Duties in my Praying Hearing ay in my Sacramental Communions and Sin is mixt Oh that I had Tears to bewail it with all my graces I do not Love God and Christ so much as I ought and do desire my Faith is weak my Love declined my Zeal abated my Heart cool my Affections chill'd Oh wretched man that I Rom. 7. 24. am Who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death These have been are and will be the complaints of Holy men in this present State But the righteous man hopes the time will come and when sickness hath laid him upon a Death-Bed he knows the time is near at hand when he and sin shall for ever part and in that hour such a one may say now I am dying I am going to a sinless State all my Prayers and Tears Watching and Fasting Wrestling and Striving could not root sin out but Death will now come in to my assistance give me a final and perfect Victory and carry me a conquerour out of the Field When I die this War will end in Victory this conflict in a perfect Conquest None of my sins shall follow me to Heaven I shall not have so much as a wandring dull or cold thought for ever but with Life and Vigour Heat and Rapture a Flaming Zeal and Fiered Affection sing Hallelujah to God and to the Lamb. A good man is so disturbed with the Life of his Lust that were it not for breaking of one commandment that he might be for ever beyond all possibility of breaking any of the rest he would even with his own hands pull down this Earthly House on the Head of these uncircumcised Philistines though he himself be crusht with the fall But he patiently expects the time when God will give Death a commission to do it and this is his hope in his last and sorrowful moments 3. The righteous man at Death hath hope of a full and final deliverance from Satan 2 Cor. 4. 4. and all his temptations The Devil is stiled Eph. 2. 2 The God of this World The Prince of the Powers of the Air which words imply he hath no power in the Blissful Regions beyond Is not this World the Devils Circuit and does not this Roaring Lion walk up and down seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5 8. Are not the best buffeted and sollicited to sin tempted molested and disquieted by him Oh how oft does he shake us in his Teeth though a good God and a merciful Jesus will not suffer him to rend and tear us in pieces tho' Satan hath been bafled and conquered by the Captain of our Salvation yet does he not ever and anon enter the List and give a Challenge to the Followers of the Lamb Have we not a War to manage with these insernal Spirits and powers of darkness and must we not always stand upon our Guard maintain our Spiritual Watch keep on our Armour have our Weapons always in readiness that if we get the better to day we may be prepared for a fresh and more violent assault to morrow Does not Satan one while transform himself into an Angel of Light that he might deceive At another time appear in his onw proper hue as Black as Hell I mean in some horrid and blasphemous suggestions that he might affright and scare us Has he not 2 Cor. 2. 11. his cunning Artifices and suttle Methods to beguile and his Fiery Darts and Eph. 6. 16. Flaming Arrows to Wound and in whatsoever shape he appears whatsoever course he takes is he not a very troublesome and dangerous enemy This is our condition at present and Oh how uneasie and tedious is it to a Child of God to be assaulted with Legions of sins within and an whole Army of Devils without If the temptation doth not prevail it is a torment to be tempted and there cannot but be some fear lest it should In what Agony does the Christian cry Oh what if this temptation should prevail or if I have Grace to resist and overcome this what if the next Temptation should be more fierce the second assault more violent what if at last I should yield constant and be overcome How do such Storms drive them to their Knees and make them with earnestness and affection pray Lord lead us not into Temptation Mâ—â— 6. 13 This World in which we live is haunted with these unclean and ugly Spirits and don 't the best of us at one time or other find it so But the dying Believer hopes for Deliverance if we can keep our integrity maintain our Post stand our Ground defend our selves while we Live we shall be Conquerors take heart Christians we shall be more than Conquerors when we dye 'T is true the assaults of Satan may be most violent in a Dying hour The last Onset most furious and the concluding Battel most bloody but Death will decide the controversie end the Combat and give us the Victory Methinks I hear the dying Christian thus encouraging himself ever since the strong man hath been turned out by the Holy Spirit and Victorious Grace of my Redeemer I have 〈◊〉 little or no peace this Enemy this adversary of my God my Redeemer and my Soul has been ever and anon beating up my quarters many and many a time in the name and strength of the Living God under the conduct of my blessed and victorious Jesus have I accepted the challenge and given battel to these Legions of Darkness and tho' I have been foil'd blessed be God I am not conquer'd tho' I have received some wounds thanks be to God none of them are Mortal I yet live or rather Christ liveth in me and now methinks Gâ—â— 2. 2â— I have and oh how delightful is it the prospect of a final and entire victory Satan hath now almost done his worst he may rage because now his time is short and he knows it to be so but hold out O my Soul stand thy ground resist a little longer play the man act thy part well in this last Combat and the God of Roâ— 10. 2â— Peace shall tread Satan under thy Feet shortly In Heaven and oh how near am I to that blessed place there is no Tempter no Temptation no no when I am lodg'd in Abraham's Bosom or rather in the Arms of my blessed Jesus I am out of Satan's reach for ever when I shall be Dead the Devils Game will be over this Evil One has followed me from my Closet to the Church from my Table to my Bed he has ever stood at my Right Hand to resist me but he shall not dogg my Soul to Heaven no no the purity and holiness of that place cannot admit the Presence of any of these impure filthy and unclean Spirits 4. Dying Christians hope to be delivered from all Spiritual desertions and those doubts and fears which are consequent thereupon How oft by too too wilful falls and sins by allowing our selves in
