Hence we finde that the godly in Scripture were full of the thoughts of death in the time of their sickness David prays on his sick bed that his visitation may be sanctified to this purpose Psal 39.4 Lord make me to know my end and this improvement made Heman of his sickness when the wounds of his soul caused wastings and diseases in his body Psal 88.3 4 5. For my soul is full of troubles and my life draws nigh unto the grave and this was good Hezekiah his frame in his sickness Isa 38.10 11 12. I said in the cutting off my days I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years I said I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the earth Mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherds tent I have cut off like a weaver my life He will cut me off with pining sickness from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me So when Job was almost throtled with a disease for saith he Job 30.8 It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat He makes this gracious use of his Visitation vers 23. I know that thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living So that by all we see that sickness is a special means to fill our hearts with the thoughts of death End 4. To fill the heart with the knowledge and sense of God Beloved our hearts are apt to be senseless of God as he appears in the ordinary course of his Providence and mercy therefore God often manifests himself in the crosses and changes of our life which makes us more apt to inquire into the cause of such alterations as when corn grows in its ordinary course first the blade then the ear then the full corn in the ear few observe the good Providence of God herein but when God by frost hail or blasting destroys the fruits of the field so that it neither yeilds bread to the eater nor seed to the sower hereby his hand is more remarkably seen and observed so whilst God continues men in health and ease and strength few are sensible of his goodness herein but when he fills their bodies with aches pains and diseases then his power and providence is more observed in such visitations Hence saith Job cap. 10.17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me as Gods mercies are called his witnesses his doing good and giving rain and fruitful seasons Act. 14.17 so sicknesses and other judgements are fitly called Gods witnesses the use of which is to declare and testifie of God to us Oh saith the Pestilence He is a terrible God that sent me and saith the Fever He is a mighty God that sent me and saith the Consumption He is a just God that sent me If you will not receive the testimony of Gods Ministers and of his Mercies will you receive the testimony of your afflictions certainly every sickness if the conscience be awakened will testifie the same things of God and Christ which Ministers preach to you Consider further I pray you that there is a more special aptness in diseases to convince the heart of man then in divers other things which yet will leave us inexcusable as it is the use of outward mercies to commend the power and wisdom and care and goodness of God to ours heart and a man may improve every mercy so as out of it to fill his heart with God but there are snares and temptations in these to steal the heart from God and therefore men are apt to lose God and to forget him when they are most full of these mercies So in injuries form men we should see the hand of God From men which are thy hand O Lord saith David Psal 17.14 but we are usually so fill'd with anger and revenge towards men that we forget the hand of God But now in a sickness the name of God and the hand of God is more clearly known and seen so that there is no such provision for lust in a sickness as in the mercies here is no profit nor credit nor pleasure for lust to feed upon and here is no instrument to quarrel with will a man be angry with a Fever or be revenged on a Consumption No we must own the Power and Will of God who is the cause of the visitation End 5. Christ sends diseases to turn men from sin and the world unto himself Hence God complains of the want of this as a great disappointment Amos 4.10 I have sent among you the Pestilence to cause you turn to me yet have ye not returned unto to me saith the Lord and therefore it 's observable that in a sickness God doth blast that which makes the snare to hold our hearts from God as we know much of the life and strength of pride and covetousness and other lusts is in the profits and pleasures and preferments of the world now what are all these to a sick man his sickness doth as it were block up all provision from the flesh and now he may see that none but God and Jesus Christ can answer the necessity of his soul and therefore let me ask you What is the best thing which you would propound to a friend on a sick bed who is just upon his flight into eternity will you provide him a sumptuous feast or a rich suit of cloaths or offer him some place of preferment No no shew him a God and Christ to save his poor soul shew him a happiness which will make him blessed when he is turned out of all which sickness and death can take from him Moreover it appears that sickness is appointed by God as a means for our conversion because this and every affliction calls us to do that which the word calls us unto Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy law This makes a man a blessed man when in his chastenings he is full of the teaching of the Law Hence we are commanded to hear the rod and who hath appointed it Micah 6.9 Beloved the rod speaks as well as strikes and we should hear the rod as well as feel the rod now what doth the rod speak I answer The rod speaks the minde and will of God who smites with it the rod and the word speak the same language therefore we should see our sickness full of Scripture Oh saith the Dropsie Turn to the God that sent me and saith the Ague Make your peace with God that sent me And this is the voice of every disease which comes upon us And therefore consider that God doth often so bless and sanctifie a sickness to us that it is a means to turn the heart to God and causeth us to bring forth the fruit of many other dispensations as for example God sends to allure us by his mercies Hos
hath done for thee Psal 42.8 My prayer shall be to the God of my life He honours God with this Title The God of his life Psal 59.10 The God of my mercy Psal 18.1 2. I will love thee O Lord my strength The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer Believe it poor Christian that the God of all the world is pleased and praised by thy calling him thy God and therefore praise God as his glory shines and appears in all other things and as it appears to thee As thus the God of all the world and my God the Father of Jesus Christ and my Father the God of life and health to his people and the God of my life and of my health 3. Labour to the utmost of thy power to fill all places with the Name of God and Jesus Christ Psal 66.2 Make his praise glorious This is a right praising God when we endeavour to make his Name glorious in the hearts of all that are about us our lives should be such that in every thing that we do there may be reason to cause others to love bless praise and rejoyce in God Mat. 5.16 Our works should be such that they should set all that see them on work to glorifie our Father which is in heaven and we should live so that it may be an honour to God to be called the God of such a people Now is it any honour to God to be called the God of Drunkards or the God of Swearers or the God of Whoremongers No no but as Master Latimer said they may say Our father which art in hell But the God of Believers the God of all that love him and fear him and seek him it is his honour to be called the God of such a people and as it is said Heb. 11.16 He is not ashamed to be called their God 4. Let every thing that hath been the subject of mercy be the instrument of