my design and desire is to prevent immoderation which will hinder and not further you in the Work and unfit you for your Duty you may you ought do mourn but not as those without hope for those that sleep in the Lord 1 Thess 4.13 Ingenious Children when one is beaten the other will cry but they must take heed of murmuring and repining against their Father Lute-strings when one is touched the other sound and 't is one of those Dues which we owe to our deceased Friends to lament at their Funeral 't is those usually that live undesired that dye unlamented It was a Judgment threatned against Jehoiakim that when he died he should not be lamented Jer. 22.18 But we must not Water our Plants so as to drown them and that Sorrow that disables us for our present Duty in our general or particular Calling is doubtless our sin Our chiefest care for our Relations should be while they are living and that is to make provision to our power for Soul and Body but for the Soul especially for alas what is a moment of time to Eternity But when God manifests by his Providence that 't is his Will to transport and transplant these Flowers into a better Soil though we should not be insensible of the stroak we should not murmure or repine under it or accuse the Hand that gave it but submissively resign them up to him who gave them or rather lent them to us David did what he could for his Son while he was living but ceased mourning for him when he was dead Our Tears though they may be shed upon other accounts yet 't is pity they should run profusedly in any other Channel but for sin It being the true penitential Tears that are the Holy Water that God affects and the Devil hates for if any â—oss or Cross that befalls us deserve one Tear our Sins deserve a thousand for sin is the cause of all our Losses and Crosses that befal us and without Repentance will be the destruction of Soul and Body and when we see such direful Effects and tast such bitter Fruits we should bewail the Cause and root up the Tree If our Sin lay heavy our Crosses would seem light if we bathed our Sins in our Tears we should not have so many left to pour out upon these Occasions Sin is the occasion of the Death of your dear Daughter and will be of your own Death for had it not been for sin she had not dyed By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed ever all for as much as all have sinned the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Nay sin it was that put our sweet Saviour to death these were the Nails that pierced his Hands and his Feet the Spear that pierced his Side his Betrayer Accusers Judge and Executioners and can your Daughter be more dear to you than God's only and beloved Son was to him He laid down his Life for her and her Life is not too good to lay down for him he laid down his Life to purchase for her a Mansion of Glory and she laid down her Life to go to take Possession for there is no other way to enjoy it Madam In my present Address to you there are two things designed by me The first is to abate the swelling Tide of your Sorrow and to bring those Waters within their proper Bounds and Banks which I shall endeavour to do by giving you some few Considerations to Meditate upon that so when the violent Storm of Passion shall be allayed Reason may be spoke with which cannot many times be heard when Passion is raging and after that my intention is to point you out some of those many profitable Lessons which this Providence seems to hand out to us which if we can learn doubtless we shall gain by this loss or our gains will be greater than our loss for God's Rod hath a Voice and 't is our Duty to hear it Micah 6.9 Nay 't is like Jonathan's Rod 1 Sam. 14.27 it hath Honey at the end and if we taste of it it will open and enlighten our Eyes If God with Correction give Instruction we may well say as David It was good for me that I was afflicted before I was afflicted I went astray but now I learn to keep thy commandments Psal 119.67 Quae nocent docent is a Proverb and that Lesson is best learnt that is set on with whipping and best remembred Correction is seldom a sign of God's hatred many times of his love For whom he loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth If we endure chastening God dealeth with us as with sons for what son is he that his father chasteneth not And if we be without chastening then are we bastards and not sons Heb. 12.6 7 8. Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for your iniquities God will be sure to plow his own Ground whatsoever becomes of the wast and to weed his own Garden though others are let alone to grow wild the punishing Angel must begin at God's Sanctuary Ezek 9. And it was no sign of Love when God said Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Hosea 4.17 Since he hath made a match with Mischief let him have his belly full of it When Ignatius was thrown to the Wild Beasts to be devoured Now saith he I begin to be a Christian for Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels with which God doth adorn his best Friends they are Pledges of our Adoption and Badges of our Sonship so that they are no signs of his disinheriting us and though he may seem to hide his Face yet 't is no sign of his forsaking us But now for the quieting your Spirit under your present Suffering and this dark Providence I beseech you ponder well these few following Considerations which well weighed may through God's Blessing quell those tumultuous Thoughts that swell in your Breast and I desire the Lord to bless them to this end 1. Consider who it is that hath done you this supposed Injury to take away your Daughter without your consent And here you may consider not only who it is but also what Interest he claims in her and then consider whether your Plea will hold good against him Is it not the great God of Heaven and Earth whose Power no Creature is able to resist whose Will is his Law and whose Glory is his End Is it not he that is called Omnipotent that doth what pleaseth him in Heaven and in Earth and none can resist him And is he a fit Match for you to grapple with Is it not he that measureth the water in the hollow of his hand and meteth out Heaven with his span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure that weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance To whom all