shame and at last die in horror and despair Sickness and Death O vain man will shake thy hopes The Sentence of thy Judge and and the Flames of Hell will dash them Hope may accompany thee while thou livest go with thee to the very borders of the Eternal World and then at farthest it will bid farewel to thy amazed and trembling Soul The time will come believe it Sirs the time will come when you shall hope no more no more no more for ever This hope is worse than none for it hinders Mens repentance and all the kindness it does them is first to hood-wink and then damn them How fatal is this hope A wicked man can have no good hope either living or dying and that false hope he maintains and cherishes in health when sickness comes many times takes the wings of the morning and flies away In an hour he must remove out of one World into another but he hath no hope it shall be into a better He bequeaths his body to the dust his Estate and Goods to his surviving friends but he can not Lord what an Agony must the departing Soul be in with confidence commend his Spirit into the hands of Jesus He may hope his Friends will give his body a decent burial but he has no hope alas he has no hope Angels will conduct his Soul to glory Oh Death Death how terrible is it when there is no hope of a better life To awaken such let me add to die without good hope though it be bad is not all For the wicked as it is in the former part of this verse is driven away in his wickedness Sad words miserable ends Prov. 14. 32. Ere long Sinners Death will grasp thee in its cold Arms ere long Pale Death will sit in that face of thine that now is Fair and Ruddy and the seat of a Charming Beauty ere long Death will shackle those feet which brought thee to this assembly shut those eyes which are a window to let in vanity into thy mind stop those ears which have been delighted with filthy and unsavoury discourse ere long Death will drive thee out of the World thou must be confâ—â—ed to a narrow Coffin sleep in a Bed of dust under a coverlet of crawling Worms but this is not all no nor the greatest part of thy misery for thou shalt be driven away in thy wickedness Go out of the World guilty and accompanied with the sins of thy whole Life Death unties the knot and thy Soul is gone gone Whither is it gone Into the invisible World to the illightned Tribunal of a Just Impartial and Inexorable Judge Death sets open the Door and thy immortal Spirit immediately flies away and all thy sins like so many black and frightful Devils hasten and post after Thy Sins O man thy sins mount and ascend as fast as thy Spirit and will be at the Judgment-seat as soon as it Methinks a thought of this should make thine heart ake thy lips quiver rottenness enter into thy bones and force thee to cry out Good God! Whatever becomes of me let me not die in my sins An impenitent sinner goes into Eternity dogg'd by Devils and his own impure Lusts When he dies that hope which with artifice and cunning he maintain'd in his life-time forsakes his wretched and trembling Soul In one instant it is gone and gone for ever follow him from one World to to'ther from his sick-bed to the Bar of God Doleful Hour Infer II. Do and must the righteous die Then how does it concern us to make a good use of them while they live The righteous are the lights of the World like the Sâ—â— in the Firmament profitable and beneficial to all Though hereafter these wise Virgins cannot supply us with Oyl out of their Vessels to recruit our Lamps and maintain the expiring Flame yet at present they may like the Sun communicate of their light and heat to us How much Spiritual good may we receive by them and how careful should all be to make a wise improvement Have you an Holy Father a Godly Mother who pray for weep over and daily instruct you Hearken to their instructions follow their example take their counsel for they must die That Holy Father of thine who with compassion and tenderness begs of thee to remember God and thine own Soul that Godly Mother of thine who brought thee forth with pain and sorrow and is in travel with thee again till Christ be formed in Gal. 4. 19. thee must die And if thou dost not hearken to and improve their serious reproofs godly counsels and wholesome advice what a torment may the thought of it be when they are dead and gone Methinks I hear a negligent and careless Son being lately come from the grave of his holy Father or godly Mother in bitterness crying out God in giving me such holy Parents gave me a great mercy but I Oh wretched man that I am neither valued nor thankfully improved so great a blessing as should and might have done My Father my Mother that is now dead very often and that with tears told me of my sin and danger with abundance of kindness in the Spirit of meekness reproved me for my youthful follies and vanities with much Plainness and Holy Zeal they instructed and counselled informed and directed me they brought me to the Solemn Assembly and taught me at home they wept over me and prayed to God for me and put me upon secret Prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures but all this labour in whole or at least in great part has been lost as to me Might I not have been much better might I not have had more grace and holiness had I improved this blessing I had the same advantage may the wicked and disobedient Son say but I slighted the instructions of my holy Father and contemned the counseâ—â— of my godly Mother and now they are dead and gone how likely am I to die in my sins having not the same helps and advantages as I had when they were with me Such reflections Conscience being awakned by the hand and rod of God may be made when such holy Relations are taken away to prevent which let all especially the Children of Holy Parents improve the lives and company of such The like might be said as to Husbands and Wives Masters and Servants c. Labour to get as much good as you can by holy Relations Christian Friends and Acquaintance for these you shall not have always with you Infer III. How great is the mercy and goodness of God to his People though they are not exempted from Death Death sounds harsh the Grave is very frightful When we think the Friends of God the Members of Christ the Favourites of Heaven and the Followers of the Lamb must die are we not sometime posed and almost at a stand Are we not puzzled to reconcile the Death of such men with the goodness and love of God and those
