Mercy and like Solomon praised the day of Death before the Birth-day Eccles 4.2 Optimum non nasci proximum mori saith the Heathen but little knew what the result would be But a Christian doubtless call'd out by God should not go unwillingly Philpot the Martyr returns thanks to God he was so near the Gate of Eternal Life and who is it that being tossed with the Waves of Trouble would not land in a Haven of Rest 'T is a shame for a Christian when God gives a clear Call to linger with Lot in Sodom much more to look back with Lot's Wife till the Lord pluck them away by force and deliver them whether they will or no. Those that are weary of Sin or Suffering should say as Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Mistake not I say not that Death is eligible or any should desire it for its own sake no we should use all Lawful means to preserve Life but I reprove those that when the Will of God is manifest that they should dye submit so unwillingly Hath the World been so kind to us that now we cannot part Or is our Portion here so good that Heaven it self cannot make us satisfaction If we part with it doubtless we have then had better dealing than our dear Redeemer met with Are our Temptations so strong that we are ready with the Young Man Demas Judas and many others to break with Christ upon that account 'T is best to consider well before hand lest we Repent too late Hath God been training us up so long and have we not yet learnt this â—esson to be willing to dye Are we content to take this for our Portion And will we rather stay in the Wilderness than venture over this Jordan Will the Flesh-pots of Egypt give satisfaction as well as the Land of Canaan If God were not more willing of us than many of us are to go to him we might be long absent we should live long on this side Jordan if he did not force us over But though Death be not desirable is not the Presence of God desirable Is not Heaven worth having And is there any other way to it We profess we believe there is a reward for the righteous and a God that judgeth the earth but do we not in our works deny it The fear of Death discovers our Infidelity and as our little Faith so our little Love either we proclaim that we question whether there be a Reward or whether we have any Interest in it or it shews we have little love to it If we believe it and our Interest in it is it not a wonder we are not impatient of enjoying it and rather seek to shorten our Lives than prolong them by unlawful means Did we love our Husband as we should we should long for the time when he would fetch us He may well say as Delilah did to Samson How can you say you love me when your hearts are not with me 4. Consider If we chearfully submit our Wills to the Will of God and let him dispose of us as he pleaseth for Life or Death and make a resignation of our selves to God and be willing to part with Life it self if he and his Cause require it whether by a Natural or violent Death we shall then part with it to the most Advantage imaginable nay 't is the only way to save it and to deny it unto God is the way to lose it Mark 8.35 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel shall save it For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul We may read of many that refusing to lay down their Lives for Christ have had their Lives taken from them but lost their Reward We read in the Book of Martyrs of one Denton a Smith that had made profession of Religion but being call'd to suffer cried The Fire is hot I cannot burn but within a short time he was burnt in his own House and lost both his Life and his Reward And so shall those that deny their Lives to God when he requires them We may resign our Lives into the hands of God and so engage him to look to them and take care of them but we cannot rescue them out of his Hands or live longer than he determines for we cannot breathe without him and then what madness is it to stand in contention with him If we lose our Souls to save our Lives we shall make a bad Bargain for a Life saved by unlawful means will do us little good for a Life in God's displeasure is worse than Death it self and a Death in his favor is the beginning of Eternal Life and ushers us into Eternal Happiness The Martyrs in the flames were aware of this they cried out None but Christ none but Christ 'T is a dear Life that is bought with the loss of Christ he that exchanges his Soul for the World will with the Rich man Luk. 16. dye a Beggar but will not be able to purchase one drop of Water he that loseth an immortal Soul purchaseth an everliving Death and is it not our Interest to look to the main Jewel Where Self is renounced the Cross is easily born for 't is Self-love that makes it pinch us When God bids us Yoke 't is our best way to submit our Necks for there is no struggling out of his hands God will not require our Lives to our hurt or damage neither will it prove any Advantage to us if we deny them for if we lose them for his sake we shall find them and if we would hide them from him we shall lose them and Heaven to boot He that lays down his Life when God requires it will gain by the bargain when Death strips him of his Rags 't is to cloath him with Robes and pulls down his Cottage to bring him to a Palace 2 Pet. 1.14 2 Cor. 5.1 For we know that if this earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This saith Latimer is the Sweet-meats of the Feast of a good Conscience there are other dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet The Soul wears the Body as a Garment which when 't is worn out shall be clothed with a better Suit There is no passing into Paradise but under Death's flaming Sword no coming to the City of God but through his dark Vault and strait Gate no wiping all Tears from our Eyes but with our Winding-sheet Our life is hid saith the Apostle with Christ in God Col. 3.3 and therefore not lost And again he tells us 2 Tim. 1 2. I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day Let him that died for my Soul
set him at his own right hand when all other shall stand at his left Oh what a Glorious Day will that be when so many Myriads of Angels and glorified Saints each shining brighter than the Sun in its splendour shall attend upon the Lord Jesus Christ who shall surpass them all in Glory But what a dreadful Day will this be to Wicked Men when they shall see him whom they hated to be their Judge and they whom they persecuted and wickedly murthered to be their Accusers yea sitting upon Thrones to Judge them also Well may they call to the Mountains and Rocks to cover them Rev. 6.15 16. but in vain for the Mountains melt at his Presence and the Rocks are removed out of their places Hell it self that Dungeon of Darkness cannot hide from him For Death and Hell must deliver up their dead But if they cannot stand before their self-condemning Consciences much less before their Judge before whose face their secret sins are plain and manifest and then will they all say they must hear that flaming Sentence of Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels c. A Sentence breathing out nothing but Fire and Brimstone Thundring and Lightning Woe and Alas Torment without end and past imagination Everlasting Fire Eternity of Extremity which the Heart of Man cannot conceive nor his Tongue utter To depart from God is to depart from all that good is into Everlasting Fire here is the pain of Sense both these make up the Damned's Misery but the duration makes it compleat Here is the never-dying Worm that continually gnaws upon the Heart and the Fire that never goes out but continually burneth both the Soul and Body Now Sirs what say you to this Is Grace worth having that prevents all this and sets the Soul out of the reach of danger Those and those alone that are adorned with Grace shall be crowned with Glory for Grace is Glory begun and Glory is Grace perfected Is it now worth labouring for Doubtless those that now deride it as Foolishness will then be derided for their Folly Set your selves in the posture you will certainly be in at Death and at Judgment and then think whether you will make as light of it then as now you do and whether Cups and Queans will then give you better content No no the rudest Ruffian then would be the holiest Saint and wish with Balaam to dye the death of the Righteous But a few feigned Desires faint Wishes and short-winded Prayers will not serve turn God hath link'd Holiness and Happiness together and no Man can break the Chain many would do something for Heaven if they might pick and choose their Duties and leave some Sins if they might retain others they would dance with the Devil all Day so they might sup with Christ at Night they would do the Devil's Work but have God's Wages and leap out of Delilah's Lap into Abraham's Bosom they would be Dives all Day and Lazarus at Night But those that deride Holiness now are not like to have the Reward of it hereafter but then they shall see those very Men that now are at the Bar shall then be at the Bench 1 Cor. 6.2 and shall judge their Judges and those that have been unjustly judged shall have their Cause call'd over again and shall recover Costs and Damages and woe to those that have offended any of those Little Ones that trust in God for their Avenger is strong Wicked Men have no more fore-cast for their Souls than Fools have for their Bodies but they will pay dear for their Folly for when the Saints shall shine in Glory they shall be cast into a Dungeon of Darkness when God lays up his Jewels he will throw out his Muck-heaps when he fans his Wheat he will burn the Chaff the one must go into Everlasting Torment the other into Life Eternal Matth. 25. last Now Reader if thou wouldst know what Road thou art Travelling or what Place thou art like to Land in consider whether Grace be thy Pilot and God thy Polar Star if not thy Condition is dangerous and thy Course unsafe 5. Consider Grace will not leave us thus for its work is not done when the Judgment is over and the Sentence past for 't is the only Treasure we take with us to Heaven and will not leave us till the Crown of Glory is set upon our heads nor then neither their work is not done Indeed some Graces which imply imperfection in us as Faith and Hope or in others as Pity and Mercy may seem useless there for how can we believe and hope for what we actually enjoy except it be for the continuance of it These will be swallowed up in the fruition of what we now believe and hope for And for Pity and Mercy they want their Objects there being no Misery in Heaven and those in Hell deserve no Pity here we have many wanting Brethren whose Miseries call loud for Mercy but there they are supplyed but Love and Joy and Delight Desire and Admiration and such like are not only continued but much heightened in Heaven as also our Knowledge there will be perfected and the Faculties of the Soul enlarged For as an enraged Conscience is one considerable part of Hell so a good Conscience augments Heaven's Glory when all Earthly Enjoyments which made our Lives comfortable forsake us there will be a new Addition of Pleasures and Delights given in the duration of them will be for ever when others leave all that is comfortable behind these will leave all that implies Misery or Imperfection Grace will be a constant Companion to Eternity the Divine Love of God of Holiness of the Saints and Servants of God will never abate but be much more enlarged when our Understandings are enlightened to know God better for nothing but Ignorance can stave off our Affections from loving him who is the chiefest Good That Marriage-knot between Christ and the Soul is the Foundation of our Happiness for from Union springs Communion and the perfect Enjoyment of him in Glory which is the Beatifical Vision Grace here makes the Soul follow Christ through Good Report and Evil Report through thick and thin and makes her resolve to have him for her Husband though she have never a merry day with him and is willing to run through Fire and Water to come to him Oh that I might enjoy those Wild Beasts that are prepared for my Torments saith Ignatius Phileas The Italian Martyr was deaf at the Perswasions of his Friends to forsake Christ and blind at their Tears True Love is like unto Fire the more you blow it the faster it burns or like Lime the more Water you pour on the more 't is enkindled For many waters cannot quench love neither can the floods drown it Now nothing but Grace can bear up the Head and Heart under those Torments and Tortures but a Gracious Man can sing sweetly when it rains
