procure us heavier blows 3. Doct. We may learn that Death is a departure Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart When a man dies he removes He doth not then go back again into nothing but into another Place and into another State Christ called his Death a going away Joh. 14. 28. Ye have heard how I sayed vnto you I go away So Joh. 16. 7. It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you Our Death also is a going away Those that make the longest stay here must be gone at last A wicked man when he dies departs out of his warm Climate and pleasant State from his Friends and Riches from his Comforts and Delights into Miseries and Torments which are Intolerable and Eternal And it is no wonder if such a man play loath to depart and Death be unto him a King of Terrors But when an Holy Gracious Person departs he leaves all his sins and enemies all his troubles and sorrows behind him and he goes to a better place and better company and infinitely better delights He enters into peace and into rest and into the joy of his Lord. He gets off from the stormy troublesome Sea of this World where he was so frequently indangered and baths himself in those Rivers of pleasure which are at God's Right-hand for evermore Vse 1. Let the consideration hereof quiet us under those Breaches which Death makes in our Families and Relations Though it be very afflictive to think my dear Husband is gone my tender Father is gone my loving and faithfull Friend is gone Yet this will lighten and sweeten that affliction if we think whether he is gone from Earth to Heaven from Troubles to Joy and Glory from us to God Christ the Spirit Angels and Saints above Oh Blessed and Everlastingly making Exchange Vse 2. Let the consideration hereof quicken us the good Lord grant that we all may frequently and seriously think of this our departure and industriously bestir our selves in order to a full preparation for it Oh let us get our work done before we go Christ did so Joh. 17. 4. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now come I to thee Mind follow finish that for which you came into the World before you are called out of the World Oh! get your evidences full and fair that when Death siezeth upon you you may lay hold upon Eternal Life Make sure of Heaven before you come to leave the Earth How sweet was it for Christ to tell his Disciples I go to my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God Doct. 4. We may from hence learn this Lesson That a departure in peace is exceeding desireable This was the subject matter of Simeon's desire and prayer Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace He would go out in a calm neither in a stink through sin nor in a storm through fear but in an holy peace This promise was made to Abraham the Father of the Faithfull Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace That is with a quiet pacate and comfortable Spirit with joy and satisfaction without any trouble for what he should part with and without fear of any thing he should meet with And you find Psal. 37. 37. The Royal Prophet bids you Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is Peace Whatever troubles he is encountered by in his way he hath Peace at his end A wicked man may dye in Stupidity but not in Peace he may then be secure but he is not safe though he then have no trouble yet he hath cause enough of trouble My God saith there is no Peace to the wicked neither in his Life nor at his Death Such an one dies in sin and therefore he cannot dye in Peace But now a Godly man whose heart is sprinkled from an evil Conscience hath Peace in his Death usually he hath Peace with his own Conscience that befriends him witnesseth for him speaks comfortably to him and is an excellent Cordial at a dying hour Always he hath peace with his God they are Friends he is Reconciled to God and God to him Moses dyed at the mouth of the Lord God kist him home Vse Well my Friends I am confident you all desire such a Death you would willingly go out of the VVorld in peace Oh let it not be only the matter of your desire but likewise of your endeavour use means in order thereunto and follow these directions 1. Make your peace now Cease your enmity against God throw down your weapons of Rebellion and return unto your duty How can those persons rationally hope that God should be a Friend to them when they dye who are enemies to God while they live now now seek peace and ensue it 2. Make hast to Christ make sure of Christ get unto him He and he alone is the peace and the Prince of peace there is no peace to be had out of Christ. Let him saith God lay hold upon my strength that is upon Christ that he may make peace with me and he shall make peace with me Have a care that you be not found in your sins nor in your selves nor in your own Righteousness trusting in that No no saith Paul Phil. 3. 8 9. I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him 3. Look after a sanctifying change in your hearts and natures follow Peace and Holiness Holiness both of inward Disposition and of outward Conversation Grace ushers in peace purity and peace go together the work of Righteousness is peace and the effect of Righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever By the study and practice of Holiness you may lose your peace with some men but you will keep up and maintain your peace with God yea and with good men too Prov. 22. 