and many Men have enough to sink them that have not half to satisfie them Content is one main Ingredient of Happiness but till we have God we cannot have it Croesus's Wealth Alexander's Crowns Heliogabalus his Pleasures fall short of Happiness or Satisfaction yet many are filling bottomless-tubs and rolling Sysiphus his Stone and have Tityus his Vulture gnawing in their Breast those that have much of the World have usually much trouble with it and sometimes God spoils all the Sport by throwing some handfuls of Hell-fire into the Conscience Reader wast thou ever upon thy sick Bed and received the Sentence of Death within thee What warming Comforts did the World then afford thee Nay hath not sometimes a pinching Pang of the Cholick Gout Strangury or the raging pain of an aking Tooth put thee by all the Comforts the World can afford And why then shall we so much doat upon it that can do us so little good when we have most need Till we can fill our Barns with Grace and our Bags with Glory and extract Heaven out of the Earth and God out of the Creature we must never expect Satisfaction in any Earthly Enjoyment I know Riches of themselves are the good Gifts of God but become Snares when they are over-loved and trusted in 't is not the having them but the over-loving them is dangerous they often prove the occasion of Pride Luxury Tyranny Oppression c. The World must have the Head and the Hand but God must have the Heart Set the World in its own place and there is no danger send it before us to Heaven and it will be made up into a Crown for us Cornelius's Prayers and Alms came up for a Memorial before God Acts 10.4 This is the way to make Friends with the Mammon of unrighteousness and at the last day Sentence will pass upon us accordingly Yet are there too many Professors that doat upon the World as much as ever Jonah did upon his Gourd or the Athenians on Diana's Temple But these things are nec vera nec vestra they are worth little and if they were they have another Master But there are Riches of another Nature which nec prodi nec perdi nec surrepi possunt none can deprive us of them Bags that wax not old a Treasure in the Heavens that fadeth not away A Beggar is an unsuitable Match for a Prince much more a bruit Beast but 't is a far more unsuitable Match for an Immortal Soul to be espoused to a Wedge of Gold When the Moon is at the Full 't is farthest from the Sun and nearest to an Eclipse If the Heart be full of the World there is no room for Christ every Good is not suitable for every Nature 't is not Natural to a Man to live under Water nor for a Fish to live on the dry Ground Kingdoms may promise Content to carnal Hearts but a Gracious Man cannot take up with such poor things One Dram of Grace will prove a better Portion than the World affords 3. As these Earthly things are unsatisfying so they are uncertain and this is a certain demonstration of their Vanity For had we never so much of them what avails it when we know not whether we shall enjoy them one day to an end A Kingdom would give us little content did we certainly know we should lose it at the Month's end and our Lives with it yea Heaven it self would yield us little content did we know we should enjoy it only a Thousand Years and then be cast into Eternal Torments the thoughts of leaving it would take away all Pleasure of Enjoying it and would be a Hell in the midst of Heaven Now all these Earthly Enjoyments will be stript from us at Death haply sooner and our Death cannot be far off and why should we doat so much upon them Many Thousands in our Age have been Rich o're Night and Poor ere Morning Witness France Ireland Germany Savoy and many others Thus it was with Job one day for ought we know saw him the greatest Man in all the East and Poor even to a Proverb The uncertainty of these Earthly Enjoyments is one of the greatest Vanities that is writ upon them how then can they be a suitable Portion for the Soul which runs parallel with the longest line of Eternity What will become of the Immortal Soul when the Portion is spent Why do Men make so much hast to climb the Ladder of Promotion seeing so many break their Necks ere they get to the top Haman may witness this for King's Favourites stand but in slippery places one day he glories in his Enjoyments and the next day is hanging on the Gallows he made for another Esther 5.11 c. and 7.10 Ahithophel one day his words were esteemed as Oracles and presently after falling into Disgrace he hanged himself This Age may produce many Examples to this purpose Sometimes the great Ones of the World hardly obtain a decent Funeral and what a condition is the Soul in that took the World for a Portion when the Body is neglected judge you Angels cannot help them nor the Saints in Heaven if they were willing and then sure nothing upon the Earth can do it The thoughts of fore-past Pleasures Honours or Treasures will give little ease to present Dolours and the Wrath of God It was small comfort that Abraham gave to the Rich Glutton Son remember in thy life-time thou hadst pleasure and Lazarus pain now he is comforted and thou art tormented When pale-fac'd Death like Belshazzar's Hand-writing shall enter our Lodging to Arrest us to appear before God in Judgment before we have evened our Accounts it will make our Joints to tremble and our Knees smite one against another What will the World do for us then at Judgment They will prove miserable Comforters when the Earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up where then is your confidence Now many love Gold more than God and Money is preferred before Mercy Now Paul calls this Idolatry Col. 3.5 And James calls iâ— Adultery James 4.4 But this will prove like Achan's Wedge to cleave the Soul asunder or like his Babylonish Garment serve for a Winding-sheet Riches at the best are deceitful like Winter-brooks dry in Summer or like Job's Friends miserable Comforters I have read of Fish in the River Araris which change colour with the Moon when 't is at the Full they are white when in the Wane black Thus the World doth by us when we want not it smiles upon us but when need is it looks of another colour There is no more proportion between this imaginary Felicity that the World doats upâ—n and true Happiness than between painted Fire on the Wall and true Fire or between a King upon the Stage and a King upon the Throne or between a liveless Carkass and a living Man In the midst of all our Enjoyments one hour's tormenting pain spoils all the Sport At Death Riches
then the Soul will know the worth of the things she hath lost and what a foolish bargain she made when God and Heaven and Happiness were parted with for a Lust this will be a bitter Corazine and an eternal Torment to a miscarrying Soul when she knows and know she will what it is to enjoy those Rivers of pleasures which are at the right-hand of God ouâ— sight of Christ ouâ— glimps of Heaven one hours converse with Angels and glorified Saints would dash the Glory of Ten thousand Worlds out of countenance this Beatifical Vision this enjoyment of God in Glory is a Saints greatest Happiness and well it may We mourn and overmourn for little petty Crosses or Losses in our temporal Estate but the loss of a thousand Worlds will not equal this a glimps of whose Face in Glory would make amends for all the Losses Crosses Pains and Torments which here we can suffer for his sake 'T is His Presence that makes Heaven to be Heaven and his Absence is Hell it self the enjoyment of him here in a small measure is Heaven upon Earth and when he withdraws himself from the Soul 't is a very Hell but the blinded World is not sensible of his worth ignotis nulla cupida nothing but Ignorance could stave off our Affections from him yet many though they cannot live without him yet value him not they have not Bread to eat or Clothes to put on nor a Breath to breathe but what he gives them yet dare they abuse their Meat to Gluttony their Drink to Drunkenness their Breath to blaspheme his holy Name But what will those do when there shall be an everlasting separation between God and them The loss of a Jewel is not much to one that values it but as a common Stone but when they come to know its worth it will more trouble them I have read of a Diamond taken from the Duke of Burgundy slain by the Switzers that was sold for a crown by the Soldier that took it and so passed from one to one â—â—ll at last it was bought for 20000 Ducats which as some value it was above 7000 Pound and put into the Pope's triple Crown See what Ignorance may do But Ignorance of God will prove the most dangerous mistake There are many in our Age like David's Fool that say in their Hearts there is no God nay too many that proclaim it with their Tongues but e're long they will be fain to eat their words There is not one of them but e're long will be fully convinc'd for there is no Atheist in Hell the Devil though full of other Sins is not guilty of this Many here have Souls to little purpose but like Salt to keep their Bodies from Putrefaction for as they think there is no God so they live as if there were none Many of these have been convinc'd of their Error even in this Life by the Judgments of God the rest will soon after but these men I suppose rather desire there were no God than believe it Many that own a God fancy to themselves one of their own making a God all of Mercy and no Justice they think he that made them must save them but the Devils find it to the contrary 'T is true he was merciful when he drowned the old World burnt Sodom and Gomorrah with Fire overthrew Pharaoh and his Army in the Red-Sea slew in one night in the Camp of Sennacherib 185000 and will be so at the day of Judgment when he throws the Devil and his Angels and all unrepenting Sinners into Hell And they will find him just as well as merciful and one that will make good his Threats as well as his Promises He hath Power in his Hand to do both and will be no respecter of Persons for if they are wicked by what Name or Titles soever they are dignified or distinguish'd suffer they must Tophet is ordained of old even for the King it is prepared He hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord as a river of Brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30.33 Now they say to God Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways Job 21.14 But e're long God will say to them Depart from me ye wicked into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels c. Mat. 25.41 Now they will not know God and then God will nor know them Mal. 7.22 Now the rottenness of their Hearts blisters out in their Lips and Tongues and they belch out their unsavoury Breath into the very Face of God himself Now they will none of his counsel but set as nought his reproofs but he will laugh at their destruction and mock when their fear cometh Prov. 1.24 But how light soever they value him now they shall know his Worth to their eternal Torment for they shall for ever lose him and all comfortable Relations to him and with him all that good is the Joys of Heaven the Society of Angels and glorified Saints these indeed they little regard here but they will know their Worth better hereafter It hath been the Speech of some of that Fraternity That if they thought the Puritans and such they called all holy sober serious men were in Heaven and their own Good-fellows and Pot-companions were in Hell they would chuse Hell before Heaven And they are like enough to have their Choice but e're long they would willingly eat those words of theirs Now they hate persecute and revile them and glad they are to be rid of them then they shall be far enough out of their company and out of their reach They think they are not worthy to live in the World whom God thinks the World is not worthy of Heb. 11.35 c. They are cutting off the Bough they stand upon and taking away the Pillars that uphold the Building they laugh at their own Misery and sport themselves with their own Folly they reioice to see their own Houses on Fire and to see their own Wickedness prosper which will be their Ruine but when the mad Fit is over and over it will be e're long when they consider what they have been doing their Note will be changed and their Sport spoiled they will find time enough for Repentance and for every dram of Mirth they will have a pound of Sorrow When God forsakes them and forsaâ—e them he will if they forsake not their Sins whither will they go for help Their Pot-Companions cannot help them for they are under the same Condemnation the World cannot help them for the Earth and all the Works therein shall be burnt up their Riches Honours and Pleasures shall be left behind the Rocks and Mountains cannot cover them these melt at the presence of the Lord their Companions can do them no good they will curse the time that ever they saw the Face each of other the Ordinances which they slighted are then ceased the Ambassadors
nations are as the drop of a bucket and are accounted as the small dust of the balance that taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And all nations are before him as nothing and are accounted to him less than nothing and vanity Isa 40.12.15.17 Fear ye not me saith the Lord do ye not tremble at my presence which have placed the sâ—nd for â—he bound of the sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it and though the waves toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it Jeâ— 5.22 He setteth bounds to the sea and saith Hitherto shalt thou go and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed Job 38.11 He numbreth the stars and calleth them by their names Psal 147.4 He removeth the mountains and they know not he overthroweth them in his anger He shaketh the earth out of her place and maketh the pillars thereof tremble He commandeth the Sun and it ariseth not and sealeth up the Stars He alone spreadeth forth the heavens and treadeth upon the waves of the sea Which maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the chambers of the south Which doth great things past finding out and wonders without number Job 9.5 c. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters and the clouds are his chariot he walketh upon the wings of the wind He maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming fire That layeth the foundations of the earth that they shall not be removed for ever Psal 104.3 c. Is it not he that made the World of nothing and can as easily reduce it into nothing He hangs the Earth upon nothing and that in the midst of the open Air and gave a Being to all his Creatures when they were nothing and nothing comes to pass without his Providence Nay is it not he that keeps the Keys of Life and Death at his Girdle I kill saith he and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand I lift up my hand and say I live for ever Deut. 32.39 He brings to the gates of death and back again and doth what pleaseth him in heaven and in earth and none can resist him neither dare any say What dost thou And is this he that hath done you this wrong and with him is it that you contend But consider Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10.22 Shall we provoke him to a Duel as sometime Caligula did their Heathenish Jupiter Was there ever any that hardened himself against God and prospered Job 9.4 Who ever could boast of the last word or glory in the last blow The Walls of Aphek did Execution on the Blasphemous Syrians and the Angel of God upon the Assyrians If we harden our heart against God he will harden his hand against us for he will lay us upon our back ere he leave But haply though we do acknowledge God doth excel us in Power yet we imagine we have the better Cause and therefore with Jonab we think we do well to be Angry or at least with Job we would dispute the Point with him Job 13.3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God Why what hath God done Why he hath taken away your Daughter in the midst of her days Well but hath he no Interest in her Is it not he whose we are and whom we serve Was it not he that gave her her Being and breathed into her the breath of Life and she became a living Soul Did he not give her her Being 'T is not long since there was nothing heard of her and did he not continue her in her Being till her death Was it not he that fed and cloathed her at his own Cost and Charges And was she not engaged to him for every bit of Bread she did eat and every drop of Drink she drank and for the Cloathes she did wear Was it not his wool and his flax that cloathed her his corn and his wine that fed her his silver and his gold that enriched her Hos 2.8 Let us take heed then of paying our Rent to a wrong Landlord her Limbs and Senses her Peace and Plenty her Wit and Reason yea her Life and Breath were given or rather lent her by God It was he that covered her in your Womb and through him she was born Psal 139.13 It was he that put bowels of Compassion into your Heart to make Provision for her when she could make none for her self and to him she was indebted for every breath she breathed and for every Mercy that rendred her Life more comfortable to her and doth it become Christians thus to quarrel with our great Benefactor Or is it meet that we should require of him an Account of his doings Or expect that he should bring his Will to ours Whose is the Pot but the Pot-makers and may not he if he please dash it in pieces with his foot And who can say why dost thou thus Now if this great God this Omnipotent Being this God that hath such an Interest in us and such Authority over us yea greater than any Man upon Earth hath over any thing he doth enjoy hath taken away one of his own Creatures and glorified himself with her that he had made for his own Glory shall we take Offence at it That it was his Hand I doubt not but you acknowledge for nothing comes to pass without his Providence Affliction springs not out of the dust neither doth trouble arise out of the ground yet man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward Job 5.6 These things come not to pass by Fate or blind Fortune as the Heathens imaginee or by Chance as the Philistines supposed 1 Sam. 6.9 but the hand of God is in all this and therefore the lamenting Church concludes That she will bear the indignation of the Lord because she had sinned against him Why should a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Lam. 3.39 Is there evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it Amos. 3.6 That is the Evil of Punishment for the Evil of Sin He is not guilty of sin He is of purer eye than to behold iniquity with approbation Shall not the judge of all the earth do right Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass if the Lord commandeth it not Lam. 3.37 I form the light and I create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do these things Isa 45.7 Yea we may find that the Evil that came upon Jerusalem came from God Micah 1.12 For God sits at the Stern and guides the great Affairs of the World and when we sin what can we expect from a Righteous Judge but Sufferings Where sin goes before sorrow follows as the shadow follows the substance But now you have found out the Person and the Fact
is confest what Accusation will you form against this Omnipotent God seeing he hath meddled with nothing but his own Creature the work of his own hands and one that he hath a greater Interest in than ever you had What Arguments will you use to defend your Cause against him Job indeed had a good mind to quarrel him and as good a Cause for ought I know as any Man living for God himself commends him above all the Men upon the Earth for a perfect and an upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil yet holdeth he his integrity saith he to Satan although thou movedst me against him to destroy him without a cause Job 2.3 Oh saith he that God would answer me Job 31.30 But when God accepted the Challenge and posed him with some hard Questions he cries out I am vile what shall I answer I will lay my hand upon my mouth Once hâ—ve I spoken but I will not answer yea twice but I will proceed no further Job 40.4 5. Yea we find him at the loss of his seven Sons and three Daughters the loss of all his Cattel blessing the Lord The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1. â—1 We find him not cursing at the Chaldeans or reviling at the Sabeans as many would have done he knew whoever was the Rod God's Hand held it and whoever was the Instrument God was the Author This Consideration quieted David when that dead Dog Shimei railed upon him and cursed him The Lord saith he hath bid him curse David 2 Sam. 16.7 This quiered good Old Eli when the sad Tidings of the death of his two Sons and the ruine of his Family was fore-told 'T is the Lord saith he let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3.18 This Consideration also silenced Aaron when his two Sons Nadab and Abihu were both slain with fire from Heaven Levit. 10.3 And Aaron held his peace He bridled his Passion and submitted his Will to God's Will And how then dare we dispute the Point with God that have neither Might nor Right on our side that are but frail yea sinful Dust and Ashes poor Worms that if he tread upon us he leaveth us dead behind him Who are we that we should be discontent with his dealing while we have no wrong done us or think to struggle out of his hand when we have no Power or be sullen under his Rod when 't is for our own good God is not engaged to give us any Account of his doing but sure it may suffice us when he tells us All shall work together for our good if we love him Rom. 8.28 And then why not this Providence We take bitter Pills and unsavoury Potions upon the Word of a Physician when he Sugars them with the hopes of Health And shall we mistrust the great Physician that cannot deceive nor be deceived Yea how unsuitable is it for Christians to repine under such Dispensations of Providence who daily pray Thy will be done in â—arth as it iâ— in heaven chearfully readily and willingly and yet murmure when his Will is done and prefer our own Wills before his Nay further consider if you are not Accessory to this Cross that you now lye under Or have you not a hand in making the Rod wherewith ye are beaten There are two ways we may be Accessory to the Death of our Relations The one is by lodging them too near the Heart even in that Room which Christ hath reserved for himself This makes God like a Jealous Husband remove that Servant out of the Family which he sees his Wife dotes upon as a Father takes away the Knife for fear of Danger or the Meat for fear of a Surfeit for many times we grasp those Thorns so hard till they prick us to the heart and then like Children we cry when we have hurt our selves Some on the other side through Carelesness or Covetousness neglect the necessary means of preserving or restoring the Health of their Relations But if you can clear your self of the former I think all that know you will clear you of the latter for the hand of God was so evidently seen in this Visitation that no Providence no Câ—â—â— no Cost nor Pains could prevent or remove it God denying a Blessing to all the means that were used and did immediately dispute his own Right and claim his own Interest and silence all Gain-sayers Oh how good is it for us to hang loose to all Creature-Comforts and not set up any Idols in our Hearts but leave all our Relations to be at God's dispose for many times we our selves weave the Spider's Web out of our own Bowels with which we are intangled and twist the Snare with our own fingers wherein we are held Let us therefore in the first place consider who 't is that hath done this supposed Injury and the serious Consideration of it will do much to allay the Storms of our Passion and quell and suppress those tumultuous Thoughts that rage in our Breast and do much towards the calming of our Spirits 2. And as we have considered who 't is we contend with even the Mighty God of Heaven and Earth in the next place 't is not amiss to consider who we are that thus quarrel him even Dust and Ashes Worms-meat poor frail indigent Creatures we are that thus oppose the Will of this great God and find fault with his Government of the World What King saith our Saviour Christ going out to make war against mother King sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand Or else while the other is yet a great way off he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions of peace Luke 14.31 32. And this is our Wisdom to do when we see we cannot grapple with him to lay down our Arms and submit and sue for Peace before the Contention grow too high for doubtless we may easily see we are not a meet Match for him our Original is but from the Earth The Lord formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living soul Gen. 2.7 and ere long we must be resolved into Earth Dust thou art and unto dust thou shall return Gen. 3.19 And is such a despicable Worm able to contend with the Almighty Yea all of us high and low rich and poor noble and base were bewen out of the same rock and digged out of the same hole of the pit Isa 51.1 And all had the same Original and are poor frail contemptible Nothings Is my strength saith Job the strength of stones or are my sinews of brass Job 6.12 And what if it were Were our Flesh of Brass and our Sinews of Iron could we then grapple with the Almighty Was ever any that hardened himself against God and prospered Dust we are by Creation sinful
