the word seemeth to imply that when they lost their primitive purity they willingly lost that habitation of spiritual pleasures But whether he will or no he shall be banished those coasts though he now dog the Saint at and disturb him in every duty he shall do it no more The accuser of the brethren shall be cast down neither shall his place be found any more in heaven Rev. 12.8 9. Secondly a Christian by death shall not only be freed from the evil of sin and defilement but also from the evil of suffering and chastisement SublataeÌ„ causaÌ„ toâ—itur effectus the cause being taken away the effects will cease Sinne is that great-bellied mother or rather Monster which conceiveth and bringeth forth all those losses crosses diseases disgraces sorrowes and sufferings whatsoever that befall the children of men though man may be the Butt yet sin is the mark at which the arrows of Divine displeasure are shot man weaves a spiders web of sinne out of his own bowels and then in intangled in it Wickednesse alone is the original cause of all we Lament 3.39 Rom. 6. ult But now at the death of a Saint the fountain of sin will be dryed up and therefore the streams of sufferings must be dryed up also The fuel being taken away the fire will go out of it self sin and sorrow were born do live and shall die together As sin is the original cause of all so it 's the final cause of most afflictions Sometimes they are for probation as we shoot at good armour that we may prove it and that we may praise it but most commonly they are for purgation to amend something that is amiss the fathers of the flesh chastize for their pleasure but the father of spirits for our profit that we might be partakers of his holinesse Heb. 12.6 the quiet fruits of righteousnesse blossome from the correcting rod bitter Aloes purges the worms winds and thunder clear the air frosts and showers whiten cloaths the husbandman useth the flail to separate the chaff and the refiner the fire to consume the drosse but when the wheat shall be clean there will be no need of the flail when the gold pure no use of the fire now saith the Apostle if need be ye are in heavinesse 1 Pet. 1.6 Mark now if need be now men have hard knots and therefore need sharp wedges now men have strong corruptions and therefore need strong corrections now the rod is as necessary as our daily bread chastisements are to teach men in Gods law Psal 94.12 to search and heal their spiritual sores but now at death the Scholar in Christs school will have perfectly learned his lesson and therefore there will be no need of a rod then the wounds of the soul will be perfectly cured and these plaisters will fall off of themselves Death will make him whole that he can sin no more and so no worse or so bad thing shall come to him There are three evils of affliction which I shall mention The first on the Name The second on the Body The third on the Soul From all which a believer shall be freed by death First Death will free the Saint from ignominy on his name Here if the world cannot make the christian wound his conscience they will be sure to wound his credit Elijah is counted the troubler of Israel Nehemiah a rebel against the King David the song of the drunkards and the scorn of the gluttons Psalme 69.12.35.16 Isaiah and his children for signs and wonders Isa 8.18 Jeremiah is a man of contention Jer. 15.10 The son of man a wine-bibber a glutton Paul a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition Acts 24.10 the uprightest Saint is markt for an hypocrite in the worlds Kalender If they cannot smite him with their hands their arms are not long enough alwayes they will not fail to smite him with their tongues What a precise fool say they is such a fellow he dares not take up his cups as we do but could we see his heart it is as bad as the worst of ours he will do as bad or worse when no body seeth him he will not swear but he will lie I 'le warrant you He spendeth his time in nothing but going to Sermons and meetings and is as arrant a dissembler as liveth Such an one of the same Society was guilty of such a sin and they are all alike these are your professours Thus the corruption of their hearts breaks out at their lips and they most wretchedly wound even Christ through the sides of the Christian But heaven will not only wipe away all tears from the christians eyes but also all blots off from his name Upright Hezekiah in heaven is above the sound of cursed Rabshekah's tongue which was set on fire of hell Now holy David is got up that heavenly hill that Mount Zion he heareth not the railings and revilings of sinful Shimei The most spiteful scorner of them all cannot throw that dirt so high with which he bespatters the Saints reputation here below Secondly As death will free the christian from ignominy in his name so likewise from infirmities in his body Diseases cause death but death will cure all diseases In this life Job had his botches Hezekiah his boil David his wounds and sores the poor widdow her issue of blood one man wasteth away with a consumption like a candle till all the matter is spent Another laboureth under a continual ach that like the importunate widdow will give him no rest day nor night this man spends his dayes in pain that man hath wearisome nights appointed to him In some the bridle is taken off the fire and they burn with a Feaver in others the flood-gate is taken up from the water and they are like to be drowned with a dropsie The patient man complaineth my breath is corrupt my days are extinct the grave is ready for me Job 17.1 the upright man cryeth out My wounds stink and are corrupt my loines are filled with a loathsome disease In one the keepers of the house tremble with a palsie or lamenesse In a second the sound of grinders is low through weaknesse In a third those that look out of the windows are darkned through blindnesse In a fourth the daughters of Musick are brought down with deafnesse O what an army not only of moral but natural adversaries hath every man in his own bowels constantly set in array against him marching up sometimes one Physicians tell us that 2000 diseases annoy mans body whereof 200 affect the eyes sometime another as the Lord of hosts giveth the word of command So that indeed mans body is a spittle or an hospital for diseases But death will help all this as the blind man told the lame when they met at the stake Brother you may cast away your staffe death will cure us both the Physician of souls will by death heal all the diseases of the Saints bodies