unclean persons who have frequented the House of the strange Woman have found that her House inclineth Prov. 2. 18. to death and her path unto the Dead Ah wretched men sottish sinners What do they do but violently break the thred of Life When it might have been spun out to a further length by sinning against God they murder their Bodies as well as damn their Souls send one to the Grave and the other to Hell before the time Infinite folly But yet the most holy and righteous have the seeds of corruption in them and are mortal as the Garment breeds the Moth which frets it So we the Diseases which sooner or later will send us to our long home The righteous Eccles 12. 5 are subject to the same sicknesses and diseases as others are to burning Feavers pining Consumptions and to Old Age which is attended with 100 and 100 infirmities and is of all diseases the most incurable Life is a Candle which if no Stormy and ill-natur'd Winds blow out when it is burnt down into the socket will go out of its self a thred which if no scorching Feaver burn time will wear and old age will fret asunder This body tho' there be an Holy Soul inhabiting in it is such an house that if it be not pulled will tumble down of it self Tho' Wisdom hath length of days in her right hand Prov. 3. 16 many of her Children go to Bed late yet an immortality here is not in her power to confer upon any they may hope for it in another World but they cannot have it in this this is a priviledge peculiarly belonging to the future State Now righteous men undergo Death upon a double account 1. As the fruit and consequent of sin Immortality was the priviledge of Innocent Death is become the punishment of faln man If we search the Sacred Records we may easily find from what and whence to derive Death's Pedigree sin ah cursed evil ushered Death into the World That threatning In the day thou eatest thereof Gen. 2. 17. thou shalt surely dye upon the Apostacy of our first Parents was turned into a standing sentence involving them and their whole Posterity for by one man sin Rom. 5. 12. entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in that all have sinned Death is not owing to an irresistible Fate to the weakness of our primary constitution but to Sin as the deserving cause it was sin set Death upon its Pale Horse and nothing now can dismount him as the Tree brings forth fruit as the seed sown brings forth Corn so sin when Isa 1. 17. it is finished brings forth death Sin open'd the Door and then Mortal Sicknesses Deadly Distempers Killing Diseases and Death it self entered in Sin draws Death after it as the Needle doth the Thred and attends on it as the Shadow doth upon the Body Could all Graves be open'd could we stand in some convenient place and at one view behold the many thousands Death hath captivated and slain could we see all the Carkasses that have dropt into and are now rotting in dust we might say Lo all these were first the spoils of sin and then the Trophies and Triumphs of Death This is the account Scripture gives of Deaths Universal Empire Sin cursed Sin oh what Fools are we to be fond of it oh what infinite and unaccountable madness is it to lay and hug that hissing Serpent in our Bosoms which will sting us to Death is the cause of all those Funerals which have been are or shall be in the World Now tho' the Righteous are renew'd and sanctified they are so but in part they have sin in them the meritorious and deserving Cause of Death and therefore that Sentence that carries Death in it DUST thou art and to Gen. 3. 19. DUST THOU SHALT RETURN must be executed even upon them Tho' they are pardon'd yet their Pardon runs with an exception of Death 'T is true for Christ's sake upon the score of that painful shameful death he in their place and stead underwent upon the Cross the SECOND Death which is Death with an Emphasis shall have no power over them but notwithstanding all he hath done and suffered because they are sinners the FIRST must and will How far death to good men is a penal evil and yet retains the nature of a punishment I shall not in this wrangling age offend any by attempting to determine It may suffice that sin brought death into the World and furnished it with those Weapons wherewith it wounds and kills all If any say since the death of Christ and the effusion of his blood upon the Cross Death is rather an advantage to his followers I grant and thanks be to God it is so but may not death be the Wages of sin tho' a good and kind God makes it the path to Heaven and this leads me 2. To consider the death of the righteous as a Means of their deliverance from sin and the appointed way to the glorious Mansions which are above 'T is true God could make us perfectly holy take away the life and destroy the very being of sin the first moment of our conversion when we have done his will served the purposes of his Grace and attain'd the end of our being born by an happy pleasant and easie translation he could take us up Body and Soul to Heaven but he hath otherwise determin'd and made Death necessary in order to both According to the Divine Constitution they must first dye and then be perfectly holy and finally happy Do you ask why the righteous die why that sin might be destroyed as Sin brought Death into the World so Death shall excellent contrivance of Infinite Wisdom for ever abolish Sin tho' death had its sting strength power nay its very being from sin yet it proves by the ordination of God the destruction of it Those Arrows of Death which kill the Christian strike thro' the very Heart of his Sins and Lusts and they both die together A Saint puts off the Garments of Mortality and his filthy Raiment at once the sin that was born with them and lived with them and accompany them from place to place in their last moments takes leave of them for ever The Christian dies that Sin may do so too To this more will be said hereafter Moreover the Righteous here are Strangers and Pilgrims this is their Character and it is expressive of their Frame and Temper While they live they are in a strange place among a strange People and at a distance from their own Oh! How do they wish long pant desire and groan to be elswhere They are born from Heaven belong to it and wish to be there They are Citizens of the new Jerusalem in it are Mansions designed purchas'd prepared and standing empty for them but they must dip there feet in the cold fatal stream that runs beween this World
