The Saints Transfiguration, Title page – Dedication
THE Saints Transfiguration: OR The Body of Vilenesse changed into a Body of Glory.
A SERMON Preached at Martins Ludgate October 19. 1654. At the Funerall of that Reverend, and faithfull Minister of JESUS CHRIST Dr SAMUEL BOLTON, late Master of Christs Colledge in Cambridg, With a short account of his Death.
By EDMUND CALAMY, B. D. Pastor of Aldermanbury in London.
To which are annexed Verses upon his Death, composed by divers of his Friends and Acquaintance.
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and mercifull men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. Isa. 57. 1.
Your fathers where are they? and the Prophets do they live for ever? Zach. 1. 5.
London, Printed for Joseph Cranford at the Sign of the Phoenix in Pauls Churchyard, M.DC.LV.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ROBERT EARL OF WARWICK, BARON OF LEEZE.
Right Honourable:
IT hath pleased God to take unto himself a Reverend, Learned and Pious Minister Dr BOLTON, one who feared God above many, who was (not without just cause) highly esteemed by your Lordship, whose memory is very pretious to you, and who was very dear to a Religious Daughter of yours now with God (whom I mention for Honour sake) the Lady Lucy Roberts.
The ensuing Sermon preached at his sad Funerals, I crave leave to dedicate to your Lordship, as a publike acknowledgement of the many and great favours I have received from you. The design of it is, to wean Christians from the overmuch love of their bodies. All men by nature are prone curare cutem magis quàm animam, to take more care and spend more time for their bodies, then for their souls: Hence it is that they think no cost too much that is laid out for the feeding and cloathing of their bodies, no gift too great that is given to the Physitian to heal them when diseased, but any thing too much which is given to a godly Minister for the good of their souls: Hence it is, that the working dayes are too few, and too short for their bodily profits and pastimes, but the Lords day which is the Queen of dayes, because it is the Souls Market-day for Heaven, is burdensome to them, and very tedious. Hence it is also that they are willing to lay out Nine parts of their Estate for their bodies, but unwilling to part with the Tenth for soul-advantages. The scope of this Sermon▪ is to shew the vanity and sinfulness of these and such like practises.
It tells your Lordship
That the Body is the worst half of man, the boxe the shell, the carcasse: That the Soul is the Jewel, the life, the man of man.
That the Body is a Vile body made of vile materials, subject to vile diseases and to vile abominations, and that he that provides for his body and not for his soul, is like unto a husbandman that in harvest time gathers in his stubble, and leaves his Corn to be devoured by his Hoggs; or like unto a Goldsmith, that weighs exactly his dross, but disregards his gold. And also
He that provides for his Body with the neglect of his Soul, is like unto a Merchant that overloads his Ship so as to drown himself; or to a man that makes so great a fire to warm himself by, as to burn his house and himself in it.
It sheweth your Lordship also
That this vile body will never be changed into a glorious body till the great day of the resurrection, and that then the Lord JESUS will come from Heaven on purpose to fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body.
That this life is not the time appointed for the good of our bodies only or chiefly, but of our souls principally and especially.
That the only way to make our bodies glorious, is by getting our souls to be made gracious.
That the happiness of the body depends upon the happiness of the soul: If the soul be adorned here with Christs righteousness, the body will be cloathed with glory unexpressible hereafter. If the soul when separated from the body be polluted and belepred with sinne, the body and soul will both of them be eternally miserable at the resurrection.
These Lessons are very suitable and seasonable for all sorts and degrees, but especially for you (Right Honourable) whose body now begins to wax old, and will shortly go down to the house of rottenness and be crumbled into dust.
I doubt not but God hath sufficiently taught you the vanity and emptiness of all earthly greatness. That greatness without goodness, is like the greatness of a man with a Dropsie, which is his disease not his happiness: That Riches without Righteousness are but heaps of dung: And that nothing but Grace will make you truly and eternally honourable.
God hath taken you off (out of love to your pretious soul) from all publike employments, and thereby hath lent you much time to provide for eternity. He hath given you a Noble Countess, a pretious Consort, a beloved Companion, a dear Yoak-fellow (united to you not only by marriage relation, but by true love and most entire affection) who will be glad to go hand in hand with you in heavens way.
To both of you my obligations are very many and very great, the characters of your Love are visible and legible by all: All that know me know my relation to you: My prayers to God for you both shall be, That God would give you more of himself, and of those mercies which cannot stand with damnation: That he would keep you good in bad times, and constant to your principles in Apostatizing times: That he would lengthen out your dayes for his glory; and that this Sermon may be instrumentall to make you minde your bodies lesse, and your souls more; that when the great day of judgement shall come, your vile bodies may be changed into the likeness of the glorious body of JESUS CHRIST.
So prayeth, My Lord your servant in all spiritual things EDM. CALAMY.