{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26097/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26097","id":"gutenberg_26097","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26097","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Old Age & the Elderly","Category: Parenthood & Family Relations","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Death -- Sermons","Sermons, English -- 18th century"],"text":"Produced by Keith G Richardson\n\n\n\n\n_Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children, recommended\nand inforced,_\n\n\nIN A\n\nSERMON\n\nPREACHED at\n\n_NORTHAMPTON_,\n\n\nOn the DEATH\n\nOf a very amiable and hopeful CHILD, about Five Years old.\n\n\n_Published out of Compassion to mourning_ PARENTS.\n\nBy _P. DODDRIDGE_, D. D.\n\n\n_Neve Liturarum pudeat; qui viderit illas,_\n\n_De Lachrymis factas sentiat esse meis._    OVID.\n\n\nThe SECOND EDITION.\n\n\n_LONDON_,\n\nPrinted for R. HETT, at the _Bible_ and _Crown_ in the _Poultry_. MDCCXL.\n\n\n\nTHE PREFACE.\n\n_THE Discourse which I now offer to the Publick was drawn up on a very\nsorrowful Occasion; the Death of a most desirable Child, who was\nformed in such a Correspondence to my own Relish and Temper, as to be\nable to give me a Degree of Delight, and consequently of Distress,\nwhich I did not before think it possible I could have received from a\nlittle Creature who had not quite compleated her Fifth Year._\n\n_Since the Sermon was preached, it has pleased_ GOD _to make the like\nBreaches on the Families of several of my Friends; and, with Regard to\nsome of them, the Affliction hath been attended with Circumstances of\nyet sorer Aggravation. Tho' several of them are removed to a\nconsiderable Distance from me, and from each other I have born their\nAfflictions upon my Heart with cordial Sympathy; and it is with a\nparticular Desire of serving them, that I have undertaken the sad Task\nof reviewing and transcribing these Papers; which may almost be called\nthe Minutes of my own Sighs and Tears, over the poor Remains of my\neldest and (of this Kind) dearest Hope, when they were not as yet_\nburied out of my Sight.\n\n_They are, indeed, full of Affection, and to be sure some may think\nthey are too full of it: But let them consider the Subject, and the\nCircumstances, and surely they will pardon it. I apprehend, I could\nnot have treated such a Subject coldly, had I writ upon it many years\nago, when I was untaught in the School of Affliction, and knew nothing\nof such a Calamity as this, but by Speculation or Report: How much\nless could I do it, when_ GOD _had touched me in so tender a Part, and\n(to allude to a celebrated ancient Story,) called me out to appear on\na publick Stage, as with an Urn in my Hand, which contained the Ashes\nof my own Child!_\n\n_In such a sad Situation Parents, at least, will forgive the Tears of\na Parent, and those Meltings of Soul which overflow in the following\nPages. I have not attempted to run thro' the Common place of_\nimmoderate Grief, _but have only selected a few obvious Thoughts which\nI found peculiarly suitable to myself; and, I bless_ GOD, _I can truly\nsay, they gave me a solid and substantial Relief, under a Shock of\nSorrow, which would otherwise have broken my Spirits._\n\n_On my own Experience, therefore, I would recommend them to others, in\nthe like Condition, And let me intreat my Friends and Fellow-Sufferers\nto remember, that it is not a low Degree of Submission to the Divine\nWill, which is called for in the ensuing Discourse. It is\ncomparatively an easy Thing to behave with external Decency, to\nrefrain from bold Censures and outragious Complaints, or to speak in\nthe outward Language of Resignation. But it is not, so easy to get rid\nof every repining Thought, and to forbear taking it, in some Degree at\nleast, unkindly, that the_ GOD _whom we love and serve, in whose\nFriendship we have long trusted and rejoiced, should act what, to\nSense, seems so unfriendly a Part: That he should take away a Child;\nand if a Child,_ that Child; _and if that Child, at that Age; and if\nat that Age, with this or that particular Circumstance, which seems\nthe very Contrivance of Providence to add double Anguish to the Wound;\nand all this, when he could so easily have recalled it; when we know\nhim to have done it for so many others; when we so earnestly desired\nit; when we sought it with such Importunity, and yet, as we imagine,\nwith so much Submission too:--That, notwithstanding all this; he\nshould tear it away with an inexorable Hand, and leave us, it may be\nfor a while, under the Load, without any extraordinary Comforts and\nSupports, to balance so grievous a Tryal.--In these Circumstances, not\nonly to justify, but to glorify_ GOD _in all,--chearfully to subscribe\nto his Will,--cordially to approve it as merciful and gracious,--so as\nto be able to say, as the pious and excellent Archbishop of _Cambray_\ndid, when his Royal Pupil, and the Hopes of a Nation were taken\naway_[+], \"_If there needed no more than to move a Straw to bring him\nto Life again, I would not do it, since the Divine Pleasure is\notherwise\".--This, this is a difficult Lesson indeed; a Triumph of\nChristian Faith and Love, which I fear many of us are yet to learn._\n\n_But let us follow after it, and watch against the first Rising of a\ncontrary Temper, as most injurious to_ GOD, _and prejudicial to\nourselves. To preserve us against it, let us review the Considerations\nnow to be proposed, as what we are to digest into our Hearts, and work\ninto our Thoughts and our Passions. And I would hope, that if we do in\ngood earnest make the Attempt, we shall find this Discourse a cooling\nand sweetening Medicine, which may allay that inward Heat and\nSharpness, with which, in a Case like ours, the Heart is often\ninflamed and corroded. I commend it, such as it is, to the Blessing of\nthe great Physician, and could wish the Reader to make up its many\nDeficiencies, by Mr._ Flavel's Token for Mourners, _and Dr._\nGrosvenor's Mourner; _to which, if it suit his Relish, he may please\nto add Sir_ William Temple's Essay on the Excess of Grief: _Three\nTracts which, in their very different Strains and Styles, I cannot but\nlook upon as in the Number of the best which our Language, or,\nperhaps, any other, has produced upon this Subject._\n\n_As for this little Piece of mine, I question not, but, like the\nGenerality of single Sermons, it will soon be worn out and forgot. But\nin the mean time, I would humbly hope, that some tender Parent, whom\nProvidence has joined with me in sad Similitude of Grief, may find\nsome Consolation from it, while sitting by the Coffin of a beloved\nChild, or mourning over its Grave. And I particularly hope it, with\nRegard to those dear and valuable Friends, whose Sorrows, on the like\nOccasion, have lately been added to my own. I desire that, tho' they\nbe not expressly named, they would please to consider this Sermon as\nmost affectionately and respectfully_ dedicated to them; _and would,\nin Return, give me a Share in their Prayers, that all the Vicissitudes\nof Life may concur to quicken me in the Duties of it, and to ripen me\nfor that blessed World, where I hope many of those dear Delights,\nwhich are now withering around us, will spring up in fairer and more\ndurable Forms._   Amen.\n\nNorthampton,\n\n_Jan._ 31, 1736-7.\n\n\n\nPOSTSCRIPT.\n\n_I could easily shew, with how much Propriety I have called the dear\nDeceased_ an amiable and hopeful Child, _by a great many little\nStories, which Parents would perhaps read with Pleasure, and Children\nmight hear with some Improvement: Yet as I cannot be sure that no\nothers may happen to read the Discourse, I dare not trust my Pen and\nmy Heart, on so delicate a Subject. One Circumstance I will however\nventure to mention, (as I see here is a Blank Page left,) which may\nindeed be consider'd as a Specimen of many others. As she was a great\nDarling with most of our Friends that knew her, she often received\nInvitations to different Places at the same Time; and when I once\nasked her, on such an Occasion, what made every Body love her so well;\nshe answer'd me, (with that Simplicity and Spirit, which alas! Charm'd\nme too much,_) Indeed, Pappa, I cannot think, unless it be because I\nlove every Body. _A Sentiment obvious to the Understanding of a Child,\nyet not unworthy the Reflection of the wisest Man_[*].\n\n\n\n2 KINGS IV. 25, 26.\n\n_And it came to pass when the Man of GOD saw her afar off, that he\nsaid to Gehazi his Servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunamite: Run now,\nI pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? Is\nit well with thine Husband? Is it well with the Child? And she\nanswered,_ It is well.