and that before they can get thither Faith may and very often does give them a refreshing ravishing and transporting prospect of Heaven Oh! How oft after such a view does the Soul flutter in the Christiâ—ans breast clap its wings and would â—in be gone But Death only can wast us over to and give us the possession of it In short Gods Children die that they may go home I might further add there seems some necessity of dying upon the account of the Body What should this terrene dull and heavy Body do in Heaven How unsuitable is it as it is now to that Place and State to that Company and Work and to be the Instrument of a glorified Soul It must undergo a change that it may be capacitated for this We must be Vncloathed of this Earthly that we may 1 Cor. 5. 4. Be cloathed upon with a Spiritual Body And we must die that Mortality may be swallowed up of Life These Old Houses that are ever and anon tottering and shaking must be pulled down by the hands of Death that we may have new and better This Body must be sown in the dust that it may Spring up more Beautiful Fresh and Comely our Bodies like foul Waters by running through the Earth are Purged and Purified God will not put his New Wine into these Old Mat. 9. 17. Bottles And indeed if he should they would quickly burst and therefore he suffers Death to break that he might have an opportunity to new make them It is to no purpose to say that God can make what alteration and change he pleases and is necessary in the very instant of Translation and what need is there the Body should Die lie in the Grave so long Rot and Putrifie in the Dust For though God can do it in this way he willeth to do it in the other and Who art thou O MAN that thou repliest Rom. 9. 20. against God Upon these accounts Death seemeth necessary to Good Men And that we might not live in continual Fear in Slavish Bondage and a perpetual Torment because of this necessity I now proceed Thirdly To consider what and how great the Priviledge of the Righteous is when he comes to the last Scene of his Life and Death is about to turn him off the Stage We have seen the dark side of the Cloud The Righteous die Let us now turn our Eye and view the bright side The Righteous hath hope in his death Sweet words comfortable thought glorious priviledge with this hope Lord how Psa 23. 4. comfortably may they walk thro' the Valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil You have heard heard You have seen seen Oh how often have you seen that the Righteous die as well as the Wicked that Death preys upon and the Grave swallows up one as well as the other Have you not many and many a time visited them when sickness had lodged them in their Chambers and confin'd them to their Beds Have you not heard their last sobs and groans seen their dying pangs and agonies Have you not clos'd their Eyes laid them in their Cossins and often attended their Funeral followed them to their long Home and lest them in dust and darkness Behold the Righteous die but how dieth the Righteous as the Wicked no verily as they do not live so neither do they die as the Wicked A righteous man may have the same disease be exercised with the same pains and feel the same pangs in a dying hour But upon a spiritual account the difference is vastly wide and great he hath hope in his death Before I distinctly consider what is the Object of this Hope to prevent any mistake it is necessary to premise these two things 1. Every righteous person every man that falls within the already-mentioned Character i. e. every sincere and upright Christian hath ground of hope in his death This does not only belong to some special favourites but is common to all who have God for their Father The Promises which are the foundation of a Christian Hope are not made only to Apostles and eminent Saints to men of renown in the Church but they belong to nay are the Birth-right of even those who are but Babes in Christ All that are born again tho' all are not of the same growth stature and strength are Children Rom 8. 17. and therefore Heirs They have right Col. 1. 12. to and may live and die in hope of the Inheritance of the Saints in light Heaven is sure to them by the Promise of the Father the Purchase of the Son and the In-dwelling of the Holy Spirit who is the Earnest and Pledge of it And the weakest Believer the least of Saints hath ground to hope The Gospel is so ordered the Covenant is so methodiz'd God hath made such ample Provision that every one may have good hope thro' 1 Thes 2. 16 Grace and all that bear this Character are allowed encouraged nay commanded to hope Their hoping is as mighty a pleasure to God as it is a comfort to themselves Hath the blessed Jesus poured out prayers and tears and blood did he groan and die on the Cross that they might have a Mansion above Hath the Holy Spirit in pursuance of the same blessed design been at the pains to renew convert and change them Hath he restor'd them to the image and likeness of God that they might be capable of the enjoyment of him Is he daily forming and attempering their spirits more and more for the heavenly state and employment Hath God the Father in his Eternal Counsels design'd Heaven for them Hath he made them many express and plain Promises of it and can he take it ill they live and die in hope Lord how infinitely unreasonable are we and how do we discourage the Death of the Son the work of the Spirit and the Promises of the Father nay not only naked Promises but Promises repeated over and over seal'd and confirm'd with an Oath by encouraging our doubts and fears all these may and ought to hope May I says many a doubting Christian hope I am but weak in Grace and but a Babe in Christ I have done but little for God and Christ I have but few Talents and them I have not employed and improved as I should and might I was the chiefest of Sinners and now am the least of Saints the very meanest among my spiritual Brethren there are none but love God more and serve him better and bring a greater Revenue of Glory to him than I either do or can or shall while others shine as the Sun in the Firmament of the Church I am but as a poor small and twinkling Star and may I hope to be saved is not Heaven and the happiness thereof too great too glorious a Reward for me Oh! had I the Grace the Faith and Love the Humility and Meekness the Self-denial and Patience the Zeal and Courage c.