upon an higher Errand our lives and the life of our Souls yea our Eternal weal or woe depends upon the well or ill spending of this little Inch of Time And are not those mad or worse that consume it in Folly and Vanity Most Men live as if they had no concerns of another World to mind as if their Work were done and nothing remained but to receive their Wages but I fear this is few mens case Had we a blood-thirsty Enemy to encounter that nothing but our Blood would satisfie we should be more concerned to keep us out of his hands but the Devil is such a one that walks about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour Were we in a Journey for our Lives or in a Race that if we won not we must dye how diligently should we run and take all advantages and cast our ground This is our case we were sent to run a Race Heaven is the Prize we run for our Souls lye at the stake if we run not so as to obtain they will be lost and lodge in the Infernal Pit for ever and shall we leave our way and hunt after Butter-flies especially setting out so late And our day is almost spent and the shadows of the evening are stretched out There is much out of order in the Soul which must of necessity be rectified our stony Hearts must be changed for Hearts of flesh and this is no easie work the Soul must be regenerated and born again or we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Corruptions must be mortified and the power of Sin abated and the Soul sanctified or no coming to Heaven for no unclean thing shall ever enter there There must be Oyl in the Vessel Grace in the Heart as well as the Lamps of Profession in the Hand or the Door will be shut against us as it was against the foolish Virgins Mat. 25.10 c. It will be in vain for us to thrust into the Bride-Chamber if we have not on a Wedding-garment for we shall he discovered Mat. 22.12 The Graces of God's Spirit must be had for these are the Gems and Jewels that adorn the Soul and make it comely in the Eyes of God for no unrighteous man shall ever enter Heaven Holiness is Christ's Sheep-mark and whosoever wants it shall stand at Christ's left hand The Old Man must be crucified with his deeds and the New Man put on and the body of Sin must be destroyed Faith Hope and Charity must not be wanting neither Repentance new Obedience Self-denyal Humility and other Soul-adorning Graces which God hath made necessary to Salvation The Combat of the Spirit against the Flesh must be maintained and no Peace or Truce had with the World the Flesh and the Devil for when we make Peace with those we break our Peace with God we cannot serve two such Masters We must be crucified to the world and the world to us Religion must be practised as well as profess'd or our Profession will do us little good the most gainful pleasureful and best beloved sins though as dear as a right Hand or right Eye must not only be left but hated though Custom Education or Carnal Interest hath endeared them to us and the most painful difficult dangerous costly Duties must be done when God requires them and that in a Spiritual manner All God's Commands must be obeyed how cross soever they are to Flesh and Blood A constant Watch must be kept over the Heart to keep the Thoughts in subjection and the Affections in order as also over our Lips that we offend not with our tongues We must live so uprightly to Men and so holily to God that our Enemies may have nothing to object against us but concerning the Law of our God Our Thoughts Words and Actions must be regulated by the Word of God Christ must be loved with a prevailing degree of Love yea above either Mother Wife and Children and our own Lives Our Wills must be made conformable to the Will of God and we must deny our selves for his sake and forsake all if he requires it Our greatest Enemies we must love forgive and pray for and nothing must possess the best Room in our Hearts but Christ Our Evidences for Heaven must bâ— cleared up or we cannot dye chearfully Now this is some of the Work we have to do in a word constant Communion with Christ in the several Duties he Commands in publick private and in secret must be maintained if we would be fit to dye and can we think then we have any time to spare to throw away upon needless Recreations A bare Profession of Religion will not serve turn for Salvation Mat. 25.10 7.22 3. Confid Let us further Consider That many have do and will miscarry for want of Preparation yea the greatest part of Mankind for there is but a few that shall be saved yea many professed Christians future their Repentance and send it before Ten or Twenty Years and never over-take it till it be too late That servant that said in his heart my Lord deserieth his coming and began to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken the Lord of that servant shall come in a day he looks not for him and in an hour he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Mat. 24.48 c. And of such Dust heaps we may find in every corner 'T is the Devil's Language to perswade Men they have yet long to live many fair Summers to see and that there is time enough yet and if the worst come to the worst a few good words at last will waft them over safe to Heaven but these e're long will hear the Doom of the foolish Rich man Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these Luk. 12.19 20. He was shot with the Bolt while he gazed at the Bow 'T is the Devil's Policy to perswade us we have some time yet to spend in his Service and enough for God beside but let us beware of such Conclusions till we have better assurance than the Devil can give us Many that have done more for Heaven and can say more for it than most of us have had Heaven Gates barr'd against them Mat. 7.22 25.12 c. Many will say in that day Have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy name done many wonderful works yet he shall say Depart I know you not Many speak like Saints live like Devils they have Jacob's smooth Tongue but Esau's rough Hands Many live and dye in a Self-delusion and go to Hell with Hopes of Heaven in their Mouths Many young men are in Hell that thought to repent when they were old and many old men that supposed they should live longer but many bear themselves in hand they can do as
my design and desire is to prevent immoderation which will hinder and not further you in the Work and unfit you for your Duty you may you ought do mourn but not as those without hope for those that sleep in the Lord 1 Thess 4.13 Ingenious Children when one is beaten the other will cry but they must take heed of murmuring and repining against their Father Lute-strings when one is touched the other sound and 't is one of those Dues which we owe to our deceased Friends to lament at their Funeral 't is those usually that live undesired that dye unlamented It was a Judgment threatned against Jehoiakim that when he died he should not be lamented Jer. 22.18 But we must not Water our Plants so as to drown them and that Sorrow that disables us for our present Duty in our general or particular Calling is doubtless our sin Our chiefest care for our Relations should be while they are living and that is to make provision to our power for Soul and Body but for the Soul especially for alas what is a moment of time to Eternity But when God manifests by his Providence that 't is his Will to transport and transplant these Flowers into a better Soil though we should not be insensible of the stroak we should not murmure or repine under it or accuse the Hand that gave it but submissively resign them up to him who gave them or rather lent them to us David did what he could for his Son while he was living but ceased mourning for him when he was dead Our Tears though they may be shed upon other accounts yet 't is pity they should run profusedly in any other Channel but for sin It being the true penitential Tears that are the Holy Water that God affects and the Devil hates for if any â—oss or Cross that befalls us deserve one Tear our Sins deserve a thousand for sin is the cause of all our Losses and Crosses that befal us and without Repentance will be the destruction of Soul and Body and when we see such direful Effects and tast such bitter Fruits we should bewail the Cause and root up the Tree If our Sin lay heavy our Crosses would seem light if we bathed our Sins in our Tears we should not have so many left to pour out upon these Occasions Sin is the occasion of the Death of your dear Daughter and will be of your own Death for had it not been for sin she had not dyed By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed ever all for as much as all have sinned the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Nay sin it was that put our sweet Saviour to death these were the Nails that pierced his Hands and his Feet the Spear that pierced his Side his Betrayer Accusers Judge and Executioners and can your Daughter be more dear to you than God's only and beloved Son was to him He laid down his Life for her and her Life is not too good to lay down for him he laid down his Life to purchase for her a Mansion of Glory and she laid down her Life to go to take Possession for there is no other way to enjoy it Madam In my present Address to you there are two things designed by me The first is to abate the swelling Tide of your Sorrow and to bring those Waters within their proper Bounds and Banks which I shall endeavour to do by giving you some few Considerations to Meditate upon that so when the violent Storm of Passion shall be allayed Reason may be spoke with which cannot many times be heard when Passion is raging and after that my intention is to point you out some of those many profitable Lessons which this Providence seems to hand out to us which if we can learn doubtless we shall gain by this loss or our gains will be greater than our loss for God's Rod hath a Voice and 't is our Duty to hear it Micah 6.9 Nay 't is like Jonathan's Rod 1 Sam. 14.27 it hath Honey at the end and if we taste of it it will open and enlighten our Eyes If God with Correction give Instruction we may well say as David It was good for me that I was afflicted before I was afflicted I went astray but now I learn to keep thy commandments Psal 119.67 Quae nocent docent is a Proverb and that Lesson is best learnt that is set on with whipping and best remembred Correction is seldom a sign of God's hatred many times of his love For whom he loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth If we endure chastening God dealeth with us as with sons for what son is he that his father chasteneth not And if we be without chastening then are we bastards and not sons Heb. 12.6 7 8. Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for your iniquities God will be sure to plow his own Ground whatsoever becomes of the wast and to weed his own Garden though others are let alone to grow wild the punishing Angel must begin at God's Sanctuary Ezek 9. And it was no sign of Love when God said Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Hosea 4.17 Since he hath made a match with Mischief let him have his belly full of it When Ignatius was thrown to the Wild Beasts to be devoured Now saith he I begin to be a Christian for Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels with which God doth adorn his best Friends they are Pledges of our Adoption and Badges of our Sonship so that they are no signs of his disinheriting us and though he may seem to hide his Face yet 't is no sign of his forsaking us But now for the quieting your Spirit under your present Suffering and this dark Providence I beseech you ponder well these few following Considerations which well weighed may through God's Blessing quell those tumultuous Thoughts that swell in your Breast and I desire the Lord to bless them to this end 1. Consider who it is that hath done you this supposed Injury to take away your Daughter without your consent And here you may consider not only who it is but also what Interest he claims in her and then consider whether your Plea will hold good against him Is it not the great God of Heaven and Earth whose Power no Creature is able to resist whose Will is his Law and whose Glory is his End Is it not he that is called Omnipotent that doth what pleaseth him in Heaven and in Earth and none can resist him And is he a fit Match for you to grapple with Is it not he that measureth the water in the hollow of his hand and meteth out Heaven with his span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure that weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance To whom all
