that no sin tho' never so dear pleasant or secret may survive this funeral our departed Relations have no need of our groans and tears oh let us labour to consecrate our sorrow by turning the flowing streams into the Channel of Repentance that that which was natural may commence Divine How proper is the Death of Relations to excite and quicken Repentance how much may the remembrance of their sick-bed Discourses their dying speeches their farewel counsels and the great change one moment made contribute to soften break and humble our hearts to make us serious and solevin in renewing our Repentance at such a time how easily is the passion of sorrow moved do you weep for her methinks I hear her having no need of pity and tears saying weep not Luk. 23. 28. for me Do you weep for sin pretious tears comfortable sorrow oh weep on and weep more Every Corps Funeral and Grave tells us what an evil sin is and should provoke us to Repent but when Death comes into the very House where we live takes away one of our own number strikes and kills a dear Relation when it is a Father a Mother a Husband a Wife a Child that is carried to the House appointed for all the living Job 30. 23. the call to Repentance is more solemn loud plain and particular and ought to be more awakening After the Death and Funeral of such Repentance is a very seasonable duty Now is the proper time to offer to God the Sacrifice Psa 51. 17. of a broken Heart and contrite Spirit Can I see Death closing the Eyes of such near Relations parting them and me nay one part of themselves from the other Can I behold their pale wan and ghastly Countenances the Soul being gone Can I see them wrapped up in a Shrowd and nailed up in a Cossin Can I attend their Funeral look into the dark and deep Grave where I must leave a to Worms and Rottenness and not think hardly of sin and not resolve by the Grace of God to kill and mortifie it at such a time who does not cry out ah cruel death ah cruel death but hath not every one much more cause to cry out ah cursed sin ah cursed sin the death of this friend of this Relation this Funeral and all others O cursed sin is owing to thee and henceforward I will endeavour thy destruction and ruin V. Be very careful to keep God among you Do what in you lieth that God may be the God of your Posterity after you that they under you may lay claim to the Covenant and the Blessings of it Endeavour that Religion in the Life and Power of it may flourish not only in your own Hearts but in your families Let not FAMILY PRAYER be thrust out nor adjourned to those hours in which you are least of all fit for this awful and important duty May we all strive to keep up the friendship begun between God and our Family Since God hath made all of you except one Mothers reckon it is your duty to bring up your Children for God teach them to know your God and your Fathers God and that God to whom in Baptism you have devoted them that when you shall be dead cold and rotting in the Grave they may be serving and honouring God in your place and stead That Religion and the fear of God may not die out of your Families when you shall 'T is true you cannot give them Grace but you can instruct teach counsel advise exhort and persuade c. you can set a good example you can pray to God for them and plead that Covenant you entered them into almost as soon as God gave them to you and all this you ought and I hope you will be careful to do Tho' the presence awe and fear of living Parents may restrain Children from some sins and vices tho' their examples and counsels may influence them so far as to persuade them to take up a form of Godliness yet oh 2 Tim. 3. 5. what Tears are sufficient to bewail this fatal degeneracy what a dead spiritless and lifeless thing is the Religion of many such as soon as their godly Parents are Dead and cold in their Graves how oft doth that ground that was manured and cultivated plow'd and sown ay and watered with many showers of Tears bring forth a sad crop of Briars and Thorns Some Children are a grief and heart breaking to their Parents while they live and many more are a reproach and disgrace to them when dead and gone how many Children of such Parents notwithstanding the benefit of a good education seasonable instructions wise reproofs and timely counsels live at that rate that they are a blot to their family and a disgrace to their name If any such shall chance to read these lines I charge them in the name of God to consider what a sad case they are in and I pray God to convince them of their sin and folly and how near they are to a sudden and final ruin Would to God such would consider how greatly they will be ashamed and how little they will have to say for themselves when the Prayers and Tears of their Living and the Dust of their Dead Parents shall rise up in Judgment against and condemn them But I hope better Heb. 6. 9. things of you and things that accompany Salvation tho' I thus speak Oh let it still be your study and care and let it be more and more so every day to promote piety and holiness in your own Souls and to propagate it to others who are descended from you that so long as any branch of this Family remains the fear of God and a care of Religion might slourish To conclude there is one thing very amiable and which your Relation peculiarly calls for and that is LOVE this I think I should hardly have mentioned because I hope you are taught of God to 1 Thes 4. 9. love one another if I had not received it among the last Commands of a Mother who had so much of this Grace her self to be your Monitor in this particular Now the Lord sit you and me to follow that at the Resurrection of the Just we may meet our Dear Mother who now sleeps in Jesus and our Honoured Father who is yet with us and whom God long preserve for ours and his Churches sake with Joy and Triumph That they may say lo here are we and all the Children thou didst graciously give us Amen Reading Feb. 28. 1692 3. Thus Prays in all sincerity your truly loving and very affectionate Brother Samuel Doo-little THE Righteous Man's Hope AT DEATH Consider'd and Improv'd For the Comfort of Dying Christians and the Support of Surviving Relations Proverbs 14. 32. But the Righteous hath hope in his Death DEath with what a grim countenance and terrible aspect doth it look upon the Children of Men What a sharp and startling word is this what
we are encompass'd with evil every one hath his share of the bitter Cup though some drink deeper and larger draughts than others But the righteous man when Death comes hath hope of a perfect freedom from those many evils he himself had been strugling and those who survive his Death and Funeral must conflict with He hopes that Death will be the Funeral of all his sorrows and of those evils which were the cause of them Here I will mention some of these evils First He hopes at Death to be delivered from all bodily afflictions and outward sufferings So long as we are here we shall need the corrections of Heavens and must be under the Discipline of our Father's Rod Our good God sees that some afflictions are necessary for us and in the best and fittest season he sends them And by our own sin and wickedness indiscretion and folly obstinacy and peevishness we create many more to our selves What crosses and disappointments what hatred from Enemies and unkindness from Friends what disdain and contempt from Superiours what slander and reproach from Inferiours do we meet withall in this wretched World To how many weaknesses and lingring sicknesses to what acute diseases and corroding pains are we subject insomuch that Life is often loath'd and Death desired every vein and membrane every nerve and fibre every muscle and artery every part and member may be afflicted with pain and be the instrument of our sorrow Oh! what wearisome hours restless days and sleepless nights have the afflicted Whose heart doth not bleed within him to hear them in the morning crying out Would God it Deut. â—8 67. were evening and in the evening disappointed of the rest they expected would God it were morning What is this World but an Hospital where many are sick weak pain'd and dying What is it but a Golgotha a place of Graves dead mens Skulls and Bones Go to the darken'd and silent Chambers of the sick and you may hear one crying out O my head my head another Oh my bowels my bowels and some Oh that God would take away my life Some you may see shivering with Agues and some shaking with Palsies some benumm'd with Lethargies and others rackt with Gout or tortured with the Stone some scorcht with burning Fevers and others delug'd with the waters of a Dropsie some stopt with Phlegm crying out Oh for air and breath and others pining away with Consumptions and many so weakened and bowed down to the Earth with the manifold infirmities of OLD AGE that the Eye is dim the Ear deaf the Hands shake the Legs the Pillars of this Earthly Tabernacle tremble insomuch that a poor Grashopper is too heavy a burden for them See how they are stopt up with Catarrhs and Coughs and have not strength to get rid of that Phlegm which is ready to strangle them These these are the sights oh what a diseased World what a dying Life is this you may see in the Chambers of the sick But besides these evils that are common to men to how many more and greater are we expos'd as Christians as poverty and want disgrace reproach and shame imprisonment and banishment a violent torturing and lingering death upon the account of which a man feels and undergoes the pains of many deaths in one and only lives to be the laughter of his Enemies the sport of Death and a terrour to his Friends But the Righteous man at death hath hope to be delivered from all evil of this kind And his Language on his Death-bed may be to this purpose tho' I was born to trouble and have had my share of it tho' I have long wept sigh'd and groan'd under my own personal afflictions and have been a sorrowful spectator of those calamities which have befaln the publick tho' now I am a sick weak pain'd and languishing man and every part of me is rackt and tortur'd tho' my pulse be weak my breath short my strength wasted and my spirits fail and I am no more able to conflict with my disease it is but dying and I shall be perfectly well Death can and will cure what my Physitian cannot after a few more struglings and mortal pangs all my pains and sorrows will be over after the Agony O my weeping Friends that you will shortly see me in is over I shall feel none of these racking grinding and torturing pains any more for ever Heaven is a healthful place there oh there none are sick or weak but all are perfectly well I cannot be well while I live but when I die I hope I know I shall Lo this is one branch of a Righteous man's hope But have not wicked men this hope too 'T is true they have Death puts an end to the miseries of this Life but Lord what a sorry support is it to go from less to greater from temporal to eternal pains from Friends who are ready to Pity Assist and Comfort to Devils that will Scorn Insult and Triumph over them from a sick and uneasie Bed to a lodging among infernal fiends from the Flames of a Feaver to the more Scorching Burning and Lasting Flames of Hell Good God! What a sad what a wretched Exchange is this 2. He hopes for Deliverance from Sin Good men are already freed from the power and guilt of Sin it hath not Dominion over and it shall not Condemn them But they are not neither can they be freed in this Mortal State from the residence of Sin and remainders of Corruption Sin may be mortified subdued and brought under Glorious conquest but it will not give up the ghost and die till we do tho sin doth not rule and govern the believer as a Lord yet oh how doth it vex torment him as a Tyrant Tho' he hath given the Body of Sin many a Wound and Stab with the Sword of the Eph. 6. 17. Spirit though he hath drag'd it to the Cross of Christ and hath driven nail after nail into it yet he always finds it alive and sometimes very active and strong He finds himself very oft bafled worsted and conquered in some particular conflicts he finds by sad and woful experience that indwelling sin indisposes and unfits him for Spiritual duties damps his Spirit cools his Zeal and abates the fervour of his Soul in the most Heavenly exercises this is a certain truth and what Christian does not find it to be so How oft with tears in his eyes and sorrow in his heart is he forc't to groan forth this sad complaint Wo is me I have a wicked Heart a filthy Nature unruly Thoughts and ungoverned Passions my Flesh is so weak the Spirit so frail Indwelling Corruption so strong and the Snares of the World so many that I often fall I thank God I don't wallow like a Swine in the Mire but I must and do own I too frequently defile my garments I Sin and Repent Repent and Sin there is sin in my Heart and Life Sin in my
