The Comfortable Chambers

7/29/2019 The Comfortable Chambers

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Cornell UniversityLibrary

The original of this book is inthe Cornell University Library.

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924104035880


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CORNELLUNIVERSITYLIBRARY


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THE COMFORTABLE CHAMBERS,OPENED AND VISITED,

UPONTHE D E P A R T U R E Of

fHAt AGED AND FAlTHfULSERVANT OF GOD,Mr. Peter T^jatcher^

The Never to be foYgotten Paftor ofM I L -f K"Who EhS

cA DtcfiMBiR 17. 1727.

By COTTON MATHER, &.a & F..R.S*[The laft Sermon the Author ever delivered.^

Cant. L 4.He has hrought me into His CHAMBERS.

BOSTON:Re-prmted by THOMAS FLEET, jun. Cornhat

MDCCXCVI.


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==2S

A Number of the Inhabitants of theTown of Milton, ivtjhed to fee thefuneral Dfcourjes on their two former'Pajlors reprinted ; after careful inquiry,that ofthefirft could be only obtained,'which is here inferted, thepointing,felt-ing, ^c. arc thefame.


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( 3 )II m ill ) lll ll Illl IWIIWWIPlllllWWPIWMIIMMwiMaa|MM||MWMIIi

The Chambers of GODOpened and Vifited,

On the Death of the Valuable

Mr. Peter Thatcher,Boston, 24th d, X m. 1727.

Isaiah xxvi. 20.' Come, my People, Enter thou into thy Chambers.

X. HE Entrance of an Hoary Head, found inthe way of Righteoufnefs into thofe Chambers a few5ays ago, is that which has winged my thoughtsfor flying -thither after him. Every one perhaps isnot aware, that an invitation to dye readily, andchearfully, is here g^iven to the people of GOD.Perhaps, if it be fo imderftood, it may feem an in-yiiation too full of horrOr, to be readily and chear-fully complied v/ithal. But, I \v&.\z antiquity- ytxjmuch on my fide, if I fo underftand the text I amnow to infill upon. The ancients, and very parti-cularly Tertullian, take our Chambers here, to be theReceptacles of the Dead. And the words of thecontext jufl: going before, direflly lead us to fuch ;inexpofition. In thefe words, there is promifed, aRefurreSlion of the Bead. The deceafed childrenof GOD, are by our SAVIOUR here with an amaz-ifig tend,ernefs, cap-led, his Dead Body. He whois their head, riling from the dead affure^ them,that a dew from Heaven fnall fall upon them alfo,Uom the efficacy whereof; the earth pall caft out

the

WVu^ .-*.--.- -.--- -.*.^-'---;= 'ir^i^-"i


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~ opened and Vijiud, i,.Thf, Anfwer is ; tlie receptacles of the dedi, aretljiP

chambers, w.hich the people of God muft go into,and fliould be willing to enter them.Now, the anatomy of man divides him into two

parts ; body and Jfirit. How body and Jpirit areunited unto each other in man ; and how 'tisthat they affeEl each other, this is a myjiery which noman has ever yet throughly fearch'd into. The mat-te'r of faf is evident, is notorious ; that hody andfpirit conftitute one perfon in man j but how lo verydifferent fnhftances come to carry on the actions ojfa man together ; 'tis as yet beyond the fearch andreach of oux philofophy. That fuch differentfubfian-ces have fuch a mutual impreffim upon each oiher ;the beft philofophers afcrjbe it unto an unfcarcbabfeoperation of God. Such an union rt.ere is betweenbody a.nd fpirit in the nature of w, that neither ofthefe alone is the m.tn. The promifes made in theCovenant of God, unto man, require this union, to berellor'd, when once mortality has broken it- Theper/ah of the believpr js not blefed if both his bodyand fpirit be not united in the bleflednefs. But thisunion is dilTolved in our death. Our body and fpiritupon the diflblution made of the unionhttw ten them,when we dye, continue in a ftate oifeparation till therefiirreclion of tloe dead. When wc dye, we .read,Eccl. xii. 7. Then ft)all the dufi returnJd the earthas it ivas, and the fpirit fl}aU return unto God whogasie it. The body and fpirit are now lodged int wo veiy different receptacles. We have two forts ofiChambers, provided for us; xy,o -pls^ccs of reception.