the ground of your Grief The more Gracious the more Glorious the more Holy the more Happy the better she was the fitter for Heaven There are two things which may trouble us at the death of Relations the one is when we can see no Evidence of Grace the other when we have neglected our Duty to them especially to their Souls in their life-time The reason why David did so wofully bewail the Death of Absalom is imagined to be one or both of these When our Relations are fitted for Glory I think 't is no uncharitable wish to wish them out of a troublesome World in those Coelestial Enjoyments Paul did desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which was best of all But to wish those out of Glory that are in were both an unprofitable and uncharitable desire and argues more Passion and Self-love than well grounded Charity Now there is no going to Heaven but through the Gaâ—es of Death and 't is through Death's Portal that we must enter She hath paid the Debt we all owe and would you have her endure these Pangs and Pains over again You came not into the World together and it was unlikely that you would go together out and when ever a parting was it was like to be with grief She hath changed her Husband but 't is for the better an Earthly for an Heavenly she had a large Joynture before but 't is much amended 't is now advanc'd to a Crown and Kingdom She hath left her Relations behind but she hath better there Saints and Angels the Souls of Just Men made perfect There she can serve the Lord without distraction and sing Hallelujahs to Eternity without weariness here Corruption attended her best Duties there sin and sorrow shall be no more here she was troubled with Satan's Temptations there he cannot come to throw one Dart or shoot one Arrow at her here she was liable to Pains Aches Griefs and Troubles all these are there removed here she could scarcely open an Eye or an Ear but it let in sin or sorrow there all tears shall be wiped away and a sad or sorrowful thought shall never enter And what cause hath she to complain of wrong And if neither of you be wronged why is this wast Why so many sighs so many sobs so many sorrowful tears which might better run in another Channel Had she liberty â—o speak for her self it might probably be in such words as these which Christ upon the Cross spake â—o the Women that bewailed him Luke 23.28 Weep not for me but weep for your selves and for â—our children c. those that are yet in the Vale of Tears 't is the Church-Militant that deserves â—ity not the Church-Triumphant Lament raâ—her the condition of those that survive for you know not what their Sufferings may be the other are out of harms-way and safely landed in the Port of Heaven Now is there such a wrong done you or her that God takes her to himself before you were willing to part with her though he had a better Interest in her than you could pretend and made her fit for Glory and translated her thither You agree both in the thing but the Quarrel is about the time and the Controversie is whose Will must be obeyed or whose Judgment must be preferred which is the best time Many of the wiser Heathens have submitted with less contradiction Anaxarchus when told of the death of his two Sons answered I knew that they were Mortal Et stultus est qui mortem mortalium deflet Now in the present Controversie may not God say to you as sometimes he did to his People What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone from me What wrong have I done that you thus complain One of us must submit and must it be me Must I alter my Eternal Decrees for your sake or will there be no Peace to be had The Lord may say as Jacob did to Laban when he so fiercely pursued him Gen. 31.36 What is my trespass What is my sin Declare it before the world that they may be our judges Nay hath not God in this very Affliction sugared your Pill which might have been much bittered she might have been taken away in her younger years before you had such hopes of her Integrity or at least denyed you such Evidence of her Conversion then might you have feared she had been lost indeed or instead of one he might have taken all your Children when as yet two survive oâ— by the same stroke he might have taken away your dear Husband better to you than ten Sons as Elkanah said to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 Or he might have suffered your Children to be a heart-breaking to you as too many in these days are by their vicious Lives and Conversations who bring their gray hairs with sorrow to the grave which makes them with with Augustiâ—â— that they had never married or had dyed childless These are not such rare Examples in our days but too frequent She dyed a Natural Death many now adays as well as Job Eli Aaron David and others in former times were not so happy as to say so of theirs Neither is there any guilt upon you as upon some that have cause to mourn for neglecting any means for the preservation of her Life when some be wickedly Accessory to their Childrens Death If there were any fault which yet I cannot accuse you of it was in the excess of your Love which I the more fear when I see the excess of your Sorrow and this is a fault which Indulgent Mothers are apt to run into But you 'll say you could more easily have born any other Burden or suffered any other Cross Why then it seems God hath let you Blood in the right Vein as he did the Young Man in the Gospel that was willing to do any thing Christ commanded but part with his Riches but Christ will have a full resignation of our selves and all that is ours or he will not own us No beloved Delilah must be retained the Cross that Christ appoints we must bear and must not pick and choose our own Burden Luke 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother wife and children brethren and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple That is if he prize any of those before him or will rather part with Christ than with any or all of these he deserves not the name of a Christian for all we have in the World is given to us as Love-Tokens from God to signifie his Love to us and to oblige our Love to him and sometimes God calls back some of these Gifts to see whether we love him or his Tokens better God gave you liberty before she dyed to let her and you see the Fruit of her Womb a Son which though he soon called off the Stage yet at the Resurrection be shall stand in his lot But 't is
called so much better for what is that space of time to Eternity 'T is called also The house of all the living because all that ever did or shall live shall there dwell together God hath provided all Men one House in the Womb and another in the Tomb one when they enter into the World and another when they go out and the Wise Man tells us The day of death is better than the dayâ— of ones birth Eccles 7.1 For man that is born of a woman is born to sorrow Job 14.1 therefore the Coffin is to be preferred before the Cradle An Ancient Father calls the days wherein the Martyrs suffered their Birth-days because then they began to live indeed their Marriage-day because then the Marriage was consummate between Christ and their Souls It was an Epicure that said Ede bibe lude post mortem nulla voluptas But 't is better saith Solomon to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting Eccles 7.2 Now through this Gate your dear Daughter is gone and you are stepping after her you are treading out her steps and others ere long will do as much for you you are but a Vessel of Clay and begin to crack your Pains and Aches and Decays in Nature may mind you that you are declining that you have one foot in the Grave and are you troubled that another hath stept in before you Yet a little while and you will enjoy her to Eternity when both of you will be stript of all Infirmities and Corruption which here renders Communion less delightful Where you shall be ever with the Lord and with the spirits of just men made perfect 1 Thess 4.17 Heb. 12.23 Blessed is that Day and happy will that Union be between Christ and the Soul and happy is that Man whether he die old or young that shall come to Mount Sion unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant c. Heb. 12.22 23 24. Oh what a Glorious Meeting will here be in Heaven how Happy and Glorious will that day be when we leave this wretched World and wicked Company to enjoy the Assembly of holy and happy Saints and Angels yea of God himself blessed for ever Now she that formerly was in her blood and no eye pityed her Ezek. 16.3 4 5 6. doth now shine by the Beauty her Husband hath put upon her as the stars for ever and ever and ere long you will meet where you shall never part Then will you solace your selves in each others Love and both in the love of your dear Redeemer When she will never repent that she died so young nor you that she lived no longer She is not lost but found she is but gone a days Journey before you and at Night you will Lodge together you will over-take her and find her in her Father's Cabinet among his Jewels She hath gotten the start and is at the Race end before you she hath won the Prize and is this matter of Grief or Rejoycing She hath cast her Ground and recovered the Hill and is at the Race end before you You came not together into the World and it was unlikely you should leave it together There was a probability you think she might have survived you but God determined otherwise Some Roses are taken in the bud some are full blown when others wither and fall but those that grow longest prove but fading Flowers and are of short continuance sic transit gloria mundi God is not engaged to shew us the Reason of his Actings his Will is his Law and 't is our Duty to acquiesce in it We cannot resist his Power and we pray his Will may be done let us not contradict our own Petition God knows best what is best and he tells us All shall work for the best to those that love God Rom. 8.28 and this may suffice us If you prefer your own Will before his or loved your Daughter better than your God you cannot be his Disciple If you had rather enjoy her Company than submit to God God will take it ill from you he took her hence when he saw her Work was done and left you as yet to moil and toil and sweat in the Vineyard Submission under his strokes is your best and wisest course contending against his Will is foolish and sinful foolish because you cannot resist it sinful because you ought not to resist love to God and the Creature cannot be both in the same Party in the prevailing degree we cannot serve God and Mammon 'T is your Wisdom rather to mind your own