11. He that loveth pureness of heart for the grace of his lips the King shall be his Friend Doct. 5. VVe may from these words gather this instruction That a truly gracious man may very well be willing and free and forward to dye Thus good Simeon was here he prayed for Death Let me depart let me be gone out of this VVorld Do thou Lord send for me that I may come to thee And not only so but he also prayed for a quick dispatch a speedy dismission as one that was in hast to be gone As you may learn from that particle Now now lettest thou thy Servant depart He did full well know that he must dye one day that was certain and unavoidable the Chambers of the grave are prepared for all the living but he would dye presently now O Lord now without more ado now without any longer tarrying A wicked man doth not care how long Death stays he puts that day far from him because he looks upon it as a very evil day
not yet believing we may very well rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of Glory For so in those dreadful days of Persecution the Primitive Christians did as you may read in the 1 Pet. 1. 8. II. Therefore there is a mental or intellectual Vision A seeing of Gods Salvation with a spiritual Eye the Eye of the Soul the Eye of Faith which can see things remote yea at the greatest distance both of time and place It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. 1. Faith can wade through the greatest difficulties and look through the thickest Clouds and grossest darkness it can see within the Vail and behold those invisible glories which are there That Speech of our Saviour to his Disciples is applicable to our present purpose and richly worth your Consideration John 14. 19. Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also The prophane wicked and unbelieving world should see him no more they indeed did then see him and were offended at him they slighted and rejected him because of his outward meanness yea they hated him with a perfect hatred they conspired his Death and were never quiet till they had seen him cruified and breath his last Well saith Christ ere it be long these wretches shall see me no more Since I am such a burden to them I will ease them of that burden Since I am their torment and vexation since I am an eye sore to them I will be gone and they shall see me no more they shall be troubled no more with the sight of me and they shall be honoured no more with the sight of me But saith Christ to his Disciples you see me that is you shall see me The Present Tense is put for the Future to shew the certainty of the thing As you see me now so you shall see me hereafter And that not only with your glorified Eye with which you shall behold me when we meet together in my Fathers Palace where you shall be like me because you shall see me as I am but also you shall see me with a Spiritual Eye even that of your Faith after my ascension into my Kingdom you shall so see me And it is observable that Christ did call upon poor lost Sinners to take this sight of him long before his incarnation and appearance in the Flesh. Thus in Isa. 45. 22. Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the Earth for I am God and there is none else Now when he thus commanded and invited all the ends of the Earth to look to him you must understand it thus that they were to look to him with this Eye of Faith and that before he came to take upon him our Nature and so again that excellent place which respects us Gentiles Isa. 65. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said behold me behold me unto a Nation that was not called by my name In the same way still they were to behold him namely by an Eye of Faith And it was with this sight that Abraham saw him Hundreds of yeare before he was born Our Saviour you know speaks thus to the obstinate and quarrelsome Jews John 8. 56. Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day he saw it and was glad He saw Christs day or Christ in his day by an Eye of Faith Now my Brethren in the same manner that Abraham and others under the Old Testament saw Christ before he came in the Flesh true Believers now in New Testament times may and do see him though he be ascended into Heaven and hath carried his Flesh with him thither It is by Faith we see Christ by Faith we apply him to our own Souls and by Faith that we eat his Flesh and drink his Blood and fetch from him Life and Strength Grace Peace and Comfort There are two things which Faith is furnished with and both of singular use First Faith hath a long hand that can reach a great way One of the Mighty Monarchs of the World was called Longimanus or Long Hand Above all Creatures Faith doth best deserve that name there is nothing out of its reach it can take and lay hold upon prophecies and promises though they shall not be yet a great while accomplished Heb. 11. 13. These all dyed in the Faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off they were perswaded of them and embraced them as far off as they were these Saints by Faith got them into their arms and hugged them Babylon is yet standing and triumphing but the Believers Faith looks into the Prophecie and saith Babylon the great is fallen it is fallen This long-handed Grace can reach Heaven it can lay hold upon the hope that is set before it it layeth hold upon Eternal Life nothing is too hard for Faith to him that believeth all thing are possible and nothing is too high for Faith Secondly Faith hath a quick strong and piercing Eye it can see up to Heaven and it can see into Heaven you find in Acts 7. that Stephen was stoned yet when those stones were showred down upon him and at the last beat the breath out of his body yet they could not strike out the Eye of his Faith but that was quick still and saw as well as ever as you read verse 55. Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God It was doubtless to him a most sweet and comfortable sight when he saw Devils incarnate upon Earth working his ruine then to see God incarnate in Heaven beholding his Faith and Patience appearing on his behalf and standing ready to receive his Soul Faith hath indeed an Eye like the Eye of an Eagle They say an Eagle can behold the Sun in its greatest splendor and brightness it can glare upon the Sun and by that she tries her young ones whither they be genuine or no Now Faith can look Christ in the face it can behold the Sun of Righteousness in the highest Heavens who is ten thousand thousand times brighter than the Sun in the Firmament The Evangelist tells us John 1. We beheld his Glory as the Glory of the only begotten Son of the Father The true Believer may and doth by Faith see Christ in Heaven more clearly and stedfastly than he can see the Sun in these lower Heavens For this Sun doth dazle and weaken and blind the Eye that dwells too long upon it for it is too eminent an object for the Organ But now the Sun of Righteousness doth clear and fortifie and strengthen the Eye of Faith so that the more he looks the better he sees the more able he is to converse with the object because he is thereby more assimilated and lusted to it 2
A FUNERAL SERMON Delivered upon Occasion of the Death of that Worthy Gentleman John Marsh Esq Who lived at Garston-Hall in Watford Parish in the County of Hartford And Died in the Lord and was Buried Septemb. 16 1681. By Samuel Slater Late Minister of the Gospel at Edmunds-Bury in Suffolk Isa. 57. 2. He shall enter into peace they shall rest in their Beds each one walking in his uprightness LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1682. The Epistle Dedicatory To my Honoured Friends Madam Marsh and her Pious Son and Daughters AT the Motion and Desire of your since Deceased Father and Husband my Worthy Friend I did after the Solemnization of his Funeral deliver the following Discourse to you in Private And in order to Common Good I have here made it Publick The Father of Mercies accompany it with his Blessing upon you and all others into whose hands it shall come that thereby Love to and Faith in Christ may be promoted together with Holiness of Life and Comfort at Death That you may not be unmindful of that King of Terrors at his greatest distances nor terrified by him in his nearest approaches I was greatly pleased to see your gracious Deportment under that Afflictive Providence which deprived you of one so desireable and that you were duely affected with your Loss yet sweetly submissive to your God Though the Cup was bitter you did not faint nor murmur It was indeed a Mercy that you enjoyed him so long for he was full of Dayes and had a flourishing old Age. And it may be a Comfort that you shall see him again in Heaven where you shall Eternally rejoyce together in God That your Souls may prosper your Graces increase your Comforts abound your Daies may be filled with Mercy and Duty and your selves at last received into Glory is the Hearty Prayer of Your Friend and Servant in our dear Lord Jesus S. Slater Decemb. 22 1681. Errata corrigenda PAge 13 line 16 for primative read privative p. 14. l. 12. for places r praises l. 22. for Son r Sun p. 20. l. 10. for lusted r likened p. 22. l. 6. dele thus p. 23. l. 31. dele that l. 36. after am l r that l. p. 26. l. 20. for him r them p. 30. 1. 14. for Judges r Judge l. 37. for Lords and Gods r Lord and God p. 34. l. 34. for their r the. p. 35. l. 16. for in r is p. 36. l. 10. for not r now LUK. 2. 29 30. Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word For mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation THESE are the words of Holy Simeon who is supposed to be the Son of Hillel and Chief of the great Synedrion and Father of the Learned Doctor Gamaliel at whose Feet the great Apostle of the Gentiles Paul was educated Concerning whom the Sacred Scripture testifies that he was a Just and Devout man i. e. Godly and Righteous Wary and Cautious A man that managed his Life and ordered his actions with that due circumspection as evidenced his sedulous care of approving himself to God This good man waited for the Consolation of Israel viz. the incarnation or coming of the Son of God the promised and longingly expected Messiah in whom all our comforts are laid up if we be Israelites indeed That Jesus alone can be our Consolation who is our Salvation It is only under his shadow we can sit with great delight because under that alone we can sit in safety Those men and Women that seek their comforts out of Christ will find themselves under miserable disappointment And by how much the higher they are raised in hopes and expectation by so much the lower they will be plunged into sorrow and vexation I do earnestly beseech you Christians to remember this that Christ is the Consolation of Israel and improve it for your Souls advantage Especially I speak this to you my Friends who are most nearly concerned in the late stroak of Providence and do now mourn under the smart thereof Learn whither you should repair for support and healing even