praise David calls upon all that is within him to praise Gods holy Name Who healeth all his diseases Psal 103 1 3. And we are commanded to yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God Rom. 6.13 Sirs every member of a Christian is a member of Christ and the Life of Christ spreads all over and fills his whole body and this life should branch out in all the parts and members of our bodies Christ hath bought and paid for all the Law bindes all every member can be an instrument of sin every member must at last be cloathed with glory therefore we should glorifie God with our bodies and souls which are Gods 1 Cor. 6.20 Consider What may I do for God with my tongue hands feet countenance c. Perhaps not long since thy whole body was overspread with a disease and there was no soundness in thy flesh because of Gods anger neither was there any rest in thy bones because of thy sins Never a bone or joynt was free from pain Now then seeing God hath healed all thou shouldest say with David Psal 35.10 All my bones may say Lord who is like to thee Lastly Let the consideration of the greatness of thy mercy cause thee to praise God Consider this in four particulars 1. Thou art restored to life God hath as it were clearly given thee a life We have this passage in Jer. 45.5 and elsewhere in Scripture Thy life will I give unto thee for a prey the meaning seems to be thus that when a mans life is in great danger though he suffer divers losses yet if his life be saved he triumphs in the preservation of his life as if he had got a great prey or spoil from an enemy Now to apply this to the present case perhaps thou hast suffered divers losses and crosses in thy sickness and now thou art restored thou mayst see many things sad in the Church and in thy family but thy life is given instead of a prey to thee and in this thou hast cause to rejoyce Look at thy life and consider what a mercie that is and thou wilt see great reason to praise God in the midst of thy greatest afflictions Oh then let thy life be laid out to the will and glory of God say with David after his recovery from a great danger Psal 116.9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living do nothing but what thou canst with comfort do before the Lord as seeing the all-seeing God looking on 2. Thou art restored to thy health consider how lately the multitude of thy bones were tortured with strong pains thy stomach was gone and thy life did abhor bread and thy soul dainty meat Job 33.19 20. Thou wouldst have given much for a nights sleep when wearisome nights were appointed to thee Job 7.3 yet now God hath given thee health he hath caused thy bones to rejoyce and filled thy heart with food and gladness and thou liest down and thy sleep is sweet unto thee 3. Thou art restored to thy friends and relations to thy husband wife children parents brothers and sisters and to thy dear and bosom-friends the day would have been sad to these mourners going about the streets following thee to thy long home But now God hath restored comfort to thee and to thy mourners Isa 5.18 therefore let the sight of all thy friends fill thee with a fresh sense of the goodness and mercie of God Say as Jacob said of his Brother Esau in another case Gen. 33.10 I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God See the gracious face and presence of God shining upon thee in the face of all thy friends look on thy yoke-fellow and look upon God look on thy parents and look upon God look on thy children c. and look upon God and so as the sight of every friend fills thee with new and fresh thoughts of thy mercie let it also renew in thee a fresh and thankful remembrance of the God of thy mercie Lastly thou art restored to thy blessed and soul-saving opportunities Sirs if we consider how precious time is we must needs acknowledge this to be a precious mercie now that you may see time precious and so for this reason may esteem your recovery a precious mercie look on thy time as the season allowed thee to glorifie God and to work out the Salvation of thy soul you know in other cases we prize our time according to the worth of those things which time gives us an opportunity to gain as the husbandman accounts Harvest-time precious because it is his season to reap the precious fruits of the earth as St. James calls them Jam. 5.7 The Merchant accounts the time precious when the wind blows him to his prize The souldier accounts the time precious when he marches for his life And is not that time much more precious which God hath given thee to save thy soul If God and Christ and Heaven and Grace and the Soul be precious
for his friends which proved such miserable Comforters to him Job 16.4 5. If your souls were in my souls stead I would strengthen you with my mouth and the movings of my lips should asswage your grief Oh Sirs how sweet and savoury is it to a sick Christian to receive spiritual Cordials from the wholesome tongue of a cordial friend Now this will be a reason and ground of our sympathy if we look on Believers in their sickness in their union and relation to Jesus Christ for saith Christ Mat. 25.36 I was sick viz. in my sick members and ye visited me Consider this diseased Christian is a member of that Body whose Head sits at the right hand of the Majesty of the most High And as poor as this sicK Saint lies here yet he is virtually raised up with Christ and sits together with him in heavenly places As miserable as he appears now yet the next time we see him we shall see him appearing with Christ in glory Come with these considerations when you visit one another and you will account it a mercy and great priviledge if you or any thing of yours be so blest as to be the instrument of ease or health or comfort to such a precious one and you will finde all well improved when Christ shall say unto you Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you for I was sick and ye visited me End 14. Christ visits his people with sickness to glorifie his power and mercy in strengthening and comforting them in their sickness That of the Apostle is true of bodily as well as of spiritual weakness 2 Cor. 12.9 My strength is made perfect in weakness Now is a time for God to shew his strength in the weakness of his people Psal 41.3 The Lord will strengthen him on a bed of languishing thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness Methinks that man should lie easily who hath the God that made all the world to make all his bed in his sickness The meaning is God will be the cause of rest and ease and peace to him in this condition Hence Myconius in a fit of sickness writes to Luther Se non lethaliter sed vitaliter aegrotare that he is not sick unto death but sick unto life having so much spiritual life and comfort in his sickness And one of Mr. Dods Converts told him in her sickness That she was full of comfort and could as hardly forbear singing now as she could crying when she was in Child-bearing That of the Psalmist agrees to this Psalm 73.26 My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever It 's observable that God hath this title in Scripture The God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 because whatever comfort we have from any creature it comes from God through the creature it 's the goodness of God in the creature which makes it a comfort it 's the goodness of God which makes a Wife a comfort a Childe a comfort c. And then he is the God of all comfort because he comforts us against all troubles there is comfort from God through the creatures but this is but some comfort Money comforts a man against his debts and meat comforts him against his hunger but there are other cases as of sickness and spiritual wounds and temptations c wherein these yield no comfort But whatever the trouble be to a Believer there is comfort in God against it we have often God the Holy Ghost called in Scripture The Comforter now it 's a special skill to observe