pitiful thing was it that Alexander that was Lord almost of the world should be troubled that Ivy would not grow in his garden at Babylon And is it not a poor thing for thee that art a Child of God the Spouse of Christ the Temple of the Spirit an Heir of the most glorious rich and delightful Kingdom that ever was to lie whining and pining if thy head do but ake or thy estate decrease or thy friend forsake thee For shame remember who thou art and to what thou art called and say as the Martyr Hold out Faith and Patience your work is almost at an end Thou shalt ere long leave this world and all its evils and go where there is neither sorrow nor sin and indeed there can be no affliction there because there wil be no corruption there which is the original of all miseries As there cannot be any thunder or lightning in the upper Region because the vapours which are the materials of it cannot ascend so high So because no unclean thing can be there therefore no sorrow no suffering can be there How may this comfort thee Basil tels us Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how the Martyrs that were cast out naked in a winters night being to be burned the next day solaced their souls with these words Sharp is the cold but sweet is Paradise Troublesome is the way but pleasant shall be the end of our journy Let us endure cold a little and the Patriarchs bosome shall soon warm us Let our feet burn a while that we may dance for ever with Angels 2. It is a comfort against the temptations of the Devil Whilst thou livest in this world thou art liable to his wiles If thou wilt go to heaven so boundless is his malice that he raiseth all the powers of hell against thee and forceth thee to fight every foot of the way He is the strong man that hath full possession of carnal unregenerate ones and therefore all is at peace with them Matth. 12. What need a Captain bend his Forces against a Town which hath delivered up it self into his hands What need he plant his Canons and batteries against these gates which are already set open to him This Gaoler doth not trouble himself much about those prisoners which are fast in his dungeon with his irons on their legs and are led captive by him at his will 1 Tim. 2.26 But for thee who hast by the help of Christ broken prison and in part got out of his power he raiseth all the Country with Hue and cry to bring thee back to thy old place of bondage But be comforted Christ hath conquered him already in his own person as thy head is daily conquering him in thee his member by his Spirit and will shortly crush him fully under thy feet Rom. 16.20 Paraeus in loc Some refer that shortly to the day of judgement which will come shortly and wherein Satan shall be utterly crushed under all the Saints feet for ever And it is as true of the day of death in reference to every particular Saint As when a man dyeth all those vexatious law-suits with which he was before molested do cease So when the believer dyeth all those false actions which Satan had commenced against him in the court of his conscience and all that inward trouble which did arise thereupon do all cease It is no bad sign now O Christian if thou resistest that thou art assaulted by the wicked one A Theif will not break into an house that is empty A Pirate will not fight but for some considerable prize A Father will not seek to destroy his own Children Temptation is no sign of Gods hatred but of the Devils But let this be thy solace that within a few dayes thou shalt be at rest not only from thy own labours but also from Satans snares and suggestions God doth thee much good by them now the noise of those guns causeth the Conies to hasten to their burrowes and the Birds to their places of refuge The more the tops of sound trees are shaken with the wind the more deeply their roots are fixed in the earth the more eagerly Satan followeth thee the faster thou fliest and the closer thou clingest to Jesus Christ But God will do thee the greatest good without them and when that shall be thou shalt be wholly freed from them Since the Devils were cast out of Heaven we read of their being sometimes in the Sea Matth. 8.33 sometimes in the Earth Job 1.7 and sometimes in the Air Eph. 2.3 and they are called Principalities and spiritual wickednesses in high places Eph. 6.12 but never in Heaven They aspire to get as high as they can but they can get no further than the Air Satan and his Angels find no more place in heaven Rev. 12.8 Now what comfort is this O Christian that thou shalt serve the Lord without distraction without temptations 3. It is comfortable against the corruptions of thine own heart What is it now that is thy greatest sorrow Is it not thy sin These are the weights which hang on the clock of thy heart and will not suffer it to rest day or night Well rejoyce in hope at death all these Achans which are the troublers of thy peace shall be stoned to death all these Jonahs which cause such stormes in thy soul shall be cast over-board all these Hamans which seek the ruine of thee and thy people shall be executed Now it is thy great care in every Ordinance to kill thy sins Dost thou not like Joab set the Uriah of thy beloved lust in the fore-front of every duty and retire from it out of pious policy that it may be slain And when at any time it pleaseth the Captain of thy salvation to send the supplies of his Spirit and wound mortally thy corruption that it lyeth gasping and dying before thee dost thou not look up to Christ and say as Cushi to David concerning dead Absalom Would to God that all the enemies of my Lord the King and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt were as that young man is Lord that all my sins might drink of the same cup and be served the same sauce Blessed be the Lord my God which hath avenged me this day of mine enemy If God should thrust the knife of mortification up to the haft in the very hearts of all thy sins that thou couldst see thy pride distrust unthankfulnesse hardnesse of heart and every corruption in a goar-blood fetching their last breath would it not be a lovely sight to thee Wouldst thou not look upon it with as much content as Hannibal did upon a pit full of the blood of men when he cried out O beautiful sight O formosum specta culum Or as that Queen that cried out when she saw her Subjects lie dead before her eyes The goodliest tapestry that ever she beheld At death all this shall be done for thee One touch
of Jesus Christ at death will quite dry up that issue of corruption Death will give thee a Writ of ease from all those weights and sins which do so easily beset thee Thou shalt be without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.5 Will it not indeed be a brave world with thee in the other world when thou shalt have as much holiness as thy heart can wish or hold If God should grant thee such a request upon earth that thou shouldst have as much of his Image and of his Spirit as thou couldst desire wouldst thou not think thy self the happiest man alive I am confident thou wouldst and also that nothing lesse than perfect purity would be thy prayer Well death will help thee to this When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likenesse Psal 17. ult Now thou hast enough to stay thy stomack but then thou shalt have a full meal When the Israelites went out of Egypt towards Canaan there was not one feeble person among them When the Christian entereth into the true Canaan he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David nay as the Angel of the Lord before him When thy frame of nature shall be ruined thy frame of grace shall be perfected and raised to the height of glory 4. It is comfortable against thy dissolution To thee to die is gain death will be thy passage into eternal life Thou needst not fear death as a foe it will be one of thy best friends How did this hope of happinesse at death hold up the Martyrs heads above water and carry them through those boistrous waves of violent and cruel