments any Relaxation: But such a Knowledge as is founded up­on Love and Hope, and sweet Experien­ces of the Truths and Mercies of God, will convey to us great degrees of Strength. In order to remove our lit­tle Faith, we may make frequent and delightful use of Christ; we must run to his Arms with all the speed and force we can; and by being near to him, we shall learn to bear the Crosses of this Life; and how to long for that which is to come. Such whose Faith is rooted and spread to a mighty breadth, and of a tall Stature, scruple none of the greatest Tribulations; and many of them [Page 78]go to Heaven with as much calmness, as if they were but going into another Room, or changing their Rags for a new Suit of Cloaths. But a little Faith shivers and trembles, and is loath to go hence, as amazed at the painfulness of the Passage, and the greatness of the Change. In no case let us blame God for his Rigor, but our selves for our un­belief. In this Life we are exposed to very great Tryals, and these will not be patiently born with a little Patience. O! What a Contest is there between great Storms and little Faith? The time will come, when we shall wish to have had more Oyl in our Lamps, and more Grace in store against an evil day; when the Devil and his Tempta­tions and Diseases, and pale and dread­ful Death, with all his mourning Train of Evils will set upon us; How shall we meet such Enemies, without well-polisht Armour on? What shall the Sick, and the Lame, and the Blind, and the De­crip't do, in the day of Battle? Will not our little Faith be a most unkind [Page 79]and disingenious return to the great Love of Christ? How unsuitably do these two look, his Love in its strength, and our Faith in its decay; his Love in its flourishing perfection, and our Faith wi­thered and lyable to be extinguished, almost with every little breath? And our grief will be encreased from the time we had wherein to prepare for all the sorrows that might come upon us; the leisure and the helps of many Years: But if our Faith be strong we shall not be discouraged with the delays of God; we shall trust him tho' he kill us, and cast our Anchor in the dark; we shall look to, even an absent Saviour; and wait for his Salvation, when there is no deliverance within the Ken and View of Sense, when all other resuge fails; when all the Greatures cannot help us, even in the most threatning and the last extre­mities; when we see no light, we shall cast our selves at the Power and Love of God.

Fourthly, If you would patiently wait upon God in trouble, you must have sui­table [Page 80] promises to rely upon. You have but small encouragement to wait, if you have no promise that your waiting shall not be in vain: We are not with vexatious labour to pain our selves, by stretching our thoughts too much upon futurity; or to plunge our selves into the unfathomable depths, to know the secret decrees of God. Our Eyes are too weak to read the Records of Heaven, and they are far distant from our Sight: But it is more easie and profitable to look into the Revelation, that is made to conduct our lives, both in Prosperity and in Trouble; and in this Revelation there are abundance of very reviving Promises for the most trembling Soul to rely upon. And all those are most sin­cerely true, not like those of many Men in high Places, who draw along such as wait upon them, with large Promises, most kind Looks, and obliging Words, but never think much of what they Promise; and so make the poor Expe­ctor of Preferment, at length to go a­way ashamed; after having spent a deal [Page 81]of time, and perhaps Money too, to no purpose: And so all they gain is a lit­tle bought Wit, which alas they dearly bought, with the Circulation of many torturing and unquiet Hopes. But it often happens, that they go away both with their Heads and their Purses empty. But now they that wait upon the Lord, shall not be ashamed of their hope, Psal. 34.5. Psal. 25.3. they shall at length obtain what God hath promised, and what they waited for.