end than to lament hers The Scripture frequently minds us and not in vain for we are apt to forget it of our latter end and the brevity of our Lives And this if well minded would imbitter all Earthly Enjoyments and make us set a low value upon all Creature-Comforts Man that is born of a woman saith Job is of few days and full of trouble he cometh forth like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not Job 14.1 2. And what more fading than a Flower What more fleeting than a Shadow And sometimes 't is compared to a Weaver's Shuttle yea to a Post that hasteth away Your Glass is also running and the last Sand is ready to drop 'T is the Complaint of Old Themistocles that a Man must die even when he begins to live when he begins to be Wise Death calls him hence we usually spend the flower of our Age the strength of our Bodies and the vigour of our Spirits in sinful Vanities before we know why we live or what Errand we came into the World upon little considering that upon a little Inch of Time depends Eternity our everlasting well or ill Being many had their time before they begin their Work not considering that whether they sleep or wake work or play their Glass is running and their Time wasting Few and evil saith old Jacob are the days of the years of my Pilgrimage and yet few attain to the number of Years which he then had attained There is but a little time between our Spring and Fall and therefore our Lives may fitly he compared to Jonah's Gourd that sprung up in one Night and perished in another Death is stealing upon us tacito pede with a silent foot and 't is an absurd thing saith one to ask when we shall die but rather when we shall make an end of dying for every day Death seizes upon some of our Lives and gains ground upon us and steals upon us insensibly as the shadow doth upon the Dial till our Sun be set and whether sleeping or waking we are in continual motion we are like Men
under Sail whether we heed or no we are in continual motion Yet many that have one foot in the Grave and the other ready to drop into Hell yet put far from them the evil day and under gray hairs nourish green hopes and desires and Young Persons depend over-much upon their Youth But the Jewish Proverb is That many an old Camel carries a young ones Skin to the Market And we say A young Sheep-skin may go thither as well as the old And Experience teacheth us that Old Men many times carry Young ones to their Graves Man in Scripture is compared unto Grass which in the morning grows up and flourisheth and in the evening is cut down dead and withered Psal 90.5 6. Or like unto a Sleep ver 4. Or to a Dream when one awakes To the Dream of a Shadow as Pindarus hath it or the shadow of Smoak saith another Or if there be any thing more vain it may lively represent our Lives and when Death comes he knows no difference between the Poor and the Rich the Noble and the Base Time with his Sithe mows down the Lillies of the Crown as well as the Grass of the Field All flesh is grass and the glory thereof as the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth c. Isa 40.6 7. Who then would trouble themselves much about Worldly things Who would cark and care pine and repine when he knows not whether he have a day to live or what shall be in the Womb of the next Morning How much better is it to mind our own end than to be troubled at anothers Death For we must deny our selves in our Relations if we will be the Disciples of Christ If we love any thing in the World above Christ we cannot be his Disciples he will have the prevailing degree of our love or he will not love us if we lodge any thing nearer to our heart than himself he will give us a Bill of Divorce and put us away The resigning up our Comforts and Relations to him is the best way to secure them for God will remove our Idols out of his sight we are his Spouse and have devoted our selves to him and must hang loose to the Creature and stick fast to him and not break our Vows to God made when we were espoused to him lest we provoke him to Jealousie by our over-fond affecting any Creature-Comfort These things we can spare Christ we cannot spare let all go so our Husband remain If we keep up our Love to him unspotted these saddest Providences will work for our good Rom. 8.28 Submission under the Correcting Hand of God is the surest soonest way to get from under the Rod when murmuring and repining makes him double his strokes for he will either bend us or break us humble us or make our hearts ake he will bring down our stubborn Wills or he will know why for 't is in vain for us to think to struggle out of his hands or to keep out of his reach and indeed the World is not so desirable now neither have the Godly found it so heretofore So as to desire it for our selves or Relations for though it be a Wicked Man's Heaven 't is a Godly Man's Purgatory yea all the Hell they are like to have and who would desire to live in Hell When our Work is done and our Wages ready who would wish himself again in the Vineyard to moil and toil and bear the burden and heat of the day When we are entring Canaan shall we again have a hankering mind after Egypt the Onions and Garlick and the Flesh-pots and to have our Ears bored and be made Bond-slaves for ever The World is full of the Devil's Lime-twigs and he baits his Nets and Hooks with Riches Honours and Pleasures when he fishes for Souls It may be said of Poverty and Riches as the Women in their Dances said of Saul and David Poverty hath slain Thousands but Plenty Ten Thousands Many thousands dye of a Surfeit Oh how hard have many found it to guide a great Ship in a Storm and Tempest when a little one can thrust into any little Creek or Harbour 'T is hard carrying our Cup even in a prosperous condition 't is much to keep under Pride Sensuality Passion Luxury Drunkenness and Debauchery and other enormous sins which are the Worms which breed in abundance 'T is not in vain that Agur prays Prov. 30.8 Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Or lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of God in vain A Mediocrity a Competency a Sufficiency without Superfluity is the surest Portion a State too big may be as troublesome as a Shooe too big for the Foot 'T is not the greatness of the Cage that makes the Bird sing neither a great Estate that produceth inward Joy A Staff may be helpful to a Traveller when a burden of Staves may be troublesome The Moon never suffers Eclipse but at the Full. I know Poverty is a hard Weapon but Abundance is more dangerous and wounding Hence it is our Saviour Christ tells his Disciples how hard it is for a Rich Man to enter Heaven even as hard as for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle Matth. 19.24 The Reason is because 't is hard for those that have Riches to keep off their Affection from making them their God by loving them trusting in them and taking them for their Portion But this doth not always follow some great Men are good Men but many times Pride and Sensuality are the Worms that breed in the fairest Fruit or in the finest Cloath And if Riches be so dangerous what Estate should we wish for our Friends The World also is a Pest-House and almost every one ready to infect another and is there not cause to rejoyce when any of our Relations are out of the reach of the Infection 'T is an Egypt not only for Slavery Misery and Bondage but also there is scarce a House where there is not some dead Person in it yea many Families Villages and Towns there are where very few Spiritually alive are to be found and who but Mad-men would delight to live among the Tombs 'T is a Sodom for Wickedness and but a few Righteous Lots to be found in it and their Souls also are continually vexed with the unclean Conversation of their wicked Neighbours 'T is a Raging Sea and the Godly are Weather-beaten and continually driven up and down by Storms and Tempests and many Professors here make ship wrack of Faith and a good Conscience 'T is an Inn where good and bad are Entertained for a Night but the worst Men are accounted the best Guests and if any suffer it shall be the Godly The World is an Own Mother to Vice but a Step-mother to Vertue as the Earth is to Weeds when it would choak
Excuse then also And think you God will be thus put off And is it not a sad thing that the main Concern should be neglected and time found for every thing else But for wicked Men there is no cause why they should desire Death nay great reason why they should dread it as the worst of Evils they leap but out of the Frying-pan into the Fire out of a Temporal Misery into Eternal Torments and by hastning their Death out-run their Happiness and fall into endless Misery which comes fast enough without hastning But many of those mind no more their Eternal Concerns than the Ox that perisheth These Men either think Repentance is not necessary or else that they have time enough to repent in but ere long they will be sadly convinc'd of their mistake Many hasten Death by their Intemperance which yet they fear more than God himself But to let these pass I would have Believers be better acquainted with Death than to fear it for it cannot separate them from the love of Christ and those that have the Riches of Assurance cannot fear Death greatly knowing when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved they have a building of God a house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens And who will not part with Rags for Robes with a Cottage for a Crown and with a handful of Muck for a handful of Angels Now this Assurance is the Top-Gallant of Faith the Triumph of Trust and the Sweet-meat of the Feast of a good Conscience where there are many dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet 't is Heaven upon Earth and such a Jewel no wicked Man upon Earth can know the worth of it any more than Aesop's Cock did of the Precious Jewel When the love of Christ warms the Heart it raiseth the desires of stricter Union and Communion with him and a fuller Enjoyment of him which will never be satisfied till the full fruition in Glory He that loves God better than Father and Mother c. will part with these for his sake If we hate Hell we shall not so earnestly desire to live in the Suburbs of Hell We complain of Sin and well we may it being the cause of all our Misery but did we hate it as we ought to do we should be willing to dye that we might be rid of it for when we enter through this strait Passage and narrow Way we shall leave this and all other Burdens behind us We pretend we would serve God without Distraction and shall we fear the time and place when and where it can only be done But till Grace be in the Heart Heaven it self cannot be desirable the Employment the Company and Society cannot please a Wicked Man But Grace enables a Man to see that Death it self cannot break the Marriage-Contract between Christ and the Soul but then the Marriage will be fully consummate and when the Soul is separated from the Body it shall by the Angels be carried into the Bosom of Christ where sin and sorrow shall be no more Those that are sufficiently satisfied of the vanity of the World the emptiness of the Creature the fulness of Christ and the worth of Heaven we cannot rationally imagine but they will be willing to part with one to enjoy the other in Earth we shall never meet with Content or Satisfaction in Heaven we shall meet with no Disappointment Troubles or Vexations will a Wise Man choose a Prison or a Pest-House for his Habitation if he might have a Palace Or any but a Mad-man dwell among the Tombs The World is all this and much more He that looks upon the World as an Enemy and the Body but a Skreen between God and the Soul will not be unwilling to have both removed Will not a sick Man desire his Health and an hungry Man his Meat a Captive his Liberty and a Souldier the Victory the Husband-man the desired Harvest and the Labourer