\n\nWHEN the Apostle would encourage our Hope and Trust in the Tenderness\nof Christ as the great High Priest and convince us that he is capable\nof being touched with a sympathetick Sense of our Infirmities, he\nargues at large from this Consideration, that Jesus _was in all Points\ntempted like us;_ so that as _he himself has suffer'd, being tempted,\nhe knows how_ more compassionately _to succour_ those that are under\nthe like Trials[a]. Now this must surely intimate, that it is not in\nhuman Nature, even in its most perfect State, so tenderly to\ncommiserate any Sorrows, as those which our own Hearts have felt: As\nwe cannot form a perfect Idea of any bitter Kind of Draught, by the\nmost exact Description, till we have ourselves tasted it. It is\nprobably for this Reason, amongst others, that GOD frequently\nexercises such, as have the Honour to be inferior Shepherds in the\nFlock of Christ, with a long Train of various Afflictions, _that we\nmay be able to comfort them who are in_ the like _Trouble, with those\nConsolations with which we have ourselves been comforted of GOD_[b].\nAnd, if we have the Temper which becomes our Office, it will greatly\nreconcile us to our Trials, to consider, that from our weeping Eyes,\nand our bleeding Hearts, a Balm may be extracted to heal the Sorrows\nof others, and a Cordial to revive their fainting Spirits. May we\nnever be left to sink under our Burden, in such a manner, that there\nshould be room, after all that we have boasted of the Strength of\nreligious Supports, to apply to us the Words of _Eliphaz_ to _Job_[c],\n_Thou hast strengthen'd the weak Hands, and upheld him that was ready\nto fall; but now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it touches\nthee, and thou art troubled!_ May we never behave, as if _the\nConsolations of GOD_ were _small_[d]; lest it should be _as when a\nStandard-Bearer fainteth_[e], and whole Companies of Soldiers are\nthrown into Confusion and Distress!\n\nMY Friends, you are Witnesses for me, that I have not stood by as an\nunconcerned Spectator amidst the Desolations of your respective\nFamilies, when GOD's awful Hand hath been lopping off those tender\nBranches from them, which were once our common Hope and Delight. I\nhave often put my Soul in the stead of yours, and endeavour'd to give\nsuch a Turn to my publick as well as my private Discourses, as might\nbe a means of composing and chearing your Minds, and forming you to a\nsubmissive Temper, that you might _be subject to the Father of\nSpirits, and live_[f]. In this View I have, at different Times,\nlargely insisted on the Example of _Aaron, who held his peace_[g],\nwhen his two eldest Sons were struck dead in a Moment by Fire from the\nLord, which destroyed them in the very Act of their Sin; and I have\nalso represented that of _Job,_ who, when the Death of ten Children by\none Blow was added to the Spoil of his great Possessions, could say,\n_The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of\nthe Lord_[h]. The Instance which is here before us, is not indeed so\nmemorable as these; but to present Circumstances it is, in many\nRespects, more suitable: And it may the rather deserve our Notice, as\nit shews us the Wisdom, Composure, and Piety of one of the weaker and\ntenderer Sex, on an Occasion of such aggravated Distress, that had\n_Aaron_ or _Job_ behaved just as she did, we must have acknowledged,\nthat they had not sunk beneath the Dignity of their Character, nor\nappear'd unworthy of our Applause, and our Imitation.\n\nINDEED there may be some Reason to imagine, that it was with Design to\nhumble those who are in distinguish'd Stations of Life, and who have\npeculiar Advantages and Obligations to excel in Religion, that GOD has\nshewn us in Scripture, as well as in common Life, some bright Examples\nof Piety, where they could hardly have been expected in so great a\nDegree; and hath, as it were, _perfected Praise out of the Mouths of\nBabes and Sucklings_[i]. Thus when _Zacharias_[k], an aged Priest,\ndoubted the Veracity of the Angel which appeared to assure him of the\nBirth of his Child, which was to be produced in an ordinary Way;\n_Mary,_ an obscure young Virgin, could believe a far more unexampled\nEvent, and said, with humble Faith and thankful Consent, _Behold the\nHand-maid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy Word_[l].\n_Jonah_ the Prophet, tho' favour'd with such immediate Revelations,\nand so lately delivered, in a miraculous Way, from the very _Belly of\nHell_[m], was thrown into a most indecent Transport of Passion, on the\nwithering of a Gourd; so that he presumed to tell the Almighty to his\nFace, that _he did well to be angry even unto Death_[n]: Whereas this\npious Woman preserves the Calmness and Serenity of her Temper, when\nshe had lost a Child, a Son, an only Child, who had been given beyond\nall natural Hope, and therefore to be sure was so much the dearer, and\nthe Expectation from him so much the higher. Yet are these\nExpectations dash'd almost in a Moment; and this, when he was grown up\nto an Age when Children are peculiarly entertaining; for he was old\nenough to be with his Father in the Field, where no doubt he was\ndiverting him with his fond Prattle; yet he was not too big to be laid\n_on his Mother's Knees_[o], when he came home complaining of his Head;\nso that he was probably about five or six Years old. This amiable\nChild was well in the Morning, and dead by Noon; a pale Corpse in his\nMother's Arms! and he now _lay dead in the House_; and yet they had the\nFaith, and the Goodness to say, \"_It is well._\"\n\nTHIS good Woman had found the Prophet _Elisha_ grateful for all the\nFavours he had received at her House; where she had from time to time\naccommodated him in his Journies, and thought it an Honour rather than\nan Incumbrance. She had experienced the Power of his Prayers, in\nanswer to which the Child had been given; and 'tis extremely probable,\nthat she also recollected the Miracle which _Elijah_ had wrought a few\nYears before, tho' till that Time the like had not been known in\n_Israel_, or on Earth; I mean, in raising from the Dead the Child of\nthat Widow of _Sarepta_[p], who had nourished him during the Famine.\nShe might therefore think it a possible Case, that the Miracle might\nbe renewed; at least, she knew not how to comfort herself better, than\nby going to so good a Friend, and asking his Counsels and his Prayers,\nto enable her to bear her Affliction, if it must not be removed[*].\n\nACCORDINGLY she hasted to him; and he, on the other side, discovered\nthe Temper of a real Friend, in the Message with which he sent\n_Gehazi_ his Servant to meet her, _while she was yet afar off._ The\nMoment she appeared, the Concerns of her whole Family seem to have\ncome into his kind Heart at once, and he particularly asks, _Is it\nwell with thee? Is it well with thine Husband? Is it well with the\nChild?_ A beautiful Example of that affectionate Care for the Persons\nand Families of their Friends, which Christian Ministers (who, like\nthe Prophets of old, are called _Men of GOD_[q]) should habitually\nbear about in their Hearts; which should be awakened by every Sight of\nthem, and expressed on every proper Occasion.\n\nHER Answer was very remarkable: _She said, It is well._ Perhaps she\nmeant this, to divert the more particular Enquiry of the Servant; as\nshe had before made the same Answer to her Husband, when he had\nexamined into the Reason of her intended Journey, as probably not\nknowing of the sad Breach which had been made: _She said, It is\nwell_[r]; which was a civil way of intimating her Desire that he would\nnot ask any more particular Questions. But I cannot see any Reason to\nrestrain the Words to this Meaning alone: We have ground to believe,\nfrom the Piety she expressed in her first Regards to _Elisha,_ and the\nOpportunities which she had of improving in Religion by the frequent\nConverse of that holy Man, that when she used this Language, she\nintended thereby to express her Resignation to the Divine Will in what\nhad lately pass'd: And this might be the Meaning of her Heart, (tho'\none ignorant of the Particulars of her Case, might not fully\nunderstand it from such ambiguous Words; ) \"_It is well_ on the whole.\nThough my Family be afflicted, we are afflicted in Faithfulness; tho'\nmy dear Babe be dead, yet my Heavenly Father is just, and he is good\nin all. He knows how to bring Glory to himself, and Advantage to us,\nfrom this Stroke. Whether this Application do, or do not succeed,\nwhether the Child be, or be not restored, _it is_ still _well_; _well_\nwith him, and _well_ with us; for we are in such wise and such\ngracious Hands, that I would not allow one murmuring Word, or one\nrepining Thought.