peace Balaam 's wish strongly confirmeth it Numb 23.10 Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his And to add no more quotations in so plain a case Paul in my Text appropriateth this priviledge to himself and such as he was real Christians true Saints and unfeigned believers I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ and to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain Therefore look what we are living such we are dying Death is but the term of life and changeth not the state of the person but the degree of that state Grace must be wrought here but perfected hereafter in glory which is grace consummate and if no grace here no glory hereafter for as the tree falleth so it lieth But if I should draw the curtaines that are about these dying Saints and consider how they die that come to Christ by death I would propose it unto you briefly in two or three expressions for the discovery of it and your information in it according to the Scripture The Godly die in the faith of Christ believing in him and all the promises of God which in him are yea and amen Heb. 11.13 These all died in faith not having received the promises they die in the interest of Christ and they are Christs in death as well as life Rom. 14.8 Whether we live we live to the Lord and whether we dye we dye to the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords Yea they die in union with Christ Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 This is that death and the death of such as these are is that departure whereof Paul speaketh in my Text and how desirable it is beyond this present life it self will further appear by the several and sutable acceptations of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original which we translate to depart in which word as an alablaster box the Apostle hath inclosed precious spikenard to annoint the Saints against their funeral by which we shall understand the gainful advantage of death to the godly as it looketh back to this present life as the terminus a quo or the bounds from which they depart First the word is used to loosen the cables of a ship solvere rudentes a metaphor taken from mariners who sail from one Banke or Port unto another it importeth a flitting or sailing from the state of this present life to our heavenly country Afflictions in the Scriptures are compared to waters and the world is a troublesome sea to the Saints over which they sail through many stormes till they come to shore For through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Many are the afflictions of the righteous and in the world ye shall have tribulation saith Christ to his Disciples John 16. last And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus saith Paul shall suffer persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 But the death of the Saints is the end of their sorrowes and if we suffer with Christ we shall be glorified together Rom. 8.18 Then all tears shall be wiped from their eyes and sorrow and mourning shall flee away when they shall arrive at the land of promise the Cape of good hope Heaven is the Saints fair haven it is called the bosome of Abraham Luk. 16.23 Which Gregory Nyssen expounds to be like a bay or bosome of the Sea into which a godly man sayling from hence putteth in his soul as a haven free from danger and tempest where it shall receive the fulness of all good things Secondly The word is translated reverti to return Believers are sent forth to labour in this world and they are Christs factors upon earth for the advancement of his glory and kingdom and the heavenly gain of their own eternal happiness They trade for heaven by which their conversations are said to be in heaven Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our City life or commerce or our conversation is in heaven whence we look for the Lord Jesus Christ to come They are citizens of heaven but they trade from home in a far countrey as merchants seeking the pearl of great price Mat. 13.44 Which having found they returned home richly laden with the treasure of the Gospel Death is the souls return to God Eccles 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it Job saith he shall return thither Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Greek Scholies expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto God How joyful is the return of the Saints to their heavenly home and their happy rest after their laborious travail and restless pains in the works of their salvation attended with all the fruits of holiness and righteousness as an evidence of their faith and testimony of their obedience Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 As the wagons which Joseph sent for his Father Jacob and his houshold brought them to the land of Goshen and to the full plenty of Joseph's provision so death bringeth the Saints to their joyful rest and to Christ their heavenly Joseph Death is the unharnessing of the Saints at their final return to their full peace and everlasting inheritance * Solvunti◠sarcina vincula Thirdly the word is applyed sometimes to the loosing of the cords of a tent * Solvere sunos tobernaculorum Beleivers in this life and while they are in the body dwell as in tents and tabernacles in an unsetled and changeable estate as pilgrims and strangers having no continuing City and therefore often remove their tents like the Patriarchs of old Heb 11.9 10. Where the Apostle speaking of Abraham saith that by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange countrey dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a City which had foundations whose builder and maker is God Al the faithful are heirs of eternal promises how mean and contemptible soever they seem in the eyes of the world as a gazing-stock unto them among whom they sojourn for a time As they are not of the world so they have little favour and respect from it for therefore the world hateth them John 15.19 No wonder therefore the people of God have alwayes accounted themselves strangers here Psal 119.19 I am a stranger in the earth saith David hide not thy commandements from me And Peter writing to the Jews 1 Pet. 2.11 I beseech you saith he as pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the Soul How welcome then is that dissolution that looseneth the cords of those tents and pulleth
and unworthy wretches who disdain and slight such reports of mercy and the rich mystery of Gods good will towards men in Christ which the Angels admiring bow themselves and stoop down to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 Hearken O ye unbeleivers Is it not a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners whereof ye are the chief What is the meaning of so many publique Assemblies every Lords day and our occasional comings together upon this or any other providential call what is the meaning that so many are set apart and make it their study and labour to preach unto you whom ye openly see in their Pulpits spreading their hands and hear them with so much zeal and fervency crying aloud spending their very strength and hazarding their healths and life it self in their unwearied paines Is it not Christ whom we preach and in whom ye say that ye beleive How can ye beleive that wallow in the mire of your unclean and polluted conversations How can ye beleive that commit iniquity with greediness and blush not at your open sins and profaneness How can ye beleive that make the world your God and prefer the trrash of the earth