expiated our sins conquered the Devil and disarmed Death he paid our Ransom Redeem'd us from Hell which we can hardly think of without horrour and trembling and purchased Heaven where we long and desire to be he hath opened the Gates of Heaven and invites and beckons us to enter in and oh how powerful are the thoughts of a weeping bleeding groaning and dying Jesus to revive and recover the dying hopes of poor Sinners Do I stand amaz'd at the thoughts of my guilt overwhelm'd with the sight of my sins terrified with apprehensions of Divine Severity and Justice Do I in the depths of a melancholy grief cry out my hope is gone woe is me my hope is gone can there be any happiness any Heaven for such a wretch as I am how can I how dare I hope oh that I could hope but alass the Law Curses and Condemns me and I O miserable man have little or no hope I would think of Christ our Passover 1 â—or 5. 7. Sacrificed for us In this case what is to be done Shall I sink under the burden abandon all hope indulge my sorrow and fear and give way to a self-tormenting despair No I would go to mount Calvary and set my self at the foot of my Redeemers Cross I would often look up to a bleeding and dying Jesus think what he suffered for whom and for what end and then I would embrace this dying Jesus in the Arms of my Faith and after this how soon would hope begin to stir Christ dying on the Cross and Christ living in the Heart is the foundation of our hope and thanks be to God 't is such a Foundation as cannot be shaken I add further it is infinitely useful to consider and act Faith in Christ as risen from the Dead Had our Lord Jesus onely died and not risen again had he been yet sleeping in the Grave as Death's Eternal Prisoner had he not after a little time reviv'd and rose and lâ—v'd again all our hope must have been buried with him in the same Grave but tho' he was Dead he is Alive and lives for evermore Rev. 1. 18. and to Eye him as risen is very serviceable to quicken our hope how fully even beyond all possibility of doubting does the Resurrection of Christ assure us that his Death was valid his Sacrifice accepted our debt paid and justice satisfied that he did all that was necessary to expiate our sins and finished the work of our Redemption before he gave up the Ghost and Died on the Cross with his last with his dying Breath he cried out It is finished and is not his Resurrection Joh. 19. 30. a full convincing and undeniable evidence of the truth of that saying did Justice release and Divine Power bring him out of Prison Did God give him an open and publick acquittance And is there any ground to suspect the payment of what we ow'd and he undertook to satisfie for may we not from hence conclude to our unspeakable comfort incouragement and joy the efficacy of his Death the validity of his sufferings and the perfection of his sacrifice Moreover does not the Resurrection of Christ discover the possibility of ours nay is it not the cause and reason the earnest and pledge of it Did he roll away the Stone from his own Sepulchre and can he want power to roll it away from the Graves of his People Is the Head Risen and now in Heaven and shall the Members always be the Prisoners of Death is he Risen as the First 1 Co. 15. 23. Fruits and shall there not be an Harvest at the end of the World Oh what influence hath the Resurrection of Christ upon our hope as we are Christians therefore we are said to be begotten again 1 Pet. 1. 2. to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead and God raised him 21. up from the Dead that our Faith and Hope might be in God A daily and lively exercise of Faith in Christ as Crucified and Risen would contribute very much to the Strength Life and Vigour of our Hope Fifthly Beg of God to fill you with and give you his Holy Spirit to beget and nourish it in you We can have no good and solid well-grounded and lasting Hope except it be given us from above we cannot get it our selves we must be begotten to it it does not grow and spring up of it self but must be planted in us by a Divine Hand and if it be not watered too by the same Hand how soon will it wither and die if we have good 2 Thos â— 16. Hope we have it thro' Grace and as God's gift It is nothing but the Breath of God can scatter those Fogs and Mists which darken our Souls and cloud our Hopes If we are without Hope let us look up to God for it if our Hope decline and wither if that which remains be ready Rev. 3. 2. to die let us beg of him his Holy Spirit to quicken and recover it The Spirit of God Works Grace and then enables the Soul to see it and then helps him to rejoice in Hope of the Glory of God Oh Rom. 5 2. how soon can he scatter those fears that torment us answer those doubts which for many years have been unresolved and fill that Heart with Hope which was almost swallowed up of Despair How necessary is frequent fervent Prayer to keep our Hope alive If you want go to God for it fall on thy Knees and say I have heard and Lord I believe there is an Heaven and thro' Grace it is possible to me even to me I see many of my fellow Christians with whom I pray hear and daily converse living in the joyful hope and expectation of it but I am full of doubts and fears Lord I have little or no hope and if Death should come while matters are thus with me how should I ever be able to die it is bad to live but Lord it's worse to die without hope oh for hope oh for a lively hope of Heaven oh that on my Death-bed when I shall have no hope of Life I may have hope of Glory oh give me thy holy Spirit to scatter my fears resolve my doubts calm my Conscience and enliven my hope whatever I am deny'd while I live Lord let me have hope at last let this Prayer be heard now and fully answered when a dying hour comes Sixthly Frequently and seriously examine the groâ—â—â— and reason of your Hope Many take up their Hope upon very slight and insufficient grouâ—ds and the least blast of affliction blows down these Castles thâ—y build in the Air many times their hope is like Jonah's Gourd which Joâ— 4◠〈…〉 sprung up at night and withered the next Morning A sound hope is the fruit of many Prayers and Tears much watchfulness and holy walking and we have reason to suspect that hope we come easily and quickly by Such an
