She is dead also And would there not be another separation if she survived We are in this Life like Men in a croud almost thronged to Death and he that first gets out is best at ease and would you wish her again in the midst of the throng Now if you say as I believe you will these are not your desires to have her back Why then all these Tears these Sighs these Sobs if you imagine she is better than you This looks as if you envied her Happiness and would have her bear part of your Burden Nay immoderate Sorrow signifies that you have hard thoughts of her condition for who can mourn for those he thinks happier than himself Who mourns for his Childrens Advancement especially if he knew they were out of Danger this would look more like Envy than Love to mourn for another's Welfare If Galeacius that Italian Marquess when he was offered great Riches if he would renounce his Religion cryed out Let their Money perish with them that hold all the Wealth in the World worth one day's Communion with Christ How much more may a glorified Saint say so if he were tempted by the World's Splendour to leave his Coelestial Enjoyment that City of Pearl that Mansion of Glory the Beatifical Vision the Enjoyment of Christ those Rivers of Pleasures to come and make his abode in the World for any earthly Greatness how scornfully would a glorified Saint entertain such a Motion And how little would these Promises affect him The Martyrs that had comparatively but a little taste of Christ yet disrelished all things else in comparison of him and forsook all for him Yea loved not their lives to the death but laid them down at the Stake for his sake and in his cause But now they enjoy him in Glory what value think you they put upon him The greatest cause of sorrow for a dead Child is when we fear their miscarrying and are conscious of the neglect of our Duty to them in reference to their Salvation This we may mourn for and it may be a corrosive to our hearts and it should make us careful for the time to come But to mourn for those immoderately that we believe are translated into Glory and have the highest pitch of Happiness we could wish for them is our weakness or our sin or both Such Tears will neither glorifie God nor benefit us or our Relations living or dead but are spent in vain And seeing weeping cannot prevail with God nor with our departed Friends to return let us dry up those Tears and make no more such wast but turn them into a right Channel and mourn for sin which is the cause of their Death and of our Trouble 5. The last Consideration I shall commend unto you is to consider your own Condition the uncertainty of your Life and the hast that Death makes to post you after her yea you are following your lamented Daughter at the very heels For when your Part is play'd you will march off the Stage How soon a parting blow will be given to divide you from your other Relations you know not how soon Death will enter into your Lodgings had your Daughter lived 't is not likely you would have continued long together You have lived a considerable time the most People in the World die younger why then take it you so ill that your Daughter is stept over the Stile before you when you your self are ready to tread upon her heels and to tread out her foot-steps Yet a few years and then I shall go whence I shall not return Job 16.22 And your place will know you no more Job 7.10 The thread of your Life will soon be cut which can never be pieced and your Glass run out which will never be turned and the Day be over which will never dawn again Such Meditations of Death did always run in Job's mind he is much upon this Subject and had Death always in his Eye And the like would do you no hurt but much good O remember that my life is wind mine eye shall no more see good The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more Thine eyes are upon me and I am not As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more He shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more Job 7.7 c. Let me alone that I may take comfort a little before I go hence whence I shall not return even to the land of darkness and the shâ—dow of death Job 10.20 21. He knew that he had not long to trouble the World and therefore desired he might not meet with much Trouble in the World Death whether it strikes you or your Relations gives a parting blow and which ever goes first the other will not stay long behind Now is it worth the while to spend your days in sorrowing for your dead Daughter when she hath drunk that Health that you your self must so quickly Pledge Or to wish her again for so short an Enjoyment when one of these days you will enjoy her to Eternity when she shall be much more lovely than here she was If you place your Happiness in the Enjoyment of your Relations in this Life 't is a short-liv'd Happiness and you will shortly have occasion to say as one about to leave the World Spes fortuna vale te Farewel Hope and Comfort for ever But sure while God is present a Christian need not care much who is absent If we could be as sensible of the with-drawings of God from the Soul as of the departure of Friends and Relations it would prove our greater trouble If our hopes were only in this life we should of all men be most miserable Indeed there is cause of sorrow if they die unconverted and breath out their Happiness with their Lives But for the Godly they cannot only say Dum spiro spero While there is Life there is Hope but also Dum expiro spero I have Hope in Death it self Prov. 14.32 Death it self is a Door of Hope to give them entrance into the Paradice of God but to the Wicked a Trap-door to let them into Hell Both Godly and Wicked shall change their Place but not their Company for they shall have such Company they delighted in here Those that must leave all their Comforts behind no wonder if they are unwilling to depart Never had Adam more cause to be unwilling to leave Paradice or the Jebusites the strong Holds in Sion or the unjust Steward to leave his Office or the Devils to go out of the Demoniack when they knew they should never enter there again than a wicked Man hath to leave the World Solomon calls the Grave our long Home Man goeth to his long home Eccles 12.5 And well he may some haply may sleep there Six Thousand Years before the Resurrection but Heaven and Hell may be
Grapes may be gathered from these Thorns and some Figs from these Thistles some Honey may be lick'd off these Briars for God's Rod like Jonathan's hath Honey at the end Sensible we must be of this Providence as doubtless Aaron was at his two Sons deaths but discontent we must not be God complains that Righteous persons perish and no man lays it to heart and merciful men were taken away and no man considers it Isa 57.1 Some use of such Providences we should make and get some benefits by these Tryals Now among the many Lessons this Providence holds out to us I shall only point out these seven following which if you and I can learn by it it will be happy for us Lesson 1. From this Lecture of Mortality your dead Daughter we may learn the cursed Nature of sin which was the cause of her Death and how little beholding we are to it that thus rends one Friend out of the Arms of another for whatever Distemper our deceased Friends dye of sin lies at the bottom and sets the Disease on work but for sin 't is probable we had never dyed For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life By one man's offence sin came into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all for as much as all have sinned Now shall we love the Tree and hate the Fruit Love the Cause and hate the Effect Shall we be like foolish Children that hate the smarting Plaister and consider not the Ulcerous Sore that makes it necessary We would have the Wound cured and yet not have the Weapon drawn out for fear of a little smart Had not Sin gone before Death had not followed many Men love the Drunkenness and hate the Surfeit But did we see sin in its own Colours it would be worse than the Effects for 't is the only Object of God's infinite hatred for he hates nothing but sin or for sins sake and yet sin seems lovely when we behold it in the Devil's Glass or through his Spectacles If we could strip the Devil himself of his vicious Qualities he would return to his former Angelical Glory yea into God's Favour for he hates nothing he hath made Man in his first Creation was made Holy and Happy and had Power given him so to continue and though by his Constitution he was Mortal yet by God's Blessing he had been Immortal for ought we know â—s the Soul is But by eating the Forbidden Fruit Gen. 2.17 in all probability he had suddenly dyed had not Christ interposed and become a Surety to his Father and so gained a longer Lease and paid the Fine however Man became obnoxious to Death and dye he must See how