Fifthly, That you may patiently wait upon God, remember how many kind expe­riences you have had of his love hitherto, 2 Cor. 1.10. Without this Reflection, you'll be startled at your new Tryals: But no Goliah, with all his stalking Greatness and his big Words, will make you quit the Field; if you consider how God has often secured you from as near and as bulky dangers; from the hissing Serpents that were swollen with Venom, and ready to spit it all upon you; and from the paw of the Lyon and the Bear: But unless we call to mind the years of [Page 82]the right hand of the most High, every present Storm will always seem the most blustering, and every present pain the most sharp, it will be a most unreasona­ble thing for us now to sink, when we have been formerly delivered from as near and as great Calamities. That arm that saved us once, is not now shortned that it cannot save: The sweet Experi­ences we have had of God, should cause us to be assured, that when we wait on him we do not wait in vain; and no Evidence can give us so unshaken a cer­tainty, both of his Being and his Pro­vidence, as those inward tasts and relishes of his Love. This inward Sensation is extreamly quieting; 'tis a beam of Di­vine Light: Nor can we by any trou­bles, how long or how sharp soever, be forced to quit our Religion and our Faith, when we have once felt the joy and pleasure of them. A good Man has Two Harvests every Year, one from the Furrows of the Field, and another from his own Thoughts. Such efficaci­ous Faith, diffuses a vital warmth over [Page 83]every faculty, and is no more to be se­parated from a Christian, than he can be divorced from himself; and keeps the pleased recreated Soul from being listless and indisposed, from being chilled and frozen with excessive fear and an­guish. To have a Treasury of Experi­ences whereto to have recourse, is the Priviledge of those that are arrived to a good old Age; every year of their Pil­grimage, they have had new Experien­ces of the kindness of their unerring Guide; they can look back and see won­ders of Mercy and Deliverance. O! What a Catalogue of joyful passages of­fers its self to their Observation? How often they were dying, and God made them to recover; how often they were sinking and afraid, and he bid them be of good Courage. It's comfortable to old People to have a great deal of Mo­ney by them, which they got in the Spring and Summer of their Active Life: It supplies their wants, makes their At­tendants respectful, and the decays of weary Age more tolerable, when they [Page 84]cannot work for a livelihood as they used to do. But O! How much more com­fortable is it to be Rich in Faith, such their good Master looks upon with a pitiful and watchful Eye: He takes care of their weakness, as all good People have a great kindness for an old Servant, that has lived many years in their Fami­ly. Very Honourable and Blessed is that Age, that has been long faithful to God. Besides, Such as have been care­ful to remember their Experiences of his Mercies, may plead them with hope in Prayer, Judg. 15.18. Psal. 77.7. Lord, thou hast been my Father hitherto, be not now my Enemy; thou hast here­tofore dealt graciously with me, do not now overwhelm me with the weight of numerous and too great Afflictions: In other distresses I have had thy Presence, O be not now a stranger to me!

Sixthly, That you may patiently wait on God, maintain in your Spirits a great indifference to the things of this World; that you may be prepared upon the first Summons to take your flight from it: [Page 85]Regard without concern or too passionate Affection all that is dear to you in this Life; and while you are on Earth, let your Eye be on Heaven. Cease to live to sin, that you may not be torn from your Enjoyments; but bid them farewel without a sigh: by a continued progress in Mortification, you will out­grow that anxiety of thought which others have, as to what shall befal the World or themselves; this Earth by most of its Inhabitants is over-rated, and so they are loath to quit it.