take themselves wings and flye away and on whose Tree they will roost we know not We usually call Riches Substance when 't is but really a Shadow an empty Nothing if we look upon it through the Devil's bewitching Spectacles it seems gilded 't is like the Serpent Scytale of whom 't is said she allureth Beasts to her by her beautiful Colours and stings them to death This made Paul be crucified to the world and David as a weaned child The World is but a blaze at best but many times proves an Ignis Fatuus which leads most Men out of the way the best Account Solomon could give of it was 'T is vanity and vexation of spirit Yet many load themselves with thick Clay but Death will unload them and cover them with common Earth Great Men a while disturb the World and grasp at Crowns and Kingdoms but now Alexander's Ashes are contained in a little Urn they are in the World as a Guest in an Inn for a Night they sit at the upper end of the Table fare of the best lye in the best Bed but in the Morning they have most to pay We are in a Journey to Heaven let us not fall in Love with what we see in our way or sit down at the Stile or Bridge Let us use the world as a Traveller doth his Staff keep it or throw it away as it helps or hinders us If Riches increase let us not set our hearts upon them neither think our selves much the better or safer for them for we know not what World we may Lodge in the next Night or whether our Money there will be currant Coin 'T is all one at Death whether we have little or much the Poor are as nigh to Heaven then as the Rich and sometimes better prepared Riches are uncertain at the best to the Possessors like the Sea sometimes there is a Storm sometimes a Calm sometimes it ebbs and sometimes flows They are like Winter Weather very variable we see sometimes in the Clouds like Towers and Castles in the Air but a blast of Wind comes and they are dasht into another form for they wanted a Foundation and so do many Men for their great Hopes The Devil easily blows up such blubs in proud Men's hearts yea such Tumours are apt to rise of themselves 'T is observed that a Sick Man a Covetous Man and a Discontented Man cannot take Pleasure in their Enjoyments still there is something wanting to give content Job was a Rich Man but his Heart did not cling to his Riches we see how patiently he suffered the loss of all He made not gold his hope neither said unto the fine gold Thou art my confidence c. Job 31.24 c. Riches make no great difference among Men the Wether that bears the Bell haply may be a little better cloathed and fatter than the rest but is a Sheep still and little the better for the Bell. Should the Devil not only shew us but also give us all the Glory of the World 't is not much worth these are but Thorns that choak the Word and make it unfruitful the harder we grasp them the deeper they wound us and ere long will be wrung out of our Arms we can find little Honey but many Stings But in Heaven there is Pleasure without Pain and Treasure which cannot be exhausted A Heart in Heaven is one of our surest Evidences for Heaven and a Heart set upon the Earth the saddest Symptom of a Wicked Man For where your treasure is there will your hearts be also Those that are Friends to the World are Enemies to God James 4.4 And though we expect a Paradice it will prove but a Bochim a place of Lamentation 4. As the World can give little Content and Satisfaction to a Man so it can do us little or no good in our great concerns here or hereafter it can do little for the Body and less for the Soul I know the former especially will seem a Paradox to many who look upon Riches as the only Happiness and hate Poverty more than the Devil and fear it more than Hell But consider Gold cannot nourish us nor keep us warm both which are necessary to our well-being we have read of some that have been famished to Death amidst infinite Treasures But it will be objected it will buy us Food and Raiment 't is true but Food cannot nourish nor Cloathes keep warm without a Commission from God and he can do it without them as in Moses Elijah and our Saviour Christ neither can they prevent Pain nor support us under it If they could so many Rich Men would not labour under such Tormenting Distempers as the Gout Cholick Stone Strangury c. as they do and usually Rich Men groan under such Distempers most and Riches causes them more than cures them Yea the raging pain of an aking Tooth puts Rich Men as well as the Poor out of Humour and all their Riches cannot ease them the Oyl of Angels can do them no good against the Plague or Pestilence or Pestilentious Diseases Fevers Small-Pox Consumptions Surfeits and such like Riches are neither preventing removing or supporting Physick Yea Death enters into the Courts of Kings as well as the Cottages of Peasants or the Beggar 's Cell The Poor Man's Diet feeds him as well as the Rich Man's Dainties as Daniel's Pulse and Water did him and his Fellows as well as Court-Junkets did the other yea they are as warm in their Rags as others are in their Robes Yea we oft-times find that Surfeits and nauceating Stomacks are the Fruits and Effects of Plentiful Tables As to the true and Primitive use of Cloathes viz. to cover our Nakedness and to distinguish the Sex a Russet Coat may serve as well as a Velvet Gown or Sattin Suit The Poor Man sleeps as soundly upon his hard Bed as the Rich upon his Bed of Down The sleep of a labouring man is sweet whether he eat little or much Eccles 5.12 'T is true his Fare is not so costly neither are his Cares so great but he can take his Rest without Distemper or Distraction while his Rich Neighbour his restless Spirit and carking Cares read him nightly Lectures upon his Bed I have read of Anacron who when he was Poor was Merry and Jocund which was observed by a Rich Neighbour who sent him two Talents which when he had his care to keep it and his fears of losing it so distracted his Mind that he could not sleep which after a while he observed sent back the Money and was as Merry as before Solomon tells us He that maketh hast to be rich shall not be innocent And no wonder if with Gold Men get Guilt if God throws sometimes some handfuls of Hell-fire into their Consciences and spoils all the Sport In a word many that eat their Bread in the sweat of their brows and are clad in their comely Russet have their Health as well many times better
Excuse then also And think you God will be thus put off And is it not a sad thing that the main Concern should be neglected and time found for every thing else But for wicked Men there is no cause why they should desire Death nay great reason why they should dread it as the worst of Evils they leap but out of the Frying-pan into the Fire out of a Temporal Misery into Eternal Torments and by hastning their Death out-run their Happiness and fall into endless Misery which comes fast enough without hastning But many of those mind no more their Eternal Concerns than the Ox that perisheth These Men either think Repentance is not necessary or else that they have time enough to repent in but ere long they will be sadly convinc'd of their mistake Many hasten Death by their Intemperance which yet they fear more than God himself But to let these pass I would have Believers be better acquainted with Death than to fear it for it cannot separate them from the love of Christ and those that have the Riches of Assurance cannot fear Death greatly knowing when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved they have a building of God a house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens And who will not part with Rags for Robes with a Cottage for a Crown and with a handful of Muck for a handful of Angels Now this Assurance is the Top-Gallant of Faith the Triumph of Trust and the Sweet-meat of the Feast of a good Conscience where there are many dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet 't is Heaven upon Earth and such a Jewel no wicked Man upon Earth can know the worth of it any more than Aesop's Cock did of the Precious Jewel When the love of Christ warms the Heart it raiseth the desires of stricter Union and Communion with him and a fuller Enjoyment of him which will never be satisfied till the full fruition in Glory He that loves God better than Father and Mother c. will part with these for his sake If we hate Hell we shall not so earnestly desire to live in the Suburbs of Hell We complain of Sin and well we may it being the cause of all our Misery but did we hate it as we ought to do we should be willing to dye that we might be rid of it for when we enter through this strait Passage and narrow Way we shall leave this and all other Burdens behind us We pretend we would serve God without Distraction and shall we fear the time and place when and where it can only be done But till Grace be in the Heart Heaven it self cannot be desirable the Employment the Company and Society cannot please a Wicked Man But Grace enables a Man to see that Death it self cannot break the Marriage-Contract between Christ and the Soul but then the Marriage will be fully consummate and when the Soul is separated from the Body it shall by the Angels be carried into the Bosom of Christ where sin and sorrow shall be no more Those that are sufficiently satisfied of the vanity of the World the emptiness of the Creature the fulness of Christ and the worth of Heaven we cannot rationally imagine but they will be willing to part with one to enjoy the other in Earth we shall never meet with Content or Satisfaction in Heaven we shall meet with no Disappointment Troubles or Vexations will a Wise Man choose a Prison or a Pest-House for his Habitation if he might have a Palace Or any but a Mad-man dwell among the Tombs The World is all this and much more He that looks upon the World as an Enemy and the Body but a Skreen between God and the Soul will not be unwilling to have both removed Will not a sick Man desire his Health and an hungry Man his Meat a Captive his Liberty and a Souldier the Victory the Husband-man the desired Harvest and the Labourer his Wages And why then should not Christians long for the time when they shall receive at God's hand the promised Reward for all they have done and suffered for the sake of God Shall those that have done and suffered so much for Heaven now be unwilling to have it when offered The Assurance of Eternal Life may make us willing to leave these our Temporal Enjoyments Well then you see though a small measure of Grace cannot overcome all Difficulties yet there is nothing else but Grace can fit us for Death or enable us to grapple with it And therefore above all gettings get Grace 3. Consider Grace is such a Qualification that without it we can neither please God nor enjoy Him who is our Chiefest Happiness Heb. 11.8 Without Faith 't is impossible to please God These are the Ornaments of a Christian the Gems and Jewels that make him lovely in the sight of God the Gold tryed in the Fire the white Raiment the Spiritual Eye-salve which God adviseth Laodicea to buy of him Rev. 3.17 18. greater Riches than the Indies can produce Christ and Grace go together he that hath one will have the other also without Grace all our Duties are worse than nothing abominable Sins for how can pure Water come from a polluted Fountain The Heart by Nature is an Augean Stable full of Filthiness but without Holiness we shall never see God Heb. 12.14 We may fast and pray and give Alms with the Pharisee Mat. 6.1 c. and offer Sacrifices c. with those Isa 1.11 c. and God will not regard us though it be commanded Duties if they proceed from a rotten Heart or be performed for a by end the Sacrifices of the Wicked are an abomination to God The Incense of the Wicked stinks of the Hand that holds it their Good Words are uttered with a stinking Breath though they may be materially good they are formally evil a good Motion cannot proceed from a soul Mouth these men deny in their Lives what they profess with their Lips they are like the Aethiopians black all but the Mouth some of them are fair Professors but foul Livers dicta factis crubescunt their Practice shames their Profession You may see how such Men's Sacrifices are accepted Isa 66.2 3. The Fountain must be cleansed or the Streams cannot be sweet the Tree must be good or the Fruit will be bad Whatever proceeds from a Wicked Man smells of the Cask If the Heart be right God accepts of Pence for Pounds Mites for Millions and esteems a Man as good as he truly desires to be Dat bene dat multum qui dat cum munere vultum God loves a chearful giver and esteems the willingness of the Mind before the worth of the Work the more of the heart is in the Sin the worse but the more of it is in the Duty the better God loves no heartless or grumbling Service My son saith he give me thy heart Prov. 23.26 David's intention to build God an House was accepted as if he had
done it So in Abraham's Offering his Son the Widow's two Mites were accepted as if it had been an Hundred Pounds But if Grace be wanting though a man give all his goods to the poor and his body to be burned it is not accepted 1 Cor. 13.3 Hypocrites blow their Gifts as Butchers do their Meat yea they are Fly-blown till they stink again but Grace is the Salt that makes it savoury Grace is the best Evidence we have for Heaven and a sure sign of God's Favour for he will know them well he bestows it upon He that believes and is baptized shall be saved but he that believes not shall be condemned Mark 16.16 God gives Crowns and Kingdoms sometimes to the worst of Men but the Childrens Bread they shall not have the rest is but Crumbs to feed the Dogs or rather the Cattel for the Slaughter No man knows Love or Hatred by these things The Sun shines as hot upon the Bramble in the Desart as on the Cedar in Libanus the Snow falls as well on the choicest Garden as on the Wilderness yea the lofty Pine meets with more Storms than the Shrub the Sun riseth upon the Good and the Bad and the Rain falls on the Just and on the Unjust Wealth and Honour are handed out to the one and to the other and the worst have of the best share and no wonder 't is their All Sometimes the Bramble is preferred before the Vine the Olive and the Fig-tree but Grace is the distinguishing Badge Christ's Sheep-mark which never any but his own Sheep did ever wear This makes a Man better when the World makes him worse this makes the heart chearful when other things make it sad or sordid yet the World contemns it as Aesop's Cock did the Precious Stone But at Death if this be wanting the Door will be shut against us and when we are lanching out into the infinite Ocean of Eternity we shall be glad of such a Pilot. This Garb I know is out of Fashion with our Gallants but 't is more durable than their Silks and Sattins and will better keep out a shower of Divine Vengeance than those it will prove the best Flower in the Garland and the richest Jewel in the Crown The Rich Glutton would have changed his Garb with Poor Lazarus and been contented with his Bill of Fare Were the Mountains Pearls and the Rocks Rubies and the whole Globe of the Earth were a shining Chrysolite yet Grace excels it all Crowns and Kingdoms stately Buildings Thousands of Rams and Ten Thousand Rivers of Oyl will not reach the worth of Grace this it is that opens the Door to the Pearl of great Price Matth. 13.45 To the unsearchable riches of Christ Ephes 3.8 It supports the Heart better than the choicest Cordials and those that now most despise it will ere long most earnestly desire it When Death like Belshazzar's Hand-writing enters their Lodgings and Summons them to Judgment when they shall wish the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them then Grace would be the best Security This is the only Ticket will open Heaven-gate the Evidence for our Title there To a Gracious Man though the way be rough the Journey 's end will be easie though the Battle be sore the Conquest will be certain and the Spoils great if they have a bad Dinner they will have a joyful Supper if they lose their Estate they are going to better Riches they cannot want that have God for their Father Jerusalem which is above for their Mother Christ for their Head and Husband the holy Angels and glorified Saints for their Brethren and Companions and Heaven for their Inheritance God hath set his Seal his Sheep-mark upon them Holiness to the Lord Zech. 14.20 Where God changeth the Relation he changeth the Nature and Disposition a heart in Heaven is one of the surest Evidences for Heaven For where the treasure is there will the heart be also The best Treasure the World affords what is it but the Guts and Garbage of the Earth the greater load of it we carry the greater clog it oft-times proves in our Journey to Heaven we cannot pass the strait Gate till we unload it Many make Gold their God and their Wedge their Confidence but it failed Achan his Wedge of Gold did serve to cleave his Soul asunder and his Babylonish Garment proved his Winding-sheet Covetousness is called Idolatry because Men Idolize their Wealth and Adultery because they Prostitute themselves to it and lodge it in the room of God Oh how good is that Counsel that bids us provide bags that wax not old a treasure in the heavens that fadeth not away Luke 12.33 Other things we cannot keep and if we could they would not avail us But the true Treasure we cannot lose 't is durable as the days of Heaven and will run parallel with the longest line of Eternity When others therefore grasp for Gold let us grasp for Grace for Godliness will be found great gain 1 Tim. 6.6 But those that make hast to be rich shall not be innocent Prov. 28.20 'T is not Gold but Grace not Money but Righteousness makes the Soul Rich. A Gracious Man thoughâ— his Habitation be below his Conversation is above and when Heaven is his Object Earth will be his Abject But if many Men's Hearts were anatomized we might find the World there fairly Engraven and nothing of Heaven would there be found The Devil holds his black Hand over most Men's Eyes that they cannot see the way to Heaven and when they are blind-folded he leads them as the Prophet Elisha did the Syrians to Samaria when they think they are going to Dothan they come to Hell with hopes of Heaven in their mouths They are like soft Wax he can turn them into any shape But Grace is the Soul's Ballast that keeps it steady and elevates it above the World and gives it a Pisgah-sight of Glory it mounts it upon Mount Tabor where 't is transfigured with Christ and its Garments made white and shining It gives the Soul those true Beauty-Spots which makes her lovely in the Eyes of her Husband But these differ from the Devil's Patches whose spot is not the spot of God's people Deut. 32.5 Grace is the Oyl that makes her Chariot-wheels move swiftly and keeps her Lamp of Profession burning Many are the Promises God hath made to Grace in general and to the several Graces in particular both of things concerning this Life and that to come and many are the Priviledges gracious Souls have in possession and much more shall have in reversion and many are the Love-Tokens her Husband sends her and many a gracious Visit he affords her 'T is true sometimes to try her Love he hides himself behind the Wall but then every sigh and groan and sorrowful complaint goes to his Heart and when he hath tryed her Affection discovers himself again he promises and will make it good he will never leave
got out It crept into Heaven among the Angels for some conceive they affected the Deity It crept into Paradice and made our first Parents desire to know as God The Babel-Builders they would fain dwell as God and Antichrist sets himself above all that is called God or is worshipped Every proud man is tainted with this Lunacy and are discontent with the Station in which God hath placed them Many have a great Shadow that have little Substance the worser the Wiâ—â— the fairer the Bush the empty Vessel makes the greatest sound and the shallow Waters the greatest noise and worthless men make the greatest brags Babel had high towring Thoughts she must needs be like God himself Isa 14.12 but God brought her down Ambitious men are like unto the Ivy though it have a contemptible Root and cannot rise without the assistance of the Oak or Elm yet it never rests till it overtop them When Zeuxes had finished his Picture of Atalanta he wrote under it Painters may rather envy this than imitate it Demosthenes loves to hear as he pass'd along the Street that pleasing word This is that Demosthenes Hoc ego primus vidi saith another So fond are men of their own Brats they are like Peacocks proud of their own Feathers when they forget their black Feet When Dionysius commanded Zeuxes to draw the Picture of Envy he brought him a Looking-glass and bid him behold his own Face in it And may we not as easily draw the Picture of Ambition as much to the life in many mens Faces Alexander when he was offered Darius's Daughter and a great part of his Dominions with her answered As the Heavens could not contain two Sons no more could the Earth two Alexanders See the large extent of an ambitious Mind But whatever the World saith to the contrary Virtue will prove the fairest Escutcheon and that is the best Honour where God is the top of the Kin and Holiness lies at the bottom 'T is storied of Julia the Daughter of Augustus Thaâ— being reproved for her Prodigality and caution'd of her Father's Frugality answered If her Father forgat that he was Caesar she would not forget that she was Caesar's Daughter 'T is hard for a Maid to forget her Ornaments or a Bride her Attire 't is a great deal easier to forget the Soul Most live above their Estate few under it Some say Pride and the Gout are alike that is both incurable Ambition and desire of Rule makes many Subjects murther their Prince many Children their Parents and many Wives their Husbands and one Brother to kill another Absolom to rebel against his Father yea it makes Princes tyrannize over their Subjects and Landlords over their Tenants the Rich to oppress the Poor and the Stronger to wrong the Weaker and make Men-like the Fishes in the Sea where the great ones devour the lesser But when Pride rides in the Saddle Shame sits upon the Crupper Pride goes before Destruction and a haughty Spirit before a Fall The more Gold Pride eateth the more Blood it sucketh The higher and faster a man climbs the more danger of breaking his Neck for God resisteth the Proud but gives Grace to the Humble 1 Pet. 5.5 King Philip glorying after his Victory Archimedes perswaded him to measure his Shadow to see how much bigger it was grown by the Conquest If Promotion should make men bigger yet it makes few men better Of all the Roman Emperors only Vespasion is said to be better by his advancement But did men well consider that all their Ancestors Glory lies in the Dust and very shortly theirs must do so likewise it might make them veil their Peacock's Plumes 'T is a Sin and Shame for an Angel to be proud much more for a Muck-heâ—p Sack of Dust an Earth-worm that hath no Breath to breathe but what God puts into him Yet many there are that think God loves them best because he gives them most then Pharaoh Sennacherib Jeroboam Herod the Great Turk and such-like are much in favour But here is a Mistake in the Reckoning God made Nebuchadnezzar to know and acknowledge That the Most High ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men and giveth them to whomsoever he will and setteth up over them the basest of men Dan. 4.17 Pharaoh was advanced on high for his greater Fall For this cause saith God I have raised thee up c. And no doubt Haman's Promotion was upon the same account Riches and Honours many times prove Blocks in Heavens way not in themselves but by their abuse they are like the fine Feathers of the Ostrich fine to gaze on but of little use to help them to mount aloft when the Lark or Swallow are swift of Wing and mount easily 'T is hard for a Rich man to mount upward or to enter in at the streight Gate yea as hard as for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle the reason is they have such a Burthen upon their Backs and they have such a Loadstone here on Earth which they love and trust to which draws their Affection from Heaven to Earth this hinders their flight as 't is Fabled the Golden Apples did Atalantas Race Those that stand upon the top of Pinacles are in Danger and had need look to their footing Those that attract Guilt in attaining Promotion are in the greatest danger when 't is gotten for at utmost Death will beâ—â—ave them of it 'T is a sad Fall from the highest Pinacle to the Depth of Hell their Glory then will not follow them their Pomp will take its leave O what a sad day will this be when all these things wherein they gloried will be gone and when Riches Honour and Pleasures as to them shall be no more which as Micah said of his Ephod and Teraphim These are gone and what have I more Judg. 18.23 Now when these their Gods are gone what have they more And these they have not long to enjoy and this will be a further aggravation of wicked mens Misery at Death 4. That wicked men at Death lose all their Worldly Felicity such as Riches Honours and Pleasures I have already shewed you yet these are not all the Losses they shall then sustain the worst are behind though haply at present not so much regarded for then they shall lose their God which will prove the greatest Loss by far The Torments of Hell are either privative or positive Pain of Loss or Pain of Sence the former is judg'd by Divines to be the greatest and most grievous for God being our chiefest Happiness to lose him will be our chiefest Misery In his presence is fulness of Joy and at his right hand Pleasures for evermore But at Death there will be an eternal separation from him which Loss will more affect the Soul when the Understanding Conscience and other Faculties shall be enlarged a Thousand thousand rentings of the Soul from the Body will not be so much as One renting of the Soul from God