before the treasures of heaven How can ye beleive that seek the honour and praise and favour of men more then the honour that is of God that ye may be great upon earth and get a name which shall be written in the earth Is it not true that all men have not faith ye say ye beleive and ye have faith can your faith save you can a dead faith a feigned faith a fruitless and a workless faith save you Can ye prove or shew a true faith without workes Give me leave to try your faith in regard of the object of it Doe ye beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ Doe ye beleive in that Christ who from the beginning was promised to the sore-fathers who saw his day and rejoyced who in the fulness of time appeared in our flesh made of a woman and under the law and took upon him the form of a servant who suffered so much shame and reproach by the contradiction of sinners and at last an accursed death the death of the cross for the satisfaction of divine justice and appeasing of the wrath of God so highly provoked by the sins of men who arose from the grave having overcome and broken the bands of death to assure unto us our justification who lastly ascended into the highest heavens and is there interceeding for his people and ruling and reigning till he overcome all his enemies whence he shall come again and appear the second time without sin unto the final judgement of the world and the full salvation of all that beleive in him Why then do ye say in your selves or is it not the language of our unbeleiving hearts who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ from above and who shall descend in to the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead What strange fancies have ye in your mindes of Christ and beleiving in Christ Is not your faith a fancy O that the word of faith were nigh unto you even in your hearts the word of faith which we preach And that ye would beleive our report when we preach Christ and him crucified as we have evidently set him forth crucâ—fied among you Besides if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed it would soon manifest its self by the growth of it and the fruits that proceed from it It would be a Christ prizing faith a heart purifying faith a world conquering and crucifying faith it would be a Saint loving and a soul humbling faith it would work in you the fear of God and the fear of sin a love to the truth and to every ordinance of Christ it would make conscience tender and the heart sincere and upright with God yea it would render holiness beautiful and lovely and all the wayes and commands of the Lord delightful and easie besides it would make future things present and present things absent and as if they were not and yet the beleiving soul inherits all things and possesseth all things The exercise of faith is a pleasant joyful and glorious act through the transcendent and unspeakable excellency of Christ the object thereof Now if these things be a mystery unto you and your hearts wholly strangers unto them look into the Gospel more seriously and acquaint your selves further with the riches of the mystery of Christ even the riches of mercy and the unsearchable treasures of Christ and be no more faithless but beleive If ye were but sensible of the wants of your souls as ye are of the straights and necessities of your bodies it would not be so hard to perswade you to come to Christ the great treasury of all supplies who hath gold for the poor and eye-salve for the blind and white rayment for the naked Rev. 3.13 Now are not ye thus poor and blind and naked and consequently wretched and miserable And how freely doth Christ offer himself to become all fulness unto you who is made of God unto all that beleive wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 what sure foundation can ye build upon if Christ be not the corner stone and rock of your trust and confidence and to whom will ye goe for eternal life if ye refuse him and reject the counsell of God by persisting in unbeleif and impenitency I can assure you from the word of God that other foundations can no man lay then is laid by Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 To day therefore whilst it is called to day harden not your hearts refuse not him that speaketh from heaven lest you perish in your unbeleife but lay hold upon this strength of God that ye may make peace with him ye shall make peace Isai 27.5 For he is our peace by whom we have access with boldness unto the throne of grace and he is able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by him Heb 7.25 O sinners beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved every soul of you your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquity shall be remembred no more and receive him who is ready to receive you and to bless you with all spiritual blessings that ye may be the children of God and heires of the promises and of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven Secondly The exhortation is also to all Christians for to such my text hath a more special relation even to those who with their hearts beleive and love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity who though peradventure they cannot so freely with Saint Paul desire to depart yet in case of departing unfeignedly desire to be with him And because
continuance of its separation having a natural inclination to be re-united to its own body without which it cannot be perfectly happy though in heaven it self in all degrees for notwithstanding the fulness of the glory of God in heaven whereof it is partaker in the presence of Christ yet being but a part it wants the natural perfection of its relation and receiveth its happiness and glory but according to the measure of a part waiting for the redemption of its body Whence we may conclude that the natural state and condition of the sould of every man is to be in the body and there it is in its proper habitation as the Apostle saith we are at home in the body 2 Cor. 5.6 So that how strange soever the desire of a gracious soul may be to be with Christ and to be absent from the body by departing hence yet it is naturally and necessarily detained till the death of the body leave it free as in a be-widdowed estate to remove to Christ its wellbeloved and to the Father of spirits for a time to visit those mansions wherein it shall abide for ever in the fulness of glory with the assumed body made more suitable and spiritual for it at the resurrection It appeareth also from hence that it is no less then wilful murther and consequently a breach of a great command voluntarily to endeavour or hasten the dissolution of these two united parts of body and soul nature and grace commanding and commending the use of all lawful meanes and that by physick as well as food and other natural helpes to preserve this present life until God in the course of providence shall make a separation Secondly Believers while they are in the body are absent from the Lord Christ both in respect of local distance and also of the nature and manner of their communion with him For Christ is in heaven and they upon earth and their communion with him now though it be spiritual and joyful yet it is weak and darke in comparison of an immediate presence For we walk by faith not by sight 2 Cor. 5.7 Which faith being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen begetteth in the heart a fervent love and an unspeakable joy in an absent and unseen Saviour 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Nevertheless