and he cannot go beyond it But Job further explains it in the next Words Are not his days as the days of an Hireling Now an Hireling is one that hath days or time prefixed or set which he must fulfil and then he is discharged from his Employment And so it is with Man God hath set him his Time which when he hath accomplished Death by God's Appointment comes and dischargeth him from his Work so in Job 14.5 Job tells us Mans days are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds beyond which he cannot pass And all the days of my appointed Time saith he will I wait till my Change shall come Mans Life is appointed and fixed by God his days are determined by him We know not how long we shall live but God doth he gives us out our days and our months by Tale the number of his months are with thee Whatever Man is Lord of he is not Lord of his Time We cannot dispose of one minute for our selves or â—thers We live not by our own Wills if we did who would dye Nor do we live at the Will of others for who of us then would live or at least â—ive long But we live at the Will of God Tenants we are at his Will he gives us the Lease of our Lives and for what Years he pleaseth He is Lord of Time and therefore he hath Power to appoint to one man a greater to another man a lesser measure of Time as seems good unto him David therefore when his Enemies were taking Counsel against him to take away his Life bears up his Spiris with this as a comfortable Consideration My Times are in thy hands O Lord Psal 31 15. The Jews we know design'd the Death of Christ a long time but they could not accomplish it till his hour was come and therefore when he was brought before Pilate to be judged says Pilate to him Knowest thou not that I have Power to Crucify thee and have Power to release thee No says Christ thou hast no such Power of thy self neither couldst thou have any such Power except it were given thee from above What Christ said of himself is true of every Man he lives not after nor dyes before his hour is come Our Friends cannot lengthen our days nor can our Enemies shorten them no it is God that holds our Souls and Lives in being and when he pleaseth and not before we return unto our Dust. God hath determined our days to us and God keeps the reckoning of our days for us and if as our Lord tells us That a Sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father and that the very hairs of our heads are all numbred Surely then the days of our Lives are numbred The hairs of the head are the meanest part of us and indeed but a stringy Excrement and there are such numerous multitudes of them that it is a kind of a Wonder that they can be numbred or any Account kept of them but yet to shew that the Providence of God extends its self to the least things it extends to the numbring of our hairs much more than to the numbring of our days But. Though Death observes the Order and Appointment of God yet it observes no Order among men It fears none for their greatness nor spares none for their goodness nor despiseth any for their lowness Though Christians are Souldiers and in a continual Warfare with their Spiritual Enemies obeying the Commands of the Captain of their Salvation while they live yet do they observe no Order nor keep to any Rule in dying The Old go not always before the Young nor the Rich before and the Poor following after Death hath no Master of Ceremonies but it takes promiscuously here a Child and there a Man here a Rich Man and there a Beggar here a strong Man and there a weak Man here a Master and there a Servant The Law of Nature saith that a Man in his full strength is not so likely to dye as one that is wither'd with Old Age it sets Death further off from one whose breasts are full of milk and their bones moistened with marrow The Law of Nature saith O Death go to the wrinkled face to the dry bones to those the Infirmities and Weaknesses of whose Age are so many and so afflictive that they seem to have no Pleasure in their Lives but are desirous of thy presence and company O Death for their ease and relief But O meddle not with this gâ—odly young Man or that beautiful Woman alas they are but now in the flower of their days and in the prime of their years and therefore spare them But Death will not Answer nor Regard these Requests for Death observes not the Law of Nature but the Appointments of God who is the Lord of Nature We see it therefore daily Death knocks as often at the young Man's door as at the old Man's and as frequently carries the strong and healthful Man Prisoner to the Grave as the weak and sickly And as there is no Order observed in Death so is there none in the Grave Death and the Grave are the two great Levellers of Mankind While Men live there is and there ought to be distinctions among them God hath appointed it so and Men ought to observe it acknowledging the power and greatness of those that are in high Places For as the Scripture observes as there is one Glory of the Sun and another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory 1 Cor. 15. and 41. And as there is difference in the Celestial Glories so also is there in the Terrestrial there is a Glory belonging unto Kings there is a Glory belonging unto Noble-Men and a Glory belonging unto Common People all have not nor ought to have the same Glory but one Man differs from another Man in Glory But when Death comes there is an end of all these distinctions the Grave mingles the Dust and Pones of the one with the other We cannot there distinguish the rich Man's Dust from the poor Man's nor the Bones of Kings from those of their lowest Subjects Rich Men indeed descend with greater Pomp into the Grave and are buried in more eminent Places and under more stately Monuments But though great Men's Tombs differ from their Inferiours yet their Bones do not but the Worms feed upon all alike While Men walk upon this Dust their distances are many but when they lie down in the Dust they are all alike Civil Differences then all cease and Moral Differences only take place and according as Men have been or done good or evil here so shall they be differenced for ever hereafter If it be demanded now how Man came to be notal I answer Not by Creation for he was created as in a holy so in a deathless State Immortality was a part of God's Image at first
shall die for there are none how profane and Atheistical soever but will own that they must die but this ruines them for ever that they consider it not so as to make timely provision for a dying hour The Care and Wisdom of a Christian discovers it self much by his Preparations for Death The Prudence of a Man appears in nothing more than in making a good choice for himself Now there are two Estates that do abide all Men a State of Happiness in Heaven and a State of Misery in Hell and these are both of them eternal Life is the time of our choice Death which comes at the close of our days discovers what our choice hath been The daily Improving of our Time in the preparing our Souls for our Dissolution is a good Evidence of a wise and happy choice Job complains of some that die without Wisdom the Reason is because they live not wisely that is they do not with Care and Wisdom prepare themselves for Death This Wisdom is wanting in most Men in regard whereof we may say of them as the Psalmist Psal 49.20 Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the Beasts that perish That is though in their Lives they be Men of great Honour and Excellency yea though wiser in their Generation as our Lord speaks than the Children of Light Yet they perish like a Beast for he that dies unpreparedly dies foolishly For the Wisdom of a Man discovers it self much in serious Meditations of and diligent Preparations for his great Change This was that which God so passionately wish'd for his People of old Deut. 32.29 Oh that my people were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end And the truth of it is it is a great piece of Wisdom and a high attainment in a Christian with Care and Prudence to consider of and prepare for his latter end yea so great is it that it is too wonderful to be gained by Art or Study we must get it upon our knees by Prayer Holy David therefore as one convinced both how necessary and profitable this Wisdom would be and being sensible also of his own inability for to attain it makes it his earnest Prayer unto God that he would instruct him herein Psalm 39.4 Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my days what it is that I may know how frail I am As if he had said Lord I have taken this and that and the other thing into my thoughts for possibly his mind had been in the dust and he had been handling the Clay out of which he was taken yet by all these Considerations of the Natural Constitutions of my Body and my Subjection thereby unto Death and the Grave being a poor feeble Creature I cannot bring my Heart to be so thoroughly sensible of my frailty as I ought Lord therefore do thou make me to know it The same Holy desire we find breathed out by Moses in Psalm 90.12 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom as if he had said Lord I have been at the work my self I have endeavoured to number my days to count over the time of my life but by what I can do I cannot tell how long or how short my life will be it is true I can tell to threescore or fourscore years which usually is the longest term of Man's life and I can tell no farther but yet for all that I cannot apply my heart unto Wisdom this I must have from thee therefore O Lord teach me Though we need but little Arithmetick to number our days Naturally yet we need a great deal of Grace to number them Spiritually Dying is a great work and requires great care and circumspection We can die but once how careful should we be then that we die well Man had need be very exact in doing that which he cannot do a second time and such is the work of Dying An Errour in Death is like an Errour in War which we cannot commit twice O what Reason have we then to be careful that we do not Err at all where it is impossible of Erring again Actually to Err twice is more sinful but not to have a possibility of Erring twice is most dangerous We transgress the Laws of living a thousand times over but the Laws of dying no Man ever transgress'd a second time And that we so often transgress the Laws of Living is an aggravation of sin upon all Men and that we can transgress the Laws of Dying but once is the Seal of Misery upon most Men. How should we then cry unto God for Wisdom to make us careful always to live so that we may be prepared for a dying hour If now the Wisdom of a Christian consists in making preparations for Death then those Persons are guilty of great folly and run desperate hazards who upon hope of long life neglect such Preparations Yet if a Minister in a great Congregation should go from Man to Man and ask them whether they are prepared to die would not must not most if they will speak the Truth be forced to say they are not if upon this you deal faithfully with them and shew your selves a true Friend to their Souls laying before them their great folly and danger herein by such Strong and Powerful Convictions that their Consciences are forced to yield to you and themselves brought with Tears to confess their foolishness hereupon what Resolutions do they take up and what Promises do they make binding their Souls to God by many Vows witnessed with many Prayers and Tears that they will make it the business of their Lives for the time to come to prepare for Death but alas how soon do these seemingly strong Resolutions die and come to nothing and Death that under those Convictions they feared was ready to seize upon them every moment is now as far from their Persons they hope as he is from their thoughts He threatens them not as formerly and therefore they fear him not as formerly Distempers of Body which sometimes frighted them into an awe and fear of Death are now departed from them and so is Death with them at least as to their Apprehensions They have now a Healthful strong Constitution of Body and what doth this Prognosticate but long Life and many days yet to come they hope Doth not the Word of God say that the Age of Man is Threescore years and Ten and many times by Reason of Strength which they feel no want of it is Fourscore and for their parts they have not lived above Thirty or forty years as yet and therefore surely they have a great deal of time still to come and then they will bethink themselves of dying and that will be time enough But O foolish Man what vain confidence is this in which thou trustest who gave thee this Knowledge of thy Life and Time that thou art thus strangely bold and