easier to part with Poverty than Plenty Pain than Pleasure Sickness than Health and a Prison than Liberty but these Blessings were never given us to cross our Maker's Will Oh Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at ease in his Possessions and hath prospered in all things And yet the thoughts of Heaven may sweeten this also And that I may add some Sugar to this bitter Pill I add these Considerations 1. Consider our Life is not at our own dispose neither indeed is it fit it should be for God is absolute Lord of all the Works of his Hands he is the Potter we are the Clay if he dash us with his Foot who can call him to an Account For whose is the Pot but the Pot-makers And he made us for his own use and may do with his own as he pleaseth and we must hold our Tongues and say nothing if he do it Never had any Man such absolute Dominion over any thing he called his own as God hath over us yet we imagine those Beasts we call ours though we have but a subordinate Right to them yet we do them no wrong if we take away their Life we neither did nor can give it to them and hath not God a greater Propriety in us We let him alone with greater matters than our Lives and contradict him not He upholds the whole frame of Nature in Being the whole Fabrick of Heaven and Earth from returning to its Primitive Nothing and we seek not to take the Work out of his hands He maintains the Sun Moon and Stars in their incessant and unerring Motions who pour their Influences upon the Earth he hangs this huge and massy Globe upon nothing and we let him alone with this work he made those Glorious Lamps of Heaven for times and for seasons and for days and for years and the Sun knows his going down He it is that sets Bounds to this great and wide Sea yea Bars and Doors and saith Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves cease Job 38.10 11. He forms the Light and he creates Darkness and he it is that hath the Keys of Life and Death at his Girdle He kills and he makes alive and doth whatever pleaseth him in Heaven and in the Earth Can all the Kings of the Earth with all their united Force repel the Universal Darkness that over-spreads the face of the World when the Sun is set or retain the Light while they have it And should they attempt it would they not proclaim their Folly Is it not he that provides Food for every living thing yea for thousand thousand of living Creatures Man takes no care of And shall we leave all these things at his dispose And why because we cannot take them out of his hand And are we exempt and must not our Lives be in his Hand or Power Shall he that Governs the whole World by his Power and Wisdom not be best able and fittest to dispose of us and of our Lives as well as others We have not a bit of Bread to eat but he gives it nor a Breath to breathe but he puts it into us and are we like to maintain our Lives without him or keep them against his will Is it not he that pulls down Kings and sets up Kings and disposeth of Kingdoms to whomsoever he will even to the worst of men Dan. 4.17 And doth not he best know when our Work is done and when 't is the fittest time to take us hence without advising with us or asking our Counsel Or would we only be excluded Or would we have all others have the like Priviledge If the first how came we from under the Law It is appointed unto all men once to dye and after death the Judgment If all Men must have the Priviledge of dying when they please the World will be too numerous to subsist Hell will be empty and Heaven will have few in it for most Men will live a miserable Life before they will dye though to go to Glory And is not it best to refer all this to Divine Wisdom that only knows the best time Were our Lives in our Enemies hands we should dye too soon if in our own we should live too long 't is best as it is in God's hand who best knows when our Work is done and when his Flowers are ripe and when we are fit for Glory Let us then with such Considerations as these quiet our selves under Divine Dispensations and with Paul say I am willing not only to be bound but to dye at Jerusalem for Christ And let us breathe out Come Lord Jesus come quickly Even so Amen 2. Consider also the several Evils that Death frees a Believer from which none else can the thoughts of this may make a Christian more willing to dye yea with the Apostle to desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 There is in every Man and Woman by Nature a Principle which cannot be obliterated to desire to be Happy and a cessation of Misery and though every Man living desire it yet few attain it for the greatest number whether through Ignorance mistake the way to it or through prevailing Corruption will not walk in the way that leads to it but grope after it where it never was nor can be found and seek it where it never grew and ten thousand times ten thousand have been thus deceived and undone in embracing a Cloud instead of Juno and adoring Riches Honours and Pleasures instead of Father Son and Holy Ghost and these have run themselves out of breath but all in vain and at Death have found they had mistaken their way when it was too late Some few indeed have sought after Happiness in a way of Holiness and these have it in sight and these meet with a Viaticum something to stay their Stomack in the way but their Feast their Wedding-Supper is prepared for their Journey 's end even the Marriage of the Lamb. For whatever conceit may possess the Heart of Man to the contrary true and compleat Happiness was never enjoyed by meer Man on this side Death for here we are Pilgrims and Strangers and this is not our Rest we are under Age and our Inheritance elsewhere This Life is cumbred with a thousand Miseries which cannot consist with compleat Happiness which cannot be found on this side the Grave and few find it beyond Now one part of our Happiness is to be freed from Misery for while we are under Affliction our Happiness is not compleat but till Death we cannot be freed from Suffering this alone must ease us of our Burden the thoughts of this might make us have gentler thoughts of it and look upon it through other Spectacles For that Messenger be unwelcome to a Prisoner that comes to knock off his Shackles and restore his Liberty Death is sent to tell us our Warfare is accomplished the Field
my design and desire is to prevent immoderation which will hinder and not further you in the Work and unfit you for your Duty you may you ought do mourn but not as those without hope for those that sleep in the Lord 1 Thess 4.13 Ingenious Children when one is beaten the other will cry but they must take heed of murmuring and repining against their Father Lute-strings when one is touched the other sound and 't is one of those Dues which we owe to our deceased Friends to lament at their Funeral 't is those usually that live undesired that dye unlamented It was a Judgment threatned against Jehoiakim that when he died he should not be lamented Jer. 22.18 But we must not Water our Plants so as to drown them and that Sorrow that disables us for our present Duty in our general or particular Calling is doubtless our sin Our chiefest care for our Relations should be while they are living and that is to make provision to our power for Soul and Body but for the Soul especially for alas what is a moment of time to Eternity But when God manifests by his Providence that 't is his Will to transport and transplant these Flowers into a better Soil though we should not be insensible of the stroak we should not murmure or repine under it or accuse the Hand that gave it but submissively resign them up to him who gave them or rather lent them to us David did what he could for his Son while he was living but ceased mourning for him when he was dead Our Tears though they may be shed upon other accounts yet 't is pity they should run profusedly in any other Channel but for sin It being the true penitential Tears that are the Holy Water that God affects and the Devil hates for if any â—oss or Cross that befalls us deserve one Tear our Sins deserve a thousand for sin is the cause of all our Losses and Crosses that befal us and without Repentance will be the destruction of Soul and Body and when we see such direful Effects and tast such bitter Fruits we should bewail the Cause and root up the Tree If our Sin lay heavy our Crosses would seem light if we bathed our Sins in our Tears we should not have so many left to pour out upon these Occasions Sin is the occasion of the Death of your dear Daughter and will be of your own Death for had it not been for sin she had not dyed By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed ever all for as much as all have sinned the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Nay sin it was that put our sweet Saviour to death these were the Nails that pierced his Hands and his Feet the Spear that pierced his Side his Betrayer Accusers Judge and Executioners and can your Daughter be more dear to you than God's only and beloved Son was to him He laid down his Life for her and her Life is not too good to lay down for him he laid down his Life to purchase for her a Mansion of Glory and she laid down her Life to go to take Possession for there is no other way to enjoy it Madam In my present Address to you there are two things designed by me The first is to abate the swelling Tide of your Sorrow and to bring those Waters within their proper Bounds and Banks which I shall endeavour to do by giving you some few Considerations to Meditate upon that so when the violent Storm of Passion shall be allayed Reason may be spoke with which cannot many times be heard when Passion is raging and after that my intention is to point you out some of those many profitable Lessons which this Providence seems to hand out to us which if we can learn doubtless we shall gain by this loss or our gains will be greater than our loss for God's Rod hath a Voice and 't is our Duty to hear it Micah 6.9 Nay 't is like Jonathan's Rod 1 Sam. 14.27 it hath Honey at the end and if we taste of it it will open and enlighten our Eyes If God with Correction give Instruction we may well say as David It was good for me that I was afflicted before I was afflicted I went astray but now I learn to keep thy commandments Psal 119.67 Quae nocent docent is a Proverb and that Lesson is best learnt that is set on with whipping and best remembred Correction is seldom a sign of God's hatred many times of his love For whom he loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth If we endure chastening God dealeth with us as with sons for what son is he that his father chasteneth not And if we be without chastening then are we bastards and not sons Heb. 12.6 7 8. Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for your iniquities God will be sure to plow his own Ground whatsoever becomes of the wast and to weed his own Garden though others are let alone to grow wild the punishing Angel must begin at God's Sanctuary Ezek 9. And it was no sign of Love when God said Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Hosea 4.17 Since he hath made a match with Mischief let him have his belly full of it When Ignatius was thrown to the Wild Beasts to be devoured Now saith he I begin to be a Christian for Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels with which God doth adorn his best Friends they are Pledges of our Adoption and Badges of our Sonship so that they are no signs of his disinheriting us and though he may seem to hide his Face yet 't is no sign of his forsaking us But now for the quieting your Spirit under your present Suffering and this dark Providence I beseech you ponder well these few following Considerations which well weighed may through God's Blessing quell those tumultuous Thoughts that swell in your Breast and I desire the Lord to bless them to this end 1. Consider who it is that hath done you this supposed Injury to take away your Daughter without your consent And here you may consider not only who it is but also what Interest he claims in her and then consider whether your Plea will hold good against him Is it not the great God of Heaven and Earth whose Power no Creature is able to resist whose Will is his Law and whose Glory is his End Is it not he that is called Omnipotent that doth what pleaseth him in Heaven and in Earth and none can resist him And is he a fit Match for you to grapple with Is it not he that measureth the water in the hollow of his hand and meteth out Heaven with his span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure that weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance To whom all
Dust by our Defection and to Dust we shall return at our Dissolution Our father was an Amorite and our mother an Hittite This may make us sprinkle the Dust of Humility upon our Heads 'T is said some Creatures are bred in Sugar we cannot boast of so sweet an Original but may look back to the slimy Clay and may say to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister The greatest Persons are but a little Air and Dust tempered together but Soul and Soil Breach and Body a Pile of Dust and a puff of Wind. God need not to Muster an Army against us if he tread upon us we are left dead behind him if he with-hold our breath we dye and our thoughts perish he can with a frown turn us into Hell yea turn Heaven and Hell and all into nothing And are we able to grapple with him Nay this is not all we have not this our poor Being of our selves he it was that made the Clay of nothing and he it was that gave us our Shape and Being he was the Potter and we were the Clay in his hands he gave us a Being and 't is he that gives us a comfortable Being We are his Creatures and he made us the works of his hands and fashioned us And shall we thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is not be our father that bought us Hath not be made us and establish'd us Deut. 32.6 Shall the pot say to him that made it Why hast thou made me thus Shall the ax exalt it self against him that heweth with it God hath more Propriety in us than we have in our selves or in any thing we enjoy yea in our Children these were given or rather lent us for a time and the Soul is but a Tenant at will in the Body Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are God's 1 Cor. 6.19.20 He gave us our Being and can if he please quickly render us a non entity for when he lost his Property in us we find not nay yet more had we continued in our Integrity in which we were created we might have had more to say for our selves than now we have God made us in his own Image Holy and Happy but by our sin we brought not only Death but all Miseries attending it The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Rom. 6.23 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 We are the sinful Off-spring of Adam and we have inherited our Fathers Corruptions Infants are no Innocents the first sheet wherewith they are covered is woven of sin and shame blood and filth Ezek. 16.46 The Image of God is lost and the Image of Satan set in the room Original Righteousness gone and Original Sin in the stead and by this means we have debased our selves below other Creatures and next to the faln Angels are become the most vile we became indebted unto God Ten Thousand Talents and cannot pay a Farthing and therefore we were sold Bond-slaves to Satan under the wrath of God the curse of the Law and liable to eternal Damnation and may justly expect every day to be cast into Prison till we have paid the utmost farthing And yet shall we contend with our Maker and complain of wrong when all that we have on this side Hell is free Mercy and Hell it self is no wrong Nay let us further consider that we our selves are guilty of this we accuse God for our Posterity received their contamination from us which occasioneth Death and other Miseries for had your Daughter not had sin she had not dyed and this God which we now quarrel is our greatest Benefactor and freely gives us all that we do enjoy We live and move and have our being from him we receive every good and perfect gift from him We cannot live a moment without him and yet shall we quarrel him He gives us our Being yea a comfortable Being and maintains us at his own Cost and Charges ever since we had a Being We have Meat nor Drink nor Cloathes to cover us neither Corn nor Wine Wool nor Flax Silver nor Gold but what is his Hos 2.8 9. Neither Wit nor Reason Limbs nor Senses Peace nor Plenty Health nor Strength Life nor Liberty but by his Gift and when he pleaseth can call for all or any of these from us for we have not a breath to breath but what he puts into us and are we fit to Challenge this great God to a single Duel when we cannot move a Tongue or Finger without his immediate Assistance for we are so far below him that if we do well we cannot benefit him if ill we cannot hurt him Job 35.7 The Sun would shine in its own brightness though all the World were blind so God will not cease to be Glorious though all the World were wicked What can we give him that is not his own And our offered Incense would have a bad savour if it did not smell strong of the hand that offereth it The Sun runs his course though the Atlanters curse him at his rising being scorched with his heat and also the Moon notwithstanding the barking of snarling Curs So God disposeth the Affairs of the World He ruleth let the earth be never so unquiet But to our business The Contention lies between God and us the Maker and Governour of all the World and poor Dust and Ashes Who shall have his Will and dispose of God's own Creatures the work of his own hands and you see on what disadvantageous ground we stand and may easily judge of the issue The Question in Controversie is Whether God can Lawfully and Justly take away any of those which we call our Relations though they are his Creatures and bring them out of this Vale of Misery unto these Mansions of Glory which he hath provided for those that love him without our leave and liberty and free consent without doing us wrong This we seem to deny when we mourn and over-mourn and grudge and repine when God makes his Will known in such Dispensations of Providence for if this be not it what is it He gave you your Daughter or rather lent her to you for a time and now requires but his own and that to consummate the Marriage between Christ and her Soul and you seem to forbid the Banes and deny your Consent to the Marriage Abraham was of another mind when he was commanded to Sacrifice his only Son which was a far greater Tryal this was his only Child but yours is not he must be the Instrument to take away his Life this is not required at your hands he did actively submit you only passively when you cannot resist what in this case we should do were we able