be unthankful for the mercies of many For the mercies of my whole life Oh how evil and criminal would this be my flesh is pain'd my affliction great my sick-bed uneasie and the hand of God presseth me sore my tears and sorrows my innocent groans which I hope are only the voice of oppressed nature pierce the hearts and draw tears from the eyes of my dear Relations but yet O my Soul I charge thee by all that is solemn and sacred let there not be a murmuring thought a repining word or any peevish carriage Remember remember the days of Old the mercies of former times and be thankful Thy God hath been good is and will be so and be thou ALL LOVE and PRAISE Was it not God who form'd and fashion'd me in the Womb and brought me forth into the light with an entire and perfect body Were not all my members Ps 139. 16. written in his book and did not he watch over my substance while it was yet imperfect and did not he take care I should not be be born out of due time Was it not 1 Cor. 15. 8. he who appointed when where and of whom I should be born and did not he order all the circumstances of my birth in the best manner When I was a poor helpless infant when I hung on my Mothers breast and lay in my cradle did not he take the care of me Did not his providence watch over me in my Childhood and prevent many unknown and unseen dangers Did noâ— he in my youth keep me from the many evils which in that ungoverned age I was exposed to and might have brought upon my self Has not his careful eye been upon me from my first moments even until now how pretious are thy thoughts unto me O Ps 139 17. God! How great is the sum of them Was it not of God I had the happiness to be born of Religious Parents who set before me a good example wept over and prayed for me That I had seasonable instructions wholsome counsels and the benefit of a vertuous education in my first and early years Was it not he that restrained and with-held me from those sins and lusts which many are overtaken withal and I my self was in danger of in that age of folly and vanity Hath not he fed and cloathed provided for and defended me Been my refuge in a storm my sanctuary in a time of danger my deliverer in an evil day and my Physitian in sickness How oft hath he brought me out of the fiery furnace raised me from a sick bed renewed my strength and saved me from going down to the pit when in my own and others apprehension I was at the mouth of and ready to drop into it hath not he supplied my wants increased my substance blest my endeavours and given me a considerable portion of this Worlds goods Is it not of him I have Friends and Relations to be a comfort to me while others have none or such as are worse than none even a cross and a scourge to them Hath not his Arm upheld his power defended his mercy succoured his bounty supplyed his treasuries enricht me Hath not his providence been ever watchful over me and his holy Angels my constant and perpetual life-guard When in my affliction and pain I have cryed to him hath he not heard my groans regarded my tears answered my prayers in the fittest season and best manner eased or supported me removed my burden or given me strength and so ordered the affliction from first to last that I have been forc't to say Lord it is good for me I have been afflicted Psal 119. â—1 I have not only had the mercies of the left hand but those of the right not only temporal but Spiritual not only for a perishing body but more and greater for an immortal Soul Thanks be to God that he quickened and raised me when I was dead in Trespasses and Sins Eph. 2. 1. that he brought me to hear his Holy word and made it effectual for my conviction and conversion that the same word which was to others the savour of Death unto Death to me was the savour 2 Cor. 2. 16. of Life to Life That the same Word the same Blessed Gospel which blinded them enlightned me which left them in their sins and under the power of Satan brought me home to God for this thy special grace and mercy to my Soul Lord I do I will and hope I shall for ever bless thee Who or what am I What have I done or what can I do That I should be chosen and effectually called when others are not Lord Why didst thou call and convert me and not another me and not my Neighbour me and not him who sate in the same pew heard the same Sermon and for many years attended upon the same ministry Free grace distinguishing mercy differencing love Am I converted changed sanctified and pardon'd Lord I do I will admire and adore thy powerful and victorious grace Awake O my Soul awake prepare a song Oh love and bless and praise thy God I was an Apostate wretch a stubborn enemy a disloyal Rebel and it was a long time before I would lay down my weapons return to my duty and yield patience waited mercy invited ministers exhorted the Spirit pleaded conscience urged God expostulated with yearning bowels the Blessed Jesus called to me from Heaven and beseeched me by his wounds and tears blood-shed passion and death to be reconciled to God but I vile wretch that I was did not hear How many reproofs and counsels warnings and exhortations earnest pleadings and pathetick Sermons were lost upon me And blessed be God all were not that one did the work Did God convert me after many Sabbaths enjoyed and many Sermons heard in vain Infinite kindness Lord I bow and worship before thee and with all the powers of my immortal Spirit bless and praise thee Was it not God pityed me when I did not pity my self Who called after and stopt me when I was running head-long to Hell Who loosed my chains broke my bonds knockt off my setters and brought me out of the House of bondage Was it not he who with a mighty power and stretched-out arm delivered and rescued me when sin ruled and govern'd and Satan led me in triumph as his vassal and captive And shall not I though a sick and pained man adore and bless him Bless him I do I will Bless the Lord O my Soul Ps 103. 