more time to live here upon Earth they love God more than all Things and Persons whatsoever but yet their affections are not so fully taken off from the World nor from their Friends and Relations as they should be they are not wrack'd and tormented with perplexing fears of Wrath and Hell but yet they are not ravish'd with the Joys of Heaven Concerning the Death of such as these we must say Blessed are they that thus die in the Lord for though they have not that assurance that some have and so die not so comfortably as to sense and feeling as they do yet have they that Faith and Affiance in the Lord Jesus Christ whereby they die happily But then there are others that are strong Christians grown Men in Christ who have attained unto such a full assurance of Faith that they are not only willing to die but are desirous of Death being perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor length nor depth nor any Creature shall ever be able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus for they know in whom they have believed and with whom they have intrusted the everlasting Concernments of their Immortal Souls and that he is able and faithful yea and will also keep that good thing that they have committed unto him unto that day And therefore they can with a Holy Triumph through Christ say O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore they can with chearfulness commit one half of themselves that is their Bodies unto the Grave where though they know it shall turn to Corruption and Rottenness yet that troubles them not because they know also that by the Power of God it shall be raised up a most Glorious Body at the last Day for they are assured that their Redeemer lives and they believe that he shall stand at the last day upon the Earth and not only so but because he lives they believe that they shall live also And though for the present Worms destroy their Bodies yet in their Flesh they shall see God whom they shall see for themselves and their Eyes shall behold him and not anothers and that to their everlasting Joy and Comfort Now to such as these Death is both happy and comfortable also and therefore they are desirous to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all But now a Question may arise here Is it not Lawful to desire or wish for Death To this I Answer negatively and positively in some cases it is unlawful and sinful and in some cases it may be lawful and commendable First negatively wherein it is sinful and unlawful And so for any to wish for or to desire Death through impatience or discontent in any condition because they cannot have their own Wills but are crost in their desires this is sinful This was the Sin of Jonah who because God had smitten the Gourd from which he received some refreshment presently he falls into a Passion and in a discontented fit he concludes the matter that it was better for him to die than to live Jonah 4.8 but God knew it was better for him to live than to die and therefore in his pity he spares him that he might repent of his Sin This was the Infirmity of Elijah which the Apostle seems to take notice of when he tells us He was a Man of like Infirmities with us Jam. 5.17 for as to any other Infirmities of that Holy Man the Scripture is silent but it takes notice of this that when he was persecuted by Jezabel's Cruelties and fled for his Life under fear and infidelity in 1 Kings 19. and 24. he cry'd out It is enough O Lord now take away my Life for I am no better than my Fathers These fits of passion and discontent are sinful and not to be justified and yet how frequent is it for Men thus to vent their discontents when any trouble befalls them that crosseth their Wills presently nothing will serve their turns but Death O that they were Dead I will not say what once I heard spoken to be always true in this case that such Persons by wishing for Death wish for Hell and Damnation with it I dare not say so least I should offend against the Generation of the Righteous But this I will say that there are many wicked prophane wretches who when something doth cross and vex them instantly cry out Oh that they were dead to whom if God should not be more merciful to their Souls than they themselves are to their Bodies but take them at their word and presently strike them dead it may be feared he must also by striking their Bodies into the Grave smite their Souls into Hell they allowing themselves no space and time for their Repentance O that such Persons would seriously consider what they do when they wish such an End may befall them Again to wish for Death absolutely is sinful though we are under pains that are more painful than Death it self Nature puts us upon desiring to live and Grace should put us upon desiring to live because God wills it though we be under sore afflictions for as it is our Holiness to do the will of God while we live so it is our Holiness to be content to live while we suffer according to his will To desire Death because our lives are full of troubles is a sinful wish or desire for God may and often hath as much use of our lives when we are in an afflicted condition as when we are in a prosperous condition a sickly Body yea a sick Bed may bring as much Glory to God as a healthful Constitution and we may do as much service when we are bound in Chains and in a Prison as when we enjoy the greatest Freedom and Liberty Passive Obedience brings as much Honour to God as Active doth When you lie under any troubles therefore wish not for Death beg of God rather that he would remove those Evils from you than remove you from those Evils God hath a thousand ways to let us out of trouble though he doth not open the door of the Grave to let us in thither Pray that your Afflictions may be sanctified and that your Spirits may be raised up above your troubles while you live and seek not nor desire freedom from them by Death For a Christian to bear a burden well is more desireable than to be delivered from it especially if while we are suffering our selves we are doing good unto others A Christian should be contented yea he should rejoice in suffering Evils that lie upon when he doth good thereby unto others He that is of a gracious publick Spirit will triumph over Personal Troubles and Afflictions so long as he sees God making use of him as
signified his Will in the Death of the Child now says he that it is dead wherefore should I fast It is in vain for me to fast and pray now Can I bring it back again No I cannot I shall go to it but it shall not return to me But this is not all our mourning and weeping for our departed Friends and Relations is not only in vain that is it doth us no good but it many times doth much hurt for God is not glorified but dishonoured by our repining at his Providence but we our selves also are injured for hereby we are rendred unfit for his Service both in our general and particular Callings as we are Men and much more as we are Christians Cast not therefore away your Tears and Sorrows upon that which will not benefit you but be to your loss and damage Turn the stream of your Tears into a right Chanel there is use enough for them even for your living and it may be lively Sins and not for your dead Relations Thirdly You that are so prone to grieve and mourn under the loss of your Relations consider you your selves are making haste after them You are almost ready to go off the Stage of this World and would you have your Relations live It is not likely that we shall bear them Company long here when a few days more are past and gone we our selves shall go whence we shall not return It is but a little while and our Places and Relations that have known us here shall know us again no more for ever We are marching on not fair and softly but very swiftly in the same Road wherein our dead and lamented Friends and Relations once walked treading out the marks of their Foot-steps while they lived here We are almost ready to lie down and rot with them in the same Grave we dwell in Houses of Clay which begin to crack and though we make a shift to daub and patch them up for a while yet will they soon tumble down into the Dust do what we can Your dead Relations that you are now mourning for are gone but a little before you and you will soon be with them as you come not into the World together so you must not go out together it is God's Will it should be so and who can resist it Nay it is God's Will it should be so and we must acquiesce in it for if we love God we must deny him nothing that he requires and if we deny not our selves in our dearest Relations for him we cannot be his Disciples Thirdly I shall now lay down some consolatory Considerations in reference to the Affliction it self that any lie under by reason of the loss of Friends and Relations And here consider First There must be a time when you and your Relations must part and why not now It is fit we should wait upon God for the bestowing of a Mercy and that we should be Patient when God takes away a Mercy but it is not fit we should know or choose the times when God will give a Mercy or when he will take it away Every thing is Beautiful in its Season says the Wise Man and God knows when is the best time for us both to enjoy a Mercy and to be Exercised with an Affliction He is infinite in Wisdom and cannot be guilty of any mistake in any kind whatever Now this All-knowing Infinitely Wise God thinks this the best time for thee to be without thy Child to want thy Relations thou canst not at present see and understand the Work of God and that this Affliction that is now come upon thee is come in the best and fittest time and Season I may here say to you what Christ did to Peter when he was going to wash his Feet John 13.7 What I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter So say I what God is now doing with thee and what he intends by this Affliction thou knowest not now but thou mayest know hereafter and be able to say not only that it was good for thee that thou wert Afflicted but that it was good for thee that at such a time and in such a manner thou wert Afflicted by the loss of such a Child or such a Relation God hereby Sanctifying the Affliction not only for thy Conviction of and Humiliation for sin the Evil whereof thou never wert asquainted with before but for the discovery of himself in Jesus Christ and the Excellency and Beauty of Grace and Holiness unto thy Soul both which thou wert a Stranger to as to any Sanctifying and saving knowledge of them whereby much sin from that time hath been prevented in thee and much Comfort in the ways of Holiness and Obedience from that time hath been experienced by thee Let God therefore for the time to come have not only the sorting of thy Mercies and thy Afflictions that is to bestow what Mercies he thinks best on thee or what Afflictions he thinks meet upon thee as to the kind of them but let him also have the timing of our Mercies and of our Afflictions that is when is the fittest time for us to enjoy Mercies and when is the fittest time for us to be without them for certainly he that is the Lord of Time is the best Judge of Time and in nothing do we more discover our Folly and Rashness than in presuming to fix the times either of our Mercies or of our Afflictions Leave therefore O Christian the timeing both of the one and of the other unto him whose Works are all Beautiful in their Season Secondly Consider you that grieve so under the loss of Friends and Relations your Condition might have been worse Others have felt more and you deserve worse You have lost a beloved Child or a dear Friend and Relation and you Mourn as one that will not be Comforted but what is your loss unto others Aaron lost two Sons at one time and that by a strange Judgment from God Fire coming down from Heaven in an extraordinary manner and consumed them and yet Aaron held his Peace Job lost all his Children suddenly in one day in an unusual manner and yet Job doth not murmur but blesses God the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. The Great God might have taken away all thy Children all thy Relations and Friends Estate Health yea thy Life also Whatever thou enjoyest it is above thy desert how mean and poor soever it be Know O Christian God exacteth of thee far less than what thine Iniquities do deserve Nothing but Hell and Damnation answers to the merit of sin Wherefore then should a living man complain shall he murmur and repine because he lies under some Temporal Affliction who might justly be sent unto Eternal Torments where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched Oh instead of Complaining it is so bad with you be thankful it is no worse Let