and clear evidences there are of a future state and tho' Satan may raise Batteries against our Faith yet let us defend it and pray to God it may never fail Let Faith often travel into yonder Eternal World send it as a Spy to take a view of the Heavenly Canaan and firmly believe the report it brings back for our Faith must be stedfast if ever we would have our hope unshaken Secondly Walk closely with God and take heed of all known willful and presumptuous Sins Having solemnly dedicated your selves to the glory and service of the Blessed Trinity Father Son and Spirit walk according to that dedication Watch against every thing that may give a wound to your sincerity or cause you to question it If you would have hope in your Death live according to your Character Righteous persons What is the fruit of your sloth and negligence the consequent of your hearkning to sin and complying with temptation but perplexing jealousies and tormenting suspicions blotted evidences and languishing hopes want of assurance and the Heavenly joy that flows from thence Am I in a state of Grace and do I belong to God Will God reward such poor and mean performances with Heaven Is not my hope vain and only the counterfeit of that which is in true Christians Shall I ever be happy or may I venture to hope I shall Are the disconsolate reasonings of the careless Christian upon the neglect of duty and commission of sin It is thus and have not some of you found it so Willful and presumptuous sins will raise black and dark clouds between you and Heaven These clouds may eclipse the light of Gods countenance at present and break and fall down in terrible storms and tempests in the evening What a dreadful change did holy David find in himself after his unhappy and scandalous fall How did it damp his joy blot his evidences and stab his hopes Poor man he is wrapt up in clouds and darkness and in great distress and agonies of Soul cries to God Lord restore to me the joy of thy Salvation Psal 51. 12. and uphold me with thy free Spirit On the contrary an holy obedient life a strict and circumspect walking with God will both warrant and confirm our hope Heaven is promised to the obedient or in the language of the the Text to the righteous And every act of sincere obedience will enable me to see my right to the promise and apply it to my self and a constant and persevering obedience will be accompanyed with a full assurance of hope unto the end Holiness â—eâ— 6. 11. of heart and life will furnish me with an answer to all my doubts and fears afford me comfort amidst all my sad jealousies and perplexities of Spirit strengthen me to look as far as Heaven and enable me to read my name written there Our Hope as well as our Faith without works will be dead But a strong and lively a certain and confirmed hope will be the issue of an holy and obedient life It will entitle us to the promise and warrant our hope of the reward Would you then have hope in your Death Mortifie sin subdue corruptions and crucifie the old man keep up the Government of Grace and the Authority of Christ in your Souls watch against snares and temptations keep your garments undefiled and your selves unspottep Remember every willful sin wounds your hope Thirdly If through the strength of corruption and violence of temptation you chance to miscarry and fall endeavour to rise again by a solemn serious and speedy repentance We thanks be to God are not under the Law which requires a sinless spotless obedience as the condition of Life But under the Gospel of the meek and merciful Jesus which requires and admits of repentance And whenever we have wounded our selves by sin it is our interest and wisdom to betake our selves to this remedy Though you cannot keep your selves innocent yet be sure you do not live impenitent If you do defile your garments in one instant be sure you wash them with a flood of penitential tears the next Keep Conscience wakeful and tender that it may sharply reprove you when you do amiss and when Conscience looks upon you as Christ did upon Peter do you also go out Mat. 26. 75. and weep bitterly Let your repentance be serious and solemn with blushing and shame confusion and sorrow with hearty sighs and groans with a broken heart and contrite Spirit with a bleeding soul and melting affections With all the signs of a Gospel-repentance and unfeigned remorse confess and bewail your late sin or sins before God Let your confession be free and not forc't particular and not general and the more to affect melt and humble you aggravate your sin with the several circumstances which did attend the commission of it And then beg of God to pardon you Plead Christian plead as for thy life that that sin might not eclipse the light of his countenance deprive thee of the comforting and witnessing presence of his Spirit that it might not prove either the damnation of thy soul or the destruction of thy hopes And do all this speedily while the wound is fresh and green before it rankle and putrifie While you delay your repentance your hearts will grow more hard your conscience more insensible and the neglected bruise which you got by your fall will grow worse and worse and if it be not timely lookt after may prove the death of all your hopes After the heat and hurry of the day does conscience in the cool of the evening cite thee to make thy appearance in its Court Summon thee by some sudden rebuke and surprizing terror to hold up thy guilty hands at its Tribunal As soon as ever this Domestick Judge reads the Bill of Indictment and brings the bloody charge against thee betake thy self to a serious repentance revoke retract and wipe out thy sins by an immediate act of repentance 'T is true 't is infinitely better to be righteous persons who need no repentance i. e. to be guilty of as few sinful Luk. 15. 7. miscarriages as we can But in case we do fall we have this remedy at hand and we must use it If I sin in the day I ought to go and be reconciled to God and my own Conscience before night If we take this course our hope which was withering languishing and dying like grass scorcht with the heat of the burning Sun being watered with these showers of penitential tears may revive sprout forth and flourish again and be fresh in the very evening This is the way to have great peace in Life and at Death Fourthly Daily exercise Faith in Christ especially as Crucified and Risen from the Dead Christ by his Blood-shed and Death by his passion and the Sacrifice of himself on the Cross has bore the Curse of the Law satisfied Divine Justice and quench'd those Flames of Wrath we had kindled he hath
what cursed streams has this bitter Fountain been sending forth how much how often and how greatly have I offended God! what one Commandment is there I have not broken in thought word or deed my sins are more than can be numbred and how many Legions of Lusts are quartered in my Heart oh that my Head were Waters and mine Eyes a Jer. 9. 1. Fountain of Tears that I might weep day and night Did I not once O my Soul live as without God in the World how many and great were the sins of my unregenerate state what a sinner Lord what a vile sinner was I then were not all the faculties of my Soul and Members of my Body the Instruments of Unrighteousness unto sin Did not sin sit in the Throne sway the Scepter and had it not the entire quiet and peaceable possession of my Heart Was not I a willing Slave an obedient Servant and a Volunteer in any wicked service was I not at the beck of every Lust the will of every Temptation and did not Satan carry me captive at his pleasure during that wretched state how did I forget God and my self Eternity and another World thwart the design of my Creation and cross the end of my being made a Man Was I not sensual carnal and earthly a stranger to an Holy Heavenly Life without any delight in God desire after or care to please him did I not run into Sin as the Horse rushes into the Battle without any fear how long O my Soul how long was I a grief to that blessed Jesus who wept and swet bled groan'd and died for me how did I despise his Grace slight his Love his dying Love spurn at his Bowels and trample on his Blood with what sweet and endearing melting and charming language did he plead with me he called but I did not answer he pleaded but I was not moved his Bowels yearned but my Heart did not relent how oft did the Holy Spirit move and work upon my Heart and how oft did I resist vex quench and grieve him how oft was my Conscience awakened and how soon did it fall asleep again Holy Lord I blush I am ashamed and confounded to look back upon this part of my life I weep Lord I weep I desire to weep bitterly for the sins of my unconverted state I wish again Oh that my Head were Waters and mine Eyes a Fountain of Tears that I might weep day and night How many and great have been my sins since my Conversion to and acquaintance with God How oft have I fallen to the dishonour of God the discredit of Religion the wounding of my self and grieving of others how many duties have been neglected and how many carelesly performed in a cold lazy and trifling manner how many of my Talents which might have been improved for the Glory of God my own comfort and the good of others have been wrapped up in a Napkin and buried in the Earth how weak is every Grace and how much evil is mixt with all my good how oft letting down my Spiritual Watch has Satan surpriz'd me and Temptation prevail'd how much have I conformed to the World complied with the sinful customs and fashions of it how much have I lived contrary to my Profession and below my hopes as a Christian what a slow progress have I made in the ways of Holiness how many younger Christians have out-stript got the start of and are gone before me nay have I not shamefully declin'd and backsliden and lost much of my first love zeal and tenderness how frequent and strong have been the workings of Spiritual Sins as unbelief pride passion envy and uncharitableness c. Lord how many have been the sins of this state and how are they aggravated by all that love and mercy thou hast shewn to me and the long experience I have had of thy bounty and goodness Art thou my God and have I affronted my Father and have I displeased thee have I by these sins wounded that Redeemer who died for me grieved that Holy Spirit who has comforted me ah sinful silly Soul what hast thou been doing what an hearty sorrow and unfeigned grief do these sins call for I mourn Lord help me to mourn more thou hast given me the habit of Repentance give me now in this evening of my Life to act and exercise it Oh for a broken Heart and a contrite Spirit oh for inward shame and hearty remorse oh for a melting frame and a bleeding Soul oh that this Rock might be broken and this Heart be turned more and more into an Heart of flesh My time is short my strength little my sins many and great Lord help me to live repenting and die repenting to go to my grave weeping Weeping not tears of despair but tears of gospel-Gospel-sorrow which make way for eternal joys I do repent Lord from the bottom of my Soul I do repent let my last repentance be most solemn particular and serious and do thou accept it wash me in these penitential waters and because these muddy waters can't cleanse wash me Lord wash me in the blood of Jesus for that can cleanse from all sin O pardon pardon a dying penitent who confesses and acknowledges his sins and flies to thy mercy through the merits of Christ My sins are gone over mine head as a burden Psal 38. 4. they are too heavy for me Sin is an heavy burden and intollerable but most of all so to a dying man Look upon mine Psal 25. 18. affliction and forgive all my sins If I must weep with one eye Lord let me read my pardon with the other I have deserved Hell and if God should cast me into it I have forfeited Heaven and if God should eternally banish me from that blessed place I must say Righteous art thou O Lord and upright Ps 110. 137. is thy Judgment But save me from the one and bring me to the other for thy mercies sake I find it is written He that Pro. 28. 13. confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy And again if we confess our sins he is 1 John 1. 9. faithful and just to forgive us our sins This I have done this I will do and shall I not obtain mercy I am ashamed and confounded I loath and abhor my self I repent in dust and ashes I wish I had never done as I have were I to live over my life again Divine grace assisting these Errata's should be corrected I do repent and will not God pardon I do heartily mourn and will not God forgive Oh for a pardon for Jesus sake mercy mercy Lord mercy for a dying sinner who comes unto thee according to the tenor of the Gospel The thing I ask is great and I sinful I wretched I am altogether unworthy but Christ is worthy Lord lo here is the blood which bought my pardon and it has been and is now crying in thine ears with a loud voice Lord