dangerous it is to play at the hole of the Asp and to ask Counsel at the Devil's Mouth for so Eve did and for that Offence all her Posterity must eat bread in the sweat of their brows till they return to the dust out of which they were taken No Greatness can excuse us no Wisdom can prevent it but the most dangerous Death is to dye in our sins Sin it is that makes us uncurable otherwise we had been so armed Death could never have entred or pierced the heart Rom. 5.12 And shall we hug this Viper in our Bosom that will sting us to Eternal Death For sin is the very sting of death without which Death were not so formidable Adam's Offence diffuseth it self to all his Posterity as Poison doth to every part of the Body and shall we love the Work and hate the Wages Actual Sin is the Fruit of Original Corruption and springs from this bitter Root and 't is the cause of all our Misery and shall we like the foolish Dog bite the stone and let the Passenger that threw it go free Let us turn therefore all our sorrow into sorrow for sin for all is little enough to run in this Channâ—l And let this be your Motive though not one of the greatest sin was the cause of your dâ—ar Daughter's Death and will ere long be the cause of yours also and happy will it be for you if this bitter Pill have this Operation upon you to make you hate sin with a perfect hatred 2. Nay 't is not only Death but also all the Miseries that accompany Life and are the fore-runners of Death which are the direful Fruits and Effects of Sin Could we see Sin in its own proper shape it would appear most hateful and detestable but the Devil hides its Deformity from us what he can and to this end lends us his Spectacles in which it appears lovely and amiable but we may best see it in the Effects It was this that turned Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice and many thousands into Hell and can the Tree be good that brings forth such unsavoury Fruit This raced out the Image of God and engraved upon the Soul the very Image of Satan The Devil knows well enough that if we saw Sin in its own Colours we must needs hate it for who can fall in Love with Deformity it self And therefore misrepresents it as a deformed Hag paints her Face and covers her Deformity thereby to take her Prey and allure unwary Youth So the Devil deals by Sin and represents it in Vertue 's Colours but the Glass of the Word would shew it in its own shape Indeed there is nothing in the World that can fully resemble it yet in the Scripture 't is represented by the foulest things imaginable to filthy Ulcerous Sores James 1.21 To the Mire that Swine wallows in the Vomit of a Dog to filthy Rags Menstruous Cloathes deadly Poison a fretting Cancer or Gangreen 't is so infectious none can escape the Infection it infects the whole Man like the Leprosie in the Head the Thoughts Words Desires Affections and Actions are all polluted and unclean and smell of the Cask and stink in the Nostrils of God our Eating Drinking Buying Selling Trading yea Plowing is sin Prov. 21.4 And all our Religious Duties if not performed with the Incense of Christ's Righteousness are defiled Isa 1.11 c. and 66.3 Why Those Duties though commanded by God yet proceeding not from a right Principle directed to a right End and done in a right manner must needs be faulty Now sin though looked upon as a harmless innocent thing and when Men have put a fair Mask upon its soul Face looks lovely and the Devil hides its soul Visage as 't is said the Panther doth his deformed Head purposely to take his Prey yet still it remains ugly Pride covers it self with the name of Cleanliness Drunkenness is taken for Good-fellowship and Covetousness for Good Husbandry c. But the Effects are not so lovely let the Devil and his Instruments say what they will to the contrary for 't is the occasion of all the Miseries that ever befel Mortal Man We had never had aking Head or aking Heart or Loss or
Cross or any thing to molest us had it not been for sin yet are we apt to over-look it and yet have our finger always upon the Sore we cry out Oh my Back my Belly my Bones my Heart but seldom Oh my Sin we are like hâ—m that complains of the pain in his Foot but not of the Shooe that pincheth him of the Gout Stone Strangury Surfeit but not of the Intemperance that is the cause Pharaoh cries out Take away the Frogs the Lice the Darkness let there be no more Hail but not take away the Sin the hardness of Heart that brought them God when he threatens Death for sin threatens also all the Causes and Fore-runners of Death and all the Evils which accompany a sinful Life for these are the Natural Productions of sin and much worse Fruit it bears if Repentance prevent it not and like a mighty Wind blows it not down before it come to Maturity otherwise it will be bitter Fruit We have far greater cause to cry out Oh my filthy Sins Oh my Pride my Passion my Covetousness my Deadness Dulness Formality Hypocrisie c. than Oh my dead Father my Husband my Son my Daughter We should cease quarrelling God and turn the edge of our Anger Sorrow and Indignation against Sin and against our selves for our sin and so our Quarrel will be much more just 'T is a stubborn Child that when corrected for a known fault will rather quarrel his Father than acknowledge his own Guilt We are apt to cry out Oh my Loss Oh my Cross than Oh my Sin my Infidelity my inordinate Affections which forces God thus to Correct me Let us remove the Cause and the Effect will cease Thus you see whether we consider sin in it self in its pestiferous infectious Nature or whether we consider it in its direful Effects the Miseries that attend it we have more cause to bewail it than any Loss or Cross that can befal us for sins sake as the Cause is worse than the Effect 3. But this is not all for sin procures Spiritual Judgments as well as Temporal and these are far more deadly and dangerous for these Distempers reach the Soul when the other touch only the Body or Estate Sin defiles and deforms all the Powers and Faculties of Soul and Body Sin is so Infectious and Contagious and the Effects thereof so Malignant that the greatest and most dangerous Plague-sore even that which rendeth the Soul from the Body is not so dangerous 'T is sin that hardens the Heart and turns it into the Nature of a stone We read of a stony heart and of all the Plagues that fell upon Pharaoh this was the worst and a greater than this cannot befal a Mortal Man in this Life God complains of this That the house of Israel were impudent and hard-hearted Ezek. 3.7 c. And the great Gospel-promise is To take away thâ— stony heart and give them hearts of flesh And as it hardens the Heart so it blinds the Mind which by reason of sin is Naturally Judicially and Wilfully blind the Image of God consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness these by the Fall were lost and Ignorance Wickedness and Profaness the very Image of the Devil were engraven in their stead 1 Cor. 3.14 And Men walk in Darkness till the Scales of Ignorance are wiped from their Eyes and Christ's Spiritual Eye-salve applyed Rev. 3.18 A natural maâ— cannot perceive the things of the spirit for they aâ—â— spiritually discerned Many also are Judicially blind God in his just Judgment giving them up to strong delusion to believe lies Mat. 13.13 c. They are Wilfully blind and God will not Cure them like Hagar they cannot see the Well of Water that is before them They are wilfully Ignorant that they may sin the more freely The God of this world hath blinded their eyes 2 Cor. 4.4 He draws a Curtain between them and the Light and holds his black hand before their faces and were they anatomized his Image would be found â—ngraven upon their hearts Light is come into â—â—e world and men love darkness rather than light â—ecause their works are evil They are willingly â—gnorant of what they are not willing to know â—hey have also cauterized Consciences seared with 〈◊〉 hot Iron and reprobate minds Rom. 1.28 And â—istempered and disordered Affections set upon â—rong Objects loving what they should hate â—nd hating what they should love fearing Men â—nd their threatnings and despising God and his â—hreatnings being given up to vile affections Rom. â— 26 1 Tim. 4.2 Yea they are given up to â—tubbornness of Will Judges 2.19 And of this â—e have Pharaoh for an Example that was beâ—ome Cannon-proof that all the Judgments â—rought upon Egypt could not work upon him â—uch are mentioned Jer. 44.19 that would bake â—akes to the Queen of Heaven let God himself say what he would to the contrary they will set up â—heir Post by God's Post and prefer their Dagon â—efore the Ark therefore God gives up such to â—trong delusions to believe lies Rom. 1.24 The Memory also though strong enough to retain what is bad yet 't is like a leaking Vessel that cannot retain any thing that is