2. And all that is withim me bless his Holy Name Since my Conversion and becoming a new man since God took me into his family adopted and made me his Son how much and what great things have been done for me what sweet and ravishing Communion have I had in holy duties publick and private in the assembly of Saints and in my Closet what large speedy and remarkable answers of Prayer what a ravishing sense of Divine Love and Favour
Life without this superlative and predominant love I am I can be no Christian But O my Soul is not my lothness to die when God calls and would have me an ill sign my love is not so strong my affection so warm and this flame so bright and burning as it ought to be doth a Man love God what and wish to be at an eternal distance from him what a flat contradiction is this do I love my God my Saviour and the H. Spirit my guide and comforter as much as I ought and not care how long I am absent from this Blessed Trinity oh how weak and defective is my love did I love my God as strongly as I love my Friend my Relations should I not think it long till I am with him were the glowing sparks blown up into a flame did I love and love as much as I ought how passionately should I cry out My Soul thirsteth for God for the living Psal 42. 3. God when shall I come and appear before God How long must I be at this lamented distance HE is my God my Life my Joy my Happiness my All oh that I were with him oh blessed are they who dwell in his Presence stand before his Throne and continually behold his Face when shall it be so with me O my God I love thee and long to see thee O my Saviour I love thee and I long to see thy Face and have thy company that I may love thee more for every view of thee my glorious Jesus will increase the Flame How long how long Lord how long is the voice of love of a strong and burning love Doth God by this present sickness call me to come from Earth to Heaven from my Friends to him from my Relations who love me pity me pray for and weep over me to my Saviour who loves me more and is able to help me and am I unwilling do I shrink draw back and wish to tarry longer is there not some great defect in my love doth it not want many of those degrees it ought to have Holy Lord Blessed Jesus I am troubled I am ashamed to find so much unwillingness in my self to die now because I am convinc'd my love to thee is not so strong as it should be O pity and pardon me oh help me to love thee more and better and then I shall obey thy Summons and be willing to come to thee tho' Death and the Grave be in my Way that I may let me love thee more and better Lord Hath not God O my Soul promised me a future Glory and confirmed that Promise with an Oath Hath he not revealed much of Heaven to me that I might not be an utter stranger to that unseen World hath he not given me many sweet foretasts of it in Meditation and Prayer in Sermons and in my Sacramental Communions that I might desire long and thirst after more What delightful hours what holy Communion with God Father Son and Spirit what joyful views what ravishing prospects of Heaven have I sometimes had have I not had those sights of God in the Sanctuary those discoveries of his love and that sense of his favour that I have cried out Lord it is good for Mat. 17. 4. me to be here Have I not had that Communion with God in my secret retirements and have I not been fill'd with those joys on my Knees that I have had no more mind to the little things of time to the Vanities here below have not I sometimes been so refresht reviv'd and comforted so satisfied and transported with joy that I have long'd for Heaven that I might be capable of and enjoy more can't I remember the time tho' alass it hath been too seldom so when I would have been glad to have gone from my Closet and from my Knees to Heaven and shall I be unwilling now what did a good God vouchsafe all this to me for but to make me long for Heaven and willing to die why did he give me these first fruits but that I might long for the Harvest these Clusters of Canaan but that I might long for the Vintage These Tasts but that I might long to drink a full Draught of those Rivers of Pleasure which are at his Isa 16. 11. Right Hand for evermore Lord continue and increase those joys now and I will readily dye Moreover O my Soul hath not God continued me in Life and being a great while I might have died in my Infancy Childhood and Youth but I did not I might have died in the Morning or at Noon but I have lived unto the Evening How many are dead and gone while I am yet spar'd how many thousands hath Death removed out of the World since I came into it how many Funerals have I survived how many younger persons have I out-liv'd I have sometimes been sick but did not God recover restore and raise me up again this House of Clay hath often totter'd but hath not God repaired and yet kept it standing the Arrows of Death have been flying about me and many thousands have fallen on my right hand and many on my left but they have had no commission to touch me many have been called out of the Vineyard at the first third and sixth hour and I have been continued to the ninth nay to the eleventh Have not I lived thirty forty fifty sixty years when thousands have not lived so many months weeks or days and is it not shameful for me to be unwilling