said of it is but like the painting of the fire to the eye which expresseth not the pain and anguish that is in it unto the Senses For if we understand by Death a Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Death I may allude to what the Psalmist saith of the Power of God's Anger Who knows the Power of thine Anger So who knows the dreadfulness of the Horror and Pain that is contained in thee O Death according to our Fear of thee So yea and much greater is the Misery which the wrath of God by thee inflicts upon all those that live and dye in their sins But though Death be thus terrible yet is it the more common acceptation of it that chiefly affects the generality of Mankind for as for Spiritual Death or Death in sin because of the present pleasures and Delights which bewitch the Senses this they are insensible of And as for Eternal Death that is looked upon by many as a Dream or Notion as a thing that may never be or if among some it be credited for a Truth yet is it looked upon as that which is a great way off and if the terror of it doth startle the Consciences of some yet are they soon quieted with such thoughts as these Christ dyed for all and God is a merciful God and so they hope all shall be well with them But now for Temporal Death which consists in the separation of the Soul from the Body this is so much Death to them that they think there is no other but that at least they apprehend none so prejudicial to them This is a Truth so evident that which way soever they go or turn objects of Mortality present themselves before their eyes in the Death of Friends Relations and others whereby the reigning Power of Death over all is visible sweeping away all Men before it into the Grave the place of silence and rottenness yea themselves are not without some symtoms of their approaching dissolution diseases and distempers as well as business and employments wasting and consuming their bodies dayly whereby they may be convinced that they also are made of the same Mould and must shortly be crumbled into the same Dust with others Thus Death meeting with them so often and staring them so frequently in their faces gives them to understand that there is no way for them to escape its stroke the thoughts whereof cannot but now and then make them fear and tremble But though nothing be more certain than Death yet nothing is more uncertain than the Time of Death For though all shall dye yet all do not dye at the same time nor after the same manner To some God gives long Warning Nature wasting and consuming in them by lingring Distempers with others God is more quick shooting them with an Arrow as it were and suddenly they are wounded unto Death and Destruction Some their hoary Heads are found in the Way of Righteousness and they come to their Graves in a good old Age others arise early to that height of Impiety that the Earth groans under the burthen of their great Wickedness and God is so provoked thereby that he causeth the Earth to swallow them up quick to some the Promise of Long Life made for an Encouragement to Obedience and Holy Walking is turned into a Performance God satissying them with length of days and then leaves them to depart in peace shewing them his Salvation others God cuts off in the midst of their days and of their sins also and they go down quick into the Grave and into Hell too Though the days of a good Man at the most are but few yet because of some special Goodness they are often prolonged so though the days of a wicked Man at the most are but few yet because of some special Wickedness they are often shortned The Wise Man proves this Assertion Prov. 10.27 The fear of the Lord prolongeth or adds to days but the days of the wicked shall be shortned As every Man because he is a Sinner shall live but few days so some shall not live half their days because they are Notorious Sinners The short of it is this Death doth not always give Warning how many rise in the Morning that make their Beds in the Grave before the Evening How many go well to Bed at Night whose Sleep is their Death and they arise no more until the Morning of the Resurrection How often have we seen many projecting for themselves and theirs great things in the World laying house to house and land to land that with the Fool in the Gospel they might eat drink be merry for many year when on a sudden or in that very Night their souls have been taken from them To presume therefore of Long Life and thereupon to neglect to prepare for Death is the great 〈◊〉 piece of Folly imaginable for scarce is 〈…〉 Week passeth over our heads wherein we may not hear of some or other that are suddenly gone into another World and that which hath been the Case of others may be ours also It is the sad Condition of a wicked Man let him dye how and when he will he dies miserably if Death cut him off suddenly then he goes down quick into Hell that Gulf of all Woe and Misery If Death gives him long Warning by a succession of many years distempers yet all this while he doth but pine away in his Iniquity and encreaseth his Misery when Death shall cut him off and throw him into that place of Torment the pain and anguish whereof is so great that it cannot be sufficiently expressed no not by them that feel it But now it is the happiness of a godly Man let him dye never so suddenly yet he always dyes happily because he is in a state of Peace and Reconciliation with God it is true he may dye without a sence and feeling of that Peace and so his passing thorow the Valley of the Shadow of Death may be terrible to him but still God is with him and though the eye of his Faith be held so that he cannot discern him to be his God though his Rod and his Staff do not comfort him yet they do support and strengthen him and as soon as Death hath opened his eyes he beholds the face of God to his everlasting joy and satisfaction Doth Death then come certainly and sometimes suddenly It is thy Wisdom O Christian always to be prepared for it and then let it come when it will tho' this Night thou maist bid it welcome But as Mans Life is short and frail so is his Death sure and certain for it is the common lot 〈◊〉 Men. Man saith Job that is all Men are good 〈◊〉 dye it is the way of all the Earth it is the end of all Men. Who is he that lives and shall not see Death No Man can redeem his Brothers no nor his own Life from Death that he should still live for ever and not see Corruption
the rich Man in the Gospel else so confidently say to his Soul Thou bast Goods laid up for many years eat drink and be merry But Death would not be put off so for that Night was his Soul taken from him notwithstanding all his great Possessions It is in vain to cry out on a Death Bed with that wretched Cardinal Beauford in Henry the Sixth Time Wherefore should I dye being rich will not Death be bribed Will Money do nothing No truly it cannot for as Riches profit not in the day of Wrath to pacifie the Justice of an angry God so neither will they profit in the day of Death to bribe that King of Terrors Beauty is another outward Excellency that many glory in and indeed it is a great Ornament a Gift of GOD and no small one it is a taking thing We delight in things that are beautiful Beauty to some is a Portion among men to others a favour from God It is a silent Eloquence a tacite Perswasion and works much upon some What is said of the Church Psal 45.11 So shall the King greatly desire thy Beauty I know it is spoken there of Spiritual Beauty the Graces of the Spirit of God which beautifie and adorn the Church in the eyes of Christ for it is said the KING's Daughter is all glorious within But yet it is true also in some me sure of outward Corporeal Beauty it is a desireable thing and may duly be an attractive of Love it is that which draws the Eyes and Hearts of many tho' often it is an incentive to Lust both to great Men and to good Men. Solomon loved strange Women the Scripture saith and they turned away his heart from God and having smarted severely for it as a fruit of the sincerity of his Repentance and to prevent so great wickedness in others he hath left us many Excellent Cautions and Counsels in Sacred Writ against the ensnaring Temptations and powerful Charms of Beauty But though Men are deluded and deceived by beautiful Objects and Persons yet Death is not A beautiful Face is as mortal and as soon yea sooner many times turned into duct and corruption than a face that is deformed Death regards a goodly well favoured Joseph or Absolom no more than a leprous Vzziah or Gebazi nor doth it spare a beautiful Rachel more than a blear ey'd Leah Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain in this respect for they profit none in a dying hour the beautifulest Person and the most lovely Complexion is quickly turned into Paleness and Corruption when once the time of their dissolution is come Death soon making those that for their Beauty and Comeliness were most admired by others become most loathsome and intolerable and they most desirous with Abraham to bury such dead out of their sight By what hath been said it appears that all Men notwithstanding all their great Attainmen's in Worldly Excellences are not exempted from dying And as no outward so no inward-Excellency and Perfection can priviledge any from Death no not Grace it self Grace is as Salt to the Soul to preserve it from Moral Corruption for ever but it cannot preserve the Body from Natural Corruption in this World In Heaven where there shall be nothing but Grace and Holiness in the Soul in perfection there there shall be no dying but here on Earth where Grace is insperfect being mingled with Sin and Corruption there is a necessity of dying Death is become domestical to us we have the Seed of it within us we carry it daily in our bosoms I mean in the body of Sin as the Apostle calls it that we carry about with us which will never be extirpated and destroyed till the death of the body All our Prayers and Tears cannot prevent Death Prayer can do great things to instance in particulars of its Prevalency would be endless Our Lord himself tells us That whatever we ask the Father in his Name he will give it us John 16.23 That is an Astonishing Scripture Esay 45.11 Thus saith the Lord The Holy One of Israel and his Maker Ask me of things to come concerning my Sons and concerring the Works of my hands command ye me As if saith one God was as ready to do them service as if they had him at their Command There is a kind of Omnipotency in Prayer and therefore it is said of Jacob that as a Prince he had power with God and prevailed