neither Money nor Moneys-worth worth with thee as a Dowry yet will he make thee the largest Joynture his Covenants will be only to carry thy self to him as a loving and obedient Wife ought to do to her Husband to love him above all to obey all his Commands and to submit thy self to his dispose leave the Sin he forbids do the Duties he commands and forsake all others for his sake resolve thus to do give up thy self thus to him and thou needest not fear death for it cannot hurt thee for 't is but his Pursivant he sends to fetch thee home to his Fathers house where all things are made ready for thy Marriage with the Lamb when thou canst say Cant. 6.3 My beloved is mine and I am his thou art fit to Live and fit to Dye and not till then such a man that hath gotten a full gripe of Christ is sure that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities Rom. 8.38 nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Heighth nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to seperate him from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord 1 Cor. 6.17 for he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit As truely one as those members are one Body that are animated by the same Soul or as Husband and Wife are one flesh All that I am and have saith the Soul is his and all he hath is mine he that hath this full assurance of Faith looks death undauntedly in the face and goes gallantly to Heaven 5 Direct If you would Dye well your way is to Live well for a holy life alwayes ends in an happy death Heb. 12.14 and a sinfull life if true repentance prevent not alwayes hath a Tragical end for without holiness no man shall see God and how can such a man think then to come to Heaven when the beatifical vision of God is Heaven it self but no unclean thing Rev. 21.27 1 Cor. 6.10 no unrighteouss person shall ever enter there no dirty Dog shall tread upon that pavement As the tree falleth so it lyeth Eccles 11.3 and as death leaves us so Judgment shall find us Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap Gal. 6.7 for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting He that sails towards Hell is not like to land in the Port of Heaven if he change not his course the way of Sin is the direct road to Hell and those that follow the broad Way will ere long enter the wide Gate but the way to Heaven is narrow and the gate strait he that swims down the stream is not like to find the fountain-head and he that goes down the hill is not like to come to the top but most men like dead Fish swim down the stream even into the dead Sea of Eternal perdition Exo. 23.2 Take heed therefore of following a multitude to do evil for the way to Hell is Broad and well trodden beware of evil Company lest thou learn to swear with Joseph to curse with Peter but be couragious for Heaven and valiant for the Truth 'T is better go to Heaven alone than to Hell with company to be with Noah in the Ark than with all the World in the Flood the way of Holiness I know is not in fashion but 't is never the more to be shunned for the small company that walks in it nor is the way of wickedness the more eligible because 't is thronged the way of Holiness haply may seem rugged and perplexed by reason of the stumbling-blocks laid in it 1 Sam. 14.4 13. like unto that of Jonathans and his Armor-bearers way that had sharp rocks on either side that they were forced to go upon hands and feet yet consider it leads to Happiness and who will not take pains for profit Sic petitur Coelum sed facilis descensus averni Heaven is got by pains and patience but a man may wink and go to Hell To come to Heaven Opus est pulveris non pulvinaris as one saith those that trade in Righteousness and Holiness are most likely to treasure up Happiness those that live uprightly to men holily to God and walk as Zachary saith Lu. 1.75 in Righteousness and Holiness before him all the dayes of their lives men may befool them but God will never condemn them these men never need to fear Death or any Messenger God sends Act. 23.1 24.16 the that hath made his peace with God and with Paul keeps a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men though he may meet with troubles in his life he shall meet with Comfort at death when those that think to dance with the Devil all day and Sup with Christ at night to do the Devils work and to receive Gods wages that will not enter into the Vineyard and yet expect the penny will find themselves under a great mistake for his servants you are to whom you obey and from him you work for you may expect wages you will find at last that a Lord have mercy upon you will not serve turn Mat. 7.21 22. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye workers of iniquity The like we see by the foolish Virgins that cried Lord Lord open to us but the door was shut against them and they kept out such mens hope will prove like the Spiders-web or the giving up the Ghost and but serve them as Absaloms Mule did him bring them to destruction and there leave them yet many verbal Professors we have that if Heaven will be had for fair words will have it but this is their best bid as Epictetus complained in his time That many would be Philosophers as far as a few good words would go but no further but it be those and those alone that make Christianity their daily trade and to please God their great design that are worthy the name of Christians when the heart is upright God accepts the Sacrifice as he did Abels when the heart is rotten he disowns it as he did Cains Those fly-blown Sacrifices such as the Pharisees offered will not down with God But when the chief design is to glorifie God Mat. 6.1 c. and that with a perfect heart like Josiahs with such Sacrifices God is well pleased such a man though he may lose something for Christ will never lose any thing by Christ death which sets a period
Heaven worth having and Hell worth the avoiding and the soul worth saving we are serious about the things of the world and much more should we be to save our lives and are Salvation and Damnation trifles not fit to be regarded one year or month may make a great alteration in our Families or Neighbourhood and many now living may then be dead and landed in Eternity that thought they might have lived longer sometimes death strikes the Child in the womb when he spares him that stoopeth through Age and this may be your case for ought you know This was Jerusalems fault and ruine She remembred not her latter end Lam. 1.9 therefore she came down wonderfully and many I fear dye of her disease Now though our life is short and time uncertain yet our work is great and of great Concernment and requires time to do it in and those that consider it well know we have no time to spare all is little enough for our work and those that have been Prodigals of their time have found their mistake when it hath been too late We are in a race and run for our lives and shall we not set out with the first and hold on to the last and use our utmost diligence in the way if we turn aside or turn back or slack our pace or sit down we are never like to win the prize we stake our Souls to Heaven and therefore 't is for no small wager if we run well heaven is ours if not the Soul our chiefest Jewel is lost we have a great deal of work to do and Night draws on and the shadows of the Evening are stretched out and when night comes no man can work and is it not time to be up and doing most men are bewildred in the dark and lose themselves with their reward and miss their way or fall short of their desired Journeys end and this will be our case if we prevent it not for the way is difficult and delayes as well as mistakes are dangerous Many that have wit enough to get an Estate yea to deceive and to circumvent their Brethren have yet been deceived themselves in this their great concern yea many that have made a great profession of Religion and have directed others and have been their guides for want of a guide have miscarried themselves and lost their way those that have lived under the powerful means of Grace and performed many duties and preacht and prayed and thought themselves wiser than others and cast their ground and thought to go a nearer way to Heaven than others yet have been lost and never came to the place they aimed at Those that have exhorted others to take heed have lost themselves for want of heed and though they have been confident in the way have yet miss'd of the way and is it time for us that never arriv'd to that heighth to sit still and venture there is but a little between us and death and if death cut the thred of our lives before our peace be made with God we are past remedy for if once we fall into that gulph of Eternity there is no getting out we shall never find bank nor bottom As the tree falls so it lyes all the world cannot turn it and if the Soul miscarry our case will be worse than the beast that perisheth for as now men are never weary of sinning then God will be never weary of punishing and all the racks tortures and torments in the world will not equalize the torments of a miscarrying Soul but if we are prepared for death have made our peace with God and evened our Accounts with him have espoused the Soul to Christ and cleared up our Evidences for Heaven 't is not the Devil nor his Instruments 't is not death nor him that hath the power of death nay 't is not Hell it self that can hinder a Believers happiness for Assurance of Gods love will bear up the heart above water and keep it from desponding or sinking even under the pangs of death 2 Tim. 1.12 I know saith Paul whom I have Believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day And again Rom. 8.38 39. I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 8 Direct For Preparation 't is necessary to put your Hearts as well as your Houses in order nay 't is much more necessary if you would reform begin at the right end if you reform the heart the rest will follow but all other reformation signifies little without it the way to kill a Tree is not to lop off here a Bough and there a Branch but to stub it up by the root and to destroy the tree of Sin is not to be lopping off here one and there another but root up the whole which will be done if the heart be reformed 't is not the Stream but the Fountain we must cleanse if we will have clean water the other will prove but labour in vain Prov. 4.23 Keep the heart with all deligence saith Solomon for out of it are the issues of life Quod sanitas in corpore id sanctitas in corde if a Disease strike to the heart 't is dangerous but if the heart be sound there is hopes if the Spring be clear the water will purge it self Job 31.1 if that be infected or polluted 't is in vain to purge the Stream Eccles 5.1 't is true the Eye the Foot the Hand must be heeded but if the heart be not first Regulated these will not be kept in order the Eye will be full of Adultery and the Hand swift to shed blood for out of the heart proceed murders Mat. 18.8 adulterycs c. Look to the heart and the heart will look to the rest The heart of man is of so great a Concern that it hath many Suitors the world yields many of them Riches Honour Pleasure woe for the Affection and seldom but one of these prevail Pro. 23.26 and spiritual Powers make suit also God saith My Son give me thy heart and happy are we if we give our consent as the heart is defiled he will have none of it and till it be renewed he will own nothing that man doth nor any Sacrifice he Offereth God sends many a Messenger to wo for it and many a time he striveth by his own Spirit to win it and many a Love Token he sends to oblige it and many a promise he makes to win upon it The Devil also contends more for it than about the Body of Moses for that is imagined to be but in reference to it he owns it as his by nature and would fain keep the possession for while he keeps