the world they 〈◊〉 meet with tribulation 't is in Christ they shall 〈◊〉 Peace John 16.33 The World to Believ◠like the Streights of Megallan to the Passenger which way soever they bend their Course the Wind is always against them Though Wicked Men like Dogs worry one another yet like Herod and Pilate joyn both against Christ and his Church which ever is uppermost they are sure to be under for while there is a Devil in Hell or a Wicked Man upon Earth they can expect no Peace Blessed are the dead therefore that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.3 Here they are with the Apostle in Prisons often but a Goal-delivery will come when they shall be freed and their Enemies be sent to a worse Prison then shall all tears be wip'd away from their eyes and sin and sorrow shall be no more 'T is here they have a Principle of Grace in them to direct their Course aright but Corruption like a Byas to the Bowl draws them aside they are like the Stars whose Natural Course is from the West to the East but by force of the Primum Mobile they are hurried from East to West Regenerate Mens Course is Heaven-ward but they are many times like the Stars Stationary and too often Retrograde They are like the Bird of Paradice with a Clog upon her heels her Nature is to mount up but the Clog plucks her down again when they mount up in their Contemplations to get a view of Christ they are like a Man that looks at a Star through an Optick-Glass held with a Palsie Hand sometimes but 't is seldom they get a sight of him but they shall have a clearer Vision ere long They cannot deal with their Corruptions as Abraham did with his Servants leave them behind when they go to Sacrifice no they say as Ruth did to Naomi Whither thou goest we will go and where thou lodgest we will lodge and where thou art buried we will be buried and nothing but Death shall part us Ruth 1.16 But 't is but a while and a Believer shall be everlastingly separated from his sin and will triumph over all his Enemies Oh Death where is thy sting Oh Grave where is thy victory c. 'T is true here the best have no pure Beauty they have their form freckles yet their spot is the spot of God's people which will wash out and not like the Leopard not only in the Skin but in the Flesh also but then they shall appear without spot or wrinkle Here all their Comforts are mixt and there is no fire but there is some smoak 't is not so there Here they lye among the Pots but there they shall shine as the stars for ever and ever Then shall they exchange Earth for Heaven Misery for Majesty and a Crown of Thorns for a Crown of Glory but what this Glory is we know not but shall then have occasion to say of it as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomon's Wisdom Much I have heard of it but the one half was not told me Paul that had a Glimpse of it saw more than he was able to utter for no word in Humane Language could express it We can no more set out Heaven's Happiness than we can take the Dimensions of it with our Span or empty the Sea with a Spoon All we can do to get out of this Labyrinth is by a clue of Scripture-thread and here 't is but shadowed out to us according to our Capacity so much as may set us a longing after the enjoyment of that which eye never saw ear never heard neither can the heart of man conceive what it is Now the Eye hath seen much the Ear heard of more but the Heart can conceive of more than that as that the Earth is a Globe of beaten Gold the Sea of liquid Pearl every Grass to be a Diamond and every Sand a Ruby the Air to be Crystal and every Star to be ten thousand times bigger and brighter than the Sun c. for what can bound our Fancy Now if all these were realities alas it falls short of Heaven's Glory these things fall under our Senses but Heaven's Glory cannot here is Joy without Sorrow Light without Darkness and Grace is here without Corruption Here is a mixture of the one with the other and many times an Ounce of Joy hath a Pound of Sorrow we get sometimes a Pisgah-sight of Canaan and suddenly are hurried back into the Wilderness if not into Aegypt now Health then Sickness now Ease then Pain now Poverty then Plenty But in Heaven it will not be so our Wine there shall not be mixt with Water the Storm there will be over and the Weather always calm and serene But to come nearer to our business our Happiness there will be partly privative partly positive I shall speak to those apart and shew you first what we leave behind us and then what our Enjoyment shall be and all but as in a Glass darkly 1. At Death and not before we shall be freed from all our Sin and Corruption which is the greatest trouble a Believer hath in this World and indeed the cause of all other troubles but at Death it shall never trouble them more they may say of it as Moses of the Egyptians in the Red Sea Those you see to day you shall see no more for ever And is not this cause of Rejoycing Sorrow follows Sin as the Shadow follows the Substance but the Cause being removed the Effect will cease This it is that spoils all our Duties and makes them unsavoury unto our God for the Fountain being defiled the Streams cannot be pure this is the Make-bate between God and the Soul and this hides his face from us We can never have Peace with God or any assured Peace with our selves or the Creatures till we break our Peace with Sin for when God is offended our own Consciences and all the Creatures wait but for a Commission to molest us or destroy us The Waters of the Flood drown'd the whole World the red-Red-Sea Pharaoh and his Host the Fire burnt up Sodom and Gomorrha and the Cities adjacent the Earth swallowed up Korah and his Complices the Walls of Aphek slew twenty seven thousand of God's Enemies 1 Kings 20.30 The Stars fought in their Courses against Sisera the very inanimate Creatures take God's Part so do the poor Insects the Flies the Lice the Caterpillars what Plagues were they to Egypt As also the Frogs the Hail c. And would have destroyed him and all his Army had not Moses interceded And Histories tell us that sometimes a Fly an Hair a kernel of a Grape a prick with a Pin have brought Great Men to their end Hence it was that Augustine saith he would not be in an unregenerate Man's condition for one hour for all the World lest God in that time should take him hence by some Judgment and send