farther objected It was a good Woman And what then must not good Women dye If Death would spare the Gracious Heaven would be empty for no other shall go thither Was she too good to be the Child of God the Spouse of Christ an Inhabitant in Heaven a Companion for Angels and Glorified Saints But was not her Goodness freely given her by her Husband She had it not by Nature she was beautiful with the comeliness he put upon her and all this was in order to fit her for her Marriage But was not her Goodness your Comfort as well as her Reward Had that been wanting there had been more cause of Sorrow than now there is But she could not be spared For that it is best to let God alone with the Government of the World which he hath so wisely managed for above Five Thousand Years and never was yet put to a strait for want of Instruments for he that of stones can raise children to Abraham never wants Instruments to do his Work 'T is he that took her hence best knows whom he can spare doubtless he can raise Instruments as well as in former times and qualifie whom he pleaseth for the Work his Vineyard shall be drest or he will send Labourers in at the eleventh hour she is call'd out by the Owner of the Vineyard to receive her Wages who can send in more if he want Had she had more Work to do she had had more time to do it in her Father that loves her knows the World is infectious and he hath taken her out of the Corrupt Air lest she should take the Infection But she was in the Prime and Flower of her Age and 't is pity such Blossoms should be nipt but God best knows when his Roses are ripe and when they should be pluckt and when 't is the best Season to gather his Flowers and if he pluck this Rose in the bud to put into his Bosom what need this Complaint He takes not his People hence till they are ripe for Glory Though we know not the reason of his doings doubtless he hath wise and gracious ends in all his Actions 't is not necessary for us to be of his Counsel yet he condescends so far to us as to tell us All things shall work together for good to those that love God Rom. 8.28 And why may nor this dark Providence do you good Sometimes the righteous are taken away from the evil to come Isa 57.1 And this may be the present case and haply you may have more cause to mourn that you are alive than that she is dead we know not what Cup may be put into our hands haply such as you would not desire to see her drink However Troubles and Afflictions are so common to Men of all Ranks and Conditions that the Holy Ghost tells us That blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.13 To dye in the Lord is a Happiness to dye for the Lord saith Latimer is such a Priviledge that is not granted to the Angels in Heaven Mors privare potest opibus non operibus Death may deprive us of our Wealth except we have sent it before us to Heaven but not our good Works But this your Daughter was your first-born and was it not fit she should have the Precedency in her Death as well as in her Birth The first-born hath no Priviledge against Death more than the rest When Death knocks all must open yea God seems to claim a greater Interest in the first-born than in the rest Exod. 13.2 Our Saviour Christ was the first-born yea the only Son of his Father and as well beloved as your Daughter could be yet suffered Death for us And shall we think a Son or Daughter or our own Lives too good for him Abraham did not deny his Son his only Son when God required him yea was content to kill him with his own hands And till there be a through resignation of us and ours and all we enjoy to God's dispose till we are content to be what he would have us be and do and suffer what his Will is we are not in a Christian Posture and God if he love us will bring us to this and if one blow will not do it more shall Our stout Stomacks must stoop and we must bend or break the best way to get from under the Rod is Submission for we can neither grapple with God nor struggle out of his hands Let us now sum up all that is in Controversie between God and you and let us see whether it will be a considerable Charge God took away your Daughter without your consent and against your will laying more claim to her than you can and brought her out of a state of Misery which you had involved her in out of the Devil's Slavery from under the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God and Eternal Damnation and that by the precious Blood of his own Son and by Regenerating her and Adopting her for his Child changing her Nature and giving her the disposition of a Child cloathing her with the rich Robes of Christ's Righteousness and decking her with the Graces of his Spirit Espousing her to his Son providing an Inheritance for her and when she came to Age hath transported her thither and gave her Possession of the purchased Inheritance those Mansions of Glory provided for her from all Eternity wip'd all Tears from her Eyes and all Sorrow from her Heart and all Sin from her Soul married her to his Son who lodged her in his Bosom gave to her the largest Fountain even a Kingdom of Glory And for this you mourn and will mourn and think you do well to mourn and like Rachel refuse to be comforted because she is not This is the wrong that draws Tears from your Eyes and sorrowful Sighs and Sobs from your Heart And may not God call Heaven and Earth to Witness against you that your Complaints are causeless and your Tears needless Had he taken her in her sins and cast her into Hell he had wronged neither the one nor the other though her condition had been deplorable but now he may say of her as sometimes of his Vineyard Isa 5.3 What could I have done more for her than I have done And what Reason can you give why you sorrow as one without hope for one that sleeps in the Lord Were it a deed of Charity could you prevail to wish her out of those Coelestial Enjoyments back again into a World of Troubles Vexations and Dangers and that only to bear you Company Do you think that all the Glory Splendour and Magnificence all the Riches Honours and Promotions the World ever saw would be a Temptation to her to leave the Beatifical Vision and those Rivers of Pleasures which are at the right hand of God for evermore Alas these are no more to those Coelestial Enjoyments
than a piece of rotten shining Wood to the Sun in its Splendour And do you think that Twenty Years in Heaven will not make amends for Twenty Years on Earth which she possibly might have lived 4. Cons In the next place it will not be amiss to consider how little good your immoderate Mourning will do in this case And truly in the upshot you will find it will do much more hurt than good even to your self and all about you for by this means you perplex your self in vain so that you can neither enjoy your self nor any thing you have with that serenity of Spirit as otherwise you might do and spend that Holy Water those Tears to no purpose which were designed for a better use and should be spent upon another Account and would do more good did they run in a right Channel You bewail the Effect but 't is much better to bewail the Cause for were that removed the Effect would cease Non valet medicamentum dum ferrum invulnere Sin deserves all the Tears we can shed and 't is better weep for living Sins than dead Children if the latter deserve one Tear the other deserves a thousand And it is not for your own sins alone that this Flood-gate should be opened but for the sins of the Times our National sins for from the greatest to the least all have gone astray and if there be not a Reformation we may expect a Desolation and God expects some to stand in the Gap Ezek. 22.30 to turn away his wrath from the Nation and although there be so few that they cannot prevail for the Nation yet their own Souls shall be saved as God said of Noah Daniel and Job Ezek. 14.14 Yea in a common Calamity before he gives Commission to the Destroyer he marks all that are mourners in Sion to be past by Ezek. 9.4 Here Tears will do good for the fire of God's Indignation is only to be quenched with the Tears of True Repentance But I fear there will be in the day of Visitation few of those Mourners found few to stand up in the Gap though many that make the Breach wider This way may do good to your self and others Thus Job concerns himself more with his Children when alive than when dead Job 1.5.21 Now which way can you imagine that the abundance of Tears which you pour out upon this Account of your Daughter's Death can benefit either you or any one else In reference to God 't is neither pleasing to him neither will it prevail with him not pleasing for he hath forbidden it We should not sorrow as men without hope for them that sleep in the Lord. For if we believe that Jesus dyed and rose again even so also them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess 4.13 14. And it reflects some dishonour upon him when his People are so unsatisfied with his dealing and repine under his Dispensation of Providence It makes the World believe they take him for a hard Master yea and question his Justice in the Act. It is no Credit to a Master when his Servants quarrel at their Diet their Lodging their Work and their Wages Others imagine there is something in it that makes them complain Now God's Glory is his End in all his Actions and it should be ours and to preserve that in the sight of the World we should never hang down the head but for sin our own sins and the sins of others because God is thereby dishonoured and his Laws violated And then that they cannot be prevalent with God is as evident You are offended that your Daughter is gone Hinc illae lachrymae but 't is an impossible thing to bring her again and what else can you be satisfied with You can never prevail with him to alter his immutable Decrees which are as firm as the Pillars of Heaven and the Foundations of the Earth and the Sun and Moon in their courses And then again I am sure you are not benefited by it the present vexation you lye under must needs make your Life uneasie yea make you a burden to your self thus to spend your time inter suspiria lachrymas between Sighs and Tears when the most miserable Bond-slave can do no more And hereby you also disable your self for your Duties to God and Man both in your general and particular Calling and Relations Discontent in the Heart makes a Christian like Jonah instead of praying to God quarrels him Jonah 4.2 3 4. What Communion can you keep with God when there are such tumultuous Thoughts arising in the heart Doubtless in this pet you cannot serve God without distraction neither attend your Worldly Concerns and that Sorrow is never pleasing to God that thus disables you for your Duties or hinders you in Heaven's way Neither can there any benefit arise to your Friends and Relations for while you are under such discomposure of Spirit the whole Family must tast of the Effects of it for what comfort can you give others that refuse comfort your self Or how can you Counsel them that will take no Advice your self You have been long in the School of Christ and he expects that being converted you should strengthen your Brethren But doth not your carriage put a block in others ways to comfort This makes you that you can take little delight in your remaining Relations nay to overlook and undervalue all your other Mercies and cannot read Love in any of God's dealings with you your finger is still upon the Sore and this one Cross hides from your Eyes a thousand Mercies It had such an effect upon David though it was no doubt his failing when God had given him a Signal Victory and by that means brought him back again into his Throne yet all this was nothing to him because Absalom was dead and neither God nor Man was thank'd for the Victory So 't is with you the lives of your Husband Children Friends Relations your Health Peace Plenty Liberty Sense and a thousand more seem little in your Eyes All Haman's Honour Wealth Promotion Children were nothing to him so long as Mordecai the Jew would not bow to him Esther 5.13 And though God hath given you abundance of these outward things yea himself and promised you Heaven and Glory into the Bargain yet all this seems not satisfactory your Daughter is not Now would not this make a Man suspect she was youâ— Idol and therefore God took her out of the way that your Affections might run in the right Channel Well but seeing no living Creature can be benefited by your Tears let us see whether your deceased Daughter may and here is least ground of all to imagine it Indeed were the Papists Doctrine of Purgatory true and that Souls might be redeemed by Dirges Masses and such other Fopperies then your Money may do something but this Fire that was kindled to warm the Popes Kitchen can never be extinguished by your Tears but by the
Oyl of Angels But to pass by that exploded conceit or rather deceit as a groundless Fiction But whether the Soul be in Heaven or Hell for a third place the Scripture owns not it is in a stated condition which Eternity it self cannot alter and our Tears nothing avail to the one or to the other In Heaven there can be no augmentation of Glory for how can they have more than fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore What can they have more than the Beatifical Vision of God and Fruition of Glory than rivers of pleasures at God's right hand for evermore Communion with and Enjoyment of God blessed for ever And can your Tears procure greater Glory Here is the maximum quod sic the highest Pinacle of Glory as much as sâ—â—ll Creatures are capable of at present and at the Resurrection Soul and Body being reunited their Glory shall be compleat yea everlâ—â—â—â—â—g Joy in the Presence of God And had you your wish for her it would fall a thousand times shorter than her real Enjoyment And what cause is there of Tears unless it be in those that envy her Happiness Now on the other side miscarrying Souls can have no diminution of their Torments by the Tears of their Friends in their life-time Prayers and Tears to God in their behalf had been sit Physick but when Death comes 't is too late let the Papists say what they will to the contrary As the tree falleth so it lyeth and as Death leaves us so Judgment shall find us Their own Tears can then do them no good though they should weep as much Water as there is in the Sea There is a time when God will be found and there is a time when he will not be found The Rich Glutton could not in Hell procure one drop of Water to cool his Tongue There is no Redemption out of Hell and there is no other place for miscarrying Souls but Hell the Tormentors will not be bribed nor the fire quenched with Tears Their worm dyeth not and their fire never goeth out Tophet is ordained of old even for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a river of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30.33 So that 't is evident immoderate Mourning for deceased Friends either needs not or boots not those that dye well are set out of the reach of Danger and those that miscarry out of the reach of Recovery But I desire you further to consider were your Daughter sensible in Heaven what sorrow you have for her on Earth which is a thing too hard for me to determine what thanks think you would she return We may imagine she would speak to you in the Language our Saviour Christ used to the Women thâ—â— lamented him upon the Cross Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves for the misery that is like to come upon you Yoâ— may sigh away your Comfort and sob away youâ— Health and weep away your precious time and disable your self for your present Duty but if you mourn all the days of your Life and weep till Dooms-day you would find your self where you began and to have gotten no ground It is your Duty to do what you can for your Children while they live as David fasted and prayed for his Son but when dead say as he I shall gâ— to her she shall not come to me Or as Job Thâ— Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. God will not be perswaded by all your Tears and Complaints to alter his Eternal Decrees to fit your Humour though you should drench your self in Sorrow and drown your self in Tears yet 't is all one you may as well mourn that God will not give you Power to resist the Tide when it comes in in its strength or resist the universal Darkness that comes upon us at the Sun 's setting or stop the Sun and Moon in their courses or remove the Pillars of Heaven or the Foundations of the Earth as this for you cannot alter his Decree or preserve the Life of one that he hath appointed to dye He doth not only appoint that all Men shall dye but the number of their Months are with him and he appoints their Bounds that they cannot pass the time when the manner how the Instrument by whom are all known to him and by immoderate mourning at the execution of his Will you seem to mourn that you are not God or not able to resist him or that he made you not of his Counsel when he decreed your Daughter's death which is so absurd that no Heathen could in plain words own it And doth not Experience convince you your Tears are vain Was there ever any that by mourning brought a Soul out of Heaven or Hell or got any benefit by it And will you think you shall be the first I know some have been raised from the Dead by the mighty Power of God who had determined it should be so for the confirmation of the Gospel But what is this to your case Let your Grief therefore never exceed the bounds of Moderation for it will never do you good or any one else But suppose it were possible to prevail with God in such a Request and he should give her her choice to go or stay you would be never the better you would never prevail with her to return There was indeed such a Petition made to Abraham for Lazarus to come back into the World but it was refused and Lazarus had met with such hard Measures in the World that he was not fond of the Journey and doubtless she would not be perswaded with all your Arguments to leave the Bosom of Christ and the sweet Embraces of her dear Redeemer to accompany you for a while for long it cannot be before a separation must be made again for this is no continuing City and truly to wish her to leave the perfection of Glory and to embrace an estate of Sin and Misery and subject her self again to Drudgery and Slavery Pain and Sickness Dread and Danger Persecution and Affliction argues more of Self-love than of true Affection to her and I believe when the Passion is over upon consideration you would not do it If a poor Beggar 's Daughter going from door to door were affected and beloved by some Mighty Prince who should take her cloath and adorn her marry her and make her his Queen and after this her Mother should perswade her to leave her Crown and Dignity her Husband Honour and Preferment and Pleasure and go along in her hand as before a begging it would be hard to perswade her The Application is easie and the Condescension far greater in this case than in that to leave Heaven to converse with you on the Earth and were it in your power would you expose her again to Sin and Suffering and to
Cross or any thing to molest us had it not been for sin yet are we apt to over-look it and yet have our finger always upon the Sore we cry out Oh my Back my Belly my Bones my Heart but seldom Oh my Sin we are like hâ—m that complains of the pain in his Foot but not of the Shooe that pincheth him of the Gout Stone Strangury Surfeit but not of the Intemperance that is the cause Pharaoh cries out Take away the Frogs the Lice the Darkness let there be no more Hail but not take away the Sin the hardness of Heart that brought them God when he threatens Death for sin threatens also all the Causes and Fore-runners of Death and all the Evils which accompany a sinful Life for these are the Natural Productions of sin and much worse Fruit it bears if Repentance prevent it not and like a mighty Wind blows it not down before it come to Maturity otherwise it will be bitter Fruit We have far greater cause to cry out Oh my filthy Sins Oh my Pride my Passion my Covetousness my Deadness Dulness Formality Hypocrisie c. than Oh my dead Father my Husband my Son my Daughter We should cease quarrelling God and turn the edge of our Anger Sorrow and Indignation against Sin and against our selves for our sin and so our Quarrel will be much more just 'T is a stubborn Child that when corrected for a known fault will rather quarrel his Father than acknowledge his own Guilt We are apt to cry out Oh my Loss Oh my Cross than Oh my Sin my Infidelity my inordinate Affections which forces God thus to Correct me Let us remove the Cause and the Effect will cease Thus you see whether we consider sin in it self in its pestiferous infectious Nature or whether we consider it in its direful Effects the Miseries that attend it we have more cause to bewail it than any Loss or Cross that can befal us for sins sake as the Cause is worse than the Effect 3. But this is not all for sin procures Spiritual Judgments as well as Temporal and these are far more deadly and dangerous for these Distempers reach the Soul when the other touch only the Body or Estate Sin defiles and deforms all the Powers and Faculties of Soul and Body Sin is so Infectious and Contagious and the Effects thereof so Malignant that the greatest and most dangerous Plague-sore even that which rendeth the Soul from the Body is not so dangerous 'T is sin that hardens the Heart and turns it into the Nature of a stone We read of a stony heart and of all the Plagues that fell upon Pharaoh this was the worst and a greater than this cannot befal a Mortal Man in this Life God complains of this That the house of Israel were impudent and hard-hearted Ezek. 3.7 c. And the great Gospel-promise is To take away thâ— stony heart and give them hearts of flesh And as it hardens the Heart so it blinds the Mind which by reason of sin is Naturally Judicially and Wilfully blind the Image of God consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness these by the Fall were lost and Ignorance Wickedness and Profaness the very Image of the Devil were engraven in their stead 1 Cor. 3.14 And Men walk in Darkness till the Scales of Ignorance are wiped from their Eyes and Christ's Spiritual Eye-salve applyed Rev. 3.18 A natural maâ— cannot perceive the things of the spirit for they aâ—â— spiritually discerned Many also are Judicially blind God in his just Judgment giving them up to strong delusion to believe lies Mat. 13.13 c. They are Wilfully blind and God will not Cure them like Hagar they cannot see the Well of Water that is before them They are wilfully Ignorant that they may sin the more freely The God of this world hath blinded their eyes 2 Cor. 4.4 He draws a Curtain between them and the Light and holds his black hand before their faces and were they anatomized his Image would be found â—ngraven upon their hearts Light is come into â—â—e world and men love darkness rather than light â—ecause their works are evil They are willingly â—gnorant of what they are not willing to know â—hey have also cauterized Consciences seared with 〈◊〉 hot Iron and reprobate minds Rom. 1.28 And â—istempered and disordered Affections set upon â—rong Objects loving what they should hate â—nd hating what they should love fearing Men â—nd their threatnings and despising God and his â—hreatnings being given up to vile affections Rom. â— 26 1 Tim. 4.2 Yea they are given up to â—tubbornness of Will Judges 2.19 And of this â—e have Pharaoh for an Example that was beâ—ome Cannon-proof that all the Judgments â—rought upon Egypt could not work upon him â—uch are mentioned Jer. 44.19 that would bake â—akes to the Queen of Heaven let God himself say what he would to the contrary they will set up â—heir Post by God's Post and prefer their Dagon â—efore the Ark therefore God gives up such to â—trong delusions to believe lies Rom. 1.24 The Memory also though strong enough to retain what is bad yet 't is like a leaking Vessel that cannot retain any thing that is good In a word â—ll the Powers and Faculties of the Soul are polâ—uted and the Members of the Body are the unhappy Instruments to act the wickedness the Soul contrives So that a Toad or Serpent is not fuller of Poison than Man's heart is naturally of Sin and Wickedness and of noxious Qualities the Fruits and Effects of which if timely Repentance prevent not will be the loss of God's Favour which is better than life in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasureâ— for evermore Psal 16.11 The loss also of an Interest in the Blood of Christ will follow which is of more value than the World it self for such trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 Yea they do despight unto the Spirit of God and put themselves from under the favourable Protection of God and thaâ— Guard of Angels that God sends forth as ministring Spirits for the good of those that love him and makes Men uncapable of the sweet Communion of Saints which David made his chiefesâ— Delight on Earth Psal 16.2 It deprives them of the Peace of Conscience a Jewel of inestimable worth and brings many times such a Storm there that all the World cannot allay aâ— in Cain Judas Spira and many more that Bird in the Bosom when it sings sweetly makes better Melody than all the World can do Sin also deprives Men of all true Interest and Spirituaâ— Right to all our outward Enjoyments a Civiâ—â— Right we may have but a Covenant-Right we cannot have in a Natural condition for these things are not given but lent to a wicked Man and an Account will be required to the utmost Farthing In a word unrepented sin deprives Men of an Interest in God in