to this Jesus who to this day yea for ever continues to be the Consolation of Israel and in whom you may find abundantly enough to sweeten this bitter Cup. This Simeon who thus waited was well rewarded for his Faith and Patience having this assurance given him that he should not see Death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. He should not see Death until Christ was born Christ should come upon Earth before Simeon should go to Heaven From whence you may learn this truth That waiting upon God is not in vain much time may be spent in it but it will not be time mis-spent God is not wont to send a waiting Soul mourning away Such an one may come to God with a tear in it's Eye but sooner or later it shall go from him with a smile upon it's Countenance Thou O mourning drooping Christian dost not see Christ now he covers himself with a Cloud well sink not under discouragement but let patience have it's perfect work and do thou charge thy Soul to wait on I am perswaded before thou seest Death thou shalt see Jesus Christ will manifest himself unto thee however as soon as Death hath closed thy bodily Eyes thou shalt both see him and thy self with him in Glory Well Simeon having waited long though not too long came into the Temple which did then exceed in Glory for there he met with Jesus And having met with him he toook him up in his arms and he was a most blessed arm-full doubtless the good old man was glad he had got him and his heart did leap within him He never before embraced so great and glorious an Object And I tell thee O Christian who hast got Christ in thy Heart and dost hug him in the arms of thy Faith thou hast as much reason to rejoyce as Simeon did when he had him in his arms for it is Christ in you the hope of Glory If he be formed in you you shall be saved by him Having taken Christ in his arms what did the good man do Oh! he blessed God and truly he had reason How could he be without his Song when he had got him who was his strength and Salvation We have cause to bless God for Creatures for our Health Strength Estates and Relations because we are less than the least of these but we have infinitely more cause to bless God for Christ because he is a gift of the dearest love and of the greatest excellency All Earthly comforts come from the hand of God but Christ comes from the Some part of that which Simeon spake upon this occasion you have in the words of the Text in which take notice of these two things 1. Simeons humble petition and request to God Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word 2. The ground
rejoyce in them and rely upon them as security enough cast your selves upon the word do not question it's truth do not doubt of its accomplishment but firmly expect the making of it good whatever the Devil and Carnal Reason and Flesh and Blood suggest to the contrary As long as you have the assurance of a promise fear not Enemies nor Difficulties nor Dangers but keep your way and go on though there be Lions in it and other Ravenous Beasts worse than they 2. Your business is to plead the Word and urge it and beg of God that he would be pleased to fulfil it We never improve promises as we ought until we turn them into Prayer and press God with them Thus David did 2 Sam. 7. 27. Thou O Lord of Hosts God of Israel hast revealed to thy Servant saying I will build thee an house therefore hath thy Servant found in his heart to pray this Prayer unto thee Thus Simeon did here let me depart according to thy word and you frequently meet with these expressions in Psalm 119. Remember thy Word unto thy Servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope As long as that word was remembred David knew he himself should not be forgotten My Soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken thou me according to thy word My Soul melteth for heaviness strengthen thou me according to thy Word Oh let thy mercies come unto me even thy Salvation according to thy word I entreated thy Salvation with my whole heart be merciful unto me according to thy word You see how good David was at it He had a mind to be answered He could not indure to meet with a denying God A gracious Soul had rather lose his Comforts upon Earth than his Prayers in Heaven One of the saddest groans that ever such an one did utter is Lam 3. 8. When I cry and shout he shutteth cut my Prayer Now David to prevent that he strengthned his cause as much as he could and so did bottom his Prayer upon and back it with a promise then he knew himself sure of acceptance and answer for God could not deny Davids Prayer but he must in so doing deny himself too and falsifie his own word and therefore observe how he gets hold and keeps it and wrestles Psal. 143. 