which way God in a most especial manner glorifies his several Titles This Title The Comforter is glorified by Gods exercising his infinite power to comfort the hearts of his distressed people Now sickness is an affliction wherein a man can have nothing to comfort him but God and Jesus Christ this is clear for true comfort is the strengthening of the heart against the present trouble now that which comforts us must be as truly ours as the trouble is ours we must say Our God and our joy as well as Our sickness or else we cannot have comfort And again it must be as near as our trouble for it 's no comfort to an hungry man to know he hath meat if he cannot come at it Now faith sees God and Christ as near to the soul to comfort it as sickness is to the body to trouble it And then lastly that which comforts us must be good enough to take away the evil that troubles us now a mans great trouble on his sick-bed is for fear of losing his poor soul and in this case to shew him riches and honours and pleasures will not comfort him for they can do nothing in the removing his trouble but if God say I am thy salvation now the man is comforted and sings at the very door of death Solomon tells us Prov. 14.32 The righteous hath hope in his death Now his hope is not for some place of preferment or some rich purchase or the like for death brings no such things but he hopes for preferment in the great City that hath foundations Heb. 11.10 where he is for ever to dwell in his house not made with hands 2 Cor. 5.1 and these sickness and death bring him into That Scripture is sweet Heb. 6.19 20. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast and which entreth into that within the vail whither our forerunner is for us entred even Jesus The place within the vail is heaven where the anchor of hope enters and sticks So that though a poor believer lie gasping and groaning on his sick bed or in other afflictions yet this is his comfort he is still anchor'd and fastned to heaven End 15. Christ visits his people with sickness to fit them for greater sufferings As the Martyr Bilney put his finger in the fire to fit him to burn in the flames Christ by sickness makes a man fit to die and then he is fit for any sufferings for he that can obediently sacrifice his life to God can for the same reason offer up his health liberty and estate to God and this made Paul ready to suffer all persecutions because he was ready to die Acts 20.22 23 24. He knew that every where bonds and afflictions did way-lie him but saith he v. 24. None of these things move me I will not stir a step out of my way of obedience for all the bonds and afflictions that the hands of devils and men can make What is his reason because I count not my life dear unto my self so that I may finish my course with joy and the Ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the grace of God Precious Paul so that he could die in joy and die in duty he did not think his life too dear or too good to be spent for Jesus
knowing that this fruit will abound to his account when Christ and he come to reckon and that this is laid up in store as a good foundation against the time to come 1 Tim. 6.19 As a man that intends to transplant himself beyond the Seas turns his stock here into such things which will make his life comfortable when he comes there So a Saint knowing that he is upon a journey beyond this world turns his stock and estate to Gods glory here believing that it will be returned to him a thousand fold in the glory and joys of heaven when he comes there End 17. Which is the last that I shall mention is to gain to himself praise and glory in recovering his people from their sickness Hence we read Job 11.3 4. when it was told Christ that Lazarus whom he loved is sick Christ answers This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby Beloved recovery from sickness is a great mercy both to a mans self and others as St. Paul acknowledgeth of Epaphroditus Phil. 2.27 He was sick nigh unto death but God had mercy on him and not on him onely but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow And therefore upon this reason the hearts of Gods people have been filled with the praises of God Psal 103.1 2 3. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy name And this is one ground of this Who healeth all thy diseases This was Hezekiah his practice in this case Isa 38.19 The living the living they shall praise thee as I do this day See also 2 Cor. 1.9 10 11. We had the sentence of death in our selves that is our danger was so great whether by sickness or persecution or rather both I shall not inquire that we looked on our selves as sentenced to dye and this sentence was in us and did fill us but saith he God who raiseth the dead delivered us from so great a death for this end that thanks may be given by many on our behalf Beloved sometimes our sicknesses are very grievous and dangerous as Job cries out cap. 23.2 My stroke is heavier then my groaning and saith Job 10.16 Thou shewest thy self marvellous upon me that is thou exercisest thy marvellous power and greatness in afflicting me Now this should cause us to make the praises of God more glorious for our recovery and therefore in such cases the godly have acknowledged this mercy to be a kinde of resurrection from the dead as Psal 30.3 O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave 1 Sam. 2.6 Who bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up Job 33.28 29 30. He will deliver his soul from going down into the pit and his life shall see the light And this is the Providence that all are to observe and acknowledge Loe all these things worketh God oftentimes with man to bring back his soul from the pit to be inlightened with the light of the living Vses First Vse of Information to inform us of five things First Information is that Jesus Christ is a terrible God this appears in that he hath all diseases at command to bid them go and come and do what he will The Scripture makes known God to be a terrible God Deut. 7.21 He is a mighty God and terrible Nehem. 9.32 The great the mighty and terrible God Job 37.22 With God is terrible Majesty Psal 47.2 For the Lord most high is terrible And we finde this inference made from Gods visiting men with sickness Deut. 28.58 That thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful Name The Lord thy God Beloved it is one of the most devouring delusions of the Devil to perswade men that God is so merciful that he will never question them for their sins Hence we read that the wicked man who contemns God and his judgements saith in his heart God will not require it Psal 10.13 They think in their hearts and conscience that God will never trouble them for their sins this secure temper of the ungodly is seen by that of the prophet Ezek. 7.7 The morning is come upon thee the time is come the day of trouble is near and not the sounding again of the mountains or as Junius and Termellius read it not the Eccho of the mountains implying that they feared no more the threatnings of the Prophets then a vain airy noise or Eccho in the mountains this makes secure sinners to bear no fear of God Psal 36.1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God before his eyes Their sins are so notorious and visible that they declare in the very hearts and consciences of the godly that there is no fear of God before their eyes Now to awaken you out of this damnable security I shall propound four Considerations to convince you that God is a very terrible God 1. Consider that when the terrors of all bodily evils are past yet then God falls upon men with everlasting terrors we usually account great men very terrible but God tells the wicked Isa 47.3 I will take vengeance and I will not meet thee as a man thou hast been afraid oftentimes of meeting with thy Creditor or of meeting with the Magistrate c. but consider when thou comest to meet God in his taking