to dye now after I have lived in the World so long shall I be as loth to dye as those who are but newly come into it unthankful Soul is this the return thou makest to God for so much time and patience the poor Infant of a few days may say must I dye almost as soon as I am born go from one Grave to another come upon the Stage only to look about me take a short turn and so go off the young man may say am I arriv'd at that period of Life wherein Nature is strongest and I am most capable of relishing the pleasures of it and must I go now to a lonesome and solitary Grave must I go to Bed in the Morning and my Sun go down at Noon-day must my Candle be blown out by the Breath of Death when it might Burn much Longer must I in my Youth Strength and the Flower of my Age be thy mark and game O heard-hearted Death when so many old and decrepit ones who in civility may be willing to retire to the Grave and make room for others and of whom the World is weary are passed by O Death Death dost thou refuse the halt the lame and the blind and must I one of the best of the Flock be singled out and be laid as a Sacrifice on thine Altar If this be the Young Mans complaint what can be the old Mans Apology will it not be as weak as himself Have not I
must not now pass from me I may imitate my dear Saviour in the like circumstances chearfully saying Father not my will but thine be done The arguments I have â—uk 22. 42. used are weighty and serious sufficient to convince my judgment stop my mouth and make me silent but after all O pity pardon and help me I find I am backward and loth to die now Lord make me content content that 's too little make me desirous to die and to die now God forbid that after all my Soul should be violently rent and torn from me Lord Let me have such a firm belief of a future happiness such lively hopes and clear evidences of my right and title to it such a burning and flaming love to thee my God to thee my Saviour such pleasing foretasts of Heavenly joys such a reviving prospect of that glorious future state that I might overcome the fears of Death the terrors of the Grave and Triumph over both That I may long and pant desire groan and wish to be with Christ which I must and do acknowledge to be far better Lord inspire my departing Soul with that Faith Hope and Love that I may now glorifie Thee credit Religion and commend thy holy Ways that I may strengthen the weak and encourage the fearful by a chearful and willing comfortable and triumphant departure Sanctifie these afflictions and pains and this present sickness to me and let them put me upon longing after Heaven where are none answer my doubts expel my fears arm and fortifie comfort and encourage my weak drooping and trembling Soul and the nearer I draw to my end the more warm and earnest let my desires be Oh for thy holy Spirit to excite those Heavenly and Spiritual desires in me which I cannot raise in my self O thou almighty and victorious Jesus who hast conquer'd Death and the Grave enable me in these my last moments to triumph over them saying O DEATH where is thy Sting O GRAVE where is 1 Cor. 15. 55. thy victory Many experiences have I had of thy Grace and Mercy love and kindness O my Saviour forsake me not now in this my last extremity O Blessed Jesu who hast been my support and help in Life be my Strength my Comfort and my Joy at Death While in this my last sickness I have been speaking sometimes to my self and sometimes unto God I have obtain'd the Mercy I wanted and laboured after a willingness to die now my doubts are answered my fears remov'd my sins are pardoned God is reconciled my Conscience pacified my hopes are lively my evidences clear my assurance strong and my joy full and now thanks be to God how do I long to dye shall I be afraid of Death What! of a baffled vanquisht and conquer'd Enemy I am not I was but now blessed be God I am not Am I a Member of Christ a Son of God an Heir of Heaven and shall I be afraid of thee O Death through Grace O mine Enemy I am not Methinks I am already in the Suburbs of Heaven and I long to enter into that holy City I have a prospect of yonder blessed World and this prospect is so ravishing and transporting that I wish for a present possession No Heir ever longed more for his Inheritance no Captive ever longed more for Liberty no sick and pained man ever longed more for ease than I now do for Heaven When I am there what charming musick shall I hear what glorious sights shall I behold what blessed and delightful company shall I have what joy will enter into possess and fill this Soul of mine what a Mansion of Light and Glory shall I enter into when I have put off this earthly Tabernacle how does a thought of this make my fettered and yet imprisoned Soul cry out How long Lord how long farewel vain World farewel not Earth but Heaven is my home and I long groan and wish to be there Is the time of my departure at hand Is the time come that I must die Lord I do submit thy holy will be done My Body I chearfully bequeath unto the dust O faithful grave keep what I commit unto thee this Body till my Lord shall come and then deliver it up In the dust shall this flesh of mine sleep and rest in hope My Soul my pretious and immortal Soul O my God I resign to thee into thine hand I commit my Spirit Thou Psal 31. 5. hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth Father into 〈◊〉 â—ands I commit my Spirit Lord Luk. 23. 46. Acts 7. 59. Jesus 〈…〉 Must I die now Lord 〈◊〉 in thy will believing thy promise trusting in thy mercy thro' the ALL-SUFFICIENT MERITS of thy Son and my Saviour I wait wait Lord I long for the happy moment And my last Petition and dying prayer shall be Come Lord Jesus come qickly Rev. 22. 20. 1 Thes 4. 17. that I might be for ever with the Lord come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen Amen FINIS