deaths with the greatest serenity and alacrity of spirit Xenophon Agesilaus King of Sparta used to say that they which live vertuously are not yet blessed persons but they had attained true felicity who died vertuously What is there in death that thou art so afraid of it Wilt thou fear a Bee without a sting Dost thou not know it had but one sting for Christ and Christians and that was left in Christ the head whereby now though it may buz and make a noise about their ears yet it can never sting or hurt the members The waters of Jordan though tempestuous before yet were calm and stood still when the Ark was to passe over If thou hadst been banished many years from thy dear Relations whom thou lovedst as thy own soul and from thy rich possessions and comforts which might have made thy life pleasant and delightful into a place of bondage a valley of tears a prison where thy feet were fettered with irons and thy face furrowed with weeping Mors non vitamrapit sed reformat Prudentius wouldst thou be afraid of a messenger that came to knock off thy shackles and fetch thee out of prison and carry thee to those friends and comforts And why art thou afraid of death which cometh to free thee from thy bondage to Satan sin and sorrow and to give thee present possession of the glorious liberty of the sons of God Art thou afraid to be rid of thy corruptions of Satans temptations of the worlds persecutions Art thou afraid to go to â—aints where are no sinners to Christ without his cross to the full immediate eternal fruition of the blessed God then why art thou afraid to dye and dost not rather desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ knowing that while thou art present in the body thou art absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Calvin in loc Jâ—el was offended at one that in h s sickness prayed for his life Well the best of it is thou art more afraid then hurt It is well observed by a judicious expositor that the Periphrasis of death mentioned John 13.1 where it is called a departing out of the world and a going to the father doth belong to all the children of God it is to them but a going out of the world to their dear and loving father And questionless this was that which made the Saints so desirous of death Basil when the Emperors Lieutenant threatned to kill him said I would he would for then he would quickly send me to my father to whom I now live and to whom I desire to hasten Calvin in his painful sickness was never heard to complain but often lifting up his eyes to heaven to cry out How long Lord How long Lord Plutarch in vit It is reported of an heathen Epaminondas that when he was wounded with a dart at Mantinea in a battel against the Lacedaemonians and told by the Chirurgions that when the dart was drawn out of his body Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo c. he must needs dye he called for his Squire and asked him Whether he had not lost his shield Non est timendum quod nos liberat ab omni timendo Tertull. he told him no whereupon he bade them pull out the dart and so died Surely Christian thou hast more cause to dye with courage when thou hast not lost thy God nor thy soul nor any thing that was worth the keeping 5. It is comfortable against the death of thy friends and relations which dye in the Lord. To dye is gain if it be their gain why should it be thy grief nature will teach thee to mourn but grace must moderate that mourning We may water our plants but must not drown them We may sorrow but not as they which have no hope least we sin When Anaxagoras was told that both his sons were dead he boldly answered the messenger I knew that I begat mortal creatures The people were enraged and perplexed at the death of Romulus but were afterwards quieted and comforted with the news which Proculus brought That he saw him in glory riding up to heaven So when thou art sorrowing for the death of thy child or husband or father or mother or brother or sister that sleep in Jesus thou shouldst hearken to the news which faith brings that it saw them filled with joy mounting up to heaven and there enjoying rivers of pleasures and a weight of glory and surely if after such news thou shouldst continue weeping it should be for joy Friend this text containeth choice sweet meats for thee to feed on at the funeral of thy dearest godly friend Lugeatur mortuus sed ille quem gehenna suscipit quem Tartarus devorat Hier. I suppose if thy relation died out of Christ thou hast not a little cause of sorrow and probably that was the sharp edge of the sword which wounded the soul of David for the death of Absolom that he died in his sins his fear was that his son died not only in rebellion against the father of his flesh but also against the father of spirits But when thy relation dyeth in the Lord thou hast surely more cause to rejoyce that thou ever hadst such a friend or relation who shall to eternity be employed in the chearful
unsearchable riches in Christ the endless happiness in Heaven because they know not the vanity and emptiness of the former the excellency and pretiousness of the latter Did men know the gift of God and who it is that speaketh to them Ignoti nulla cuâ—ido and what he offereth they would ask of him and he would give them living waters John 4.10 What is the reason that so many make a mock of sin and dance merrily over the infernal pit and play with the unquenchable fire but ignorance The Child doth not know that the fire will burn him As the Horse they rush into the battel fighting against God and their souls not knowing it will be to their destruction to their damnation These Balaams run greedily after the wages of unrighteousness not seeing the Angel that standeth in the way with a drawn sword in his hand ready to kill them Did they know what they do when they wilfully break Gods Law they would sooner leap into a furnace of scalding lead than provoke so jealous a God But sin goeth in a disguise and thence is welcome like Judas it kisseth and kils like Joab it salutes and slayes The foolish sinner seeth the pleasant streames of Jordan but not the dead Sea into which they will certainly empty themselves to his ruine What is the reason that the Devil carrieth so many captive at his will leadeth them whither he pleaseth but ignorance They are ignorant of his wiles of his devices they know not as drunken Lot of his Daughters when he cometh nor when he goeth The Prince of darkness takes up his throne in dark understandings The god of this world blindeth their minds 2 Cor. 4.4 least the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them How easie is it for him to lead blind men out of the way and then to destroy them as Pliny saith the Eagle deals with the Hart she lights upon his horns and there flutters up and down filling his eyes with dust born in her feathers that at last he may cast himself from the rock and so be made a prey unto her so the wicked one bindeth a muffler before mens eyes and then turneth them off the ladder and executes them What is the cause of mens scandalous practices but ignorance The dark corners of the earth arâ— full of the habitations of cruelty Psal 74.20 The flood-gates of wickednesse are open when the door of knowledge is shut the cause why there was no mercy nor truth in the land but swearing and lying and stealing comitting adultery and blood touching blood was ignorance Hos 4.1 2. This is the root of bitterness on which those cursed fruits grow This is the blind Captain which like Zilpah hath a Gad a troop of enormities following him Paul thanks ignorance for his blasphemy and persecuting the Church 1 Tim. 1.13 The reason why the heathen did not call on God was because they did not know him Psal 79.6 The most ugly and monstruous wickedness which ever was hatched or brought forth calleth ignorance mother Had they known they would never have crucified the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 Act. 3.15.17 What Augustine saith of Original sin is in some respects true of Ignorance it is peccatum poena peccati causa peccati It is a sin as contrary to the law of God which requireth men to know him 1 Chron. 