Blood and much ado to get with hard Labour Cloaths to their backs or Meat to their bellies or to redeem a little Time for their Souls good this must needs be an uneasie Life and many times all their pains cannot keep them out of Prisons or their Children from Beggery These Poor Men many times have when they go to Bed a bundle of Cares to lay under their Heads not much easier than a bush of Thorns and this is the Portion of many Godly Men. But Death will take this Burden from them for in Heaven there will be no racking of Rents no grinding of the faces of the Poor there will be Rest without Labour and Pleasure without Pain there is no domineering Tyrant no oppressing Neighbour these are gone another Road if Repentance prevent not to pay back those Tears with Interest they have drunk here so greedily Here is no Bond-slave or Servant to live in subjection no naked back nor hungry bellies to feed or cloath here is Nectar and Ambrosia God himself to feed upon Here in this World Fears and Cares keep Men working by Day and waking by Night but 't is not so in Heaven there neither Pains nor Cares are necessary they praise God for their Enjoyments not beg for a supply to their Wants Here the care of all the Churches are upon us as upon Paul and we sympathize with others that are in Misery as Nehemiah did and hence we can scarce open our Eyes or Ears but we let some Grief into our Hearts some Persecution or other we hear of in one part of the World or other some suffering Saints some Massacre some Oppression or Persecution which adds still to our Trouble some Friend or other in Prison their Goods seized or they ruined or those that have yet escap'd are in continual fears and expectations that it will be their condition Wars and Rumours of Wars fill us with Distractions But there are no such Disturbances in Heaven Here sometimes we fear God is removing our Candlestick and taking away his Gospel from us and leaving us up to Egyptian Darkness but this fear never troubles the glorified Saints they matter not the Pipe that can go to the Fountain The consideration also of the Divisions Rents and Schisms that are among Christians yea the holiest Men cause many sad thoughts of Heart when Ephraim is against Manasseh and Manasseh against Ephraim and both against Judah when one Godly Man Speaks Disputes and Writes so bitterly against another and are ready to dis-robe each other of their Graces But in Heaven Luther and Calvin the like we may say of other Dissenting Parties will agree one Heaven will hold that that now one Church cannot There will be perfect Love and Unity and no disagreeing Person or Party Here likewise loss in our Estates and disappointment in our Expectations or in our Affairs whether by the immediate Hand of God want of Fore-sight the carelesness of Servants or the malice of Enemies may disturb our Peace Hardship and Trouble also in our several Callings and Employments This makes us think that Part we Act upon the Theatre of the World is the hardest and most uneasie The faithful Magistrate that sets himself against the sins of the Times finds sad disappointments and the desired Reformation not attained he is ready to despond under his Burden The faithful Minister after all his hard Labour and Study to bring Souls to Christ finds not the wished Effect is ready with the Prophet Isa 49.4 to despond The like we may say of Parents Masters of Families and other Governours that do what they can to bring those under their Charge to Christ and cannot do it are ready to faint under their Burden But in Heaven all these Troubles will be over there will be no Contention in the State nor Trouble in the Church no disorder in the Family and nothing amiss in the Soul These things and many more cause our Trouble here and will do while we live but Death will prove the Funeral of our Troubles and the Resurrection of our Joys It was the rejoycing of a good Woman that was a Martyr that her Stake was put into the same hole that holy Mr. Philpot's was before her and it may be some comfort to us that we are going the same way to Heaven that our betters have gone in before us and we hope shortly to overtake them But that which makes our Lives uneasie is when God hides his Face from the Soul as sometimes he doth but in Heaven we shall never fear losing him we shall never look into the Casket and miss the Jewel we shall never see a frown in his forehead nor a wrinkle in his brow Now we find it a hard matter to wind up our Affections to God then it will be impossible to draw them off him then we shall leave all these Clogs behind us as Elijah did his Mantle when he ascended into Heaven And this is the Lesson this Providence teacheth us That our Troubles here may be sharp they will be but short the Righteous Man hath not long to suffer 5. But the Saints Happiness at Death consists not only in freedom from Evil but in the enjoyment of Good also What they are freed from you have heard what they shall meet with at Death rests to be spoken to but who can sing the Songs of Sion in a strange Land Who can describe that which eye never saw ear never heard tell of neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive of viz. the Joys that are prepared for those that love God Yet this I should speak to but seeing I have treated of this in another Book I shall be the briefer Were their Happiness only in their freedom from Misery it were no other than what bruit Beasts shall have whose Misery ends with their Life but Christ hath promised the pure in heart shall see God Mat. 5.8 which cannot be in this Life for no man can see his face and live Moses indeed by faith saw him that is invisible and some Glimpse of him a Believer may have but a clear Vision is only reserved for Heaven and by seeing God is meant enjoying him for without that the sight will bring little comfort for ought we know the Devils and the Damned may see him as Dives did Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom to their greater Torment But to see him as he is 1 John 3.2 is to enjoy him and this is the Beatifical Vision as Divines call it Yea we shall have as much knowledge of him as finite Creatures are capable of we shall apprehend him though not comprehend him for we may as well think to comprehend all the Water in the Sea in a Cockle-shell for what is finite to infinite Yet shall our knowledge of him be much enlarged for here the Apostle saith we see but in a glass but then face to face But how God will communicate himself to us we know not yet will he let