Seventhly, That you may patiently wait on God, keep your Eye most constant­ly and steddily fixed on your blessed Ma­ster. When the Storms arise, look on him whose Power can in a moment make the Sea calm, and the lowring Skie clear again: In your trouble look to your Helper, as when we ford a deep River, we look to the further side. Whereas, if we only pore upon our Miseries, we tire our Spirits, and raise to our selves more hideous prospects of Calamity. You need not go far to see your Savi­our, [Page 86]for he is with you in your As­semblies, in your Closets; he is in the Scriptures, and in all the Promises; no part of the World is out of his Domi­nion, and he has all Power in Heaven and Earth. The Prince of the Air that is limited to his own Principality, and to his changeable Empire, cannot raise a Storm without his leave; tho' he is in himself very powerful, yet he is Subject to a greater Power. The A­postle directs the Christians of his days to wait for the Lord from Heaven, 2 Thes. 3.5. To wait for the sight of that glo­rious Person on whom they have belie­ved, with whom they hope to live for ever; the sight of him is what they ex­treamly long for. It will be an Heaven to see him who has done so much for them, and of whom they have heard so very much: When he comes, he will reward his patient Servants; he will manifest their Grace, and make the World to wonder at his Power in their support: Behold the Faith and Patience of the Saints. Thus in the Text, Da­vid [Page 87]says, I have waited for the Lord. I have not waited so much for mine own Exaltation or the Conquest of mine Ene­mies, as for the Favour and the Love of God. I have not long'd to see mine House flourish, and my Friends enrich­ed, or my Name perpetually celebrated on Earth. No, truly Lord, I have long­ed for thee, and thee alone. This is all my Satisfaction, this is all my Desire; tho' no Deliverance come, yet if thou, O my God, dost thy self come, I shall have enough. Another sort of Spirit have those who are only of this World, they all would climb, and are uneasie to attain some high or Lofty things. Oh that I were Honourable says the Rich; and O that I were Rich, says the Poor Man: Every one that has Money would fain have more, and he that has a deal of Land, would fain be Master of ano­ther Field; he that is obscure would fain be noted; and he that is publickly talk­ed of, would fain be more popular. These are the things they long and wait for; not satisfied with what God thinks [Page 88]fit to give them. Even Princes some­times think they have not room enough, unless they invade the Dominions of o­thers, as well as lord it in their own. And Ahab a wicked King, could find no pleasure in his Crown, unless he had the Vineyard of honest Nabaoth. But be you satisfied with whatever is allotted you by Providence; and do not grum­ble if you meet with Pain, Reproach, Poverty, and various Crosses: For all the Saints in Heaven, went through great Tribulations thither; most of the Illessed Saints performed their Voyage to that happy Land.

And now I come to speak of our De­parted Friend Mrs. Hasselborn, who dy­ed this Month, in the 95th Year of her Age; in a good old Age indeed. Few, very few of all the Sons and Daughters of Adam, have, in these times of the World so long a Life: few of those that dye of Age, hold out so long as she. I shall make no manner of excuses, nor tell you, whilst I am praising her, that [Page 89]I am not for praising those that are De­parted; nor confute my self, as some do, that say they are against commending the Dead, even when they say of them all that ever they can. Our Saviour said of this or that Person, O Woman, great is thy Faith; and he that com­mends his Saints when they live, would not have their Memory roughly treated when they are Dead. No body will su­spect the Humble Jesus as guilty of Flattery, or of over-admiring any Per­sons; and yet what a large Character does he think fit to give of his Predeces­sor, Matth. XI. 11. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of Women, there has not risen a greater then John the Baptist. And the plain-hearted free-spoken Paul, that never never balked the boldest truth, or the most searching reproof; yet he was not so morose, as to chide the People for commending Dorcas, for her good Work, and Alms-deed, for the Coats and Garments which she made, Acts 9.36. Nay, so far was he from so four a temper, that he high­ly [Page 90]extols Andronicus and Junias who were in Christ before him, and who were of note among the Apostles. It is a fault not to commend good People, if it be done with truth and modesty; especial­ly in an ill-natured Age, where those that God will own as his Jewels, are tramp­led on; and those that he will commend and accept are Censured and Reproacht, though for their hard speeches that Men utter against the Innocent, they must be rigorously Judged; therefore, for my part, I reckon it my Duty to contribute what I can to embalm the Memory of such as were dear to Christ on Earth, and now live with him above. All the Graces of the blessed Spirit, are too va­luable to be neglected or obscured in the dark: We are to invite others to be­hold the aimableness and beauty of Reli­gion; behold how it shines and tri­umphs, and spreads its healing Beams. Behold, an Israelite indeed, John 1.47. And it's an Encouragement to others to be good, when they find their works shall praise them in the gates of Zion, [Page 91]it shall be said, this or that man was born there; we ought with great freeness and candor to acknowledge the Gifts and Graces that are bestowed on o­thers. Let us not bury the remem­brance of their excellent Actions in the Grave: Thus we may lawfully give them Praise, while we do not give them Worship. We think the Virgin Mother blessed among Women, and to all Genera­tions she is blessed: We will honour her Memory, but never think she is above her Son; nor will we take the Crown from his Head, to place it upon hers: We will imitate the Examples of the Saints Departed, but not pray to them; for even Abraham himself is ignorant of us. In preserving the Me­mory of good People, we act suitably to the Design of God, who has taken care to Record several of his Excellent Servants, of whom we otherwise had never heard: As they were zealous for his Glory whilst they were alive, he will not let their Names be trampled on with [Page 92]the Feet of Pride, when they are De­parted: Such Persons are like withered Flowers: In their flourishing Condition they recreated and pleased their Acquain­tance with the sweet Odours of their Charity, their Meekness and their good Works. For when the Flower and the Green is Blasted by the cold of Death, they are after all, like the tender Plants Medicinal, even when dryed and in their most unbeautiful State, of great use and service to the World. The Scripture per­petuates the Memory of several good Women, as well as Men, as Sarah, and Rebeccah, and Rachel, and Miraim, and Hannah, and Deborah, and the Blessed Virgin; and that affectionate Person, that scrupled no cost to shew her respect to our Saviour, Mark 14.9. And Jesus loved Martha, and her Sister, and Laza­rus, John 11.5. He often met with a welcome at their Hospitable House. And St. Paul greets Priscilla as well as Aquila, and Mary and Julia, and several others, in Rom. 16.