28.9 Lev. 5.15.18 It is the punishment of sin as the fruit of our apostacy from God It is the cause of sin as toads and serpents grow in dark cellars as blind Alehouses are sinks and sources of all villanies so are dark and blind hearts They are strangers to the life of God through the ignorance that is in them Eph 4.18 Ignorantiae â—uae pessimaefiliae Falsitas Dubietas Aug. de câ—vit dâ—i l. 22. c. 22. What is the cause of mens erroneous principles but ignorance They erre not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 22.29 Impostors like cozening tradesmen when they have men in a dark shop put what rotten deceitful ware they please into their hands they lead captive silly women that are ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth 2 Tim. 3.6 7. Hereticks like nurses may put meat or poison into their mouths who are babes in understanding they that are children in knowledge will be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine The blind man eates many a flye and the ignorant man swallows many an error Men will easily be brought to deny the truths which they understand not and to speak evil of the things which they know not Jude vers 10. Simul ac desinunt ignorare desinunt odisse saith Tertulliaâ— in apolog of them that condemned the Christian Religion What is the reason that men put God off either with no service or worship at all or else with a few cold superficial lazy duties without either heat or life but their ignorance They know not the Majesty purity jealousie and severity of God they worship they know not whom and therefore they worship him they care not how their Altars are of any slight form or fashion because like the Athenians they are dedicated to the unknown God they that know not their masters will cannot obey it Some cry up their good meanings to excuse their ignorance but ignorant devotion is like feet without eyes which the farther they carry men the greater is their wandring and wo. What is the reason that men take up short of Christ and renewing grace that they please themselves with the shadow instead of the substance of Religion that they cry peace peace to their souls onely upon some outward priviledges or a few inward good meanings as they call them when they are in a most damnable condition and suddain destruction is ready to seise on them as travail on a woman with child which they cannot escape surely it is ignorance of the nature of Christianity and sanctification they know not what regeneration is and what faith and repentance are which are the conditions upon which salvation may be had therefore they rest in forms which will fade when their hearts and lives deny the power of godlinesse This this is not as Papists would perswade their deluded votaries the mother of devotion but the monster which causeth such hideous births of corruption This is the epidemical disease that raigneth all the year long and killeth I fear more souls then any of our new distempers doth bodies For the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Which shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2 Thess 1.6 7 8 9. This this is the sourse of mens sins on earth and eternal sufferings in hell But one would think such truths as these might be seasonable in
there are some diseases which are called opprobria medici because they cannot cure them but none are opprobria Christi he healeth all whom he undertaketh If the higher an house standeth on earth it be esteemed the healthier surely then the highest heavens must be a pure air and all health Revel 20.4 there shall be no more death nor any more pain for the former things are past away So that every christian that dieth in the faith how diseased soever he were before shall then immediately as in the Gospel be made every whit whole John 7.23 Thirdly As death will free the believer from diseases in his body so also from sorrows in his soul The christian liveth upon earth as in a valley of tears and often mingleth his drink with weeping As he is a man he is born to sorrows as the sparks fly upward he cometh into the world crying and goeth out groaning and his whole life from the womb to the tomb is in some regard a living death or a dying life But as he is a christian he drinketh deepest of this cup of sorrows the world is a tender mother to her children but a step-mother to strangers Sometimes the afflictions of the good cause high-water in the Saints heart by the rivers of Babylon he sits down and weepeth when he remembreth Zion Psal 137.1 He cannot but sympathize with the miseries of his fellow-members as being himself in the body Sometimes the transgressions of the bad cloath him with mourning like Croessus son though dumb before yet he cryeth out when his father is wounded As with a sword they pierce his bones when they blasphemously say unto him Psal 42.10 Where is thy God rivers of tears run down his eyes because the wicked forsake Gods Law Psal 119.136 Sometimes his own corruptions like so many daggers stab him to the heart that he should abuse such an Ocean of unspeakable love by so unsuitable a heart and so unanswerable a life He confesseth his iniquities and is sorry for his sins Psal 38.18 Sometimes divine desertions darken and cloud all his comforts When God hides his face he is troubled Psal 30.7 As there are no joyes like to those joyes wherewith God reviveth him in the day of his favour so there is no sorrow like to those sorrows wherewith God depresseth him in the day of his anger Thus his life is a circle of sorrows but death will be the Funeral of his sorrows and resurrection of his joyes now he soweth in tears but then he shalâ— reap in joy The day of death is a Saints Marriage-day Sampsons wife indeed wepâ— on her wedding-day Judg. 14.16 but when the soul which in this life is contracted shall at death be solemnly espoused and more neerly conjoyned unto Jesus Christ all tears shall be wiped from its eyes there shall be no more sorrow Revel 21.4 At that Marriage-day Christ will turn all water into wine all mourning into mirth all sighing into singing and cause the bones which he hath broken to rejoyce Now the Saints sorrows are not perfect sorrows non dantur purae tenebrae to the believer it shineth and showreth at the same time he sorroweth not as they which have no hope but his joy at death shall be perfect joy fulness of joy Psal 16. ult and