First. The people of God, when they dye, havetheir bodies lodged in the Qoambers of the grave.Thefe are thofc which are called, Prov. vii. 27. ^heChambers of death. We read of, an boufe appointedfar all the living. The grave is that houfe^ and in it,are chambersfor all }be living. Our hH^s muft be

,Icdg'd


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opened and VifiteL , ^the departedyjJmVj of the faints are feafted of God ?The manfions of the paradife where Lazarus lies dowrt,at the fame feaft with Abraham. From the age ofjEzra, the term oiParadife became ufual in the churchof Ifrael, to fignify, the felicity of departed fpirits.'The form of comprecation and benedidlion for a dy-ing Ifraelite, was. May his foul be in the, garden ofEden ! And the Jews have a faying. That none havea rightfor to enter paradife, but the juji ; the fouls ofivhonf are carried thither by Angels. In the deleiaable"chambers of this paradife . the fpirits which live untoGod, have fuch vifibns of God,- and their Saviour, asfar tranfcend all that was attainable here below. Inthefe chambers indeed, they keep wifhing for thearrival of the time, when GOD Jhall call, and theyihall anfwer him, and God fhall have a defire to fee,Rebuilt that work of his hands, which now lies demol-ifhed in the duft. They cry, How long, O Lord,holy and true! But yet without ariy fmfu I impa-tience ; xhty wait all the days of their appointed time,until the defired change do come. In the meantime,we may fay, Thefe are the holy chambers, where thepriefts that approach unto the Lord, fhall eat the mojl^holy things^

Ou& fecond enquiry fhall be,WHAT there is in the Chambers, whereto the people '

ef God retire when they die, to render their death eafyio them.

f> The anfwer will be Various and glorious.First, Our bodies lodg'd in the chambers of tht

grave, have thofe things done for them, wherein theyreceive the kindnefs of God. A kindnefs which de-ferves to be yet a little more particularly fpol^n to.It is comprized in that pafiage; Pfal. i6. sN-iV//^pfhall reft in hope, J^wft, owr bodies have ar reft.-

..'

But


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lO ,tl^e Chamlers of GOSyis loft in the ruins. When God fhall fet this principUto work again, our bodies will return to fo much oftheir/omifr figu-re, as may be fit for the children ofthe refurreSiion. Our Lord Redeemer will do thiwonderful thing. We look for his defcent from theHeavens for this purpofe ; Phil. iii. 21. fo changeour vile body, that it may be fajhioned like unto hisglorious body } according to the working whereby he isable even to fubdue all things unto him/elf. But, oh !what wondrous bodies, how wondroully mended, wjUour bodies be, when they come forth out of theirchambers ! How free from all infirmities ! How freefrom a\{ deformities ! How full of cseleftial_y^/(?ior /Of what amazing agility in their motions ! What\\\\i^no\x% habitations of God ! They vent into thechambers, how forlorn, how ghaflly, how putrefac-tive! They come out of the chambers, what w^tocreatures ! Yea, equal to the Angels ! (Our Saviourufing tliis expreflion of the raifcd, feems to imply,that the angels alfo have thtlr bodies. '\ The raifedfaints v/Wl be allbciates to the morning JiarSy to thefons of God I

Thirdly. Ovrfpirits lodged in the chambers offaradife ; Oh ! how great is the goodtitfs which theywill find, that God has there laid up for them thatfear him. Concerning one taken into paradife, weare told, Luk. xvi. 25. He is comforted. Oh 1 Theinexpreffible confolations of thofe chambers, whereOMT fpirits vi'iW he fatisfied as with marrow and with-fatnefs, in the night watcheSyHt the table ofour God IGreat God ! Thy confolations cannot beff^all. Our Dr.Goodwin when he lay a dying, fo exprefs'd that mat-ter ; lam going to the three Perfons in the glorious God,with wbo7n I have had communion. I Jhall be changedin the twinkling of an eye. All my corruptions Ifhallbe rid of, which here I could not be. Thofe croakingfeads will fall off in a moment. The firft and the