the communion the Saints have with Christ through faith and hope in him is but weak and dark here in comparison of what shall be in heaven when they shall be with him and these graces appropriato this present life and state shall cease through immediate vision and fruition whereby their love shall be perfect in the presence of its object For faith apprehendeth Christ by spiritual knowledge which is the sight in the eye of faith and the highest degree of knowledge the soul is capable of here in heavenly things is but obscure to what it shall be hereafter What we see through many mediums is but darkely seen and though mediums may be helpful to natural sight in case of weakness of the organ or distance of the object yet such a sight falls short of a strong and clear inspection of something near at hand and at a due distance Thus it is in regard of the souls apprehension and knowledge of spiritual things which being at a great distance and far remote in their nature and perfection we look at them as through a glass and that darkely 1 Cor. 13.12 For we know in part and we prophesie in part and now see through a glass darkely but then face to face We see the things of God and of heaven through the glass of the Word and Sacraments and the glass of the workes of Providence in which glasses we may be said to see these things also as by reflexion of their image according to that other expression of Paul 2 Cor. 3.18 For we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image this also is darke in respect of the sight of the maked face or substantial glory of Christ in a direct line and without reflexion for though it be with open face the vail of natural ignorance and blindness being taken away yet it is not face to face in the appearance of Christ nakedly and immediately unto us But what this darkness of knowledge is in this life I shall in a few words more explain The mysteries of heaven and of God and Christ are revealed unto us in the Scriptures according to our capacity of understanding them and the Lord condescending to the nature of man speaketh unto us after the manner of man Now the nature and kind of knowledge which is proper unto us is not intuitive but discursive the rational soul using the organs and senses of the body for the attaining of its knowledge and understanding So that we know all things in a sensible manner according to the first species and impressions made in the understanding which it receiveth from the senses and from thence the understanding by discourse and reason formeth the notions of spiritual and insensible beings And hence it is that in most things that incurre not immediately into the senses our knowledge is so darke and dubious that in natural science we agree not but dispute principles themselves In like manner God revealeth spiritual and invisible things and the great mysteries of the Gospel unto us wherein he speaketh our language and presenteth heavenly things unto us in earthly formes as when he revealeth and describeth himself it is as having the members of our bodies and the passions of our minds which we art to understand figuratively and not literally least we become guilty of blasphemous thoughts and carnal apprehensions of God And thus when our Saviour instructed Nicodemus in the mystery of grace and conversion to God he telleth him he must be born again John 3.5 Nicodemus understood him at first literally and rather wondred then believed wherefore Christ reproveth him verse 13. If I have told you earthly things and ye beleive not how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things Not that regeneration is an earthly thing though it must be a state upon earth and wrought while we are here but Christs meaning is if I have spoken to you of these heavenly and spiritual things in an earthly manner and sensitive way by parables and similitudes and yet ye understand me not so as to beleive how shall ye beleive if I speak in a spiritual and heavenly Dialect and Language Now if we understand heavenly things only as they are revealed for they are therefore so revealed that we might understand them what dark and low what short and weak apprehensions have we of them Therefore a gracious soul desireth to be absent rather from the body and present with Christ that it might
THE SOULS ASCENSION IN THE STATE OF SEPARATION Summarily delivered in a Sermon preached at Shenly in the County of Hertford the 21. of November 1660. at the Funeral Solemnities of Mrs Mary Jessop late wife of William Jessop Esq and since enlarged and publish'd for common benefit By ISAAC LOEFFS M.A. Eccles 3.21 Who knoweth the Spirit of Man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the Earth London Printed for N. Ranew and J. Robinson at the Angel in Jewen-street 1670 TO My ever honoured Uncle WILLIAM JESSOP ESQUIRE SIR MY natural modesty and backwardness to appear in publick together with the difficulty of obtaining the Press have detained this short Treatise so long from you that you may well judge it unseasonable now to be presented unto you Yet considering the duty of that relation wherein I stand unto you through your late dear Yoak-Fellow whose death was the occasion of this Discourse and the obligation that is upon me by so many favours and undeserved kindnesses received from you as also the benefit which possibly may accrue to others from so serious a Subject I have ventured it abroad into the world under the protection of your Name how weakly so-ever managed and liable to the censures of this scrupulous Age. However I may hope that as Funeral Sermons above others have an advantage upon Auditors by their sad occasion so this also may affect the impartial Reader by the weight of its Arguments And although it was first intended and promised you for a private present and an acknowledgment of that due respect and unfeigned love which I do and shall ever bear to your self and your Relations yet I presume it will not be the less accepted because others are now made equal sharers in it And my confidence herein is the more strengthned by the consideration of that publick spirit which you have manifested at all times by your willing and unwearied pains in the service of your Generation wherein your integrity and faithfulness have so eminently appeared that your name is known and honoured throughout the Nation But this above all is your Crown that in all your publick employments you have not sought your self and the advancement of your Family so much as the honour of God the interest of his people and the enlargement of the Gospel by your high esteem of and the encouragement you have given unto the Faithful Ministers of it among whom I have been an unworthy Labourer And blessed be the Lord who hath made his Grace to abound towards you by his assisting and supporting presence in all your paines and travels whereby you have been enabled so chearfully to undergo the burden of your hard services who hath also blessed your careful and conscientious endeavours for the promoting of Godliness in your Family and among your near Relations One fruit whereof I cannot but mention for your unspeakable comfort concerning your dear Relation taken from you being present at her dissolution who about to close her eyes from her mourning Children and Friends and all the visible things of this life did sensibly joyfully and openly acknowledge and declare her assured and known interest in Christ unto whom she immediately departed Now the Lord supply all your wants and be your reward and the blessing of your off-Spring And if this poor present may add any thing of spiritual benefit and advantage to your own soul the souls of your relations or any others it will be the rejoycing of From my study at Shenly in the County of Hertford Oct. 20. 