permanent joy when they shall see Christ at death their hearts shall rejoyce and their joy shall no man take from them John 16.22 then the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isa 35. ult So much for the privative gain of a christian by death or his freedome from evil There is a second thing which is positive Adeâ—pt â—o omnium bonoruâ— and that is the fruition of all good which a believer shall gain by death and in this Head I shall observe these three gradations First a believer by death shall gain the company of perfect Christians Death wil exempt him from all commerce with sinners and teach him fully the meaning of that article The communion of Saints In the field of this world the tares and the wheat grow together but in that heavenly Garner they are parted asunder There is no treacherous Judas among the Apostles no covetous Demas among the Disciples no Amorites to be prickes in the eyes and thorns in the sides of the Israelite no bestial Sodomite to vex righteous Lot with their unclean conversation no flattering Doeg sets his foot in that heavenly Sanctuary David doth not there complain Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace Psal 120.4 5. nor Isaiah that he dwelleth among a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 nor Elijah that he is left alone Hell holdeth none but sinners heaven hath onely Saints He that dieth in the Lord goeth to the congregation of the first-born to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And questionlesse the sweet company will be part of our felicity If Platinus the Philosopher could say Let us make haste to our Countrey there are our parents there are all our friends and if Cicero the Orator could say O praeclaruÌ„ diem cùm ad illud animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar Cic de Senect O what a brave day will that be when I shall go to the councel and company of happy souls to my Cato and other Roman Worthies How much better will it be with the Christian when he wall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven when he shall leave the rout and rabble of wicked ones and be admitted into the society of all that died in the faith and be joyfully welcomed by the melodious quire of Angels and be heartily embraced by the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles yea all the Saints Surely if ever thar Proverb were true it is here The more the merrier The fair streams there will never be drawn dry though it be divided into many channels the musick there is not the lesse harmonious because many hear it nor the light of the Sun of righteousness the lesse pleasant because many see it and O what a gain will this be to enjoy the company of them that are holy If Aaron when he met Moses on earth was glad at his heart certainly there was greater joy at their meeting in heaven If David placed all his delight in the Saints here below when they shined a little with the light of purity like the Moon and had their spots in them what delight doth he take in them above now they have perfect purity and shine like the Sun in the firmament of their father Matth. 13.43 If it were so lovely a sight to see Solomon in his rags of mortality that the Queen of Sheba came so far to behold it what will it be to see him in his
Kingdome which the holy shall immediately upon their deaths enter into but what is all this to thee when thou must be without it for ever thou mayst see Abram afar off and Lazarus in his bosome but between him and thee there will be a great gulf As a stranger thou mayst hear the last Will and Testament of Christ read and therein the fair rich and large portions which he hath bequeathed to his children John 17.24 Luke 12.32 but not the least mention made of any good for thee look from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation and see if there be one good word spoken to thee whil'st thou art in thy natural estate Moses like thou mayst by the prospective of Scripture have a Pisgah sight of Palestine of that good Land flowing with milk and hony but as God is true if thou diest in unregeneracy thou shalt never enjoy one foot of it The worst of a Saint is past when he dyeth but thy worst O sinner is to come there are some dregs in the bottome which thou art yet to drink down thou hast thy good things here and he his evil things but at death he is comforted and thou art tormented He hath all his hell upon earth his heaven is to come thou hast all thy heaven on earth and thy hell is to come when thou passest into another world the hell of a Saint is an easie hell But ah how hot is that hel in hel how fiery is that furnace how how terrible those torments I may conceive somewhat the damned feel most but no tongue can expresse them But it may be Friend thou art one that thrivest in this world and therefore dost not trouble thy head much lesse thy heart with the things of another world thou art unwilling to put a spoonful of those thoughts into thy sauce least it should make thy meat unsavory it would mar thy mirth and spoile thy sports As Sigismund the Emperor did not love the pronunciation of the Greek Zeta because it represented the gnashing teeth of a dying man so thou art resolved to banish such enemies as thou thinkest out of thy coasts and like a bear to go down that steep hill of death backward But know thou O man that whether thou wilt consider of thy death before-hand or no it is hastening upon thee though thou puttest it farre from thee whether thou wilt or no it draweth nigh to thee the ship moveth not so fast in the waters nor the Sun in the heavens as thou art hastening towards thy long thine everlasting home and then death will bring thee up a reckoning for all thy sweet morsels merry meetings time and talents whatsoever believe it then thou wilt have sowre sauce for all thy sweet-meats thy presumption will prove but like Hamans banquet before execution What advantage then will thy suni-shiny morning of common mercies bring thee when as on Sodome it will be followed with flakes of fire and brimstone before night Dost thou not know that when the wicked flourish it is that they may be destroyed for ever Psal 92.7 The higher thou ascendest on this ladder the greater thy fall when death turneth thee off thou art but ripening for ruine and fatting on earth to fry in hell all the while thou art flourishing in a course of sinning nay thou mayest be much nearer hell then thou art aware of The mettal when it shineth brightest in the fire is nearest melting thou like a candle mayst give a blaze when thou art going out of the world into blacknesse of darknesse for ever The Hawk flieth high and is as highly prized being set upon a Pearch and set out with the gingling bells of encouragement and carried on his Masters fist but being once dead and pitched over the Pearch is cast upon the dunghill as good for nothing The Hen scrapes in the dust nothing rewarded while she liveth but being dead is brought as a choice dish to her Masters Table Thus wicked men in this life are set in high places godly men lie groveling with their mouths in the dust but being dead the former is cast into hell the latter brought to Heavens Table But that I may awaken thy conscience O secure sinner and make thee look about thee whil'st