vengeance for sin he will not meet thee as a man as a hard Creditor or as a harsh Landlord or a furious Souldier or a severe Magistrate but he will meet thee as a God of wrath and vengeance Upon this ground our Saviour presents God terrible Luk. 12.4 5. And I say unto you My friends be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you should fear fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Observe that what our Saviour saith of men is true of all bodily evils when they have killed the body they have no more that they can do then the fear of them is past there is no fear of Pestilence or Fever or Consumptions in eternity but now a wicked man can never say the worst is past because he can never be past hell for God after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell so that when you think it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a merciless Usurer or a cruel Landlord or a bloudy man or to fall into the fire or water or to fall into the Pestilence Fever Dropsie c. then consider that It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Secondly consider God is not onely a God of mercy but also a God of judgment the Devil devours most men by perswading them either that God hath no wrath which makes them presumptuous or that he hath no mercy which makes
remember thou art shortly to be like unto them The very carkasses in the graves are ready to say unto thee as the Prophet brings in the inhabitants of the Tombs crying to the King of Babylon Isai 14.10 All they shall speak and say unto thee Art thou also become weak as we Art thâ—u become like unto us Look upon every thing about thy friends Funeral with a particular application to thy self look on the Bier at the door as if it stood there to receive thee look on the Coffin as if it were made for thee and look on the Winding-sheet as if it were washt and made ready for thee Look on the Sextons Spade as ready to dig a grave for thee Certainly these things would prove excellent means to fit us for sickness and death Direct 9. Keep up a spirit of prayer for surely a man is in a great measure fit to die who is fit to pray This appears by the Preface to the Petitions in the Lords Prayer Our Father which art in heaven whereby we see that a Childe of God by prayer doth as it were part from the world and is with his Father which is in Heaven Hence Heb. 10.19 Prayer is called An entring into the Holiest viz. into Heaven Besides it is easie to demonstrate that the same things which make us fit to pray make us fit to die and that a praying frame is a dying frame for our hearts are most set upon those things when we pray which we must receive when we die Death brings us to the things which we pray for and he that is unwilling to die is unwilling to receive an answer to his own prayers Beloved it often puzzles the thoughts of men to think what will be the issue of things what things will come to at the last Now it seems to me a clear and excellent expedient for our satisfaction herein to study well the Lords Prayer and to believe that all the Petitions therein shall certainly be granted and whatever we see before for certain at the Day of Judgment every Petition therein shall be fulfilled and therefore the more a mans heart is set on those things for which we are thereby taught and bound to pray the more ready and fit he is for Death and Judgment Prayer is one of the first and last things of a Christian so soon as ever the spiritual life is begun it presently breaths in prayer and I am perswaded that the godly do usually die in prayer Last Direct Live as one that knows that there are bounds set to thy life It makes many so unprepared for sickness and death because they look upon their lives as boundless they always think they have some time to live and therefore think of no time to die Now it is clear that God hath set bounds to the life of every man and when he comes to those bounds he is stopt and can go no further Job 14.5 Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Proud men climb to such a height of preferment and as they are rising higher Death stops them and they can go no further The covetous man gets such an estate and as he is reaching after greater wealth Death stops him that he can get no more Oh what a sudden stop did Death cause that rich Fool to make when he was constrained to die the same very night when he thought he was as it were beginning to live The malicious man goes to such a height of persecuting the godly and as he is raging in his malice and madness Death stops him that he can go no farther Oh what a stop did Haman meet with in the very height of his bloody designe against the Church of God! On the other hand the poor Childe of God is zealous in worshipping and serving God and as he is seeking to serve and praise him more Death stops him and his work is done therefore do every thing is knowing that thou mayst meet with thy bounds and be stopt in the very midst of thy work All the daies of my appointed time will I wait till my change come saith Job Cap. 14.14 Job knew that there was a change to come and that Death would make a great alteration with him shortly and that there was a secret time appointed for this change therefore he will every day wait and look for it Think with thy self in a morning I may see a great change before night and think with thy self at night I may see a great alteration before morning Sirs when a man goes from his house friends food and estate to heaven or hell believe it he will finde a great alteration Oh then live as if every day were to be the day of thy change as if every journey and work and duty would bring thee to the end and bounds of thy life So much for Exhortation to be prepared for sickness and death The next Exhortation is to such who have been visited with sickness but are by the mercy and power of Jesus Christ restored to health I shall exhort such to these five duties 1. Bless and praise God who hath restored thee to thy health God tells his people Exod. 15.26 I am the God that healâ—â— thee And certainly there comes power â—nd virtue from Jesus Christ to heal our â—iseases Therefore when Christ had healâ—d the woman diseased with an issue of â—lood twelve years I perceive saith he that â—irtue is gone from me Luke 8.46 And beâ—oved when ever we have been diseased â—nd restored there came virtue from Christ â—â—to the head or lungs or liver or where â—ver the disease lay and caused the cure which we must in all thankfulness acknowledge Thus did David Psal 116.6 8. I was brought low and he helped me For thou hast delivered my soul from death â—y eyes from tears and my feet from falling Now for the performance of this duâ—y of praising God observe these five directions 1. Get a clear knowledge of the glorious and excellent Name of God Psal 76.1 Iâ— Judah is God known his name is great in Israel Gods Name is great only where it is known and it is a most savoury thing to hear people speak of God as those that know whom they speak of Where God is thus savingly known the workings of the heart towards God are answerable to the glory and excellency of his Name Psal 48.10 According to thy Name O God so is thy praise Psal 150.2 Praise the Lord according to his excellent greatness Grace is more or less in a man according to his knowledge and sense of the Name of God and Jesus Christ In that heart where God hath no Name the man hath no Grace but it causeth great faith and great love and great joy in a Believer to see the great power and the great love and the great goodness of God and Jesus Christ 2. Praise God as he is a God of mercy to thee ascribe unto him a name from that which he