1. Here my Prayer O Lord give ear to my supplications in thy faithfulness answer me The good man had the Covenant and Promises at that time in his Heart and Eye and thought he now I may be bold for I am sure enough whom ever he doth send away with a repulse he can't me he is a faithful God and therefore he will answer me and that according to the desert of my heart in thy faithfulness answer me And truly Christians thus we all should do if we would act wisely and advantagiously for our selves Search the Scriptures and see what promises speak appositely to your case and take them and carry them by Faith in Prayer unto God and there put them in suit Lord I want Faith Patience and meekness I am in such a difficultie called out to such works assaulted with such temptations environed with such and such and such dangers and thus and thus hast thou spoken Lord make good thy word unto me thy Servant This this is the way to obtain and as Princes to prevail with God Doct. 8. The Eighth Doctrine which these words afford us is this That Christ is God's Salvation Good Simeon had been delighted with the sight of Jesus and now saith he mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation He is the Saviour whom God hath chosen in his Wisdom raised up in his Love and sent with Authority He is not only willing to save and mighty to save but he is also authorized and commissioned for it All our Salvation comes from Christ both our Salvation from Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Evils Our primative Salvation from Sin and from Wrath comes from Christ. He delivers us from the guilt of Sin by his Righteousness imputed to us and from the dominion of Sin by the power of his Spirit and Grace and from the damnation which was due to sin by the sacrifice of himself which he offered unto the Justice of his Father He rescued us out of the hands of Satan as a tempter so that his fiery darts shall not mortally wound us and as an Accuser so that his charges shall not take place nor prevail to our condemnation He doth redeem his people from all their Iniquities and from Death and Hell and he will never leave working until he hath redeemed them from all their distresses And all our positive Salvation doth likewise come from Christ. It is he that reconciles us to God that doth make and keep the peace between God and us He doth give us our title to Heaven and our fitness for Heaven and our possession of Heaven He giveth both Grace and Glory He doth first infuse the principle of Grace and then adds the Crown of Glory He it is that by his Spirit first breaths into them the breath of a Spiritual Life and then imparts to them that Life more abnndantly and then at last advanceth them to and rewards them with Eternal Life The Scripture calls him the Captain of our Salvation and the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Vse 1. Oh how should we admire the goodness of God in giving Christ to us and for us and how should our Mouths be filled with his praises all the day Thus it was with good Zacharias in Luk. 1. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up an horn of Salvation for us in the house of his Servant David Specially you that have found and experienced his Salvation begun upon you that whereas he is a Stone of stumbling to others he is a Stone of support a Foundation-Stone to you And whereas he is a Rock of Offence to Thousands He is a Rock of Salvation to you Surely upon this score most inlarged places are due to God and comely for you That man that cannot be thankful for Christ can be truly thankful for nothing That heart is cold indeed which this exceeding Riches of Grace will not warm melt and inflame Vse 2. Look carefully to it that you do not fail of this grace of God that you do not neglect this great Salvation Do not slight Christ do not stand at a distance from him for there is not Salvation in any other There is no name under Heaven which is a strong Tower in which you may be safe but only his No Wings under which you can find healing and security but only the Wings of this Eternal Son of Righteousness therefore be willing to accept of his help and that upon his own terms which are most just and reasonable If ever he save you he will not save you in your sins but from your sins He will be sin's Death if he be your Life He
will sanctifie you as well as well as save you He will Rule you and Govern you as well as save you He will bring you to his Foot if ever he bring you to his Throne God the Father hath exalted him to be a Prince as well as a Saviour and he will be both or neither Vse 3. Be sure to flie to this Jesus in all your dangers and distresses When your Enemies without you are furious and fears within you are high so that your hearts are almost overwhelmed then run to this Rock that is higher than you When you find Corruptions are stirring within you and you know not how to master them and when you find Temptations are violent upon you and you are not in your own strength able to resist them then go to Christ and beg ye of him that he would be your Salvation Thus Paul did when he had a Thorn in the Flesh and a Messenger from Satan buffetting him then he besought the Lord thrice and had this assurance that Christ's grace was sufficient for him and Christ's power should be made known in his weakness And that gracious answer which was given to Paul may be an incouragement to you and all the people of God to take the same course in the time of their need and as this is a most proper course so it is most prevailing for the Lord is good to them that wait upon him and to the Souls that seek him And if you will consult your own experiences they will tell you that you get most of your comforts and most of your victories upon your knees And our Lord Jesus himself by his own example directs you to this means For when Peter was to be Tempted then Christ prayed But there remains one thing more very observable in the words upon which I shall more largely insist than I have done upon all the foregoing points The sight which this good man old Simeon had of Gods Salvation was the reason why he was so willing and ready and desirous to depart and take his last farewell of this