1669. Your unworthy Kinsman and Servant in the Gospel ISAAC LOEFFS THe Reader is desired to correct these following mistakes which escaped the Press by reason of the Authors absence PAge 2. Line 27. for walk read reach P. 5. l. 12. leave out not P. 9. l. 13. f. hand 1. head P. 10. l. 3. f. alwayes r. already P. 22. l. 8. f. live r. evil P. 26. l. 5. f. Luther 1. Augustine T. 43. l. 16. f. strange r. strong p. 120. l. 9. f. medicinal r. mystical P. 125. l. 2. f. Christ r. God P. 129. l. 2. blot out in Scriptures THE SOVLS ASCENSION In the State of SEPARATION PHILLIP 1.24 For I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better MAN being in honour abideth not or lodgeth not all night therein saith David Psal 49.12 But becomes like the Beasts that perish for that which befalleth the Sons of men befalleth Beasts as the one dieth so dieth the other so that a man hath no preheminence above a Beast saith Solomon Eccl. 3.19 Nevertheless though he dieth like the Beast yet his Spirit retaining the immortality of its essence returneth not to corruption with his body but is capable of a state after death and dissolution according as the infinite wisdom of his Creator doth dispose thereof in a way of justice or mercy * For the spirit returneth to God who gave it Chap. 12 7. And because most men are so irrational and foolish as either through ignorance of their own nature and being to deny the immortality of their souls or through delusion and presumption to conclude the certainty of their future felicity judging all things by sense and the present dispensations of external and common providence therefore it shall be my present design in handling this Text to give unto you a private prospect through the gate of death towards the mountaines and valleys of eternal happiness and misery by presenting unto you the secret and hidden way of the spirit and soul of man in its sudden flight and motion at the time and in the state of separation from the corporeal and fleshy part which falls from it towards its earthly center And forasmuch as the dissolution of nature doth not only divide the two essential parts of soul and body but also the common rode of this temporal life into two distinct paths towards the greatest different states of everlasting joy or sorrow I shall labour to walk both in this subject the first in the doctrinal part because it is the proper and plain scope of the Text and the other in the Application by way of consequence and deduction For which end and purpose it will be necessary for me first to bring you to the Text by the preceeding parts of the Chapter and the occasion of this Epistle to which it hath relation and then by the Text to the matter intended The occasion of Paul's writing this Epistle to the Church at Philippi was an honourable Present the Church had sent unto him being then a prisoner in Rome by the hands of Epaphroditus their pastor by way of charity to supply his present necessities By whom having understood the state and condition of that Church and being affected with so great an expression of their love unto him he returned this sweet Letter and Spiritual Epistle And in this first Chapter after
discover and act all manner of vexation fretfulness reluctancy and opposition under the anguish of its hopeless condition And this may be demonstrated if one consider the nature of a carnal heart and spirit and the tendency thereof which doth naturally end in this degree of sin 1. There is a natural enmity in every carnal soul against God which remaineth for ever in it where grace doth not subdue and mortifie it The carnal mind is enmity to God Rom. 8.7 And it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be So that this enmity is discovered in this life by acts of sin and wicked workes done by carnal men against the holy and righteous will of God and consequently abiding in the soul after death it will in like manner manifest it self to eternity the Soul being wholly void of all sanctifying and renewing grace Secondly This enmity will more fully act after dissolution by the total withdrawing of the spirit of God whereby in this life it was limited and restrained God setteth bounds to carnal men in this life to keep the world in some degree of peace for the more quiet habitation of his people without which their lives on earth would be altogether disquiet and uncomfortable through the rage and fury of the wicked But in hell there is not so much as restraining grace to dam up the fountain of corruption from breaking out and flowing forth in its full strength and liberty Thirdly the greatest sufferings whatsoever have no power to suppress or destroy corruption and carnal enmity as in themselves considered It is a sanctified affliction through the love of God that purgeth and taketh away sin from his children who by his chastisements are made partakers of his holiness But the torments of hell are the execution of the fierce wrath of God wherein there is not the mixture of one dram of love God intending the destruction and not the salvation of the soul in taking vengeance upon it So that the sinful habits and habitual enmity of the soul are increased and blown up to the highest degree of malice by despair under eternal punishment Fourthly To this we may also add that to be given up to sin is one of the greatest Judgements of God and therefore may be a part of or at least an adjunct to the torments of the damned God sometimes punisheth sin with sin by hardning the heart for its hardness and searing the conscience for its senselessness and giving up to believe a lye for not receiving the love of the truth as also he gave up those Idolaters who imprisoned the natural light and knowledge of God to uncleanness vile affections and a reprobate mind Rom. 1. Now the highest degree of sin God giveth up a carnal man unto in this life is the sin against the holy Ghost which is to sin with malice and to doe despight unto the spirit of grace Heb. 10.29 When a reprobate heart shall grow to that hardness in sin as to sin under conviction and to revenge it self upon God and the spirit of God by committing sin upon the account of sin or because it is sin otherwise it cannot be a wilful sinning after receiving of the knowledge of the truth This being the highest degree of sin upon earth the formality whereof is malice and revenge we may easily be perswaded to believe that hell is full thereof where this malice is more stirred up by despair under these torments then it can be in this life and where the souls of the wicked vent their malice against God by blaspheming and cursing him to his face which is the proper discovery of it as desperate malefactors sometimes in their torments curse both Judge and Executioner And foâ— the proof of this I shall only argue thâ— the case from two or three Scripture instances First of Job whom Satan supposed to be but a hypocrite and temptâ—… God to afflict him with this confidence that he should curse him to his face Joâ— 1.11 The Devil well knew what over whelming afflictions would work upon carnal and sinful heart even to curse Goâ— to his face and had not Jobs sinceritâ— through the power of God upheld anâ— preserved him the Devil had had his design