them desperate Now to arm you against the former temptation which concerns the business in hand fill your hearts with the belief of God as he is a God of judgement for the Lord is known by the judgement which he executeth Psal 9.16 therefore he tells us I kill and I make alive Deut. 32.39 So saith he Isa 45.7 I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things All the evil of punishment which comes into the world comes from God all the hurt that is done by fire water wind thunder earthquakes God doth it all the hurt that comes by famine pestilence sword blasting mildew God doth it all that dye God kills them all that go to hell God damns them and is not this a terrible God Thirdly look not on God as men judge of him when they are secure and God is patient but as he appears when men awake with guilt and God awakes in wrath Beloved if every Sin should presently bring a Judgement if every Oath should kill a Cow and every Lye break a Bone and every act of Drunkenness turn a man into a Dropsie then sin would be accounted more dangerous and God more terrible But as we read Psal 55.19 Because they have no changes therefore they fear not God When men can swear lye be drunk scoff at godliness prophane Sabbaths and yet eat drink sleep work and play all alike this makes them confident that God is not so angry with them as a company of precise Puritans would have them believe We read of this Atheistical temper Psal 50.21 22. These things hast thou done meaning the crying sins fore-mentioned and I kept silence saith God I did not disturb thee nor hinder thee and thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self that I liked sin as well as thou didst but thou wilt be of another minde when I come to reprove thee and to set thy sins in order before thee and to tear thee in pieces when there shall be none to deliver thee We read Psal 40.11 Evil shall hunt the violent man to destroy him and it is said Numb 32.23 Your sin shall finde you out Sinners lye close and hide themselves in their sins as if judgement could never finde them Oh but consider sicknesses and death and hell are looking for thee they are hunting after thee Heark methinks I hear the cry of the hunters and the sound of the feet of death pursuing thy soul I may say unto thee as she said to Sampson The Philistines are upon thee Sampson Sickness is upon thee sinner death and judgement is coming upon thee the wrath of the eternal God is roaring against thee these things should make thee cry out with David Psal 119.20 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgements Lastly Consider God as a God of all sicknesses and diseases to convince thee that he is a terrible God these with other judgements are called the terrors of God Job 6.4 The terrors of God do set themselves in aray against me and it 's clear that God for this reason is terrible for that is terrible which is destructive to the health and life and being of man this makes fire water wind thunder men and devils terrible and this makes Sickness the Pestilence Fever the Pocks the Stone the Consumption and Death and Judgement terrible Now therefore what a terrible Majestie is God who makes all these so terrible for as there is no fear of an Ox-goad or of the Jaw-bone of an Ass but the one in the hand of a mighty Shamgar was a terrible instrument of death to six hundred men Judges 3.31 and the other in the hand of a strong Sampson killed heaps upon heaps heaps upon heaps a thousand men Judges 15.16 So this makes all diseases and all instruments of death terrible because they are in the hand of a mighty God who for this reason is to be acknowledged and feared as a very terrible God Secondly informs us of the infinite patience of God towards ungodly men which appears in that God hath all diseases and death at command to avenge himself upon them and yet that he is pleased so long to forbear The Scripture makes known the glory of God to us by this Attribute Exod. 34.6 The Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering So Psal 86.14 Rom. 2.4 This patience of God is his infinite goodness whereby he doth moderate and with hold his wrath from falling upon sinners Pardoning grace takes a way the wrath of God and looseth the believer from being bound to suffer it But here the sinner lyes condemned and stands bound over by the Law to suffer Gods wrath but God by his infinite patience forbears to inflict it Now I shall briefly propound these three Considerations to convince us of the patience of God 1. Consider the greatness of that wrath which God withholds from falling on you viz. all the punishments which are threatned in the curses of Gods Law God doth not only keep off millions of diseases but also mountains of torments from coming upon thee every day the great difference which is betwixt thee and a damned soul in hell is made by the patience of God Oh poor Christless sinner when I stand seriously looking on thee eating and drinking and laughing and sporting in thy sins as if thou thoughtest thy self as safe as ever an Angel of heaven and then believe what the Scripture speaks against thee and see what is in God against thee I cannot but tremble to look thee in the face to see whither thou art so merrily going and what an alteration sickness and death is shortly like to make with thee but for present God in infinite patience withholds all the wrath that thou deservest 2. Consider the great provocations that God doth bear Sin is said to provoke or call forth the wrath of God and notwithstanding such horrid sins call and cry for his wrath yet in the infinite power of his patience he forbears The Scripture ascribes a Voice to three things which cry aloud for Gods wrath 1. Sin cryes Gen. 18.20 21. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is great Swearing cryes Pour out thy wrath on the Blasphemer that belcheth out me Drunkenness cryes Oh thou consuming fire devour this Beast that commits me So there is a cry against a Nation and against a City or Family Oh Profaneness cryes Come away Pestilence come away Famine and devour England that is so filled with me but yet God in infinite patience withholds his Judgments 2. The Estates of men which are gained by sin and wickedness cry for vengeance James 5.4 Hab. 2.11 The stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it The Prophet speaks as if all the parts of a house built by fraud and blood did consent to cry one after another for vengeance against the founders of it the Stone cryes Lord revenge
being their God and make the Devil and his Instruments their God Idolatry is that sin whereby men forsake the true God and set up any thing in the place of God and this sin is so much the worse by how much that is more vile and more unlike God and more against him which thou makest an Idol of and therefore this is the worst kind of Idolatry for what is more vile and more unlike God and more against him then an ugly damned Devil yet by seeking to Wizards in thy distress thou dost in effect deny the power and goodness and mercy of God and accountest the Devil more able and more merciful and more willing to do thee good then God himself Lastly This sin is an horrible violation of our Covenant with God which we entred in by Baptism for thereby we are bound to be for God and Christ and the Church and Salvation against the Devil and all his party Now hereby thou goest against God and ownest the Devil to be thy friend to heal thee The Prophet pleads this argument against this sin Isa 8.19 When they shall say unto you Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto Wizards that peep and mutter do not be tempted thereunto should not a people seek unto their God the God in Covenant with them but to the Devils and their Confederates whom they have covenanted against We have the same argument pleaded 2 Kings 2.3 4. where we finde that Elijah meets Ahaziah his messengers as they were going to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron and he tells them in effect You may spare your labour for Ahaziah shall die But mark how he expostulates with them vers 3. Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron So Sirs Is there not a God in England And are there not means of his appointment and are there not Ministers and Christians to pray for you who are in league with him but must you seek to such who are in league with the Devil Beloved do not you look upon your selves as parts and members of Jesus Christ and will you bring a member of Christ to be healed by the Devil What hath the Devil more care of Christs members then Christ himself or hath Christ need of the Devil to help or heal ever a member of his I tell you Christ would not himself and he abhors that ever a member of his should fall down or worship or stoop to the Devil Now to excuse this horrid sin people ordinarily make such Objections as these Object 1. My loving neighbours and friends gave me counsel to send to the wise woman for the health of my childe c. Answ 1. It is a device of Satan when he tempts to sin to make as many as he can partakers of it and therefore in this case he may tempt one to give this devilish counsel and thereby he signifieth he is willing of it and so becomes guilty both of the sin it self and of being a Devil to his neighbour by tempting him to the same sin another is tempted to take the counsel and so both consents unto and also commits the sin another applauds it another is hired to go to the Witch the Witch her self is hardned in her sin and thus the sin goes through many hands and spreads over many persons so that often in this case many in the neighbourhood and the whole family where the person is visited and many more are fearfully brought into the same condemnation 2. Consider what persons they are who advise thee Did ever any godly Minister or Christian give thee such counsel Did ever these loving friends and neighbours as thou callest them seriously tell thee of thy danger by sin and exhort thee to become a new ereature and to set up the worship of God in thy family and to labour for the salvation of thy precious soul I tell thee thou mayest go to hell with the love of such as thou callest loving neighbours but that will not ease thy torments when thou comest there Lastly Let thy Counsellors be who they will the Word of God hath plainly prevented this objection Isa 8.19 When they shall say unto you when they shall give you this damnable counsel Seek unto them that have familiar spirits do not be tempted by them for should not a people seek unto their God 2 Object Many in the like case seek to the wise-man or wise-woman as well as I they come far and near to them for help Answ It is most certain as long as such ignorant unbelieving covetous Atheists as thou art live in the world the Devil shall never want Customers and if thou wilt follow a multitude to sin thou wilt finde when thou comest to hell and standest at the left hand of Christ at the day of Judgment that thou art never like to want such company 3 Object I know not that such to whom I seek for help are in league with the Devil I am sure they speak godly words of God and Christ and they do no hurt and therefore for ought I know they are as godly people as any are in the Country I shall answer this Objection in these four particulars 1. A Wizards using the Name of God and Christ or some Scriptures excuseth not his being in league with the Devil they that know not this are grosly ignorant both of the wisdom and will of God and also of the depths and devices of the Devil for the Devil doth most despite and blaspheme God when he conceals his own name and forgeth the name of God to the most horrid wickedness and therefore let not the cursed wretches deceive you with the name of God and so bring you into communion with and into the condemnation of the Devil but follow the directions of the Word of God which is purposely given to undeceive those that are apt to be a prey to these delusions Isa 8.19 20. To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them 2. Judge no better of them because thou thinkest them so harmless thou thinkest it's pity but such a Hag were burnt who bewitcheth peoples bodies children cattel c. but thou sayest these do no hurt but much good in telling to stoln goods in healing the sick and curing diseased cattel or the like But beloved this is but a pretence for the Devil for his greatest wiles are to bring you to be tormented with him in hell and therefore he is content you should be healthful and wealthy and merry for as we say the Devil is kinde to his own so that he can tempt you to be sinful Hence it is that he will entice you to seek to him for the healing your bodies because it serves his designe to kill your souls Besides there is a confederacy among the Devils so that one Witch by her league with
out of the land of Egypt and God chuseth this as a fit preface to the Ten Commandments as if it were a sufficient reason to all to worship and obey him Exod. 20.2 I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt c. yet how often did the discontented Jews upbraid God with that mercie Would to God we had died in the land of Egypt wherefore hast thou brought us out of the land of Egypt Thus many in sickness and pain forget the mercie of God in all the days of their health and life in a few hours sickness they forget a whole age of rich mercie Lastly discontent frets and disquiets a mans self Psal 37.1 and therefore it hurts them more then the affliction as if man have a cut or wound in his flesh this will disease and trouble him but if a fretting humour fall in the wound to vex and inflame it this is far more hurtful and dangerous then the wound it self so thy sickness must needs trouble thee but if under thy visitation thy heart abound with proud and peevish humours which makes thee fret against God this makes thy condition far more miserable then the disease it self would make it Secondly observe four Causes of Discontent 1. Ignorance of Gods dominion over his creatures this is clear by the parable of the labourers in the Vineyard Matth. 20. where our Saviour doth silence the labourers murmuring about their wages with this Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own vers 15. implying that if they had known and considered that it was his own they would have found no cause to quarrel So many murmure in their sickness to see worse sinners have their ease and health but they do not consider that their life health and bodies are Gods own and all diseases are his own and he sends them to whom he will and though others have more mercy yet they have no wrong do not you put your Oxen to labour and after that to the slaughter yet if any question you for using the poor cattel so cruelly you will not stick to tell them Friends we hurt nothing of yours may we not do what we will with our own Sirs God hath a greater right over you then you have over your cattel if he disease you and destroy you he hurts nothing of yours and therefore he may do what he will with his own 2. Discontent ariseth from mens expectation of settlement in the world for certainly they that trust to vanity shall be filled with vexation of spirit for disappointment always breeds discontent as the Husbandman that dungs and ploughs and sows his ground if his expectation of a crop be too great and he doth not consider how many thousand dangers may come between the Plough and the Sickle but reckon aforehand of so many measures for his family and so many to pay rent and so many for seed now if the crop fail at harvest here is a sad repining and discontent so if a mans expectation of the world is too high and having heaped up riches he begins to bless himself saying I have so much for a purchase and so much for portions for my children now if when he is just catching at them to use them they take themselves wings and flie away no marvel if they leave the owner murmuring at the Providence When the Israelites were so miraculously saved from Egypt they thought that deliverance had put a period to all their troubles and therefore every cross being a disappointment sets them on murmuring so they that promise