Oyl of Angels But to pass by that exploded conceit or rather deceit as a groundless Fiction But whether the Soul be in Heaven or Hell for a third place the Scripture owns not it is in a stated condition which Eternity it self cannot alter and our Tears nothing avail to the one or to the other In Heaven there can be no augmentation of Glory for how can they have more than fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore What can they have more than the Beatifical Vision of God and Fruition of Glory than rivers of pleasures at God's right hand for evermore Communion with and Enjoyment of God blessed for ever And can your Tears procure greater Glory Here is the maximum quod sic the highest Pinacle of Glory as much as sâ—â—ll Creatures are capable of at present and at the Resurrection Soul and Body being reunited their Glory shall be compleat yea everlâ—â—â—â—â—g Joy in the Presence of God And had you your wish for her it would fall a thousand times shorter than her real Enjoyment And what cause is there of Tears unless it be in those that envy her Happiness Now on the other side miscarrying Souls can have no diminution of their Torments by the Tears of their Friends in their life-time Prayers and Tears to God in their behalf had been sit Physick but when Death comes 't is too late let the Papists say what they will to the contrary As the tree falleth so it lyeth and as Death leaves us so Judgment shall find us Their own Tears can then do them no good though they should weep as much Water as there is in the Sea There is a time when God will be found and there is a time when he will not be found The Rich Glutton could not in Hell procure one drop of Water to cool his Tongue There is no Redemption out of Hell and there is no other place for miscarrying Souls but Hell the Tormentors will not be bribed nor the fire quenched with Tears Their worm dyeth not and their fire never goeth out Tophet is ordained of old even for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a river of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30.33 So that 't is evident immoderate Mourning for deceased Friends either needs not or boots not those that dye well are set out of the reach of Danger and those that miscarry out of the reach of Recovery But I desire you further to consider were your Daughter sensible in Heaven what sorrow you have for her on Earth which is a thing too hard for me to determine what thanks think you would she return We may imagine she would speak to you in the Language our Saviour Christ used to the Women thâ—â— lamented him upon the Cross Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves for the misery that is like to come upon you Yoâ— may sigh away your Comfort and sob away youâ— Health and weep away your precious time and disable your self for your present Duty but if you mourn all the days of your Life and weep till Dooms-day you would find your self where you began and to have gotten no ground It is your Duty to do what you can for your Children while they live as David fasted and prayed for his Son but when dead say as he I shall gâ— to her she shall not come to me Or as Job Thâ— Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. God will not be perswaded by all your Tears and Complaints to alter his Eternal Decrees to fit your Humour though you should drench your self in Sorrow and drown your self in Tears yet 't is all one you may as well mourn that God will not give you Power to resist the Tide when it comes in in its strength or resist the universal Darkness that comes upon us at the Sun 's setting or stop the Sun and Moon in their courses or remove the Pillars of Heaven or the Foundations of the Earth as this for you cannot alter his Decree or preserve the Life of one that he hath appointed to dye He doth not only appoint that all Men shall dye but the number of their Months are with him and he appoints their Bounds that they cannot pass the time when the manner how the Instrument by whom are all known to him and by immoderate mourning at the execution of his Will you seem to mourn that you are not God or not able to resist him or that he made you not of his Counsel when he decreed your Daughter's death which is so absurd that no Heathen could in plain words own it And doth not Experience convince you your Tears are vain Was there ever any that by mourning brought a Soul out of Heaven or Hell or got any benefit by it And will you think you shall be the first I know some have been raised from the Dead by the mighty Power of God who had determined it should be so for the confirmation of the Gospel But what is this to your case Let your Grief therefore never exceed the bounds of Moderation for it will never do you good or any one else But suppose it were possible to prevail with God in such a Request and he should give her her choice to go or stay you would be never the better you would never prevail with her to return There was indeed such a Petition made to Abraham for Lazarus to come back into the World but it was refused and Lazarus had met with such hard Measures in the World that he was not fond of the Journey and doubtless she would not be perswaded with all your Arguments to leave the Bosom of Christ and the sweet Embraces of her dear Redeemer to accompany you for a while for long it cannot be before a separation must be made again for this is no continuing City and truly to wish her to leave the perfection of Glory and to embrace an estate of Sin and Misery and subject her self again to Drudgery and Slavery Pain and Sickness Dread and Danger Persecution and Affliction argues more of Self-love than of true Affection to her and I believe when the Passion is over upon consideration you would not do it If a poor Beggar 's Daughter going from door to door were affected and beloved by some Mighty Prince who should take her cloath and adorn her marry her and make her his Queen and after this her Mother should perswade her to leave her Crown and Dignity her Husband Honour and Preferment and Pleasure and go along in her hand as before a begging it would be hard to perswade her The Application is easie and the Condescension far greater in this case than in that to leave Heaven to converse with you on the Earth and were it in your power would you expose her again to Sin and Suffering and to