Gen. 32.28 And the Apostle tells us The effectual fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man availeth much how much the Apostle could not tell us but leaves it to every one to make Observations from their own Experience But though Prayer can do such great things yet it cannot prevent Death We read indeed that the Prayer of Faith doth save the Sick but though it can even restore from a sick-bed yet it cannot raise from a Death-bed Nay Christ himself hath not so Redeemed us that we should live for ever and not see Corruption he hath Redeemed us that we shall live for ever in Heaven but he hath not Redeemed us that we should live for ever on Earth and not dye no it was the Priviledge of Jesus Christ the Redeemer that he should not see Corruption and therefore of him only it is said Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption But may some say this necessity of dying seems not to be unalterably imposed upon all Men for some have lived who never dyed and some shall live hereafter that shall not dye I Answer It is true the Scripture makes mention of Two and but Two that lived here oâ— Earth and by special Grace and Favour were exempted from Death ascending up unto God leaping over Death and the Grave as it were in their passage to Heaven and they are Enoch and Elias concerning Enoch it is said That by Faith he waâ— transtated that he should not see Death Heb. 11 5â— He was a Person eminent for Holiness for it is said That he walked with God three hundred years and obtained this Testimony before his Translationâ— that he pleased God Gen. 5.22 And being such an Eminent Proficient in Grace as that there waâ— none that we read of like him at that time he obtained such Grace and Favour from God as none did for it is said He walked with GOD and he was not for GOD lock him O the Excellency of Grace and Holiness how highly doth it ennable and advance a Man Enoch walked with God and God thinks the Earth not good enough for him and therefore he takes him to himself into Beaven nay this is not all so much was God taken with the Holiness of Enoch that he shall not go to Heaven in the ordinary way as other Saints do by Death but he shall be translated from Grace to Glory without so much as looking into the Grave The like we read of Elias another eminent and zealous Servant of God 2 King
2.23 That he was taken up in a siery Chariot by a Whirl-wind into Heaven So great was his Zeal for God and his Glory and so highly did God esteem it and him for it that he must not abide any longer on Earth but be taken up into Heaven and that in no other way but by a fiery Chariot a Passage to Heaven that did bear some Resemblance to his Zeal for God while he was here on Earth The Apostle also tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 That at the last Day we shall not all dye but we shall all be changed and 1 Thes 4.17 We that are alive and remain shall be caught up with him in the Clouds to meet the Lord and so shall we be ever with the Lord. These Exceptions of some few that have not dyed nor shall not dye do not at all make void this general Truth that all shall dye but rather make for the Confirmation of it The general Rule or Law saith all must dye none escape but by special Grace or Priviledge and though the Saints that shall be found on Earth at the Resurrection of the dead dye not yet they shall undergoe that which is equivalent unto Death for they shall be changed Death is call'd a Change so saith Job All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come And they that are alive at the Last Day undergoe a Change also The Change of Death is a putting off of our Mortality but the Change at the Last Day is a putting on of our Immortality The one is a Change by being uncloathed the other is a Change by being cloathed upon but both is a Change And thus all dye or shall be changed By what hath been said it is very evident That Death befalls all men one time or other sooner or later But for the Manner how or the Time when any shall dye this is unknown unto any The Living may and do know that they shall dye but they know not when they shall dye What our Lord saith of the day of Judgment is true of the day of Man's Death of that day and hour knoweth no Man Many a Man hath been mistaken concerning the purpose of God I said says David in my prosperity that I shall never be moved but he was mistaken for he adds in the next words almost But thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Much more may we be mistaken concerning the Time of our Death I said says Hezekiah in the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates of the Grave I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the Land of the Living I shall no more behold man with the Inhabitants of the World Good Hezekiah thought there was no way for him to escape Death but he was mistaken for afterwards he tells us God had in Love to his Soul delivered it from the Pit of Corruption and he Lived fifteen Years longer after he had given himself over for dead A Man may have the Sentence of Death in himself when as to that particular time God hath given out none against him So on the other hand the Rich Man in the Gospel reckons not of Death till many years hence and he is very liberal to his Soul because God had been bountiful to his Body he had got a great Stock of Riches and he gives himself a rich stock of Time even many years he resolves to make his Life larger as he had done his Barns and because they are full of Corn he also will be full of Days whereas the Word came out against him from God Thou Fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee and he that before resolved to Live many years could not now Live till the next Morning It is our Wisdom always to be prepared for Death but it s more than belongs to us peremptorily to determine the Time of our Death or the Length of our Days But though the Time of our Death be unknown to us yet is it known to and fixed by God he hath determined not only the Time when but also the Place where and the Manner how we shall dye with all the Circumstances relating thereunto It is God that turns up the Giass of our Time and puts such a Measure of Sand into it and no more such a Measure that it may and shall run so long and no more that it shall run no longer than his Appointment God speaking after the manner of Men is said in Scripture to have a Book wherein is written down not only the Number of our Sins but also the Number of our days and as we cannot commit a Sin but it is written down in some Leafe of his Book so can we not live a day or hour that hath not our Name written down upon it in Gods Book That some have the Time of Life confined only to the dark Cell of the Womb and never see the Light that others are strangled in the place of breaking forth of Children and are only Causes of Grief to them that bear them that others dyâ— in their Infancy without the Knowledge of good or evil and leave only sad Remembrances to their Parents that once they were that others grow up to years of Discretion but are cut off in the prime of their days and in their full strength and that others live to extream old Age till Nature is wholly spent and consumed in them All this is from the Appointment of God they all fill up the Number of those Days and the measure of that Time that God hath allotted to them and then they depart according to his Will How many have we seen cast upon sick beds whom God hath there visited with strong pains bringing them so low that their Lives seem'd to be brought unto the Grave and themselves numbred with them that go down into the Pit free among the dead and as the slain that lye in the Grave given over by themselves and all others for such and yet even these God hath raised up again shewing Wonders as it were to the dead as the Psalmist speaks causing them to arise and praise his Name What 's the Reason of all this Why God's appointed Time was not come and so Diseases could have no further Power over them And what is true of Sickness is as true of Men who are but like Diseases Executioners of God's Decree upon Man even they have no Power to lengthen Life or to hasten Death but what is given them from above God hath not only set us the bounds of our Habitations but the bounds of our Living also Job speaks much to the stating and determining of this Case Job 7.1 Is there not an appointed Time to Man upon Earth Now in an Appointment of God there must be a Certainty or else we make him like unto a mortal Man that is changeable which cannot be Therefore Man having an appointed Time by God upon Earth he must reach to it
improved We have so much time allotted us as will serve to do our real business in and to answer the ends of living A Christian's Work in this World is not to incumber himself with many things or to vex himself about the accomplishing of great designs for the World to get a great Estate to abound with Pleasures to grow great in the esteem of Men these things are as much below a Christian's Work as they are below his Reward And whoever thou art that designest these things for thy self thou maist not have time enough for the attaining of them but yet Heaven may be got in that time that the World cannot thy Salvation may be wrought out God may be made propitious to thee through Christ the one thing needful the better part that shall never be taken away from thee these may be obtained by thee and secured to thee as thy Portion in that time that God hath given thee if thou art diligent in improving of it Do not sigh and mourn therefore that thou canst number no more days do not murmur and complain at the shortness of thy Life What wouldst thou do if thy days were more What use wouldst thou make of thy time if it were longer Is it that thou mightest save thy Soul and make thy Peace with God that thou desirest more time Why thou needest not more time for these purposes than God hath allotted thee already thy Life is long enough if thou didst use it aright It is not a little time that we have but it is a little that we use God hath not given us a little but we throw away much Our Portion is not small for what we are to Trade but our mispence is exceeding great God is not niggardly and sparing in wha◠he hath given us but we are prodigal and profuset foolishly wasting away our hours they that have abundance of time given them through their Imprudence and Mispence are utterly undone and then they whine like Beggars as if they had had no time whereas those that have less time than others that make these Complaints have so improved that little that Thanks be to God they are rich in good Works and say it is enough let God call for them when he pleaseth If now upon the serious Consideration of the shortness of time any shall be stirred up and provoked to a diligent Improvement of it so as to prepare themselves for their latter end they shall find such Benefits as these redounding to their Souls thereby First It will be a great means for the Prevention of much Sin He that shall seriously consider with himself I must shortly die how soon I know not will presently reflect upon himself under a Temptation to Sin and say Why should I commit this or that Evil which if it be not a means to hasten my end yet will certainly make it more uneasie and uncomfortable when I come to lie upon a Death-bed and consider what I have done amiss Possibly I may die to morrow for who knows what a day may bring forth O why then shall I venture to commit that evil to day which will be as Gall and Wormwood and like Bitterness and Vexation to my Soul then Would I do it did I believe that I were to die to morrow Why should I then do it to day that know not whether I shall live till to morrow for it is possible this may prove the last day of my Life Secondly He that shall seriously consider his latter end and shall diligently employ himself and his time accordingly shall find his life most comfortable and contentful and his Death most easie and