his Wages And why then should not Christians long for the time when they shall receive at God's hand the promised Reward for all they have done and suffered for the sake of God Shall those that have done and suffered so much for Heaven now be unwilling to have it when offered The Assurance of Eternal Life may make us willing to leave these our Temporal Enjoyments Well then you see though a small measure of Grace cannot overcome all Difficulties yet there is nothing else but Grace can fit us for Death or enable us to grapple with it And therefore above all gettings get Grace 3. Consider Grace is such a Qualification that without it we can neither please God nor enjoy Him who is our Chiefest Happiness Heb. 11.8 Without Faith 't is impossible to please God These are the Ornaments of a Christian the Gems and Jewels that make him lovely in the sight of God the Gold tryed in the Fire the white Raiment the Spiritual Eye-salve which God adviseth Laodicea to buy of him Rev. 3.17 18. greater Riches than the Indies can produce Christ and Grace go together he that hath one will have the other also without Grace all our Duties are worse than nothing abominable Sins for how can pure Water come from a polluted Fountain The Heart by Nature is an Augean Stable full of Filthiness but without Holiness we shall never see God Heb. 12.14 We may fast and pray and give Alms with the Pharisee Mat. 6.1 c. and offer Sacrifices c. with those Isa 1.11 c. and God will not regard us though it be commanded Duties if they proceed from a rotten Heart or be performed for a by end the Sacrifices of the Wicked are an abomination to God The Incense of the Wicked stinks of the Hand that holds it their Good Words are uttered with a stinking Breath though they may be materially good they are formally evil a good Motion cannot proceed from a soul Mouth these men deny in their Lives what they profess with their Lips they are like the Aethiopians black all but the Mouth some of them are fair Professors but foul Livers dicta factis crubescunt their Practice shames their Profession You may see how such Men's Sacrifices are accepted Isa 66.2 3. The Fountain must be cleansed or the Streams cannot be sweet the Tree must be good or the Fruit will be bad Whatever proceeds from a Wicked Man smells of the Cask If the Heart be right God accepts of Pence for Pounds Mites for Millions and esteems a Man as good as he truly desires to be Dat bene dat multum qui dat cum munere vultum God loves a chearful giver and esteems the willingness of the Mind before the worth of the Work the more of the heart is in the Sin the worse but the more of it is in the Duty the better God loves no heartless or grumbling Service My son saith he give me thy heart Prov. 23.26 David's intention to build God an House was accepted as if he had
done it So in Abraham's Offering his Son the Widow's two Mites were accepted as if it had been an Hundred Pounds But if Grace be wanting though a man give all his goods to the poor and his body to be burned it is not accepted 1 Cor. 13.3 Hypocrites blow their Gifts as Butchers do their Meat yea they are Fly-blown till they stink again but Grace is the Salt that makes it savoury Grace is the best Evidence we have for Heaven and a sure sign of God's Favour for he will know them well he bestows it upon He that believes and is baptized shall be saved but he that believes not shall be condemned Mark 16.16 God gives Crowns and Kingdoms sometimes to the worst of Men but the Childrens Bread they shall not have the rest is but Crumbs to feed the Dogs or rather the Cattel for the Slaughter No man knows Love or Hatred by these things The Sun shines as hot upon the Bramble in the Desart as on the Cedar in Libanus the Snow falls as well on the choicest Garden as on the Wilderness yea the lofty Pine meets with more Storms than the Shrub the Sun riseth upon the Good and the Bad and the Rain falls on the Just and on the Unjust Wealth and Honour are handed out to the one and to the other and the worst have of the best share and no wonder 't is their All Sometimes the Bramble is preferred before the Vine the Olive and the Fig-tree but Grace is the distinguishing Badge Christ's Sheep-mark which never any but his own Sheep did ever wear This makes a Man better when the World makes him worse this makes the heart chearful when other things make it sad or sordid yet the World contemns it as Aesop's Cock did the Precious Stone But at Death if this be wanting the Door will be shut against us and when we are lanching out into the infinite Ocean of Eternity we shall be glad of such a Pilot. This Garb I know is out of Fashion with our Gallants but 't is more durable than their Silks and Sattins and will better keep out a shower of Divine Vengeance than those it will prove the best Flower in the Garland and the richest Jewel in the Crown The Rich Glutton would have changed his Garb with Poor Lazarus and been contented with his Bill of Fare Were the Mountains Pearls and the Rocks Rubies and the whole Globe of the Earth were a shining Chrysolite yet Grace excels it all Crowns and Kingdoms stately Buildings Thousands of Rams and Ten Thousand Rivers of Oyl will not reach the worth of Grace this it is that opens the Door to the Pearl of great Price Matth. 13.45 To the unsearchable riches of Christ Ephes 3.8 It supports the Heart better than the choicest Cordials and those that now most despise it will ere long most earnestly desire it When Death like Belshazzar's Hand-writing enters their Lodgings and Summons them to Judgment when they shall wish the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them then Grace would be the best Security This is the only Ticket will open Heaven-gate the Evidence for our Title there To a Gracious Man though the way be rough the Journey 's end will be easie though the Battle be sore the Conquest will be certain and the Spoils great if they have a bad Dinner they will have a joyful Supper if they lose their Estate they are going to better Riches they cannot want that have God for their Father Jerusalem which is above for their Mother Christ for their Head and Husband the holy Angels and glorified Saints for their Brethren and Companions and Heaven for their Inheritance God hath set his Seal his Sheep-mark upon them Holiness to the Lord Zech. 14.20 Where God changeth the Relation he changeth the Nature and Disposition a heart in Heaven is one of the surest Evidences for Heaven For where the treasure is there will the heart be also The best Treasure the World affords what is it but the Guts and Garbage of the Earth the greater load of it we carry the greater clog it oft-times proves in our Journey to Heaven we cannot pass the strait Gate till we unload it Many make Gold their God and their Wedge their Confidence but it failed Achan his Wedge of Gold did serve to cleave his Soul asunder and his Babylonish Garment proved his Winding-sheet Covetousness is called Idolatry because Men Idolize their Wealth and Adultery because they Prostitute themselves to it and lodge it in the room of God Oh how good is that Counsel that bids us provide bags that wax not old a treasure in the heavens that fadeth not away Luke 12.33 Other things we cannot keep and if we could they would not avail us But the true Treasure we cannot lose 't is durable as the days of Heaven and will run parallel with the longest line of Eternity When others therefore grasp for Gold let us grasp for Grace for Godliness will be found great gain 1 Tim. 6.6 But those that make hast to be rich shall not be innocent Prov. 28.20 'T is not Gold but Grace not Money but Righteousness makes the Soul Rich. A Gracious Man thoughâ— his Habitation be below his Conversation is above and when Heaven is his Object Earth will be his Abject But if many Men's Hearts were anatomized we might find the World there fairly Engraven and nothing of Heaven would there be found The Devil holds his black Hand over most Men's Eyes that they cannot see the way to Heaven and when they are blind-folded he leads them as the Prophet Elisha did the Syrians to Samaria when they think they are going to Dothan they come to Hell with hopes of Heaven in their mouths They are like soft Wax he can turn them into any shape But Grace is the Soul's Ballast that keeps it steady and elevates it above the World and gives it a Pisgah-sight of Glory it mounts it upon Mount Tabor where 't is transfigured with Christ and its Garments made white and shining It gives the Soul those true Beauty-Spots which makes her lovely in the Eyes of her Husband But these differ from the Devil's Patches whose spot is not the spot of God's people Deut. 32.5 Grace is the Oyl that makes her Chariot-wheels move swiftly and keeps her Lamp of Profession burning Many are the Promises God hath made to Grace in general and to the several Graces in particular both of things concerning this Life and that to come and many are the Priviledges gracious Souls have in possession and much more shall have in reversion and many are the Love-Tokens her Husband sends her and many a gracious Visit he affords her 'T is true sometimes to try her Love he hides himself behind the Wall but then every sigh and groan and sorrowful complaint goes to his Heart and when he hath tryed her Affection discovers himself again he promises and will make it good he will never leave
her nor forsake her that she shall want nothing that is good and all things shall work together for her good Sometimes indeed Physick is as necessary as Food and Affliction is the best Tutor David found it so if they bear scars for his sake he will change them into Beauty-spots if he frown upon them 't is but for a moment but with everlasting kindness will he remember them weeping may continue for a night but joy cometh in the morning Grace makes both the Person and Performances pleasing to God 't is the Incense he loves 'T is only the Gracious Soul that hath Adoption Justification Sanctification Pardon of Sin Communion with God and that shall enjoy him for ever This is such a Chain of Pearl that the World were it sold at the worth cannot Purchase Afflictions cause us to seek Promises they send us to seek Faith it sends us to Prayer Prayer goes to God for help Grace it is that differences between God's Children and the Devil's Brats and will difference between the Sheep and the Goats and makes a man more excellent than his neighbour and therefore we cannot buy this Gold too dear 4. Consider Grace will not only bring us to Death but will do us good after Death and here nothing else can do it among other things it will qualifie us to leave a Good Name behind us which will yield a sweet-smelling savour in the succeeding Generation When the Name of the Wicked shall stink the memory of the Just shall be blessed Prov. 10.7 If we be good and do good we need not fear but our Name will survive us Now A good Name is better than precious Oyntment Eccles 7.1 The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance when the Name of the Wicked shall rot his Lamp shall be put out in obscurity and shall leave a stinking Snuff behind The Names of Abraham Isaac Jacob David Daniel and Job and such like how sweet do they smell in the Church of God When Cain and Judas Nero Caligula Domitian and other such Persecuting Tyrants are mentioned with detestation as the Burden of the Earth and the Plague-sore of the World but with what Reverence do we mention the Martyrs that suffered under them The Scribes and Pharisees which were bad enough themselves yet adorned the Sepulchers of the Prophets and Righteous Men and however the Godly are slighted at present in the Generation to come they will be honoured when the Name of all their bloody Persecutors shall stink But this is not all that Grace will do for us after Death for it will accompany us to Judgment also which the World will not cannot do for it shall be burnt up and if it could