dear Relations in their sickness I have seen them sick weak and full of pain I have seen their cold sweats their mortal tremblings and heard their last and dying groans and now it 's my turn to be sick and my time to die Die how hard and difficult a work is this of what great concern and everlasting importance Die who does or can know what it imports but those who are dead and gone I thought it hard to see my Friend my Father my Mother dye but shall I not find it more difficult now I am to dye my self the Messenger of Death has laid hold on me I believe this sickness will be my last I have no hope of recovery I have been sick and God hath recover'd me at the Mouth of the Grave and God hath brought me back I have gone from my Sick-bed and Chamber to my Shop and Trade but now I verily believe I shall do so no more my Sun is setting my Glass is run there are but a few remaining Sands the Grave with open mouth is waiting for me and in a little time I shall drop into it Most Holy Lord assist me now and leave me not through thy Grace I have lived help me Lord help me now to dye as a Christian in these hours and moments prepare me more and better for my last I have lived Rom. 14. 8. Rev. 14. 13. to oh that now I might die in the Lord and fall asleep in Jesus Preparation for Death Judgment and an Eternal World thanks be to God I have not neglected I did not in health adjourn this work to a time of sickness in order to this I have made many a Prayer shed many a Tear abstain'd from sin and crucified the Flesh I spent much of my time in trying my self searching my Heart and examining my State in repenting of and amending what I found amiss I was convinc'd a few death-bed Tears and languishing Prayers extorted by fears of Death and Hell would not make amends or be a sufficient compensation for the sins of a wicked Life and therefore through the Grace of God assisting me I made it the business of my Life to prepare to dye But something more is to be done that I may glorify God in my Death and be for ever happy after it what remains and is now to be done in this my last sickness instruct me Lord and help me to do it I now stand at the Mouth of the Grave upon the Threshold of Time and at the Door of Eternity Lord increase strengthen and quicken all those Graces which are proper to be acted in a time of sickness and on a death-bed Oh! that now I am a sick oh that now I am a dying man my Faith Love and Hope my Repentance Humiliation and Sorrow my desires and breathings after God my joy and delight in him may be more lively and active than ever oh that this last work of my Life may be done best my sick bed joys may be the greatest and my dying comforts most abundant through these painful hours and days this dark and narrow gloomy and frightful passage guide direct and lead me Lord The exercise of some graces the performance of some duties are peculiarly seasonable in a time of health and life and others are so in Sickness and at Death Thou hast helpt me to live and now Lord help me to die If I have made any preparation for such a time and hour as this If I have done any of the work of my Life and conversed in this World as an expectant of a better if I have any grace and at any time have been able to act it if my love has been 〈◊〉 my zeal flaming my heart softned â—umbled broken and melted and mine eyes a fountain of tears to bewail the slips and falls I have been guilty of if I have delighted in God through Christ as my reconciled Father Portion Happiness and End if I have exercised self-denyal in keeping under the flesh restraining its appetites and denying its cravings in contemning the World and slighting those adored vanities which bewitch charm and intangle so many if at any time my hope of Heaven hath been lively my longing panting and breathing after it strong and warm if I have mortified any sin resisted any temptation performed any duty with success so as to profit my self and please God if I have done any thing whereby the glory honour and interest of God and Christ has been advanced if I have imployed improved my talents and gained more if I have brought forth fruit done any work and service in my generation and place Lord it is owing to thee to the assistances of thy grace and the influences of thy Holy Spirit and I desire to acknowledge it is so saying with thy holy Apostle by the grace of God I am what I am Not I but the 1 Co. 15. 10. grace of God which was with me Oh for the same grace and mercy aid and help now I am a sick and dying man Oh that God would help me in these painful days and sorrowful hours to glorifie him yet more by doing the work which is proper to such a time that my present sickness and death may be for the glory of God the honour of Religion the good of my self and others Particularly help me Lord to be truly thankful for all thy mercies for those innumerable favours confer'd on such a worm such a wretch as I am bring them to my remembrance and enable me unseignedly to bless thee help me O my God to exercise a serious solemn and particular repentance for my past sins Let Oh! let this heart of mine be more humble broken and penitent than ever Finally help me Lord with patience and calmness submission and resignation to submit to thy holy will to be willing to die now with faith and hope trust and confidence to commit my Soul to the care of my dear and blessed Jesus And to these ends Lord bless the following meditations to me and let neither my Eye nor Tongue out-run or leave my Heart behind II. God's goodness is to be acknowledged though he afflicts us at present An enumeration of past mercies temporal and Spiritual And solemn thanksgiving for both God is good and doth good freely constantly and unweariedly and I am fully convinced of both My faith and reason prove the former my very sense and long experience the latter And though now I am sick and weak afflicted and pained though I feel the weight of his hand and the smarting of his rod neither Flesh nor Devil shall persuade me to think otherwise Though he afflicts me now yet hath he not done me good all my days and shall not I bless him for his mercies Mercies that are more than I can number greater than I can value and far beyond my deserts Shall the afflictions of a few days the pains of a few hours make me O my Soul forget slight or
pardon and save yonder penitent sinner and shall my prayer backt with the pleadings of that blood be shut out I have now but a little time my glass is almost run the day is far spent the shadows of the evening are stretched out the night will quickly come Lord be not angry if I renew my request urge thee with thy promise and lie at thy foot till I obtain my pardon and Conscience be enabled and authorized to read it I am miserable and without thy pity must be so for ever and Lord I cannot I will not take a denyal I am thine save me In this sickness I have Ps 119 94. been examining my heart searching my ways and I have done it seriously and impartially what sins I have found out I heartily bewail pardon these and those I have not Who can understand his Ps 19. 12. Errors Lord cleanse thou me from secret faults Blessed Jesus thou great friend and lover of Souls from this my sick and death-bed I look up to thee for help and mercy Oh stand my friend now plead my cause now and let me have the pardon thy blood did purchase thou didst die for me thou wast crucifyed for me and thy blood was shed for me and carest thou not if I now perish May thy Tears Mark 4. 38. Wounds and Blood speak and plead for me for I am sure they will be heard if mine cannot within a few days within a few hours I must appear before an Holy Just and Terrible God and I tremble O my Saviour I tremble to think any one unpardoned sin should meet me at that Tribunal Oh procure my pardon for me before I die if Satan meet me there to accuse me I know thou wilt answer him and plead for me But if any one unpardoned sin meet me there it will condemn me and I am lost and lost for ever I am not sinless I have not perfectly obeyed the Law but I am not impenitent To exercise repentance for my sin has been my daily work ever since my first conversion and it has been so particularly in this present sickness My heart hath been turned from the love of sin and now I loath it more than ever there 's nothing troubles afflicts and grieves me so much as sin vile sin cursed sin thou hast cost me more tears sighs and groans than all my pains have done I Repent I Repent Lord I do repent Oh! pity and spare spare and pardon pardon and love love and save me for ever Have mercy upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies and blot out Psal 51. 1. all my sin Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not Psal 32. 1 2. iniquity Blessed he and only he is the blessed man though he be a poor man a pained man a sick man a dying man yet he is a blessed man Oh that this blessedness might be mine I am now sick and I have no hope of recovery my body grows weaker and weaker and nature sensibly decays this earthly Tabernacle shakes and it will quickly tumble Death Pale and Grim Death is posting towards me I am near unto eternity but I cannot die I dare not step into the other unseen Eternal World with out a pardon Believing O my God that word of thine that word which to me is of more worth than a thousand Worlds Let the wicked forsake his way and the Psal 55. 7 unrighteous man his thoughts And let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon I beg and through the mediation of thy Christ and my Jesus will expect the pardon of all my sins Let it be unto me according to thy word in which thou hast caused thy Servant to hope Amen IV. Of submission to the Divine will as to the time of our Death Many reasons to persuade to such an holy frame and resigning temper Objections Answered Suitable Petitions The Triumph and last work of FAITH I am now on my last bed this sickness for ought I do or can understand will be unto Death The warrant is issued out the commission sealed I am a dying man every moment that passeth away every clock that strikes every breath I draw every pulse that beats tells me death is near at hand and having given thanks to God for all his mercies having unseignedly repented of all my sin and begged pardon in the name and through â—he blood of Jesus and having now some hope and assurance of it what have I further to do What becomes me as a Christian as a righteous man that hath hope of great and glorious things beyond the grave but to submit to the divine good pleasure and saying The will of the Lord be done What language becomes Acts 21. 