peaceable As for the Contentment of Life if you look abroad among Men in regard of their outward Estate and Condition you shall find that that Man who by his Industry hath got to be aforehand in the World hath much more Peace and Quietness in his Life than he that is behind-hand or gone back and is continually struggling with Necessities and Wants So is it in Spirituals also he that hath been wise in improving the Opportunities that God hath vouchsafed him for the getting of Grace and making his Peace with God through Christ he that hath done thus a great part yea a chief part of the business of his Life is done he is prepared in some measure for all Conditions the wise Providence of God may dispense to him be it Sickness or Health be it Life or Death for he is aforehand as it were in the business of his everlasting Concerns so that if God lengthen out his Life in this world he carries on his great work and business unto greater degrees of Perfection not only without Trouble and Disturbance but with great Ease and Pleasure Or if God see good to cut short his days and call him to give an Account of his Talents his great business is not now to go about but his Accounts are ready and he in some measure prepared to give them up unto his Lord and Master and O blessed is that Servant whom his Master when he comes shall find so doing But this is not all the frequent considering our latter end brings Ease and Peace in Death it abates if not removes the fears of it Death in Scripture is called the King of Terrors and many times the fear of Death is more terrible than Death it self Now that which makes Death thus terrible to us is the knowledge of our Guilt and the Apprehensions of God's Wrath and Displeasure justly deserved thereby this gives Death its Sting and Terror Now he that makes it his business to live in constant Preparation for Death by Acts of Repentance for former Sins and by frequent Applications of the Blood of Christ to his Soul by Faith he removes both the Sting and the Fear of Death at once For how can he be afraid of Death whose frequent Thoughts and Meditations of it make it familiar to him And as for the Sting of Death that cannot hurt him neither for where Sin is truly repented of it is really pardoned and Sin being pardoned the Power and Sting of it whereby it hurts and wounds others is taken away as to him so that though others are held in Bondage under the fear of Death all their lives and feel the deadly Sting of it when they come to die yet he fears not either the suddenness of its Approach nor the power of its Sting Now dying being a work of great weight and difficulty it is not only of great Concernment but it will be full of Sweetness and Comfort to us when we come to lie upon a 〈◊〉 had to be able to say that all things are set straight and right between God and our Souls Such Persons are no small Proficients in Grace and Holiness but are strong in the 〈…〉 CHAP. III. The State of Man considered under Death What it is to wait for Death with Reasons why we must prepare for it Dying is an important
difficult Work Death continually hastning towards us yet few consider how suddenly themselves or others may Die. Death comes violently to Wicked Men yet no Man dies before his time however in Scripture some are said so to do An Exhortation to prepare for Death with Motives to quicken Christians thereunto and Directions to help them therein HAving spoken something of the Life of Man as it hath Relation unto the Subject I am speaking to which by Reason of Sin is become short frail and uncertain I shall now consider the State of Man under Death which is the end of his Temporal but the beginning and entrance upon his Everlasting State which that Christians may with the more profit and advantage meditate upon I shall reduce all that I have to say of it unto three particulars The State of Man under Death is a State that admits of no returning unto Life a State that admits of no amendments and a State that is fixed and determined First The State of Man under Death is a State that admits of no returning unto Life again When once the Sun of this Life is set it will arise no more upon thee for ever Are not my Days few says Job Cease from me that I may take comfort a little before I go whence I shall not return And Job 10.20 When a few Days are come says he I shall go whence I shall not return Job 16.22 That 's a strange Journey indeed that admits of no return That which pleaseth us while we live is the hopes of returning to our Homes again but when we die we take a Journey whence there is no returning for there is no recovery out of the Grave when once we are Dead Indeed it is a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith to believe the Resurrection of the Dead for the Scripture tells us that all Men shall stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive according to what they have done in the Body Now if there be not a Resurrection of the Dead how can this be therefore our Lord tells us plainly John 5.28 that the hour is coming when all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth but this time is not yet come and till this time comes the sentence of Death is irreversible upon all And though God hath already stretched sorth his hand to the Grave for the raising of some Persons from the Dead miraculously yet as those few that have escaped Death make no breach upon this general Truth that all must Die so it doth not at all infringe this general Truth that God will not now by the manifestation of the same miraculous Power raise any from the Grave because some have been raised and recovered out of it Secondly The State of Man under Death admits of no amendments or alterations Life is the Time of Working in Death we receive the Reward of our Work Our Lord tells us of himself I must Work the Works of him that sent me while it is Day for the Night comes wherein no Man can Work Joh. 9.4 Death puts an end to all Works whether they be Natural Civil or Religious There is no eating or drinking nor any pleasure to be taken in any outward enjoyments in the State of Death there is no buying or selling or getting gain when we are Dead nay Death puts an end to all Spiritual Works those Duties that upon Earth were the Saints exercise in the Grave there is an end of them there is a dying and perishing for ever in respect of Faith and Repentance in respect of praying and hearing the Word these are Heavenly Works but the Time for the performance of them is while we are here upon Earth None of these Labours are in Heaven or in Hell no nor in the Grave whither we are all going In Heaven there is nothing but rest in Hell though there be no rest yet there is no labour In Hell there is nothing but Wages in Heaven there is nothing but Reward our whole Work lies in the few Days that are on this side both What we do for the obtaining of Heaven or for the avoiding of Hell it must be done now for there is no Work no Device in the Grave whither we are all going Thirdly The State of Man under Death is a State that is fixed and determined He that dies under the Guilt of Sin shall never have it forgiven him The Blood of Christ that was appointed for the Pardon of Sin and for the Justification of a Sinner shall never make God propitious to a Soul that dies under the Guilt of Sin though that Blood now speaks better things than the Blood of Abel and crying aloud to Heaven nay in Heaven for Mercy hath obtained Pardon and forgiveness for thousands of Souls now in Glory yet hath it no virtue in it that shall be applicable to any Sinner for the remission of his Sins when once the Sentence of Death is executed upon him There is a Sacrifice appointed by God to take away Sin in this Life even the Blood of Christ that cleanseth from all Sin and now he intreats and beseecheth Sinners to come unto him that they may have Life by him but those that will not now accept of his Gracious offer but continue in Sin and Disobedience all their days and die under the Guilt thereof there remains no more Sacrifice for them and it is impossible they should ever be Pardoned because the Sufferings of Christ were never Ordained as an Expiatory Sacrifice for their Sins His bleeding and dying upon the Cross will do them no good at all now the Time and Season of Mercy and Grace with them is gone and past for ever Nay let me add a dreadful word unto all such instead of any Benefit and Advantage that will come to them by the Blood of Christ it is that which cries loudly against them for the Wrath and Vengeance of God to fall upon them to Eternity Besides he that dies under the guilt of Sin dies also under the filth and pollution of Sin from whence he shall never be cleansed We read in Scripture of a Refiner's Fire but Hell Fire is not of this Nature it enrageth the Sinner but it doth not Refine him No that Sin or Holiness that accompanies Men out of this World shall abide with them for ever he that dies in a State of Sin his guilt remains upon him for ever there are no Seasons of Grace to be enjoyed in another World nor are there any Operations of the Spirit of God vouchsafed to Renew and Change Men hereafter Whilst we are in this World though the Law Condemns us for our sin and guilt and the Gospel disowns us for our filth and pollution yet even such as we have been Washed have been Justified have been Sanctified and so may we for the Blood of Christ is still a Fountain open to wash in for Sin and for uncleanness and the Infinite though Provoked
yet it may Rule as a Tyrant and we be brought into Captivity by it and by force kept in Bondage under it sometimes How willing therefore should a Christian be to die that he may be free from Sin for he that is dead saith the Apostle Rom. 6.7 is free'd from Sin Death only will free us from the danger and possibility of offending God any more for then we shall come to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Why then O Christian shouldst thou desire to linger long here upon Earth and to spin out a miserable Life in this VVorld whereof Sin and Sorrow will have the greatest Share Here the best Christians are engaged in perpetual Conflicts between Sin and Grace Sin will not yield and Grace cannot yield Corruption compels one way and Grace commands another Haste therefore O Christian out of this troublesome Contest yea make haste to Heaven for there and there only it is that this Controversie will be ended for there we shall no more live in fear of new Sins nor in sorrow for old Sins but all Sorrow and Sighing shall cease all Tears shall there be wiped from our Eyes and which is better all Sin shall be rooted out of our hearts for ever Upon this Account now Death is not only necessary in it self but it is that which the People of God should embrace with the greatest willingness and chearfulness that may be But this is not all for the People of God must go one step higher and it is what the VVord of God doth require and that is not only to be content or willing to die but long for Death To be contented to die is a good Temper of Soul and may be an Argument of the Truth of Grace for it is seldom or never found in a wicked man to be sure not from a right Principle But truly Christians this is no such great Matter in comparison of what we should labour to attain unto Muse seriously upon it a while O Christian Is it not a strange kind of Expression to drop from the mouth of a Saint that he is content to be happy that one that professeth all his Happiness lies in the hopes he hath of enjoying God in Heaven and that it is the End and Design of his Life that he may attain unto this and that yet when he comes to speak of Death he should only say he is contented to die that he may be happy in the Enjoyment of God We use not to speak thus concerning the World here Men are not said to be content to be rich but covetous after Riches not willing to be advanced but ambitious after it And why then should it be said only of a Christian that he is contented to be with God