us know as much of himself as is necessary to our future Happiness we shall be like unto the Angels that always behold the face of God Mat. 18.10 and for ought we know our Vision of him may be as clear as theirs then will he see no iniquity in Jacob and they will see no indignation in him How we shall see God we know not whether he will Spirituallize our bodily Organs and make them capable of such a sight or whether he will only present himself to the Eye of the Mind is not much material to us it is sufficient we shall see him to satisfaction and by seeing him enjoy him we shall then know him whom to know is eternal life John 17.3 There are many Mysteries the perfect knowledge of them is reserved for Heaven as the Mystery of the Trinity in Unity of the Incarnation of the Hypostatical Union of God's Electing Love the Mystery also of our Redemption and many more which call rather for Faith to believe than Demonstration to prove but then they will be fully unfolded and we shall see infinite Wisdom in the contrivance and a sweet Harmony among them and that which was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness will then be made manifest to be perfect Wisdom Indeed Knowledge in it self now is excellent more bright than the Morning or the Evening-star but what will it be when perfected when 't is freed from all the dregs of Error and refined from all the Dâ—oss Chaff and Bran that now accompanies it which cannot be in this World Here we are hindred from the Enjoyment of God by our Corruptions for he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity with approbation but when those spots are washt away and those Blackamore skins changed we shall walk in white and follow the Laâ—b whithersoever he goeth We need then no Ministry nor Ordinances who are the Pipes through which the Water of Life is conveyed for then we shall go to the Fountain Here we have a taste of Canaan's Grapes but there is the full Vintage When we pass this Jordan by the narrow Bridge of Death we shall enjoy the promised Land for though we have little in Possession we have much in Reversion We shall need no Ship when we are safely landed in the desired Haven we shall need no Armour when the War is over nor need we run when the Prize is won no Creature-comforts when we have in God a full Supply we need not pray for our selves when we live in the actual possession of all good things nor for others for the Wicked are past hopes and the Godly past fears and we shall see so much reason for the Damnation of the Wicked though they be our Relations that we shall rejoyce in it and glorifie God for it and admire that Hell being ours by Birth-right we should have a better Inheritance but then we shall know more of God's Electing Love than now we do which now is a great depth which no Man can Fathom nothing shall then remain that implies Imperfection then shall our Sorrow be turned inâ—o Joy and our Sighing into Singing but when the Joy it self is unconceivable what conceptions much less adequate expressions can we have of it We shall have the full Enjoyment of God but what that is no word in Humane Language can express The Apostle John who saw the Transfiguration tells us 1 John 3.2 It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like to him and shall see him as he is And Paul when he was caught up into the third Heaven heard unutterable words and such as are not lawful for a man to speak 2 Cor. 12.4 And we may as well comprehend all the Water in the Sea in a Cockle-shell or measure out Heaven with our Span as fully to describe Heaven's Happiness or Hell's Misery We are ignorant of many things here below yea many things in our selves of our Immortal Souls how little do we know and many Secrets in Nature are hid from the most refined Wits what then is it like we should know of Angels of God of Heaven and Glory Such strange conceits 't is like we have of them as a blind Man that never saw hath of Colours or of the Sun it self What Description can we make of it that shall reach their Understanding Or what Conception do we imagine a bruit Beast can have of a Rational Soul which yet are at a far lesser distance than between us and the Creator and therefore our apprehensions of him must be far lower than the bruit Beasts are of us yet this we know of him that all Good is eminently in him and what is good in the Creatures flows from him and is a Drop out of this Ocean a Ray of this Sun a Spark of this Fire And if we enjoy God we shall enjoy all that is really Good That we should be with him was the Prayer of Christ John 17.24 and doubtless the greatest Blessing But we may say of the Glory of Heaven as the Queen of Sheba said of the Wisdom of Solomon 2 Chron. 9.2 the one half was never told us 't is true we read that the Walls are of Jasper the City of pure Gold the Foundations of Precious Stones the Gates of Pearls the Street of Gold c. Rev. 21.18 c. These are the most precious things the World brags of but there are no such Corruptible things in this building not made with hands these Materials are too course and beggarly to build the City of the Great God 't is built of Glory but what that is we know not or what that Bread of Life and Water of Life hidden Manna promised to those that overcome will be best known in the Enjoyment Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart but the Harvest will be in Heaven Here we may have a dark Night and haply darkest a little before Day but there will be a Glorious Morning now we are under Clouds and suffer many Stoâ—ms and Showers but ere long we shall be taken up above the middle Region where no Clouds appear there God will own us for his Children and Christ for his Spouse Oh what a change will then be here we can scarce have a Glimpse of Christ there the full Enjoyment here we know little but there we shall know all things and be ignorant of nothing that is necessary to be known and as Knowledge doth increase so will our Love both to God and our Brethren The more Excellency we see in God or them the more our Affections will be let out upon them for nothing but Ignorance can stave off our Affections from the chiefest Good When these scales are fallen from our Eyes we shall love God above our selves because he is better and love his People better than now we do because they will be better than now they are refined from