14. such an one but this O Lord who art the fountain of Life to all thy Creatures I am thine to live or die when and as thou wilt thou gavest me my Life and it is fit thou shouldst take it from me when thou wilt and as thou pleasest I submit to thy will obey thy summons and I would not live a day an hour a moment longer than God would have me God hath ordered the various circumstances of my Life in the best manner things have been much better with me than if I had been left to my own will and choice and I leave it to this wise and good God to order the circumstances of my Death To die now may be better for me than to live longer and if infinite wisdom judge it so I will readily comply and chearfully put off this Earthly Tabernacle Submissive language happy frame blessed temper thus it ought to be with all but alas how few attain to this nay how do the most even of Christians come far short of it how willing are they to live how loth to die how extremely desirous to stay here how loath to depart how passionately desirous to have a new lease granted when the old one is exspiring and almost out For one that in good earnest says I long I long to die I am willing even now to be dissolved how many with tears in their eyes cry not yet Lord not yet Oh spare me that I may recover Ps 39. 13. strength before I go hence and be no more Thus with shame and sorrow must I confess it hath been with me but in this my present sickness Lord help me to overcome my fears of Death wean me from this vain World mortify my fond affection to this present Life and oh raise and quicken in me holy earnest desires after a better Holy Paul had a desire to depart and be with Christ Oh that Phil. 1. 23. now it might be so with me let me be able to say Lord I accept the punishment of my sin I kiss the rod lie at thy foot submit
to thy holy pleasure and am entirely willingly to die now if thou think it best and most convenient my slavish fears of Death have been a pleasure to Satan a torment to my Self a dishonour to God a blemish to my Profession a disgrace to my Hopes Lord at last help me to overcome them Oh! that I could passionately long that Death would come and waft me over to yonder pure and blessed undefiled and eternal Regions while I am so excessively fond of this vain sinful and wretched life while I stand trembling and shivering on the confines of time and am loth to enter into a blessed Eâ—ernity how may all the Inhabitants above wonder at my folly Oh that my Faith Love and Hope might be increas'd and strengthned that I might pant and long wish desire and groan to be in Heaven What abundant reason O my Soul have I to be willing to dye and dye now if God so please have I not met with those crosses and disappointments with those troubles and miseries which are sufficient to wean me have I been tossed on the Waves driven by the Winds endangered by many a Storm and should I not rejoice I can see Land and am so near a quiet Harbour how oft upon the account of Temptations from â—atan Afflictions from God the Rebukes of his Providence the Hidings of his Face and the withdrawings of his Spirit have I complain'd groan'd and wept and shall I be unwilling to have my burdens removed my sorrows ended and all Tears wiped from mine Eyes is not the World mine Enemy and has it not really been unkind to me and shall I be loth to leave it amazing folly if I should live longer even till the Almond does flourish to extream Eccl. 12. 5. old Age should I not be unprofitable to others and a burden to my self and only an insignificant Cipher among my Fellow Creatures is it not better for me to die now than to live till the World is weary of me and I am weary of my self too Am I not O my Soul a Stranger and Pilgrim upon Earth am I not born from above and do I not belong to another Countrey and should not my temper be suitable to my character that is should I not be weary of my Pilgrimage and long to be at home are not Strangers and Pilgrims wont to be so our Journey say they is long and tedious oh that we were at home in our own Countrey among our own People and Kindred a stranger that hath a Journey to go would pass over it as soon as he can his thoughts mind and heart are set upon home and he longs to be there notwithstanding the conveniences and accommodations of his Inn the pleasantness of the Countrey c. yet he longs to be at home And shall I desire to be a wandring Pilgrim in this World when I might and God would have me be a setled Inhabitant in the other oh how becoming my character is it to send sighs groans and prayers as Harbingers to Heaven to tell my God I would fain be there Why do I not cry out here Woe is me I am a stranger and sojourner when shall I come to my own Countrey my Eternal Home to my Elder Brethren and Spiritual Kindred many are gone before and I follow after but blessed Jesus when shall I come to thee my God my Saviour my Hope my Treasure my Happiness my All is in another Countrey oh that I were there too how should the hardships and difficulties the ill usage and sorry entertainment I meet with in my Pilgrimage make me long for home and willing to go whenever my Heavenly Father sends for me Have I not O my Soul been pestered with sin all my life long has it not cost me many a sigh and groan tear and prayer how oft have I offended my God displeased my Father grieved my Redeemer wounded my Conscience and defiled my Heart and if I live longer shall I not sin more is there any hope sin will dye till I do and can I bear the Thought that I should for so many years yet to come offend so good a God hath not this flesh been a snare to me and this body an instrument of much evil and shall I be loth to put it off is not sin my heaviest burden my sorest Enemy have I not often said so and often cried out O wretched man Rom. 7. 23. that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death and shall I be unwilling to be delivered now Criminal Hypocrisie hath not sin defiled all my powers and faculties wounded my Conscience harden'd my Heart dampt my joy disquieted my mind disturbed my peace and brought many an affliction upon my Body hath it not eclipsed the light of Gods Countenance and caused my God and Father my Redeemer and Saviour to stand afar off and shall I not be willing to dye now that I may sin no more Have not I O my Soul been designing Heaven and Praying for Heaven what is the end of all my Sacred Duties Holy Services and Religious Worship but that I may be Saved and get to Heaven and is God calling me to Heaven and shall I be loth to go and all this because this Body must dye first Heaven O my Soul what a sweet and charming word is it and what a pleasant sound does it make Heaven what an happy and desireable place is it Heaven what a delightful and ravishing Theme is this Heaven is not one Thought one single view enough to Transport with Joy and make a Man cry out oh that I were there is God now calling me to Heaven to Heaven the Throne of Divine Majesty the Presence Chamber of the Eternal King to Heaven where I shall have the Vision of God ravishing sights of the Blessed Jesus and the Company of Holy Angels and blessed Souls to Heaven that for Beauty and Glory Transcends not only all that has been seen but all that can be imagin'd shall I refuse and draw back how beautiful are these lower Heavens which are but the Porch and outward Court to the other and how much must the Third Heaven the Temple of the Divine Majesty the Habitation of Glorious Angels in â—eauty and splendor excel these is this the place I shall go to when I dye and can I with any tolerable shew of reason be unwilling to dye now ah sinful silly Soul dost thou draw back art thou unwilling to leave this body what to go to Heaven What! to go to such a glorious happy World Art thou indeed unwilling and art thou not to be blam'd Blam'd thou art for what egregious folly is this can I thus slight Heaven and not blush to think I do Moreover O my Soul If I am a Christian I have solemnly taken God for my only Portion my Ultimate End and Soveraign Happiness I love him and my Saviour above all more than Father or Mother House or Land Estate or
Exod. 15. 2. him an Habitation he is my Father's God and I will exalt him Lord may such an one say thou art my God I have been devoted and dedicated to thee and therefore I will love and fear serve and honour trust in and depend on thee more over thou art my Fathers God and my Mothers God and as this strengthens my obligation to so the remembrance of it shall keep me from departing from thee my own God and my Fathers God I will never forsake Do I should such an one often say live walk and act deport and carry my self as one descended from Godly Parents and becoming my Hereditary Relation to God Do I frame my Life and Conversation as becomes the Child the Son the Daughter of such a Father and such a Mother oh how may such a reflection confound shame and put us to the blush fill us with grief sorrow and repentance for what is past and be in slead of many arguments to persuade to more holy strictness circumspection and accuracy for the time to come Further urge and plead this with God when you come to beg Blessings Spiritual or Temporal I know you are not strangers to secret and closet Prayer you do not dare not cannot live without it when you go take this argument along with you The Argument is strong when I can say My God it is stronger when I can go on and say my Father's God David was mov'd to do kindness for Mephibosheth for his Father Jonathan's sake and can we think the Heart and Hand of God will not be open'd to give Mercy to the Posterity of his old Friends How frequently did the Saints of old put God in mind of their holy Ancestors saying remember Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Jehosaphat goes to Prayer with this Title in his Mouth O God the God of our Fathers David pleads this O Lord 2 Chr. 20. 6. I am thy Servant truly I am thy Servant Psal 116. 16. and the Son of thine handmaid Oh how comfortable argumentative and enforcing is it to mind God who we are when we come to his Door for an Alms to say with humble and holy reverence Lord dost thou ask who I am I am thy Servant and a Child too of a dear friend of thine my Father and Mother were thine antient acquaintance Lord don't deny me don't send me away empty for their sake but shew mercy to me My holy Parents were thine thy domestick servants they were brought up and lived in thy family Lord remember I am the Child of such and give me an alms Oh pity and pardon sanctifie and save me oh let not one descended of holy and believing Parents be a cast-away let not me Lord let not me have my portion with hypocrites when Mat. 24. 51. my Holy Father and Godly Mother shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in Mat. 8. 