\" So that, on the whole, the Sentiment of this good\n_Shunamite_ was much the same with that of _Hezekiah_, when he\nanswered to that dreadful Threatning which imported the Destruction of\nhis Children, _Good is the Word of the Lord which he hath spoken_[s];\nor that of _Job_, when he heard that all his Sons and his Daughters\nwere crushed under the Ruins of their elder Brother's House, and yet\n(in the fore-cited Words) _blessed the Name of the Lord._\n\nNow this is the Temper to which, by divine Assistance, we should all\nlabour to bring our own Hearts, when GOD puts this bitter Cup into our\nHands, and _takes away with a Stroke_ those dear Little-ones, which\nwere the _Desire of our Eyes_[t], and the Joy of our Hearts. Let us\nnot content ourselves, in such Circumstances, with _keeping the Door\nof our Lips_[u], that we break not out into any Indecencies of\nComplaint; let us not attempt to harden ourselves against our Sorrows\nby a stern Insensibility, or that sullen Resolution which sometimes\nsays, _It is a Grief, and I must bear it_[w]; but let us labour, (for\n_a great Labour_ it will indeed be,) to compose and quiet our Souls,\ncalmly to acquiesce in this painful Dispensation, nay, cordially to\napprove it as in present Circumstances every Way fit.\n\nIT will be the main Business of this Discourse, to prove how\nreasonable such a Temper is, or to shew how much Cause Christian\nParents have to borrow the Language of the Text, when their Infant\nOffspring is taken away, and to say with the pious _Shunamite_, in the\nnoblest Sense that her Words will bear,--_It is well._\n\nAND here I would more particularly shew,--It is well in the general,\nbecause GOD does it:--It is surely well for the pious Parents in\nparticular, because it is the Work of their Covenant GOD:--They may\nsee many Respects in which it is evidently so, by observing what\nuseful Lessons it has a Tendency to teach them:--And they have Reason\nto hope, it is well with those dear Creatures whom GOD hath removed in\ntheir early Days.\n\nTHESE are surely convincing Reasons to the Understanding: Yet who can\nsay, that they shalt be Reasons to the Heart? _Arise, O GOD, and plead\nthine own Cause_[x] in the most effectual Manner! May thy powerful and\ngracious Voice appease the swelling Billows of the Passions, and\nproduce a great and delightful Calm in our Souls, in which we may yet\nenjoy thee and ourselves, tho' a Part of our Treasure be for the\npresent swallowed up!\n\n\nI. THERE is surely Reason, in such a Case, to say _it is well_,--because\nGOD doth it.\n\nTHIS pass'd for an unanswerable Reason with _David, I was dumb, I\nopened not my Mouth, because thou didst it_[y], and with good old\n_Eli,_ under a severer Tryal than ours, _It is the Lord, let him do as\nseemeth good in his Sight_[z]. And shall We object against the Force\nof it? Was it a Reason to _David_, and to _Eli_, and is it not equally\nso to us? Or have We any new Right to _reply against GOD_[a], which\nthose eminent Saints had not?\n\n_His kingdom ruleth over all_[b]; and there is _not_ so much as _a\nSparrow that falls to the Ground without our Father, but the very\nHairs of our Head are all number'd_[c] by him. Can we then imagine\nthat our dear Children fall into their Graves without his Notice or\nInterposition? Did that watchful Eye that _keepeth Israel_, now, for\nthe first time, _slumber and sleep_[d], and an Enemy lay hold on that\nfatal Moment to bear away these precious Spoils, and bury our Joys and\nour Hopes in the Dust? Did some malignant Hand stop up the Avenues of\nLife, and break its Springs, so as to baffle all the Tenderness of the\nParent, and all the Skill of the Physician? Whence does such a Thought\ncome, and whither would it lead? Diseases and Accidents are but second\nCauses, which owe all their Operations to the continued Energy of the\ngreat original Cause. Therefore GOD says, _I will bereave them of\nChildren_[e]; _I take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a\nStroke_[f]_. He changeth their Countenance, and sendeth them away_[g].\n_Thou Lord turnest Man to Destruction, and sayest, Return ye Children\nof Men_[h]. And what shall we say? Are not the Administrations of his\nProvidence wise and good? Can we _teach him Knowledge_[i]? Can we tax\nhim with Injustice? Shall the Most High GOD learn of us how to govern\nthe World, and be instructed by our Wisdom when to remove his\nCreatures from one State of Being to another? Or do we imagine that\nhis Administration, in the general Right and Good, varies when he\ncomes to _touch our Bone and our Flesh_[k]_?_ Is that the secret\nLanguage of our Soul, \"That _it is well_, others should drink of the\nCup, but not We; that any Families but ours should be broken, and any\nHearts but ours should be wounded?\" Who might not claim the like\nExemption? and what would become of the Divine Government in general;\nor where would be his obedient Homage from his Creatures, if each\nshould begin to complain, as soon as it comes to his own Turn to\nsuffer? Much fitter is it for us to conclude, that our own Afflictions\nmay be as reasonable as those of others; that amidst all the _Clouds\nand Darkness_ of this present Dispensation, _Righteousness and\nJudgment are the Habitation of his Throne_[l]; and, in a word, that\n_it is well_, because GOD hath done it. It suits the general Scheme of\nthe Divine Providence, and to an obedient submissive Creature that\nmight be enough; but it is far from being all. For,\n\n\n\nII. PIOUS PARENTS, under such a Dispensation, may conclude _it is well\nfor them_ in particular,--because he, who hath done it, is their\nCovenant GOD.\n\nTHIS is the great Promise, to which all the Saints under the Old and\nNew Testament are Heirs, _I will be to them a God, and they shall be\nto me a People_[m]: And if we are interested in it, the happy\nConsequence is, that we being his, all our Concerns are his also; all\nare humbly resigned to him,--and graciously administer'd by him,--and\nincomparably better Blessings bestowed and secured, than any which the\nmost afflictive Providence can remove.\n\nIF we have any Share in this everlasting Covenant, all that we are or\nhave, must, of course, have been _solemnly surrender'd_ to GOD. And\nthis is a Thought peculiarly applicable to the Case immediately in\nview. \"Did I not,\" may the Christian, in such a sad Circumstance,\ngenerally say, \"did I not, in a very solemn Manner, bring this my\nChild to God in Baptism, and in that Ordinance recognize his Right to\nit? Did I not, with all humble _Subjection to the Father of\nSpirits_[n], and _Father of Mercies_[o], lay it down at his Feet,\nperhaps with an express, at least to be sure with a tacit Consent,\nthat it should be disposed of by him, as his infinite Wisdom and\nGoodness should direct, whether for Life or for Death? And am I now to\ncomplain of him, because he has removed not only a Creature of his\nown, but one of the Children of his Family? Or shall I pretend, after\nall, to set up a Claim in Opposition to his? A Heathen Parent, even\nfrom the Light of Nature, might have learn'd silent Submission: How\nmuch more then a Christian Parent, who hath presented his Child to GOD\nin this initiatory Ordinance; and perhaps also many a time, both\nbefore and since, hath presented himself at the Table of the Lord!\nHave I not there taken that _Cup of Blessings_, with a declared\nResolution of accepting every other _Cup_ how bitter soever it might\nbe, _which my heavenly Father_ should see fit to _put into my\nHand_[p]? When I have perhaps felt some painful Fore-bodings of what I\nam now suffering; I have, in my own Thoughts, particularly singled out\nthat dear Object of my Cares and my Hopes, to lay it down anew at my\nFather's Feet, and say, _Lord thou gavest it to me, and I resign it to\nthee; continue, or remove it, as thou pleasest._ And did I then mean\nto trifle with GOD? Did I mean in effect to say, _Lord, I will give it\nup, if thou wilt not take it?\"_\n\nREFLECT farther, I beseech you, on your _secret Retirements_, and\nthink, as surely some of you may, \"How often have I there been on my\nKnees before GOD on account of this Child; and what was then my\nLanguage? Did I say, Lord, I absolutely insist on its Recovery; I\ncannot, on any Terms or any Considerations whatsoever, bear to think\nof losing it?\" Sure we were none of us so indecently transported with\nthe fondest Passion, as to be so _rash with our Mouths_ as _to utter_\nsuch _Things before_ the Great GOD[q]. Such Presumption had deserv'd a\nmuch heavier Punishment than we are now bearing, and, if not\nretracted, may perhaps still have it.--Did not one or another of us\nrather say, \"Lord, I would humbly intreat, with all due Submission to\nthy superior Wisdom and sovereign Pleasure, that my Child may live;\nbut if it must be otherwise, _not my Will, but thine be done_[r]? I\nand mine are in thine Hand, _do with me_, and with them, _as seemeth\ngood in thy Sight_[s]\". And do we now blame ourselves for this? Would\nwe unsay it again, and, if possible, take ourselves and our Children\nout of his Hands, whom we have so often owned as all-wise and\nall-gracious, and have chosen as our great Guardian and theirs?