't is but the weakness of thy faith and love or thou wouldst not desire to be absent from Christ upon such poor tearms Oh the hourly danger thou art in by reason of enemies without within and round about thee Oh the dangerous snares they lay for thy feet Oh the fears the cares and manyfold troubles thou daily meetest withall enough to make thee weary of thy life and with Job to wish for death and wilt not indure a little pain when it would set thee out of harms way out of the Devils reach or mans malice The love of Christ in the Martyrs was hotter than the flames they burnt in they could cry out None but Christ none but Christ true love desires union with the party beloved and how canst thou say thou lovest Christ when thy heart is not with him when thou desirest not his company or to enjoy him thou pretendest love to him and yet art willingly desirously absent from him and wilt not come to him at his call but wilt rather deny him and thy interest in him thou cal'st him thy Husband and pretendest thou hast devoted thy self wholly to him and given up not only thy Name but thy Heart to him and promised to forsake all other for him and obey him whoever was disobeyed yet when it comes to the trial with Demas thou choosest the world before him thou wilt not obey him neither forsake the world for him but lovest thy life above him what hypocrisie what dissimulation is this to pretend to follow him and yet really run from him when he calls thee well may he give thee a bill of divorce and put thee away who dost thus wilfully desert him Thou hast preacht for him and spoke for him and suffered for him but all this will not serve thy turn if thou love any thing above him thou must give up all or thou canst not have him he will admit of no Rival he will have the prevailing degree of thy Love or thou shalt have none of him if thou prize thy life above him he will prize himself to be too good for thee 1 Cor. 13.1 2 3. for love is to him more acceptable than any Sacrifice his love to thee made him exchange Heaven for the Earth and glory for misery and will not thy love to him make thee willing to exchange Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God though a wife pretend love to her husband yet if in her husbands absence she desires not his return and refuseth to go to him 't is a sign her love is cold and she hath something else she affects above him that she hath dealt treacherously with him and placed her affections elsewhere Were thy love to thy Lord and Husband but as strong as a covetous mans love is to his Riches or an ambitious mans to his Honour or the unclean persons to his Lust thou wouldst not think a little pains too much to enjoy him for these run through the pikes of danger to obtain their end and bring about their designs and though Damnation lye in the way they will venture one and march up into the Cannons mouth and expose themselves to the everlasting destruction of Body and Soul which is a thousand times worse than death it self before they will fail in their enterprize Did but thy heart pant after God as Davids did Psal 42.1 2. thou wouldst long for the time when thou shouldst appear before God hadst thou but a believing sight of the Heavenly Canaan and its glory thou wouldst then see the worlds emptiness vanity and misery and be more senbsile of thy wilderness troubles and long to pass over this Jordan thou wouldst be more willing to leave the one and go to the other But it may be 't is not thy dispute whether Heaven or Earth be the better choice but thy own Interest that thou questionest some enjoyments thou hast here and loth thou art to leave them till thou art sure of better but hath not this been thy objection many years and hast not yet got over this stile why how hast thou spent thy time what hast thou been doing what is the result of thirty or forty years trial of the estate hadst any greater work lay upon thy hand did not God send thee into the world upon this very business and hast thou spent thy time in hunting Butter-flyes or weaving the Spiders web to catch flyes all this while how canst eat or drink or sleep in quiet without some comfortable assurance when thou knowest not but the next morning thou mayst awake with hell-flames about thy ears thou art sent to run a race to fight a fight to lay hold upon Heaven by violence and hast all this while sate idle Heaven and Earth may stand amazed at thy folly If God allow thee more time what hopes is there that thou wilt make more haste or get clearer Evidence for Heaven think not that to deny Christ thy life when he requires thâ—â—â—o lay it down for him is to gain time for better preparation nay it layes such a barr in thy way to Heaven which it is much to be feared thou wilt never remove the very thoughts of using this unlawful means to save thy life do evidence that grace is either weak or wanting in thy soul Time was thou didst carry thy life in thy hand and hold forth the contempt of the world and mad'st a shew that thou matteredst the world no more than it did thee and that thou didst believe true happiness was not to be had under the Sun and is thy judgment now altered and in thy elder dayes art thou grown more wise and by diligent search hast found out thy mistake and not only thine but the mistake of all the godly and now dost begin to grasp after the world and art loth to leave it why dost not recant in publick why dost not discover to the people thy former errour and bid them look for their happiness here Wisd 2. â— 9. and crown themselves with rose-buds before they wither let us be partakers of our wantonness let us leave some tokens of our pleasure in every place for that is our portion and this is our lot Is this the doctrine thou wouldst have others believe and the counsel thou wouldst have them take if not why dost thou give them an Example to choose thy portion here and let Christ which was thy pretended portion go and grasp after that little which the world calls Portion so greedily and why art thou so loth to go where true Treasure is to be had why dost choose to be tossed to and fro by the billows of this raging Sea and endure the tempest and storms of trouble rather than come into a safe Harbour an Heaven of rest because the mouth of it is straight and the entrance uneasie Dost thou put thy self into the case of the wicked and dost expect their portion that thou lookest upon death as thy enemy also 't is
Jonah out of the Whales Belly or Joseph or Jeremy or Paul or Silas or Peter to come out of Prison when the time of deliverance came was ever fick man afraid of Health or Lame man of being restored to his Limbs or a Blind man of being recovered to his sight was ever Hungry man afraid of his meat or thirsty man unwilling to drink or weary man unwilling to rest or was ever Turkish Slave unwilling to leave his Oars or enjoy his freedom yet have none of these so much cause to rejoyce in their freedom as the poor Soul hath in the freedom purchased by Christ and to be enjoyed at death Doth not the Husbandman long for the Harvest when he shall receive the fruits of the Field the reward of his labour doth not the Souldier long for the Victory when he shall receive the Crown doth not the Traveller desire his Journeys end and the Mariner his wished Port and the Labourer for the Sun-setting when his work is done and his wages is due and wilt thou only be afraid of the time when thy misery shall end and thy Joyes commence and all because there is a little dirty though not dangerous way to pass though there be an eternal reward for a temporal yea momentany Pain yea a thousand weight of pleasure for an ounce of grief Oh foolish Soul hast thou fought the fight and won the day and is it but stooping down and take up the Crown and wilt not be at so much pains Is there but one stile more to thy Fathers house and wilt thou sit down here and go no further but one hour between thee and Glory and hast thou spent so many years in reference to it and now wilt not add that hour to the rest hast thou almost run the race and shall one Lake in the way make thee to retire when the end is in sight hast subdued all the Enemies but one and is he disarmed also and lyes prostrate at thy feet and yet faintest and forsakest the Field dost thou fly from the Serpent when the sting is out hast thou vanquished the Flesh the World and the Devil and yet fearest Death which is a reconciled Friend hast thou overcome him that hath the power of Death and fearest thou Death it self Hast thou overcome the substance and dost quake at the shadow many thousand lose their Lives upon lower ends and venture them for a lower reward than here is propounded some for vain glory others for a corruptible Crown and wilt not venture thy life for Eternal glory and to secure thy Soul some venture Life and Soul and all in a Whores Quarrel or a Drunkards fray and wilt thou not in the cause of God and vindication of the truth and that when thy Captain stands by thee are the Gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem open and wilt not enter wilt lose all rather than strike one stroak more O my God let not the Flesh the World nor the Devil deceive me let me not faint under the burden nor ever turn my back upon thee Lord strengthen me and I will suffer for thee MEDITAT VI. What hurt can Death do a Believer OH my Soul what makes thee yet draw back are not all these foregoing considerations enough to satisfie thee but yet the thoughts of Death do appale thee and the thoughts of the Grave make thee to shiver heretofore thou hast even courted Death and solaced thy self with the Meditation of the Grave and the forethought of the time when Sin and Sorrow should be no more and now dost quake at the apprehension of it and art frighted at his grim countenance Consider a little what he is whence he comes and what message he brings and then see if he be so formidable as he seems he is but a Messenger and comes not upon his own errand neither runs he before he be sent he comes not from an Enemy but a friend yea from one that loves thee yea from that friend that sent Jesus Christ to dye for thee and the same love is exercised