themselves health and ease and plenty in the world when sickness and want comes they presently fret and complain whereas they that look and prepare for changes live in a more composed and quiet frame if mercie comes they are thankful and if affliction comes they are content The third Cause of discontent is Unbelief Hence the Israeliles murmure because they believed not the good report which Joshua and Caleb gave of the land of Canaan Numb 14.11 How long will it be ere they believe me for all the signes which I have shewed among them Sirs an unbelieving heart is always a discontented heart for an unbeliever hath nothing to still and quiet the heart with in his afflictions observe every cross takes away something which did feed and please the heart as health riches credit pleasures and friends c. now when these are lost a man doth as it were feel something go out of his heart but then faith fills and stills the heart by bringing into it God and Christ and heaven Why art thou disquieted O my soul trust still in God Psal 43.5 but now God and Christ and the promises and heaven are nothing to an unbeliever and so yeild him no peace and comfort therefore he must needs be like the troubled sea when the storms and winds of affliction blow upon him and he hath nothing to calm and comfort his soul Lastly discontent ariseth from mens being so very sensible of the evil of affliction and senceless of the evil of sin Mens bodies are tender and their senses quick and therefore even the biting of a flea the scratching of a Pin is presently felt and men are so tender of their reputation profits and delights that the least touch in these is a cross to them but their hearts are so hard and consciences feared that they can lye securely under all the curses of Gods book and have mountains of wrath abide on them and feel nothing and therefore afflictions lye so heavie because sin lyes so easie Whereas if a man knew what sin is and saw at night what wrath he had treasured up all the day he would rather wonder that he were out of hell then murmure that he were in trouble this did silence the Church when she remembred the wormwood and the gall because she knew that it was of the Lords mercies that she was not consumed therefore she pleads Lam. 3.39 Wherefore doth a living man complain A man that deserves death and hell cannot reasonably complain if he be alive as it is unreasonable for a Thief that deserves to be hanged to complain because he is whipt And then it is added a man for the punishment of his sin Why should a man complain of that which he hath brought upon himself Solomon speaks of this as very unequal Prov. 19.3 The foolishness of a man perverteth his way that is mans sin brings him into trouble and his heart fretteth against the Lord. Man is in all the fault and he would have God to bear all the blame In the next place observe four sad consequences of this Sin First murmuring debaseth a man by turning him into the likeness of the basest creature we have a remarkable Scripture for this in Psal 59. in the sixth verse David saith of his enemies They return at evening they make a noise like a dog and go round
a siege or famine will be useful and profitable if such times do not happen so that you can neither be well nor sick nor live nor dye without this work of preparation Mot. 6. That man is in a most blessed condition who is prepared for sickness and death for every thing which makes him prepared makes him blessed I shall onely instance in two things 1. All the happiness of the other world is his own 1 Cor. 3.22 Things to come are yours Christians your sins snares and troubles are almost past but they will be all over shortly but your joy glory and happiness are to come The happiness of heaven is to come and the glory of the day of judgement is to come Now all these joys that are to come are yours for they are setled upon you in the Covenant of Grace 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness hath the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come Now that man is fit to dye and is in a most blessed condition who when sickness and death comes hath a right to go to heaven Poor childe of God! the best of thy hopes and comforts and happiness lies beyond death and thou canst not come at them for this life but sickness and death will put thee into possession of all and thou art like to see a strange sight so soon as death hath loosed thee out of this life 2. He is by the graces of Gods Spirit fitted for heaven he is made meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 Beloved grace makes a man fit to receive glory the joys of heaven are brought and received into the soul by grace if thou wilt be prepared for death live now as thou hopest to live for ever in heaven do nothing but what thou wouldst do going to heaven Besides by grace the heart of a Believer fastens on heaven he lays hold on eternal life he prayes hears and receives Sacraments with his heart having fast hold on heaven How fit therefore is such a man to have sickness and death come to let him into heaven Last Motive If you are not prepared for sickness and death you will be prepared for hell Sirs if a godly man doth good and a sinner doth evil both go into eternity the one to be a treasure in heaven the other to be a treasure in hell Now what a fearful condition is this for a man to be always laying up provision against himself in hell We read Rom. 9.22 of vessels of wrath fitted or made up for destruction if you will not be made up for heaven you must be made up for hell Oh believe what a fearful condition this is to be always ready to be turned into hell thou dost not think of this whilst the pleasures of sin and the patience of God last But what a case wilt thou be in when there will be nothing in thee but torments and nothing in God towards thee but wrath Beloved be convinced of the certainty of hell thou mayst as certainly see hell by the light of Scripture as thou mayst see men and beasts and earth and trees by the light of the Sun hell is as certain as sin and sinners there is wrath in God as sure as there is sin in man God's justice is as sure as his mercie and he hath bound himself to condemn unbelievers as well as to save believers See Joh. 3. ult Mark 16.16 See your nearness to hell whilst you are unprepared for sickness and death methinks I see that every step thou goest thou art ready to tread in the flames Poor soul thou hangest over the lake of brimstone by the twin'd thred of life when that breaks thou art drowned and damned for ever there is nothing appears between thee and hell but the hand-breadth of time Oh what a sight is this to see a company of secure sinners drinking and swearing and swaggering and ranting and roaring within an hand-breadth of everlasting burnings Again consider the greatness of hell-torments here is a depth that thou canst not fathom who can speak of the greatness of hell-torments when it 's our duty to believe they are unspeakable Canst thou tell how many years eternity lasts or how much punishment sin deserves Dost thou know how much wrath Omnipotencie can inflict or how much torment a vessel of wrath can hold then mayst thou measure the torments of hell and fathom the lake of fire and brimstone Consider but this one thing viz. the greatness of God who inflicts the torments he is a God to whom vengeance belongs and he were no God if he could not do that which belongs to him consider God is great in every thing that he is to whom he is a father a portion a husband he is a great father a great portion a great husband to whom he is an enemy he is a great enemy Oh how great must their misery be who must for ever feel the weight of that hand which made heaven and earth Beloved if but the ach of a tooth be so grievous that it takes away the taste of a whole monarchy of the world while it lasts how inconceiveably great must their torments be who have the power that made all