and Job had cursed God as well aâ— the day of his birth Another is of thosâ— wicked ones of whom the Prophet â—…saiah speaketh Isai 8.21 And thâ—â— shall pass through it hardly bestead anâ— hungry and it shall come to pass that wheâ—… they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their King and their God anâ— look upward Whence it appeareth thaâ— when God upon earth punisheth a people for their wickedness with some extream calamity under which they despair looking upwards and seeing no help the wickedness of their hearts will through madness and malice break out into cursing of their King and their God whether true of false Which appeareth yet more clearly in the prophesie of the powring forth of the vials of the wrath of God upon the Antichristian party in several plagues and punishments for their final ruine and overthrow Rev. 16.9 And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory And verse 11. They blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their paines and their sores and repented not of their deeds Likewise verse the last They blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great Much more will a sinful soul blaspheme in hell where despair is the torment of those torments Which Christ himself seemeth to put out of all question speaking of the sufferings of hell when he saith There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Math. 8.12 and 13.42 50. That is against God through fretfulness and malice for so the phrase of gnashing the teeth is taken in other Scriptures Psal 37.12 The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth So the Jews did upon Stephen Acts. 7.54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth So that as the Saints in heaven bless God with Praises and Hallelujahs so the damned in hell howl under pain and curse him and thus in hell sin shall be perfected as well as grace in heaven every wicked and graceless soul shall sin under suffering while it is suffering for sin Lastly Hereupon the wrath of God is further provoked and heightned by the actual sin of a wicked and desperate soul under its torments So that to make this everlasting punishment of a damned soul in hell unspeakable miserable the sufferings thereof are not only eternal as they are the just reward of sin committed in this life against an infinite God whose justice can never be fully satisfied but by the eternity of the punishment but they are also for ever increased and renewed by enraging provocations of malice and
blasphemy whereby the soul requoi leth a-against God through anguish thereof By this we may conceive how exquisite the torments of the wicked will be hereafter the soul eternally sinning and continually adding fresh oyl to the flames of wrath for sin kindleth wrath and wrath kindleth hell and hell kindleth sin and sin again wrath and so for ever This is the work and action between an infinite God and a poor unhappy soul to eternity God punishing the soul sinning and the soul sinning God punishing in which torments the body shall partake with the soulafter its resurrection being united again made so far capable to endure its torments as not to be dissolved or destroyed by the extremity and eternity of them Thus sinful and wretched man shall be ever dying weeping yelling howling and sinning under the intollerable pangs of the second death Rev. 21.8 The fearful and unbeleiving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Repent therefore and beleive the Gospel turn from your sins and forsake your wayes that ye may escape this judgement of God for now is the day of salvation through the forbearance of God who would have have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth From this Text and Doctrine we may be again informed upon what grounds the people of God may desire their dissolution How desireable a priviledge the departure of the Saints is hath been already opened but for further direction in it I shall here make up the banks to keep these desires in their right channel which otherwise are ready to break out into unlimited and unlawfull currents Therefore to satisfie this case of conscience concerning the desire of death let every precious soul consider these following Propositions First It is altogether unwarrantable for beleivers to desire dissolution out of meer passion under the forest trouble affliction or tryal It is usual for carnal men upon discontent to wish they might dye who also under the burthensomness of corporal distempers often desire a release from their present paines not knowing or considering that thereby they shall immediately fall from their beds into hell This also is incident to the Godly through infirmity whose passions in this case are not excusable Thus it was with that holy Prophet Elijah when he was forc'd to flee from the rage and persecution of Jezebel who threatned to take away his life 1 Kings 19.34 And when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba and left his servant there but he himself went a dayes journey into the wilderness and came and sate down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am no better then my Fathers Elijah's passion under this persecution being now alone tired and weary probably with his journey as well as assaulted and troubled with slavish fear was the ground of this his request and supplication Now if we compare with this story the expression of S. James presenting Elias as an example of the prevalency of prayer we may judge that this passion was an infirmity in this Prophet James 5.17 Elias was a man subject to passion as we are and he prayed c. The like instance we have of Job who through passion gratified Satan so far under his temptation as to curse the day of his birth and also through vexation of spirit under his afflictions to wish and long for his grave Job 3.20 21 22. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul which long for death and it cometh not and dig for it more then for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Take also the Prophet Jonah for an example hereof who after he had preached destruction to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord and saw not the execution thereof according to his prophecy was discontent at the patience and repentings of God towards that City and besought the Lord he might dye Jonah 4.3 Therefore now O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye then to live for which the Lord checketh him in the next verse dost thou well to be angry And in the 9 and 10. verses When the Gourd was withered and the Wind and Sun beat upon him that he fainted he wished he might dye again and passionately replies to Gods second rebuke of him I do well to be angry even unto the death Secondly Every Christian looking upon death as a priviledge and means to bring him to Christ ought no further to desireit then with submission to the will of God and a willing subjection to his work and service in his generation To hasten death by unlawful meanes is no less then self murther as hath been already proved and hereby the desire thereof is in some measure limited preservation of life by all lawful means being a duty incumbent upon all Our times and seasons life and death are in the hands only of God the wise disposer of all things for the good of them that love him between whose will and ours there ought to be a perfect conformity in relation to all changes and dispensations Christ escaped from the Jews when they often sought to kill him because his hour was not yet come but then he refused not but accepted that bitter cup which his Father gave him to drink When Job had recovered himself from under the power of his passion he besought the Lord to appoint him a set time and he would wait Job 14.14 All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change come We must not run home before we have done our worke but mind our worke as well as our reward God hath appointed a particular service for every beleiver in his generation which he should labour to finish with David before he falleth asleep Acts 13.16 For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep Saint Paul declaring to Timothy the near approach of his dissolution and departure forgetteth not to mention the finishing of his work in the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But till it was finished he was willing to abide in the flesh notwithstanding his great desire to depart and to be with Christ as in the words following my Text. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you And having this confidence I know I shall abide and continue with you for your furtherance and joy of faith Thirdly This being minded it is lawful and warrantable for a
sin not for the patience of God to every carnal soul persisting in rebellion and disobedience is but a present suspension of eternal wrath which may suddenly break forth and begin in temporal judgements upon them And take heed of interpreting the silence of God to be his allowance of sin for because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of men is fully set in them to doe evil Eccle. 8.11 Whereas if the Lord should execute his wrath immediately upon every profane person in the act of sin what fear would surprise your hearts who would swear a profane oath if he were sure to dye as soon as the word is out of his mouth who would commit adultery if he were to be thrust through with a sword in the act of his uncleanness who would steal his neighbours goods if he were perswaded he should be immediately stoned to death what drunkard would venture upon excess if he apprehended every immoderate draught to be so much deadly poyson to destroy him Or who would exalt himself against God and his people if he beleived that the earth would presently open her mouth and swallow him up quick And is the wrath of God less fearfull because through patience it is deferred in the execution of justice and recompense upon ungodly men For ye are not only by nature the children of wrath but because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Ephes 5.6 Therefore let no man deceive himself with vain confidence and presumption as if God had said in vain that he will render to every man according to his deedes Vnto them that are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Rom. 2.8 9. O that ye would set the Lord before your eyes and his consuming displeasure when ye are venturing upon any act of folly and iniquity possibly this might restrain corruption and check your violent lusts ready to break out into practise and actual commission What are the damned suffering in hell for the same sins that ye are committing daily Bethink your selves how ye shall endure those torments or rather that ye may escape them labour to foresee them and present them to the face of your stout and head-strong corruptions When the temptation is before you the place present and the company of evil workers ready to joyn with you in any unlawful and sinful enterprise or design remember that hell is kindled and the flames thereof ascend for ever Is not a fiery furnace hot enough or a bottomless pit deep enough to terrifie your senseless spirits Or can ye endure to be ever burning in that furnace and ever falling in that piâ— Our Saviour tells those that offend his little ones Matth. 18.6 That it were better a milstone were hanged about their necks and they cast into the bottom of the sea Were there any hope for such to arise from perishing under the mighty waters And is there not much more weight in the infinite wrath of an omnipotent God to sink you down to the nethermost hell and to keep you under the foaming billowes and raging and roaring waves of the Lake of burning brimstone O that ye would consider this ye that forget God least he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 Venture not the day of Gods displeasure and provoke no longer omnipotency to appear against you least the roaring lion seize upon the prey and say not peace and safety for sudden destruction shall come upon the wicked as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape Cease your mocking ye that scoffe at the threatnings of God that say let him make speed and hasten his worke that we may see it and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it Isai 5.19 How soon the Lord may come in wrath and judgment upon you ye know not and all that spend their dayes in vanity shall goe downto the grave in a moment How soon doth the cloud arise which at length covereth the whole heavens and the ratling thunders make you tremble and the white flashings of lightning turn you into darke holes to hide your heads how fair a morning had the wicked Sodomites when the Sun arose so gloriously upon their City and by and by a showr of fire and brimstone turned all into ashes And how did the security of the old world deceive them when they took no warning by Noah the preacher of righteousness nor by the building of the Arke until the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the deluge came the flouds increasing and covering the tops of all mountaines so that their was no help in their distress but all perished together in those swelling waters Gen. 7. latter end And dare ye still scoffe at the messengers of the Lord saying where is the promise of his coming Are not the heavens and the earth kept in store and reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men And this day of the Lord will come also as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the workes that are therein shall be burnt up The Lord is not slack concerning his coming but is long suffering to you-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance Therefore seeing that all these things shall be dissolved when heaven and earth shall be in flames what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness 2 Pet. 3.9 10 11. Thirdly Then labour to get an interest in Christ before ye die What rich provision hath God made for immortal souls in sending the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to suffer under the imputation of sin that he might reconcile the disobedient and rebellious hearts of men unto himself And how often hath this Gospel been preached among you That God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever should beleive in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 Therefore we are embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God How willing is Christ to save your souls and to redeem you from wrath to come Oh let not your unbeleif frustrate the grace of God thereby depriving your selves of the benefit thereof so freely offered and fully revealed unto you Is not the golden Scepter of grace held forth and the royal Standard set up and proclamation made to sinners to turn and live How will ye escape if ye neglect so great salvation O ungrateful