\n\nLET it farther be consider'd, it is done by that GOD who has _accepted\nof this Surrender_, so as to undertake the Administration of our\nAffairs: \"He is become my Covenant GOD in Christ,\" may the Christian\nsay; \"and, in consequence of that Covenant, he hath engaged to manage\nthe Concerns and Interests of his People so, that _all Things shall\nwork together for good to them that love him_[t]: And do I not love\nhim? Answer, Oh my Heart, dost thou not love thy GOD much better than\nall the Blessings which Earth can boast, or which the Grave hath\nswallowed up? Wouldst thou resign thine Interest in him to recover\nthese precious Spoils, to receive this dear Child from the Dust, a\nthousand times fairer and sweeter than before? Rather let Death devour\nevery remaining Comfort, and leave me alone with him; with whom when I\nindeed am, I miss not the Creatures, but rather rejoice in their\nAbsence, as I am then more intire with _him whom my Soul loveth._ And\nif I do indeed love him, this Promise is mine, and _all Things_, and\ntherefore this sad Event in particular, _shall work together for my\ngood._ Shall I not then say, _It is well?_ What if it exceeded all the\nStretch of my Thoughts, to conceive _how_ it could, in any Instance,\nbe so? What are my narrow Conceptions, that they should pretend to\ncircumscribe infinite Wisdom, Faithfulness, and Mercy? Let me rather,\nwith _Abraham, give Glory to God, and in Hope believe against\nHope_[u]\".\n\nONCE more; let us consider how many _invaluable Blessings_ are given\nus by this Covenant, and then judge whether we have not the utmost\nReason to acquiesce in such an Event of Providence. \"If I am in\nCovenant with God,\" may the Believer say, \"then he hath pardoned my\nSins, and renewed my Heart, and hath made his blessed Spirit dwelling\nin me, the sacred Bond of an everlasting Union between him and my\nSoul. He is leading me through the Wilderness, and will, ere long,\nlead me out of it to the heavenly _Canaan_. And how far am I already\narrived in my Journey thither, now that I am come to the Age of losing\na Child! And when GOD hath done all this for me, is he rashly to be\nsuspected of Unkindness? _He that spared not his own Son_[w], he that\ngave me with him his Spirit and his Kingdom, why doth he deny, or why\ndoth he remove, any other Favour? Did he think the Life of this Child\ntoo great a Good to grant, when he thought not Christ and Glory too\nprecious? Away with that Thought, Oh my unbelieving Heart, and with\nevery Thought which would derogate from such rich amazing Grace, or\nwould bring any thing in comparison with it. Art thou under these\nObligations to him, and wilt thou yet complain? With what Grace, with\nwhat Decency canst thou dispute this, or any other Matter, with thy\nGOD? _What Right have I yet to cry any more to the King?_[x]\" Would\nany of you, my Brethren, venture to say, \"What tho' I be a Child of\nGOD, and an Heir of Glory, it matters not, for _my Gourd is withered_;\nthat pleasant Plant which was opening so fair and so delightful, under\nthe Shadow of which I expected long to have sate, and even _the Rock\nof Ages_ cannot shelter me so well? I can behold that beloved Face no\nmore, and therefore I will not look upward to behold the Face of GOD,\nI will not look forward to Christ and to Heaven?\" Would this, my\nFriends, be the Language of a real Christian? Nay, are there not many\nabandon'd Sinners who would tremble at such Expressions? Yet is it not\nin effect the Language of our tumultuous Passions, when, like\n_Rachel,_ we are _mourning for our Children,_ and _will not be\ncomforted, because they are not_[y]? Is it not our Language while we\ncannot, like the pious _Shunamite_ in the Text, bring our afflicted\nHearts to say, _It is well?_\n\n\n\nIII. PIOUS PARENTS, in such a Circumstance, have farther Reason to\nsay, _It is well_,--as they may observe an apparent Tendency in such a\nDispensation to teach them a Variety of the most instructive and\nuseful Lessons, in a very convincing and effectual Manner.\n\n'TIS a just Observation of _Solomon_, that _the Rod and Reproof give\nWisdom_[z]; and 'tis peculiarly applicable to such a Chastisement of\nour heavenly Father. It should therefore be our great Care to _bear\nthe Rod and him that hath appointed it_[a]; and so far as it hath a\nTendency to teach us our Duty, and to improve the divine Life in our\nSouls, we have the highest Reason to say, that _it is_ indeed _well._\n\nEVERY Affliction hath in its Degree this kind of Tendency, and 'tis\nthe very Reason for which _we are_ thus _chastened_, that we may\n_profit_ by our Sorrows, and be made _Partakers of God's Holiness_[b].\nBut this Dispensation is peculiarly adapted, in a very affecting\nManner,--to teach us the Vanity of the World,--to warn us of the\nApproach of our own Death,--to quicken us in the Duties incumbent upon\nus, especially to our surviving Children,--and to produce a more\nintire Resignation to the Divine Will, which is indeed the surest\nFoundation of Quiet, and Source of Happiness.\n\nI SHALL insist a little more particularly on each of these; and I\ndesire that it may be remembered, that the Sight and Knowledge of such\nmournful Providences as are now before us, should, in some Degree, be\nimproved to these Purposes, even by those Parents whose Families are\nmost prosperous and joyful: May they learn Wisdom and Piety from what\n_we_ suffer, and their Improvements shall be acknowledged as an\nadditional Reason for _us_ to say, _It is well._\n\n\n\n1. WHEN GOD takes away our Children from us, it is a very affecting\nLesson of the Vanity of the World.\n\nTHERE is hardly a Child born into it, on whom the Parents do not look\nwith some pleasing Expectation that it shall _comfort them concerning\ntheir Labour_[c]. This makes the Toil of Education easy and\ndelightful: And truly 'tis very early that we begin to find a\nSweetness in it, which abundantly repays all the Fatigue. Five, or\nfour, or three, or two Years, make Discoveries which afford immediate\nPleasure, and which suggest future Hopes. Their Words, their Actions,\ntheir very Looks touch us, if they be amiable and promising Children,\nin a tender, but very powerful Manner; their little Arms twine about\nour Hearts; and there is something more penetrating in their first\nbroken Accents of Indearment, than in all the Pomp and Ornament of\nWords. Every Infant-Year increases the Pleasure, and nourishes the\nHope. And where is the Parent so wise and so cautious, and so\nconstantly intent on his Journey to Heaven, as not to measure back a\nfew Steps to Earth again, on such a plausible and decent Occasion, as\nthat of introducing the young Stranger into the Amusements, nay\nperhaps, where Circumstances will admit it, into the Elegancies of\nLife, as well as its more serious and important Business? What fond\nCalculations do we form of what it _will be_, from what _it is_! How\ndo we in Thought open every Blossom of Sprightliness, or Humanity, or\nPiety, to its full Spread, and ripen it to a sudden Maturity! But, oh,\nwho shall teach those that have never felt it, how it tears the very\nSoul; when GOD roots up the tender Plant with an inexorable Hand, and\nwithers the Bud in which the Colours were beginning to glow! Where is\nnow our Delight? Where is our Hope? Is it in the Coffin? Is it in the\nGrave? Alas! all the Loveliness of Person, of Genius, and of Temper,\nserves but to point and to poison the Arrow, which is drawn out of our\nown Quiver to wound us. Vain, delusive, transitory Joys! \"And such, Oh\nmy Soul,\" will the Christian say, \"such are thine earthly Comforts in\nevery Child, in every Relative, in every Possession of Life; such are\nthe Objects of thy Hopes, and thy Fears, thy Schemes, and thy Labours,\nwhere Earth alone is concerned. Let me then, once for all, direct mine\nEyes to another and a better State. From these _broken Cisterns_, the\nFragments of which may hurt me indeed, but can no longer refresh me,\nlet me look to the _Fountain of living Waters_[d]. From these setting,\nStars, or rather these bright but vanishing Meteors, which make my\nDarkness so much the more sensible, let me turn to the _Father of\nLights._ Oh Lord, _What wait I for? my Hope is in thee_[e], my Pure\nAbode, my everlasting Confidence! My Gourds wither, my Children die;\nbut _the Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock, and let the God of my\nSalvation be exalted_[f]. I see, in one Instance more, the sad Effects\nof having over-loved the Creature; let me endeavour for the future, by\nthe Divine Assistance, to fix my Affections there where they cannot\nexceed; but where all the Ardor of them will be as much my Security\nand my Happiness, as it is now my Snare and my Distress.