and contented to be in Heaven Why Oh why should not the Soul the more noble excellent Part of a Man be carried out with vehement and earnest longings after its proper and full Happiness as well as the Body that vile Part of Man is carried with restless Appetite after Health Safety and Liberty Why should a Soul alone be contented to be happy when all things in the World do so ardently court and so vehemently pursue their respective Ends and several Perfections Truly this is not that Frame and Temper that Christians ought to content themselves with but their Souls should be raised up to a higher pitch even to a holy longing after their being ever with the Lord. It is the Duty of a Christian to look out after so much Enjoyment of the blessed God as we are now capable of and because we cannot fully and perfectly enjoy him in this Life to long after the time of our departure hence and with holy Pantings of Soul breath forth earnest Desires that we may be fully and eternally happy in the Enjoyment of him Be not therefore O my Soul contented only but be holily covetous and full of vehement longings after an Eternity of Blessedness in the Enjoyment of God and because this Body is that which hinders this desired and longed for Happiness though thou may'st not dissolve and break it into pieces thy self yet with Submission to the Divine Will wish it were broken desire that it may be dissolved And though thou must be contented to live God's time yet henceforth be desirous of and long to die To set this a little home upon thy Conscience O Christian consider that this Frame of Soul is that which the Scripture makes the Temper and the Duty of all Believers Indeed there are few Professors that are of this Evangelical Temper of Soul yea but few that are willing to believe they ought to be so But yet this Frame of Soul is made the Character of a sincere Christian the Scripture abounds with Expressions of this Nature Luk 21.28 Our Lord speaking concerning the day of Judgment for the encouragement of Believers bids them look up and lift up their Heads for their Redemption drew nigh by with our Lord means not a bare speculation but a beholding with joy and longing for that day and time 2 Tim. 4.8 The Lord shall give a Crown of Righteousness to them that love his appearing And in Tit. 2.13 we are commanded to live godly in this present World as those that are looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ So in 2 Pet. 3.12 What manner of Persons says the Apostle ought we to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness looking for and hastning to the coming of the Day of God By these Scriptures it appears what is the nature and temper the disposition and inclination of a Godly Man even to look to love to long and to hasten unto the enjoyment of God for that which is of God in any Soul must needs carry the Soul after God But here I am afraid least some weak Christians should be troubled because they cannot find these ardent desires and holy longings of Soul in themselves after their dissolution and enjoyment of God Now that I may not discourage any weak Believer nor make the Hearts of those sad whom God would not have made sad I shall add a few words though not for encouragement unto sloathfulness yet for support against fears and despondency Therefore O Christian search thine own Heart and see how it is with thee and if thou findest it is so as the objection intimates see then if thou canst find out the cause thereof possibly thou art grown careless in thy spiritual watch or thou givest too much liberty to thy self in things that are lawful the World it may be is got too near thy Heart thy Affections run out too much after it And no wonder then if while this frame and temper continues and things are thus out of order with thee thou dost not long after Heaven nor art willing to die though it be the only way by which thou canst come to the enjoyment of God
If upon Examination of thy Heart thou dost not find it thus with thee why then consider though this frame of Soul be Characteristical of a true Christian yet you must consider also that the same Character of a Christian that is a cause of joy and rejoicing to some yea to a Man 's own self sometimes at another time may be a cause of fear and doubting to him not but that that which distinguisheth a true Christian from a Hypocrite is the same at one time that it is at another only we cannot see nor discover so clearly the State of our Souls towards God by it at one time as at another And this is the Reason why some are so lifted up with joy yea with holy longing of Soul in hopes of the Glory of God when others are cast down under fears and doubts as if they had no hopes of or at least no present Interest in or title unto any such thing But farther Art thou fearful O Christian of thy self because thou canst not feel this ardency of desires in thee after thy dissolution and the Glorious appearing of Jesus Christ so as to look and long for the coming of these things Why know O troubled Soul that every Character of a Christian is not discernable by all Christians at all times and in all conditions Thou mayest have that in thee which is the cause of these longing desires in others though at present it doth not work so strongly in thee that thou mayest sensibly feel the power of its operations thus drawing forth thy Heart and Affections in this ardent and vehement manner Grace though weak and in the seed hath a tendency in it and is making out after this holy longing and rejoicing of Soul in hopes of the Glory of God though there may be the intervention of some time before there be an attaining to it If there be the remainders of the Spirit of Bondage in thee to fear in this case Grace in thee is not come to that perfection that it is in others but yet it will be growing and encreasing in thee and as thy Grace grows stronger and stronger so will thy fears of Death and Judgment grow weaker and weaker Furthermore O troubled Soul though thou canst not feel thy Soul breathing forth it self in these holy longings desires after thy Dissolution the beholding of the face of God and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ yet dost thou believe that it will be incomparably better for thee to be with Christ than to abide here on Earth and therefore though Death be dreadful to think of in it self yet seeing it is the only passage through which God hath appointed our entrance into Heaven though thou canst not say that thou longest for it yet art thou willing to entertain it if God sends it and though the fears of Death sometimes discourage thee yet doth not thy belief of and hope in a future State of Happiness abate those fears considering the advantages that will follow it And though it be an amazing thing in thy thoughts to think of coming before the Great and Holy GOD yet except when Temptations make thee fear that God will condemn thee for thy Sins hadst thou not rather come to God by Death than not come to him at all the enjoyment of whom is thy Soul 's utmost Happiness And though the sight of Christ's coming in the Clouds at the Day of Judgment in the Glory of his Father and of the Holy Angels will be very terrible to behold and the thoughts thereof strike thee with fear and trembling when thou considerest thine own sinfulness and therefore canst not think of that Day with so strong a Faith and Consolation with such earnestness of desires and holy longing as some Christians do yet be not discouraged though thou dost not long for yet dost thou love the appearance of Jesus Canst thou say thou wouldst not take all the pleasures of this World for thy hopes of the happiness of this Day And couldst thou attain to that full assurance that some of God's People have thou wouldst then with earnestness of desire and holy longing of Soul cry out as the Church doth Come Lord Jesus come quickly Is it thus with thee O Soul why then be not troubled nay be comforted for that which at present is Faith Hope Desire and Love may in a little time be vehement longing and assurance yea the riches of the full assurance of Faith Rest not therefore in any weak desires but labour for this holy longing of Soul after God and the Eternal Enjoyment of him in Glory that in Life and Death your Soul may part and breath after immediate and everlasting Communion with him This is that frame of Soul that the People of God ought to labour after and which many have attained unto the earnestness and vehemency of whose desires have been so great that they have been as it were under sweet and delightful agonies of pain and their Souls even breaking with longings after the presence of God and Christ in Glory Examples of this Nature that might be instanced in are many I shall mention one of which I was an Eye and Ear Witness the Person was one of a middle rank and quality in the World but of great eminency in Grace and Holiness while living and full of Joy and Peace when dying It pleased God who appoints us the bounds and place of our Habitations to cast my lot into a Religious Family where this Godly Person lived whose Memory to me is and ever shall be very precious after I had been there some time it pleased God to lay this Person upon a sick bed which proved a death-bed whose Mouth was always full of Holy and Heavenly Discourse and as Death approached nearer and nearer those Heavenly Expressions were with greater earnestness and frequency repeated the last Day of whose Life as long as speech continued was spent in uttering continual expressions full of holy longings and desires after the enjoyment of God and Christ in Glory Methinks the sweetness of the Melody revives my Spirit still when I call to remembrance in my serious thoughts what I then heard and saw Oh with what Joy and Desight of Soul was the thoughts of Death entertained Surely nothing was or could possibly be more welcome to such a Soul except it were the immediate fruition of God in Heaven whose Soul in the delightful much longed for and panted-after Happiness in the enjoyment of God breathed forth continually such expressions as these for many hours together Come Lord Jesus when shall I come and appear before thee Oh Lord when Lord when Oh come Lord Jesus come quickly And thus this Holy Person died changing a frail mortal Life on Earth for an immortal Life in Heaven where to be and to be most happy is all one I could fill up many sheets with wonderful expressions of the loves longings pantings and breathings that I have read of Holy