good In a word â—ll the Powers and Faculties of the Soul are polâ—uted and the Members of the Body are the unhappy Instruments to act the wickedness the Soul contrives So that a Toad or Serpent is not fuller of Poison than Man's heart is naturally of Sin and Wickedness and of noxious Qualities the Fruits and Effects of which if timely Repentance prevent not will be the loss of God's Favour which is better than life in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasureâ— for evermore Psal 16.11 The loss also of an Interest in the Blood of Christ will follow which is of more value than the World it self for such trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 Yea they do despight unto the Spirit of God and put themselves from under the favourable Protection of God and thaâ— Guard of Angels that God sends forth as ministring Spirits for the good of those that love him and makes Men uncapable of the sweet Communion of Saints which David made his chiefesâ— Delight on Earth Psal 16.2 It deprives them of the Peace of Conscience a Jewel of inestimable worth and brings many times such a Storm there that all the World cannot allay aâ— in Cain Judas Spira and many more that Bird in the Bosom when it sings sweetly makes better Melody than all the World can do Sin also deprives Men of all true Interest and Spirituaâ— Right to all our outward Enjoyments a Civiâ—â— Right we may have but a Covenant-Right we cannot have in a Natural condition for these things are not given but lent to a wicked Man and an Account will be required to the utmost Farthing In a word unrepented sin deprives Men of an Interest in God in
are all of a value So here some pass for Kings and some for Peasants but when Death hath gotten them into his Box the Grave they are all alike Yet how much need have great Men of Philip's Monitor for they are apt to forget their Mortality See Job 3.17 c. Some of the wiser Heathens have accounted Mortality a great Mercy that poor Creatures may be freed from their Misery And so doubtless 't is for those that are prepared for Death for they rest from their Labours The Hebrew Proverb is That in Calvary there are Sculls of all sorts and sizes Kings and Captains Lords and Lozels one takes no more out of the World than the other Naked they come and naked they shall go Great Saladine had but his Shirt Now though Riches cannot prevent Death yet it may hasten it Rich Men many times are as Oxen in a fat Pasture fitted for the Slaughter sometimes they are butcher'd by others for their Wealth and many times they prove their own Butchers and kill themselves by Intemperance The Sun-shine of Prosperity quickly ripens the Fruit of Sin and when Sin is ripe Ruine is ready Bachus or Venus opens the Door for Death to enter Now what good will it do to have a fair Suit of Cloathes and a Plague-sore under it Or a dainty Dinner with a Surfeit How often is Intemperance which ends in Gouts Surfeits Dropsies and such-like Diseases the Fruits of a Plentiful Table These open the Door of Eternity and light them a Candle to find the way to Death Now these are Diseases Riches cannot cure Seeing therefore the World is of so little use when we have most need why should we so greedily grasp after and spend so much time about it as to neglect our greater Concerns and despond so much when we meet with disappointments And why should we suffer those Vultures carking Cares to breed in and feed upon our Hearts and eat out all the Comfort of our Lives What Recompence can the World make us for all our pains and broken sleeps we have had upon its Account It cannot warrant us a Comfortable Life nor a Happy Death nay not one day free from pain Let such as over-greedily grasp after it remember Solomon's words H◠〈◊〉 maketh hast to be rich cannot be innocent And at leisure read James 5.1 2 c. Luke 6.24 Yet consider 't is not the having Riches â—ut the over-loving of them that is dangerous for they are not evil of themselves but great Blessings if not abused and some of those Talents put into our hands to be improved by us but prove dangerous when abused over-loved or over-trusted in But seeing they can neither prevent Death nor Diseases the cause of Death we should not put too high a value upon them nor take them for our Portion 2. As the World cannot prevent Death no more can it procure a happy Life And why Because it cannot give Content and Satisfaction to the Enjoyer of it and how then can our Lives be Happy when we are not content with our Condition and satisfied with our present Enjoyments Content never did nor never will grow in the World's Garden neither can Satisfaction be found in any thing under the Sun If we seek it here Riches will say 't is not in me Honours 't is not in me Pleasure 't is not in me c. Can we expect the Sun in a Pail of Water Indeed if the Sun shine upon the Water we may see the reflexion of it but if the Sun be clouded all the Water in the World cannot shew it When God shines upon us he may be seen in every Creature if not the World cannot shew him Our Earthly Enjoyments caâ— do us no good bring us no Comfort without a Commission from God and could they satisfie us for the present it would be but a miserable Portion yea a great Judgment for what should we do at Death when they leave us God did never give us these for our Portion but only aâ— a Viaticum in our Journey Our deceitful Hearts haply may promise Content had we an Hundred Pounds per Annum but they will deceive us for our desires would be enlarged from an Hundred to a Thousand and so in infinitum till Kingdoms yea the World would be too little for us as it was to Alexander Covetous Men have a dry Dropsie the more they have the more they thirst Theocritus brings in the Cove-Man wishing he had a Thousand Sheep when this wish was obtained he cries out Pauperis est numerare pecus 'T is but a Poor Man that is able to number his Cattel And 't is no wonder He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver The World is of too base a Birth and Breeding to give the Soul content for two things are requisite to Satisfaction and both of those are wanting there must be Proportion and Propriety but what proportion is there between a Piece of Gold and an Immortal Soul It can neither feed it nor cloath it nor make it better And for Propriety this also is lost by the Fall that which we call our own is but lent us and we must be Accountable for it And 't is vain also for what Satisfaction can an Hungry Man take in a Pebble or a Thirsty Man in a dry Pumice-stone What Satisfaction had Haman in his Riches Honours or Preferments without Mordecai's bow or Ahab's Kingdom without Nabath's Vineyard Something is still out of Order some string or other out of Tune that marâ—s the Musick And no wonder Content is not to be found here for God himself could not find Adam a help meet for him If we could turn a heap of Diamonds into a Spiritual substance then it might bear some proportion to the Soul which is a Spirit but except we could change it into God the work would not be done for none but God can make the Soul happy These Earthly things are far worse than the Body how then can they be a fit Match for the Soul Gold and Silver Gemms and Jewels are but the Garbadge of the Earth they seldom make bad Men good or good Men better but oft-times they make both worse they seldom procure Content for the desire enlarges with the Estate as the Israelites Shooes did in the Wilderness with their Feet Solomon could had nothing in them but Vanity and vexation of spirit Eccles 1.14 They are like Smoak they wring Tears from the Eyes but draw not Sorrow from the Heart or like Thorns the faster they are grasped the deeper they wound If God smile upon us they may bring us some Comfort if not all the Gold in the Indies will do us no good for this Coin is not currant in another World we may as well satisfie an empty Stomack with Air as a Covetous Man with Gold for the more Wood we lay upon the Fire the more furiously it burns a Ship may sink under its Burden before it be half full
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-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