enter into Heaven Mat. 19.24 Heaven is a spacious Palace but 't is a narrow Way and strait Gate that leads to it and Men cannot enter with the World upon their backs there must be stooping and stripping to get in Hence the Apostle charges rich men not to be high minded nor trust in uncertain riches 1 Tim. 6.17 'T is much ado to look and not to lust to have Riches and not fall in love with them When Pride breeds in Riches as Worms do in Apples they suddenly corrupt and will do the Owners no good to use the world and not abuse it is a Lesson not easily learned and having only food and raiment therewith to be content In Christ's time the poor received the Gospel when few of the Great Ones were called 1 Cor. 12.20 Were there but half so much spoken against Poverty and half so many cautions given as against Riches there would be some Plea for the Covetous but few see the danger of a great Estate but Death will equal the Poor with the Rich the Emperour must leave his Robes behind and the Beggar his Rags and great Saladine shall carry nothing with him but his Shirt nor that neither into the other World Haud ullas portabis opes Acherontis ad undas Naked we came into the world and naked shall we return out of it Job 1.21 1 Tim. 6.7 The Jews were permitted when they came into their Neighbour's Field Orchard or Vineyard to pluck and eat but must carry none away and so we may do in the World Riches at last will do us no more good than they did the great Chaliph that the Great Cham of Tartary caused to be famished amidst his Treasures then will their Sun set under a Cloud and no difference between them and their poor Neighbour those that have carried the greatest Burden have the sorest Back and those that have received the most Talents are to make the greatest Account Oh that this were well considered in time then should we lay up our treasure where neither moth nor rust corrupteth nor where thieves break not through nor steal Mat. 6.20 For all other Treasure will deceive them that put their trust in it Thus you see at Death Wicked Men whatever their Enjoyments now be will be stript of all 2. And as Wicked Men must leave their Riches behind â—hâ—n at Death so likewise their Pleasures will bid them â—dieu for ever Now Pleasure is one of the â—hree Deities most Men adore for Riches Honours and Pleasures share the World between them but at Death these Idols will disappear many spend their days in pleasure and suddenly go down to Hell Job 21.13 Many spend their Time in Recreation and follow no other Calling and some cannot give a good Account of one hour's Work in a whole Week spent in any Lawful Labour they think 't is a greater shame to be seen working than to be seen drunken or debauch'd such as these the Apostle calls lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God 2 Tim. 3.4 and well he may for they spend more Time in and are at more Cost about their Pleasures than in God's Service and thirst as greedily after them as ever Covetous Man did for Gold or Ambitious Man for Honour There aâ—e many in our common Dialect are called Ladies of Pleasure and the Name pleaseth them that both God and former Ages call'd common Whores and 't is like they will be owned for such at the day of Judgment and then woe be to them for they are of the Society that are appointed for Destruction 1 Cor. 6.9 c. Solomon tells us Prov. 21.17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man and we see many times Luxury and Beggery succeed each other and unlawful Lusts have ruined many Ancient Families and made them leave Marcus Livius his Portions to their Children Nihil praeter Coelum Caenum Air and Water But if it go ill with the Body it will go much worse with the Soul for those that can take no Pleasure in God God will take no Pleasure in them these Men seem to think they were sent into the World as Leviathan into the Sea to sport therein and that their Talents were given to no other end than to be consumed this way and then when God said to Man after the Fall In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread that he spake only to the Poor and not to them but they will at Death find their mistake and see it was a bad Bargain to sell their part in Paradise for a part in Paris to sell their Souls to satisfie their Lusts to part with Eternal Joy for momentany Delights they will find they parted with a great deal in Reversion for a little in Possession they will then have time enough if Eternity may be called Time to repent the Bargain they will see it had been better to have been preserved in Brine than to have rotted in Honey Now they can take the Timbrel and the Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ and spend their days in mirth as the Holy Ghost saith and suddenly go down to the pit Job 21.12 13. I will not say as Tully Nemo Sobrius saltat nor as Diogenes The better Dancer the worse Man or that these Recreations are absolutely unlawful yet I think Christians have not much time to spend this way from their more serious Business and greater Concerns and truly if we consider the state of the Protestant Churches throughout the World it might take off much of the edge of our Affections from these Vanities But at present I am speaking of those to whom the satisfying of their Lusts is the main design they aim at and the Affliction of the Church is not so much as the loosing one spot off their Faces one Feather out of their Fan or one Ribon out of their Head-tire let such read well Isa 3.11 12 c. and see if God delight as much in their Ornaments as they do and what he saith to such Amos 6.3 c. They put far from them the evil day and cause the seat of violence to draw near They lye upon their beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches they eat the Lambs out of the flock and the Calves out of the stall They chant to the sound of the Viol and invent to themselves Instruments of Musick like David They drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with chief Oyntment but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph c. And is not this an exact Description of many in our times Read further the Destruction that God threatens to such and they will find he spake in earnest what they took in jeast Those that God curseth will be cursed however they bless themselves in their heart those that are no mourners in Sion shall not be marked and those that are not marked shall be slain Ezek. 9.1 2 c. Those that Sympathize not with