leaft


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J 3 "rhe Gbambers xff GO^,them. It will be with them according to thtiRev. iv. 8. 'They reft not day and night, faying, holy^holy, holy. Lord God Almighty. There are none idle inthofe chambers. The Spirits of thepi who fleep inJcfus, are. not luU'd into a fleep of utter inaliivityand injenfihility there. How the difengaged yj&mVjof good men exert their operations, who can tell : Thi?we know, our Apoftle Paul, was ahnong them caughtup to Paradife j and he allows, that it jnight be withouthis body, yet he reports, he ]oeard unjpeakable words.It is plain then, the/pirits in the chambers above, dphear ; and therefore they /peak , and therefore theydo other things. What, and -how, I muft fay as ourapoflle doe's, I cannot tell, God hioivs. But J ftlronglyincline to think, that our God has annexed ynto ourJpirit a fine fort of matter, of admirable qualitiesand faculties, to be a vehicle, and as I may fay, a fortof ^/>^fi&/Kd!/?^ unto it, and the /y?rK;f^ by which itperceives, and performs milch ofwhat it isconcefn'dwithal. And as the feat of it is in our head, fromwhence the whdle body is by its influences kept it)motion, and kept from rottennejs ; thus the/pirit car-Ties this matter away with it, at its departure, when1*t can't continue comfortably in the body any longer,iut whatyowfj in the night, will G^d our maker givttunto us ! , -

Yea ; Finally, 'Tis to be expe


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X4- ^e Chambers of GOJ>,fiall have ; yet. Oh ! 'Tis/ar belter with them, thanit was in this roaring wildeme/s ; a land of droughtsand pits, andfiery Jlyingferpents : And fo well withthem, that they call from their pleafant chambers untous ; As well as we loveyau, we wou'd notfor allyourworld return unto you ! So Luther, when his daughterlay a dying, read unto her fome claufes in the XXVI.Chapter oi Ifaiah ; and concluded. My daughter, enterthou into thy chamber with pe^ce f it will net be hngbefore I am with thee,

II. How willing ought we to be, that oyr Lordfend for us, how, and when hepleafes ; ho^ willing-ly ought we to go unto the chambers appointed for us ?On our going down to the chambers oii\\t grave ; howmany meditations may we entertain, that may recon-cile us to it ! The mifchiefs from which we (hallefcape, in thofe chambers ,The months ofvanity, tobeefcaped, might make us, even defire to be there,as zfervant earneftly defires thefiadow. Our pilgrim-.age lies thro* fuch a world, that we may have caufeenough to fay with him; Job. xiv. 13. Oh ! Thatthou wouldefi hide me in the grave ! But then, therefurreliion of old, was called, the confolation. AsGod faid unto Jacob of old ; Fear not to go down intaEgypt ; I will go down with thee ; and 1 will furelybring thee up again : So does our Saviour fay to us jBe not afraid ofgoing dozvn into the grave : Ihave beenthere before thee ,- and Iwillfurely bring thie up again.But then on our going up to the chambers oiparadife,what meditations may we be even tranfported withalOur thoughts on what our Saviour will do for us, inthefe chambers of the Saints in light ; v/hztflames maythey fill our fouls withal ! What wings may they giveunto our fouls ! Methinks, thefe thoughts may bringus to thofe frames ; Pfal. xlii. 2. MyfoulthirftethforGod s when Jhall I come, and appear before God I Adying Stephen cries out; Lordjefus, receive myfpint.But


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,Opened and Vifiied. ifBut unto what?' A Paul, [who, alas, heafd thofdwords 1] inftrudted by Stephens Lord, has afterwardstold us ; Chriji receives us to the glory of God. Oh iThe glory ! Cto ! The glory we fhall be received unto IAnd, ah ! why fo lothe to go unto it ! Surely, Bleffedis the man whom the Lord caujes to approach thus nearunto Hirn^ as to dwell in his courts.

III. TrtE main thing whereto we are to be exhon-'ed, is ; to get into fuch a condition oifafetyfor eter^nity, that we may with pleafure hear the call; Come^my people, enter into thy chambers.And, now, what is to be done, that we m?,y get

into this happy condition ?First, You obferve.that they are the /)(?o/>/(? ofGod,who are to enter the chambers, O make fure of this ;

that you are the people of God. Such a people thereis, who are in covenant with God ; and who live i&him-. They are called, Pral. ex. 3. His willing people.A peopje they are, tvilling to be what God wouldhave them to be 5 willing to do, what God wouldhave theih to do. Come to this, O my God, I alfo-am willing I O make me/of And, Let the people ofGod be my people, and let their God be my God. Godlays the beams of his chambers, as I may fay, in thewaters of fuch a fanllification Upon the foul of thebeliever. ^Again ; Let our Saviour have his lodgin^g in our

chambers. There are the chambers of the foul, or thefeverai faculties thereof, which by knowledge are to befilled with all precious and pleafant riches. At rhefcchambers, O man, thy Saviour fays,, Rev. iii. 20. Be-hold, I fiand at the door and knock. Now, open to thySaviour. Say tohim, O my Saviour, I beg of thee ta^ojfefs all the chambers ofmyfoul I Go on, and holdeommunion with thy SavioUr in the chatfibersof thy

, , boufe.