in the one as in the other he sent first to purchase an Inheritance for thee and now sends to thee to receive it He comes to tell thee the Great King of Heaven and Earth Greets thee and invites thee to the Marriage Feast to the Wedding Supper to drink Wine with Christ in his Fathers Court he comes to tell thee thou hast fought the good fight thou hast finisht thy course and from henceforth is laid up for thee a Crown of righteousness which Christ the Righteous Judge shall give thee at the last day that thou hast been faithfull over a few things and shalt be Ruler over many things and shalt enter into thy Masters Joy He comes to tell thee thou art at Age and must receive thine Inheritance that thou hast been long enough tossed to and fro upon the Waves of trouble and now must enter into the desired Port that thou hast long enough fed upon husks and now must come to thy Fathers house where there is bread enough and to spare he comes to tell thee thy Warfare is accomplished the race is run the prize is won and from henceforth the Crown of Glory is thine own and what hurt is in all this or why is such a Messenger to be feared he comes not as haply thou mayst suppose to break thy peace with thy God no but to make an everlasting peace which shall never be broken to assure thee God and thy departing Soul are at peace and all controversies are ended and that thou shalt never more see one frown in the face of God nor one wrinkle in his forehead he comes not for thy hurt but thy good not to hinder thy promotion but to promote it not to destroy thy body but only sow it in the Earth that it may spring forth a glorious body that corruption may put on incorruption 1 Cor. 15.55 and the mortal may put on immortality that Death may be swallowed up of Victory He comes not to make thee miserable Rev. 14.13 but happy Blâ—ssed are the Dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them He comes not to separate thee from God this he cannot do For neither Death Rom. 8.28.29 nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No Death brings us into a nearer Union and more close Communion 'T is not come to make void the Covenant with God but to make it good for God hath promised in the Covenant to give Christ and Heaven and Glory to thee and how can this be made good till Death and though the body lye for a season in the Grave as Israel did in Egypt after Gods Covenant with Abraham yet shortly Death like
God that I clearly saw death was â—o stranger to you and that you had learnt â—he Apostles lesson 1 Thess 4.13 Not to mourn as men â—ithout hope for those that sleep in the â—ord you imitated David who when his â—â—n was living fasted and prayed but â—hen dead 2 Sam. 12.18 held his tongue and said noâ—â—ing because God did it Or said as â—â—b at the death of all his children Job 1.21 â—he Lord gave and the Lord hath taâ—en away Blessed be the Name of the â—ord To mourn for our Relations is doubtâ—ss our duty to mourn immoderately as â—achel and will not be comforted is doubtles s a sin and implyes we think God hath â—onged us in taking away our Relations without our leave or serves to bespeak us 〈◊〉 have more wisdom than God hath and 〈◊〉 know better than he when 't is best for â—hem to dye and when their work is done these considerations made me think these Meditations would not startle you nay your own Death would not affright you and yet considering that death is an enemy to Nature and that you were Flesh as well as Spirit and though the Spirit were willing yet the Flesh â—s weak I thought it would not be unsuitable to put this weapon into your hand in this conflict between the Flesh and the Spirit for death sometimes comes with a grisly look and terrible aspect for as a Heathen saith of all Terribles Death is most terrible and therefore the Scripture calls him the King of terrors Job 18.14 and experience shews that he is a terror to Kings Psal 55.4 David complains the terrors of death compassed him about and the apprehensions of death struck a greater than David into an agony Christianum agere non est hominem exuere when we become Christians we cease not to be men Now though we cannot quite root out the fear of death yet Christians may and many doe much abate it yea and chuse it rather than life upon any sinful terms those under great sufferings refused deliverance Heb. 11.36 that is upon any unlawful terms The love of Christ in the Martyrs was hotter than the fire they burnt in yea this made Paul willing not only to be bound but to dye for Christ yea desire to be dissolved and to be with him so that although I think you have not so much need of a work of this nature as many have yet I cannot think 't is altogether useless for you lye under greater temptations than many others and have stronger gusts of wind to grapple with than low Shrubs and haply Christ may cost you more than others haveing more to lose and the world breaks many a match between Christ and the Soul those that are rich fall into temptation 1 Tim. 6.9 Luk. 18.23 remember the young man that parted with Christ upon this ground and Demas that chose the world before him 'T is easier to steer a small Vessel in a storm than a great Ship this may be thrust into any Creek or Harbour where a tall Ship cannot ride Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator Oh Death Ecclus. 41.1 how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at ease in his Possessions and hath prosperity in all things We may say of you as the people did of David 2 Sam. 18.3 If many of us fall it signifies little the Enemyes great design lyes against such as you those that fall high their fall will be the greater and a great deal of Grace is necessary to support a great man Till a man can see an emptiness in the Creature and a fulness in Christ and enough in Heaven to make amends for all his losses upon Earth he will not be brought to lose all for Christ It was no small measure of Grace that made Galeacius teave the Marquesdom of Vico and come to Geneva for the Gospel sake I know we live in such times as Salvian did when Religion and Godliness are accounted a shame to Gentility and a blemish to Nobility and those very Ingredients let their other qualifications be what they will will render the worlds greatest Favourites unlovely in their eyes 1 Sam. 2.30 But those that honour God God will honour and those that despise him shall be lightly esteemed St. Bernard tells Sophia That it was a greater honour that God made her one of a few than that she descended from Noble Parents the one was Gods distinguishing Badge the other a common favour Solomon tells us A vertuous Woman herâ— price is above Rubies and no doubt a vertuous Man is as precious but 't is a good conjunction where Grace and Greatness meet for although a Diamond hath the same vertue oâ— the Dunghill as in a Gold Ring or the richest Cabinet yet not so seemly Grace loseth not it Vertue in a Country Clown yet is it moâ—splendid in a great man and such a one thuâ— qualified is capable of bringing more Glorâ— to God and doing more good in his Generation than a poor man can Religion in greaâ— persons as 't is most Rare so 't is most Conspicuous 't is like a Beacon upon an hill eveâ— eye is upon it and the Country imitates thâ— Court Qualis Rex talis Grex. Greatneâ— makes men capable of doing God more work or the Devil more service The great 〈◊〉 need not be ashamed of going in thâ— Fashion for Grace is the fairest Flower 〈◊〉 their Garland for none wear those Jewel but the Spouse of Christ It was more honour to David to be Gods Servant than Israels King 't is more honour to be in Covenant with God than to have Royal blood run in our Veins to be an Heir of Heaven than to be Heir to a Kingdom to be the Children of God than to be the Children of Nobles Isai 43.4 since thou wast precious in my sight saith God thou wast honourable For Nobility it self is mortal and many Noble Houses and Families dye and come to nothing but Grace is longer liv'd My desire is that seeing God hath written Vanity upon the Creatures that you may be able to read it and so may hang loose to the World and so use it as not to abuse it And seeing Death is certain and the time of Death uncertain that you will learn to dye daily that when Death comes you may look upon it without Horror or Distraction In the mean time Heb. 12.1 2. that you may run the Race that is set before you yea so run that you may obtain and with Christ endure the Cross and despise the Shame 1 Cor. 9.24 that you may sit down with him in his Kingdom of Glory that you may keep your Garments unspotted in the World and have your Loyns girded your Lamps alwayes Burning and you your selves in a Centinel posture that at what hour soever your Lord and Master comes you may be found Watching my desire is that while you live you may
we would but when our work is done and with our Master's leave We must not with our own hands pluck down these earthly Tabernacles neither deny our consent when God will pluck them down we are Tenants at will and must not think to have our Houses at our own dispose whether they shall down or not we came not into the world but at his appointment and must not go out without his leave I know a Godly man though he have some assurance of a better habitation is not so reconciled to death as to choose it for its own sake for Deaths looks are not lovely it being the King of terrors Job 18.19 and the terror of Kings and in it self formidable and hath daunted the courage of the stoutest Souldiers and triumphs over the most triumphant Conquerour and sometimes discomposeth the most composed Christian And therefore as on the one hand it should not be overmuch feared so on the other it should not be overmuch slighted Christ himself had some fearfull apprehensions of it and well he might knowing what he had to suffer the Sting was then in but by his death it was taken out in reference to Believers yet the Serpent is formidable but not poysonful it will strike still though it cannot sting and as 't is an Outlet to Life so 't is an Inlet to Eternity and who can enter into so vast a Gulph and so boundless an Ocean without amazement where he can find neither bank nor bottom 'T is impossible for men to put off Humanity neither doth Christianity teach us to be Stoicks yet it teacheth us to bound and moderate our passions and not overmuch to fear Death When we have a lawful call to it and when 't is our duty to dye when God sends let who will be the Messenger obey we must Lu. 12.5 Fear not them saith Christ that can kill the body and can do no more but fear him that can cast both Soul and Body into Hell yea I say unto you fear him All outward things must be undervalued for Life sake but Life it self must go for Gods sake if thou sell thy life for any worldly advantage thou wilt make a hard bargain For what good will the world do thee when thou art dead Luk. 12.20 Thou fool saith Christ this night will thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these Thou must part with any thing in the world to preserve it but if thou sell thy Soul to save thy life or part with Christ upon that account thou wilt make a bad bargain Mat. 16.26 for what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in Exchange for his soul This is not to prevent death but to Exchange one death for another temporal death for eternal 'T is not a choosing death thou art Press'd to but a submission to the will of God that is required at thy hands and of two evils the least is to be chosen if thou must either choose death or choose sin death is the more eligible for sin will expose thee to the second death and prove the everlasting separation of soul and body from God which is worse a thousand times than death If thou must lose thy life or thy soul let life go if thou must deny life or deny Christ Christ is better than thy life being the very life of thy soul and he that to avoid a little temporal pain incurs eternal torments makes a foolish bargain Now though there be no reason to love death yet is there great reason why thou shouldst love God better than life Psal 63.3 whose loving kindness is better than life though life be dear yet Christ is dearer The Cup of death may be bitter but Hell and Damnation and the eternal Wrath of God are much bitterer which if thou forsake Christ thou must drink up to the bottom which Eternity will be little enough to do God puts Sugar into the former none into the latter Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them But those that miscarry are sent away with a curse Mat. 25.41 Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels c. 