\"\n\n\n\n2. THE Removal of our Children by such awful Strokes may warn us of\nthe Approach of our own Death.\n\nHEREBY GOD doth very sensibly shew us, and those around us, that _all\nFlesh is as Grass, and all the Glory_ and Loveliness _of it like the\nFlower of the Field_[g]. And when our own Habitations are made the\nHouses of Mourning, and ourselves the Leaders in that sad Procession,\nit may surely be expected that we should lay it to Heart, so as to be\nquicken'd and improved by the View. \"Have my Children died in the\nMorning of their Days, and can I promise myself that I shall see the\nEvening of mine? Now perhaps may I say, in a more literal Sense than\never, _The Graves are ready for me_[h]. One of my Family, and some of\nus may add, the Firft-born of it, is gone as it were to take\nPossession of the Sepulchre in all our Names; and ere long I shall lie\ndown with my Child in the same Bed; yea perhaps many of the Feet that\nfollowed it shall attend me thither. Our Dust shortly shall be blended\ntogether; and who can tell but this Providence might chiefly be\nintended as a Warning Blow to me, that these concluding Days of my\nLife might be more regular, more spiritual, more useful than the\nformer?\"\n\n\n\n3. THE Providence before us may be farther improved to quicken us in\nthe Duties of Life, and especially in the Education of surviving\nChildren.\n\nIT is, on the Principles I hinted above, an Engagement, that _whatever\nour Hand findeth to do, we should do it with all our Might_, since it\nso plainly shews us that we are _going to the Grave, where there is no\nDevice, nor Knowledge, nor Working_[j]: But permit me especially to\nobserve, how peculiarly the Sentiments we feel on these sad Occasions,\nmay be improved for the Advantage of our dear Offspring who yet\nremain, and quicken us to a proper Care in their religious Education.\n\nWe all see that it is a very reasonable Duty, and every Christian\nParent resolves that he will _ere long_ apply himself to it; but I am\nafraid, great Advantages are lost by a Delay, which we think we can\neasily excuse. Our Hands are full of a Variety of Affairs, and our\nChildren are yet very young: We are therefore ready to imagine 'tis a\ngood Husbandry of Time to defer our Attempts for their Instruction to\na more _convenient Season_[k], when they may be able to learn more in\nan Hour, than the Labour of Days could now teach them; besides that we\nare apprehensive of Danger in over-loading their tender Spirits,\nespecially when they are perhaps under Indisposition, and need to be\ndiverted, rather than gravely advised and instructed.\n\nBUT I beseech you, my Friends, let us view the Matter with that\nImpartiality, which the Eloquence of Death hath a Tendency to produce.\n\"That lovely Creature that GOD hath now taken away, tho' its Days were\nfew, tho' its Faculties were weak, yet might it not have known a great\ndeal more of Religion than it did, and felt a great deal more of it\ntoo, had I faithfully and prudently done my Part? How did it learn\nLanguage so soon, and in such a Compass and Readiness? Not by\nmultiplied Rules, nor labour'd Instruction, but by Conversation. And\nmight it not have learn'd much more of Divine Things by Conversation\ntoo, if they had been allowed a due Share in our Thoughts and our\nDiscourses; according to the Charge given to the _Israelites_, to\n_talk of them going out and coming in, lying down and rising up_[l]?\nHow soon did it learn Trifles, and retain them, and after its little\nway observe and reason upon them, perhaps with a Vivacity that\nsometimes surprized me! And had I been as diligent as I ought, who can\ntell what Progress it might have made in Divine Knowledge? Who can\ntell but, as a Reward to these pious Cares, GOD might have put a Word\ninto its dying Lips, which I might all my Life have recollected with\nPleasure, and _out of its_ feeble _Mouth might have perfected\nPraise_[m]?\"\n\nMY Friends, let us humble ourselves deeply before GOD under a Sense of\nour past Neglects, and let us learn our future Duty. We may perhaps be\nready fondly to say, \"Oh that it were possible my Child could be\nrestored to me again, tho' it were but for a few Weeks or Days! how\ndiligently would I attempt to supply my former Deficiencies!\"\nUnprofitable Wish! Yet may the Thought be improved for the good of\nsurviving Children. How shall we express our Affection to them? Not\nsurely by indulging all the Demands of Appetite and Fancy, in many\nearly Instances so hazardous, and so fatal; not by a Solicitude to\ntreasure up Wealth for them, whose only Portion may perhaps be a\nlittle Coffin and Shrowd. No; our truest Kindness to them will be to\nendeavour, by Divine Grace, to form them to an early Inquiry after\nGOD, and Christ, and Heaven, and a Love for real Goodness in all the\nForms of it which may come within their Observation and Notice. Let us\napply ourselves immediately to this Talk, as those that remember there\nis a double Uncertainty, in their Lives, and in ours. In a Word, let\nus be _that_ with regard to every Child that yet remains, which we\nproposed and engaged to be to that which is taken away, when we\npleaded with GOD for the Continuance of its Life, at least for a\nlittle while, that it might be farther assisted in the Preparations\nfor Death and Eternity. If such Resolutions be formed and pursued, the\nDeath of one may be the Means of spiritual Life to many; and we shall\nsurely have Reason to say _it is well_, if it teach us so useful a\nLesson.\n\n\n\n4. THE Providence before us may have a special Tendency to improve our\nResignation to the Divine Will; and if it does so, it will indeed be\n_well_.\n\nTHERE is surely no imaginable Situation of Mind so sweet and so\nreasonable, as that which we feel, when we humbly refer ourselves in\nall Things to the Divine Disposal, in an intire Suspension of our own\nWill, seeing and owning the Hand of GOD, and bowing before it with a\nfilial Acquiescence. This is chiefly to be learn'd from suffering; and\nperhaps there is no Suffering which is fitter to teach it, than this.\nIn many other Afflictions there is such a Mixture of human\nInterposition, that we are ready to imagine, we may be allowed to\ncomplain, and to chide a little. Indignation mingles itself with our\nGrief; and when it does so, it warms the Mind, tho' with a feverish\nKind of Heat, and in an unnatural Flow of Spirits, leads the Heart\ninto a Forgetfulness of GOD. But here it is so apparently his Hand,\nthat we must refer it to him, and it will appear bold Impiety to\nquarrel at what is done. In other Instances we can at least flatter\nourselves with Hope, that the Calamity may be diverted, or the\nEnjoyment recovered; but here alas! there is no Hope. \"Tears will\nnot,\" as [*]Sir _William Temple_ finely expresses it, \"water the\nlovely Plant so as to cause it to grow again; Sighs will not give it\nnew Breath, nor can we furnish it with Life and Spirits by the Waste\nof our own.\" The Sentence is finally gone forth, and the last fatal\nStroke irrecoverably given. Opposition is vain; a forced Submission\ngives but little Rest to the Mind; a cordial Acquiescence in the\nDivine Will is the only thing in the whole World that can ease the\nlabouring Heart, and restore true Serenity. Remaining Corruption will\nwork on such an Occasion, and a painful Struggle will convince the\nChristian how imperfect his present Attainments are: And this will\nprobably lead him to an attentive Review of the great Reasons for\nSubmission; it will lead him to urge them on his own Soul, and to\nplead them with GOD in Prayer; till at length the Storm is laid, and\n_Tribulation worketh Patience, and Patience Experience, and Experience\na Hope which maketh not ashamed,_ while _the Love of God is so shed\nabroad in the Heart_[n], as to humble it for every preceding\nOpposition, and to bring it even to a real Approbation of all that so\nwise and good a Friend hath done; resigning every other Interest and\nEnjoyment to his Disposal, and fitting do with the sweet Resolution of\nthe Prophet, _Tho' the Fig-tree do not blossom, and there be no Fruit\nin the Vine, &c. yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of\nmy Salvation_[o]. And when we are brought to this, the whole Horizon\nclears, and the Sun breaks forth in its Strength.\n\nNOW I appeal to every sincere Christian in the Assembly, whether there\nwill not be Reason indeed to say _it is well_, if by this painful\nAffliction we more sensibly learn the Vanity of the Creature and we\nare awakened to serious Thoughts of our own latter End; if by it we\nare quickned in the Duties of Life, and formed to a more intire\nResignation of Soul, and Acquiescence in the Divine Will. I shall only\nadd once more, and 'tis a Thought of delightful Importance,\n\n\n\nIV. THAT pious Parents have Reason to hope _it is well_ with those\ndear Creatures who are taken away in their early Days.