Heaven and Glory and of the Beatifical Vision for withouâ— holiness we shall never see God Let us therefore leave off sorrowing for petty Losses and Crosses and turn the whole Torrent of our Sorrow into this Channel even against our sins 4. Nay the mischief of Sin ends not here it also exposeth us to the wrath of God and makes him our Enemy that otherwise would be our closest surest and fastest Friend and did we â—now what it is to have God for our Enemy it â—ould send us trembling to our Grave for when â—is Fury is kindled it sets on fire the foundation of â—he mountains Deut. 32.22 'T is better have all â—he World to grapple with than with God if â—e frown upon us no Creature dare smile If â—e be for us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 â—f God have a Controversie with us who dare â—ake our part or move a Hand or Tongue in our Defence We cannot grapple with him he is â—oo strong for us we cannot flye from him as â—onah thought to do he will over-take us neiâ—her can we hide our selves from him Psal 136 â— c. We cannot struggle out of his hand â—or he is the Almighty and we but despicable Worms if he tread upon us he leaves us dead â—ehind him Before him the Holy Angels cover â—heir faces and all the Infernal Spirits tremble â—n his hand is the soul of every living thing and the â—reath of all mankind Job 12.10 If he with-hold â—ur breath we return to our Dust for we have â—o more than what he puts into us how then â—hall we contend with our Maker Can Chaff â—nd Stubble grapple with a devouring Flame One blast of his Displeasure can blow us into Hell yea Heaven and Hell and All into nothing â—nd how are we like to make our Party good â—gainst him when we cannot move a Finger â—wag a Tongue or fetch a Breath without his â—ssistance Well but let us well consider whether our Cause be good What cause hath God given us to take up Arms against him Hath he â—een a hard Master to us Or with-held our Wages Jonah thought he did well to be angry but was soon convinc'd Job had a mind to quarrel him and seems of any other to have the best Cause but when the Contest began hâ— soon threw down the Cudgels and lays his hand upon his Mouth Hath not God been our greateâ—â— Benefactor and done more for us than all the World ever did or can do Is not he our beâ—â— Friend and shall we become his profest Enemies Many good works have I done among you saith Christ for which of those do you stone me John 10.32 God gave us our Being when we had none and shall we hate him for it We were tâ—â— Clay and he was the Potter and might have dash'd us into pieces with his foot He gave us Reason when he might have made us bruit Beasts as Dogs or Swine or more contemptible Creatures He hath given us Limbs and Senses when otherâ— want them Peace and Plenty yea Life and Liberty and hath made our Lives comfortable to us when we deserve not the Ground we tread upon or the Air we breath in and shall we flye at the Face of God and thus requite the Lord our Maker Nay hath not Christ suffered more for us than any other hath or can do We had sold our selves Bond-slaves to Satan and neither Man nor Angel could have redeemed us out of our Slavery or have paid a Ransom sufficient for us but Christ laid down his Life to free us from the guilt of sin from the filth of sin from the Punishment due for sin from the Curse of the Law the Wrath of God the Slavery of Satan and from Everlasting Damnation And hath he for all this deserved our Malice and Hatred He hath bestowed more upon us than the World hath to bestow 't is he that sends us so many Ambassages for Peace and rains Heavenly Manna so plentifully about our Tents he gives us Promises such as the greatest Kings upon Earth cannot make and make good to their greatest Favourites as of his Spirit his Graces his Son and his Glory And is all this nothing Shall we foster sin in our Bosom that hinders us in the Enjoyment of those promised Blessings and expose us to the wrath of God and the everlasting Destruction of Soul and Body and expose us also to all Miserie 's Temporal Spiritual and Eternal God forbid Well we cannot make our Peace with God till we break our League with Sin and if God be our Enemy and our Enemy he will be if we are at Peace with Sin then we may expect he will treat us as Enemies Well may we fear that every bit of Bread we eat will choak us and every drop of Drink we drink may be our bane and that every Creature may wait for a Commission to end our days that the Floods may drown us as they did the Old World or the Fire consume us as Sodom or the Earth swallow us up as Korah and his Complices or the greatest Judgments that ever we read fell upon Mortal Man may be our Portion Oh what need had we then to leave sorrowing for other things and turn all our Tears into the right Channel that it may drown our sins that expose us to these Miseries and Mischiefs 5. Nay but this is not all for Eternal Death as well as Spiritual and Temporal is the Reward of Sin the everlasting separation of Soul and Body from God which is called The second Death and this is far greater than all the Miseries before mentioned for if the sinner be not reconciled to God which cannot be before sin be mortified he shall be cast into the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 This is the Natural Fruit and Effect of every beloved sin even the everlasting Damnation of Body and Soul a thousand thousand rentings of the Soul from the Body is not comparable to one renting of the Soul from Christ Sin doth that for us that all the Men on Earth and Devils in Hell could never do even pull us out of the Arms of God This threw Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice and Millions of Souls into Hell This brought Death into the World and is the very Sting of Death and if this Sting be not taken out it will sting the Soul to Eternity This imbitters our Lives as you have heard while we are in the World and opens the Door to let us out of the World and will open Hell it self to let us in and is the only bar to keep us from coming out But if Sin were mortified we might with Old Simeon depart in Peace and with Ambrose say I am not ashamed to live nor afraid to dye And with Paul I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Death without his Sting is like Samson without his Hair or like the Drone-Bee without a Sting not
is the Key of God's Treasury those that have it and know how to use it may fetch out what they please Job will trust God though he kill him though by Affliction he crush â—he very breath out of his Body yet will he not â—oose his hold he shall not be so short of him Dum spiro spero saith a Believer nay Dum exâ—iro spero The Righteous Man hath hope in his Death The Woman of Canaan would not be beaten off with two or three repulses like Jacob she wrastled with God till she got the Blessing Grace â—s to the Soul as Ballast is to the Ship it makes â—t more steady when otherwise it would be â—luctuating and wavering A Gracious Man like Caleb follows God fully and keeps himself unspotted in the World Grace keeps the Heart from desponding under the darkest Dispensations of Providence though Trouble hang long on â—et he that believeth will not make hast This â—â—ke a Skilful Physician will extract Soveraign Antidotes out of the rankest Poison David got good by Affliction If there be no help in the World Faith will make a Journey to Heaven and fetch help thence and engage God himself in the Quarrel or sue him on his own Bond. Thou hast said saith Jacob thou wilt do me good deny it if thou canst therefore I expect thou shouldst make good thy Promise Grace is the whole Armour of God wherewith we grapple with Sin the World and the Devil Ephes 6.13 The Shield that beats back the fiery darts of Satan A Catholicon an Universal Medicine against all Maladies of Soul or Body And as it helps us to bear all Burdens so 't is a qualification without which we are fit for no Relations no Offices or Places in Church or Common-wealth nor to perform any Duty to God or Man Though Grace cannot fit every Man for every Office Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius yet 't is such an Ingredient without which a Man is fit for no Place neither can he perform the Relative Duties of any such an Oâ—ye cannot Preach nor Pray Read nor Meditate as he ought or perform any Ministerial Function he is neither fit to be Magistrate Minister Husband Wife Parent or Child Master or Servant for without Grace he can never do the Duties of these Relations for all these Relations require Grace Now Grace being so necessary in the whole course of our Lives let us above all gettings get Grace 2. Consider if Grace be so necessary in the Affairs of this Life then doubtless 't is much more useful in the concerns of another when nothing else can stand us in stead If it will fit us to live it will much more fit us to dye and to leave the World it will bear up the heart under the direful Apprehensions of Death it self it will defend the heart against the venemous Darts thereof and keep the heart from desponding under the apprehensions of it When Gold and Silver Gemms and Jewels will do little good a Man armed and fortified with Grace will dare to meet this Enemy in the Field and treat him as the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory c. The bravest Challenge saith one that ever rang in Death's Ear for when the Heart is defended with this Shield of Grace no venemous Dart can ever pierce it the sting is to such taken out and they may put the Serpent into their Bosom 't is a conquered Enemy lying prostrate at their Feet or rather an Enemy to Nature but a Friend to Grace the same blow that kills the Body sets the Soul at Liberty Now he that hath his Soul garnished with Grace and his Conscience purged from dead works He that hath assurance of the Pardon of his Sin and an Interest in Christ in Heaven and Glory he will not be dash'd out of Countenance with the rugged looks of Death He that hath on the Wedding-Garment needs not fear when he is called to the Supper He that hath Oyl in his Vessel as well as a Lamp in his Hand needs not fear the coming of the Bridegroom nor the Servant that is watching when his Lord comes home Death may kill a Godly Man but cannot hurt him the worst it can do is but to send him to his Father's House the sooner Then Baca shall be turned to Baracha Sighs into Songs and Misery into Majesty then shall the singing of Birds be come then shall they take Possession of their Purchased Inheritance and those Mansions of Glory prepared for them John 14.2 Then they come to Age and shall receive their Kingdom the thoughts of this will comfort the heart of a dying Man and make him say with Old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace c. Luke 2.29 And with Paul Phil. 1.23 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ He that had been in the third Heaven no wonder if nothing would content him on Earth Some clusters of Canaan's Grapes we meet with in the Wilderness which makes us long to go over Jordan 'T is true no Man loves Death for its own sake neither can he it is an Enemy to Nature but when a Believer knows the only way to Paradice is under Death's Flaming Sword and the only way to be freed from all Sorrow is to suffer a little Pain that one blow will free him from Sin and Sorrow the Devil's Temptations and the World's Allurements and set him out of the reach of all his Enemies even in the Bosom of Christ himself Who would be afraid of such a blow Or who would fear the time when his loving Father should send a Messenger for him out of a troublesome World into Eternal Happiness to wipe all Tears from his Eyes and drive all Sorrow from his Heart Can those that really believe there is a reward for the righteous and that they are of that number fear the time when they shall enjoy it Can the Mariner after a dangerous Storm fear to enter into the desired Port or a Prisoner to enjoy his Liberty or a Sick Man his Health or a Weary Man his Rest Let those that enjoy their Pleasures Treasure and Promotions only for term of Life fear the Expiration of their Lease whose Lives do only defer their Torments Let those I say fear Death and well they may and did they but know the sequel it would send them trembling to their Graves But I fear many that yet have honest Hearts yet live at such uncertainty that they would willingly spin out the thread of their lives to a great length before they were willing to dye though it were accompanied with many Troubles many of them under pretence they are not yet prepared the more shame for them is not their main Work done Why then do they not set about it What have they done all this while If God should add Twenty Years more yet to their days will not this be their
her nor forsake her that she shall want nothing that is good and all things shall work together for her good Sometimes indeed Physick is as necessary as Food and Affliction is the best Tutor David found it so if they bear scars for his sake he will change them into Beauty-spots if he frown upon them 't is but for a moment but with everlasting kindness will he remember them weeping may continue for a night but joy cometh in the morning Grace makes both the Person and Performances pleasing to God 't is the Incense he loves 'T is only the Gracious Soul that hath Adoption Justification Sanctification Pardon of Sin Communion with God and that shall enjoy him for ever This is such a Chain of Pearl that the World were it sold at the worth cannot Purchase Afflictions cause us to seek Promises they send us to seek Faith it sends us to Prayer Prayer goes to God for help Grace it is that differences between God's Children and the Devil's Brats and will difference between the Sheep and the Goats and makes a man more excellent than his neighbour and therefore we cannot buy this Gold too dear 4. Consider Grace will not only bring us to Death but will do us good after Death and here nothing else can do it among other things it will qualifie us to leave a Good Name behind us which will yield a sweet-smelling savour in the succeeding Generation When the Name of the Wicked shall stink the memory of the Just shall be blessed Prov. 10.7 If we be good and do good we need not fear but our Name will survive us Now A good Name is better than precious Oyntment Eccles 7.1 The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance when the Name of the Wicked shall rot his Lamp shall be put out in obscurity and shall leave a stinking Snuff behind The Names of Abraham Isaac Jacob David Daniel and Job and such like how sweet do they smell in the Church of God When Cain and Judas Nero Caligula Domitian and other such Persecuting Tyrants are mentioned with detestation as the Burden of the Earth and the Plague-sore of the World but with what Reverence do we mention the Martyrs that suffered under them The Scribes and Pharisees which were bad enough themselves yet adorned the Sepulchers of the Prophets and Righteous Men and however the Godly are slighted at present in the Generation to come they will be honoured when the Name of all their bloody Persecutors shall stink But this is not all that Grace will do for us after Death for it will accompany us to Judgment also which the World will not cannot do for it shall be burnt up and if it could would do us little good 't is Grace alone that can make the Judge our Friend When Death hath left us and we are rushing into the infinite Ocean of Eternity Grace is our Pilot to steer our Course and land us in the Haven of Bliss and when we appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ this is his Sheep-mark whoever bears it shall stand upon his right hand when all other wears the Devil's Brand his Image and Portraiture unmortified Sin and there shall be thrust and croâ—ded together with the Devil and his Angels upon the left Grace is the Image of God renewed in the Soul which he will own where-ever he sees it and he that confesseth Christ before Men him will he confess before his Father and he that suffers with him shall also raign with him There is a difference in this Life between the Righteous and the Wicked the one are called the Seed of the Woman the other the Seed of the Serpent the Just and the Unjust Believers and Unbelievers Righteous and Wicked the Children of God and the Children of the Devil the Wheat and the Tares the good Fish and the bad the foolish Virgins and the wise c. Now 't is Grace that maketh this difference for by Nature we are all the children of wrath digged out of the same hole of the Pit and hewen out of the same Rock God differenceth Men by these gracious Qualifications and would have Ministers difference them also in their Doctrine and not give Holy things to dogs And as they are distinguished by God's Electing Love and by the Operation of his Spirit so have they a different Portion both in this World and that to come The one feeds upon Heavenly Allowance upon the sincere milk of the Word and the bread which came down from Heaven the other finds no relish in it and in the World to come the one will have a Portion in Heaven the other in Hell but there are many will not believe there is a Heaven or a Hell but ere long Experience will convince them Now the difference that there is is God's own work for there was nothing in us or that could be done by us that could deserve any thing at the hands of God his Electing Love is the Spring and Foundation of it He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hâ—rdeneth He sent his Son to Redeem them out of the World to pay their Debts to qualifie their Souls with Grace and after to bring them to Glory when others remain still under the Devil's Bondage When Faith hath knit that Gordion-knot between Christ and the Soul and she can say My beloved is mine and I am his when the Marriage is consummate between them all that the Husband hath is hers and what she hath is his then may she lay claim to his Merits his Righteousness his Graces and his Glory and he partakes with her in her Sins and in her Sorrows all her Debts are made over to him and he helps to bear her Sorrows and upon this the Soul though not Legally yet is Angelically Righteous God changeth both the Relation and also the Disposition By Grace Persecuting Saul becomes a Preaching Paul and of Lions Men are made Lambs Now God Adopts such for his Sons and for his Daughters and gives them the Priviledge of Children calls them by his own Name sets them about his own Work lists them under his own Banner maintains them at his own Charges and at last will lodge them in his own Bosom when all the rest of the World fight under the Devil's Banner and do his Drudgery God hath a Reward for the Righteous though haply they have little in hand they have the more in Reversion they shall have Eternal Life when the other shall have Everlasting Torments Hypocrites haply may counterfeit Christ's Sheep-mark as some have done the Broad Seal but though they may deceive others haply themselves yet can they not deceive God the Lord knoweth who are his The Inscription of his Seal is Holiness to the Lord and they cannot put off their Bristow Stone for a true Diamond But as I told you Grace will not leave a Man till it bring him to Judgment and speak for him to the Judge who shall
sadly and trust God when Deliverance is out of sight Hic labor hoc opus est To fetch Comfort from God when the World affords us none is a Work of Grace Hab. 3.17 18. A spark of Divine Love once kindled in the Breast never goes out Now saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13.13 there remains Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity And why Because 't is longest lived The Wisdom of the Saints as also the Folly of the World is seen in this the one respects Eternity the other only this Transitory Life things subject to Vanity and Vexation that vanish as a curious Picture drawn upon the Ice in a Sun-shine day that soon dissolves into Water The World is like a Lottery Men come to it with their Heads full of Hope and return with their Hands full of Blanks and their Hearts full of Sorrow for there are twenty Blanks for one Prize There are many fair Promises made by the Devil and the World but few performed and our own hearts help to cheat us But he that Trades in Heavenly Riches never meets with disappointments they will find it far beyond their highest conceptions These things 't is true are hardly gotten but will prove well in the wearing and pay well for our pains Heaven is not got so easily as the World imagines when they moil and toil for the Earth they think Heaven may be had with a wet finger or into the bargain They are like Timotheus that dreamed that Towns and Castles fell into his Toyles while he slept they think a Lord have Mercy upon us will serve turn for Heaven to wast them over but they will find their mistake the Way is narrow they must walk in and the Gate strait they must enter which they cannot do with a load upon their backs We must work for Heaven as well as wish for it yea wrastle and strive to enter in at the strait gate 't is the violent that take it by force and if it be set to Sale all must go to buy this Pearl I have read of a Christian that beihg offered great Riches and Preferments to change his Religion he enquired whether it were durable Riches they offered him he would deal for no Treasures that were not Eternal nor sell his Immortal Soul for transitory Pelf that Treasure that is subject to Rust and Rapine will not do our work but that which is as durable as the days of Heaven and Eternity it self which we may draw out a Thousand Years hence without Rust or Canker These outward things may draw Tears from our Eyes but never will drive Sorrow from our Hearts if we embrace them we hug a Cloud instead of Juno 't is but to hunt Butter-flies to foul our own Fingers A Crown which is esteemed the top of Humane Felicity is scarce worth as one saith that had tryed it stooping for if it lay in the street for if we consider the Cares Fears Jealousies Dangers and Troubles that accompany it we should not envy them the Honour that bear the Burden 'T is Wisdom therefore above all things to get Grace and then we shall have Christ and Glory Men make a great dust and stir in the World and all for the Body when there is not one day's Preparation for the Immortal Soul many are ashamed to be seen in this Fashion but were the Body transparent and could we see their filthy spotted and leprous Souls through their Velvet Robes they had cause indeed to be ashamed to be seen in the streets Now they matter not the Society of the Godly but ere long they will never be troubled with it again Now they want time to Examine themselves as to their future Estate but then they will have time enough to reflect upon their fore-past Follies the means they then had the possibility nay the probability of their Conversion and how they lost Heaven for a Lust how they have been warned of this a thousand times and that now it is too late and the Door is shut the Day of Mercy is over and will never dawn again God hath long expected Fruit and finding none will lay down his Basket and take up his Ax and cut down these fruitless Trees and throw them into the Fire and open the Flood-gates of Divine Vengeance and pour in upon them All Hopes will then be taken away and nothing but Despair left in the room Now where is the World and what can it do for thee But Grace will shelter from all this those that have this Oyl shall go in the other shall be shut out Matth. 25.11 12. What will these Men have to say for themselves then Will they plead what Service they have done for God Alas this will not serve their turn Mat. 7.22 Will they desire the Mountains to fall upon them and the Hills co cover them Alas this cannot benefit them Rev. 6.16 17. What will the Worldling by this time think of his Portion Will it prove currant Coin in the other World Is not Grace now the better Portion that will lodge a Man in the Bosom of Christ and make him drink of the Rivers of pleasures at his right hand for evermore amongst those Heavenly Quiristers the Angels and glorified Saints singing Hallelujahs together when all tears shall be wiped away and sin and sorrow shall be no more Where they shall be freed from all Miseries set out of the reach of all Enemies free from all Dangers Temptations Oppressions and Troubles in the perfect Enjoyment of all Happiness and lye in the Everlasting Embraces of their dear Redeemer Now Reader what dost think of Grace Is it worth having If yet to prevent the Furnace thou fall down to the Idol thy Blood will be upon thy own Head Lesson 4. The Fourth Lesson this Providence teacheth us is this That seeing God hath taken away one in the Prime and Flower of her Age and thereby manifesteth our Mortality then it teacheth us that the Godly have not long to suffer for when Death comes their Miseries are at an end for Death will set them out of the reach of Danger this is the last Enemy they have to grapple with and this cannot hurt us for Death doth but lance the Ulcer which otherwise could never have been cured and let out the Corruption though it be an Enemy to Nature 't is a Friend to Grace that blow that kills the Body sets the Soul at liberty Of all Men in the World none are greater Sufferers than the Godly read Heb. 11.35 c. But though their Afflictions are sharp they are but short Heaviness may continue for a night but joy comes in the morning Psal 30.5 Then their Sighing will be turned into Singing and their Musing into Melody this World is their Purgatory and can they expect Pleasure Nay their Hell all the Hell they shall ever have and can they expecâ— Ease But here is their Comfort they can through it and beyond it In