'T is true after the Fall death was threatned as a Curse and a Judgment for sin but by the death of Christ the nature of it is changed to Believers Psal 116.15 and the malignity of it abated Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints the sting is taken out and we may put the Serpent into our bosom 't is now to the godly a Sleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and so 't is said of Stephen he fell a sleep and the Grave is but Gods Cabinet to hide his Jewels where they are secured from the evil to come Isa 57.12 26.20 't is but a Chamber to hide them in till the indignation be past And though Deaths chambers be dark they are best to sleep in where thou shalt meet with no disturbance no noise without or terrour within thou shalt neither see nor hear nor feel nor fear evil death is but a sturdy Porter to open the door of thy Fathers house the gates of Heaven to thee to let thee in And though it may expose thee to some pain for the present 't is not much and 't is but momentary and not worthy the glory that shall be revealed for endless Joy presently succeeds it and pain will soon be forgotten If thou canst but stoop a little and croud in at this strait gate and narrow door thou wilt enter into that spacious City the New Jerusalem If thou canst not love death for its own sake yet entertain him for his Masters sake for it is the Embassadour of the great God and for his Message sake for he brings an Answer of peace To submit unto the will of God and to be obedient unto the death is not only thy Duty but thy Wisdom and Interest and to say with Christ Not my will but thine be done and with Samuel 1 Sam. 3.10 Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth If thou deny thy Life when God requires it Christ will deny thee entrance into those Heavenly Mansions and 't is a thousand times better lose thy life than lose his love think not yet that Heaven is had upon hard terms thou maist haply lose something for Christ but shalt never lose by him the way to save thy life is to hide it with God in Christ The hardest terms that Christ propounds are but reasonable 't is thy Interest to go to Heaven though it were even through the flames of Hell much more through the pangs of Death Paul easily concludes to dye for him was gain and to be with Christ was best of all he dyed daily and carried his life in his hand
it be by the very Gates of Hell I can do all all things through Christ that strengthens me MEDITAT IV. The Fear of Death is unsuitable to a Believer O My Soul why art thou yet disquieted within me why art thou cast down why dost thou meditate terror and all this when thou lookest Death in the face Is this amazement suitable for a Christian Souldier is this the fruit of all thy Preaching Praying Reading Meditating and thy other duties is this the result of all the pains thou hast taken in Heavens way Nay hath God set thee to strengthen others against the fear of Death to support the feeble hands and drooping hearts and art thou thy self ready to faint under the burden why man rouse up thy self a little didst never see death before that thou tremblest at the apprehension art thou fit to be a Captain of the Lords Host that art ready to fly at a shadow If the Shepherd be terrified well may the Sheep be affrighted if the apprehension of Death be so amazing what will the feeling of it be well mayest thou say with Nehemiah Shall such a man as I flee Neh. 6.11 Is not death bitter enough but thou must make it bitterer and dost faint before thou feel the burden where is thy wonted courage where are now thy arguments where with thou wast wont to blunt the Dart of Death and to uphold sinking Souls under the stroak of Death Death hath been often in thy eye in thy thoughts in thy Meditations and then it was not so terrible and now with Agag thou thoughtest the bitterness of Death was past and upon a new Apprehension oâ— it doth it seem so formidable Call to mind thy former resolutions to suffer for Christ yea thy Covenant engagement to him wherein thou devotedst thy sell and that thine was to him and at his dispose and dost now repent of thy repentings death is not so great an Enemy as thoâ— supposest nor so terrible as he seems plucâ— off his vizor and look him in the face and he will appear both thy Friend and thy Physician to cure thee of all thy maladies thou hast not now a day free from sin and sorrow for where the onâ— is the other will be also as the shadow will follow the substance or rather as the effect follows the cause neither art thou like to have till death sets thee at liberty thou art now a slave or servant but the year of Jubilee is coming when thou wilt be free Job 3.17 18 19. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest there the Prisoners rest together and they hear not the voice of the Oppressor the small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master Death is sent by God as Moses into Egypt to bring thee out of Egyptian bondage to the promised Land and what if thy bondage like theirs be a little encreased at the present wilt thou murmur like them when thy deliverance is in sight though thou must through the red Sea the way is safe if God go before thee and if the way be dark he will be a Pillar of fire to give thee light thou needest not fear losing thy way that hast such a guide Here thou canst not serve God but the Egyptians are ready to stone thee but get but over this bridge of Death over this Jordan and thou maist serve him without distraction or disturbance here thou canst hardly have a sight of God but Death will bring thee to speak with him face to face to know him as he is and to enjoy him as thy own In this Wilderness thou meetest with many troubles many wants sometimes of meat sometimes of drink sometimes of cloaths and other necessaries but in Heaven there is no want no need of creature-comforts for what need the Pipe when we are at the Fountain-head here are many troubles many enemies fiery Serpents but when over this Jordan these troubles vanish all thy fears husht and thy self out of the reach of danger the Devil nor his instruments cannot pursue thee beyond Death here is thy promised Land thy purchased Inheritance thy Mansion-house and can Death that puts thee in possession be lookt upon as thy Enemy The thoughts of Death are many times worse than Death it self as the Picture of the Lyon seems fiercer than the Lyon himself Heb. 2.15 but Christ died to free those that through the fear of Death were all their life time subject to bondage Oh the precious hours that should be spent in solacing thy self with the thoughts of God and the forethoughts of Glory and taking a Pisgah sight of the Heavenly Canaan which now are fruitlesly spent between hopes and fears of our Journey thither not but that preparation should be made but no desponding fears should discompose thee for the Journey The thoughts of Eternal bliss and the weight of Glory that is before thee should divert thy mind from all the pains and sorrows thou meetest with in thy journey thither as the hopes of the prize makes him that runs the race overlook the foulness or roughness of the way and the hopes of a reward makes the Souldier hew his way through the thickest of his enemies That time which now is spent in sorrowful thoughts how thou shouldest part with the world and endure the pangs of death would be better spent in trimming up thy Lamp getting Oyl in thy Vessel and adorning thy self with thy Wedding garment and in praising God that thinks thee worthy to suffer for him and in consideration that after a little pain thou shalt enter into thy masters Joy where there shall be no more pain and that this light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for thee a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 Is this thy living by faith that thou talkest of What can a coveteous worlding do more that hath his portion in this life than fear the time that he shall lose it what can the voluptuous Epicure do more that at death shall see an end of all his pleasure Is this thy living by Faith is this the fruit of thy hope and the evidences of thy love to God and the other graces of the Spirit Doth vain glory steel the Spirit of our Hectors that look death in the face undauntedly only in hopes of Honour and a surviveing Name do the Mahometans venture their lives upon conceipt that those that dye in the wars shall undoubtedly go to Heaven and there for ever have their will with beautiful women and all other sensual delights and will not the Enjoyment of God in glory work thee to a willingness to suffer what he would have thee suffer Is this thy professed obedience when thou startest at hard and difficult dutyes and only scummest off the fat and sweet of duty and leavest self-denying dutyes undone what dost thou in this more than an Hypocrite or a carnal man