would do us little good 't is Grace alone that can make the Judge our Friend When Death hath left us and we are rushing into the infinite Ocean of Eternity Grace is our Pilot to steer our Course and land us in the Haven of Bliss and when we appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ this is his Sheep-mark whoever bears it shall stand upon his right hand when all other wears the Devil's Brand his Image and Portraiture unmortified Sin and there shall be thrust and croâ—ded together with the Devil and his Angels upon the left Grace is the Image of God renewed in the Soul which he will own where-ever he sees it and he that confesseth Christ before Men him will he confess before his Father and he that suffers with him shall also raign with him There is a difference in this Life between the Righteous and the Wicked the one are called the Seed of the Woman the other the Seed of the Serpent the Just and the Unjust Believers and Unbelievers Righteous and Wicked the Children of God and the Children of the Devil the Wheat and the Tares the good Fish and the bad the foolish Virgins and the wise c. Now 't is Grace that maketh this difference for by Nature we are all the children of wrath digged out of the same hole of the Pit and hewen out of the same Rock God differenceth Men by these gracious Qualifications and would have Ministers difference them also in their Doctrine and not give Holy things to dogs And as they are distinguished by God's Electing Love and by the Operation of his Spirit so have they a different Portion both in this World and that to come The one feeds upon Heavenly Allowance upon the sincere milk of the Word and the bread which came down from Heaven the other finds no relish in it and in the World to come the one will have a Portion in Heaven the other in Hell but there are many will not believe there is a Heaven or a Hell but ere long Experience will convince them Now the difference that there is is God's own work for there was nothing in us or that could be done by us that could deserve any thing at the hands of God his Electing Love is the Spring and Foundation of it He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hâ—rdeneth He sent his Son to Redeem them out of the World to pay their Debts to qualifie their Souls with Grace and after to bring them to Glory when others remain still under the Devil's Bondage When Faith hath knit that Gordion-knot between Christ and the Soul and she can say My beloved is mine and I am his when the Marriage is consummate between them all that the Husband hath is hers and what she hath is his then may she lay claim to his Merits his Righteousness his Graces and his Glory and he partakes with her in her Sins and in her Sorrows all her Debts are made over to him and he helps to bear her Sorrows and upon this the Soul though not Legally yet is Angelically Righteous God changeth both the Relation and also the Disposition By Grace Persecuting Saul becomes a Preaching Paul and of Lions Men are made Lambs Now God Adopts such for his Sons and for his Daughters and gives them the Priviledge of Children calls them by his own Name sets them about his own Work lists them under his own Banner maintains them at his own Charges and at last will lodge them in his own Bosom when all the rest of the World fight under the Devil's Banner and do his Drudgery God hath a Reward for the Righteous though haply they have little in hand they have the more in Reversion they shall have Eternal Life when the other shall have Everlasting Torments Hypocrites haply may counterfeit Christ's Sheep-mark as some have done the Broad Seal but though they may deceive others haply themselves yet can they not deceive God the Lord knoweth who are his The Inscription of his Seal is Holiness to the Lord and they cannot put off their Bristow Stone for a true Diamond But as I told you Grace will not leave a Man till it bring him to Judgment and speak for him to the Judge who shall
us know as much of himself as is necessary to our future Happiness we shall be like unto the Angels that always behold the face of God Mat. 18.10 and for ought we know our Vision of him may be as clear as theirs then will he see no iniquity in Jacob and they will see no indignation in him How we shall see God we know not whether he will Spirituallize our bodily Organs and make them capable of such a sight or whether he will only present himself to the Eye of the Mind is not much material to us it is sufficient we shall see him to satisfaction and by seeing him enjoy him we shall then know him whom to know is eternal life John 17.3 There are many Mysteries the perfect knowledge of them is reserved for Heaven as the Mystery of the Trinity in Unity of the Incarnation of the Hypostatical Union of God's Electing Love the Mystery also of our Redemption and many more which call rather for Faith to believe than Demonstration to prove but then they will be fully unfolded and we shall see infinite Wisdom in the contrivance and a sweet Harmony among them and that which was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness will then be made manifest to be perfect Wisdom Indeed Knowledge in it self now is excellent more bright than the Morning or the Evening-star but what will it be when perfected when 't is freed from all the dregs of Error and refined from all the Dâ—oss Chaff and Bran that now accompanies it which cannot be in this World Here we are hindred from the Enjoyment of God by our Corruptions for he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity with approbation but when those spots are washt away and those Blackamore skins changed we shall walk in white and follow the Laâ—b whithersoever he goeth We need then no Ministry nor Ordinances who are the Pipes through which the Water of Life is conveyed for then we shall go to the Fountain Here we have a taste of Canaan's Grapes but there is the full Vintage When we pass this Jordan by the narrow Bridge of Death we shall enjoy the promised Land for though we have little in Possession we have much in Reversion We shall need no Ship when we are safely landed in the desired Haven we shall need no Armour when the War is over nor need we run when the Prize is won no Creature-comforts when we have in God a full Supply we need not pray for our selves when we live in the actual possession of all good things nor for others for the Wicked are past hopes and the Godly past fears and we shall see so much reason for the Damnation of the Wicked though they be our Relations that we shall rejoyce in it and glorifie God for it and admire that Hell being ours by Birth-right we should have a better Inheritance but then we shall know more of God's Electing Love than now we do which now is a great depth which no Man can Fathom nothing shall then remain that implies Imperfection then shall our Sorrow be turned inâ—o Joy and our Sighing into Singing but when the Joy it self is unconceivable what conceptions much less adequate expressions can we have of it We shall have the full Enjoyment of God but what that is no word in Humane Language can express The Apostle John who saw the Transfiguration tells us 1 John 3.2 It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like to him and shall see him as he is And Paul when he was caught up into the third Heaven heard unutterable words and such as are not lawful for a man to speak 2 Cor. 12.4 And we may as well comprehend all the Water in the Sea in a Cockle-shell or measure out Heaven with our Span as fully to describe Heaven's Happiness or Hell's Misery We are ignorant of many things here below yea many things in our selves of our Immortal Souls how little do we know and many Secrets in Nature are hid from the most refined Wits what then is it like we should know of Angels of God of Heaven and Glory Such strange conceits 't is like we have of them as a blind Man that never saw hath of Colours or of the Sun it self What Description can we make of it that shall reach their Understanding Or what Conception do we imagine a bruit Beast can have of a Rational Soul which yet are at a far lesser distance than between us and the Creator and therefore our apprehensions of him must be far lower than the bruit Beasts are of us yet this we know of him that all Good is eminently in him and what is good in the Creatures flows from him and is a Drop out of this Ocean a Ray of this Sun a Spark of this Fire And if we enjoy God we shall enjoy all that is really Good That we should be with him was the Prayer of Christ John 17.24 and doubtless the greatest Blessing But we may say of the Glory of Heaven as the Queen of Sheba said of the Wisdom of Solomon 2 Chron. 9.2 the one half was never told us 't is true we read that the Walls are of Jasper the City of pure Gold the Foundations of Precious Stones the Gates of Pearls the Street of Gold c. Rev. 21.18 c. These are the most precious things the World brags of but there are no such Corruptible things in this building not made with hands these Materials are too course and beggarly to build the City of the Great God 't is built of Glory but what that is we know not or what that Bread of Life and Water of Life hidden Manna promised to those that overcome will be best known in the Enjoyment Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart but the Harvest will be in Heaven Here we may have a dark Night and haply darkest a little before Day but there will be a Glorious Morning now we are under Clouds and suffer many Stoâ—ms and Showers but ere long we shall be taken up above the middle Region where no Clouds appear there God will own us for his Children and Christ for his Spouse Oh what a change will then be here we can scarce have a Glimpse of Christ there the full Enjoyment here we know little but there we shall know all things and be ignorant of nothing that is necessary to be known and as Knowledge doth increase so will our Love both to God and our Brethren The more Excellency we see in God or them the more our Affections will be let out upon them for nothing but Ignorance can stave off our Affections from the chiefest Good When these scales are fallen from our Eyes we shall love God above our selves because he is better and love his People better than now we do because they will be better than now they are refined from