of our Corruptions he throws in many times Pestilent Temptations and horrid Injections which being resisted become not our sins yet are they matter of sorrow to think that our hearts are the Soil where such wicked Seed is sown and 't is matter of fear also lest sometime or other the Temptation should be owned and the Soul become Mother to the Devils Brats Christ indeed though free from Sin was yet not free from Temptation the Devil's Wild-fire fell upon wet Tinder he had no Corruption as we have to give it Entertainment He seeks sometimes by his Temptations to make us have hard thoughts of God yea sometimes to question whether there be a God or whether the Scriptures be the Word of God or whether the Soul be Immortal or dye not with the Body or whether there be hereafter a Life of retribution c. And many times injects thoughts of Pride Sensuality Hypocrisie Revenge c. Now these though not consented to must needs be troublesome to think such Tares should be sown in our Fields though if we cry out with the Ravish'd Virgin it will become his sin though our sorrow He fits his Temptations as the Fisher doth his Baits to our Inclinations if a Man be inclined to Drunkenness he doth not thrust him by Head and Shoulders into the Ale-house this would affright him but stands behind the Bush and sets a Companion to call him for the Adulterer he hath a Delilah some Beautiful Strumpet if she be not Beautiful he teaches her the Art to Paint Spot and use other Alluring Tricks He hath a Wedge for Achan and a Reward for Judas and an All this will I give thee for Christ himself Now while we are on this side Heaven we are in continual danger and great cause we have to dread these Snares seeing so many are taken in them if we resist them we are like to be undone also they that will not howl with the Wolves are like to be devoured by the Wolves If we escape with our Estates 't is well if with our Lives 't is better if the Devil cannot prevail by fair means he will use foul A Godly Man in this World is like an honest Matron that is confined in a House with some lustful Letcher who is always solliciting her to Lewdness and though she deny him with disdain will yet give her no rest So though the Devil have a thousand Repulses he will not desist and if one Temptation sail he will try another though we cry out with the Ravish'd Virgin Deut. 22.25 yet sometimes he makes a Rape upon us and injects his filthy Seed against our wills but 't is our Natural propensity makes us fear a Surprisal our Hearts being so deceitful Jer. 17.9 and so many tall Cedars so fouly shaken in our days But when Death comes the Devil's Work is done and nothing remains but that he receive his Wages and though he and his Instruments trample upon us now we shall then trample them under foot Rom. 16.22 His Horn will be broken and become a Trumpet for our Triumph But suppose as much liberty were granted him in Heaven as he hath upon Earth to use as many Temptations and spread as many Snares as now he doth what would it avail There will be no Corruption to work upon neither any Bait that would be taking suppose he should say to the Saints All this will I give you as he did to Christ and a stronger Bait I know not of any he hath Suppose he should offer and really give them Crowns and Kingdoms to leave Heaven's Glory and follow him who would leave an Eternal Kingdom of Glory for a Transitory Earthly Dominion Now indeed we live out of sight of this Heavenly Inheritance and the things he offers are sensibly perceived and hence it is he prevails with poor blind Creatures that can see but under their Feet but there the scales will be dropt from our Eyes and we shall see the worth of the one and the vanity of the other one Glimpse whereof made Paul account all things here below as dirt and dung It must be a lovely Object that will draw a Believer out of the Arms of Christ and make him forsake the Glory of Heaven something that must be better and more lovely but that is not in the Devil s keeping no no his Work is done and he will deceive the Nations no more He works here upon Men's Ignorance but there it will be expell'd here we live in danger but there we are out of harms-way we need not there fear his frowns nor regard his smiles for as he cannot tempt us so he cannot hurt us neither the World which is his great Assistance which here assists him in laying his Snares and is the Bait wherewith he baits his Hook but then it will be no Load-stone to a glorified Saint Worldly Profit Pleasure and Honour are here things that take with Flesh and Blood but not in Heaven they are not indeed here nec vero nec nostra but then they will be meer non entities and no such thing in being as we call so here for all Earthly things will be burnt up Here we are in continual danger lest some Sense or other suck in the Poison we can hardly open our Eyes but we let sin into the Soul something or other to provoke Pride Passion Covetousness Uncleanness or one hateful Lust or other the like we may say of our Ears and other Senses No wonder then that Job made a covenant with his eyes Job 31.1 And our Saviour bids us Take heed how we hear Almost all we converse with are infectious Persons and have some Plague-sore running upon them And may we not say of most Families as of the Egyptians there is not a House where some dead Person is not nay many whole Families yea many Parishes where there is scarce one alive 't is a very Golgotha a place of dead Men. Nay our very Bodies prove Instrumental to betray the Soul nay every Creature we are conversant with proves no better but prove Temptations to draw or drive away the Soul from Christ and every Enjoyment proves a Snare every Estate and Condition whether we are Rich or Poor in Honour or Disgrace in Health or Sickness in Pleasure or Pain at Liberty or in Prison Bond or Free every Estate hath its peculiar Temptations every Calling from the most Honourable to the Base every Relation Magistrate or Subject Minister or People Husband or Wife Parents or Children Masters or Servants have their Temptations Male or Female Fair or Foul Married or Unmarried Young or Old Poverty hath its Temptations and Riches more Agur's wish Neither Poverty nor Riches but Food convenient seems the best Choice Our Cloathing oftentimes proves a Snare if gay to Pride or Arrogance if poor to Repining and Discontent Our Table also becomes a Snare if well furnish'd to Gluttony Drunkenness and Excess if not to envy others that have better So that there
their Dross Love will run in the right Channel and be set upon right Objects God shall have all our Love we shall love his Creatures by a reflect act we shall love God for himself and his Creatures for his sake and where we see most of God there we shall love most now we complain we cannot love him but then we cannot choose but love him for who can be in a fire and not burn Our Love to him here though true in its kind yet is full of Imperfections and like an Ague hath its heats and colds but there is no intermissions it admits of no cooling Ignorance here makes the Pearl of great price undervalued and most Swine rather delight in Swill and with Aesop's Cock prefer a grain of Barley before it but these will be better acquainted with its worth The Godly here have but a Viaticum something to animate them in the way and to stay their stomack but the Feast is for their Journey 's end where they shall drink Wine with Christ in his Father's Kingdom 'T is a Question with some whether there are degrees of Glory in Heaven a full Answer will be best made by the Inhabitants themselves Something may be spoken to it as to probability at least there will be no difference as to the duration for Eternity admits not of addition or diminution and as for degrees in general every one shall enjoy as much Happiness as they are capable of as much as their Vessels will hold and there shall be no cause of complaint or repining at others nay or of desiring more for themselves for this argues Imperfection of Happiness which Heaven owns not Yet it seems probable there will be degrees The righteous then will shine as the firmament but those that turn many to God as the stars for ever and ever Dan. 12.3 Now the Stars shine brighter than the Firmament and some stars differ from others in glory There are degrees of Torment For he that knew his Lord's will and did it not was to have the more stripes Luke 12.47 And Christ tells us It should be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah for Tyre and Sidon in the day of Judgment than for those Cities he preached to and they not repented Mat. 11.21 And I wish England be not sick of this Disease in making light of Christ the Beast and the false Prophet were cast alive into the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone Rev. 19.20 c. and this seems to be a higher degree of Torment than others have And again the Scripture speaks of a greater degree of Condemnation and that every one shall receive a Reward according to his Works and some being greater sinners than others are Justice requires they should suffer more and the unfaithful Servant Mat. 24.51 hath his Portion appointed with Hypocrites which seems some peculiar Punishment Now there being degrees of Torments in Hell and he that deserves most Punishment shall have most why not of Glory in Heaven where he that hath done most Work shall have most Wages And although I dare not say there are Nine Hierarchies of Angels in Heaven as the Papists do yet we read of Angels and Arch-Angels as well as of the Devil and his Angels and why not then degrees of glorified Saints He that by his Pound gained ten Pounds was made Ruler over ten Cities when he that had gained five Pounds was Ruler only over five Cities and what this signifies but a higher degree of Glory I know not Luke 19.16 And Christ promises his Apostles that followed him in the regeneration they should sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Mat. 19.28 which Honour is not promiscuously promised to all And those that have forsaken any thing for Christ have greater Promises than others have Those therefore that desire a greater degree of Glory than others let them improve their Talents better than others do Another Question may be Whether the Saints in Glory shall know each other In Answer to it I say if it make for their future Glory doubtless they will for they shall want nothing of Perfection and the Scripture looks very favourably upon the Affirmative Christ tells us That many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven but the Children of the Kingdom shall be thrust out And shall they sit with them and not know them In the Transfiguration the Apostle knew Moses and Elias and the Rich Glutton in Hell knew Abraham and Lazarus in his Bosom And is it probable that Men living here on Earth some few Years when the Understanding is clouded with Ignorance and the Memory with Forgetfulness know one another that they should not know one another through Eternity when those Mists are blown over Some also question whether the Souls of Believers go immediately into Heaven at the Death of the Body and this seems to me as plain as the other 't is Christ's Promise to the Penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise And this I judge was neither in Hell nor Purgatory for I know not where those are called Paradice Lazarus when he dyed was carryed into Abraham's Bosom where he was comforted while the Rich Man was tormented Luke 16.25 But I suppose there is little comfort in Purgatory-flames this Fire is but newly kindled and were it not to warm the Pope's Kitchen would be soon extinguished In a word the Scripture mentions Heaven and Hell as the Receptacles of separated Souls but there is no mention of another place Some also enquire if they go immediately into Glory whether they have at present the full degrees of Glory which they shall have hereafter I Answer Secret things belong to God but things revealed to us It seems probable that though they have as much Glory as thay Entitle them truly Happy yet there will be a further degree added at the Resurrection when Soul and Body shall be reunited and the Sentence of Absolution past upon them Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom c. Then as the wicked go into everlasting torments so the righteous shall go into life eternal Mat. 25.41 And thus you have heard of the Happiness of Believers but the duration of their Happiness is the chiefest Flower in their Garland for were it but to continue a thousand thousand Years it would be a Hell to them in the midst of Heaven to think that an end would come and it would make them they could little rejoyce in their Enjoyments But the consideration that it will be for ever is a great addition to their Happiness 't is to be for ever and for ever Dan. 12.2 And 't is called eternal Glory 2 Tim. 2. And Reason shews it must be so for the Soul is immortal and the Reward promised is such and this Enjoyment is called Eternal Life So then you see proved what before was asserted
That seeing all must dye the Righteous have not long to suffer for Death will set an end to all their Miseries and enter them into their Eternal Enjoyments of God and Glory and put them into the possession of those Mansions of Glory prepared for them by God before the foundations of the world And then any Man may judge whether there be any great cause why they should fear Death which is the only Cure of all their Miseries and the only Porter to open Heaven-gates to them It remains that we speak something of those whose Happiness expires with their Life and their Miseries commence at their Death Lesson 5. The Fifth Lesson this Providence teacheth is That seeing Men and Women may be taken away in the Flower of their Age and Death can put a period to their Lives then what a miserable condition are Wicked Men in when one day may put an end to all their Happiness and all their Hopes for both their Happiness and their Hopes is only in this Life and shall expire at their Death for whether they are Noble or Base Rich or Poor Young or Old by what Names or Titles soever they are dignified or distinguished if they have no better a Portion than the World can bestow upon them 't is at the longest for term of Life and at Death their lease expires Their Glory then will not follow them and their Pomp will take her leave Oh what a change Death will make among many of our greatest Gallants their Happiness depends upon a ticklish point and hangs but by the thread of their Lives and there are a thousand Diseases Distempers Casualties and Accidents ready to cut the thread and every Creature waits but for a Divine Commission to stop their breath and they are not sure of one day to an end The Experience of this very Age proves this point fully how many hundred thousands were in Ireland stript of all in a moment and left as poor as Job and many lost their Lives with their Estates The like may we hear of in other Countries in London an hundred thousand dyed in one Year and what a change did Death make to them that have their Portion only in this Life What the Wise Man saith Prov. 23.5 Rich's take wings and fly away We see by Experience many rich at Night and poor ere Morning bâ—t we also see many Rich Men snatch'd away from their Riches who are well o're Night and deâ—d in the Morning yet many Men hunt and havk after Riches and never overtake them and if they do cannot hold them many purchase them too dear even with the loss of their Souls and the shipwrack of a good Conscience and these make a hard bargain for the Soul is more worth than all the World Mat. 16.26 That a Wicked Man is not long to enjoy his Happiness is made out in the following Considerations 1. Consider at Death all Men of what Degree soever from the least to the greatest will leave behind them all these outward Enjoyments viz. Riches that very many so much glory in and trust to and cannot take with them the worth of a shoe-latchet Woe then to them that have no other Portion what will their poor Souls do to Eternity though now their Riches be their strong hold Prov. 18.11 yet can they not help in the evil day Zeph. 1.18 Yet here they are honoured as Gods but they are but Dung-hill Deities most Men dote upon them as much as the Athenians did upon Diana's Temple and Offer not only their Children but their Souls unto them But let their Attainments or Enjoyments be what they will at Death they must leave all behind them Kings and Emperours must leave their Crowns behind them and the Bishop his Mitre the Pope himself not excepted then those that have made a great hurly-burly in the World could not satisfie their Dust will be contained in a little Urn. At Death the Emperour must lay by his Robes and the Beggar his Rags for Death will lodge them in the same Bed and set them upon even ground The griping Usurer must leave his Gold and cease to fill his Bags with Silver when his own Mouth shall be fill'd with Earth Kings then must bid farewel to their Crowns and Kingdoms as Solomon to his Ivory Throne and our great Gallants their well-contrived Houses though they call them after their own names Psal 49.11 c. Haply they may leave them to Fools haply to Strangers haply to Enemies to enjoy It was the Speech of a good Man to a great Lord when he shewed him his sumptuous Buildings pleasant Gardens Walks Orchards and other Rarities Sir saith he you must make sure of Heaven or you will never be recompenced in the Earth for all the Pains and Cost you have bestowed here Yet many like the Rich Man in the Gospel Luke 12. sing a Requiem to their Souls and promise themselves long Life when haply they have not a day to live They put the evil day far from them and because they see not Death think Death heeds not them when he is even staring them in the Face They lodge Riches nearest their Heart and from it they expect their greatest Security but the Mortal Sithe is too hard for the Royal Scepter yet many consider it not but buy Faggots for their own burning for the rust of their Gold will eat their flesh as fire James 5.3 Here they have their Summer and their Winter Houses curious Parlours Banqueting-Houses Rooms richly adorned soft Beds and easie Couches but if they have no better Portion Death will strip them of this and lodge them in a stinking Dungeon and darksom Cell full of deadly Horror void of Light or Comfort a noisom sulphurous stinking Prison here are no curious Gardens or pleasant Walks for Recreation neither is there any thing to recreate the Eyes the Ears the Smell the Tast or the Touch the Object of Sight will be Infernal Devils and Damned despairing Wretches the Melody the groans and sighs the roaring yelling scrietching of damned Souls for the Taste pinching Hunger and parching Thirst or something that is worse their Smell is burning Brimstone and their Touch the scorching Flames Oh the Pains the Time the Cost and Charges many Men are at in adorning their Habitations Gardens Walks Orchards c. when all this while the poor Soul lyes neglected and slighted no Tree in the Orchard must grow disordered but must be pruned muck'd and manured when in the Soul nothing is in order no Weed must grow in the Garden when no Vice must be weeded out of the Soul Here they have pleasant Walks and Summer-shady Bowers their Rich Pastures Pleasant Meadows their Flocks and Herds their numerous Cattle both small and great and whatever their hearts can desire that can be purchased for Love or Money but Death will strip them to the skin and they shall carry nothing hence neither can they call ought their own but Tortures and
of Peace called home Hearing Reading Praying Meditating which were of use and now our Duty can then do us no good no Petition now can be accepted the Spirit hath now done striving here the worst of Sinners call God Father and would fain adopt the Devil's Brats to be God's Children but it will then appear these profligate Wretches are none of the Off-spring of Heaven for God will own no such Children here they are not perswadable but then their Consciences will inform them and their Torments instruct them that their courses were not good now Heavens Glory though never so lively set forth doth not much affect them their Eyes are not opened to behold it but had they but a glimpse of it as the Apostles had in the Transfiguration or such a sight as Paul had in the third Heaven it would convince them 'T is storied of Nicostratus that cunning Artist That seeing an admirable Piece of Work looked at it with admiration being observed he was asked by one why he looked so intent upon it replied Oh Sir had you my Eyes you would wonder as well as I at this inimitable Piece of Work And had the men of the World their Eyes open or had they ever tasted one dram of the Rivers of Pleasure which are at the right hand of God for evermore they would be of another mind they would see the Riches Honour Carnal Delights Friends and Favourites yea whatever the World affords we can spare but God we cannot spare And to miscarrying Souls the consideration that the Time was the enjoyment of these coelestial things was possible for us as well as for others we were set upon the Stage of the World to play our part we had the same Means Ministers Ordinances Helps and Furtherances as others had the motions of the Spirit and the Checks of our own Consciences as they but the Devil blinded our Eyes and hardened our Hearts and the World bewitched us but all these Means and Helps are gone and 't is too late alas too late to repent we indulged our Flesh we satisfied our Lusts we contented our carnal Companions and we deluded one another Nay we had not only a possibility of Glory but a fair probability We had many Convictions upon our Spirits that our way was not good and that the way of Holiness was to be chosen hence we had many Resolutions to alter our Courses yea especially in our Sickness and Distress we made many Promises yea Vows and Covenants to amend yea set upon the performances of some Duties and refrained from some Sins and made some Profession of Religion and were almost Christians and yet suffered the Temptations of Satan the Alurements of the World and the Enticements of our own Corruptions and the Perswasions of our wicked Companions to stifle these hopeful Beginnings these perswaded us there was time enough for Repentance and that we had many a fair day yet to live and now Death hath taken us away in our Sins cursed be the time that ever we listened to these Syren Songs which lull'd us asleep in the Cradle of Security we were not far from the Kingdom of Heaven but for want of a little more we shall never come there and now our Sun is set and will never rise again our day is over that will never dawn and the night is come that no man can work our golden hours are over and our Opportunities are lost and that sweet Gale of Mercy that once we had will never blow upon us more Oh that we were intrusted with one Year more the World should see what Reformed persons we would be we would live as mortified a Life as ever Saint did upon the Earth and scorn with the highest Disdain the Pleasures Profit and Honours of the World how exactly would we live how painfully would we work out our Salvation how would we watch our Hearts and our Tongues and order our Actions but alas these are vain Wishes our Time is gone our Glass is run out our Opportunity lost and our Hopes are perished God hath forsaken us and become our Enemy a Crown of Glory was once offered upon easie Terms but the Market-day is over and will never come again it was under our Feet and we would not stoop for it Life and Death were set before us and we had our Choice Heaven was offered and we refused it and chose the World before it and lodged it in the best Room of our Hearts and now it hath deceived us we should have forsaken all for Christ but we forsake Christ and all for a Lust we indulged the Flesh yielded to the Temptation and made a woful Choice for a few vanishing Pleasures we parted with Heavenly Joys and in the room had endless easeless and remediless Torments it had been better for us that we had been torn in pieces with wild Horses than to have yielded to the Temptations of Sin as we have done Now we find our Minister's Words true which warned us of the bitter Fruits of Sin but alas too late our time is gone and will not be recalled cursed be the time we fell into such lewd Company How did we delude each other to Destruction now I see the Fruits the Effects and Ends of all our merry Meetings drunken Matches of our merry Songs and wanton Catches and all our effeminate Dalliance how much better might the time have been spent in Prayer Hearing and Meditation Taverns Ale-houses and Whore-houses have been our Ruine These or such-like will be the sad Complaints of miscarrying Souls for when God forsakes them all that Good is will leave them then must they bid farewel to the Saints and Angels for ever for they will be in the presence of God to Eternity and had they but enjoyed them one day in Heaven now all their Corruptions are done away they would better know their worth and their own loss but Heaven and Hell as they are out of sight so they are out of mind but those that mind them of it are like Elijah accounted the Troublers of Israel and like Paul Pestilent Fellows for they at present scorn the Society of the Godly and then the Godly will scorn them they shall then reap the Fruit of their own Folly which will be a large Harvest But among all their Losses they shall lose their Souls also which Loss is considerable the Soul being of more value than the World Mat. 16.26 and this will be an aggravation to them they sold them for nothing Yet this Loss signifies not the annihilation of the Soul or that it shall be made nothing this would be joyful News to them for upon that Condition they would be willing the Devil should tear it into a thousand pieces supposing it divisible so he would tear it into nothing But this cannot be the Soul will run parallel with the longest Line of Eternity neither can the Faculties thereof be lost the Understanding Memory Conscience will remain and be much
