Works of Joseph Hall, Dedication 49
TO MY RIGHT VVORTHY AND WORSHIPFVLL FRIEND, MASTER IOHN GIFFORD of Lancraſſe in Deuon, Eſquire, All Grace and Peace.
SIR,
J hold it (as I ought) one of the rich mercies of GOD, that he hath giuen me fauour in ſome eies which hauehave not ſeene me; but none, that J know, hath ſo much demerited me, vnknowne, as your worthy Familie: Ere therefore you ſee my face, ſee my hand willingly profeſsing my thankefull Obligations: Wherewith may it pleaſe you to accept of this parcell of thoughts, not vnlike thoſe fellowes of theirs, whom you hauehave entertained aboue their deſert. Theſe ſhall preſent vntounto you our bountifull SAVIOVR, magnifying his mercies to men, in a ſweet varietie; healing the diſeaſed, raiſing the dead, casting out the Deuill, calling in the Publican, and ſhall raiſe your heart to adore that infinite goodneſſe; EueryEvery helpe to our deuotion deſerues to bee precious; So much more, as the decrepit age of the World declines to an heartleſſe coldneſſe of Pietie: That GOD, to whoſe honour theſe poore labours are meant, bleſſe them in your hands, and from them, to all Readers. To his protection J heartily commend you, and the right vertuous Gentlewoman, your worthy wife, with all the pledges of your happy affection, as whom you hauehave deſerued to be
Your truly thankfull and officious friend, IOS. HALL.
The Widowes Sonne raiſed.
THE fauours of our beneficent Sauiour were at the leaſt contiguous. No ſooner hath he raiſed the Centurions ſeruant from his bed, then he raiſes the Widowes Sea from his Beere.
The fruitfull clouds are not ordained to fall all in one field; Nain muſt partake of the bounty of Chriſt as well as Cana, or Capernaum: And if this Sunne were fixed in one Orbe, yet it diffuſeth heat, and light to all the world; It is not for any place to ingroſſe the meſſengers of the Goſpell, whoſe errand is vniuerſall; This immortall ſeed may not fall all in one furrow.
The little City of Nain ſtood vnderunder the hill of Hermon, neere vntounto Tabor; but now it is watered with better dewes from aboue, the doctrine & miracles of a Sauiour.
Not for ſtate, but for the more euidence of the worke, is our Sauior attended with a large traine; ſo entring into the gate of that walled City; as if he meant to beſiege their faith by his power, and to take it; His prouidence hath ſo contriued his iourney, that he meets with the ſad pompe of a funerall; A wofull widow attended with her weeping neighbours is following her onelyonly ſonne to the graue; There was nothing in this ſpectacle that did not command compaſſion.
A yong man in the flowre, in the ſtrength of his age ſwallowed vp by death; Our decrepit age both expects death, and ſollicites it; but vigorous youth, lookes ſtrangely vponupon that grim ſergeant of God; Thoſe mellow apples that fall alone from the tree we gather vp with contentment; wee chide to hauehave the vnripe vnſeaſonably beaten downe with cudgells.
But more, a yong man, the onelyonly ſonne, the onelyonly childe of his mother: No condition can make it other then grieuous for a well natur'd mother to part with her own bowels; yet ſurely ſtore is ſome mitigation of loſſe: Amongſt many children one may be more eaſily miſſed; for ſtill wee hope the ſuruiuing may ſupply the comforts of the dead; but when all our hopes and ioyes muſt either liue or die in one, the loſſe of that one admits of no conſolation.
When God would deſcribe the moſt paſſionate expreſſion of ſorrow that can fall into the miſerable, hee can but ſay, Oh daughter of my people gird thee with ſackcloth, and wallow thy ſelfe in the aſhes, make lamentation and bitter mourning, as for thine onelyonly ſonne: Such was the loſſe, ſuch was the ſorrow of this diſconſolate mother; neither words, nor teares can ſuffice to diſcouer it.
Yet more, had ſhe beene ayded by the counſell and ſupportation of a louing yoke-fellow, this burden might hauehave ſeemed leſſe intolerable; A good husband may make amends for the loſſe of a ſonne, had the root beene left to her intire, ſhe might better hauehave ſpared the branch; now both are cut vp, all the ſtay of her life is gone; and ſhee ſeemes abandoned to a perfect miſery. And now when ſhee gaue herſelfe vp for a forlorne mourner, paſt all capacity of redreſſe, the God of comfort meets her, pities her, relieues her; Here was no ſolicitor but his owne compaſſion; In other occaſions he was ſought, and ſued to; The Centurion comes to him for a ſeruant, the Ruler for a ſonne, Iairus for a daughter, the neighbours for the Paralyticke; here hee ſeekes vp the patient, and offers the cure vnrequeſted; Whiles wee hauehave to doe with the Father of mercies, our afflictions are the moſt powerfull ſuitors. No teares, no prayers can moue him ſo much as his owne commiſeration. Oh God, none of our ſecret ſorrowes, can be either hid from thine eyes or kept from thine heart: and when wee are paſt all our hopes, all poſſibilities of helpe; then art thou neereſt to vsus for deliuerance.