That seeing all must dye the Righteous have not long to suffer for Death will set an end to all their Miseries and enter them into their Eternal Enjoyments of God and Glory and put them into the possession of those Mansions of Glory prepared for them by God before the foundations of the world And then any Man may judge whether there be any great cause why they should fear Death which is the only Cure of all their Miseries and the only Porter to open Heaven-gates to them It remains that we speak something of those whose Happiness expires with their Life and their Miseries commence at their Death Lesson 5. The Fifth Lesson this Providence teacheth is That seeing Men and Women may be taken away in the Flower of their Age and Death can put a period to their Lives then what a miserable condition are Wicked Men in when one day may put an end to all their Happiness and all their Hopes for both their Happiness and their Hopes is only in this Life and shall expire at their Death for whether they are Noble or Base Rich or Poor Young or Old by what Names or Titles soever they are dignified or distinguished if they have no better a Portion than the World can bestow upon them 't is at the longest for term of Life and at Death their lease expires Their Glory then will not follow them and their Pomp will take her leave Oh what a change Death will make among many of our greatest Gallants their Happiness depends upon a ticklish point and hangs but by the thread of their Lives and there are a thousand Diseases Distempers Casualties and Accidents ready to cut the thread and every Creature waits but for a Divine Commission to stop their breath and they are not sure of one day to an end The Experience of this very Age proves this point fully how many hundred thousands were in Ireland stript of all in a moment and left as poor as Job and many lost their Lives with their Estates The like may we hear of in other Countries in London an hundred thousand dyed in one Year and what a change did Death make to them that have their Portion only in this Life What the Wise Man saith Prov. 23.5 Rich's take wings and fly away We see by Experience many rich at Night and poor ere Morning bâ—t we also see many Rich Men snatch'd away from their Riches who are well o're Night and deâ—d in the Morning yet many Men hunt and havk after Riches and never overtake them and if they do cannot hold them many purchase them too dear even with the loss of their Souls and the shipwrack of a good Conscience and these make a hard bargain for the Soul is more worth than all the World Mat. 16.26 That a Wicked Man is not long to enjoy his Happiness is made out in the following Considerations 1. Consider at Death all Men of what Degree soever from the least to the greatest will leave behind them all these outward Enjoyments viz. Riches that very many so much glory in and trust to and cannot take with them the worth of a shoe-latchet Woe then to them that have no other Portion what will their poor Souls do to Eternity though now their Riches be their strong hold Prov. 18.11 yet can they not help in the evil day Zeph. 1.18 Yet here they are honoured as Gods but they are but Dung-hill Deities most Men dote upon them as much as the Athenians did upon Diana's Temple and Offer not only their Children but their Souls unto them But let their Attainments or Enjoyments be what they will at Death they must leave all behind them Kings and Emperours must leave their Crowns behind them and the Bishop his Mitre the Pope himself not excepted then those that have made a great hurly-burly in the World could not satisfie their Dust will be contained in a little Urn. At Death the Emperour must lay by his Robes and the Beggar his Rags for Death will lodge them in the same Bed and set them upon even ground The griping Usurer must leave his Gold and cease to fill his Bags with Silver when his own Mouth shall be fill'd with Earth Kings then must bid farewel to their Crowns and Kingdoms as Solomon to his Ivory Throne and our great Gallants their well-contrived Houses though they call them after their own names Psal 49.11 c. Haply they may leave them to Fools haply to Strangers haply to Enemies to enjoy It was the Speech of a good Man to a great Lord when he shewed him his sumptuous Buildings pleasant Gardens Walks Orchards and other Rarities Sir saith he you must make sure of Heaven or you will never be recompenced in the Earth for all the Pains and Cost you have bestowed here Yet many like the Rich Man in the Gospel Luke 12. sing a Requiem to their Souls and promise themselves long Life when haply they have not a day to live They put the evil day far from them and because they see not Death think Death heeds not them when he is even staring them in the Face They lodge Riches nearest their Heart and from it they expect their greatest Security but the Mortal Sithe is too hard for the Royal Scepter yet many consider it not but buy Faggots for their own burning for the rust of their Gold will eat their flesh as fire James 5.3 Here they have their Summer and their Winter Houses curious Parlours Banqueting-Houses Rooms richly adorned soft Beds and easie Couches but if they have no better Portion Death will strip them of this and lodge them in a stinking Dungeon and darksom Cell full of deadly Horror void of Light or Comfort a noisom sulphurous stinking Prison here are no curious Gardens or pleasant Walks for Recreation neither is there any thing to recreate the Eyes the Ears the Smell the Tast or the Touch the Object of Sight will be Infernal Devils and Damned despairing Wretches the Melody the groans and sighs the roaring yelling scrietching of damned Souls for the Taste pinching Hunger and parching Thirst or something that is worse their Smell is burning Brimstone and their Touch the scorching Flames Oh the Pains the Time the Cost and Charges many Men are at in adorning their Habitations Gardens Walks Orchards c. when all this while the poor Soul lyes neglected and slighted no Tree in the Orchard must grow disordered but must be pruned muck'd and manured when in the Soul nothing is in order no Weed must grow in the Garden when no Vice must be weeded out of the Soul Here they have pleasant Walks and Summer-shady Bowers their Rich Pastures Pleasant Meadows their Flocks and Herds their numerous Cattle both small and great and whatever their hearts can desire that can be purchased for Love or Money but Death will strip them to the skin and they shall carry nothing hence neither can they call ought their own but Tortures and