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opened and Vifdedt ' I7ifignal deliverance : For, falling down before tRe opetiflood-gate pf a water-mill a going, he was drawninto the fluice and carried thro' between the pads ofthe wheel without being hurt.

This valuable fervant of God is moft cfertainljrone of thofe, who conr^e within the reach of thatftatute ; Heb. xiii; 7. Remember them that havefpoken to you the word of God, whofefaith follow, con~jidering the end of their coni)erfation: And ifany manmay confefs an obligation to dq the duty of thiscommemoration, furely it becomes me to do it, for onewho was my tutor at the College, and who thereforemay claim the regards due to ^father from me. For^I muft not forget his being my tutor, more than asmany years ago as there are w^-f/^j in a yean: He was then thoifght worthy to be a Fellow ofHarvard-College, and an owner of the learning where-in we were inftrudled there. . But what I rememberwith a moft abiding impreflion, is^ that befides hismethods to recommend unto his pupils that earlyPIETY, whereof he had been himfelf a notable pat~.tern, we admired his prayers in the College-Hall, fofthe fluent, copious, "expreflive, beauties of them, andthe Heavenly entiries we perceived in. them.

To render himfelf yet more polifhed for this workof the fanduary^ * to which his excellent Father thememorable Paftor of the fouth church in Bojion, hadiaetimes devoted him ; while he was yet ,a youngman, he took a voyage to Europe ; and had the ho-i.hour and pleafure of fome acquaintance with feveraleminent perfons in hondon, who were men of re-nown in the congregations of the Lord; but efpeci-jally the venerable Mattheix>< Barker, ofwhom he wouldIpeak with veneration to his dying day. Of that gra-cious man, he would remqmber many things ; bucsimong them all, I ftiall never forget' one fpeech ofG his J


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r8 ^he ChamSers of GODihis ; laffioftintiinesread^io charge it Upeti fanie d^->feB and failing in. my Jdfi mhin I fee true gbdtinefithrive no viore under my rfiinifiry.

After his return to his native country, the prc-qious flock at Milton obtained this giftoi our ifcend^ed Saviour; and he was ordained, as unto the workof the evangelical miniftry, fo unto the pajiordlcharge of that particular church irt the year r68i ;And thert he continued yi&ifW/Hg- all good fidelity, forforty andfa years, which he fpent in bhllding thetemple of his


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.Qpejied and Vijitsd. .19" ; ;I am certain, tji^t I {hall keep this cation i;ivio-

late, in whatj have .to. oêr, in ni,y; brief eflay uponthe memory, of that godd man, for whom all men-had a reverence as for, a pod man -, and v^'ho hadfucha teftjimony in .the confciôce of all the people,

^ that,..whatever he did or.fpokeât ajay time, every one.made. this conftrui^lon of h,,the -good man had a very^goad int&ntion in it. The,.wh,oIe cogntry.^vvith muchunanimity teftify, that he was a faithful man, and onethatfeared God above many. The common denomi-nation for hm was, an Ifraelite indeed IHis piety, which wherever it {hines is the principal

thing, and will entitle a man to the .firname of our Gildas, who was called. Sapiens. This was in this

,, ân of God, the principal thing. And indeed the' brighteft of fcholars Without this, do but render

themfelves obnoxious to the fatyr anc^ cenfures whichthe- learned Cunaus wrote, in Eruditos Infipientes.It breathed, as in an holy %eal, boiling ag^-ilnft

whatever appeared a^ unto him, fo in his inceffantJupplications, wherein he emplpy'd a proportion oftime that is not ufual among the children of men.

In the religion of the clofet he was much withOod ; and was very much in the fentiments of thepious Tapper, who from long experience obferved,that where devotion was drop'd in the clofet, it feldomkeeps poff'ffion long in the heart or the life. Vi'is family- ^facrJfices were very exemplary. Happy the children,happy thefervants, that were under- fuch a religiouseducation. All that fojourned with him found hishoufe a Bethel f And how much he encouragedPrayer, among his people, often meeting with themon the times when they met for Prayer, will not be(qga forgotten.