\n\nI SEE not that the Word of GOD hath any whit passed a damnatory\nSentence on any Infants; and it has not, I am sure we have no\nAuthority to doubt, especially considering with how much Compassion\nthe Divine Being speaks of them in the Instance of the _Ninevites_[p],\nand on some other Occasions. Perhaps, as some pious Divines have\nconjectured, they may constitute a very considerable Part of Number of\nthe Elect, and, _as in Adam_ they _all died_, they may _in Christ all\nbe made alive_[q]. At least, methinks, from the Covenant which GOD\nmade with _Abraham_, and his Seed, _the Blessings of which_ are _come\nupon the_ believing _Gentiles_[r], there is Reason to hope well\nconcerning the Infant Offspring of GOD'S People, early devoted, and\noften recommended to him, that their _Souls_ will be _bound in the\nBundle of Life_[s], and _be loved for their Parents Sakes_[t].\n\nIT is, indeed, impossible for us to say, how soon Children may be\ncapable of contracting personal Guilt. They are quickly able to\ndistinguish, some Degree, between Right and Wrong; and 'tis too plain,\nthat they as quickly, in many Instances, forget the Distinction. The\nCorruptions of Nature begin early to work, and shew the Need of\nsanctifying Grace; yet, without a Miracle, it cannot be expected that\nmuch of the Christian Scheme should be understood by these little\nCreatures, in the first dawning of Reason, tho' a few evangelical\nPhrases may be taught, and, sometimes, by a happy kind of Accident,\nmay be rightly applied. The tender Heart of a Parent may, perhaps,\ntake a Hint, from hence to terrify itself, and exasperate all its\nother Sorrows, by that sad Thought, \"What if my dear Child be perished\nfor ever? gone from our Embraces, and all the little Pleasures we\ncould give it, to everlasting Darkness and Pain?\" Horrible\nImagination! And Satan may, perhaps, take the Advantage of these\ngloomy Moments, to aggravate every little Infirmity into a Crime, and\nto throw us into an Agony, which no other View of the Affliction can\npossibly give, to a Soul penetrated with a Sense of Eternity. Nor do I\nknow a Thought, in the whole Compass of Nature, that hath a more\npowerful Tendency to produce suspicious Notions of GOD, and a secret\nAlienation of Heart from him.\n\nNOW for this very Reason, methinks, we should guard against so harsh a\nConclusion, lest we, at once, injure the Divine Being, and torture\nourselves. And, surely, we may easily fall on some Reflections which\nmay incourage our Hopes, where _little Children_ are concerned; and\n'tis only of that Case that I am now speaking. Let us think of the\nblessed GOD, as the great Parent of universal Nature; whose _tender\nMercies are over all his Works_[t]; who declares that Judgment is _his\nstrange Work_[u]; who _is very pitiful, and of tender Mercy_[w],\n_gracious and full of Compassion_[x]; who _delighteth in Mercy_[y];\nwho _waiteth to be gracious_[z]; and _endureth, with much\nLong-suffering,_ even _the Vessels of Wrath fitted to Destruction_[a].\nHe intimately _knows our Frame_[b], and our Circumstances; he sees the\nWeakness of the unformed Mind; how forcibly the volatile Spirits are\nstruck with a thousand new amusing Objects around it, and born away as\na Feather before the Wind; and, on the other hand, how, when\nDistempers seize it, the feeble Powers are over-born in a Moment, and\nrender'd incapable of any Degree of Application and Attention. And,\nLord, wilt thou _open thine Eyes on such a one, to bring_ it _into_\nstrict _Judgment with thee_[c]? Amidst all the Instances of thy\nPatience, and thy Bounty, to the most abandon'd of Mankind, are these\nlittle helpless Creatures the Objects of thy speedy Vengeance, and\nfinal Severity?\n\nLET us farther consider, as it is a very comfortable Thought in these\nCircumstances, the compassionate Regard which the blessed _Jesus_\nexpressed to little Children. He was _much displeased_ with those who\nforbad their being _brought_ to him; _and said, Suffer them to come\nunto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of GOD_; and\n_taking them up in his Arms, he laid his Hands upon them, and blessed\nthem_[d]. In another Instance we are told, that he _took a little\nChild_, (who appears to have been old enough to come at his Call,) and\n_set him in the Midst of his Disciples, and said, Except ye become as\nlittle Children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of\nHeaven_[e]. May we not then hope that many little Children are\nadmitted into it? And may not that Hope be greatly confirmed from\nwhatever, of an amiable and regular Disposition, we have observed in\nthose that are taken away? If we have seen [+]_a Tenderness of\nConscience in any thing which they apprehended would displease the\ngreat and good GOD; a Love to Truth; a Readiness to attend on Divine\nWorship, from some imperfect Notion of its general Design, though the\nParticulars of it could not be understood; an open, candid, benevolent\nHeart; a tender Sense of Obligation, and a Desire, according to their\nlittle Power, to repay it_; may we not hope that these were some of\nthe _first Fruits of the Spirit_[f], which he would, in due Time, have\nripened into Christian Graces, and are now, on a sudden, perfected by\nthat great Almighty Agent _who worketh all, and in all_[g]?\n\nSURE I am, that this blessed Spirit hath no inconsiderable Work to\nperform on the most established Christians, to finish them to a\ncomplete Meetness for the Heavenly World: Would to GOD, there were no\ngreater Blemishes to be observed in their Character, than the little\nVanities of Children! With infinite Ease then can he perfect what is\nlacking in their unfinished Minds, and pour out upon them, in a\nMoment, that Light and Grace, which shall qualify them for a State, in\nComparison of which, ours on Earth is but Childhood or Infancy.\n\nNOW what a noble Source of Consolation is here! Then may the\naffectionate Parent say, \"_It is well_, not only with me, but _with\nthe Child_ too: Incomparably better than if my ardent Wishes, and\nimportunate Prayers for its Recovery, had been answered. _It is_\nindeed _well_, if that beloved Creature be _fallen asleep in\nChrist_[h]; if that dear Lamb be folded in the Arms of the\ncompassionate Shepherd, and gathered into his gracious Bosom.\nSelf-love might have led me to wish its longer Continuance here; but\nif I truly _loved_ my Child with a solid, rational Affection, I should\nmuch rather _rejoice_, to think _it is gone to_ a heavenly _Father_[i],\nand to the World of perfected Spirits above. Had it been spared to me,\nhow slowly could I have taught it! and in the full Ripeness of its Age,\nwhat had it been, when compared with what it now is! How is it shot up\non a sudden, from the Converse and the Toys of Children, to be a\nCompanion with Saints and Angels, in the Employment, and the\nBlessedness of Heaven! Shall I then complain of it as a rigorous\nSeverity to my Family, that GOD hath taken it to the Family above? And\nwhat if he hath chosen to bestow the distinguished Favour on _that\none_ of my little Flock, who was formed to take the tenderest Hold of\nmy Heart? Was there Unkindness in that? What if he saw, that the very\nSprightliness and Softness which made it to me so exquisitely\ndelightful, might, in Time, have betrayed it into Ruin; and took this\nMethod of sheltering it from Trials which had, otherwise, been too\nhard for it, and so fixing a Seal on its Character and Happiness? What\nif that strong Attachment of my Heart to it, had been a Snare to the\nChild, and to me? Or what if it had been otherwise? Do I need\nadditional Reasons to justify the Divine Conduct, in an Instance which\nmy Child is celebrating in the Songs of Heaven? If it is a new and\nuntasted Affliction to have such a tender Branch lopp'd off, it is\nalso a new Honour to be the Parent of a glorified Saint.\" And, as good\nMr. _Howe_ expressed it on another Occasion, \"_If GOD be pleased, and\nhis glorified Creature be pleased, who are we that we should be\ndispleased?\"_[*]\n\n\"Could I wish, that this young Inhabitant of Heaven should be degraded\nto Earth again? Or would it thank me for that With? Would it say, that\nit was the Part of a wife Parent, to call it down from a Sphere of\nfinch exalted Services and Pleasures, to our low Life here upon Earth?\nLet me rather be thankful for the pleasing Hope, that tho' GOD loves\nmy Child too well to permit it to return to me, he will ere long bring\nme to it. And then that endeared paternal Affection, which would have\nbeen a Cord to tie me to Earth, and have added new Pangs to my Removal\nfrom it, will be asa golden Chain to draw me upwards, and add one\nfarther Charm and Joy even to Paradise itself.