Here was a conſpiration of all parts to mercy. The heart had compaſſion, the mouth ſaid, Weepe not, the feet went to the Beere, the hand touched the coffin, the power of the Deity raiſed the dead: What the heart felt was ſecret to it ſelfe, the tongue therefore expreſſes it in words of comfort, Weepe not; Alas what are words to ſo ſtrong and iuſt paſſions? To bid her not to weepe that had loſt her onelyonly ſonne, was to perſwade her to be miſerable, and not feele it: to feele, and not regard it: to regard, and yet to ſmother it; Concealement doth not remedy but aggrauate ſorrow: That with the counſell of not weeping therefore, ſhe might ſee cauſe of not weeping; his hand ſeconds his tongue: He arreſts the Coffin, and frees the Priſoner; Yongman I ſay vntounto thee, ariſe: The Lord of life, and death, ſpeakes with command; No finite power could hauehave ſaid ſo without preſumption, or with ſucceſſe: That is the voice that ſhall one day call vp our vaniſhed bodies from thoſe elements, into which they are reſolued, and raiſe them out of their duſt: Neither ſea, nor death, nor hell can offer to detaine their dead, when he charges them to be deliuered: Incredulous nature, what doeſt thou ſhrinke at the poſſibility of a reſurrection, when the God of nature vndertakes it? It is no more hard for that almighty Word which gaue being vntounto all things, to ſay, Let them be repaired, then, Let them be made.
I doe not ſee our Sauiour ſtretching himſelfe vponupon the dead corps, as Elias, and Eliſha, vponupon the ſonnes of the Sunamite, and Sareptan, nor kneeling downe, and praying by the Beere, as Peter did to Dorcas, but I heare him ſo ſpeaking to the dead, as if he were aliue, and ſo ſpeaking to the dead that by the word hee makes him aliue, I ſay vntounto thee, ariſe; Death hath no power to bid that man lye ſtill, whom the Sonne of God bids Ariſe. Immediately he that was dead ſate vp. So at the ſound of the laſt trumpet by the power of the ſame voice, we ſhall ariſe out of the duſt, and ſtand vp glorious; this mortall ſhall put on immortalitie; this corruptible, incorruption; This body ſhall not be buried, but ſowne; and at our day ſhall therefore ſpring vp with a plentifull increaſe of glory; How comfortleſſe, how deſperate ſhould be our lying downe, if it were not for this aſſurance of riſing? And now, behold, leſt our weake faith ſhould ſtagger at the aſſent to ſo great a difficulty, he hath already by what hee hath done, giuen vsus taſts of what he will doe: The power that can raiſe one man, can raiſe a thouſand, a million, a world: no power can raiſe one but that which is infinite; and that which is infinite admits of no limitation: VnderUnder the old Teſtament, God raiſed one by Elias, another by Eliſha liuing, a third by Eliſha dead: By the hand of the Mediator of the New Teſtament hee raiſed here the ſonne of the Widow, the daughter of Iairus, Lazarus, and, in attendance of his owne reſurrection he made a gaole-deliuery of holy priſoners, at Ieruſalem. Hee raiſes the daughter of Iairus from her bed; this widowes ſonne from his Coffin, Lazarus from his graue, the dead Saints of Ieruſalem from their rottenneſſe, that it might appeare no degree of death can hinder the efficacie of his ouer-ruling command: Hee that keepes the keyes of death cannot onelyonly make way for himſelfe through the common Hall, and outer-roomes, but through the inwardeſt, and moſt reſerued cloſets of darkneſſe.
Me thinkes I ſee this yong man who was thus miraculouſly awaked from his deadly ſleepe, wiping and rubbing thoſe eies that had beene ſhut vp in death; and deſcending from the Beere, wrapping his winding ſheet about his loines, caſt himſelfe down in a paſſionate thankfulneſſe, at the feet of his Almightie reſtorer; adoring that diuine power which had commanded his ſoule back again to her forſaken lodging; & though I heare not what he ſaid, yet I dare ſay they were words of praiſe & wonder, which his returned ſoule firſt vttered; It was the mother whom our Sauior pitied in this act, not the ſonne; (who now forced from his quiet reſt muſt twice paſſe through the gates of death.) As for her ſake therefore he was raiſed ſo to her hands was he deliuered; that ſhe might acknowledge that ſoule giuen to her, not to the poſſeſſor: Who cannot feele the amazement and extaſie of ioy that was in this reuiued mother, when her ſon now ſalutes her from out of another world? And both receiues and giues gratulations of of his new life? How ſuddenly were all the teares of that mournfull traine dried vp with a ioyfull aſtoniſhment? How ſoone is that funerall banquet turned into a new Birth-day feaſt? What ſtriuing was here to ſalute the late carkaſſe of their returned neighbour? What awfull and admiring lookes were caſt vponupon that Lord of life, who ſeeming homely, was approued omnipotent? How gladly did eueryevery tongue celebrate both the worke and the author? A great Prophet is raiſed vp amongst vsus, and God hath viſited his people. A Prophet was the higheſt name they could finde for him whom they ſaw like themſelues in ſhape, aboue themſelues in power; They were not yet acquainted with God manifeſted in the fleſh: This miracle might well hauehave aſſured them of more then a Prophet; but he that raiſed the dead man from the Beere would not ſuddenly raiſe theſe dead hearts from the graue of Infidelitie; they ſhall ſee reaſon enough to know that the Prophet who was raiſed vp to them, was the God that now viſited them, and at laſt ſhould doe as much for them, as hee had done for the yong man, raiſe them from death to life, from duſt to glory.