expressions of his love and faithfulness unto you if you can yet read them in Scriptures not defaced or blotted out through unthankful for getfulness Take also a new survey of the carriage of your hearts towards the Lord. What have been your desires after him how have ye trusted in him and cleaved to him what communion with him what delight in him what service have ye done for him how faithful have ye been to him what have been your private affections in duty and your publique zeal in your profession how have you improved his talents and encreased your spiritual stock of grace what growth in meekness self-denial patience faith love knowledge holyness and purity what is the present frame of your hearts after so much means and seasons of grace so long enjoyed Is it more humble more heavenly more unmoveable and fixed upon God And lastly are ye more fruitful and abounding in the work of the Lord Thus can ye manifest the truth of grace by the exercise of it the growth and fruitfulness of it hereby your joy shall be full and Christ's joy shall dwell in you John 15.11 What a glorious evidence hereby had the beleiving Thessalonians to whom the Apostle Paul writeth in their commendation that their faith grew exceedingly and their love one towards another abounded 2 Thes 1.3 Happy are they that can ascend this mountain of assurance and take a sight as from Mount Pisgah of the heavenly Canaan crying out with Saint John in admiration 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God therefore the world knoweth us not But if your evidences are lost or hardly legible for the renewing ard preserving of them take this next direction Direct III. Thirdly Then perfect holiness to the highest degree attaineable upon earth This is the Apostles counsel drawn from the great priviledges and promises of grace 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all pollution of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And because we deny that any man can be perfect so as to be without sin and all infirmities upon earth for if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us 1 John 1.8 Therefore take this necessary caution of proposing any measure unto your selves thereby to limit your utmost endeavours after the greatest measure of grace ye can possibly attain unto for therefore we have a perfect example set before us even God himself that we should be perfect as he is perfect Mat. 5.48 And also of Christ that he that saith he abideth in him ought also to walk even as he walked 1 John 2.6 That though we are not perfect yet with Paul forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before we may press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.13 14. Wherefore beloved laying aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset you run with patience the race that is set before you looking unto Jesus the Authour or Leader and the finisher of your faith Heb. 12.1 2. And since ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God with whom ye hope to appear mortifie your members which are upon the earth and crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof labour to conquer all your corruptions to purge out the reliques of the old leaven and to wash your hearts from iniquity and the vanity of your very thoughts and desires Be exceeding careful to suppress and quench every motion arising from the flesh and to avoid whatever may defile the conscience and thereby cloud your comforts and darken the light of your inward joy and peace And I beseech you that ye would walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing in obedience to every command and the strictest rules of the Gospel and that as ye have at any time heard how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more 1 Thes 4.1 That ye may at last stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God working out your salvation hereby with fear and trembling Phil. 2.14 Col. 4.12 Wherefore add to your faith vertue to and vertue knowledge temperance patience godliness brotherly kindness charity that ye may not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ and tho rather give diligence herein that ye may make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.5 6 10. Direct IV. Redeem your precious time and the seasons of grace for the time is short saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.29 The time of life is short the of health and strength is short and consequently the time of grace and the opportunities thereof are short Therefore see that ye walk circumspectly or exactly redeeming the time or season because the dayes are not only short but evil Eecl 5.15 16. And that not only in regard of the temptations and snares thereof but of the perils and afflictions the troubles and tribulations that attend the last dayes of the world Our Saviour knowing the day of his working and ministery to be short having but a while to remain upon earth took all occasions to finish his Fathers work who sent him into the world John 9.4 I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work And is not your night Christians coming on and your Sun near setting when the light of this present life shall vanish and give place to the darkness of death O that ye would keep an eye upon and the swiftness of that motion which will suddenly have measured your appointed race And be not slack in the work of the Lord but double and redouble your diligence that ye may be ready for the Masters call and the Bride-groomes coming What a blessed condition is that soul in that can say with Saint Paul 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But is it not otherwise with many poor souls who could wish for another life to be renewed unto them for the discharge of their trust they have neglected the improvment of mercies which they have sleighted the filling up of that space they have idly squandred the gathering in of experiences which they have pretermitted and for the laying in of a store and stock of grace and wisdom by such rich advantages of trade and heavenly gain and profit which they have lost and over slipped Who now begin to look back with shame and sorrow upon the time of youth and strength and the yeares of plenty and fulness of the bread of heaven bewailing their folly in not providing for the yeares of famine wherein they will be glad of the gleanings of
such fruitful seasons Nevertheless lift up the hands that hang down the feeble knees up and be doing the worke of the Lord shall prosper in your hands gird up the loynes of your minds and so run that ye may attain being swift to hear not slothful in business fervent in spirit continuing instant in prayer that God would fulfill in you all the good pleaof his goodness and the work of faith with power Fifthly That ye may better redeem the present time of grace and mercy exercise your hope with all sobriety in the use of temporal comforts and enjoyments Take heed of surfeiting your selves with the sweetness of creature delights lest your hearts should say it is good to be here and you sit down ready to take your lot on this side of heaven But be sober and hope unto the end for the grace and salvation that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.13 Ye that are the children of the day watch and be sober and with Paul whose example is imitable in this case labour to beat down your bodies and to bring them into subjection that ye be not cast away 1 Cor. 9.21 It is better to starve lust then by pampering the body to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Therefore study contentment in a mean condition in this world having but food and rayment to supply the bare necessities