[4.] It is very unreasonable. If men would cite their affections be- fore the tribunal of reason, and ask them what is the matter why they are so violently stirred, they might discern much of their folly : Ps. xlii. 5, David calleth himself to an account, ' Why art thou so dis- quieted, 0 my soul ? why art thou cast down within me ? ' Ask why it is, and you will see either no reason, or a corrupt one. Iniqua lex est qiuii se examinari non patitur, saith Tertullian ; and so it is an evil heart that will not be called to an account. Suspect those pas- sions that are loth to be examined. Do but ask yourselves, Why do I
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434 A FUNERAL SERMON. [1 COR. YII. 30.
grieve now? you slmll see the answer will be foolish, unreasonable, unthankful, or savouring of discontent Why, it may be you will say, Many clear comforts are talccn from me. 0 brethren, that is an ill expression; no outward comfort can be taken from a Christian. We should live in such a continual waiting for God's pleasure, and in such a quiet submission thereunto, as not to look upon our comforts as taken from us. Job indeed useth the word, Job i. 21, 'The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken ; ' but he useth it so as if he would be understood as if the Lord had accepted of the resignation ; for he blesses God for it. Even our highest comfort, our lives, the lives of the saints, are not taken from them ; God doth but, as it were, accept of the resignation. As Stephen, Acts vii. 59, * Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' So Rev. xxii. 20, ' Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quicldy.' It is said of the wicked indeed, that their lives are snatched or taken away : as Job xxvii. 8, ' What hope hath the hypocrite when God taketh away his soul ? ' or snatcheth it away. So Luke xii. 20, ' Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee,' cLTraiTovaLv airo aov — they shall challenge and get away thy soul from thee. Therefore we should resign up our holy friends to God, as well as they do themselves. But let us see how unreasonable this very particular is of mourning for the dead.
Is it to do them good ? They are not the better for our tears, they are past recovery by our weeping. Is it not to envy their blessedness to wish them alive again ? 2 Sam. xii. 23, ' Wherefore should I fast ? can I bring him back again ? I shall go to him, he shall not come to me.' Is it because they were so good that we mourn ? The better for God ; they are gone to their own home. Is it because so bad ? 2 Sam. xiii. 39. David was comforted concerning Amnon, because dead, though he died in sin. Or is it because they died so soon which heightens your loss ? Consider who decreed it ; are you wiser than God ? Is it for your own good you weep ? That is an holy weeping : ' Weep as if you wept not.' Thus if men would expostulate with themselves, they would see the unreasonableness of their sorrow ; it is to no purpose. We express things to no purpose by water spilt on tlie ground : certainly tears in such cases are but spilt water.
Use 1. To instruct you to take home this lesson, so to sorrow under the sense of your afflictions as if you did not sorrow, be the loss what it will ; though I shall chiefly speak to the present occasion. Da not let the grief oppress your heart. Ay ! but how shall we do so ? I shall give you some motives ; as —
1. Be sure to get an interest in spiritual mercies. The doctrine saith, Christians ought so to sorrow as if they sorrowed not. We cannot speak to others in tliis language, unless we should persuade men to slight the hand of God. AVe throw bones to dogs, but bread to chil- dren. We cannot comfort you in a carnal way : Ps. xciv. 19, ' In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts refresh my soul.' Mark, thj comforts. To comfort a man's self upon carnal grounds argueth an insensibleness of God's hand, and it is a shrewd sign that God gives us over to ourselves. Therefore, if you take comfort, take it from your interest in spiritual mercies. If you cannot look upon them under a condition of propriety as yours (as every Christian can-
1 Cor. VII. 30.] a funeral sermon. 435
not), yet at kcast so far look upon them, that from thence all j'our com- fort must be fetched. It is a neglect of" providence to go away with a general thought. We must not sorrow too mucli, and yet we are to consider whether we have good ground why we should he comforted. God givetli wicked men these experiences of sorrow that lie may awaken them, and show them there is no comfort to be had thence whence they would fetch their comforts, in carnal delights : Isa. Ivii 21, ' There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.' There is a peace in their fancies and conceits, but ' no peace, saith my God.' There is a great deal of hurt done this way by sermons. Ministers instruct men in a moral way, that they should not grieve too much ; but they do not instruct a man upon what grounds he should not grieve : you must be sure of better mercies, or at least look after them for your comfort. A man that has an interest in Christ is reTpdjoivo'i avrjp, a four-squared man, unmoved in all conditions. There can be no peace between a man's affections and condition till there be a peace between him and God. Mark that, Eccles. ix. 7, ' Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart ; for God now accepteth tljy works.' When God accepteth us, we may then eat our bread with a merry heart, let things fall out how they will.