him to Hell Now though Sin have a Mortal Wound in the Regenerate which cannot be cured yet it will have a Being in them while they are in the Flesh and these Sons of Zeruiah are sometimes too strong for them but at Death these Anakims shall be overcome Death will give them their Deaths-wound the same stroak that separates the Soul from the Body shall divide between Sin and the Soul Now it sticks as close to us as the Skin to the Flesh or as the Flesh to the Bones or rather as one Bone to another and much closer for these may be separated but the other not 't is like as the spots of the Leopard not only in the Skin but in the Flesh also nay 't is in the very Heart and not only in the Body but in the Soul also yea in the very Power and Faculty of it yet at Death a separation will be made and this must needs be good News to a Believer when his deadly Wound is cured which is the cause of all his Maladies Oh happy day will it be to him when he shall shake hands with his Corruptions and give them a Bill of Divorce and bid them an Everlasting Adieu when he shall never have a proud vain sensual or ungodly thought more to trouble him or any that shall be unbeseeming God or Godliness Now he cannot serve God without distraction but then it will be otherwise no sin shall stand then as a Cloud to Eclipse the Sun of Righteousness or cloud him from us Now Sin makes a Godly Man a weary of his Life and causeth many a sad and sorrowful Sigh and many a Prayer it doth cost him and many a struggling for the Victory but then it will be had and the War will be ended and the Triumph obtained when all Tears shall be wip'd away and Sin and Sorrow shall be no more and for a Crown of Thorns they shall have a Crown of Glory There is nothing now but sin that hides God's Face from us when these Clouds are removed we shall see him as he is and shall never see one frown in his face nor one wrinkle in his brow for Sin and Corruption which are the only Make-bates shall be left behind for no unclean thing shall ever enter into Heaven for though the Serpent did wind himself into Paradice none of the Serpentine Race shall ever enter into Heaven their place shall no more be found there Rev. 12.8 And if he be cast out his Works shall follow him then the Saints will be Saints indeed without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Ephes 5.27 Their robes will be wash'd in the blood of the Lamb and they shall no more delight to wallow in the Mire Heaven that spewed out the fallen Angels will not admit of any unclean thing sin to the Godly is their greatest Trouble here but what would it be should they be troubled with it to Eternity I have read of the Indians that enquired where the Spaniards would go after their Death And Answer being made To Heaven protested they would not come there among so Blood-thirsty and Cruel a People This was their Ignorance but this I say should a Godly Man know his sin should accompany him to Heaven it would be great cause of sorrow Anselm affirms he had rather go to Hell Innocent than to Heaven with a Guilty Conscience 'T is a greater Mercy to be freed from Sin than to be born Heir to a Kingdom but at Death they shall have the Priviledge of both now 't is their daily Complaint O this hard this proud this hypocritical Heart how shall I get it softned humbled and reformed But then it will be done it will then be better than now we can desire or expect here the Understanding is clouded with Ignorance there the scales will fall from our Eyes Many a Man would ride a Thousand Miles and give many Hundred of Pounds to have a clear insight into some of the Mysteries held forth in the Scripture as of the Trinity the Incarnation Predestination Redemption Free-will c. And of some obscure Passages Prophesies and Promises recorded in the Scripture But there all shall lye open and God's whole Contrivance in the work of our Redemption made apparent to his Glory and our Eternal Admiration In a word there shall no sin or any thing that implies a defect enter Heaven for no such Weeds grow in God's Garden there will be no imperfection of our love to God our desire after him or our delight in him neither any distempered Passion or Affection for the Affections that there shall remain shall be set upon right Objects and agreeable to the Will of God Oh happy time when shall it be when we shall be rid of all our sins that now keep us so low and God at such a distance from us 2. As at Death we shall be freed from all sin so likewise from all the Causes Occasions and Provocations to sin from the Temptations of Satan and Allurements of the World for as there will be no Natural Inclination to it within so there will be no Provocation to it from without for Temptation without now proves the Bellows to blow our Corruption up into a Flame it being as Tinder to the Fire ready to catch upon all occasions The Devil is a Powerful Politick Subtil and Malicious Enemy lying upon his lurches to betray us 1 Pet. 3.8 He is always fishing for Souls and suits his Baits according to our Inclinations he hath such an Enmity against God that he hates his Image where ever he sees it and though he cannot race it out yet he will always oppose it and seek to deface it he is like the Scorpion his sting is always out and what Opposition either he or his Instruments can make against it they will be sure to do it but at Death we shall be out of his reach and in a place of safety where he cannot throw one Dart at us nor shake his Chain to affright us Now he gives us many Alarms and if he finds us out of our Trenches or neglecting our Watch he is sure to surprize us and to make a Prey of us and were we not kept by the mighty power of God to Salvation we could not escape being devoured by him Now we have no quiet Day nor Night nay in our very Addresses to God but he molests us with his Temptations sometimes stops our Mouths and oft-times steals away the Heart in the time of Duty and lays Snares for us where ever we go or whatever we do but the more Spiritual the Duty is so much the greater is his Opposition He spoils our Duties purposely to make God hate them he takes great Advantage indeed by our own Corruption and we shall never be rid of the one till we are free from the other Our Senses are the Cinque-Ports that lets in the Occasions and Provocations to sin into the Soul and he sails in with the Tide
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
VERA EFFIGIES EDVARDI BURII EVANGELII MINISTRI AN. AETAT SUAE 66 ANo. DOM. 1682 Inventiue art dame-natures curious ape You see can counterfeit the bodyes snape Yet can noe more describe the mind then we Heavens glory by the spangled Canopy This shaddows out the house who there doth dwell Aske in the booke the picture cannot tell DEATH IMPROV'D AND Immoderate Sorrow FOR Deceased Friends and Relations REPROV'D WHEREIN You have many Arguments against Immoderate Sorrow and many Profitable Lessons which we may Learn from such Providences 1 Thess 4.13 14. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope For if we believe that Christ died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him By EDWARD BVRY formerly Minister of Great Belas in Shropshire LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside 1693. TO THE Vertuous and truly Religious The Lady Wilbraham the Pious Consort of the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Wilbraham of Weston under Lizard Barronet one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Stafford E. B. wisheth all Happiness External Internal and Eternal MADAM IT fares with me as 't is fabled of Pan that pretended Rural God who being admitted into Apollo's Presence to shew his skill upon his Oaten Pipe at the first he was bashful and timerous but being uncontrouled he grew bolder and Pip't louder This was my Case when I wrote the ensuing Letter which was in a dark and gloomy Day my Bashfulness and Sense of Vnworthiness when it was finish'd had like to have strangled it in the Womb and to have kept it from your sight fearing what Reception it might meet with but knowing what ever was wanting a good Meaning and an Intention to do good was not wanting and after some conflict in my self I resolved to put it to the venture and send it I did but your â—ind Acceptance beyond my Expectation made me Pipe louder and without your privity I sent it to the Press thinking that having past this Test and you approving of it others also might possibly do the same but had you past it by with a Check or Disrespect you had spoiled my Musick yet durst I not prefix your Name to it as thinking it unworthy of you But your kind Acceptance of it when it was Printed and Approbation doth make me yet bolder to prefix your Name and tell the World to whom it doth of right belong and this will be some excuse for me that you did not manifest your dislike nor forbid me to do it the Reasons why I did this and do now again Publish it were given you then there were many worthy Friends then and since that time that lay under the like Dispensation of Providence that you did viz. That had parted with their near Relations to whom I was willing to give a Word of Advice and Comfort but my Occasions would not permit me to Speak or Write to all neither was I able to do it to all that needed my Advice I therefore imagining what doth one good may benefit another also I made it publick this Letter may speak my Mind when I am absent even to those to whom I cannot come for I see Grace itself will not wipe off immoderate Tears but they sometimes flow like a mighty Torrent without Bank