of this present life A little will serve for your passage though all the world should not content you for your portion because ye are heirs of precious promises and of a rich and glorious inheritance whereof ye shall shortly take possession in the life that is to come and in the enjoyment of God himself in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Wherefore if by Christ the world be crucifyed unto you and you unto the world and ye overcome the world by the victory of faith live above the vanity and emptiness of fading and withering comforts and look not at the fashion of the world which passeth away but use the world as if ye used it not because all these things perish in the using dye in the hand and the beauty thereof corrupteth and vanisheth while your eyes are set upon them And let your moderation be known to all men in respect of your care and contention for the things of this life for the Lord is at hand who if you cast your burthens upon him will sustaine you for he careth for you Content your selves to live at his allowance in your minority and think not hardship unsutable to your present state whereas if you were full ye might forget the Lord and less mind your home and your Fathers house But if the Lord hath enlarged your present estate upon earth content not your selves in being rich unless you are rich towards God and deny your selves in what is in your power to use and possess that ye may doe good in your generation and lay up for your selves a good foundation against the time to come Direct VI. Sixthly For the maintaining of a holy sobriety of spirit act faith upon eternal promises and the unseen glory of heaven Nothing doth more support and bear up the hearts of the Saints then to live by faith and to look over the pale of time to the things which are eternal This will make afflictions light suffering easie the world contemptible and the hardest labour and work for Christ and the Gospel comfortable While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 While faith feedeth upon the promises of life and glory and eyeth the great reward of happiness and perfection the soul fainteth not under its burden neither is discouraged at the greatest difficulties in the way of its hopes but becometh more lively and undaunted in contending with opposition that it may break through and passe to the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Yea how fully is the soul satisfyed in beholding the incomprehensible riches of eternity that when it is taken up with the thoughts and meditations thereof it is ready to forget that it is still in the body as being transported above the sphear of sensitive objects This made David cease to envy the prosperity of the wicked when his heart was raised to a sight of God in the Sanctuary which so ravished his soul that he brake out into that expression Psal 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee And this will ween your affections desires from earthly contentments did ye often by faith visit your heavenly mansions and keep your thoughts upon Christ and his preparations for you which the eye hath not seen nor the ear heard neither hath the heart conceived and yet not beyond the reach of faith as it is the evidence of things not seen Seventhly and lastly Labour after a complying heart with the will of God under every dispensation of providence towards you in this earthly tabernacle Be willing to live or dye to doe or suffer following every call of God whose infinite wisdom disposeth of your conditions and whose gracious power is present to assist and streng then Acknowledge the Lord in all your wayes and he shall direct your paths and commit your way to him and he shall give you the desire of your hearts Take heed of self-will and sinful will in opposition to the will of Christ but lye prostrate at his feet with a holy and an humble resignation of your selves to his will and pleasure And let nothing move or terrifie you neither count your lives dear unto you that ye may finish your course with joy Be contented with any condition which the Lord shall allot unto you in your present pilgrimage and travails homeward and let the consideration of your approaching ascension unto Christ in the highest heavens sweeten every bitter cup which providence shall put into your hands lighten every burden which God shall lay upon you knowing that your sufferings are only temporal but your joyes will be eternal and that ye have all your evil here but your good things are to come O forget not that your treasure is in heaven and where your treasure is there let your hearts be also that for the joy that is set before you ye may endure every cross and despise the shame of all your sufferings for Christ counting the sufferings of this present life not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in you when ye shall depart hence unâ—o Christ which is far better Not only better then the present straights troubles tribulations and afflictions which attend the Gospel the profession of Christ and the state of Grace but better then the best and most honourable and comfortable condition which the Saints of God have ever enjoyed or can expect to partake of while the foundations of the earth remain Which I shall only add by way of motive to what hath been said by way of counsel that to depart and be with Christ is far better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that in comparison with the three degrees o excellency attainable in this earthly state First it is better then life and all the comforts of life which the world can afford in pleasure profit or honour For all these things are short and uncertain and at least but created delights and creature enjoyments which Saint John describeth by the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life 1 John 2.15 And laboureth to take off our affections from them by an argument drawn from the love of God And if the loving kindness of God to his people here be better then life it self Psal 63.3 How much more the fulness of his love communicated without measure in the life that is eternal Secondly it is better then all the service which the Saints can doe for God and Christ in their most perfect obedience here below Yea though we could say with Saint Paul to us to live is Christ yet to dye and be with Christ were gain and far better and though in keeping of his commandements there be great reward and the godly have great peace therein yet their happiness hereafter shall be the crown of their holiness here and their reward with Christ shall exceed all their labour and worke for him Lastly It is better then the most uninterrupted fellowship the Saints are capable of with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ in their nearest and most spiritual approaches in the purest ordinances or most heavenly meditations and that by how much the immediate and glorious presence of Christ God himself in heaven surpasseth the clearest discovery manifestations of God to his chosen and precious faithful people upon earth Therefore leâ— all the Sons of God wait with joy for the day of their ascension when they shall depart unto Christ who is ascended far above all things that he might fill all things And that your hearts may be filled with joy and that ye faint not implore his spiritual presence with his love-sick Spouse Cant. 2. last Vntill the day break and the shaddowes flee away turne my Beloved and be thou like a Roe or a young Hart upon the mountaines of Bether FINIS