Souls after the enjoyment of God and Christ both Martyrs and others O cryeth one the Love of Christ in my Heart casteth a mighty heat he knoweth that the desire I have to be with him paineth me I have sick Nights and frequent fits of Love Fevers for my well-beloved Nothing is so painful to me as the want of his presence but it is a sweet pain O that he would cool my Love-Fever for him with real enjoyment of him O Great King says one why standest thou aloof off why remainest thou among the Mountains O well-beloved why dost thou pain a poor Soul with delays A long time out of thy Glorious Presence is as two Deaths and as two Hells to me we must meet I must see him hungring and thirsting for Christ hath brought on me such a necessity of enjoying him that cost what it will I cannot but assure Christ to my Soul one smile of his Face to me is a Kingdom a sight of him is worth a World of Worlds Sweet Jesus crys one out wilt thou let me see Heaven to break my Heart and never give me leave to enjoy it O fairest where dwellest thou O never enough admired and adored Godhead how can Creatures of yesterday be able to enjoy thee O what pain crys one is it that Time and Sin should be as so many thousand Miles between a loved longed for Lord and a pining Love-sick Soul Hell and as I now think all the pains of it laid on me could not put me off from loving of him I would refuse says one no condition not Hell excepted reserving always God's hatred to buy the possession and enjoyment of Jesus Oh closed Doors and Vails Curtains and thick Clouds crys one that hold me in pain while I find the sweet burnings of his Love within me which many waters cannot quench O Death do thy utmost against us O Torments O Malice of Men and Devils bring Hell to help you in Tormenting the Followers of the Lamb we will defie you to make us too soon happy and to waft us too soon over the water to that Land where that Plant the Plant of Renown grows O cruel time that Torments us and suspends our dearest enjoyments that we wait for when we shall be bathed and steeped Soul and Body in the depth of this Love of Loves I half call says one his absence cruel and that Mask and Vail upon his Face a cruel covering that hideth such a fair fair Face from a sick Soul I dare not challenge himself but his absence is a Mountain of Iron upon my heavy Heart Oh when shall we meet What do we here but sin and suffer Oh when shall the Night be gone and the Shadows fly away and the morning of that long long Day without Cloud or Night dawn The Spirit and the Bride say come Oh when shall the Lamb's Wife be ready and the Bridegroom say I come also O Time be not so slow but run yea fly away swiftly O Sun move speedily and hasten our Banquet O Heavens cleave asunder that the bright Face and Head may set it self through the Clouds O that the Corn were ripe and this World prepared for his hook How long is it to the dawning of the Marriage day O sweet Lord Jesus take wide steps O my Lord come over the Mountains at one stride cut short Years and Months and Hours shovel time and days out of the way post post haste our desired hungred longed for Meeting love is sick to hear of till too Morrow fly O my beloved like a Roe or a young Heart upon the Mountains of Separation O that thou wouldst remove says one the covering and draw aside the Curtain of Time that thou wouldst rent the Heavens and come down O that the Shadows and Nights were gone that the Day would break and be that feedeth among the Lilies would cry and call to his Heavenly Trumpeters make ready and let us go down and fold together the four corners of the World and Marry the Bride the Lamb's Wife since he hath looked upon me my Heart is not my own But I shall not proceed farther herein though the Subject be exceeding delightful but notwithstanding what hath been said herein I am far from thinking that these holy pantings and longings of Soul are to be found in every Godly Man or that none are truly Godly but those that find and feel in themselves these pantings and longings of Soul after the enjoyment of God in this vehement and ardent manner no I dare not say so for I believe multitudes yea the generality of Believers through sloathfulness never attain to this high pitch of Grace and Assurance of the Divine Love and Favour who yet go to Heaven very safely but where there are any that do attain unto this plerophory or full assurance such Souls live as it were on the very Suburbs of Heaven it self And by this we may see what is the Duty of a Christian to labour after and what sweet peace joy and delight we all lose who do not come up to this frame and temper of Soul even such as passeth our understandings to conceive or our expressions to make known which made a Godly Man once cry out in a holy pang of love unto Jesus Christ If I can get no more O let me be pained to all Eternity with longing for him the joy of hungring for Christ should be my Heaven for evermore CHAP. V. Death terrible in its self It is a dreadful Enemy Wherein its Enmity doth consist This Enemy shall be destroyed though it be the last Enemy that shall be destroyed Christ by his Death hath overcome Death for Believers and how far he hath done it Of the fear of Death and the Causes thereof How the fears of Death may be Conquered and overcome It is very uncomely for Christians to be afraid of Death It is possible for Christians to live without the fear of Death How Christians may die with Courage and Joy THo' death as it brings Holy Souls to the Eternal Fruition of God is desirable yet considered in its self it is dreadful being accompanied with Diseases and Distempers the fore-runners of a Dissolution and Separation between Soul and Body causing all the Actions and Operations of Life to cease in which State the Body quickly turns to Corruption and Putrefaction and in time to common Earth Now though this be dreadful unto Nature yet is there more of Terror in death unto Impenitent sinners because to them it is not only a Gate to let them into the Grave but a Gate to let them into Hell the first death transmitting them unto the second death And yet how great is the folly of Men that they fear death for that which is least formidable in it but do not fear it for that which renders it justly terrible Could death do no more to us than what reacheth to pains and distempers on the outward Man and the dissolution and destruction of
Answer art thou a Christian indeed and dost thou talk after this manner as if thou wert a Stranger to God to Christ to Heaven and the Happiness of Glorified Saints there whom is it thou callest Father every time thou Prayest is it not the God of Heaven What dost thou make of Jesus Christ thy Professed Lord and Saviour whose love to thee was so great that he would manifest it in no other way than that by which he might most endear himself unto thee and most strongly engage thy Love and Affections unto him and that was by laying down his Life and shedding of his Blood a a Ransom for thy Soul and a propitiation for thy Sins whom thou professest also to believe that he is Aseended up into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God presenting his Blood and Sufferings before the Throne of the Majesty on high that both thy self and thy Services that are Impure and Imperfect in themselves may yet be accepted through him Is it not through his Righteousness alone that thou hopest for Justification unto Life and Happiness and through his Strength that thou art enabled to perform all thy Duties and yet dost thou not know him what a strange thing is this But alas sayest thou it is very little that I know of him never did I see him in all my days But what if thou hast not beheld him with thy Bodily Eyes yet canst thou not say with the Apostle whom having not seen yet thou hast and dost believe in him and sometimes it may be so as to rejoyce with that Joy that is unspeakable and full of Glory and tho' thou hast not known him after the Flesh yet thou hast known him after the Spirit though thou hast known him but a little and what thou dost see and know of him Spiritually is but through a Glass darkly yet be not dejected fear not for he knows thee perfectly and hath separated thee and set thee apart for himself from Eternity and hath effectually called thee in time Justified thee by his Grace yea he knows thee by Name and now in the approach of Death he is coming to take thee to himself where thou shalt see him as he is and know him as thou art known of him And as for those Glorious Creatures the Angels and Saints in Heaven methinks it should even Ravish thee to think how those Noble and Excellent Creatures will flock about thee and bid thee welcome into Heaven as one greatly beloved of the Lord saying unto thee not as the Angel once said unto the two Mary's Mat. 28. come see the place where the Lord lay but come see the Throne where thy Lord sits in all his Majesty and Glory But may some say I may well be afraid to die because it is that which puts an end to my life and being here and who can without fear look upon himself and see his Body withering and decaying and not be troubled at it is not Death the great Dread and Terror of the World Job therefore calls it The King of Terrors O how doth the Expectations of Death appale the Faces weaken the Hands shake the Hearts imbitter the Pleasures and damp and cool the Spirits even of the Mighty ones of the Earth Should God say unto many that they should set their Houses in Order for they shall die and not live should they see a Tekel written upon their Walls their days are finished this night shall their Souls be taken from them what sad Lamentations would most Men make Life O how sweet is it to them all that they have would they give for their Lives doth not Nature it self teach us to seek the Preservation of our Beings and abhors whatever tends to its Dissolution as death doth To this I Answer because of this abhorrency of Death which is implanted in the Nature of all Men living there may be even in the best of God's People a fear of Death and an unwillingness to die Our Lord himself who was without Sin discovers something of this who though to shew his great willingness and readiness to die for Sinners said I have a Baptism to be Baptized withal which was the Baptism of his Blood and how am I straitned till it be accomplished thinking long for the coming of the day of his Death whereby the work of our Redemption was in a great measure to be accomplished yet when Death came to him see how his pure and innocent Nature was put to it when he cry'd out Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me It is true in his Case there was more than Death in it there was wrath there was a curse there was all the Sins of the World wrung into that Cup to mingle him a bitter draught but this was also something of it for there was Death in the Cup. It will therefore be the Wisdom of Christians to whatever measure of confidence and assurance they may have attained so as upon good grounds to have overcome the fears of Death and to look upon their dying day as the most joyful day in their lives yea though in this confidence their Hearts may sometimes pant after the coming of that day and they ready to cry out make haste my beloved come Lord Jesus come quickly yet will it be your wisdom to buckle on all your Armour to get all your Evidences and Experiences ready for the conflict of that day and hour may be such as that you may stand in need of your utmost Preparations for you know not how the Flesh may shrink in the day of Trial. But if it should be so yet be not discouraged O Christian for possibly this very instance of our Lord may be left upon Record for this very end to comfort his People when they shall be overtaken with the same fears and troubles And as for the sweetness of this present Life the losing whereof makes thee to fear Death let me ask thee this Question Who art thou that art so fond of this present Life Art thou a Christian indeed and in truth or dost thou only make a profession of Religion without the life and power of Godliness If thou art only an outward professor I wonder not that thou shouldst set so high a price and value upon life and art so unwilling to part with it because all thy happiness is terminated in things that are enjoyed on this side Death and the Grave for as for those great and glorious things that Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor can possibly enter into the Heart of Man to conceive that God hath prepared for them that love him and which are to be enjoyed beyond time in Eternity thou hast no lot or portion in those matters What wonder therefore if thou mourn and sigh even to the breaking of thy Loyns when Death comes to put an end to thy Life for then it separates between thee and thy happiness for ever But if thou art one that truly