Boys will be such indeed when they come there for Roaring and Yelling will be their best Musick and all shall dance after this Pipe and bear a share in this Consort Oh that Men would be wise before it be too late and Hell hath shut her Mouth upon them for then they will have no rest day nor night but it is the duration that makes up the Misery compleat Did the Torments endure but a Hundred or a Thousand Years though it were long yet it would be some comfort that an end would come but the word Never is a Hell in the midst of Hell Were a Man in perfect Health and Strength adjudged to lye upon a soft Feather Bed without stirring Hand or Foot for a Year's space though he had the comfort of Friends Meat Drink and other Necessaries it would be thought a great Punishment much more if he lay upon a red-hot Gridiron and could be preserved with Life But what is either of these to Hell-Torments or a Year to Eternity But their Torment must run parallel with the Life of God the days of Heaven and the longest line of Eternity and when they have past as many Thousand Millions of Years as there are Piles of Grass upon the Earth Stars in Heaven Hairs upon Man Beasts Sands upon the Sea-shore Feathers upon all Fowl and Scales and Fins upon all Fish yet will their Misery be no whit abated or any nearer to an end than the first day they were cast into it for were this innumerable Number taken from Eternity it is never the less Oh Eternity Eternity who can judge of thee or find thee out If the Earth were converted into Paper and the Sea into Ink and every Grass-pile into Pens and every Sand upon the Sea-shore were a skilful Arithmetician and all of them with their conjoyned Labours when they had cast up their greatest Sums and added them together yet would it not reach Eternity Nay if the whole Firmament were written from end to end with Arithmetical Figures it would fall short Oh what then but Horror and Despair will seize upon miscarrying Souls when all their hopes are dash'd then will they seek Death but shall not find it Oh that these pains would break my Heart and end my Life say they Oh that I might at last be extinct or that these Infernal Spirits would tear me in pieces till they had rent me to nothing Oh that I had never had a Being cursed be my Father that begat me and the Womb that bare me cursed be those Companions of mine that helped to undo me and betray me into my Enemies hands Such as these are like to be the wishes that Eternity will extract from tormented Souls O that the consideration thereof would make Men wise before it be too late But if Death find us unprepared this that I have described will be our condition for ever which God forbid Lesson 6. The Sixth Lesson that this Providence teacheth us is this That seeing this our Friend is taken away in the midst of her days in her full strength while her breasts were full of milk and her bones moistened with marrow Job 21.24 This teacheth all but especially us that are of greater Age that survive her how necessary 't is for us to make Preparation for our own Death for if God deal thus with the green Tree what shall be done to the dry Young Men may dye Old Men must dye for we know neither the day nor the hour wherein our Lord and Master will come 'T is good therefore to watch every day and every hour we know not when he will send his Messenger to us to Command us to give an account of our Steward-ship for we shall be no longer Stewards We usually say That should be well done that can be but once done but we can dye but once 't is appointed unto all men once to dye and after death the Judgment Heb. 9.27 Here is no room for a second Error as we say in War As the Tree falls so it lyes whether to the North or to the South so as Death leaves us so Judgment shall find us Now Death is no Fear-babe t is the King of Terrors and a Terror to Kings Hell is no Scare-crow neither Eternity a Jesting matter the Soul that is in danger is no Trifle but our chiefest Jewel and Salvation and Damnation are matters of Moment things of great Concern Now a Man would think that in Matters of such Concern it were not needful to use many words to make us mind it when we are earnest enough in lesser matters but 't is evident we are all faulty in some degree or other and the most altogether negligent Were but our Houses on fire over our heads we need not many Arguments to seek to save our selves and to quench the Fire Were we in danger of Drowning we need not many Arguments to perswade us to lay hold upon something or other to help us out Were we pursued with an implacable Enemy that sought our Lives or with a roaring Lion or ranging Bear we should double our Diligence and amend our Pace and use all means to escape the Danger And is the Soul so contemptible a thing that we matter it so little It is without our Diligence prevent it in danger to be drown'd in the Lake of Perdition and to be burnt in the Fire that never goes out and is pursued with those Infernal Furies that seek to devour her and yet we make but a little hast to rescue her But are our Houses our Estates our Bodies or our Lives to be preferred before the Immortal Soul the best part of Man And is a Moment of Time more to us than Eternity Do we take so much care what to eat and what to drink and wherewith to be cloathed and so little how the Soul is fed or cloathed decked or adorned This doubtlesly would bespeak our Folly Whatever the World dream or say to the contrary Heaven will be found to the Possessors of it a real Happiness and whatever Cost or Charge Pains or Labour we bestow a good Peny-worth and Hell will be found a real Misery and whatever we have into the Bargain we shall be losers the Rich Glutton found it so and many more here the worm dyes not and the fire never goes out One day in Heaven will make us forget all our Miseries on Earth and one day in Hell will make us forget all our fore-past Pleasures Now while we are unprepared for Death there is but the thread of our Lives between us and endless easeless and remediless Torments and this must needs be an uneasie condition to a considerate Man And which makes it the worse Death is always gnawing at this thread which if once broken all the World cannot piece it or yield us any relief Now in serious matters wise men should be serious Beggars when their wants are serious they will leave their Canting and beg in earnest as also
a Title to Glory cleared up to us can do us no hurt but will do us good and is worth all the Pains and Cost we can be at about it but the neglect of it is as you have heard dangerous and deadly Our Pains and Cost which we are at about it will not be lost but well recompensed and never any one was made miserable by it when Ten thousand times ten thousand have been undone by the neglect Death comes never the sooner when 't is expected or to those that with the Apostle dye daily 1 Cor. 15 31. neither will it spare men the more because they put it out of their sight And they put far off the evil day Amos 6.3 no no the Lord of such servants shall come in a day they know not of and in an hour they are not aware of Death is not blind though we wink he that is fit to dye is fit to live and truly no other for the same Qualifications serve for the one and for the other He that is prepared for Death needs not to fear it and he that fears not Death needs fear no Enemy no though the whole Creation were turned into Lyons and Bears yea incarnate Devils about him kill him they may hurt him they cannot the worst they can do is to send him to his Father's House the sooner If we are prepared Death may strike us but cannot sting us for the sting is taken out 1 Cor. 15.55 and if it take us away by the Hand of Violence Twenty years in Heaven will make amends for Twenty years upon Earth which we might possibly have lived and if we receive as much Wages for half a day as other for the whole what cause is there of Complaint When our Debt to Nature is paid our Work is done and our Rest follows when we have been threshed fifted and winnowed and the Chaff blown away we shall be laid up as good Corn in our Father's Grainary when the Tares shall be bundl'd up Swearers with Swearers Drunkards with Drunkards and one Adulterer with another and cast into unquenchable fire when we have Oyl in our Vessels as well as Lamps in our Hands then we shall enter in with the Bridegroom when the rest shall be shut out Mat. 25.10 c. but he that comes in without a Wedding-Garment on his Back shall not go out without Bolts on his Heels Mat. 22.12 Take him bind him hand and foot and cast him into outward darkness He must go from the Table to the Tormentor But many other are the Benefits that flow from a right Preparation for Death yea more than can be numbred for our Evidences cleared up will be a Heaven upon Earth and will sweeten every Condition how bitter soever in it self and hold up the Head above Water and the Heart from fainting under the saddest Providences that can befal us and makes a Christian see Light in the darkest Cloud and read Love in God's Face in his saddest Frowns for Grace in the Heart and unblurred Evidences thereof without which we cannot be prepared to dye will be such an Antidote to keep the Heart from sinking that the World it self cannot make up such a Cordial nothing can come amiss to such a Soul for he knows the same Love that elected him and sent Christ into the World to redeem him is now on work for his good If he meet with Afflictions he can suck Sweetness thence and gather Arguments of God's Love from it and conclude thence that he is not a Bastard but a Son for God correcteth those he loves and scourgeth every son that he receiveth and those that are without correction are bastards and not sons Heb. 12.7 8. Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels that God adorneth his best Friends with He had one Son without Sin but none without Sorrow and it be those that suffer with him that must reign with him If a prepared Christian meet with Prosperity he can read Love in this also and take every Mercy as a Love-token and admire the Goodness of God to such a poor Wretch If he read or hear the Word of God he can suck Sweetness from every Passage whether Precepts Promises or Threats his Meditation of God of Christ of Heaven of Glory will be sweet his Morning Thoughts and Evening Meditations also many a Cordial can he fetch from the meditation of those invisible things which others have no Converse with no Desire after and this bears up the Heart from sinking in the worst of Times as it did the Martyrs Hearts in Prisons Losses yea at the Stake it self for how can it be but a serious thought of God and Christ and Heaven and Glory and a firm believing that he hath an Interest in them but it must cheer up the Heart And will not the reading the precious Promises of God and knowing also that they are their Father's Legacy to them chose but warm the Heart Yea the thoughts of Death as 't is a Messenger sent from God to bring us to Glory and set an end to all our Miseries will hardly be much sweetned for many dismal Apprehensions may an unprepared Soul well have of Death but to the other the Sting is taken out 1 Cor. 15.55 In a word happy is the condition of a prepared Soul and therefore 't is our Interest to prepare for it Thus Madam having shewn what improvement we may and ought to make of such sad Providences as are now under our consideration the last I mention'd was preparing for our own Death And oh that my self were effectually perswaded so to do by the convincing Motive I have laid down I shall add some Directions in reference to Preparation 1 Direct If we design and desire to dye happily and comfortably let us get an Interest in Christ and a Title to Glory clear'd up to the Soul for those that must cheerfully and willingly leave all their Earthly Enjoyments Comforts and Relations had need of assurance of something better than the World is for who would leave a certain Good for an uncertainty one Bird in the Hand they say is worth two in the Bush 'T is true a man may have a Title to Glory when Assurance is wanting and this man may dye happily though not comfortably for Death to him must needs look ghastly Till a man can look upon Christ the Rich Pearl as his own how can he part with all for him But when he hath Christ and Heaven and Glory in his Eyes he matters not what he parts with for them he knows 't is a good Bargain who will not part with Pebbles for Pearls with Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God such and such alone can look Death undauntedly in the Face Till a man find the Condition of the Covenant within him what Comfort can he have in the Covenant it self Though the King grant Pardon to a thousand Malefactors if I be a Malefactor and cannot prove that I am of this number what
Comfort can I take from the Grant But when the Qualifications are found in the Soul which God hath made necessary to Salvation and to which Heaven and Happiness is promised when the sanctifying regenerating and adopting Works of the Spirit appears there and the Graces of it are found when God's Sheep-mark of Holiness is there impressed this must needs be refreshing to the Soul I know that full Assurance so as to set a man above all doubting the highest Pinacle of Assurance that maximum quod sic beyond which nothing but coelestial Enjoyment can be expected is so rare a Jewel that it adorns the Head or Heart of few Many in the World David himself was sometimes to seek and God's best Servants at a loss but yet through Mercy a comfortable Assurance to keep the Heart from despairing or desponding hath been and is given unto many of the Godly yet not without great Pains and Diligence much Examination and fervent Prayer We are not in this case to look into God's secret Cabinet of his Decrees and Councils to know whether we are elected or no for if we can find the effects of Electing Love and the Graces of the Spirit of God which none wear but the Spouse of Christ we may conclude the Marriage is consummate and we may say My beloved is mine and I am his Cant. 6.3 I am sure he is mine and I can boldly speak it her Faith is unfeigned and her Love unfailable she had got a full gripe of of Christ and is sure nothing can separate them Christ lays hold upon her by his Spirit and she lays hold of Christ by Faith she hath made a total resignation of her self to him and I accept of him in all his Offices and Efficacies saith she he hath given me that which he bestows upon no other and theâ—efore I am sure he loves me The like may we say when we find the like Tokens of his Love and when we find the first Steps of the Spirit in the Soul we may conclude he hath been there Now this Assurance however some men value it not is more comfortable both in Life and Death than the World can procure 't is Heaven upon Earth and a Cordial against the Fear of Death 'T is an Encouragement to work when we know we shall have good Wages and to suffer Loss when we know we shall gain by our Losses but without some comfortable Assurance we cannot look upon Death without Horror and may say of it as Ahab of Elijah Hast thou found me O my Enemy When a man apprehends himself lanching forth into an infinite Ocean of Eternity and knows not but it may be endless who in his right Wits would not tremble Though Grace be present Comfort will be absent if Assurance be wanting What good did Hagar's Well of Water do her when she saw it not or Marys Discourse with Christ when she knew him not What Comfort will a Pardon give to a Malefactor at the place of Execution if it be concealed In Worldly Business we are not so careless to leave all at Uncertainty and must the Soul only be neglected Shall we lye in Debt and not know of any Surety to discharge it and have Souls and not know what will come of them to Eternity 2 Dir. If ever we intend to dye happily we must see Sin dead before us for the Soul and Sin cannot live together but they will be the death of the one or of the other Now Sin is never kill'd till it be hated and looked upon as the most deadly Enemy for who will kill one that he loves 'T is Sin that is the Sting of Death which otherwise would be hurtless and harmless 1 Cor. 15.55 Oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law c. Here is the boldest and bravest Challenge that ever rung in Death's Ear wherein the Apostle bids him do his worst for when Sin is dead his Poyson is gone he may buz about our Ears as a drove Bee and haply fright us but cannot hurt us he may strike us but cannot sting us he may like Sampson when his Locks were shorn go forth as at other times and shake himself but his strength is gone the worst he can do is but to send us to our Father's House the sooner Sin in stinging Christ lost his Sting Christ overcame him and took from him the Weapons he trusted in and now we may hug the Serpent in our Bosom Sin when 't is alive sets a Bar in Heaven-gate against us and makes it impossible for us to enter for no unrighteous person nor unclean thing nothing that defileth or worketh abomination shall ever enter Rev. 21.27 no dirty Dog shall ever tread upon the Pavement And as it shuts Heaven-gates so it opens Hell-gates for us and Death as a Porter will let us in Sin is the only Weapon with which the Devil can hurt us and this Weapon we our selves put into his Hands they are Snares of our own making with which he entangles us Cords of our own twisting he leads us Captive in for there is nothing else in the World that can make the Soul miscarry and this is our Misery we naturally delight in those Fetters in which he holds us and glory in our own Slavery The Devil shews us Sin thro' his own Spectacles and by his Paint and Plaster that seems amiable which really is the most loathsome and deformed thing which really makes the Soul the most ugly deformed leprous thing in the World but did we see our selves in this Dress we should come trembling into the Presence of God with Tears in our Eyes Shame in our Faces Sorrow in our Hearts and Confession in our Mouths and if Sin look not with such an Aspect upon us 't is a sign 't is living and not dead in us for a dead Carcass cannot be lovely When a Believer's Sin is mortified he behaves himself to it as Ahasuerus the King towards Haman who had been his greatest Favourite and whom he had advanc'd next to himself in the Kingdom he hates the sight of him and cannot endure him in his presence Esth 7.7 it troubled him that he had lost his Love upon so unworthy a Wretch Even so a Believer mourns that ever he entertain'd such a treacherous Companion as Sin in his Bosom he deals by Sin as the Father of a rebellious Son was commanded to do Dan. 21.18 lays the first Hand upon it and throws the first Stone at it he bears so an irreconcilable a Hatred to it that nothing will satisfie him but its Hearts Blood he is not satisfied as too many are to lay it asleep but dye it must he doth not lop off here a Bough and there a Branch but stocks up the very Root he is not raking at the Channel but cleansing the very Fountain he knows Sin is his greatest Enemy and therefore he
will make no Peace or Truce with it 't is his greatest Trouble he meets with in the World that he cannot be quite rid of it that he cannot give it a Bill of Divorce and put it away he deals with it as Amnon did by Tamar whom before he so lustfully loved yet after hated her much more So deals he by Sin what he had lustfully wickedly loved now he unfeignedly hates he hates Sin in all but especially in himself and flees the very appearance of Evil and resists it in the first motion and as the Babylon Children while they are young and the Cockatrice Egg e're it be hatched resists the Temptation and first Notion of Sin and if the Devil foist in a Temptation he like the ravished Virgin cries out for Help suppresseth Sin in the Thoughts before ever it appear in the Word or Action as Joseph that would not hearken to his Mistriss nor he in the House with her Now this is the course that we must take if we would kill Sin and we must be sure to begin Reformation at the right end purge the Fountain that the Streams may be clear stock up the Root of Sin that the Tree may dye Make clean the inside that the outside may be clean also Mat. 15.19 12.34 The Heart is the Source of Sin and the Fountain of Folly and swarms with Lusts as a Carrion with Vermine inward Bleeding will kill as well as outward and from within Wickedness proceeds but a man is never fit to dye till Sin be kill'd and the Heart cleansed 3 Dir. The World also is an Enemy that must be subdued if we would dye well or willingly for the love of the World breaks many a Match between Christ and the Soul and 't is the usual Bait the Devil lays to keep us in his Snares All this I will give thee and 't is a rare man that is not hereby alured And therefore it was not in vain that the Apostle gives us this Caution 1 Joh. 2.15 Love not the world nor the things of the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him And another Apostle tells us That the friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God Can a Woman love two Husbands or a Man serve two Masters God and Mammon And Paul tells us The world is crucified to him and he to the world It cares not a Pin for me and I care not a Rush for it there is no more delight in it in my account than there is in a dead Carcass have it we may use it we must but love it we may not It hangs out her two Breasts Strumpet like of Profit and Pleasure but the Apostle had no mind to suck at these Botches and if we would dye well let us imitate him that had learnt to dye daily and get our Affections as much weaned from the World as possibly may be and set upon Heavenly things or 't is ten to one it will speak to us in the Words of Peter to Christ Save thy self Whenever we should come to suffer any thing for Christ we may find what a snare it will be to us as to the young man Mat. 19.22 that bid fair for Christ till the World came and broke the Bargain he came to Christ hastily and departs heavily when he must part with his Riches he chuses rather to part with Christ and if Heaven will be had upon no cheaper terms let him keep it to himself Those that have the God of this World lively poâ—trayed upon the Soul are not fit for another World such as these will say with Cardinal Bembus they will not leave their part in Paris for their part in Paradâ—ce Judas and Demas may witness this Truth When the Affections are forestalled and set upon other Lovers 't is hard rending them off or making them willing to pâ—rt with what they love what a man loves best he would keep longest Where the treasure is there will the heart be also Mat. 6.20 21. If they are set upon this white and yellow Earth upon Pearls and precious Stones which are but the Guts and Garbage of the Earth and load themselves with thick Clay 't is as hard for them to enter in at the streight Gate as for a Camel 〈◊〉 go through the eye of a Needle Paul câ—lls such a one an Idolater Ephes 5.5 and St. James an Adulterer Jam. 4.4 Such as these are not ready for Death though Death may haply be ready for them but he that hath laid up his Treasure in Heaven and is at a point with all things under the Sun and wears the World about him as a loose Garment ready to cast off upon all occasions he that hath made ready pack'd up all and sent before him to his desired Port needs wait but for a Wind to waft him over Where the treasure is there will the heart be also When a man imagines he must leave better behind than he is like to find there 't is no wonder if he dye unwillingly and depart with a reluctancy but when better things are in view 't is no hard matter to dye The Devil puts a Cheat upon us when he shews us the World through his Spectacles and the Glory of it through his Magnifying-glasses there every Little seems Great and every Mole-hill a Mountain but when we view it in the clear Crystal of God's Word it appears in its Colours 'T is an easie thing to make a man exchange Rags for Robes and a Cottage for a Castle and is it not as easie to perswade a wise man to exchange Pebbles for Pearls Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God When a Man is satisfied that there is enough in Christ in Heaven and Glory to give the Soul Content yea to make up all the Losses sustained upon the account what should make him afraid to venture upon it But while the World seems a Pearl in our Eyes the Pearl of great price is not heeded The Splendor of the World seems greater than it is when the Devil hath adorned it in his Paint and Colours but when 't is stripp'd of that Varnish it appears an old withered and deformed Strumpet and 't is wonder that any fall in love with her Till we can look upon the World with Contempt we are neither fit to live nor fit to dye not to live for we shall place the love upon her that is only due to God not to dye for we shall then lose all our Portion and what a condition will such a departing Soul then be in Till we can see with Moses the Vanity of Kings Courts we shall never make his choice as the Afflictions of the people of God rather than these Vanities Heb. 11.25 Till we can with Galeacius see more Worth in one days Communion with God than all the Wealth in the World we shall not leave all as he