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20 The Chambers of GOD,But it breathed alfo in favour/ conferences ; whcre-

in a communication of Good far the ufe of edifying, wasalways expecfled from him. His Difconxfes with hispeople M ere ferious, and fuch as plainly difcovexedan awe of a God hearkening and hearing, and a con-cern that fuch as come near him, Itill might go awajrthe wifer and the better for him ; nor will it be foonforgotten, how they felt their heat Is burn within theip.\\ hen he was talking with them.Next unto this piety, and indeed as a noble lign,

and proper proof of it, was the indujiry with whichhe difcharged the duties of his nijniftry. O^the Lord's- days he fed the flock with twofermons.The Manna was rained no lefs than twice in everySabbath. He many years kept up a monthly leSlure.He catechized as an Angel of the little ones. He^legleded not the pajloral vifits. In the vifits ofpureand undefiled religion, he was a moft frequent and"Welcome comforter of the mourners. He oftengave his prefence 3t the private meetings of his neigh-bours, who met in courfe at one anothers hpufes foragrcable devotions. Among thefe he took a fpecialcot^nizance of, and had a fpecial affedlion to, the fd-~cieties of his dear young men, and always manifefteda very great joy to fee his children -walking in thetruth ; and as great a care that they might none jofthem decline from good beginnings. He wouldfomctimes go to them, and preach to them, as wellas pray with them ; and one of the fermons whichhe beftow'd upon them, they w ere at the expenccof publifhing, that they might enjoy it as their per^fetual monitor. It is entitled, the Perpetual Co-venant. He was often employ 'd alfo, in the fcr-vice of other churches ,- on the days of prayer ,and in councils upon occafions. But, as if here hadnot been "enough, he for divers years togetheripent more than a little time, in the fervice of the

chrijliaip.


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opened and Fijit&d. ateJjri0iifn Indians, in a village not far from him ; towhom he preached a monthly lecture, and furni(hedhimfelf with fltill. in their Sefquipedalian language,that he might be able to do it.

Yea, befides all this, 'tis incredible, how muchtime he fpehtin helping of the fick, which from verymany parts, far and near applied unto him. Indeed,in .fome reformed churches, they do not adrrTit aminitler of the gofpel to praiflice as a fhyftcian.But as the art of healing was firft brought into agood condition, by men that had the care of fouls,thus we have had />a/?(5rj- in our churches, who havefometimes been marvellous and .complicate blejjingiunto their people, by being healers as well as teach~-ers unto them, and have done very kind things infaving the lives of thofe, whom they Were direift-ing and exhorting to li\;e unto God. Our Thatcherwas, like his father before him, one, of thofc ; buthe fo ordered the matter, that he did not interruptor incommode the work of the ininiflry, which hishand was filled withal. In the profecution of thinoble charity, it is incredible, how much he expend led in medicines, it may be fome /cores of pounds, am,a great part of his yearly falary, which he 'freelybellowed upon the invalids among his people ; andlaid up a fund for his hopefuil ofRspring. And byJkill in medicine he appeared the more qualifyed forentertaining the general afemhly of the province wherihe was called forth to preach at the Anniverfary Ele(~tisn of Counfellours, with a fermon on,' the gloriousLjR.r> THE HEALER OF HIS PEOPLE ; which is alfopublilhed.

i

His charadler will be left very much unfinifhed,if we do not remember, how much unto godlinefs headded brotherly kindnefs and charity. Tho' he letpeople fee, that. he djd not want forfpirit, yet he was

to


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2ftbere is another. large and exceeding high H*1I in the S. W;Corner, called the Great Biue Hill, froni the blue (hade whichthe pitch-pine fhrubsj with whi^h it is covered} caft at idiffancc.

, *Soil.] The face of the ground in this Town is very une-

ven, abounding with hilfs and plains,' but the (oil is in generalvefy g(od, and produces bay, corn and other vegetables in^bundanie. Their nuniero^s orchards furniftt the inbabitantJl^ith large quantities of cyder.

MitLs. J Tlwre are feven milts ftpon Naponfet River, irtthree of which the manufacture of Paper is carried on ; athocolate^ flitting, faw andgrifl mill niakeup the reft; TKeinhabitants fubM chiefly by agriculture.The number of inhabitants in this fmall' town canndt exceed

i2'60fpf which 267 arc rateable polls. There are 137 dwell-ing houfes. It contains but one parifh of the congregationalperfuafion and has few or none of any other denomination:Tljp meeting-houfe is an old fafhion, wooden building* anjftande on the road leading to Stoughton ^od Bridg


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The Comfortable Chambers

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