their Dross Love will run in the right Channel and be set upon right Objects God shall have all our Love we shall love his Creatures by a reflect act we shall love God for himself and his Creatures for his sake and where we see most of God there we shall love most now we complain we cannot love him but then we cannot choose but love him for who can be in a fire and not burn Our Love to him here though true in its kind yet is full of Imperfections and like an Ague hath its heats and colds but there is no intermissions it admits of no cooling Ignorance here makes the Pearl of great price undervalued and most Swine rather delight in Swill and with Aesop's Cock prefer a grain of Barley before it but these will be better acquainted with its worth The Godly here have but a Viaticum something to animate them in the way and to stay their stomack but the Feast is for their Journey 's end where they shall drink Wine with Christ in his Father's Kingdom 'T is a Question with some whether there are degrees of Glory in Heaven a full Answer will be best made by the Inhabitants themselves Something may be spoken to it as to probability at least there will be no difference as to the duration for Eternity admits not of addition or diminution and as for degrees in general every one shall enjoy as much Happiness as they are capable of as much as their Vessels will hold and there shall be no cause of complaint or repining at others nay or of desiring more for themselves for this argues Imperfection of Happiness which Heaven owns not Yet it seems probable there will be degrees The righteous then will shine as the firmament but those that turn many to God as the stars for ever and ever Dan. 12.3 Now the Stars shine brighter than the Firmament and some stars differ from others in glory There are degrees of Torment For he that knew his Lord's will and did it not was to have the more stripes Luke 12.47 And Christ tells us It should be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah for Tyre and Sidon in the day of Judgment than for those Cities he preached to and they not repented Mat. 11.21 And I wish England be not sick of this Disease in making light of Christ the Beast and the false Prophet were cast alive into the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone Rev. 19.20 c. and this seems to be a higher degree of Torment than others have And again the Scripture speaks of a greater degree of Condemnation and that every one shall receive a Reward according to his Works and some being greater sinners than others are Justice requires they should suffer more and the unfaithful Servant Mat. 24.51 hath his Portion appointed with Hypocrites which seems some peculiar Punishment Now there being degrees of Torments in Hell and he that deserves most Punishment shall have most why not of Glory in Heaven where he that hath done most Work shall have most Wages And although I dare not say there are Nine Hierarchies of Angels in Heaven as the Papists do yet we read of Angels and Arch-Angels as well as of the Devil and his Angels and why not then degrees of glorified Saints He that by his Pound gained ten Pounds was made Ruler over ten Cities when he that had gained five Pounds was Ruler only over five Cities and what this signifies but a higher degree of Glory I know not Luke 19.16 And Christ promises his Apostles that followed him in the regeneration they should sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Mat. 19.28 which Honour is not promiscuously promised to all And those that have forsaken any thing for Christ have greater Promises than others have Those therefore that desire a greater degree of Glory than others let them improve their Talents better than others do Another Question may be Whether the Saints in Glory shall know each other In Answer to it I say if it make for their future Glory doubtless they will for they shall want nothing of Perfection and the Scripture looks very favourably upon the Affirmative Christ tells us That many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven but the Children of the Kingdom shall be thrust out And shall they sit with them and not know them In the Transfiguration the Apostle knew Moses and Elias and the Rich Glutton in Hell knew Abraham and Lazarus in his Bosom And is it probable that Men living here on Earth some few Years when the Understanding is clouded with Ignorance and the Memory with Forgetfulness know one another that they should not know one another through Eternity when those Mists are blown over Some also question whether the Souls of Believers go immediately into Heaven at the Death of the Body and this seems to me as plain as the other 't is Christ's Promise to the Penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise And this I judge was neither in Hell nor Purgatory for I know not where those are called Paradice Lazarus when he dyed was carryed into Abraham's Bosom where he was comforted while the Rich Man was tormented Luke 16.25 But I suppose there is little comfort in Purgatory-flames this Fire is but newly kindled and were it not to warm the Pope's Kitchen would be soon extinguished In a word the Scripture mentions Heaven and Hell as the Receptacles of separated Souls but there is no mention of another place Some also enquire if they go immediately into Glory whether they have at present the full degrees of Glory which they shall have hereafter I Answer Secret things belong to God but things revealed to us It seems probable that though they have as much Glory as thay Entitle them truly Happy yet there will be a further degree added at the Resurrection when Soul and Body shall be reunited and the Sentence of Absolution past upon them Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom c. Then as the wicked go into everlasting torments so the righteous shall go into life eternal Mat. 25.41 And thus you have heard of the Happiness of Believers but the duration of their Happiness is the chiefest Flower in their Garland for were it but to continue a thousand thousand Years it would be a Hell to them in the midst of Heaven to think that an end would come and it would make them they could little rejoyce in their Enjoyments But the consideration that it will be for ever is a great addition to their Happiness 't is to be for ever and for ever Dan. 12.2 And 't is called eternal Glory 2 Tim. 2. And Reason shews it must be so for the Soul is immortal and the Reward promised is such and this Enjoyment is called Eternal Life So then you see proved what before was asserted
a Title to Glory cleared up to us can do us no hurt but will do us good and is worth all the Pains and Cost we can be at about it but the neglect of it is as you have heard dangerous and deadly Our Pains and Cost which we are at about it will not be lost but well recompensed and never any one was made miserable by it when Ten thousand times ten thousand have been undone by the neglect Death comes never the sooner when 't is expected or to those that with the Apostle dye daily 1 Cor. 15 31. neither will it spare men the more because they put it out of their sight And they put far off the evil day Amos 6.3 no no the Lord of such servants shall come in a day they know not of and in an hour they are not aware of Death is not blind though we wink he that is fit to dye is fit to live and truly no other for the same Qualifications serve for the one and for the other He that is prepared for Death needs not to fear it and he that fears not Death needs fear no Enemy no though the whole Creation were turned into Lyons and Bears yea incarnate Devils about him kill him they may hurt him they cannot the worst they can do is to send him to his Father's House the sooner If we are prepared Death may strike us but cannot sting us for the sting is taken out 1 Cor. 15.55 and if it take us away by the Hand of Violence Twenty years in Heaven will make amends for Twenty years upon Earth which we might possibly have lived and if we receive as much Wages for half a day as other for the whole what cause is there of Complaint When our Debt to Nature is paid our Work is done and our Rest follows when we have been threshed fifted and winnowed and the Chaff blown away we shall be laid up as good Corn in our Father's Grainary when the Tares shall be bundl'd up Swearers with Swearers Drunkards with Drunkards and one Adulterer with another and cast into unquenchable fire when we have Oyl in our Vessels as well as Lamps in our Hands then we shall enter in with the Bridegroom when the rest shall be shut out Mat. 25.10 c. but he that comes in without a Wedding-Garment on his Back shall not go out without Bolts on his Heels Mat. 22.12 Take him bind him hand and foot and cast him into outward darkness He must go from the Table to the Tormentor But many other are the Benefits that flow from a right Preparation for Death yea more than can be numbred for our Evidences cleared up will be a Heaven upon Earth and will sweeten every Condition how bitter soever in it self and hold up the Head above Water and the Heart from fainting under the saddest Providences that can befal us and makes a Christian see Light in the darkest Cloud and read Love in God's Face in his saddest Frowns for Grace in the Heart and unblurred Evidences thereof without which we cannot be prepared to dye will be such an Antidote to keep the Heart from sinking that the World it self cannot make up such a Cordial nothing can come amiss to such a Soul for he knows the same Love that elected him and sent Christ into the World to redeem him is now on work for his good If he meet with Afflictions he can suck Sweetness thence and gather Arguments of God's Love from it and conclude thence that he is not a Bastard but a Son for God correcteth those he loves and scourgeth every son that he receiveth and those that are without correction are bastards and not sons Heb. 12.7 8. Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels that God adorneth his best Friends with He had one Son without Sin but none without Sorrow and it be those that suffer with him that must reign with him If a prepared Christian meet with Prosperity he can read Love in this also and take every Mercy as a Love-token and admire the Goodness of God to such a poor Wretch If he read or hear the Word of God he can suck Sweetness from every Passage whether Precepts Promises or Threats his Meditation of God of Christ of Heaven of Glory will be sweet his Morning Thoughts and Evening Meditations also many a Cordial can he fetch from the meditation of those invisible things which others have no Converse with no Desire after and this bears up the Heart from sinking in the worst of Times as it did the Martyrs Hearts in Prisons Losses yea at the Stake it self for how can it be but a serious thought of God and Christ and Heaven and Glory and a firm believing that he hath an Interest in them but it must cheer up the Heart And will not the reading the precious Promises of God and knowing also that they are their Father's Legacy to them chose but warm the Heart Yea the thoughts of Death as 't is a Messenger sent from God to bring us to Glory and set an end to all our Miseries will hardly be much sweetned for many dismal Apprehensions may an unprepared Soul well have of Death but to the other the Sting is taken out 1 Cor. 15.55 In a word happy is the condition of a prepared Soul and therefore 't is our Interest to prepare for it Thus Madam having shewn what improvement we may and ought to make of such sad Providences as are now under our consideration the last I mention'd was preparing for our own Death And oh that my self were effectually perswaded so to do by the convincing Motive I have laid down I shall add some Directions in reference to Preparation 1 Direct If we design and desire to dye happily and comfortably let us get an Interest in Christ and a Title to Glory clear'd up to the Soul for those that must cheerfully and willingly leave all their Earthly Enjoyments Comforts and Relations had need of assurance of something better than the World is for who would leave a certain Good for an uncertainty one Bird in the Hand they say is worth two in the Bush 'T is true a man may have a Title to Glory when Assurance is wanting and this man may dye happily though not comfortably for Death to him must needs look ghastly Till a man can look upon Christ the Rich Pearl as his own how can he part with all for him But when he hath Christ and Heaven and Glory in his Eyes he matters not what he parts with for them he knows 't is a good Bargain who will not part with Pebbles for Pearls with Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God such and such alone can look Death undauntedly in the Face Till a man find the Condition of the Covenant within him what Comfort can he have in the Covenant it self Though the King grant Pardon to a thousand Malefactors if I be a Malefactor and cannot prove that I am of this number what