or Bottom and tho' here be some things peculiar to your Condition in the Letter yet in the general 't is of publick concern the Disease is common and the Receipt I hope will not be useless Most People first or last are concerned in parting with Relations here are Considerations to quiet them at least they see the Death of others as well as of their Relations and here are profitable Instructions to improve that for their own good and Direction how to prepare for their own Death These Considerations made me make that publick which at first was intended for private use and I hope this second Edition will give your Ladiship no Offence nor to read your Name in the Front when I sent the Letter to you I did foresee that I must shortly come into the Furnace again and so I did the very Week I received the printed Book I Bâ—ried my eldest Son as you had done your eldest Daughter and how soon I may have another Trial I know not The Lord grant I may learn the Lesson my self I am teaching others some Additions I have made at the Request of several which may be more needful to others then to you I hope they tend towards the perfection not imperfection of the Book But I forget my self the whole being but a Letter and that to your Ladiship I must not make the Gate too wide for the Building I shall cease further to trouble you when I have committed you and your dear Relations into the Hands of him that never leaveth his and subscribed my self MADAM Your much Obliged Servant EDWARD BVRY THE CONTENTS THE Introduction Five Arguments to quiet the Heart at the Death of Relations 1. Consider who did it that great God whose they are 2. Consider Who we are that are discontented Dust and Ashes 3. What wrong is done to us or our Relations 4. What Benefit are we like to have by mourning 5. Our own Condition is mortal and shall suddenly follow Seven Lessons To be learnt by the Death of Friends if all must die 1. Lesson How little we are beholding to Sin 1. It brought Death into the World 2. It is the cause of all the Misseries we suffer in the World 3. 'T is the cause of all Spiritual Judgment we meet with 4. It lays us under the Wrath of God and makes him our Enemy 5. T is the cause of eternal Death and eternal Damnation Second Lesson How little Good the world can do us in our greatest need 1. It cannot prevent Death tho' we had never so much of it 2. It cannot procure us a happy Life or give Content 3. The things of the World are uncertain and momentary 4. It can do us little good in our great Concerns here or hereafter 5. It exposeth us to a great deal of danger Third Lesson Of how great concern Grace and a good Conscience is 1. It helps exceedingly to bring us through the World with Comfort 2. It fits us to leave the World and takes away the Fear of Death 3. Without it we can neither please God nor enjoy him 4. It will procure us a good Name to succeeding Generations 5. It will bear up the Heart at Judgment and usher us into Heaven Fourth Lesson If all must dye then the Godly have nothing to Suffer 1. The Saints at Death shall be freed from all their Sins 2. From all the Causes of Sin Temptations of Satan and the World 3. From all the Devil's Instruments Persecutions and Tryal 4. From all the Effects of Sin Losses
the ground of your Grief The more Gracious the more Glorious the more Holy the more Happy the better she was the fitter for Heaven There are two things which may trouble us at the death of Relations the one is when we can see no Evidence of Grace the other when we have neglected our Duty to them especially to their Souls in their life-time The reason why David did so wofully bewail the Death of Absalom is imagined to be one or both of these When our Relations are fitted for Glory I think 't is no uncharitable wish to wish them out of a troublesome World in those Coelestial Enjoyments Paul did desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which was best of all But to wish those out of Glory that are in were both an unprofitable and uncharitable desire and argues more Passion and Self-love than well grounded Charity Now there is no going to Heaven but through the Gaâ—es of Death and 't is through Death's Portal that we must enter She hath paid the Debt we all owe and would you have her endure these Pangs and Pains over again You came not into the World together and it was unlikely that you would go together out and when ever a parting was it was like to be with grief She hath changed her Husband but 't is for the better an Earthly for an Heavenly she had a large Joynture before but 't is much amended 't is now advanc'd to a Crown and Kingdom She hath left her Relations behind but she hath better there Saints and Angels the Souls of Just Men made perfect There she can serve the Lord without distraction and sing Hallelujahs to Eternity without weariness here Corruption attended her best Duties there sin and sorrow shall be no more here she was troubled with Satan's Temptations there he cannot come to throw one Dart or shoot one Arrow at her here she was liable to Pains Aches Griefs and Troubles all these are there removed here she could scarcely open an Eye or an Ear but it let in sin or sorrow there all tears shall be wiped away and a sad or sorrowful thought shall never enter And what cause hath she to complain of wrong And if neither of you be wronged why is this wast Why so many sighs so many sobs so many sorrowful tears which might better run in another Channel Had she liberty â—o speak for her self it might probably be in such words as these which Christ upon the Cross spake â—o the Women that bewailed him Luke 23.28 Weep not for me but weep for your selves and for â—our children c. those that are yet in the Vale of Tears 't is the Church-Militant that deserves â—ity not the Church-Triumphant Lament raâ—her the condition of those that survive for you know not what their Sufferings may be the other are out of harms-way and safely landed in the Port of Heaven Now is there such a wrong done you or her that God takes her to himself before you were willing to part with her though he had a better Interest in her than you could pretend and made her fit for Glory and translated her thither You agree both in the thing but the Quarrel is about the time and the Controversie is whose Will must be obeyed or whose Judgment must be preferred which is the best time Many of the wiser Heathens have submitted with less contradiction Anaxarchus when told of the death of his two Sons answered I knew that they were Mortal Et stultus est qui mortem mortalium deflet Now in the present Controversie may not God say to you as sometimes he did to his People What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone from me What wrong have I done that you thus complain One of us must submit and must it be me Must I alter my Eternal Decrees for your sake or will there be no Peace to be had The Lord may say as Jacob did to Laban when he so fiercely pursued him Gen. 31.36 What is my trespass What is my sin Declare it before the world that they may be our judges Nay hath not God in this very Affliction sugared your Pill which might have been much bittered she might have been taken away in her younger years before you had such hopes of her Integrity or at least denyed you such Evidence of her Conversion then might you have feared she had been lost indeed or instead of one he might have taken all your Children when as yet two survive oâ— by the same stroke he might have taken away your dear Husband better to you than ten Sons as Elkanah said to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 Or he might have suffered your Children to be a heart-breaking to you as too many in these days are by their vicious Lives and Conversations who bring their gray hairs with sorrow to the grave which makes them with with Augustiâ—â— that they had never married or had dyed childless These are not such rare Examples in our days but too frequent She dyed a Natural Death many now adays as well as Job Eli Aaron David and others in former times were not so happy as to say so of theirs Neither is there any guilt upon you as upon some that have cause to mourn for neglecting any means for the preservation of her Life when some be wickedly Accessory to their Childrens Death If there were any fault which yet I cannot accuse you of it was in the excess of your Love which I the more fear when I see the excess of your Sorrow and this is a fault which Indulgent Mothers are apt to run into But you 'll say you could more easily have born any other Burden or suffered any other Cross Why then it seems God hath let you Blood in the right Vein as he did the Young Man in the Gospel that was willing to do any thing Christ commanded but part with his Riches but Christ will have a full resignation of our selves and all that is ours or he will not own us No beloved Delilah must be retained the Cross that Christ appoints we must bear and must not pick and choose our own Burden Luke 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother wife and children brethren and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple That is if he prize any of those before him or will rather part with Christ than with any or all of these he deserves not the name of a Christian for all we have in the World is given to us as Love-Tokens from God to signifie his Love to us and to oblige our Love to him and sometimes God calls back some of these Gifts to see whether we love him or his Tokens better God gave you liberty before she dyed to let her and you see the Fruit of her Womb a Son which though he soon called off the Stage yet at the Resurrection be shall stand in his lot But 't is