the world set awork to torment their bodies and souls through all eternity Nay consider further God will raise up his glory out of his enemies misery those are always great works which God makes to please himself and to demonstrate his glory when he would glorifie his power and goodness and wisdom he makes a world when he would glorifie his grace and love and mercie he gives a Christ and when he would glorifie his justice and holiness he damns a sinner O wo wo wo be those poor souls out of whose torments God will raise up to himself an everlasting revenue of unspeakable glory Oh then what a miserable cheated soul art thou who wilt venture to be one hour unprepared for sickness and death when for ought thou knowest thou mayst be in the bottom of hell before the clock strike next I shall now in the last place conclude this Use by giving you ten Directions to direct you how to prepare for sickness and death Direct 1. Labour by a strong and lively faith to be always receiving and resting upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ Beloved the greatest danger you are to provide against is that sickness and death do not bring you to hell Now being found in Christs righteousness you shall have thereby a safe and comfortable way and passage through these into heaven for by reason of this you may stand on the very gates of death and triumph with the Apostle Rom. 8.33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Now this righteousness
when those evils which thou fearedst from men shall be brought upon thee by God when God shall fill thy body with greater pains then the cruellest Persecutor could invent or inflict Oh what a loss will then a suffering opportunity be when a man may say I had an opportunity to lose my life and save my soul and now I must lose my life and my poor soul too Direct 5. That you may be prepared for sickness and death do nothing but what you would have sickness and death finde you doing Remember what ever thou art about that sickness and death may finde thee in it Death found Zimri and Cozbi in whoredom Numb 25.8 and Death took Ananias and Saphira in a lye Acts 5. and Death caught Eutychus sleeping at a Sermon Acts 20.9 And on the other hand God took Enoch walking with God Gen. 5.24 And when Elijah and Elisha were talking together no doubt of some good Elijah was fain to break off his good discourse to go to heaven 2 Kings 2.11 and Christ went blessing his people to heaven Luke 24.51 And good Stephen as he was praying was taken from off his knees into heaven Acts 7.60 Oh Sirs if you would not go lying or swearing or drunk or swaggering or ranting into Eternity do not practise these sins now but walk in your callings recreations and duties as if you saw sickness and death fetching you out of these into heaven Direct 6. Labour to be filled with a merciful and tender disposition towards others in their sickness and misery this is a sure way for thee to finde mercy from God in thy sickness With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful Psal 18.25 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Matth. 5.7 We have a precious promise to this purpose Psal 41.1 2 3. Blessed is he that considereth the poor By the poor is meant not only the poor in estate but also those that are poor and afflicted in respect of other afflictions And it 's a most blessed frame of heart for men when they sit in health and at ease and swim in wealth to be seriously considering their poor diseased and afflicted brethren The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive The Lord will strengthen him on the bed of languishing thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness I say therefore shew mercy to others in their sickness and when the day of sickness and death and judgment comes thou shalt be sure as Paul prayed for Onesiphorus in the like case to finde mercy at that day Direct 7. Be fully satisfied in the belief of Gods care and providence towards thy friends whom thou art to leave behinde thee Beloved it makes the thoughts of sickness and death more grievous to many because of the sad and miserable condition which their poor Orphans and Widdows will be left in when they are gone and especially if their condition be like that of learned and godly Oecolampadius who when he should have made his Will had nothing to bequeath But this trouble is not so much for want of an Estate as for want of Faith therefore go chearfully to your sick beds or death-beds with the belief of these following Scriptures Jer. 49.11 Leave thy fatherless children I will preserve them alive and let thy Widdows trust in me In which words as appears by the context God threatens the Edomites that their children and wives shall be left so desolate that they shall have none but God to provide for them Yet God is so tender of poor fatherless children and widdows that though they were of the families and posterity of Esau yet saith he I will preserve them alive How much more tender then will he be of the poor families of his Jacob See also Psal 10.14 The poor committeth his cause to thee thou art the helper of the fatherless Perhaps it troubles thee to think what a company of poor helpless children thou art to leave behinde thee Why consider the infinite and all-sufficient God makes it one of his great works to help fatherless children therefore this great Creator of the world will be glorified by this name The helper of the fatherless See further Psal 68.3 4 5. Observe here one great reason why the righteous must be glad and exceedingly rejoyce and sing forth the praises of God is because he is a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widdow in his holy habitation Observe In his holy habitation God is in heaven not only filling Angels and Saints with his glorious likeness and presence but he is there also full of gracious thoughts towards poor fatherless children and widdows upon earth And although I do not think that there is any intercourse betwixt a Saint in heaven and his family upon earth and I do not know that he will in heaven be offering prayers for them upon earth yet I do not doubt but he will there know that he hath left a family behinde him upon earth and by his glorious vision of God will see that Infinite Power and Providence which provides for his and all other families upon earth so far as is for his own glory and the good of his Church See again Hosea 14.3 In thee the fatherless finde mercy It may trouble thee to think that although now thy wife and children are respected for thy sake yet when thou art gone they are like to finde the world cruel and unfaithful friends hard and unkinde c. but take comfort and satisfaction in this Scripture where thou seest not only that there is mercy in God for fatherless children but also that they shall finde it and have the comfort and experience of it I shall therefore conclude this with the exhortation of the Apostle Phil. 4.6 7. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and then as to any trouble about these things The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Direct 8. Labour to make a wise and holy use of the spectacles of mortality look upon your selves as following your dead neighbours and friends whom you see going before you into Eternity It is said of a dead man Job 21.33 The clods of the valley viz. the Graves and Sepulchres shall be sweet unto him and every man shall draw after him as there are innumerable gone before him Consider when you see any one buried that he is gone to an innumerable company that are dead and buried before him and that every man shall draw after him Oh remember that you are drawing after your dead grandfathers and fathers and friends which are gone before you Poor wretch thou thinkest that thou shouldest be like thy Neighbours to have as much wealth and honours and pleasures as they but look upon other Neighbours who are lodged in the chambers of death and