This Old Disciple of Christ, of whom I am now to speak, had spent her years in the Fear and the Love of God, and full of Days; full of pleasant quietness and hope she is gone to Rest: She calm­ly Sleeps till the Morning of the Resur­rection; when she will have a Body with­out all the marks of withering and de­cayed Age; a Body full of Lustre, full of Activity; and, Like to the glorious body of our Lord: Like the Angels that possess an eternal Youth, their Beams never dimly shine, their Light never weakly burns: After a long Circulati­on of Hymns and Joys, their Praises are as cheerful, and their Voices as loud as ever.

This aged Servant of our Lord, had made it her great business to trust in him; and in the midst of Revolutions, that were attended with threatning Pro­spects, she remain'd unmoved: When others were frighted with Alarums, and the imagined approaches of Bloody Ene­mies, she was undisturb'd, saying, I have a good God, and I fear nothing; and of­ten [Page 94]used to say, They are well kept that God keeps, for she safely dwelt under the shadow of his Wings; and as one that knew, that the thoughts and dis­course of worldly things, were very un­seasonable in a dying Hour, she settled all her affairs before Death gave the last Summons, and so was prepared to dye.

She possessed to almost an Hundred, a a very good Age, without pineing weak­ness, and the sorrows that cloud others, and send them early to the Grave: She was now and then afflicted, but she was never overwhelmed.

This good Woman spent her time in Prayer, and Reading of the Holy Scrip­ture, that best of Books, that great Con­veyer of all Heavenly Light and Heat; Where are the gracious Souls, to whom this Revelation was not dear and preci­ous? What sort of People are those, whose Ignorance and Rudeness forces them to Ridicule, what others lay their whole stress for another World upon? Dear to her, as well as to all other Holy Souls, was her Bible: there she placed her trust, [Page 95]thence she drew her Supports and Con­solations. This was her Lanthorn in this World, during the darkness of her Pilgrimage; she now needs it not, where there is everlasting Day. Next to the Blessed Scripture, she often read in Dr. Preston, Dr. Sibbs, and in the Lives of Luther and Calvin, and some of their Works in English: On Preci­ous and Reviving Names of Men, that were Stars of the first Magnitude, that shined in the Church! And when they were placed in superiour Orbes, lest their influence and heat behind; they still edifie the Church by their Grave and Learned Writings, in which every thing is manly and substantial, and nothing slovingly or ridiculous, or trifling and unbecoming the Majesty of Divinity, and the Character they bore: How much more happy were those useful Men, in leaving such solid Writings be­hind them: then are some of the Po­ets of our days, who sauce a great part of their Composures with Wit and Fol­ly; or as I may say, with foolish Wit, [Page 96]whilst they content themselves in dres­sing up Vice with soft and easie Names; and accommodate every thing to the gust and humour of a depraved Age; and do not so much Combat with Sin, as discover it; study more to please then to profit; their Books are Contagious, whilst the Authors are alive; and when they dye, they do, like Nero, leave Poi­son behind them, and propagate infecti­on for a long time together.