must forsake it 't is 〈◊〉 enough to rail against it but you must haâ—â— it with an irreconcileable hatred aâ— shake hands with it and give it a bill 〈◊〉 Divorce and well you may for it is yâ—â— implacable Enemy and the cause of 〈◊〉 your misery and will be the cause of yoâ— Eternal Damnation if you repent not of 〈◊〉 This is it that arms Death against you 〈◊〉 when 't is mortified and subdued it will 〈◊〉 pardoned and when it is pardoned Deâ— may buzze about your ears like a Dâ—â— Bee but cannot sting you by stinging Châ—â— he lost his sting that he cannot sting 〈◊〉 of Christs faithful people Hence manâ— the Martyrs went as chearfully to dye aâ— dine and accounted their Dying-day tâ—â— Wedding-day as indeed it is to all Belâ—ers for in this life they are betroatheâ— Christ and at their Death the Marâ—â— will be consummate and they shall forâ— enjoy their Beloved and be Eterâ— lodged in his Bosom Oh the madneâ—â— the men of the World who lodge this pent sin in their Bosom which breakâ— match between Christ and the Soul 2. Direct There is another Enemy that must be overcome as well as sin or will not dye chearfully and happily and that is the World for till it be overcome and crucified a man is not fit to dye neither can he be willing to dye Gal. 6.14 for who can willingly part with what he loves By Christ saith the Apostle I am Crucified to the World and the World to me the world and he were at a point there was no love lost the World mattered him not and he mattered the World as little they were each to other as a dead Carkass offensive and unsavoury and though the World should lay many Temptations before him it would signifie no more than if they were presented to a dead man though she draw forth her two breasts of Profit and Pleasure he scorns to suck at such botches he looks upon it as a dead thing and behaves himself as dead to it He had learned to want and to abound and in every Estate to be content and therefore mattered not her Superfluities and for Necessaries he knew he should not want them A prosperous Estate could not make him surfeit nor a wanting Estate repine he was semper idem alwayes the same as Job upon the Throne and upon the Dunghill he still keeps his Integrity he wears the world about him as a loose Garment ready to cast off upon all occasions and he is at a point with all things under the Sun if he may keep them with a good Conscience he is content if not he is content also and it behooves others that would look Death in the face with comfort to learn this lesson for if the affections close with the World 't is impossible Death should be either safe or comfortable safe it cannot be for it makes a man break his peace with God for two such Masters as God and Mammon no man can serve Mat. 6.24 for if he love the one he will despise the other Jam. 4.4 Know you not saith the Apostle that the friendship of the World is Enmity to God Whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World will be an Enemy to God 1 John 2.15 And again Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him Those that goe a Whoring from God to the Creature and woe this vile Strumpet the World are very unfit to be received into the bosom of Christ have it we may use it we must as a Traveller doth his Staff so far as 't is helpful but love it we must not if we will not renounce the love of God a man may allow his wife a Servant to wait upon her but not to lodg in her bosom the love of the World is Enmity with the Lord Enmity both active and passive it makes a man both to hate God and to be hated by God he cannot be espoused to the World but he must be divorced from God see this in Judas in Demas in Demetrius in Ahab he will have Naboath's Vineyard or he will have his blood though he lose his Soul for it Col. 3.2 wise therefore was the Apostles Counsel to set our affections on things above and not on the Earth Things on Earth are mutable and momentary subject to vanity or violence when things above are as the dayes of Heaven and run parllael with the Life of God and line of Eternity and as the love of the World makes a man dye unsafely putting him out of a capacity of eternal happiness so it makes him dye uncomfortably also for who can willingly part with a present good for a future uncertainty with a thing he loves for he knows not what If the World seem a Pearl in his eye he will not let it goe if he have no assurance of a better Mat. 19.22 see this in the young man in the Gospel that would not exchange Earth for Heaven nor the Creature for God that parted with Christ whom he pretended to love rather than with his Estate which he did love Oh World how dost thou bewitch thy greatest admirers how dost thou deceive those that trust in thee But could we see the worth of Heaven or had we but a Pisgah-sight of the Heavenly Canaan we should soon make Moses's choice but the blind Moles of the World think God holds it at too dear a rate and if he will not abate he may keep it to himself some indeed while Religion is in credit will follow the Cry yet resolve they will never lose by it as the Young man before mentioned who came to Christ hastily but went away heavily the world breaks many a match between Christ and the Soul by bidding more as they think than God doth but it will fail in the payment but he that forsakes not all for Christ cannot be his Disciple the lesson I know is hard but necessary and there is a great reason it should be so when we look upon the World as our chiefest Jewel we are loth to throw it over-board but when we see the Vanity Emptiness yea Nothingness that is in it and can have recourse to a better Treasure we shall not matter it while we look upon it as our chiefest Treasure we shall be unwilling to part with it but when by the eye of Faith we can see better Treasure beyond Death and observe how little good it can do us at Death or after when we have most need we shall not much value it For indeed it proves like a bush of Thorns the harder we grasp it the more deeply it wounds and when by Experience we find that no Content Satisfaction or Happiness is to be had in the enjoyment we shall not much trouble at the loss In a word while the World is admired Death is hated but when Heaven is
that cannot be redeemed with the whole World 4 Direction The next thing I would advise you to which indeed is the chief of all is to get an Interest in Christ that so you may have a title to Glory for till this be had you cannot dye safely and till it be cleared up you cannot dye comfortably for who would leave a present Possession that hath no assurance of a future and when this is done Death will not be terrible But what can bear up the Soul against the pangs of Death if this be wanting Now the way to get an Interest in Christ is to espouse the Soul to him now there is nothing but Ignorance can stave off our affections from him ignotus nulla cupido The blind World can see no Excellency in him no need of him nor any use of him and therefore they have no love nor desire for him but all that know him will love him who prizeth a Physician that is not convinc'd of his skill and finds he hath a real need of him for who will take Physick before he be sick or minds a Plaister before he have a Sore But when the poor soul is convinced of her undone condition by Nature and that there is nothing in her or that can be done by her will serve turn for Salvation yea that help is not to be had in any Creature no not in the Angels themselves could she be Espoused to them for they cannot pay her debts nor secure the Soul in this desparing condition no wonder the Soul dreads death but when it knows withall that though there be an Emptiness in the Creature there is a Fulness in Christ and that he is fully able to make her eternally happy and that Christ doth make love to her and sends many Suitors in his behalf to woe for her affection and that he is the only suitable object in the world for her Affections and that he can make her happy when all the rest would leave her miserable I say under these convictions she begins to hearken to Christs proposals when she sees he is more useful than any other and will stand her in more stead both in Prosperity and Adversity in Health Sickness in Life and at Death when all other helps fail her While the world is lookt upon to be the best match Christ will not be valued till the cheat be found out for who will forsake the better to choose the worse but when they see Christ really better than the world they will then part with the world for him for who will stick at such a bargain when a man considers that the world can do him no good at Death or Judgment But Godliness hath the promise of this life 1 Tim. 4.8 and that to come and that it is profitable to all things Rom. 8.32 and that having Christ all shall be ours for if he spared not his own Son but freely delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things When the match is made up between Christ and the Soul all her Debts are made over to her Husband and he is touched also with the feeling of her Infirmities bears the heavier end of the Cross and in all her afflictions he is afflicted Isa 63.9 and he makes over all his riches to her his Merits his Righteousness his Spirit his Graces and his Glory Plal. 34.10 he hath promised she shall want nothing that is good and that he will never leave her nor forsake her Rom. 8.28 and that all things shall work together for her good Now whatever he hath promised he can make it good for he is both Omnipotent and Omniscient and he will make it good for he is Faithfull and the Experience of five thousand years prove it in all which time no man could stand forth and say This Promise God hath failed in the world yields us some little comfort if God give it a Commission but Christ is all and in all all the excellency that is in the Creature is but as a Vein to lead us to this Mine as a drop of this Ocean and as a ray of this Sun whatever our condition be he can help us if the Soul be sick he is her Physician and all others are Physicians of no value if wounded he hath a Plaister of his own Blood to cure her if she hunger here is food the Bread of life and the Water of life his flesh is meat indeed and his blood drink indeed If she be Poor and Blind and Miserable and Naked he can make supplies here is a Treasure to enrich her a Pearl of great price and spiritual Eye-salve to make her see if she have Enemies he is her Champion that can overcome the Devil and all his Instruments and none can hurt her but through his sides In a word she can want nothing when her Lord and Husband possesses all things the Cattle of a thousand hills are his yea all the beasts of the Forrest with his own Robes he arrayes her and with the Jewels of his Grace he adorns her with his Spirit he directs her and if heavy laden bears her burden if she be weary he is her resting place and hath promised never to leave her nor forsake her Heb. 13.5 and then no matter what others do These promises the Soul may press home by Prayer as Jacob did in a great danger Gen. 32.9 Lord thou saidst thou wouldst do me good and this was as good as present pay for God loves to be bound by his word and to be sued upon his own bond Prayer is a putting the Promises in Suit God can no more deny such Prayers than he can deny himself what need the Soul to fear when Gods Word is out upon it That all things shall work together for her good and if all things then Afflictions nay Sin it self Seneca Venenum aliquando pro remedio fuit saith a Heathen 'T is said that to drink of the Wine wherein a Viper hath been drowned cureth the Leprosie and the Scorpion healeth his own wound the flesh of the Viper cureth the biting of the Viper and so God sometimes cureth us by the wound Sin gives us we usually say The act increaseth the habit but 't is not so here for the believer is like a Sheep that by his fall into the mire is warned to take better heed Now look over all the World and see if you can find such a match for the Soul whether any Creature in Heaven or Earth hath deserved thy Affections better than he or hath done more or will do more than Jesus Christ that is a greater Benefactor than he and hath bestowed better Gifts whether any other can pay thy Debts or make preparation for the Eternal well-being of the Soul and if he prove the fittest Match stand not upon Terms with him think not to alter his Conditions or make him abate of his Price he expects