\" And oh, how great a\nJoy to view the Change, and to compare that dear Idea, so fondly laid\nup, so often reviewed, with the now glorious Original, in the\nImprovements of the upper World! To borrow the Words of the sacred\nWriter, in a very different Sense? \"_I said, I was desolate and\nbereaved of Children, and who hath brought up these? I was left alone,\nand these where have they been?_[k] Was this my Desolation? this my\nSorrow? to part with thee for a few Days, _that I might receive thee\nfor Ever_[l], and find thee what thou now art!\" It is for no Language,\nbut that of Heaven, to describe the sacred Joy which such a Meeting\nmust occasion.\n\nIN the mean time, Christians, let us keep up the lively Expectation of\nit, and let what has befallen us draw our Thoughts upwards. Perhaps\nthey will sometimes, before we are aware, sink to the Grave, and dwell\nin the Tombs that contain the poor Remains of what was once so dear to\nus. But let them take Flight from thence to more noble, more\ndelightful Scenes. And I will add, let the Hope we have of the\nHappiness of our Children render GOD still dearer to our Souls. We\nfeel a very tender Sense of the Kindness which our Friends expressed\ntowards them, and think, indeed very justly, that their affectionate\nCare for them lays a lasting Obligation upon us. What Love then, and\nwhat Service do we owe to thee, oh gracious Father, who hast, we hope,\nreceived them into thine House above, and art now entertaining them\nthere with unknown Delight, tho' our former Methods of Commerce with\nthem be cut off! \"Lord,\" should each of us say in such a Case, \"I\nwould take what thou art doing to my Child as done to my self, and as\na Specimen and Earnest of what shall shortly be done.\" _It is_\ntherefore _well_.\n\nIT only remains, that I conclude with a few Hints of farther\nImprovement.\n\n\n\n1. LET pious Parents, who have lost hopeful Children _in a maturer\nAge_, join with others in saying, _It is well_.\n\nMY Friends, the Reasons which I have been urging at large, are common\nto you with us; and permit me to add, that as your Case has its\npeculiar Distress, it has, I think, in a yet greater Degree, its\npeculiar Consolations too.\n\nI KNOW you will say, that it is inexpressibly grievous and painful, to\npart with Children who were grown up into most amiable Friends, who\nwere your Companions in the Ways of GOD, and concerning whom you had a\nmost agreeable Prospect, that they would have been the Ornaments and\nSupports of Religion in the rising Age, and extensive Blessings to the\nWorld, long after you had quitted it. These Reasonings have,\nundoubtedly, their Weight; and they have so, when considered in a very\ndifferent View. Must you not acknowledge _it is well_, that you\nenjoyed so many Years of Comfort in them? that you reaped so much\nsolid Satisfaction from them? and saw those Evidences of a Work of\nGrace upon their Hearts, which give you such abundant Reason to\nconclude that they are now received to that Inheritance of Glory, for\nwhich they were so apparently _made meet_? Some of them, perhaps, had\nalready quitted their Father's House: As for others, had GOD spared\ntheir Lives, they might have been transplanted into Families of their\nown: And if, instead of being removed to another House, or Town, or\nCounty, they are taken by GOD into another World, is that a Matter of\nso great Complaint; when that World is so much better, and you are\nyourselves so near it? I put it to your Hearts, Christians, Would you\nrather have chosen to have buried them in their Infancy, or never to\nhave known the Joys and the Hopes of a Parent, now you know the\nVicissitude of Sorrow, and of Disappointment? But perhaps, you will\nsay, that you chiefly grieve for that Loss which the World has\nsustained by the Removal of those, from whom it might reasonably have\nexpected so much future Service. This is, indeed, a generous, and a\nChristian Sentiment, and there is something noble in those Tears which\nflow on such a Consideration. But do not so remember your Relation to\nEarth, as to forget that which you bear to Heaven; and do not so wrong\nthe Divine Wisdom and Goodness, as to suppose, that when he takes away\nfrom hence promising Instruments of Service, he there lays them by as\nuseless. Much more reasonable is it to conclude, that their Sphere of\nAction, as well as Happiness, is inlarged, and that the Church above\nhath gained incomparably more, than that below can be supposed to have\nlost by their Death.\n\nON the whole, therefore, far from complaining of the Divine Conduct in\nthis Respect, it will become you, my Friends, rather to be very\nthankful that these dear Children were spared so long; to accompany\nand entertain you in so many Stages of your short Journey thro' Life,\nto answer so many of your Hopes, and to establish so many more beyond\nall Fear of Disappointment. Reflect on all that GOD did in, and upon\nthem, on all he was beginning to do by them, and on what you have\ngreat Reason to believe he is now doing for them; and adore his Name,\nthat he has left you these dear Memorials, by which your Case is so\nhappily distinguished from ours, whose Hopes in our Children withered\nin the very Bud; or from theirs, who saw those who were once so dear\nto them, perishing, as they have Cause to fear, _in the Paths of the\nDestroyer._\n\nBUT while I speak thus, methinks I am alarmed, lest I should awaken\nthe far more grievous Sorrows of some mournful Parent, whom it will\nnot be so easy to comfort. My Brethren and Friends, what shall I say\nto you, who are lamenting over your _Absaloms_, and almost wishing\n_you had died for them_[m]? Shall I urge _you_ to say _it is well?_\nPerhaps you may think it a great Attainment, if, like _Aaron,_ when\nhis Sons _died before the Lord_, you _can hold your Peace_[n], under\nthe awful Stroke. My Soul is troubled for you; _my Words are_ almost\n_swallowed up._ I cannot unsay what I have elsewhere said at large on\nthis melancholy Subject[*]. Yet let me remind you of this, that you do\nnot certainly know what Almighty Grace might do for these lamented\nCreatures, even in the latest Moments, and have therefore no Warrant\nconfidently to pronounce that they are assuredly perished. And if you\ncannot but tremble in the too probable Fear of it, labour to turn your\nEyes from so dark a Prospect, to those better Hopes which GOD is\nsetting before _you_. For surely you still have abundant Reason to\nrejoice in that Grace, which gives your own _Lives to you as a Prey_,\nand has brought you so near to that blessed World, where, hard as it\nis now to conceive it, you will have laid aside every Affection of\nNature, which interferes with the Interests of GOD, and prevents your\nmost chearful Acquiescence in every Particular of his wise and\ngracious Determinations.\n\n\n\n2. FROM what we have heard, let us learn not to think of the Loss of\nour Children with a slavish Dread.\n\nIT is to a Parent indeed such a cutting Stroke, that I wonder not if\nNature shrink back at the very Mention of it: And, perhaps, it would\nmake those to whom GOD hath denied Children more easy, if they knew\nwhat some of the happiest Parents feel in an uncertain Apprehension of\nthe Loss of theirs: An Apprehension which strikes with peculiar Force\non the Mind, when Experience hath taught us the Anguish of such an\nAffliction in former Instances. But let us not anticipate Evils:\nPerhaps all our Children, who are hitherto spared, may follow us to\nthe Grave Or, if otherwise, we _sorrow not as those who have no\nHope_[p]. We may have Reason still to say; _It is well_, and, thro'\nDivine Grace, we may also have Hearts to say it. Whatever we lose, if\nwe be the Children of GOD, we shall never lose our Heavenly Father, He\nwill still be our Support, and our Joy. And therefore let us turn all\nour Anxiety about uncertain, future Events, into a holy Solicitude to\nplease him, and to promote religious Impressions in the Hearts of our\ndear Offspring; that if GOD should see fit to take them away, we may\nhave a Claim to the full Consolations, which I have been representing\nin the preceding Discourse.\n\n\n\n3. LET us not sink in hopeless Sorrow, or break out into clamorous\nComplaints, if GOD has brought this heavy Affliction upon us.\n\nA STUPID Indifference would be absurd and unnatural: GOD and Man might\nlook upon us as acting a most unworthy Part, should we be like _the\nOstrich in the Wilderness, which hardeneth herself against her young\nones, as if they were not hers; because GOD hath deprived her of\nWisdom, neither hath he imparted to her Understanding_[q]. Let us\nsorrow like Men, and like Parents; but let us not, in the mean time,\nforget that we are Christians. Let us remember how common the Calamity\nis; few Parents are exempt from it; some of the most pious and\nexcellent have lost amiable Children, with Circumstances perhaps of\npeculiar Aggravation. 