World From hence I offer to your consideration this truth Doct. 9. Those that have had a sight of Gods Salvation may very well be desirous of Dissolution and think long till that happy day comes which will convey them into the other World Some men wish for Death meerly in a fret or discontented fit They meet with disappointments and crosses and troubles their estates fail them their trading grows dead their friends unkind A Ship at Sea is cast away or taken by Pirates they are vexed at this and the other and hereupon they are weary of Life and now whether they be fit or no they would fain dye thus it was with passionate Jonah when that a Worm had smote his Gourd that it withered and the Sun darted his scorching beams upon his head that he fainted he wished in himself to dye and said in his hast that it was better for him to dye than to live Poor man he had been put out of sorts and did then quite forget himself But this is very ordinary among people as if every trouble of life should make life it self a burden And as if though our comforts be consumed it were not still of the Lords mercies that we our selves are not consumed And certainly as ordinary as it is it is exceeding sinfull It speaks a wofull impotency and weakness of Spirit yea and there is in it a Spirit of rebellion against God when men would live no longer than God useth them as they themselves please and orders all things concerning them according to their own mind and humour If we did but seriously consider the Sovereignty of God and that as we are his creatures we must be at his dispose we should see reason enough to submit to him and be silent under all his providences How great and how heavy soever our Cross is we should carry it patiently and be content to bear it so long as our God will have us But now a sight of Christ and of Gods Salvation by Christ is a just and justifiable ground of such a desire so that still it be with submission to the vvill and good pleasure of that God in vvhose hand our lives are In the handling of this point I shall do these three things 1. I shall shevv hovv or in vvhat vvays a Soul may see God's Salvation 2. That one vvho hath had the sight of Gods Salvation may very vvell be vvilling and desireous to dye 3. And then improve it by vvay of use and application First What is it to see God's Salvation or in vvhat vvays doth a man or woman see this blessed sight Unto that I shall return this fourfold answer 1. There is an ocular vision or a sight of God's Salvation with the eyes of the body This sight those Saints had vvho savv Christ vvhen he vvas here upon Earth and Tabernacled among men and vvho beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father This sight Simeon had vvhen his Parents brought him into the Temple then Simeon took him up in his arms and said mine eyes have seen thy Salvation And upon that sight he was raised and his heart so ravished that he vvas vvilling immediately to set sail for the other World His Soul vvas ready to take its flight he thought he had lived long enough and had seen enough of these inferiour objects he cared not for beholding the vanities of the World any more Jesus in his svvathering bands did outshine Princes in their Robes and Thrones And having once got a sight of him he thought there was nothing else upon the face of the Earth worth seeing Having seen Christ upon Earth he had a mind to go see God in Heaven Now this sight we cannot have and we need not have it now In this respect the Lord Jesus is gone out of our sight The Heavens do contain him and so they must until the time come wherein there shall be the restitution of all things And there is not any necessity of our seeing him in this manner we are no losers by his absence It was expedient for us that he went away for it was upon his going that the Comforter came who is to abide with us for ever All the work which Christ had to do upon Earth was finisht before he went away what remains further to be done he can do it in Heaven as he sits upon his his Throne at the right hand of his Father And his bodily presence would contribute nothing at all to our advantage and comfort We have a great deal more cause to please our selves with the thoughts of his being in Heaven by which we see that justice is satisfied yea that he entred there as our Fore-runner to make way for us and to take a place up for us and that he doth there ever live to make intercession for us And upon these accounts though now we see him
perswaded that it shall be well with them when they dye and that they shall go to Heaven when they go from Earth and yet they are loath to dye and thoughts of their departure from hence are afflictive to them When the message of Death was brought by the Prophet to good Hezckiah he turned his face to the wall and prayed and wept sore And good David himself though he knew that God had made with him an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure yet he cryed O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and he seen no more He would fain live a little longer and see a few more days past over his head I do not wonder that wicked men are loath to dye for they get nothing by it nay they lose all by it they are utterly ruined and undone by it Death takes them from all their good things jovial companions and pleasant enjoyments and carries them into that Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone Therefore who would think it strange that they