undauntedly this grace will assure a man that life and death will prove advantagious to him and that God and his departing soul are at peace and that the Covenant remains firm even in the Grave it self this makes a man look even beyond death it self and see the Crown of glory the recompence of reward before him and assures him death will do him more good than hurt that it will set an end to his misery and beginning to his happiness and that when death hath struck the stroak the Angels will carry the Soul into Abrahams bosom yea lodge it in the Arms of their dear Redeemer These apprehensions made Paul to desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ and the Martyrs to be so willing to dye and so chearfully to go to the stake Love to God also is another grace which much sweetens the very thoughts of death indeed this sweetens the sharpest passage of Providence when we think this is my Fathers will whom I love and who loves me and knows best what is for my good yea death it self shall be welcome when 't is a Messenger from him I love to fetch me home to his bosom what will not a loving Wife suffer to enjoy her beloved Husband love desires the strictest union and most intimate communion with the party beloved but this the Soul cannot obtain but by Death O saith the Soul now I lye under the hatches troubled with a thousand infirmities I can seldom have a glimpse of Christ here well the time is at hand that I shall see him face to face and enjoy him in glory where I shall serve him without distraction and never be troubled more with vain thoughts or roving imaginations or any of Satans temptations Oh when will this time be The other graces of the Spirit are also necessary to this end to sweeten death such as Knowledge Repentance Obedience Humility Self-denial Patience Hope c. of which I shall not speak particularly Now the Promises are made to these graces not only of this life but of that to come among the rest of the good things promised is Heaven and Happiness but what is a carnal man the better for these promises that is not qualified for them but when by Faith we can see this Crown of glory and see our Names written upon it and get a Pisgah-sight of this heavenly Canaan we shall willingly venture over this Jordan and encounter all the Sons of Anak we meet in our way and not fear what Man what Devils what Death can do unto us get these Graces in exercise and you need not fear Fire and Faggot 10 Direction That you may thus empty the heart of sin and wickedness and replenish it with Grace and godliness that so you may be fit to live and fit to dye and fit to live with Christ-for ever 't is fit and necessary you take Gods way for it cannot be done by your own strength Improve therefore all the means which God hath afforded you for this end for those that refuse the means seldom attain the end Improve his Word and Ordinances these are the appointed means however some scorn at them and some think they are above them but those that go not this way seldom come to Heaven In the Word are given Rules how to live and how to dye and how to behave ourselves in all Conditions here is Oyl to be had and those that neglect will be to seek when the Bridegroom comes Those that now neglect the Wedding-garment will want it when they have occasion to use it and so be thrust out of the Bride-chamber This Word of God should be our daily study for here are directions both for life and death and none but those that are bad Husbands for the soul will neglect it here are the precious Promises which are our Fathers Legacy out of which the Soul by Faith sucks sweetness which are special Cordials against fainting fits which bear up the head above water and the heart in all storms and tempests here is direction in Heavens way yea way-marks set up that we should not erre nor wander here you may find what qualifications God requires in his servants and what Evidences for Heaven are good and authentick and what God will own another day and if by the help of the Spirit you can read them in your own hearts as in a counter pane there is no better Evidence for Heaven no greater Cordial in the world to bear up the heart here you may find comforts and consolatious in all your conditions and if you walk in this road you will meet with much help and assistance yea many companions in your Journey here you have the Spirit of God both to direct and comfort you and who can erre that hath such a guide or droop that hath such a comforter here you shall hear a voice behind you saying this is the way walk in it turn not to the right hand or to the left here you have the assistance of Gods Ministers to direct you but take heed of quenching the motions of his Spirit or abusing his Messengers lest his Spirit leave striving with you and God take away his Messengers in his anger here you may find many that have walked the same way met with the same troubles suffered the same afflictions temptations crosses and losses as you do and yet have born it with patience and overcome it with constancy and comfort here you may know the worst that death can do to you is for your advantage if you love God for such death cannot hurt kill you it may hurt you it cannot the worst it can do is but to send you to your Fathers house the sooner Meditate therefore upon this Word of God and also upon the Attributes of God and this must needs support you under sufferings Meditate also upon mans Mortality to quicken you in your pace of the Worlds vanity and emptiness to make you slight it and the fulness of Christ to make you to desire him The Meditation of death will not make you dye sooner but safer and the Promises will yield sweetness even in the pangs of death for death is to the godly but as a Pursivant to fetch them to Heaven and his wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth are Cordials also and will help to keep the heart from fainting and desponding and will shield the Spirits against all crosses and afflictions they shall meet with and by Meditation in the Word you may learn the happiness of the godly and the miseries of the wicked and what will be the end of both yea you may find there what are the pains of Hell and the Joyes of Heaven and these may be used as motives to a holy life Prayer also is an excellent duty to prepare for death by this God is engaged to help at a time of need Christian Conference also is another help wherein one fire-stick helps to inkindle another till all come into a
him that is able to receive meat Oh Death how acceptable is thy Judgment to the needy and to him whose strength faileth him c. The best and holiest men have dyed for Innocency it self is no Target against it otherwise Christ had not dyed in whose mouth was found no guile The stoutest and strongest cannot resist death Sampson himself must yield him the victory The wisest cannot preserve himself alive Solomon himself that had studied the nature of all Vegetables 1 King 4.33 from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hyssop that grows upon the wall yet found out none that could cure the dint of Death contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis The worst of men also are subjected to his power those that would sell their Souls to save their lives cannot do it there is no power can resist it at one time it prevail'd against almost all the world as in the Flood against populous Cities as Sodom and Gomorrah c. against Potent Princes and great Armies as over Pharaoh and his Host Senacherib's Army where an hundred fourscore and. five thousand were slain in one Night thus good and bad pass through the same Gate but then their way soon turns the Godly to the right and the Wicked to the left hand the one to Heaven and the other to Hell for as death is an outlet to let us out of the World so 't is an inlet to let us in to Eternity to the Godly an inlet to Eternal Bliss and to the wicked into Eternal misery Then will a difference be made between the Good and the Bad as wide as between Heaven and Hell Death is a debt we owe to nature and pay it we must and t is not much matter whether it be sooner or later or whether we dye a natural or violent Death they both signifie the same thing should'st thou turn every stone and use all means direct or indirect thou canst not long preserve thy life possibly if thou deny payment of this debt when God requires it thou maist preserve it a little longer and but a little for God will ere long distrain for the Debt and then cast thee into an Eternal Prison Gods determinate counsel is upon thee and he knows eventually when thy death shall be he hath determined thy bounds that thou canst not pass God commanded Abraham to Sacrifice his Son and it was his Duty so to do and his sin if he refused though God determined eventually it should not be done yet if he had refused it he had miss'd of the Blessing Thy appointed time is with God but unknown to thee 't is his revealed will that is thy duty thou must look after not eventually what shall come to pass secret things belong to God Deu. 29.29 but things revealed unto us if God and his truth his Gospel and his cause call thee to lay down thy life and seal thy doctrine with thy blood thou must carry thy life in thy hand and lay it down at his feet If God command thee to lose thy life 't is thy duty to dye and if by denying Christ life be prolonged 't is a hard bargain and 't is no less thy sin though God eventually determined thy life to be prolonged There are many that hasten their death by their intemperance and sacrifice their lives to Bacchus and Venus to drunkenness and lust and so become a Victim to the Devil himself yet are not Gods decrees altered for though many hasten their death or use unlawful means to preserve their lives and so both the one and the other become Guilty yet Gods decrees are not altered If thou devote thy life to God and fully resolvest to lose it for his sake if he require it though he never call thee forth to suffer thou wilt not lose thy reward and if thou resolvest thou wilt part with Christ and kick up thy profession rather than suffer for him if he never put thee upon the