Torments Sighs and Groans Anguish and Sorrows Tears and Plaints Here they solace themselves and like the Rich Glutton go bravely clad and fare deliciously every day but there they cannot command a Cup of cold Water nay nor get it with begging to cool their Tongue Now they indulge their Flesh and please their Fancy and like Solomon Eccles 2.4 deny nothing to themselves that can be attained but ere long they will be forc'd as he was to say All is vanity and vexation of spirit ver 17. All these things must be left behind and were this the worst it were well but their eaten Bread will not be forgotten well had it been for many of them had they begged their Bread from Door to Door or earned it in the sweat of their brows for then so many abused Talents had not been charged upon them and so many abused Mercies to be answered for Here they have their Tables richly furnished with what the Earth the Sea the Air can afford and many new-invented Dishes to allure the Stomack and provoke the Appetite when their poor Brethren have not Bread to eat They have their great Attendants Musick of all sorts their wanton Songs their Plays and Interludes but Sighs and Groans will then be their chiefest Musick and finest Melody their Mirth will then be changed into Mourning and their Joy into Heaviness Oh Death what a change wilt thou make among our Lustful Gallants Here they burn in Lust one to another but there though they lye together in the same Bed of Horror their Lusting will be over Those that now think the Ground not good enough to tread upon and will not suffer the Sun to shine upon them nor the Wind to blow upon them for spoiling their Beauty shall then be heated more rudely in the Flames Those that think no Meat or Drink good enough nor any Attire fine enough will then be put into a courser Dress Hell Fire will spoil their Paint and Plaister and Beauty-spots their curled Locks and powder'd crisped Hair then one drop of Water will be better than all these here are no Masks nor Fans to shelter them from the scorching Flames their Bags of Gold and Precious Jewels must then be left behind Hâ—râ— the Maid will not forget her Ornaments nor thâ— Bride her Attire but those things there are out of Fashion Gold then is no currant Coin I am sure it cannot bribe Death 'T is said of Pope John XXI that he left above 200 Tun of Gold behind him and that another Pope when he was plunder'd by the French lost more Treasure than all the Kings in the World could raise in one Year in all their Revenues We see Riches are uncertain here and will certainly fail when we have most need of them Did griping Landlords that drink the Sweat the Tears if not the Blood of their Oppressed Tenants and make Musick of their Groans think of these Times and of these Things those Morsels they now swallow so greedily will have a poisonful Operation Many there are that instead of feeding the Hungry and cloathing the Naked pluck the Meat from their mouths and the Cloaths from their backs to maintain their own Pride and Luxury they put the Poor's Part into a Child's Portion haply into a Whore's Lap but the Lord of such Servants will come at an hour they are not aware of and give them their Portion with Hypocrites Mat. 24 last Now they have their Stage-Plays Morrice-Dances Wakes May-games and such Revels to drive Time away which alas flies too fast of it self but what Recreation have they invented to make Eternity seem short Death will dash all these Vanities out of Countenance Here sometimes a little of Hell-fire flash'd into the Conscience spoils the Sport but there will be not only flashes but flames Here they endeavour to drink away these Heart-qualms and allay these Dumps but in Hell they cannot do it The griping Usurer here hath a dry Dropsie the more Riches he drinks in the more he thirsts but there the Thirst will be allayed with Fire and Brimstone Here our Female Gallants spend their Time in their Glasses they must not have a Pin awry or an Hair amiss their naked Breasts and painted spotted Faces Oh what a change will Death make in their Garb and Ornaments And indeed could we but see the Deformity of the Soul through the garish Habit of the Body how leprous and deformed would many appear They would be ashamed to walk the streets Here they are set out like Puppets for to shew to allure unwary Youth for if there be no Wine in the Cellar why hangs the Bush But these gaudy Robes are too thin to keep off a shower of Divine Vengeance We may see how God approves of such Isa 3.18 c. Now Ten Thousand Pounds per Annum is thought too little but ere long a poor Urn will hold their Ashes and a dark Dungeon their Souls then they must be forced to say of all these things as the Prophet of his Ax Alas Master for it was borrowed God hath entrusted them with other mens Portions as well as their own but they have thought themselves sole Proprietors and abused the Talents given to another end but they must pay back every Farthing 'T is said of the Turk's Seraglio that 't is two Miles in compass and his Territories are wide and large and his Incomes great but Death can Scale these Walls as well as those of a poor Cottage Could Great Men renew the Lease of their Lives as Men do of their Estates doubtless there would be great Fines given but it will not be they make a great bustle in the World and seek to turn all topsy-turvy for a while and all to set themselves on high till Death the Leveller comes and equals them with their poor Neighbours for what is the difference now between Alexander and his meanest Slave And sometimes a Fool sometimes a Stranger sometimes an Enemy enjoyeth the Estate that they leave behind and they take nothing with them but Guilt upon the Conscience and Sin upon the Soul and the Rust of their Riches will eat their flesh like fire James 5.1 2 c. But mistake not 't is not all Rich Men that I speak of but those that abuse their Riches by loving them trusting in them employing them to maintain Pride Luxury or some other filthy Lust or with-hold good from the owners thereof those that mispend the Talents lent them for a better use for if the Servant that only hid his Talent was cast into outer Darkness what will become of them that wilfully waste it Pride is a Worm that often breeds in Riches and the never-dying Worm breeds in Pride Riches in themselves are great Blessings and if not abused will prove helps in Heavens-way Make friends saith Christ with the Mammon of unrighteousness But to many they are the greatest blocks in Heavens-way and this makes it so difficult a thing for Rich Men to