will make no Peace or Truce with it 't is his greatest Trouble he meets with in the World that he cannot be quite rid of it that he cannot give it a Bill of Divorce and put it away he deals with it as Amnon did by Tamar whom before he so lustfully loved yet after hated her much more So deals he by Sin what he had lustfully wickedly loved now he unfeignedly hates he hates Sin in all but especially in himself and flees the very appearance of Evil and resists it in the first motion and as the Babylon Children while they are young and the Cockatrice Egg e're it be hatched resists the Temptation and first Notion of Sin and if the Devil foist in a Temptation he like the ravished Virgin cries out for Help suppresseth Sin in the Thoughts before ever it appear in the Word or Action as Joseph that would not hearken to his Mistriss nor he in the House with her Now this is the course that we must take if we would kill Sin and we must be sure to begin Reformation at the right end purge the Fountain that the Streams may be clear stock up the Root of Sin that the Tree may dye Make clean the inside that the outside may be clean also Mat. 15.19 12.34 The Heart is the Source of Sin and the Fountain of Folly and swarms with Lusts as a Carrion with Vermine inward Bleeding will kill as well as outward and from within Wickedness proceeds but a man is never fit to dye till Sin be kill'd and the Heart cleansed 3 Dir. The World also is an Enemy that must be subdued if we would dye well or willingly for the love of the World breaks many a Match between Christ and the Soul and 't is the usual Bait the Devil lays to keep us in his Snares All this I will give thee and 't is a rare man that is not hereby alured And therefore it was not in vain that the Apostle gives us this Caution 1 Joh. 2.15 Love not the world nor the things of the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him And another Apostle tells us That the friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God Can a Woman love two Husbands or a Man serve two Masters God and Mammon And Paul tells us The world is crucified to him and he to the world It cares not a Pin for me and I care not a Rush for it there is no more delight in it in my account than there is in a dead Carcass have it we may use it we must but love it we may not It hangs out her two Breasts Strumpet like of Profit and Pleasure but the Apostle had no mind to suck at these Botches and if we would dye well let us imitate him that had learnt to dye daily and get our Affections as much weaned from the World as possibly may be and set upon Heavenly things or 't is ten to one it will speak to us in the Words of Peter to Christ Save thy self Whenever we should come to suffer any thing for Christ we may find what a snare it will be to us as to the young man Mat. 19.22 that bid fair for Christ till the World came and broke the Bargain he came to Christ hastily and departs heavily when he must part with his Riches he chuses rather to part with Christ and if Heaven will be had upon no cheaper terms let him keep it to himself Those that have the God of this World lively poâ—trayed upon the Soul are not fit for another World such as these will say with Cardinal Bembus they will not leave their part in Paris for their part in Paradâ—ce Judas and Demas may witness this Truth When the Affections are forestalled and set upon other Lovers 't is hard rending them off or making them willing to pâ—rt with what they love what a man loves best he would keep longest Where the treasure is there will the heart be also Mat. 6.20 21. If they are set upon this white and yellow Earth upon Pearls and precious Stones which are but the Guts and Garbage of the Earth and load themselves with thick Clay 't is as hard for them to enter in at the streight Gate as for a Camel 〈◊〉 go through the eye of a Needle Paul câ—lls such a one an Idolater Ephes 5.5 and St. James an Adulterer Jam. 4.4 Such as these are not ready for Death though Death may haply be ready for them but he that hath laid up his Treasure in Heaven and is at a point with all things under the Sun and wears the World about him as a loose Garment ready to cast off upon all occasions he that hath made ready pack'd up all and sent before him to his desired Port needs wait but for a Wind to waft him over Where the treasure is there will the heart be also When a man imagines he must leave better behind than he is like to find there 't is no wonder if he dye unwillingly and depart with a reluctancy but when better things are in view 't is no hard matter to dye The Devil puts a Cheat upon us when he shews us the World through his Spectacles and the Glory of it through his Magnifying-glasses there every Little seems Great and every Mole-hill a Mountain but when we view it in the clear Crystal of God's Word it appears in its Colours 'T is an easie thing to make a man exchange Rags for Robes and a Cottage for a Castle and is it not as easie to perswade a wise man to exchange Pebbles for Pearls Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God When a Man is satisfied that there is enough in Christ in Heaven and Glory to give the Soul Content yea to make up all the Losses sustained upon the account what should make him afraid to venture upon it But while the World seems a Pearl in our Eyes the Pearl of great price is not heeded The Splendor of the World seems greater than it is when the Devil hath adorned it in his Paint and Colours but when 't is stripp'd of that Varnish it appears an old withered and deformed Strumpet and 't is wonder that any fall in love with her Till we can look upon the World with Contempt we are neither fit to live nor fit to dye not to live for we shall place the love upon her that is only due to God not to dye for we shall then lose all our Portion and what a condition will such a departing Soul then be in Till we can see with Moses the Vanity of Kings Courts we shall never make his choice as the Afflictions of the people of God rather than these Vanities Heb. 11.25 Till we can with Galeacius see more Worth in one days Communion with God than all the Wealth in the World we shall not leave all as he
Those are most like to neglect their Work that cast it out of sight and out of mind and those are likest to be surprized by an Enemy that neglect their Watch When the evil servant said in his heart my Lord deferreth his coming c. he was soon surprized and paid for his Folly Mat. 24.48 c. In the Psalmist's days there were many of whom he saith God is not in all their thoughts Psal 10.4 And are there not many in our days of whom it may be said Death is not in all their thoughts Do not the shew of their countenance the course of their lives testifie against them and they declare their sin 〈◊〉 Sodom and hide it not The course of their Lives cannot consist with a believing Meditation of God of Heaven and Hell Death and Judgment no no they put far from them the evil day Amos 6.3 This cursed Security is the source of all manner of sin and wickedness for God is neither in their Head nor Heart and therefore they sin boldly I have heard of some foolish Creatures that will thrust their Heads into a Bush and then because they see no body they think no body sees them such apprehension many Men seem to have of Death they think themselves secure because they have got Death out of their minds but misreckoning proves no Payment Many like the Rich Man Luke 12.16 c. promised himself a longer Lease than God had sealed him but Christ calls him Fool for his labour Many mens Glasses are almost run out when they thought they were but new turned but those that reckon without their Host must reckon twice 'T is folly in a Tenant to forget his Rent-day and then imagine his Land-lord forgets it also or for a Malefactor to forget the day of his Execution and think others forget it as well as he This was Jerusalem's fault and it proved her ruine Lam. 1.9 She remembred not her last end therefore she came down wonderfully and this proves many a man's ruine It was not in vain therefore that Moses prays Psal 90.12 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom We are apt to make some Preparation for the Body what to eat and what to drink and wherewithal we shall be cloathed and neglect not Fairs nor Markets where wanted Necessaries may be had many prepare in the Day for the Night in the Summer for Winter in Health for Sickness in Youth for Age yea and for their Posterity after them And what stupid Madness is it not to provide in time for Eternity and remember not the days of darkness for they are many Eccles 11.8 'T is the greatest folly to mind trifles and neglect the main The thoughts of Death will not hasten it the sooner but it may hasten our Preparation for it it can do us no harm but much good Let no day therefore pass without some serious thoughts and meditation of it this will make it less formidable 'T is fabled of the Fox that when he first saw a Lion he trembled but in process of time he grew bolder Thus by better Acquaintance we should do with Death that is most amazing that comes unexpectedly Let us put the Question to our selves Did I know I should dye the next Week or Month how should I spend this time And let 's live so seeing for ought we know we may not live so long Sure our Time-wasting Gallants would then find something else to do than to divide their Time as many do between Swearing Roaring Drinking and Whoring Death will make a wonderful change both in the good and in the bad In the good 't is an outlet to all their Misery and an inlet to Heaven and Glory In the bad 't is an end of all their Felicity and the date of their Misery and can this on either side be such a contemptible change as not worth thinking of Should a poor Woman upon a fixed day be to be married to some Mighty Prince could she forget the day or neglect to prepare for it Can a Maid forget her ornaments or a Bride her attire c. Or were a Man upon an appointed day to go to Prison to Banishment or to Execution would it signifie nothing to him Were our Houses on fiâ—e over our Heads or were we pursued by a Lion or Bear or other ravenous Beast or some deadly Enemy that sought our Lives should we be so unconcerned And is not the Soul in a thousand times greater danger of Eternal Death than the Body can be of Temporal and yet shall this be slighted Is it not high time for us when the Sergeant waits to Arrest us to take Christ's Counsel and agree with our Adversary before we are cast into Prison Mat. 5.25 And not as ill Husbands do stay till we are arrested and cast into Prison I know there are too many that think God and Devil Heaven and Hell are but Fables these will know to their sorrow they are Realities and deserve our serious thoughts And 't is not enough to think of Death for many do so against their wills but they must prepare for it also let us consider every Evening what we have done in reference to Preparation the day past and whether we are a days Journey nearer Heaven as we are nearer our Graves This course is likely to fit us for Death and Judgment Lesson 7. The Seventh Lesson we may learn from this sad and unexpected Providence is Seeing all are under a necessity of dying to bring our minds to be willing to dye how and when God in his Providence shall think fit It is appointed unto all men once to dye and after death the Judgment Heb. 9.27 Now 't is our Duty to subscribe our consent to this Law He that hateth not his father mother wife and children brethren and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Luke 14.26 These are Love-Tokens God hath given us to win our Love and when he requires them again 't is to try whether we love Him or his Gifts better 'T is as I shew'd before our Duty to submit as Aaron patiently to the death of our Relations and sometimes the Lesson proves hard enough but here is a further tryal we shall be put upon to submit to our own Death When Job bore the loss of his Estate and Relations so well the Devil would try him by afflicting him in his Body and Mind Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life Job 2.4 As if he should say Any thing for his own Life Cattle Servants Children all shall go so he may sleep in a whole Skin I know the Lesson to be willing to dye seems hard to Flesh and Blood but we must have something more or we cannot dye well the same Reason that makes us submit to another's Death is good here I know there are greater Temptations lying at some mens doors than others 't is