'Tis a Trial which GOD hath chosen for the\nExercise of some who have been eminently dear to him, as we may learn\nfrom a Variety of Instances both ancient and modern. Let us recollect\nour many Offences against our heavenly Father, those Sins which such a\nDispensation may properly _bring to our Remembrance_[r]; and let that\nsilence us, and teach us to own, that _'tis of the Lord's Mercies we\nare not consumed_[s], and that we are _punished less than our\nIniquities deserve_[t]. Let us look round on our surviving Comforts;\nlet us look forward to our future, our eternal Hopes; and we shall\nsurely see, that there is still Room for Praise, still a Call for it.\nLet us review the Particulars mentioned above, and then let Conscience\ndetermine whether it doth not become us, in this particular Instance,\nto say it steadily, and chearfully too, Even _this is well._ And may\nthe GOD of all Grace and Comfort apply these Considerations to our\nMind, that we may not only own them, but feel them, as a reviving\nCordial when our Heart is overwhelmed within us! In the mean Time, let\nme beseech you whose _tabernacles are in Peace_[u], and whose\n_Children are yet about you_[w], that you would not be severe in\ncensuring our Tears, till you have experimentally known our Sorrows,\nand yourselves tasted _the Wormwood and the Gall_, which we, with all\nour Comforts, must have in a long and a bitter _Remembrance_[x].\n\n\n\n4. LET those of us who are under the Rod, be very solicitous to\nimprove it aright, that in the End it may indeed be _well_.\n\nHEAR, my Brethren, my Friends and Fellow-Sufferers, hear and _suffer\nthe word of Exhortation_[y]. Let us be much concerned, that we may not\nbear all the Smart of such an Affliction, and, through our own Folly,\nlose all that Benefit which might, otherwise, be a rich Equivalent. In\nProportion to the Grievousness of the Stroke, should be our Care to\nattend to the Design of it. Let us, now GOD is calling us to Mourning\nand Lamentation, be _searching and trying our Ways, that we may turn\nagain unto the Lord_[z]. Let us review the Conduct of our Lives, and\nthe State and Tenour of our Affections, that we may observe what hath\nbeen deficient, and what irregular; that proper Remedies may be\napplied, and those important Lessons more thoroughly learnt, which I\nwas mentioning under the former Branch of my Discourse. Let us pray,\nthat through our Tears we may read our Duty, and that by the Heat of\nthe Furnace we may be so melted, that our Dross may be purged away,\nand the Divine Image instamped on our Souls in brighter and fairer\nCharacters. To sum up all in one Word, let us endeavour to set our\nHearts more on that GOD, who is infinitely _better to us than ten\nChildren_[a], who hath _given us a Name better than that of Sons or of\nDaughters_[b], and can abundantly supply the Place of all earthly\nEnjoyments with the rich Communications of his Grace: Nay, perhaps, we\nmay add, who hath removed some Darling of our Hearts, lest to our\ninfinite Detriment it should fill his Place there, and, by alienating\nus from his Love and Service, have a fatal Influence on our present\nPeace, and our future Happiness.\n\nETERNAL Glory, my Friends, is so great a Thing, and the compleat Love\nand Enjoyment of GOD so unutterably desirable, that it is well worth\nour while to bear the sharpest Sorrows, by which we may be more\nperfectly formed for it. We may even congratulate the Death of our\nChildren, if it bring us nearer to our heavenly Father; and teach us,\n(instead of filling this Vacancy in our Heart with some new Vanity,\nwhich may shortly renew our Sorrows,) to consecrate the whole of it to\nhim who alone deserves, and can alone answer the most intense\nAffection. Let us try what of this kind may be done. We are now going\nto the Table of the Lord[*], to that very Table where our Vows have\noften been sealed, where our Comforts have often been reigned, where\nour _Isaac's_ have been conditionally sacrificed, and where we\ncommemorate the real Sacrifice which GOD hath made even of his only\nbegotten Son for us. May our other Sorrows be suspended, while we\n_mourn for him whom we have pierced, as for an only Son, and are in\nBitterness as for a First-born_[c]. From his Blood Consolations spring\nup, which will flourish even on the Graves of our dear Children; and\nthe Sweetness of that Cup which he there gives us, will temper the\nmost distasteful Ingredients of the other. Our Houses _are not so with\nGOD_, as they once were, as we once expected they would have been, but\n_he hath made with us an everlasting Covenant_, and these are the\nTokens of it. Blessed be his Name, we hold not the Mercies of that\nCovenant by so precarious a Tenure as the Life of any Creature. _It is\nwell ordered in all things and sure:_ May _it be all our Salvation,\nand all our Desire_[d]; and then it is but a little while, and all our\nComplaints will cease. _GOD will wipe away these Tears from our\nEyes_[e], our peaceful and happy Spirits shall ere long meet with\nthose of our Children which he hath taken to himself. Our Bodies shall\nsleep, and ere long also awake, and arise with theirs. _Death_, that\ninexorable Destroyer, _shall be swallowed up in Victory_[f], while we\nand ours surround the Throne with everlasting Hallelujahs, and own,\nwith another Evidence than we can now perceive; with another Spirit\nthan we can now express, that _All was indeed well_.   Amen.\n\n\n_FINIS._\n\n\n\nFootnotes.\n\n+  _The Duke of_ Burgundy.   _See_ Cambray's _Life_, p. 329.\n\n*  Tibi monstrabo Amatorium sine Medicamento, sine Herbis, sine ullius\nVeneficae; Carmine, _Si vis amari, ama._   SEN.\n\na  Heb. iv. 15.--Heb. ii. 18.\n\nb  2 Cor. i. 4.\n\nc  Job iv. 3,--5.\n\nd  Job xv. 11.\n\ne  Isa x. 18.\n\nf  Heb. xii. 9.\n\ng  Lev. x. 3.\n\nh  Job i. 21.\n\ni  Math. xxi. 16.\n\nk  Luke i. 18.\n\nl  Luke i. 38.\n\nm  Jon. ii. 2.\n\nn  Jon. iv. 9.\n\no  2 Kings iv. 18, 20.\n\np  1 Kings xvii. 17, & seq.\n\n*  See _Henry_, in loc.\n\nq  1 Tim. vi. 11;   2 Tim. iii. 17.\n\nr  2 Kings. iv. 23.\n\ns  Isa. xxxix. 8.\n\nt  Ezek. xxiv. 16.\n\nu  Psal. cxli. 3.\n\nw  Jer. x. 19.\n\nx  Psal. lxxiv. 22.\n\ny  Psal. xxxix. 9.\n\nz  1 Sam. iii. 18.\n\na  Rom. ix. 20.\n\nb  Psal ciii. 19.\n\nc  Matt. x. 29, 30.\n\nd  Psal. cxxi. 4.\n\ne  Jer. xv. 7.\n\nf  Ezek. xxiv. 16.\n\ng  Job xiv. 20.\n\nh  Psal. xc. 3.\n\ni  Job xxi. 22.\n\nk  Job. ii. 5.\n\nl  Psal. xcvii. 2.\n\nm  Heb. viii. 10.\n\nn  Ibid. xii. 9.\n\no  2 Cor. i. 3.\n\np  John xviii. 11.\n\nq  Eccles. v. 2.\n\nr  Matt. xxvi. 39.\n\ns  2 Sam. xv. 26.\n\nt  Rom. viii. 28.\n\nu  Rom. iv. 18, 20.\n\nw  Ibid. viii. 32.\n\nx  2 Sam. xix. 28.\n\ny  Jer. xxxi. 15.\n\nz  Prov. xxix. 15.\n\na  Mich. vi. 9.\n\nb  Heb. xii. 10.\n\nc  Gen. v. 29.\n\nd  Jer. ii. 13.\n\ne  Psal. xxxix. 7.\n\nf  Ibid. xviii. 46.\n\ng  1 Pet. i. 24.\n\nh  Job xvii. 1.\n\nj  Eccles. ix. 10.\n\nk  Acts xxiv. 25.\n\nl  Deu. vi. 7.\n\nm  Matth. 21. 16.\n\n*  _Temple_'s Essays, Vol. I. p. 178.\n\nn  Rom. v. 3--5.\n\no  Hab. iii. 17, 18.\n\np  Jonah iv. _ult_.\n\nq  1 Cor. xv. 22.\n\nr  Gal. iii. 14.\n\ns  1 Sam. xxv. 29.\n\nt  Rom. xi. 28.\n\nt  Psal. cxlv. 9.\n\nu  Isa. xxviii. 21.\n\nw  James v. 11.\n\nx  Psal. cxi. 4.\n\ny  Micah vii. 18.\n\nz  Isa. xxx. 18.\n\na  Rom. ix. 22.\n\nb  Psal. ciii. 14.\n\nc  Job xiv. 3.\n\nd  Mark x. 13,--16.\n\ne  Mat. xviii. 2, 3.\n\nf  Rom. viii. 23.\n\ng  1 Cor. xii. 6.\n\n+  I bless GOD, all these Things were very evident in that dear Child,\nwhose Death occasioned this Discourse.\n\nh  1 Cor. xv. 18.\n\ni  John xiv. 28.\n\n*  _Howe_'s Life, _pag_. 32. _Fal. Edit._\n\nk  Isa. xlix. 21.\n\nl  Philem. _ver_. 13.\n\nm  2 Sam. xviii. 33.\n\nn  Lev. x. 3.\n\n*  In the Sixth of my _Sermons to young Persons_, intitled, _The\nReflections of a pious Parent on the Death of a wicked Child._\n\np  1 Thess. iv. 13.\n\nq  Job xxxix. 16, 17.\n\nr  1 Kings xvii. 18.\n\ns  Lam. iii. 22.\n\nt  Ezra ix. 13.\n\nu  Job v. 24.\n\nw  Ibid. xxix. 5.\n\nx  Lam. iii. 19, 20.\n\ny  Heb. xiii. 22.\n\nz  Lam. iii. 40.\n\na  1 Sam. i. 8.\n\nb  Isa. lvi. 5.\n\n*  _N. B._ This Sermon was preached _October_ 3, 1736. it being\nSacrament Day.   The Child died _October_ 1.\n\nc  Zech. xii. 10.\n\nd  2 Sam. xxiii. 5.\n\ne  Rev. xxi. 4.\n\nf  1 Cor. xv. 54.","title":"Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children: Recommended and inforced, in a sermon preached at; Northampton, on the death of a very amiable and hopeful; child, about five years old","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12529}