there is time and hope if the gracious and powerful God please to assist I shall give thee an estimate of the sinners losses by death by which thou mayest see what a difference there is between the death of the titular and the real Christian And here Reader thou must help me with thy conceptions for I shall come infinitely short in my expressions As none can endure it so none can declare it for who knoweth the power of Gods wrath Psa 90.11 The oratour when he would describe the violent death of the Crosse doth it by an Aposiopesis What saith he shall I say of the death of the Crosse Quid dicam in crucem tollere Tull. much more cause have I to speak so of this death What shall I say of this eternal death 1. By death thou shalt lose all thy earthly delights and carnal contentments The table of thy life possibly is richly spread with variety of outward enjoyments riches relations honours pleasures beauty and bravery but death will come in with a voider and take all away It is called an uncloathing 2 Cor. 5.4 and indeed it wil strip thee naked of all such garments and ornaments Thine eye shall no more see good Job 7.7 i. e. the good things of this life they will all die with thee as to thy use and comfort It is a doleful expression of Abram to Dives Thou hadst or thou receivedst thy good things in thy life-time Luk. 16.25 O what a cutting word was that to his heart when he was passed into another world Remember there was a time when thou and they were joyned together but now ye are parted for ever to have been happy Miserum est fuisse felicem was no small aggravation of his misery It is with thee while in this world as it was with the Jews in the Vineyards and fields of their Neighbours pluck and eat they might while there but pocket up and carry away they might not Deut. 23.24 25. Death is the great thief which will rob thee of all thy riches The wealthiest Emperor the next moment after death hath no more than the poorest beggar As thou camest forth of thy mothers wombe naked thou shalt return to go as thou camest and shalt take nothing in thy hand of all thy labour Eccles 5.15 That gold which thou lovest and trustest more than God these pebbles which thou valuest above the pearl of price that treasure on earth which thy heart is set upon more than on the true treasure in heaven will all leave thee when death findeth thee In his Treatise of love Mr. Rogers telleth us of one that being nigh death clapt a twenty shilling piece in his mouth saying Some
there how high and noble their works how holy and pure their worship and hadst known the infinite power holiness wisdom and justice of God as they do and God should turn thee again into this world wouldst thou slubber over thy duties and play with his Ordinances as now thou dost wouldst thou pray to this God as if thou prayedst not or hear from his Majesty as if thou heardest not or attend on him so carelesly as if thou didst not attend on him at all or wouldst thou not rather think I can never be too serious in the service of such a God I can never wait on him with humility enough and with watchfulnesse enough with uprightnesse enough and with care and diligence enough Shouldst thou not be laborious in the service of such a good God Give me leave to urge this thought a little farther and to give thee a Scripture or two which through the free grace of God have sometimes helped me against deadness and dullness in duties The one is 2 Chron. 2. and 5. where Solomon telleth us The house I am to build must be great mark the reason for great is our God above all gods If God be so great a God how greatly is he to be reverenced canst thou do too much service for him or give too much glory to him Can thy love to him be too great or can thy fear of him be too great or can thy labor for him be too great when this God is so great That he measureth the ocean in the hollow of his hand and meteth out the heavens with a span and comprehendeth the dust of the earth in a measure and weigheth the mountains in scales and the hills in a ballance Behold the Nations are as a drop of the bucket and are counted as the small dust of the ballance Behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering All Nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him as lesse then nothing and vanity Isa 40.12 15 16 17. God is a great God and therefore greatly to be feared Psal 89.7 God is a great God and therefore greatly to be praised for his greatness is unsearchable Psal 145.3 If he be a great God he may well require a great house to be his material temple and if he be a great God may he not justly call for a great part of yea all thy heart to be his spiritual temple It is likely the Son Solomon learned this of his father David who giveth us this as the reason why he danced before the Arke of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole earth with all his might 2 Sam. 6.14 21. It was saith he before the Lord as if he had said Had it been before men only or in their service I might have been cold and careless slothful and sluggish but it was before the Lord the infinite incomprehensible and holy God to whom I am unspeakably obliged for his distinguishing mercy and therefore all my might and all my strength was little enough for such a God I might mind thee further that thou hast wrought hard in thy slavery to the world and thy flesh in thy drudgery to the devil and thy lusts whose reward and wages is nothing but disappointment and vexation hell and damnation and shouldst thou not be fervent fiery seething hot as the word signifieth in spirit when thou art serving the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11.12 Rom. 11.12 I might also ask thee to whom thou owest thy whole strength and thy whole heart if not to God Art thou so much indebted to the world and thy flesh those enemies of thy salvation as thou art to the blessed God and who will at last pay thee best for thy strength and time God or the world Christ or the flesh But I may speak more to this in another place Well Reader have I yet or rather the Lord by me perswaded thee to set about this great business upon which thy eternal felicity dependeth timely that is presently throughly that is withal thy strength as the main chief and onely work thou hast to do Art thou resolved to do thine utmost endeavor and through the strength of Christ faithfully to follow the directions which I shall commend to thee from the Lord in order to thy recovery out of that bottomlesse misery into which thou hast plunged thy self Is there not abundant reason in what thou hast read Are they the words of a sinfu◠dying man or of the jealous everliving God Is it I only that call upon thee to mind this spiritual life or do not the daily and nightly mercies which thou unworthy wretch injoyest do not the dreadful judgements which others feel and thou hast too much cause to fear do not thy sweet babes thy dear children cry often and aloud in thine ears O thar there were an heart in our Father in our Mother to fear the Lord and keep all his Commandements alwayes that it might go well with them and with their children for ever Deut. 5.29 Nay doth not the Almighty God who observeth all thy wickednesse in whose hands thou art every hour who can with a word speak