trial God will take the will for the deed whether thou wilt or no dye thou must for death will not be bribed Crowns and Kingdoms will not prolong their owners lives thou maist say of death as Paul of preaching A necessity is laid upon me will I nill I dye I must if willing I have a reward if against my will I cannot help it death will not be corrupted with bribes won with promises nor terrified with threats When the time will be 't is not so much thy concern to know as thy duty to prepare for it thou maist lose thy self but canst not preserve thy life one day beyond the appointed time if thou deny God a temporal life he will deny thee eternal life I have read of one in persecuting times being called to suffer for the truth he had professed cryes out The fire is hot I cannot burn but within a short space he was burnt in his own house and we have cause to fear he finds the fire of Hell incomparably hotter than the flames he was burnt in which yet he could not evade Death triumphs over all ranks and Estates of men from the King upon his Throne to his meanest Subject Mors pauperum tabernas regumque turres aequo pulsat pede Death makes no difference ere long the grizly hand of Death will with a winding sheet cover those naked Breasts and spotted Faces which have been the Looking-glasses of lust And worms will ere long make their nest between those Breasts which are now exposed to sight and sale and eat out those wanton windows of love and messengers of lust death will then cool the courage of the stoutest hot-spur Crowns and Scepters are the spoils taken by this Conqueror as trophies of his victories Job 14.7 man that is born of a woman is of short life and full of trouble Inward corruption disposeth us to Death as well as open violence thy body is an earthen pitcher ready to break at every knock this earthly tabernacle must be repaired with food or Physick or both daily or it will soon fall about thy ears many are the harbingers of death many are the sensible decayes in nature which tell thee thy end is approaching the weakness of thy sight the dulness of thy hearing the rottenness of thy â—eeth the wrinkles in thy face and thy gray hairs mind thee that this crazy Pitcher will not long come home from the water unbroken The contrary Elements whereof thy body is compounded the disagreeing qualities within thee of cold and heat drought and moisture will at length quarrel for the upper hand and work the destruction of the compositum were there no external cause of thy dissolution these will effect what thy greatest enemy can but do though haply not so soon The fruit when 't is once ripe will fall if it be not gathered the Rose will wither if not pluckt the sturdiest Oak or Elm or Cedar will at length yield to time Methusalems glass will run out and these
couldst thou preserve it from the hands of violence and therefore 't is best leave it in his hands where it is or wouldst have God preserve thy life as long as thou pleasest and till thou think 't is fit to dye why dost think thou canst put such a clause into the Covenant or dost think 't is fit it should be put in wouldst thou have God alter his eternal decrees for thy sake Oh the folly of such a conceit the pride of such a desire thou thinkest the life of the bruit beast should be at thy dispose to save or to destroy as thou thinkest fit and yet thou thinkest thou dost them no wrong if thou kill them and why because thou callest them thy own but hath not God a better right to thee than thou hast to them He gave thee thy life but thou gavest them not the life thou takest But 't is a violent death thou fearest and wouldst not fall into thine enemies hands but if God make them his Messengers they are thy Friends though unwillingly and promote thy glory they cannot act without him and therefore look not at the rod but at the hand that holds it The King of Assyria was sent as a scourge by God to do his work Isa 10.7.15 to reform his people Howbeit he meaneth not so neither doth his heart think so but it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations not a few c. Shall the Ax boast it self against him that heweth therewith or shall the Saw magnify it self against him that shaketh it c All are but instruments in the hand of God they do his will and what he appoints as Jehu cut off Ahabs family at his command yet God punisht him for it because he aimed not at Gods glory in the work but at his own greatness wicked men can neither maintain their own lives when God calls for them neither can they take away thine by their own power for they can have no power but what they have from above and if thou see Gods hand and seal to their Commission murmur not at it for 't is not want of love to thee that made God set them on work nor any love to them that made him imploy them but it was to fill up the measure of their sins that they may be ripe for Judgment and to fill up the measure of thy sufferings that thou maist be ripe for glory The same love that sent Christ into the world to dye for thee is exercised in sending thee to dye for him in the one he prepared a King dom for thee in the other he calls thee out of the world to enjoy it By Christs death there is a possession purchased and by thy death thou art put into the possession of it and what hurt is in all this there is thy life yea Eternal Life put into the lease of it Never fear miscarrying iâ— thou wilt be ruled by God for if thou shouldest either it will be want of power want of wisdom or want of love thaâ— shall occasion it not want of power for the Lord is El-shaddai God alsufficient able to remove all the rubs that lye in the way thy enemies they cannot hurt thee without him for they cannot breathe without him nor move a finger but by his assistance Neither can they out-wit him for he is Omniscient the only wise God Isa 9.6 the everlasting counseller the Prince of peace who knows how to deliver his people and to reserve the wicked for the day of wrath they cannot hide their counsels from him for he is every where present if they dig down to Hell he is there also and can countermine them he hath wrought wonderfully for the preservation of his people witness Noah Daniel the three children Jonah Israel in Egypt the Jews in Hamans time Peter Athanasius Luther Calvin England and many others which he hath preserved against numerous enemies And for love never any hath discovered more than Christ hath done for his people and yet canst not trust Him with the dispose of thy life that lost his own for the good of thy soul Thou canst trust thy life in a narrow Ship upon the raging Sea for gain if thou think thou hast a skilful careful Pilot and darest not sail in those narrow seas to the port of Rest and Haven of happiness when God himself is thy Pilot and steers thy Ship when never any miscarried in the voyage Thou canst trust a Lawyer with thy Estate if thou think him honest and able and dost mistrust the everlasting Counseller with thy eternal Estate who neither can deceive or be deceived Thou wouldst trust a skilful Physitian with thy Body and take bitter pills and unsavoury potions if he prescribe them and darest thou not put thy life into the hands of the Physician of Souls in comparison of whom all others are Physicians of no value because he prescribes a little unpleasing Physick though no bitterer than needful If thou mistrust him with thy life either 't is because thou fearest he will deceive thee or may be deceived but this intrenches upon his wisdom or fidelity 't is better for a child be under his Fathers protection than his own much more for thee to be under Gods tuition than at thy own dispose he never yet betrayed his trust neither can any pluck thee out of Gods hands John 10.28 Rom. 8.21 he tells thee all things shall work together for thy good if thou love God and then why not death why not a violent death hath he not told thee Heb. 13.5 Mat. 16.18 he will never leave thee nor forsake thee and that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against thee and darest not take his word was he ever known to falsify it If life be good thou shalt have it if not why wilt desire it But art afraid lest he should deal with thee when he takes thee hence as the Prophet did with the Syrians lead thee to Samaria when thou thinkest thou art going to Dothan lest thou shouldst go to Hell with hopes of Heaven in thy mouth Never fear if thou carry thy Evidences for Heaven with thee he will never disinherit thee Christ will not lose the purchase of his blood and thou shalt not lose what he hath purchased for thee If it be good for thee to dye why wouldst thou live A child cannot choose so well for himself as his Father can and God knows better than thee what is belt Many are loth to open a Vein and yet in some cases 't is best yea to cut off a Limb may be necessary though painful the sensual faculty here must be ruled by the rational that is not alwaies best that is most pleasing to the Appetite If thou leave it to God what death thou shalt dye he will make the best choice for thee he will lay no more upon thee than he gives thee strength to bear and through Christ assisting thee thou
conceptions can a brute beast have of a Rational being no better can we have of celestial things which are so far out of the reach of sense Kings are the highest degree of honour and dignity among men and therefore all the Saints are said to be Kings Kings wear Crowns and so do they but these Crowns are not made of gold but of Glory but what that glory is we yet know not God is the Sun of righteousness that casteth abroad his beams and the Angels and glorified Saints are as the Moon that are inlightned with his rayes and by reflexion become light and shine as the Stars in the Firmament by their borrowed light and how many millions of Suns then will appear at once in this Horizon which shall never set again Oh the wonderful love and mercy of God! that this body of clay shall then shine as the Sun and be made like unto the glorified body of the Lord Christ this is the place where sin and sorrow shall be no more they shall never enter these gates or ever reach the heart of any Believer no painful pang no hard labour no sickness no sorrow nothing that bespeaks evil shall ever enter but everlaststing Joy and endless triumph those that believe this and believe that they have a have a part in this they may well say with Paul I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ If Cleombeotus hearing Plato's discourse of the Immortality of the soul hastened his own death that he might have the pleasure of another world well may a Christian though not lay violent hands upon himself yet wait every day when his appointed time come and cry out Come Lord Jesus come quickly Thus thou seest the place is glorious and the company delightful and adding more lustre to the place and more happiness to one another Here upon earth as thou art among sorrows and troubles so in a bad Neighbourhood even among men spiritually dead most thou conversest