11. the Kingdom of God! I am thine Lord. Save me and to enforce my plea for mercy I humbly remember thee my Father was thine and my Mother was thine Lord let me find the benefit of being the off spring of such III. Earnestly sue for the full answer and return of those Prayers they sent up to God for you 'T is one great and unspeakable advantage the Children of holy Parents have that they often recommend them and their case to God Such Prayers may do them good after their decease and that they may their Children should beg a return This now should be your work and mine Many of these Prayers are filed up in the Court above as appears by that saying of my dear Mother to me Oh pray for me for when my Children were young and could not pray for themselves I pray'd for them Thanks be to God for a praying Mother Now send New Prayers after the Old Yours after Hers Oh! suffer not so many warm and earnest Prayers so many speaking tears and pleading groans to be lost for want of suing to Heaven for a rich and speedy return May not each go to a Throne of Grace and say Lord my holy Mother who is now fallen asleep was given to Prayer she was a Friend of thine and had an interest in thee and improv'd it not only for her self but for me How oft I was in her mind and upon her heart in her secret addresses to thee Lord thou knowest Did she not again and again recommend me to thy mercy through the merit of thy dear Son and her Saviour and I hope mine too the Lord Jesus are these Prayers all answered have I all the Grace and Holiness Joy Peace and Comfort she prayed for are not many of these Prayers yet to be answered Are not many of her requests for me yet with God oh now for a quick speedy and full return tho' she be dead let none of her Prayers for me be lost Lord that I could hear thee saying I remember thy Mother a good friend of mine I remember whose Child thou art and I am resolv'd to be kind to thee lo here is the Grace Pardon Peace and Comfort thy Mother prayed for she wrestled pleaded with me and would not let me alone be it unto thee according to her Faith and Prayers Lord may such an one say my Holy Parents spoke to thee on my behalf before I was able to speak for my self how many Prayers did my Holy Father and Godly Mother make for me in my Infancy Childhood and Youth Lord read over and grant those Petitions which are of an antient Date Tho' Death hath tied their Tongues the Grave stopt their Mouths and they can pray no more yet nay the rather let those Prayers be answered that are upon the File and are committed to the Hands and Care of the Blessed Jesus the great Master of Requests Lord Jesus do thou see that none of these be lost but answered in the best time IV. Exercise a serious solemn and hearty Repentance for all sin When I consider our dear and excellent Mother was not taken away by a sudden and surprizing stroke but a long and pining sickness prepared the way that she was not taken off in the midst of her days but lent to us for a considerable number of years that she lived till she saw many of her Children's Children and did not fall asleep nor go to Bed till towards the Evening I would hope there was no particular sin of ours provoked God to remove her at this time But alas we all have many sins and should not such a Providence awaken our Repentance It should it tends that way and I pray God it may Let us search our ways examine our hearts consider what sin or sins have been too much allowed and winked at Sin is the cause of Death to our selves and to those whom we dearly love these these are the murderers of our friends and relations let us send an hue and cry after them and when we have found them out let us Crucifie them Oh
Righteous as interested in the perfect Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ Christs Righteousness was not only for himself but for his members though this be inherent in the Person of the Mediator yet we have as much benefit by it as if it were Subjectively in us The Sufferings and Death of Christ were not for his own Sin but ours He was made Sin 2 Cor. 5. 21 for us i. e. our Propitiatory Sacrifice and We are made the righteousness of God in him we have the fruit of his bitter sufferings and cruel death He fulfilled the Law satisfied Justice and paid our Debt and for his sake God looks upon and deals with believers as righteous persons As the disobedience of the first Adam makes us Sinners so the perfect and sinless obedience of Christ the second makes us Righteous As our sins were laid upon Christ in order to his bearing the punishment so his righteousness by a gracious and favourable act of God our Supream Judge is made ours in order to justification Our own righteousness is both a filthy and ragged garment through this God our final Judge will spy the deformity and nakedness of our Souls and Christ our Elder Brother infinite grace covereth us with the unspotted robe of his own Christ took our sins and gives us his righteousness blessed Exchange From Adam our natural Root and Father we derive Guilt Weakness and Death from Christ our Spiritual Head we have Righteousness Strength and Life Isa 45. 24. and therefore he is stiled THE LORD Jer. 23. 6. OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS This is the only Righteousness we must make mention of when judged according to the Law given to Adam in innocency A Penitent and believing Sinner that receiveth Christ Jesus the Lord is for Christs sake esteemed reckoned accounted and dealt with as a righteous Person Though this righteousness be of a peculiar consideration and cannot be thought to be meant in all those places where this word righteous occurreth yet it is absolutely necessary for Christ and what he hath suffered and done is the Spring Cause and Foundation of our hope The immediate and doleful consequent of being without Christ is to be Eph. 2. 12. without hope in the World This fruit grows no where but upon Christs Cross it is his Death that made Heaven possible to a fallen and Apostate creature and it is the sprinkling of this Blood that revives our languishing withering and dying Hopes Oh! Blessed are they who having no righteousness or at least but a maim'd defective and imperfect one of their own are interested in the Righteousness of Christ in the Righteousness of God! III. A man is Righteous and may be denominated so from that personal Evangelical righteousness that is inherent in himself We must not only be interested in the Righteousness of another without us but have one that is really subjected in our selves Or which is all one we must not only have Righteousness imputed but Holiness imparted Christ doth not only cover our running sores and ulcers but undertakes as our Physitian to cure them All Righteousness as hath been already hinted consists in a relation to some Law and that we might truly State what this Evangelical Righteousness is that hath so great a Privilege entail'd upon it as this in the Text I hope none will be offended if we distinguish as we find the Apostle Paul doth of the Law of Works and the Rom. 3. 25. Law of Faith the one framed to the State of an Innocent the other adapted to the condition of an Apostate Creature According to this latter it is that those who have once been Sinners may be made and denominated Righteous That part of the Gospel revelation which contains and discovers our Duty what we are to be and do in order to our Blessedness being as to the matter of it the whole Moral Law before appertaining to the Covenant of Works attempered to the State of fallen Sinners by Evangelical mitigations and indulgence by the Super-added Precepts of Repentance and Faith in a Mediator with all the other duties respecting the Mediator as such and cloathed with a new form as it is now taken into the Mr. How 's Blessedness of the Righteous p. 26. constitution of the Covenant of Grace is the rule of this righteousness He that solemnly repents of his wretched Apostacy from God and all the sins that have followed thereupon he that is united to Christ by Faith and yields sincere though imperfect obedience from an active and living principle within he that is renewed and changed turned from the love of sin in his heart and the practice of it in his Life he that hath solemnly and deliberately sincerely and unfeignedly covenanted with God and dedicated himself to the Sacred and Glorious Trinity Father Son and Spirit and lives suitably to such a devoted State He that is born of God bears his Image lives in communion with and walks in conformity to him is righteous Though his bloody issue may not be wholy dried up though there be indwelling sin in the heart and some sins and falls in the Life though no grace be perfect as to degree yet if there be SINCERITY and UPRIGHTNESS Oh! look after that he is a righteous man The Law calls for perfection but the Gospel Oh! thanks be to God we are under such a merciful favourable and gentle dispensation accepts sincerity This righteousness is not meer morality a being just and honest in our dealings this is the righteousness of an Heathen It is not an external observation of the Letter of the Law this is the righteousness of a Pharisee and ours must exceed his or we cannot Enter into the Kingdom Mat. 5. 30. of Heaven It is not a single act but a stated temper it is not an obedience that Proceeds from rotten but what flows from sincere and gracious Principles denominates a man Righteous A wicked man may do some acts of Devotion and Piety Charity and Justice Sobriety and Temporence but because the setled bent and inclination of his will is another way he is not righteous And though a good man may be guilty of some Errors and miscarriages in his Life yet while this living Principle remains and is not extinct we may and if we will speak in the Language of the Gospel we must call him a righteous Man This Righteousness is nothing but a transcript of the blessed Gospel a conformity in the inward and outward man in spirit and practice to the Divine Revelation made by Jesus Christ A renewed and vital principle in the heart exerting its self in suitable deportments to God and man In summ Repentance from dead Works and new Obedience impregnated by Faith and Love are the two essentiating and constitutive parts of this Gospel Righteousness For the establishing of this notion it is not necessary to insist on any laborious Proof when a great part of the Bible speaks to this purpose Hear once
unclean persons who have frequented the House of the strange Woman have found that her House inclineth Prov. 2. 18. to death and her path unto the Dead Ah wretched men sottish sinners What do they do but violently break the thred of Life When it might have been spun out to a further length by sinning against God they murder their Bodies as well as damn their Souls send one to the Grave and the other to Hell before the time Infinite folly But yet the most holy and righteous have the seeds of corruption in them and are mortal as the Garment breeds the Moth which frets it So we the Diseases which sooner or later will send us to our long home The righteous Eccles 12. 5 are subject to the same sicknesses and diseases as others are to burning Feavers pining Consumptions and to Old Age which is attended with 100 and 100 infirmities and is of all diseases the most incurable Life is a Candle which if no Stormy and ill-natur'd Winds blow out when it is burnt down into the socket will go out of its self a thred which if no scorching Feaver burn time will wear and old age will fret asunder This body tho' there be an Holy Soul inhabiting in it is such an house that if it be not pulled will tumble down of it self Tho' Wisdom hath length of days in her right hand Prov. 3. 16 many of her Children go to Bed late yet an immortality here is not in her power to confer upon any they may hope for it in another World but they cannot have it in this this is a priviledge peculiarly belonging to the future State Now righteous men undergo Death upon a double account 1. As the fruit and consequent of sin Immortality was the priviledge of Innocent Death is become the punishment of faln man If we search the Sacred Records we may easily find from what and whence to derive Death's Pedigree sin ah cursed evil ushered Death into the World That threatning In the day thou eatest thereof Gen. 2. 17. thou shalt surely dye upon the Apostacy of our first Parents was turned into a standing sentence involving them and their whole Posterity for by one man sin Rom. 5. 12. entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in that all have sinned Death is not owing to an irresistible Fate to the weakness of our primary constitution but to Sin as the deserving cause it was sin set Death upon its Pale Horse and nothing now can dismount him as the Tree brings forth fruit as the seed sown brings forth Corn so sin when Isa 1. 