than a piece of rotten shining Wood to the Sun in its Splendour And do you think that Twenty Years in Heaven will not make amends for Twenty Years on Earth which she possibly might have lived 4. Cons In the next place it will not be amiss to consider how little good your immoderate Mourning will do in this case And truly in the upshot you will find it will do much more hurt than good even to your self and all about you for by this means you perplex your self in vain so that you can neither enjoy your self nor any thing you have with that serenity of Spirit as otherwise you might do and spend that Holy Water those Tears to no purpose which were designed for a better use and should be spent upon another Account and would do more good did they run in a right Channel You bewail the Effect but 't is much better to bewail the Cause for were that removed the Effect would cease Non valet medicamentum dum ferrum invulnere Sin deserves all the Tears we can shed and 't is better weep for living Sins than dead Children if the latter deserve one Tear the other deserves a thousand And it is not for your own sins alone that this Flood-gate should be opened but for the sins of the Times our National sins for from the greatest to the least all have gone astray and if there be not a Reformation we may expect a Desolation and God expects some to stand in the Gap Ezek. 22.30 to turn away his wrath from the Nation and although there be so few that they cannot prevail for the Nation yet their own Souls shall be saved as God said of Noah Daniel and Job Ezek. 14.14 Yea in a common Calamity before he gives Commission to the Destroyer he marks all that are mourners in Sion to be past by Ezek. 9.4 Here Tears will do good for the fire of God's Indignation is only to be quenched with the Tears of True Repentance But I fear there will be in the day of Visitation few of those Mourners found few to stand up in the Gap though many that make the Breach wider This way may do good to your self and others Thus Job concerns himself more with his Children when alive than when dead Job 1.5.21 Now which way can you imagine that the abundance of Tears which you pour out upon this Account of your Daughter's Death can benefit either you or any one else In reference to God 't is neither pleasing to him neither will it prevail with him not pleasing for he hath forbidden it We should not sorrow as men without hope for them that sleep in the Lord. For if we believe that Jesus dyed and rose again even so also them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess 4.13 14. And it reflects some dishonour upon him when his People are so unsatisfied with his dealing and repine under his Dispensation of Providence It makes the World believe they take him for a hard Master yea and question his Justice in the Act. It is no Credit to a Master when his Servants quarrel at their Diet their Lodging their Work and their Wages Others imagine there is something in it that makes them complain Now God's Glory is his End in all his Actions and it should be ours and to preserve that in the sight of the World we should never hang down the head but for sin our own sins and the sins of others because God is thereby dishonoured and his Laws violated And then that they cannot be prevalent with God is as evident You are offended that your Daughter is gone Hinc illae lachrymae but 't is an impossible thing to bring her again and what else can you be satisfied with You can never prevail with him to alter his immutable Decrees which are as firm as the Pillars of Heaven and the Foundations of the Earth and the Sun and Moon in their courses And then again I am sure you are not benefited by it the present vexation you lye under must needs make your Life uneasie yea make you a burden to your self thus to spend your time inter suspiria lachrymas between Sighs and Tears when the most miserable Bond-slave can do no more And hereby you also disable your self for your Duties to God and Man both in your general and particular Calling and Relations Discontent in the Heart makes a Christian like Jonah instead of praying to God quarrels him Jonah 4.2 3 4. What Communion can you keep with God when there are such tumultuous Thoughts arising in the heart Doubtless in this pet you cannot serve God without distraction neither attend your Worldly Concerns and that Sorrow is never pleasing to God that thus disables you for your Duties or hinders you in Heaven's way Neither can there any benefit arise to your Friends and Relations for while you are under such discomposure of Spirit the whole Family must tast of the Effects of it for what comfort can you give others that refuse comfort your self Or how can you Counsel them that will take no Advice your self You have been long in the School of Christ and he expects that being converted you should strengthen your Brethren But doth not your carriage put a block in others ways to comfort This makes you that you can take little delight in your remaining Relations nay to overlook and undervalue all your other Mercies and cannot read Love in any of God's dealings with you your finger is still upon the Sore and this one Cross hides from your Eyes a thousand Mercies It had such an effect upon David though it was no doubt his failing when God had given him a Signal Victory and by that means brought him back again into his Throne yet all this was nothing to him because Absalom was dead and neither God nor Man was thank'd for the Victory So 't is with you the lives of your Husband Children Friends Relations your Health Peace Plenty Liberty Sense and a thousand more seem little in your Eyes All Haman's Honour Wealth Promotion Children were nothing to him so long as Mordecai the Jew would not bow to him Esther 5.13 And though God hath given you abundance of these outward things yea himself and promised you Heaven and Glory into the Bargain yet all this seems not satisfactory your Daughter is not Now would not this make a Man suspect she was youâ— Idol and therefore God took her out of the way that your Affections might run in the right Channel Well but seeing no living Creature can be benefited by your Tears let us see whether your deceased Daughter may and here is least ground of all to imagine it Indeed were the Papists Doctrine of Purgatory true and that Souls might be redeemed by Dirges Masses and such other Fopperies then your Money may do something but this Fire that was kindled to warm the Popes Kitchen can never be extinguished by your Tears but by the
Altar will be heard for Vengeance against those that shed their Blood Rev. 6.9 and those that shed it will have their bellies full of Blood their Tyranny will be over and their Place shall no more be found in Heaven Rev. 18.8 It was a mistake of the poor Indians that refused to go to Heaven lest the Spaniards should torment them there Wicked Men may here take away their Lives but not their Graces their Heads but not their Crowns Christianity is pretended by many practised by few when serious Holiness is loaded with many reproachful Titles when their Innocency triumphs in their Enemies Consciences those that cast them out say Let the Lord be glorified Isa 66.5 They deal by them as Naboth was dealt with at Jezabels Fast God's Glory pretended Naboth's Death intended for his Vineyard but God that searcheth the Heart knows the bottom of the business But those that really suffer for Christ are truly blessed and have cause to rejoyce Mat. 5.11 for they serve the best Master who will not suffer them that either do or suffer for him to go without a Reward what is wanting in Possession shall be made up in Reversion an hundred fold They have something in hand some of Canaan's Grapes to bear up their Heads and Hearts but the best is behind The Primitive Christians were reproached that in their Meetings they used promiscuous Copulation a Slander not yet forgotten which did the Reporters really believe it would be the strongest Argument to make them turn Phanaticks as they stile