thee into that place of wo where the worth of grace and holinesse is better known and where the weight of sin and ungodlinesse is more felt In hope that thou wilt not be such an enemy to the God that made thee that thou wilt not do that despight to the Spirit that moveth thee that thou wilt not be such a wilful murderer of thy precious soul as to neglect them I shall set them down the Lord set them home to thy heart Come along with me and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife how she must be trimmed and adorned for the marriage First Get thine understanding inlightned in the knowledge of thy sins and misery 1. Direction Illumination The knowledge of thy disease and danger must precede thy recovery and cure O how many thousand souls have miscarried in the dark of ignorance Did men know surely they would not daily by their sins crucifie the Lord of glory Did they know their misery they would not be so merry as they are in wayes of iniquity they rush into sin as the horse rusheth into the battel not knowing it will be to their death to their destruction I have sometime read a story of a King that was ever pensive and never seen to smile and being asked by his Brother the cause of it he put him off till the next day for an answer and in the mean time caused a deep pit to be made commanding his servants to fill it half full with fiery coals and then causeth an old rotten board to be laid over it and over the board to hang a two-edged sword by a small slender thred with the point downwards and close by the pit
eyes to see him Thus the joys of a Saint are invisible to the wicked because they are inward spiritual joys though they are joys unspeakable and glorious Austines confess They have such joy as thou art not to intermeddle with Prov. 14.10 They have meat to eat which thou knowest not of Their life is an hidden life Col. 3.3 and their comforts are hidden comforts their secret meals fatten their souls and their bread eaten in secret how pleasant is it The kingdom of God which is this spiritual life consisteth not in meats and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 And besides it cometh not with observation Luk. 17.20 the world taketh no notice of it It doth not consist in the laughter of the face in the smiles of the brow but in the tranquillity of the mind solid contentment in the brest Christ takes his Spouse apart from the crowd of the world and then gives her the sweetest kisses the dearest embraces yea her very fill of love Many a loving visit hath the Saint from his Saviour when Christ came in at the backdoor the neighbors neither saw when he came nor when he went away A true Christian hath the most heart-chearing wine though he hangs out no bush maketh no shew of it in the world the wealthy Merchant that is worth thousands doth not cry his commodities up and down the City The parlor wherein the spirit of Christ entertains the Christian is an inner room not next the street for every one that goeth by to smell the feast the stranger doth not meddle with his joy Prov. 14.10 Christ and the soul may sit at supper within Mr. Gurnal Arm. 2 part pag 343. and thou not see one dish go in nor hear the Musick that sounds so sweetly in the Christians ears Perhaps thou thinkest he wants peace because he doth not hang out a sign in his countenance of that peace and joy within Alas poor wretch may not the Saint have a peaceful conscience with a solemn yea sad countenance as well as thou and thy companions have a sorrowful heart when there is nothing but fair weather in your faces Whether they have the greatest comfort or no do thou judge Sure I am there are none in this world that have so much ground to be comfortable as they have They have the most delightful company they walk with God they suppe with Christ their fellowship is with the Father and Jesus Christ his Son which is the onely good fellowship 1 Iohn 1.3 They have the most delightful food they eat of the bread that came down from heaven and drink of that love which is better than wine Psal 36.8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Gods house and made to drink of the rivers of his own pleasures and are bidden welcome with eat O friends drink abundantly O beloved These are exceedings indeed but if it be not their own fault they have them often besides their every hours fare of a good conscience which is a continual feast They have the most delightful Musick they hear the joyful sound of the Gospel of peace the glad tidings of pardon adoption salvation and so may rejoyce in hope of glory many a time surely their hearts are warmed and their ears ravished at the hearing of the affection which Christ beareth to them and the benefits he hath bought for them They have the most delightful lodging they lie all night between Christs arms in the chamber of the great King They have the richest mercies the special love of the Father the precious blood of the Son and the divine graces of the spirit when others have onely the blessings of the footstool of the left hand such giftless gifts as one calleth them as may consist with an eternal separation from God they have the mercies of the throne of the right hand the blessings of his own children and such as do accompany salvation No wonder that they sit under Christs shadow with great delight and his fruit is sweet unto their taste Can. 2.3 The child of God by vertue of a good conscience in the midst of the waves of affliction is as secure as that child which in a shipwrack was upon a plank with his mother till she awaked him then securely sleeping and then with his pretty countenance sweetly smiling and by and by sportingly asking a stroak to beat the naughty waves at last when they continued boystrous for all that sharply chiding them as if they had been his play-fellows O the innocency O the comfort of peace of conscience Dr. Stoughton It is likely indeed that when they wander from Christ they may come home by weeping-cross as out-lying Deer are full of fear and therefore t is observed seldom fat but they run the waies of Gods commandments with enlarged hearts And what ever be the cause of their sorrow whether their own sins or thine or others or the afflictions of the church whatever it be their mourning is better then the carnal mirth And this I dare undertake for them that in their most disconsolate condition they shall not change with the most prosperous Prince in the world that is out of Christ Alas the comfort of a sinner as it is but short like the crackling of thornes under a pot so it is but shallow skin deep at most like a sudden storm of rain which wetteth the surface of the earth Caeterae hilaritates non implent pectus sed frontem reâ—mittunt Sen. epi. 23 but never sinketh to the root their joy may smooth the brow but cannot warm the breast their looks may be sometimes lively but their hearts are alwaies heavy For there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa 57.20 Their mirth is like some juicy plumbs which have stones with a bitter kernel The stateliest and best accommodated houses of unsanctified men I is not the great cage that maketh the bird sing nor the great estate that bringeth real comfort are but like the nests of Wasps where there may be curious combs but no honey many outward mercies but no true inward mirth no sweetness when the voice of joy and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous Psal 118.15 They onely have the strong consolations Heb. 6.18 The joy unspeakable and glorious 1 Pet. 1.8 The peace of God which passeth all understanding to garrison their hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Phil. 4.7 As they have more afflictions than others the disciple of Christ must take up his cross so they have more consolations than others and their soul comforts are not seldom the sweetest when their bodily crosses are greatest as the sweetest Roses grow nearest the most stinking weeds although the blind world see them not As a man standing saith a Divine upon the sea-shore seeth a great heap of waters one wave riding upon the neck of another and heareth loud roarings thereof but though he seeth the waters