17. it is finished brings forth death Sin open'd the Door and then Mortal Sicknesses Deadly Distempers Killing Diseases and Death it self entered in Sin draws Death after it as the Needle doth the Thred and attends on it as the Shadow doth upon the Body Could all Graves be open'd could we stand in some convenient place and at one view behold the many thousands Death hath captivated and slain could we see all the Carkasses that have dropt into and are now rotting in dust we might say Lo all these were first the spoils of sin and then the Trophies and Triumphs of Death This is the account Scripture gives of Deaths Universal Empire Sin cursed Sin oh what Fools are we to be fond of it oh what infinite and unaccountable madness is it to lay and hug that hissing Serpent in our Bosoms which will sting us to Death is the cause of all those Funerals which have been are or shall be in the World Now tho' the Righteous are renew'd and sanctified they are so but in part they have sin in them the meritorious and deserving Cause of Death and therefore that Sentence that carries Death in it DUST thou art and to Gen. 3. 19. DUST THOU SHALT RETURN must be executed even upon them Tho' they are pardon'd yet their Pardon runs with an exception of Death 'T is true for Christ's sake upon the score of that painful shameful death he in their place and stead underwent upon the Cross the SECOND Death which is Death with an Emphasis shall have no power over them but notwithstanding all he hath done and suffered because they are sinners the FIRST must and will How far death to good men is a penal evil and yet retains the nature of a punishment I shall not in this wrangling age offend any by attempting to determine It may suffice that sin brought death into the World and furnished it with those Weapons wherewith it wounds and kills all If any say since the death of Christ and the effusion of his blood upon the Cross Death is rather an advantage to his followers I grant and thanks be to God it is so but may not death be the Wages of sin tho' a good and kind God makes it the path to Heaven and this leads me 2. To consider the death of the righteous as a Means of their deliverance from sin and the appointed way to the glorious Mansions which are above 'T is true God could make us perfectly holy take away the life and destroy the very being of sin the first moment of our conversion when we have done his will served the purposes of his Grace and attain'd the end of our being born by an happy pleasant and easie translation he could take us up Body and Soul to Heaven but he hath otherwise determin'd and made Death necessary in order to both According to the Divine Constitution they must first dye and then be perfectly holy and finally happy Do you ask why the righteous die why that sin might be destroyed as Sin brought Death into the World so Death shall excellent contrivance of Infinite Wisdom for ever abolish Sin tho' death had its sting strength power nay its very being from sin yet it proves by the ordination of God the destruction of it Those Arrows of Death which kill the Christian strike thro' the very Heart of his Sins and Lusts and they both die together A Saint puts off the Garments of Mortality and his filthy Raiment at once the sin that was born with them and lived with them and accompany them from place to place in their last moments takes leave of them for ever The Christian dies that Sin may do so too To this more will be said hereafter Moreover the Righteous here are Strangers and Pilgrims this is their Character and it is expressive of their Frame and Temper While they live they are in a strange place among a strange People and at a distance from their own Oh! How do they wish long pant desire and groan to be elswhere They are born from Heaven belong to it and wish to be there They are Citizens of the new Jerusalem in it are Mansions designed purchas'd prepared and standing empty for them but they must dip there feet in the cold fatal stream that runs beween this World
Duties in my Praying Hearing ay in my Sacramental Communions and Sin is mixt Oh that I had Tears to bewail it with all my graces I do not Love God and Christ so much as I ought and do desire my Faith is weak my Love declined my Zeal abated my Heart cool my Affections chill'd Oh wretched man that I Rom. 7. 24. am Who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death These have been are and will be the complaints of Holy men in this present State But the righteous man hopes the time will come and when sickness hath laid him upon a Death-Bed he knows the time is near at hand when he and sin shall for ever part and in that hour such a one may say now I am dying I am going to a sinless State all my Prayers and Tears Watching and Fasting Wrestling and Striving could not root sin out but Death will now come in to my assistance give me a final and perfect Victory and carry me a conquerour out of the Field When I die this War will end in Victory this conflict in a perfect Conquest None of my sins shall follow me to Heaven I shall not have so much as a wandring dull or cold thought for ever but with Life and Vigour Heat and Rapture a Flaming Zeal and Fiered Affection sing Hallelujah to God and to the Lamb. A good man is so disturbed with the Life of his Lust that were it not for breaking of one commandment that he might be for ever beyond all possibility of breaking any of the rest he would even with his own hands pull down this Earthly House on the Head of these uncircumcised Philistines though he himself be crusht with the fall But he patiently expects the time when God will give Death a commission to do it and this is his hope in his last and sorrowful moments 3. The righteous man at Death hath hope of a full and final deliverance from Satan 2 Cor. 4. 4. and all his temptations The Devil is stiled Eph. 2. 2 The God of this World The Prince of the Powers of the Air which words imply he hath no power in the Blissful Regions beyond Is not this World the Devils Circuit and does not this Roaring Lion walk up and down seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5 8. Are not the best buffeted and sollicited to sin tempted molested and disquieted by him Oh how oft does he shake us in his Teeth though a good God and a merciful Jesus will not suffer him to rend and tear us in pieces tho' Satan hath been bafled and conquered by the Captain of our Salvation yet does he not ever and anon enter the List and give a Challenge to the Followers of the Lamb Have we not a War to manage with these insernal Spirits and powers of darkness and must we not always stand upon our Guard maintain our Spiritual Watch keep on our Armour have our Weapons always in readiness that if we get the better to day we may be prepared for a fresh and more violent assault to morrow Does not Satan one while transform himself into an Angel of Light that he might deceive At another time appear in his onw proper hue as Black as Hell I mean in some horrid and blasphemous suggestions that he might affright and scare us Has he not 2 Cor. 2. 11. his cunning Artifices and suttle Methods to beguile and his Fiery Darts and Eph. 6. 16. Flaming Arrows to Wound and in whatsoever shape he appears whatsoever course he takes is he not a very troublesome and dangerous enemy This is our condition at present and Oh how uneasie and tedious is it to a Child of God to be assaulted with Legions of sins within and an whole Army of Devils without If the temptation doth not prevail it is a torment to be tempted and there cannot but be some fear lest it should In what Agony does the Christian cry Oh what if this temptation should prevail or if I have Grace to resist and overcome this what if the next Temptation should be more fierce the second assault more violent what if at last I should yield constant and be overcome How do such Storms drive them to their Knees and make them with earnestness and affection pray Lord lead us not into Temptation Mâ—â— 6. 13 This World in which we live is haunted with these unclean and ugly Spirits and don 't the best of us at one time or other find it so But the dying Believer hopes for Deliverance if we can keep our integrity maintain our Post stand our Ground defend our selves while we Live we shall be Conquerors take heart Christians we shall be more than Conquerors when we dye 'T is true the assaults of Satan may be most violent in a Dying hour The last Onset most furious and the concluding Battel most bloody but Death will decide the controversie end the Combat and give us the Victory Methinks I hear the dying Christian thus encouraging himself ever since the strong man hath been turned out by the Holy Spirit and Victorious Grace of my Redeemer I have 〈◊〉 little or no peace this Enemy this adversary of my God my Redeemer and my Soul has been ever and anon beating up my quarters many and many a time in the name and strength of the Living God under the conduct of my blessed and victorious Jesus have I accepted the challenge and given battel to these Legions of Darkness and tho' I have been foil'd blessed be God I am not conquer'd tho' I have received some wounds thanks be to God none of them are Mortal I yet live or rather Christ liveth in me and now methinks Gâ—â— 2. 2â— I have and oh how delightful is it the prospect of a final and entire victory Satan hath now almost done his worst he may rage because now his time is short and he knows it to be so but hold out O my Soul stand thy ground resist a little longer play the man act thy part well in this last Combat and the God of Roâ— 10. 2â— Peace shall tread Satan under thy Feet shortly In Heaven and oh how near am I to that blessed place there is no Tempter no Temptation no no when I am lodg'd in Abraham's Bosom or rather in the Arms of my blessed Jesus I am out of Satan's reach for ever when I shall be Dead the Devils Game will be over this Evil One has followed me from my Closet to the Church from my Table to my Bed he has ever stood at my Right Hand to resist me but he shall not dogg my Soul to Heaven no no the purity and holiness of that place cannot admit the Presence of any of these impure filthy and unclean Spirits 4. Dying Christians hope to be delivered from all Spiritual desertions and those doubts and fears which are consequent thereupon How oft by too too wilful falls and sins by allowing our selves in