did for Christ's sake till Christ be better to us than our Company and Relations as it was to Abraham we shall never leave all these for him the Martyrs loved not their Lives to the Death Rev. 12.11 and till we can look upon all these things with a self-denying Eye and hang loose to Creature-comsorts and can say of God as the Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none on Earth that I desire besides thee Then and not till then we are in a fit posture to live and to dye 4 Dir. If we desire to dye well we must be sure to live well for a good Life alwaies ends in a happy Death and a wicked Life presages an ill End Those that dance with the Devil all day seldom come to sup with Christ at night The Example of the penitent Thief I have already spoke to one Swallow proves not a Summer he that sails in the Road to Hell and changes not his Course is never like to land in the Port of Heaven he that runs down the Hill is not like to come to the top and he that swims down the Stream will not come to the Fountain Head By Nature we are born with our Backs upon Heaven and our Face towards Hell and till we repent we never change our Course A sinful Life will have a Tâ—agical End for he that walks in the broad way is not like to find the narrow Gate and that alone leads to Eternal Life Mat. 7.13 14. Strive to enter in at the streight gate for many shall seek to enter and shall not be able Wide is the gate broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in thereat streight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Yea the Wicked let them be never so many go down to Hell and all the nations that forget God Psal 9.17 'T is our Duty whatever others do to be holy and like the Moon hold on our Course though Dogs bark at us and run our Race like the Sun though the Planters curse him at his rising for scorching them with his Beams Let us not swim down the Stream of the Sinner like dead Fish nor follow a multitude to do Evil The worse the Places are we live in the better let us be the more outragious they are in Wickedness the more couragious in Good let us be It matters not how small our Company is if good nor how great if bad 'T is better be with Noah in the Ark than with the whole World in the Flood The Way to Heaven no doubt will be rough and craggy like that of Jonathan and his Armour-bearer 1 Sam. 14.4 13. Sic petitur coelum Pains and Patience are necessary to those that travel this Road those that will to Heaven must sail by the Gates of Hell Strive saith Christ to enter yea strive to an Agony as the word imports The way to Heaven is up Hill to Hell down the Bank we may easily go down facilis descensus averin the other will cost much Pains and Sweat and when we come to the streight Gate there must be stooping and stripping He that walks the broad way will readily find the wide Gate he may go Hood-winckt to Hell and need not lose his way Now that the Life be good 't is necessary that the Heart be good for from this Fountain good or bad Water flows but naturally this is corrupt 't is not a few good Words or Wishes will serve the turn without Heart-reformation all other Reformation begins at the wrong end Where the Heart is neglected a corrupt Fountain cannot send forth sweet Water the Tree must be good or the Fruit will be bad Men gather not grapes off thorns nor fig off thistles Mat. 7.16 By Nature we are dead in trespasses and sins and we cannot act from a Principle of Life if we have it not till the Heart be seasoned with Grace all we do will savour of the Cask and till it be purged by Faith no good thing can thence proceed for without Faith 't is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 And when the Heart is reformed the Work is not done Heaven will not be had without Paines and Patience but Hell may be had with a wet â—inger 't is much ado to find Heaven-gate 〈◊〉 a man may find the way to Hell blindfold By Nature we bring forth soure grapes even grapes of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah Dan. 32.32 We hatch cockatrice eggs and weave spiders webs but we must be engrafted into that Noble Vine Christ before our Fruit will be good There must be Knowledge in the Soul before there can be Obedience to the Will of God for without knowledge the mind cannot be good but ignorant persons do the Devil the best service but neither the Blind nor the Lame must be offered in Sacrifice to God ignorant persons spoil all they take in hand we must know the Rule before we can work by it and when we know it we must not go aside to the right hand nor to the left and have respect to all God's Commands no Sin though never so dear to us must be forborn no Duty though never so difficult must be neglected all our Actions as to the Matter of them must be agreeable to God's word and to the Manner of them they must be performed as he requires sincerely and without Hypocrisie universally and constantly our Ends also must be Gods Glory the good of our own Souls and the Souls of others In short all our time must be spent in our general and particular Callings or some way or other in reference to it to fit us for the one or for the other and there must be a wise division of it between them neither must run away with the others share our relative Duties must be minded and we must live and act like Christians in such and such Relations the Trade of Holiness must go on we must treasure up Grace against a dying time when some treasure up Wealth and many wrath against the day of wrath This course may seem harsh to some but 't is the only safe way to Glory and the only way to a happy Death 5. Direct If we would dye well 't is our Wisdom with the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.31 to learn to dye daily to have Death always in our Eye and always be in a dying posture that Death may not sind us unprepared that we may not look upon Death as a stranger when he comes but as an expected Guest The frequent Meditations of Death will put us on to put our House or rather our Hearts in order with Hezekiah Isa 38.1 Death gives us many warnings to provide a new Habitation and we are unwise if we take it not for warning he is always eying us and 't is our Wisdom to be eying him that we be not surprized ere we are aware
Mercy and like Solomon praised the day of Death before the Birth-day Eccles 4.2 Optimum non nasci proximum mori saith the Heathen but little knew what the result would be But a Christian doubtless call'd out by God should not go unwillingly Philpot the Martyr returns thanks to God he was so near the Gate of Eternal Life and who is it that being tossed with the Waves of Trouble would not land in a Haven of Rest 'T is a shame for a Christian when God gives a clear Call to linger with Lot in Sodom much more to look back with Lot's Wife till the Lord pluck them away by force and deliver them whether they will or no. Those that are weary of Sin or Suffering should say as Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Mistake not I say not that Death is eligible or any should desire it for its own sake no we should use all Lawful means to preserve Life but I reprove those that when the Will of God is manifest that they should dye submit so unwillingly Hath the World been so kind to us that now we cannot part Or is our Portion here so good that Heaven it self cannot make us satisfaction If we part with it doubtless we have then had better dealing than our dear Redeemer met with Are our Temptations so strong that we are ready with the Young Man Demas Judas and many others to break with Christ upon that account 'T is best to consider well before hand lest we Repent too late Hath God been training us up so long and have we not yet learnt this â—esson to be willing to dye Are we content to take this for our Portion And will we rather stay in the Wilderness than venture over this Jordan Will the Flesh-pots of Egypt give satisfaction as well as the Land of Canaan If God were not more willing of us than many of us are to go to him we might be long absent we should live long on this side Jordan if he did not force us over But though Death be not desirable is not the Presence of God desirable Is not Heaven worth having And is there any other way to it We profess we believe there is a reward for the righteous and a God that judgeth the earth but do we not in our works deny it The fear of Death discovers our Infidelity and as our little Faith so our little Love either we proclaim that we question whether there be a Reward or whether we have any Interest in it or it shews we have little love to it If we believe it and our Interest in it is it not a wonder we are not impatient of enjoying it and rather seek to shorten our Lives than prolong them by unlawful means Did we love our Husband as we should we should long for the time when he would fetch us He may well say as Delilah did to Samson How can you say you love me when your hearts are not with me 4. Consider If we chearfully submit our Wills to the Will of God and let him dispose of us as he pleaseth for Life or Death and make a resignation of our selves to God and be willing to part with Life it self if he and his Cause require it whether by a Natural or violent Death we shall then part with it to the most Advantage imaginable nay 't is the only way to save it and to deny it unto God is the way to lose it Mark 8.35 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel shall save it For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul We may read of many that refusing to lay down their Lives for Christ have had their Lives taken from them but lost their Reward We read in the Book of Martyrs of one Denton a Smith that had made profession of Religion but being call'd to suffer cried The Fire is hot I cannot burn but within a short time he was burnt in his own House and lost both his Life and his Reward And so shall those that deny their Lives to God when he requires them We may resign our Lives into the hands of God and so engage him to look to them and take care of them but we cannot rescue them out of his Hands or live longer than he determines for we cannot breathe without him and then what madness is it to stand in contention with him If we lose our Souls to save our Lives we shall make a bad Bargain for a Life saved by unlawful means will do us little good for a Life in God's displeasure is worse than Death it self and a Death in his favor is the beginning of Eternal Life and ushers us into Eternal Happiness The Martyrs in the flames were aware of this they cried out None but Christ none but Christ 'T is a dear Life that is bought with the loss of Christ he that exchanges his Soul for the World will with the Rich man Luk. 16. dye a Beggar but will not be able to purchase one drop of Water he that loseth an immortal Soul purchaseth an everliving Death and is it not our Interest to look to the main Jewel Where Self is renounced the Cross is easily born for 't is Self-love that makes it pinch us When God bids us Yoke 't is our best way to submit our Necks for there is no struggling out of his hands God will not require our Lives to our hurt or damage neither will it prove any Advantage to us if we deny them for if we lose them for his sake we shall find them and if we would hide them from him we shall lose them and Heaven to boot He that lays down his Life when God requires it will gain by the bargain when Death strips him of his Rags 't is to cloath him with Robes and pulls down his Cottage to bring him to a Palace 2 Pet. 1.14 2 Cor. 5.1 For we know that if this earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This saith Latimer is the Sweet-meats of the Feast of a good Conscience there are other dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet The Soul wears the Body as a Garment which when 't is worn out shall be clothed with a better Suit There is no passing into Paradise but under Death's flaming Sword no coming to the City of God but through his dark Vault and strait Gate no wiping all Tears from our Eyes but with our Winding-sheet Our life is hid saith the Apostle with Christ in God Col. 3.3 and therefore not lost And again he tells us 2 Tim. 1 2. I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day Let him that died for my Soul
saith Luther look to the Salvation of it A Child that hath a precious Jewel cannot put it safer than in his Father's hands the like we may say of our Lives and Souls if we 'l have the keeping and disposing of them our selves the Devil will rook us out of them but what is committed to God cannot be lost our Lives though laid down for Christ cannot be lost in him 't is but as the Seed sown Life eternal will spring up in the turn when temporal Life expires eternal Life begins My Father saith Christ is greater than all and none can pluck them out of my Fathers hands Joh. 10.29 There is nothing we can expend in God's Service but he can make satisfaction we may lose all we have for him but shall lose nothing by him if we deny to honour God in letting God dispose of our Lives as to the time and manner of our Death we shall lose them for nothing To live saith Paul is Christ and to die is gain he was in a strait whether to chuse life or death yet he knew to die was best for him Phil. 1.21 c. Janua vitae est porta coeli saith Bernard Christians should be so indifferent whether they lived or died as to submit their wills wholly to God's will to die for Christ is the way to a Crown of Martyrdom and the way to reign with Christ is to suffer with him a Self-resignation can do us no hurt but much good for if we are never call'd to suffer we shall not lose our Reward God takes the will for the deed as in Abraham's case And if we do suffer for him we shall reign with him and have white robes with palms in our hands and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes Rev. 12.11 7.9 And shall not we suffer something for this Honour or shall we after all this Profession of Religion declare to the World that all was but Hypocrisie and that we have more love to Sin and the World than we have to God Is not this the way to dishonour God discredit Religion harden Wicked men in Sin and endanger our own Souls 5 Cons In the last place to make us more willing to dye or to submit to God's Will whether for Life or Death are the Joys and Delights and Pleasures which believing Souls shall have in the Presence of God for ever and for ever and that immediately after Death for as then all tears shall be wiped away and sin and sorrow shall be no more so our Joys and Pleasures shall then commence 1 Joh. 3.2 Now we are the sons of God but it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Great things we have in Hand but greater in Hope much in Possession more in Reversion our Happiness then will be in seeing and enjoying him which we cannot do on this side Death but what our Enjoyments shall be there no mortal man can come to know not the Apostle who was caught up into the third Heaven and heard unspeakable words that it was not lawful for a man to utter 2 Cor. 12.4 Yet he tells us 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath it enter'd into the heart of man to conceive the things that God hath prepared for those that love him Yet he reserves not all for the Life to come some clusters of Canaans Grapes are bestowed in the Wilderness some Pisgah-sights of Glory on this side Jordan But 't is no wonder we cannot describe the Joys of Heaven when we are such strangers to many Secrets in Nature In the World Believers have such joy as no stranger shall meddle with Prov. 14.10 The Cock on the Dunghil knows not the Worth of these Jewels they are unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 they are a Harâ—â—el of Heaven and a Fore-taste of Eternal Life yea such as passeth all Understanding fitter to be believed than to be exprest to which all the Comforts which the World affords signifie nothing for what shall we compare with the Peace of a good Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost And yet this is but a small tast a branch of Canaans Grapes and nothing compared with what is behind to be eternally enjoyed But if the Saints Enjoyments so darkly resemble Heavens Glory what will the Epicure's Delights do which they chose for their Portion Not so much resemble it as a Muckhil doth the Sun in his Splendor The Drunkard delights in his Cups the Adulterer in his Queans and this they look upon to be the chiefest Happiness the covetous man makes Gold his God the ambitious man makes choice of that empty Bubble Honour and the voluptuous man contents himself with Pleasure these are the Syren Songs the Devil lulls them asleep with while he ruines their Souls these are the Circe's Charms which transforms them into Swine and makes them take up with Husks and Swill and to neglect that Nectar and Ambrosia which the Saints feed upon Have I need to shew that Happinese consists not in these things Is any so blind upon consideration as to affirm it Where is their Happiness then when their Cups and Queans are snatch'd and all other their Enjoyment leave them 'T is true Meat is delightful to the Hungry and Drink to the Thirsty Health to the Sick and Strength to the Weak but what is this to an hungring thirsting panting weary Soul Christ is better to it than all the World Stately Buildings curious Gardens pleasant Walks and the rest of the Delights of the Sons of Men mentioned by Solomon Eccl. 2.8 c. how little satisfaction can they yield they will prove but empty Husks if we feed upon them what are those to those Mansions of Glory provided for the Saints and the Rivers of Pleasures which are at the right hand of God for evermore Yea I dare say many a poor Believer hath more solid Joy more Hearts Content more true Satisfaction in his poor Cell than many of those in the midst of all their Enjoyments What then will their Enjoyments be in Heaven when they shall receive their Portion Human Learning also is desirable and more beautiful saith Aeneas Sylvius than the Morning or the Evening-Star What hard Labour and Pains have many a man taken to find out Nature's Secret and at best have but groaped in the dark And many all 〈…〉 Mystery there is in the Book of God which no man living understands the Scripture being like the Waters of the Sanctuary Ezek. 47.2 c. where a Lamb might wade and an Elephant might swim but there our Ignorance shall vanish and all those difficulties disappear and we shall know as much of God himself as finite Capacities can comprehend Now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now we know but in part but then shall know as we are known 1 Cor. 13.12 2 Cor. 3.18 Here we can see but by reflection for how can our Eyes behold God that cannot view the Sun in its splendor Moses himself could but view his Back-side and Paul was blinded with the Sight but the Beatifical Vision will not disturb us Now we behold the Works of God with admiration the Sun Moon and Stars and all the Host of Heaven the Earth also hanged upon nothing beautified with all Varieties the Sea bounden and barr'd by him and generally the whole Creation these are beautiful Objects and many inscrurable Mysteries we understand not but there we shall see and know far greater Mysteries in the Fabrick of Heaven it self His Works of Providence many times puts us to a puzzle how he governs all the World and preserves Peace among so many disagreeing Creatures especially how he preserves his own Church amidst their numerous Enemies and makes Provision for all the works of his Hands but when we are better acquainted with his Wisdom and Power these Wonders will cease The Work of Redemption and the manner of contriving it that he let fall the Angels irrecoverably without hope of Redemption the reason of his Electing Love and why he made a difference the Price that was paid the Blood of his only Son may cause admiration but when we know the whole Contrivance we shall admire his Wisdom Oh who would not long to be in that estate of Blessedness where these and all things else shall be made known to us which cannot be till Death Thus Madam I have made bold haply too bold to communicate to you my own Experiences and with what Arguments I have quieted my self under such sad Dispensations of Providence as at present you lye under and to shew you what improvement I have made or at leastwise desire to make of them and I hope I may truly say it was good for me that I was afflicted and I wish you may experimentally say the same I think I have learned more in the School of Affl ction of the sinfulness of Sin of the Vanity of the Creature of Worth of Grace the Miseries of the Wicked and the Happiness of the Godly than ever I did in any other School whatsoever And I wish you and all your Relations that are concerned in this Providence may gain as much as I yea terque quaterque manifold more I do not write these things to you as if you were ignorant of them no I am too well acquainted with you to be guilty of this Error but the best of us especially when under a Cloud and overpower'd with Grief have need of a Remembrancer to put 〈◊〉 in mind of what before we knew My humble Desire is and my Prayer shall be that you and your Relations by this Providence and these Oâ—servations upon it may be brought nearer to GOD weaned more from the World and your selves fitter to live and fitter to dye that when you come to dye you may have nothing to do but to dye and resign up your Souls into the Hands of God These are the unfeigned Desires of Madam your humble Servant Edward Bury Eaton Apr. 16. 16â—5