them but their Innocency triumphs in their Enemies Consciences they are not able to prove against one single Person what they charge upon the whole Society many are the Reproachful Names they are loaded with like the Primitive Christians that were put into Beast skins and then thrown to wild Beasts to be baited and devoured but God knows his own though in a Disguise the best of Saints have been accounted the worst of Sinners but wronged Saints shall to Heaven when railing Rabshakehs come not there the vilest Sinners are sometimes drest up in the Garb of Saints but these Garments fit them not but God will undress them ere long and strip them of their borrowed Robes then their Paint and Plaister will not abide the fire and the dirt they threw into other mens faces will appear in their own In this Life the Godly may have unlawful Edicts made to force them to sin and to drive them from their Duties as Daniel and his fellows had and then they cry out If thou let this man live thou art not Caesar 's friend then those that dare not run with them into the same excess of riot are with Peter cast into Prison or with Jeremy into the Dungeon or with John banished into some remote Country or corner of the World or by Torments end their Lives whose Blood like the Blood of Abel will cry aloud to Heaven for Vengeance for precious in his sight is the death of his Saints Psal 116.15 What the Wit of Man or the Policy of Hell could invent hath been poured out upon the best of Men as in the Primitive Times and in succeeding Ages to this very day none out of Hell have suffered more than they but in Heaven they have a resting place when their Enemies shall be in endless easeless and remediless Torments then shall the Saints be set out of the reach of danger and all their Sufferings will be made up into a Crown of Glory for them for though they may nay 't is odds they will lose something for Christ they shall never lose any thing by him hence the Apostle adviseth us to rejoyce when we fall into divers temptations James 1.2 c. As their Sufferings abound so will their Comforts also for God hath Cordials against fainting Fits Now the Enemies Triumph when the Witnesses are slain but when they shall rise again their Mirth will be over they are now but carrying Faggots for their own burning or like Haman making Gallowses for their own Execution Now their Hands are full of Blood and their Hearts of Cruelty but then they shall have Blood enough even their own blood to drink for they are worthy Now God's People cannot Pray in their Families or sing forth God's Praises but one or other is offended but then they shall Trumpet out his Praise without controul when their Enemies shall wring their hands in the dolour of their hearts The thoughts of this Glorious Liberty made the Martyrs suffer joyfully the spoiling of their Goods yea to kiss the Stake and embrace the Flames and welcome Death as a Messenger of good News then all the Floods of Persecution will be dryed up and the Church call'd out of the Wilderness and the New Jerusalem shall come down from Heaven then there shall be no more Tortures or Torments for them to suffer no Schismatick wounded and a Saint found bleeding there will then be no more Divisions but perpetual Peace Love Unity and Concord Eternal Enjoyment of God in Glory Oh what a happy Change will this be who would not rejoyce in the fore-sight of this and welcome Death it self that must put us in the Possession of it 4. At Death a Believer is not only freed from the Devil the World and Sin and all his other Enemies but also from all the direful Fruits and Effects of Sin which he cannot be till Death sets him free and this will be to no small Advantage for though Sin in a Believer hath its Deaths-wound yet so long as it hath a Being and that will be while he hath a Being in the Flesh it will have its Fruits and Effects such as these Losses Crosses Sickness Sorrows and Death it self for these or some of these we shall be sure to have a share in while we live but at Death when Sin shall cease the Effects will cease also Sin and Sorrow always attend one the other as the Shadow doth the Substance but neither Sin nor Sorrow shall have any Being in Heaven all Bodily Griefs and Spiritual Maladies shall be removed and Death must be the Physician Our Bodies here are subject to many Distempers and each one will have a snatch at us as so many Angry Curs at a Passenger but some bite harder than others do and by reason of these Maladies we spend our days inter suspiria lachrymas between sighs and sobs no day nor hour passeth but something or other either doth or well may disturb our Peace or spoil our Sport No perfect Consolation is here to be expected in this Bochim or place of Lamentation for there should be some proportion between our Sin and our Sorrow some storms of Sighs if not a shower of Tears for all Constitutions are not prone to weep one hour's sin may disturb many a night's sleep as doubtless it did in David when he watered his couch with his tears yea made his bed to swim Psal 6.6 His Bed that was Witness of his
Sin was Witness of his Sorrow also But did our Lustful Gallants pay as dear for their stoln Waters as he did they would take more heed God hath various ways to embitter the World to his People when they let out their Affections upon it he whips them home when they are playing in the Dirt. Some lye long languishing under Bodily Distempers yea in much Tormenting Pain as the Cholick Stone Strangury Gout and such like the best of Men the choicest Ministers are not always free this makes them weary of their Lives and with Paul desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ and to cry out Come Lord Jesus come quickly How many may we hear crying out Oh my Head Oh my Heart my Back my Bones my Bowels c. These Bodies of ours are subject to a Thousand Infirmities Diseases Distempers and Casualties and by which Door Death will enter we know not And some poor Creatures have few waking hours free from pain for Grace it self cannot prevent Bodily Distempers though it enables Men better to bear them Yet all this is but a needful Potion prescribed by a loving Father and a tender-hearted Physician Oh Sin how dreadful a Distemper art thou that needest such bitter Pills and unsavoury Potions And how bewitching a Hag is the World that needs so much Gall and Wormwood to wean us from it and needs so much whipping before we are willing to leave it These dusty crazy Bodies of ours are tender Pieces soon out of Order and like curious Instruments soon out of Tune or like a Clock or Watch if one Wheel be out of Order nothing is in or like brittle Glasses they are soon broken then the Water of Life runs out at any little hole There are multitudes of tender Veins and tender Membranes Fibres Muscles Arteries Bones and Sinews in the Body of Man and all obnoxious to Obstructions Dislocations Extentions Contractions Hurts or Dangers all which will cause Pains Aches Griefs and Troubles to the whole Body and were it not that these were preserved every one in its proper place and enabled to do their appointed work by an Omnipotent God 't is wonder that one day passeth and not many of them out of order but however many are the wearisome Nights and Days many poor Creatures endure and are like to do till Death put a period to their Miseries These Pains are but Death's Darts and how soon he will hit us at the Heart we know not and then Death it self shall be swallowed up in victory And yet how loath are most Men to take Death's Receipts though it be an Universal Cure of all Maladies Now if we have some lucid intervals 't is but like as in an Ague-Fit to enable us to bear the next Fit In these Earthly Tabernacles there are so many Doors that some of them will be left open to let in Distempers and Death it self but in Heaven they can never enter Here is a mixture of Joy and Sorrow like Chequer-work of black and white but the most part black but there will be unmixed Joy and pure Comforts Heaven is an Healthful place and no Sickness a Joyful place and no Sorrow a Happy place where will be no Cross a Holy place where will be no Sin Holiness to the Lord will be writ upon the meanest Subject Death at his coming will cure the Blind and the Lame Mephibosheth shall not be lame nor Leah blear-eyed But Death cures not only Bodily but Spiritual Distempers also which are much more dangerous than the former as Hardness of Heart Blindness of Mind Stubbornness of Will Disorder in the Affections c. These cost good Men many a Prayer and many a Tear and many an aking Heart these Sons of Zerviah are too hard for them and these Anakims dwell in their Land these rise up and lye down with them and they cannot be quiet for them they cannot go into God's Presence but they enter with them and spoil their Duties But in Heaven the whole Soul and Body shall