shame and at last die in horror and despair Sickness and Death O vain man will shake thy hopes The Sentence of thy Judge and and the Flames of Hell will dash them Hope may accompany thee while thou livest go with thee to the very borders of the Eternal World and then at farthest it will bid farewel to thy amazed and trembling Soul The time will come believe it Sirs the time will come when you shall hope no more no more no more for ever This hope is worse than none for it hinders Mens repentance and all the kindness it does them is first to hood-wink and then damn them How fatal is this hope A wicked man can have no good hope either living or dying and that false hope he maintains and cherishes in health when sickness comes many times takes the wings of the morning and flies away In an hour he must remove out of one World into another but he hath no hope it shall be into a better He bequeaths his body to the dust his Estate and Goods to his surviving friends but he can not Lord what an Agony must the departing Soul be in with confidence commend his Spirit into the hands of Jesus He may hope his Friends will give his body a decent burial but he has no hope alas he has no hope Angels will conduct his Soul to glory Oh Death Death how terrible is it when there is no hope of a better life To awaken such let me add to die without good hope though it be bad is not all For the wicked as it is in the former part of this verse is driven away in his wickedness Sad words miserable ends Prov. 14. 32. Ere long Sinners Death will grasp thee in its cold Arms ere long Pale Death will sit in that face of thine that now is Fair and Ruddy and the seat of a Charming Beauty ere long Death will shackle those feet which brought thee to this assembly shut those eyes which are a window to let in vanity into thy mind stop those ears which have been delighted with filthy and unsavoury discourse ere long Death will drive thee out of the World thou must be confâ—â—ed to a narrow Coffin sleep in a Bed of dust under a coverlet of crawling Worms but this is not all no nor the greatest part of thy misery for thou shalt be driven away in thy wickedness Go out of the World guilty and accompanied with the sins of thy whole Life Death unties the knot and thy Soul is gone gone Whither is it gone Into the invisible World to the illightned Tribunal of a Just Impartial and Inexorable Judge Death sets open the Door and thy immortal Spirit immediately flies away and all thy sins like so many black and frightful Devils hasten and post after Thy Sins O man thy sins mount and ascend as fast as thy Spirit and will be at the Judgment-seat as soon as it Methinks a thought of this should make thine heart ake thy lips quiver rottenness enter into thy bones and force thee to cry out Good God! Whatever becomes of me let me not die in my sins An impenitent sinner goes into Eternity dogg'd by Devils and his own impure Lusts When he dies that hope which with artifice and cunning he maintain'd in his life-time forsakes his wretched and trembling Soul In one instant it is gone and gone for ever follow him from one World to to'ther from his sick-bed to the Bar of God Doleful Hour Infer II. Do and must the righteous die Then how does it concern us to make a good use of them while they live The righteous are the lights of the World like the Sâ—â— in the Firmament profitable and beneficial to all Though hereafter these wise Virgins cannot supply us with Oyl out of their Vessels to recruit our Lamps and maintain the expiring Flame yet at present they may like the Sun communicate of their light and heat to us How much Spiritual good may we receive by them and how careful should all be to make a wise improvement Have you an Holy Father a Godly Mother who pray for weep over and daily instruct you Hearken to their instructions follow their example take their counsel for they must die That Holy Father of thine who with compassion and tenderness begs of thee to remember God and thine own Soul that Godly Mother of thine who brought thee forth with pain and sorrow and is in travel with thee again till Christ be formed in Gal. 4. 19. thee must die And if thou dost not hearken to and improve their serious reproofs godly counsels and wholesome advice what a torment may the thought of it be when they are dead and gone Methinks I hear a negligent and careless Son being lately come from the grave of his holy Father or godly Mother in bitterness crying out God in giving me such holy Parents gave me a great mercy but I Oh wretched man that I am neither valued nor thankfully improved so great a blessing as should and might have done My Father my Mother that is now dead very often and that with tears told me of my sin and danger with abundance of kindness in the Spirit of meekness reproved me for my youthful follies and vanities with much Plainness and Holy Zeal they instructed and counselled informed and directed me they brought me to the Solemn Assembly and taught me at home they wept over me and prayed to God for me and put me upon secret Prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures but all this labour in whole or at least in great part has been lost as to me Might I not have been much better might I not have had more grace and holiness had I improved this blessing I had the same advantage may the wicked and disobedient Son say but I slighted the instructions of my holy Father and contemned the counseâ—â— of my godly Mother and now they are dead and gone how likely am I to die in my sins having not the same helps and advantages as I had when they were with me Such reflections Conscience being awakned by the hand and rod of God may be made when such holy Relations are taken away to prevent which let all especially the Children of Holy Parents improve the lives and company of such The like might be said as to Husbands and Wives Masters and Servants c. Labour to get as much good as you can by holy Relations Christian Friends and Acquaintance for these you shall not have always with you Infer III. How great is the mercy and goodness of God to his People though they are not exempted from Death Death sounds harsh the Grave is very frightful When we think the Friends of God the Members of Christ the Favourites of Heaven and the Followers of the Lamb must die are we not sometime posed and almost at a stand Are we not puzzled to reconcile the Death of such men with the goodness and love of God and those
tender bowels he has toward such Are we not ready to say How and why is it that such must die Since their door-posts are sprinkled with the Blood of the Lamb why may why does not the destroying Angel pass over them Since God hath such a love to delight in and wishes so well to them why must they Taste Death before they can drink of those Rivers of Heb. 2 9. pleasure which are at Gods right hand forevermore Psal 16. 11. Why does not such love and mercy pleasure them with an easie and instantaneous Translation These may be the arguings of carnal reason but to consider with what great and vast blessed and glorious hopes they die may help us to silence every thing of this kind Why should we entertain any hard thoughts of God or think him in the least unkind because we must first die before we can be happy When he has given us such sure and certain hopes to carry us through the Pains and Conflicts Agonies and Terrors of that hour When you hear or see that the Righteous must die do you cry out How severe and inflexible is Divine Justice Then remember they die in hope and cry out How tender is Divine Mercy How great is the Mercy of God that he sweetens this Cup with some fore-tasts of Heaven When sickness shall Summon me to die when I shall lie weak and pain'd on my last bed Lord Let me have a strong and unshaken a vigorous and lively hope Give me in that dark and gloomy hour but a prospect of Heaven and an assurance it shall be mine While with one eye I look into the Grave with the other let me look to Heaven and be able to say Yonder is a Mansion for me And I will never think much that I must die O my God I will not think thy justice is too severe but adore and Bless Love and Praise thee while I have Strength and Breathe that I have hope to comfort me in my Passage Infer IV. How evident is it that serious Religion and practical holiness is not a vain thing To mourn for our sins and repent of our past wickedness to watch our Hearts which have so oft so easily and fatally betray'd us to resist the Temptations of Satan who waits for an opportunity to destroy us to abstain from fleshly and sensual pleasures which have drowned thousands in Perdition and may ensnare and defile us to be strict and accurate in all our ways to follow the Directions of the Word the Conduct of the Holy Spirit and the light of a well-informed Conscience in all we do to be warm fervent and frequent in Prayer both in our Families and Closets to be serious and reverent when ever we have to do with God and meddle with sacred things to love our Enemies and do good to all and hurt to none to deny self take up the Cross and suffer rather than sin to be humble meek and condescending to govern our thoughts make a Covenant with our Eyes and to set a Watch on the Door of our Lips and Bridle our Passions to contemn the World and the three grand Idols of it RICHES HONOURS and PLEASURES to be contented with little and thankful to God for any thing to obey the commanding and submit to the Providential Will of God is accounted by some men and those who think themselves Wits too ridiculous and vain What profit is there in serving â—â—e Almighty Job 21. 15. Is the Language of some Men's Tongues and more Mens Hearts but Lord what mad and foolish talk is this is that vain which ends so well and has such an happy issue at last The whole Life of a sinner is but one continued vanity but one entire piece of a more solemn folly your carking and caring for your pampering a dying Body while you neglect an Immortal Spirit your thoughtfulness for Earth while you forget Heaven your heaping up Riches while you lay up no treasures for your selves in another World your purchasing Lands and Houses while you do not seek a Title to a Mansion above your sinful Laughter and carnal Mirth your ridiculing Religion and making a scorn of the Righteous your beastly pleasures and bruitish delights are all vain of these we may say Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity Should I come to you when you lie sick cold and trembling on a Death-bed and ask Sir what fruit have you of your former sinful Life would you not shake your head and with an heavy Heart say Fruit alass no fruit nothing but shame and sorrow dreadful fears of an after reckoning and frightful thoughts of Hell and Judgment to come But Righteousness and Powerful Religion is no vain or unprofitable thing suspend thy judgment a little while stay till the Righteous man comes to the end of his Journey behold him weak and languishing and yet full of hope and joy See him looking grim Death in the Face with courage and going out of the World in triumph hear him saying with a pleasant voice Oh that Death would come I long I long to dye and then judge if righteousness be vain This Doctrine exemplified in the triumphant and joyful Death of a Righteous Man is enough to convince the most sottish and stupid sinner that serious religion is no vain and empty thing Infer V. How industriously and diligently should all labour after this righteousness That Death is certain and unavoidable near at hand and will quickly come I suppose you take for granted You are dying verily my friends you are dying men and women the time is coming and how quickly will it be here when you must breath your last when neither the tears of Relations the pity of Friends the skill of Physitians nor any vertue there is in Medicines can prolong Life or keep off Death Lo this is thy Motto DUST thou art and to the Dust shalt thou return and should not you labour to be such persons while you live that you may have hope in your Death To be a stranger upon Earth is your character to get an hope of an abiding City should be your endeavour and this cannot be had without Gospel-righteousness It is not a superficial sorrow and slight repentance for your past sins a few good thoughts or wishes a few cold and lifeless Prayers in the Church or Closet it is not an escaping the gross pollutions of the flesh or doing some acts of Charity and Justice Sobriety and Temperance that will be a sufficient ground of hope in a dying hour it is nothing short of a through Universal change of Heart and Life nothing short of a supernatural principle in the Heart exerting its self in suitable actions in the life will warrant and legitimate your hope and oh how speedily and diligently should every one labour after it If you would have hope in your Death you must solemnly repent of all your sins that Heart of thine which is as hard as a Rock must be