Among all the rest of the Old Di­vines, she had a particular respect to Dr. Preston; which shewed, that she had both a good Tast and Judgment in Divine things. His solidity and wise management of truth, gave Light to her Understanding; and his serious and devout Applications warmed her Heart: And of all the Works of this Pious Do­ctor, she was most pleased and edified with his Discourse about God's All-suffici­ency; and so was another Old Disciple, that I knew of above 90. that found al­ways a peculiar refreshment in that very Treatise. So wisely did these Aged Peo­ple, [Page 97]having sorrowfully viewed the Va­nities of Life, and of all Creatures be­take themselves to God alone, whose help they sought, and whose help they found.

As she was careful to prepare her own Soul for another World, she also thirsted for the welfare and happiness of others; and often passed the moments that were most free from pain, in pressing them to mind things of the greatest and most lasting Consequence, desiring them to prepare to dye; and earnestly moving them, in order to this, to live an Holy Life; fully thinking, with the great Apostle, that Without holiness none can see the Lord. The sight of the pure Majesty of Heaven, would be amazing and astonishing to a Soul full of evil in­clinations to objects terrene and sensual: Therefore this excellent Woman, did often desire her Friends to take care least they were in their way of living, like persons walking in a Gallery, that went forwards and backwards without advancing any nea­rer to their Journeys end; intimating, [Page 98]that she wisht they might every day be nearer Heaven then they were before.

With a mighty pleasure, when I was once with her, she discoursed of the forementioned famous Divines, and of the advantages she had by the Preaching and Sermons of many worthy Men, such as Mr. Burroughs, Mr. Lockyer, old Mr. Calamy, and several others, whom she had long Survived. Her Lot indeed was cast in happy times; and she had the favour to live in the days of our Fore-fathers, when Religi­on was more practised and esteemed, then alas now it is. The Puritans di­sputed less then we, and lived better: Oh that their Catholick Charity, their peaceable Spirit, and their innocent sim­plicity might have a Resurrection!

She lived to see most of her old Ac­quaintance removed by Death, and so was, after having been satisfied with li­ving, very willing to depart, that she and her Friends might meet again. She trusted God in her Health, and so she died, when her Pain and Sickness came [Page 99]upon her. She often desired one that at­tended her in her near approaches to E­ternity, to read the first words of the 40th Psalm, as extremely suitable to her own Case and Temper. She was very humble and very patient in her illness; she had no fretful disordered Expressi­ons; she bore her burden laid upon her by God; tho' her earnest desire to see him, made her now and then say, O why does he tarry? On her Sick Bed she kept her Eye fixed above, and sent be­fore her arrival at Heaven, her long­ing Prayers thither; begging that her Iniquity might be blotted out, and wish­ing to be with Christ. And when her Daughter attending on her Ministred to her support, with a language proper for one just in the close of Life; and told her, God would receive her into the Arms of his Mercy; she with the com­posure of a Soul bordering upon Happi­ness, answered, She had laid her self as the feet of Jesus Christ, and had sub­mitted to him, who was able to save to the uttermost; which words she [Page 100]often uttered in her former and latter Years. And a Night or two before she was called away, she repeated part of 39th Psalm, Verse 8, 9, 10. and such was her Faith and Hope, that she was able to apply to her self, those Trium­phant words of that patient Job; I know that my Redeemer lives, and that she should see him for her self, and this Redeemer she is now gone to see: In his Arms we leave her, till he, and all that sleep in him, shall come together at the last day.

And now my Friends, from all that I have said concerning this departed Saint, we may without any difficulty observe, that Meekness and Patience is the ready way to long Life: I do not believe this good Woman had lived so long, had she not been of a calm and quiet Spirit. Those that are furious and passionate, and ill-natured, corrode and vex them­selves, and with hast snap asunder the Thread of Life. There are two things to be wondered at with respect to this Person: First, That she should live so [Page 101]long, as being one of the weaker and feebler Sex; and Secondly, That her Pa­tience should not be tired during so long an abode in this World as 95 Years, but be continued to the last moment of her Life. How illustrious is that Pow­er, that kept so frail a Vessel from being dash't in pieces? How glorious is that Grace, that enabled her to persevere in the Love of God?