Jesus the Head will diffuse it self into all its Members to quicken and raise them also in the morning of the Resurrection And indeed Christ is not perfectly risen till all Believers are risen also For though Christ's personal Resurrection was perfect when he arose out of the Grave and though all Believers did then arise with Christ representatively yet till all Believers arise personally at the last day the Resurrection of Christ hath not received its full perfection How comfortable therefore is this to a Believer to consider that by the same Faith that he puts Christ's Resurrection into the Premises he may put his own Resurrection into the Conclusion If Christ be in you says the Apostle speaking to Believers in Rom. 8.10 11. The body is dead it is a poor frail dying body because of sin And though you are really united unto Christ by his Spirit dwelling in you which is a great and glorious Priviledge yet your bodies must die as well as others but the Spirit saith he is life because of Righteousness Though your bodies die your souls shall be su'allowed up in life upon your dissolution this Happiness Believers have even in death But this is not all for saith the Apostle if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you what then why though your bodies must fall by Death into the Grave yet they shall rise and live again at the Resurrection and that by virtue of the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in you and is the Bond of your Mystical Vnion with him who is your Head for says the Apostle He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Because Christ is your Head and his Spirit dwelleth in you you shall be raised again and that not as others by a meer word of his Power as the wicked are but by the Spirit of Life dwelling in Christ your Head which is an excellent Priviledge indeed O the Consolation that the hope of the Resurrection fills the Believing Soul withal it is this Blessed Hope that supports it not only under the Troubles of Life but makes it Triumph even under the Pains and Agonies of Death it self Thirdly Meditate frequently upon the Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven Now this Ascension of Christ into Heaven as it was full of Glory and Triumph in respect of himself so is it full of admirable Comfort in respect of Believers As to himself his Ascension was Triumphant a Cloud was prepared as a Royal Chariot to carry up this King of Glory into Heaven so it is said in Acts 11.10 That whilst his Disciples beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight and no doubt a Royal Guard of Angels attended the Solemnity of their Lord's Ascension If when Christ came into the World to suffer Angels waited upon him for even then it was said of him Let all the Angels of God Worship him surely much more then now that he hath finished the work of Mans Redemption do the Angels Worship him in his return to Heaven again where he is exalted to have a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow both of things in Heaven and things on Earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father But may a poor Believer say what is all this to me what am I the better that Christ is Ascended and Exalted thus in Glory Yes this is much for the advantage of Believers for it is the same Jesus that was Crucified for them that God hath made both Lord and Christ It is he who took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham who is Exalted above Angels being gone into Heaven Angels Principalities and Powers being made subject unto him It is this Jesus Christ whom God hath raised from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this World but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church Ephes 1.20 21. Christ Ascended into Heaven as a publick Person or the fore-runner of Believers for he is not gone to take possession of Heaven only for himself but also in our Name and for us So the Apostle tells us Heb. 6.20 speaking of the most Holy place within the Vail whither says he the fore-runner that is Christ is for us entred And if we will not believe the Apostle Christ himself tells us the same thing John 14.2 In my Father's House are many Mansions I go to prepare a place for you And if I go away I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Christ is now in Heaven transacting the Affairs and Concerns of Believers both for their present Peace and Comfort and for their future Eternal Happiness not only by intercepting the daily cry of their sins by the continual Representation of his Death and Sufferings unto his Father and so making an Atonement and Reconciliation with God for them but by the Blood of his Cross he maintains this Peace and keeps up good thoughts in God towards Believers sprinkling their poor and weak but sincer Services with the Incense of his own Merits so that though both they and their Services deserve to be rejected for their own sakes yet they shall both be accepted for Christ's sake This now is something that Christ is doing in Heaven in the behalf of Believers since he is Ascended to his Father and to their Father to his God and to their God But yet this is not all for in that comfortable Prayer of his to his Father before his Ascension into Heaven which is say some the Copy of his Intercession now he is in Heaven he doth as it were tell us that he looks not upon himself as perfectly Happy until he hath the whole number of Believers with him in Glory and therefore says he John 17.24 Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where Lam that they may behold that is that they may enjoy my Glory which thou hast given me O what Comfort then is here to all Believers against the Fears of Death for assure thy self O Believing Soul that neither Death nor the Grave shall be a bar to thy Happiness thou must die it is true so did Christ but he is Risen and Ascended up into Heaven and so shalt thou also in due time and therefore says the Apostle He hath made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephes 2.6 Salvation and Happiness is made sure to a Believer by Christ for if when we were Enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death
speaks of Death as that which he was daily familiar with being in Deaths often frequently thinking thereof for said he I die daily Thoughts of Death was that which he accustomed himself unto and that was one Cause why he was so willing to embrace it And thus it should be with all of us were our hearts rightly affected and we so familiarly acquainted with death as we ought Those of us who have the most lively Faith would not only not be afraid of death but we should even court it as that which is better than life But I would not here discourage any weak Believer for I dare not say that they are no true Believers who are not come up to this frame of Soul Though it is true Grace is the same in all Believers one Believer hath the same that another Believer hath yet all that are Believers do not attain to the same degrees of Grace There are some and it is their sin and ought to be their Humiliation that Death and they are little acquainted they seldom descend into the Grave by frequent Meditations of their Mortality they look not into the Pit out of which at first they were taken and into which they are shortly to return now their comfort in the thoughts of death is little if any at all because death and they are such Strangers to one another These may be true Believers but they are weak and faulty But now others there are who are so advanced in Grace above their Brethren that by a constant Familiarity with death are so composed in their Spirits that they fear it not nay they rejoice in the thoughts of it not because they think they shall not taste of death for they know that death will overtake them as well as others they are sensible that the time of their departure draws nearer and nearer daily These things they believe but they do not afflict themselves therewith so well are they acquainted with death both in the Nature and in the Effects of it And were they to die presently this would not much trouble them for they know the bitterness of death is past though death it self be not the Gall and the Wormwood is taken out Christ hath been there before them and therefore the sting of death which is sin is gone the dangers yea and the difficulties also in dying are removed out of the way This they believe and therefore they are not afraid though by death they descend through the Grave into Heaven for their Jesus their Saviour is there and they know that till they die where he is they cannot be wherefore they say though we die nay therefore will we die that we may see him Wouldst thou therefore O weak Believer attain unto this sweet frame of Spirit accustom thy self then to a holy familiarity with death conceive of it under the fairest and easiest Notions this is that the Spirit of God in Scripture delights in when it speaks of death with respect to the People of God it always makes use of the most comfortable Expressions to represent it to them by So sweetly is death enamell'd and so richly is it cloathed in the holy Language that it seems to have a kind of Lustre and Beauty upon it to draw the Hearts and Affections of Believers to be desirous of it Look a little therefore O Believer into the Sacred Oracles and see how the Spirit of God teacheth us to cloath Death with delightful Expressions sometimes it is called an undressing or uncloathing And what Man that hath worn a Suit of Cloaths till it is become filthy and nasty would not be glad to put off his old filthy Garments that he might put on Change of Raiment And why should not a Christian be willing to lay down the Earthly House of his Tabernacle though it be in the Dust of the Grave that he may be cloathed upon with his House which is from Heaven Sometimes Death is compared to Rest they shall rest in their Beds says the Prophet and Job speaking of the state of Man in death tells us there the weary are at rest Now when a Man hath wrought hard and taken great pains and labour all the Day how desirous is he to go to Bed and take his Rest And is not Death the same to thee O Christian Doth not the Spirit of God call it so Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours And surely there is no rest like to that rest that a Christian obtains after his spiritual labours and conflicts with Sin Satan the World and his own evil Heart when the Soul is set free from the Body and takes its flight at once from all these into the Bosom of God that place of Rest and Happiness which remains for the People of God As there is no Yoke like unto the Yoke of Christ when a Christian suffers for him for it is a Yoke lined with Love My Yoke says he is easie and my Burthen is light So there is no Rest and Happiness like that which is with Christ for the same Happiness that he enjoys his Children and Servants enjoy also Sometimes death is called a Sleep so says our Lord our Friend Lazarus sleepeth it is spoken of his death now who of us when the day is spent and the night hath overtaken us is afraid to go to bed and sleep And why then should a Christian when his Days are finished and the Night of Sickness is come upon him be afraid to fall asleep though he sleep the sleep of Death By such Considerations as these and the like that the Scripture holds forth to us Christians should endeavour to allay the bitterness beautifie the deformity blunt the edge and take out the sting of death that all hard thoughts of it might be buried and instead thereof there might grow up a sweet Familiarity and Acquaintance between them and death Oh how would this facilitate the work of dying and cause holy Souls to exult with joy and rejoicing when death is approaching towards them And here I cannot but make a little Digression to reason the Case with some weak Believers whose unwillingness to die is very great because their fears of death are so many But why should the fears of Death so amaze and terrifie thee O weak Believer Hast thou not the same Grace in thee with others Hast thou not the same Faith the same Hope the same Love acting and working in thee Dost thou not serve the same Lord Hast thou not the same God for thy Father the same Jesus for thy Saviour the same Spirit of Consolation for thy Comforter Art thou not going to the same Heaven nay art thou not going to the same Heaven in the same way that all the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and Saints of God in all Ages have gone before thee Death was the Gate through which they all entred into Heaven and why then shouldst thou be so unwilling to go to Heaven