be made conformable unto God's Will and no Distemper shall be found in any of our Faculties In this World also the sins of others as well as our own are our Trouble and help to add to our Grief we can neither open our Eyes or our Ears but we see or hear something that offends God and therefore should trouble us We may daily see and hear God's Commands broken the Gospel slighted his Messengers abused his People persecuted and all manner of Wickedness committed Here may we hear the Sacred Name of God blasphemed his Worship scorned all manner of Ribald Bawdy Lascivious and Wanton Discourse promoted Wickedness defended pleaded for tolerated and practised and is this no Trouble to a Gracious Soul The Stews it self is fuller of obscene Discourse than many Companies are with whom yet we have necessary Converse and Commerce This made David's Eyes shed rivers of tears Psal 119.136 it clouded his Countenance furrowed his Cheeks and grieved his Heart and vexed Lot's righteous soul 2 Pet. 2.7 every Wicked Man was an Hazael to his Eyes an Hadadrimmon to his Heart cause of weeping and lamentation for Guilt and Grief are all we are like to get by such Company but the Lord will take notice of those that are mourners in Sion Ezra 9.4 But in Heaven there is no cause of Sorrow because there is no Sin the Laws of God there are never broken Here Relations sometimes prove Thorns in our Eyes and Goads in our Sides some Yoak-fellows that should prove Helps prove Hindrances not only in Heaven's way but as to the World also Oh what a Grief 't is to see a Wife or Husband prove a Drunkard or a Debauch'd Person Yet many a Godly Person hath been thus yoaked The like I may say of Children or other Relations Or were it but Bodily Pains and Tortures which our dear Relations groaned under it must needs be a Corrosive to our Hearts to see them under Tormenting Distempers Some also prove like Job's Wife Tempters So Holy David may have a scoffing Michal and a Wise Abigail a churlish Nabal Children often-times prove Crosses good David may have an incestuous Amnon or a rebellious Absalom Many good Children have bad Parents and this is a trouble to see them going out of the World before they knew why they came into it Good Servants many times have bad Masters and likewise good Masters bad Servants and all this administers cause of Sorrow But in Heaven these Tears will be dryed up for all the Inhabitants there will be perfectly Holy and Righteous and no Wicked Man among them Many in this World are pinch'd with Poverty and know not how to maintain their Families with Bread their continued labour and daily pains moiling toiling carking caring rising early and lying down late is all too little to provide for a numerous Family and to satisfie an oppressing cruel Landlord ready to drink up not only their Tears and Sweat but their very
Mercy and like Solomon praised the day of Death before the Birth-day Eccles 4.2 Optimum non nasci proximum mori saith the Heathen but little knew what the result would be But a Christian doubtless call'd out by God should not go unwillingly Philpot the Martyr returns thanks to God he was so near the Gate of Eternal Life and who is it that being tossed with the Waves of Trouble would not land in a Haven of Rest 'T is a shame for a Christian when God gives a clear Call to linger with Lot in Sodom much more to look back with Lot's Wife till the Lord pluck them away by force and deliver them whether they will or no. Those that are weary of Sin or Suffering should say as Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Mistake not I say not that Death is eligible or any should desire it for its own sake no we should use all Lawful means to preserve Life but I reprove those that when the Will of God is manifest that they should dye submit so unwillingly Hath the World been so kind to us that now we cannot part Or is our Portion here so good that Heaven it self cannot make us satisfaction If we part with it doubtless we have then had better dealing than our dear Redeemer met with Are our Temptations so strong that we are ready with the Young Man Demas Judas and many others to break with Christ upon that account 'T is best to consider well before hand lest we Repent too late Hath God been training us up so long and have we not yet learnt this â—esson to be willing to dye Are we content to take this for our Portion And will we rather stay in the Wilderness than venture over this Jordan Will the Flesh-pots of Egypt give satisfaction as well as the Land of Canaan If God were not more willing of us than many of us are to go to him we might be long absent we should live long on this side Jordan if he did not force us over But though Death be not desirable is not the Presence of God desirable Is not Heaven worth having And is there any other way to it We profess we believe there is a reward for the righteous and a God that judgeth the earth but do we not in our works deny it The fear of Death discovers our Infidelity and as our little Faith so our little Love either we proclaim that we question whether there be a Reward or whether we have any Interest in it or it shews we have little love to it If we believe it and our Interest in it is it not a wonder we are not impatient of enjoying it and rather seek to shorten our Lives than prolong them by unlawful means Did we love our Husband as we should we should long for the time when he would fetch us He may well say as Delilah did to Samson How can you say you love me when your hearts are not with me 4. Consider If we chearfully submit our Wills to the Will of God and let him dispose of us as he pleaseth for Life or Death and make a resignation of our selves to God and be willing to part with Life it self if he and his Cause require it whether by a Natural or violent Death we shall then part with it to the most Advantage imaginable nay 't is the only way to save it and to deny it unto God is the way to lose it Mark 8.35 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel shall save it For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul We may read of many that refusing to lay down their Lives for Christ have had their Lives taken from them but lost their Reward We read in the Book of Martyrs of one Denton a Smith that had made profession of Religion but being call'd to suffer cried The Fire is hot I cannot burn but within a short time he was burnt in his own House and lost both his Life and his Reward And so shall those that deny their Lives to God when he requires them We may resign our Lives into the hands of God and so engage him to look to them and take care of them but we cannot rescue them out of his Hands or live longer than he determines for we cannot breathe without him and then what madness is it to stand in contention with him If we lose our Souls to save our Lives we shall make a bad Bargain for a Life saved by unlawful means will do us little good for a Life in God's displeasure is worse than Death it self and a Death in his favor is the beginning of Eternal Life and ushers us into Eternal Happiness The Martyrs in the flames were aware of this they cried out None but Christ none but Christ 'T is a dear Life that is bought with the loss of Christ he that exchanges his Soul for the World will with the Rich man Luk. 16. dye a Beggar but will not be able to purchase one drop of Water he that loseth an immortal Soul purchaseth an everliving Death and is it not our Interest to look to the main Jewel Where Self is renounced the Cross is easily born for 't is Self-love that makes it pinch us When God bids us Yoke 't is our best way to submit our Necks for there is no struggling out of his hands God will not require our Lives to our hurt or damage neither will it prove any Advantage to us if we deny them for if we lose them for his sake we shall find them and if we would hide them from him we shall lose them and Heaven to boot He that lays down his Life when God requires it will gain by the bargain when Death strips him of his Rags 't is to cloath him with Robes and pulls down his Cottage to bring him to a Palace 2 Pet. 1.14 2 Cor. 5.1 For we know that if this earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This saith Latimer is the Sweet-meats of the Feast of a good Conscience there are other dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet The Soul wears the Body as a Garment which when 't is worn out shall be clothed with a better Suit There is no passing into Paradise but under Death's flaming Sword no coming to the City of God but through his dark Vault and strait Gate no wiping all Tears from our Eyes but with our Winding-sheet Our life is hid saith the Apostle with Christ in God Col. 3.3 and therefore not lost And again he tells us 2 Tim. 1 2. I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day Let him that died for my Soul