with are so and who but mad men would live among the tombes every family have some most families have all thus dead in trespasses and sins nay not only dead but infectious also every one hath some plague-sore or other running upon him and thou art apt to take the infection nay many are infected to the danger of the life of the soul and who would live in such an infected air in such a pest-house thou livest also amongst enemies some open some secret the latter many times worst of all some seek thy Estate by unjust dealing some would rob thee of thy good Name by detraction and reproaches by lyes and slanders others of thy liberty by persecution and some of thy life but the greatest enemies seek the destruction of both body and soul and all these lay snares in thy way to intrap thee many wait for thy halting and for an occasion to do thee a mischief but in heaven here is a good neighbourhood good society the inhabitants there are free from guile free from corruption self seeking every one loving another as himself and God better than all here both the Saints and Angels are perfect in Holiness without spot or stain without sin or sinful inclination here thou shalt sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of thy Father and have no worse company than the Spirits of just men made perfect It was Socrates the wisest of the Philosophers comfort when he was to dye that he should after death converse with Homer Hesiod and other excellent men in another world It was Cato's comfort against the pains of death that now he was to leave the Colluvies as he calls them that filthy sordid base unworthy company with which he was forc'd to converse those beastly belly-gods and that he should converse with the Souls of wise men departed But of all men in the world believers may comfort themselves that they shall in Heaven enjoy the company of Saints and Angels yea with God himself and come to the City of the great King Heb. 12.23 the Heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven for if the Society of the Saints were so delightful here when yet they had their Sins and Imperfections what will they be there when they shall be there when they shall be healed of all their corruptions if here they were Comely though black what will they be when they are without Spot or wrinkle here on Earth they are like fire-sticks setting one another on a flame of love provoking each other to love and to good works building each other up in their most holy faith exciting each others zeal for Gods glory and the common good watching over each other sympathizing each with other and helping to bear each others aflictions but oh how sweet then wilâ— their Society be when all imperfections shall be done away and they shall be perfect in holiness when nothing will appear but perfect Love Unity and Amity one with another when all shall be of one mind and every one shall speak the same thing and there shall be nothing to interrupt their joy or break their peace or frustrate their hopes or cross their wills Oh blessed Society between whom is no strife no contention no difference in judgment no discontent can arise where there is no hypocrite dissembler or hollow-hearted person among them but all mind all pursue the same thing the praise of their dear Redeemer when there is no Error in Judgment no disorder in the affections no disobedience in their wills no trouble in the conscience no defect in the memory Oh happy day when will it come when I shall enjoy those miriads of Angels and glorified Saints in glory here the Saints are tossed to and fro in the world as if they were not fit to live in it but there they come to their resting place this is their center where they are as firm as mount Sion and shall not be moved here is their work but there is their wages here is their suffering there is their Reward here is their pilgrimage there is their Country here they are subject to infirmities there they are made perfect in holiness here are those nimble Posts of Heaven Gen. 28.12 which Jacob saw ascending and descending upon the Ladder in his Vision these are Gods Army these are Believers Guardians and in Heaven they shall be their fellow Brethren here are the Noble Army of Martyrs that loved not their lives to the death whose garments were dyed red with their own blood Rev. 14. and now are made white in the blood of the Lamb here are the hundred forty four thousand John saw with harps in their hands which follow the Lamb which way soever he goes singing Halelujahs Salvation honour power and glory be unto our God here are the innumerable company which he saw out of all Nations and Countries and Languages which no man
should not dispose of thee as well as he doth of all the world Shall the pot say to him that made it Why hast thou made me thus Art thou wiser than he to know who is fit to be cal'd forth to suffer and knowest thou better than he how to guide the affairs of the world But thou art afraid thou shalt not hold out but dost thou stand by thy own strength and dost not think that God hath power enough to uphold thee or wisdom enough to know what thou canst do a wise Captain will not put a fresh-water Souldier upon the hardest assaults put experienced Souldiers God will not put new Wine into old Bettles if thy heart be rotten no wonder if thou miscarry if it be right God will not suffer thee to faint having so many cordials by him In Queen Maryes daies we read of poor simple men and women that never had the Learning the means the time the help that thou hast had nor never made the profession that thou hast made yet were wonderfully supported by God under all their sufferings and became glorious Martyrs and cannot God uphold thee also and why then shouldst thou be so desirous of life and fearful of death and rather live a miserable life than dye a happy death why wouldst thou still live in Meseck and in the tents of Kedar rather than in Gods own House and in his presence in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore why dost desire to be present in the Flesh and absent from the Lord and preferrest misery before glory it self and a vain empty nothing before eternal treasures sure something is amiss with thee that with Adam thou hidest thy self from God and wilt not go when he calls thee Heb. 10.22 couldst thou draw neer to him with a pure heart in assurance of faith with a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and thy body washed with pure water thou maist find more delight in his presence than the world can yield and in sincerity will enable thee to delight in him much more perfection when all imperfections will be done away then thou wilt find with David that 't is better be a door-keeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness that a day in his courts much more in Heaven is better than a thousand elsewhere But Oh my soul hast not thou plaid the Truant and now darest not come into thy Masters sight hast thou not with the slothful servant hid thy talent or like the unjust Steward wasted thy masters goods and now fearest what account thou shalt give of thy Stewardship or what answer thou shalt make about thy talent Or hast thou not played the Coward and runst away from thy Colours or turned thy back upon the enemy and now darest not look thy Captain in the face Paul when he had fought the fight and kept the Faith and expected the crown he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ to be absent from the body and present with the Lord well may thy Lord and Saviour entertain thee with a check Why art thou fearful Oh thou of little faith Art thou listed to fight against thy enemies and now when the last enemy is to be destroyed dost thou turn thy back throw down thy weapons and quit the field doth thy faith fail thee and dost thou question whether there be a reward for the righteous and a God that judgeth the earth and whether there be an eternal happiness to be had or whither those that dye in the Lord are blessed and do rest from their labours dost now question whether death doth put an end to all the Saints miseries and enter then into eternal joy if so why hast thou preacht and owned and pleaded for these things yea why hast thou suffered so much in hope of a joyful resurrection but if thou believe there is a God and that the Scripture is the Word of God and that God will do as he saith and will make good all his promises and all his threats and that it shall go well with the righteous and that he shall eat the fruit of his labour Isa 3.10 and that it shall go ill with the wicked for the reward of his hands shall be given him If thou do believe death is to the godly the Out-let to misery and the Inlet to glory and puts them into possession of all that is good that it will cure all diseases and heal all maladies how can this stand with thy fear and dread the very thoughts of eternal Joy draws up the heart to Heaven and makes thee wish and long for the time of thy dissolution and much imbitters all earthly enjoyments and makes the soul impatient of delayes and to cry out Come Lord Jesus come quickly when shall the time be that I shall Solace my Soul in the enjoyment of my Husband when shall I lye in his bosom when will my beloved send for me in his triumphant Chariot O cursed sin when shall I be rid of thee thou art the Make-bate between my God and me thou hidest his face from me thou spoilest all my duties thou art the cause of all my misery when shall I be rid of thee when shall I give thee a bill of divorce when shall it once be Oh my soul were but thy love as it should be to Christ these would be thy breathings and thy pantings after him thou wouldst be like a love-sick woman never well till thou wert in the arms of thy beloved thy thoughts would be upon him ubi amor ibi animus where the treasure is there will the heart be also where love is the heart will be and love makes labour light the wife that loveth her husband will rather venture his displeasure in coming to him without his consent than in staying from him when she is sent for and thy unwilllingness to dyeand come to Christ when he calls thee doubtless proceeds from want of love to him let them fear death that have Plague-sores running upon them the marks and tokens of the second death whose passing out of the world is but the direct road to Hell whose life time is all the respite they have out of Hell and the only breathing-time they are ever like to have free from torments but to the godly it is not so but their only Hell and time of their misery If a man were sore sick and could certainly know that after one night he should be perfectly well and never be sick more or if a man in pinching penury and want should know that after one Sleep he should awake a Prince and all his wants should be supplyed who would fear that Night or be afraid of that Sleep but such a Night such a Sleep death is to the godly it is but a sleep and they shall wake in glory 'T is but to wink saith the Martyr and we shall be in Heaven presently