all their sins set in order before them Are they filled with horror and anguish Is some of the everlasting fire flasht in their Faces Does the Devil begin to torment them before the time Is God a terror to Mat. 8. 29. them and they a terror to themselves Are they weary of Life and yet afraid of Death Are they rackt and tortured and do they speak nothing but the language of Hell before they come there Are they cast at the Bar of Conscience before they are condemned at the Tribunal of their Supreme Judge Do they sensibly feel what horror attends the final doom Depart from me ye cursed Mat 25 41. Do they cry out and tremble as if they now heard it pronounced by their eternal Judge Does a righteous God commission Conscience to witness against Judge and Condemn them to sting and lash them in their last hours for the sins of their past Life And ought we not to take notice of and improve all this May not such a sight the remembrance of what we saw and heard in that hour awaken our Consciences startle our Spirits affect and warm our hearts May it not tend â—â—â—hew us the Justice of God the evil of 〈◊〉 and the infinite danger of neglectinâ— to hearken to the voice of God while it is câ—â—led to day May it not excite our diligence quicken our repentance and assist our preparations for Death and judgment May it not Arm us against the World the Flesh and the Devil and make us more resolved to hearken to the voice of the Spirit the checks of our own Conscience and the compassionate calls of mercy Would it not make us know the worth of time and put us upon husbanding redeeming and improving it to the best ends the Glory of God and Salvation of our Souls Would it not make us love Christ prize his sacrifice and value his blood more Would it not put us upon reviewing our lives searching our hearts and examining our state and amending what has been amiss Oh how much good may we get by the death of poor awakned sinners and how great is our folly and sin in case we don 't And can it be unprofitable and useless to mark observe and remember the more happy and comfortable end of the Righteous Shall we take no notice what is the end issue and conclusion of an Holy Life We should remember how they lived and how they died Did God in their sickness furnish them with patience and calmness submission and resignation to his Holy Will Were their Thoughts compos'd Minds setled Spirits calm their peace undisturb'd their Joy great and their Hope lively Was there a willingness to die and a desire to depart that they might be with Christ did God resolve their Doubts scatter the Clouds and help them to overcome their fears Has such an one been enabled to say Lord I am thine I lye at thy Foot here I am do to me dispose of me remove or continue my pains as thou wilt let me be well or sick live or die be recover'd or remov'd as thou pleasest Lord if thou hast any more Work for me to do I am willing to live and content my happiness should yet be deferr'd and I 'll acknowledg thy Grace if thou wilt yet use me and make me an Instrument of thy Glory but if my work be done and the number of my years be accomplisht I am willing Lord I am willing now to die if it be thy pleasure now to remove me if this sickness must be my last and end in death if to die now be really best for me and most for thy glory I will not draw back I am ready at thy call command and pleasure to lay down this Body and thanks be to God I can heartily say the Will of the Lord be done Have any of your Christian Friends or Holy Relations died thus Heavenly frame Blessed end Glorious triumph over Death and the Grave Ought we not and may it not be infinitely useful to mark and remember this How much may it contribute to maintain the Life of Religion and the Power of Godliness in us may not the memory of what we observ'd and saw at such a time confirm us in our holy Choice strengthen our Faith and throughly convince us Religion is not a vain thing Will it not recommend the Holy Ways of God set off Religion and make all holy exercises more sweet and pleasant to us but in particular may not an observing how they died afford matter of encouragement and support to us when we have sad and melancholy Thoughts as to our own departure how oft does many a poor sincere Christian in bitterness cry out How shall I with a Christian Patience an humble submission and an entire resignation bear long painful and tedious sickness how shall I be able to conquer the fear and submit to the stroke of Death How shall I be able to grapple with that Enemy and encounter the King of Terrors How shall I be able with joy and chearfulness without murmuring and repining to obey my Summons to Death and Judgment When I do but suppose my self sick weak and full of pain when I seriously think of my Coffin and Grave I tremble but Lord what shall I do when it comes to the trial thus it is with many and has it not been so with you at one time or other and may it not be so again and if it should how may the memory of the happy end of holy friends and relations administer to your support when thou hast the Death of such an one fresh in thy thoughts thou mayst say why art thou cast down O my â—sal 42. 5. Soul and why art thou thus disquieted within me Is it because this body must die How many holy ones are dead before me They were weak frail and imperfect as I am but God furnished them with patience courage and strength quieted their Mind calm'd their Spirits and husht their ruffling passions and when my hour comes I hope God will help me to die too Have not I the same God to depend upon the same promises to encourage me the same Jesus to stand by me and the same Holy Spirit to assist me I remember my holy Father died with comfort my holy Mother made an happy and peaceable End and why may not I Death is conquered it is conquer'd And the fear of it may be overcome I have seen it may and why should the fear of it keep me in a perpetual bondage How serviceable may it be to remember how other holy Men and Women have died before us Secondly Another duty with reference to those who died in hope is to give thanks to God for those assistances and that Grace which was vouchsafed to them â—â— a dying hour Surviving Relations who were Eye-witnesses of God's goodness to them who are departed should own acknowledge and praise God for it when they are dead and gone The dead cannot
what holy motions and breathings what enlivening quickening and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit have I had how oft hath God supported my drooping and reviv'd my dying Spirits answered my doubts expell'd my fears and treated me as a Friend nay more as a Son how hath God in mercy restrained the Tempter or wisely ordered the Temptation as to the nature strength and continuance of it what succour and support what strength and assistance have I experienc'd at such a time and how oft through Grace have I been more than a Conquerour when I sinn'd and fell God did not cast me off banish me his family and null the former Relation but pittied me a faln Christian when he heard my groans and saw my penitential Tears his Bowels yearned he took me up and embraced me in the Arms of his Mercy wiped my weeping Eyes comforted my sorrowful Heart and said Son be of good chear thy sins are forgiven Mat. 9. 2. thee Oh! the joy oh the unspeakable joy of that hour methinks I yet sensibly feel what lively and warm impressions those words made upon my Heart upon my Heart that the moment before was ready to sink and dye within me when I was covered with Tears Blushing and Shame when I lay sighing sobbing and groaning at his Foot-stool crying out in the bitterness of my Soul I have sinned I have sinned before I rose from my knees before I said Amen my God came and said I have pardoned I have pardoned and now go in peace For the mercy and kindness of that hour Lord I bless thee now When through the weakness of my Grace the strength of my Corruptions and the power of Temptation I have wandred and gone astray when my zeal has abated my affections been cooled when I have been remiss negligent and careless back-sliding and on the declining hand he sent some affliction or other to call me back to awaken warm quicken and recover me When I have loved the World too much and my God too little when my affection to Earth has been too warm and to Heaven too cold when duties have been neglected or performed without life vigour and zeal when I begun to be too Worldly Earthly and Sensual he suffered me to meet with disappointments took away part of my Estate snatcht away a bosom Friend a dear Relation filled my Body with pain shook me over the Grave and threatned to cast me into it and all this with a merciful design to reform and make me better And Lord I thank thee any afflictions have been sanctified to such an end that the voice of the Rod has been accompanied with that of thy Spirit and both were effectual to reclaim me that at any time I came out of the fire more refin'd and purg'd and that those Waters of Affliction washt away my filthiness Lord I can do and will bless thee for seasonable corrections and the discipline of thy Rod. So good and kind so liberal and bountiful so merciful and gracious hath God been to me I have had so much for Body and Soul for time and eternity that I am fill'd with wonder and must cry out Oh the heighth and depth length and breadth of the love of God! my mercies have been more than my moments and every single mercy deserves and calls for a Psalm of Praise Lord when I am dead and in a silent Grave I cannot praise thee and therefore now I will blessed be God I lived till I was born again that ever I heard of that sweet that blessed that charming name JESUS and that I was enabled to believe on him for all the Mercies I have had in this World and for the hope and prospect of more and better in the next Blessed be God for Pardoning Mercy Sanctifying Grace and the Blood of Jesus to wash and cleanse me a sinner Blessed be God for the supports and comforts I have in this sickness that Satan is restrain'd and my own corruptions curb'd Blessed be God I am made meet for Heaven and that I know I am Lord what Grace is thine how free and sovereign What love is thine how constant and matchless how sweet how exceeding sweet is the thought that God hath loved doth love me and will do so unto the End I 'll bless thee Lord while I live thank thee with my last Breath and O my God through Christ thy Son and my Saviour accept my dying praises Bless the Lord O my Soul bless the Lord for me O my Friends bless the Lord O ye his Holy Angels my single voice is not sufficient may every Tongue all breath praise his holy name Amen HALLELUJAH III. After Death cometh Judgment what an awakening Thought this is and ought to be How this Thought may and should be improv'd by us in our last Sickness particularly to put us upon Confession the exercise of Repentance and earnest Prayer to God for Pardoning Mercy SICKNESS Summons Men to die Death Summons them to Judgment May this Sickness be my last and do I suppose it will hearken O my Soul and thou may'st hear Deaths Voice Come unto the Bar come give an account of thy Self to God in the NAME of the ETERNAL GOD whose Servant and Messenger I am I cite thee O Man to make thine appearance before the Tribunal of thy Maker Sovereign and Judge in the other World Awful Tidings what awakening and startling words are these must I O my Soul quickly Dye and after that be judg'd go from my Death-bed to the Bar of an Infinitely Holy Just and Jealous God must my Life be examined all my Actions scanned and my everlasting state in that moment be determined must a Righteous and Irreversible Doom pass upon me must I Dye in one moment and in the next be Judg'd and shall not I search my ways examine my state take a survey of my Heart and Life before I pass to that final and irreversible Judgment and hold up these guilty hands of mine at God's Tribunal shall I not endeavour to know what has been amiss that I may confess be humbled for repent of it and beg pardon Lord help me a sick Lord for Jesus sake help me a dying man in this serious solemn work help me to find out my sins to repent and implore thy mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ who is my only hope in Life at Death and after Death I was born a sinner and came into the World guilty and polluted behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my Mother Psal 51. 5. conceive me As I am a Child of Apostate Adam dreadful thought I am unlike to the Holy and Blessed God and resemble the Devil the worst of Beings and had I no other sin this were enough to shame confound silence and condemn me But alas have I not found this original sin active in my Heart and fruitful in my Life with what force and violence has it hurried me to the commission of sin oh