should put from them the day of their Death which will be to them such a day of evil They have reason to desire Life yea to say I would live always because it is better for them to live than to dye if you kill them you spoil all Such men may well say to Death as Ahab did to Elijah hast thou found me O mine enemy But here is the wonder that a Godly man should firmly assent unto this truth that there is another life after this and that that life is unspeakably better than this There is no compare between the comforts of this and the glory of that and they are also confident that when once they are absent from the body they shall be present with the Lord and when once this frail uncertain troublesome life shall come to an end they shall live that better life when once they are got off this stormy tempestuous Sea they shall bath themselves Eternally in those Rivers of Pleasures which are at God's Right-hand And yet Death is a word that sounds harsh in their ears they care not to hear of it when they think of it they are troubled A Deaths head upon the board spoils the Mirth and marrs the Feast it doth not only make them serious that it should do but it also makes them sad and dumpish and still they have desires that they may and some hope that they shall have a longer continuance in the World and draw out some more years yet before they come to the end of their line I must and do most readily grant that long life is a blessing a great blessing as such it is the matter of the promise but withall know Eternal Life is a greater blessing and he is no loser that lives but a little while here and then goes to live for ever with God For gracious persons that have seen God's Salvation and know they have seen it I say for such to be unwilling to dye carryes two evils in the Bowels of it 1. It is too great a magnifying of this present evil World an over-valuing of it and a setting too high a rate indeed an unreasonable price upon the enjoyments and delights of it Your esteem of them are far above their intrinsic worth what will carnal men say who stand by and see how you are wedded to the World and unwilling to be divorced from it What have they reason to say but that you find a great deal in it You tast the fatness of the Olive and the sweetness of the Vine and so think it is good to be here Certainly this speaks your setting your hearts too much upon the Creatures And hereby you do justifie and encourage them in their Worldliness they are strengthened in their love of the World and devotedness to it And also you do hereby cross and thwart God and run counter to him in one of his grand designs which is to wean his People from the World and to take their hearts off from creature delights which do ingross so much of their time and cares and do so much distract their thoughts and embase their Spirits and hinder them both as to their service of God and Communion with him And indeed how indecorous and unbecoming is it for Heaven born Souls to embrace Dunghills and for those that profess themselves risen with Christ to set their affections upon those things that are here upon Earth And for you who are the children of God and heirs of Heaven to mind carnal things It is far more unseemly than to see the heir of a Crown stopping Ovens or raking Kennels After these things saith our Saviour do the Gentiles seek that is those who know no better who are without God in the World who are drowned in the flesh and understand not the worth of an immortal Soul and upon these things let them dote still alass their portion is in this life being Aliens from the Covenants of promise and having no hope But as for you who have been taught of God who have heard of a blessed immortality who have seen those invisible glories that are within the vail you should be disingaged from all inferiour delights and carry towards them with a Spirit of indifference You should use the world but do not love it make it serve your occasions but suffer it not to command your affections While you have it in your hands and in your chests keep it out of your hearts The world is as we use to say of fire a very good servant but a very bad master Things are usefull and beautifull in their places so is the world but when it is in the heart it is out of its place and then it is stark nought and doth much hurt 2. For those who are the people of God and do know they are so who have seen God's Salvation I say for them to be unwilling to dye is a great reproach and disparagement to those glories which are above Christians you do hereby bring up an ill report upon the Land of promise as if the Honey and Milk of Canaan were not so good desireable as the Garlick Onions of Egypt what is the interpretation meaning of such a Spirit but that you fear it will be to your loss to exchange Earth for Heaven to leave delights Temporal for those that are Eternal What shall I say this averseness from Death and loathnesses to depart from hence is a piece of practical blasphemy as if these sorry cottages were better to inhabit than those stately Pallaces that these puddle delights and muddy streams were more delicious and desireable than that pure River of water of life which is clear as Chrystal and proceeds out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb as if these childish and trifling vanities did out-weigh and out-worth the glories which are above And these pitifull contemptible glow-worms did out-shine and obscure the Eternal Sun of