We may further consider that Death is the Lot of all those that are the most Aged, are not immortal; they most at length go to their Long Home, tho' many Thousands go with quicker and more hasty steps then they. The Oak that is the oldest Father of the Forest, that has survived many scorch­ing Summers, and many cold blasts of Winter, must at length feel the decays of Age; and perish as surely, tho' not as soon as the little Trees: the longest day will have a concluding Night. Those that are an hundred years old, and those that are but Twenty, must both in a while lye down in a Bed of Dust. Me­thusalem [Page 102]lived many long Years, but he did not live for ever. O let us, by the thought of this, be moved to lay hold on a Life that is Eternal; a Life that has no mixture of Corruption, and has no fears of decay, and such a life the bles­sed live in Heaven; there is no death.

Again, Let none here fancy, because they now and then hear of such an one, that has attained to almost an Hundred, that therefore they shall live as long; and having such a prospect, may spend their present days in Jollities and Mirth, as believing they have an huge deal of time lying on their hands: For what a surprize will it be to stumble into the Grave in Youth, when they imagined they should not come thither till they were Old. If you Examine the week­ly Bills, you'll find few dye of Age comparatively, to what dye of other Diseases; more dye before thirty, then live to Fourscore. The youngest here have seen younger then themselves snatcht away by Death; and many a Flow­er is withered, when it just began to open. [Page 103]The Sun with many goes down at Noon: As well might every Disciple of Christ expect to live as long as St. John, who was to tarry longer on Earth than most of the rest, and Died at 93. Si­meon the Son of Cleophas, Brother of our Lord, lived an 120. Length of Life, is not of all other Blessings the most desirable; and as one observes, it was not peculiar to Grace, or the Holy Line; for there are reckoned of the Fathers to the Flood Eleven Genera­tions, but of the sons of Adam by Cain, only Eight Generations so as the Posterity of Cain may seem the longer lived. The good Men and good Women too, sometime lived ve­ry long; as Abraham to One hundred seventy five, Isaac to One hundred and Eighty, Jacob to One hundred forty seven: Sarah, whose years only among Women are Recorded, dyed in the One hundred twenty seventh year of her Age, an excellent Mother and a good Wife, Luke 2.36, 37. Anna is said to be of a great Age, a very [Page 104]patient Person: For when she was about Eighty four, she departed not from the Temple.

As to you that are the Relations of this good old Disciple, do not wa­ter the Grave of your Friend with useless Tears: There is indeed great cause to Lament, when an useful ser­viceable Person is taken away by sudden or untimely death; 'tis the falling of Fruit before Autumn come. But such as have been a Blessing, and a long ex­ample of Piety, to the very last step of Humane Life, are not so to be la­mented, as having most regularly fi­nished their Course; and were not cut off in the middle of their Race. And yet, as one says, it is to be observed, that the Saints of God, tho' never so Old, and brought never so low through the Miseries attending them, when they changed this Life for a better, were still buried with great Lamentation. Abel­mizraim, Gen. 5. was a place never to be forgot, either by the Egyptians or the Canaanites; and not Jacob only, but [Page 105] Moses and Aaron, and Samuel, were bu­ried by the People of Israel, and great Publick Mournings made made.

It would be very unreasonable for you to Mourn, and needless for me to desire you not to do it. She pray­ed and longed to be with Christ, and would you mourn that God has heard her Prayers, and that she now is where she longed to be. It would be a most unjust thing to be sorry that a Labou­rer is gone to rest, or to bewail the death of one that is Ninety Five; who was not gathered till the fullest time of Harvest, and when she was duely ripe for Glory. Oh be thankful that God has at length comforted this Handmaid of his, that waited for his Consolati­ons. Be thankful that you so long have had the benefit of her good advice, her shining example, and her holy pray­ers. Let the remembrance of her Faith and Patience, and Hope, and her other excellent Qualifications kindle in you the like Graces. Consider the end of [Page 106]her Conversation, with what peace she lived, and with what joy she dyed. Do nothing unworthy of the Chil­dren of so good a Mother; tread in her steps, and follow her in the practise of all praise worthy things, that so she and you may comfortably meet at the last day, and never never part again. Amen.