others will be the comfortable of comfortables to thee Thou needest never fear ill news in thine ears having Christ and grace in thy heart others shall not be such unspeakable loosers by death but thou shalt be as great a gainer When thou liest on thy death bed where all thy friends and riches and earthly comforts will fail thee this spiritual life is the good part which shall never be taken from thee Thou maist look upward and see as it were God smiling on thee in the face of Christ and hear him call to his angels to go and fetch thee his childe who hast been all this while at nurse home to the fathers house Thou mayst look downward on thy relations and with much faith and chearfulness commit thy fatherless children to God and bid thy weeping widdow trust in him who will be infinitely better to them than ten thousand of the richest tenderest fathers and husbands in the world Thou maist look without thee into Scripture and behold it as a garden full of sweet flowers comforting cordials refreshing heart-reviing promises and though it be an inclosure to others its open and free to thee thou maist pick and choose cull and gather where thou pleasest and needst not fear to be chidden In the multitude of those perplexing thoughts which at that time may be within thee thou mayest finde choice comforts there to refresh thy spirit If thou look within thee thou shalt not have thy conscience like an unquiet wife frowning on thee and scolding at thee but thou shalt hear a little bird singing merrily and sweetly in thy breast Lord Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seeen thy salvation How joyful maist thou leave thy dearest wife to go to thine infinitely dearer husband How willingly maist thou forsake thy lovely children to go to thy loving God and Father How freely maist thou part with all thy friends honors and pleasures to go to the Congregation of the first-born those rivers of pleasures and eternal weight of glory How chearfully maist thou bid adieu to nothing for all things to stars and streams at best for a full immediate eternal enjoyment of the Sun himself of an immense Ocean of happiness With what a lively colour in thy face and true comfort in thy heart maist thou behold that pale-faced messenger death the thought of whom though a far off is death to others entering into thy Chamber and coming up to thy bed-side how heartily welcome maist thou bid him as knowing that he cometh purposely to give thee actual possession of fulness of joy unspeakable delights a Kingdom of glory that is eternal in the heavens O the gain of godliness the profit of piety surely the price of this pearl is scarce known in this world A Merchant will in a morning gain five hundred pound by a bargain whereas poor people work hard a whole day for a shilling such a rich trade driveth the godly man godlinesse brings in thousands and millions at a clap when the moral and civil yet unsanctified man may work hard and yet earn but some poor businesse some outward blessing God may give them and his eternal wrath at last Now Reader consider if here be not abundant encouragement for thee presently and diligently to labor for this spiritual life Is it not the gainfullest calling that ever was followed the richest trade ever was driven Why dost thou spend thy strength for what is not bread and thy labor for that which will not satisfie Hearken to me and eat thou that which is good and let thy soul delight it self in fatnesse As Saul said to his servants Hear now ye Benjamites will the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds 1 Sam 22.7 So say I to thee hearken O friend will a sensual fleshly life give thee such honor as to be the son of the infinite God such comfort as to drink of the pure rivers of Gods own pleasures and will it make thee bold at death and confident at judgement an heir of heaven and so happy in every condition Can it do this Can it give thee as godliness can so much in hand and infinitely more in hope If it can I will give up my cause and leave thee to thy choice but if it cannot as doubtless thou art convinced so unlesse thou art an Heathen among Christians why dost thou labour so much and so eagerly for the pampering and pleasing thy flesh for the food that perisheth and so little and so lazily for this food which will endure unto everlasting life It was an excellent answer of one of the Martyrs when he was offered riches and honors if he would recant Do but offer me somewhat that is better than my Lord Jesus Christ and you shall see what I will say to you Reader Could the world or the flesh shew thee any thing that were equal nay that were but ten thousand degrees inferior to Christ and godliness thou mightst have some colour for thy gratifying the flesh and unwillingness to walk after the Spirit but when the disproportion is so vast that the one is not worthy in the least to be compared with the other when the difference is as great as between a sea of honey and a spoonful of gall a whole world of pearles and a little heap of dirt an heaven of happiness and an hell of horror Is it not unconceivable madness and inexcusable folly to choose that life which is after the flesh and refuse that which is after the Spirit Reader if thou wouldst be truly honorable in the esteem of God himself who is the fountain of all honor If thou wouldst have those spiritual consolations which can warm the heart in the coldest night of affliction If thou wouldst be profitable to thy dear children to thy own soul be a reall gainer in prosperity in adversity while thou livest when thou dyest If thou wouldst when thy wealth and friends and flesh and heart shall fail thee have God in Christ to be the strength of thy heart and thy portion for ever If thou wouldst in thy greatest extremity when thy soul shall be turned naked of all earthly delights out of thy body escape the fury of roaring Devils and unquenchable burnings If thou wouldst in that hour of thy misery find mercy and be received into the place of endlesse blisse then get this spiritual life this true wisdom to fear God and depart from evil Get wisdom get understanding forget it not above all thy gettings get wisdom Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold She is more precious than rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her Length of dayes is in her right hand and in her left hand