Glory yet must we not wish for that absolutely for though the Holy Apostle desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ yet was he in a strait and what to choose he tells us he wist not and we know how he qualifies and debates the business and what the issue came to you may read in 1 Phil. 21.22 23. Still therefore in all our desires after Death in general yet as to the particular time when we must always say Not our Wills but thy Will O Lord be done This holy desire of Death now is that which can only be found in the Godly for they only can desire Death upon good grounds but yet there may be a a willingness to die even in Wicked Men and sometimes they may die peaceably and quietly though Death is never comfortable and happy to them That they may sometimes die willingly and peaceably is often seen they may have no bands in their Death as others have as the Psalmist speaks but their strength is firm they are not under troubles and disquietments because of their Sins and the Wrath of God Conscience doth not fly in their Faces by terrible reflections upon their former wicked Lives God doth not make them possess their Sins in the bitterness of their Souls and as for the Devil he will not vex and trouble them that is not for his Advantage for he knows while they are under a spirit of security and senselessness he hath them fast enough and therefore he will not Torment them before their time lest they should get out of his Clutches But all is very quiet and peaceable as to outward appearance and they die as it is commonly expressed by ignorant Persons as quiet as a Lamb This may be the State and Condition of a Wicked Man upon a Death-Bed he may die quietly without any doubting upon his Spirit as to his Eternal State as if all were well and should be well with him for ever not that his Sins are pardoned and God reconciled nor that his Conscience hath not wherewith to trouble him because it is silent no the Worm of Conscience is Hungry and hath matter enough to Torment him in Hell to Eternity but it is not permitted to prey and feed upon the Sinner as yet This peace and Juietness that he now enjoys is not from any knowledge of his good Estate but from his Ignorance how bad his State is he sees not the Wrath of God hanging over his Head nor the Justice of God set in opposition against him and therefore he goes on quietly to his Grave As all the trouble and disquietness of a Godly Man in Death is because he is ignorant of the goodness of his State and Condition so the quietness and peace of a Wicked Man in Death is because he is ignorant of the badness of his State and Condition If a Godly Man dies under fears and troubles it is not because his State is not good but because he knows not that his State is good And if a wicked Man dies in peace it is not because his State is not bad but because he knows not that his State is bad Did a Godly Man know the goodness of his State and Condition his troubles and fears would soon be turned into joy and rejoicings And did a Wicked Man know the badness of his State and Condition his peace and quietness would soon be turned into mourning and lamentation and though now Friends and Acquaintance yea his own Heart and Satan also may flatter him yet Death will open his Eyes and undeceive him and then he shall know for ever by sad experience the Truth of that Scripture in the 57 of Esay last verse There is no Peace saith the Lord unto the Wicked Now as a wicked Man may die willingly yea peaceably so in a Godly Man there may be sometimes an unwillingness to die though a Godly Man acting as a Godly Man ought he is always desirous of Death That there may be in the best of God's Children an unwillingness to die the Scripture is clear Thus was it with the Prophet Jer. 37.20 Now I pray thee O my Lord the King let my supplication be accepted before thee that thou cause me not to return to the House of Jonathan the Scribe least I die there And our Lord forewarning Peter of the manner of his Death tells him that he should be carried whither he would not John 21.18 It is with many of the People of God as it was with Lot who though his Righteous Soul was vexed day by day by beholding the unclean conversation of the Sodomites 2 Pet. 2.18 Yet O how he lingred when God would have taken him from thence as you may see Gen. 19.16 So is it with many of the Saints of God who while they live in this World are always vexed not only with the corruptions of their own Hearts but also with the wickedness of the times yet are they if not unwilling yet not so willing to leave the World as they should be but this unwillingness of theirs proceeds not from the want of Grace but from the weakness of their Grace In the best of God's Children there is Flesh as well as Spirit Sin and Corruption as well as Grace and if at any time Sin and Corruption prevail over Grace as sometimes they do no won-wonder if they be unwilling to die Those of the People of God that do believe do yet believe but in part and though the Spirit be ready in them yet the Flesh is weak But though there be some unwillingness in the best to die yet they know and are sensible that it is their Sin and fault they know they ought to be willing to die and even in this their Spirits in them strive against this weakness of the Flesh and in the end they conquer their fears and overcome their backwardness and unwillingness to die according to that Gracious Promise in Psal 29.11 the Lord will give strength unto his People the Lord will bless his People with Peace The Nature of Grace is such that it will work it self through all fears and doubts both as to Sin and Death And when once the Eye of a Christian's Faith is opened to look within the vail and to discover something of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven and of the Soul's interest therein nothing then satisfies such a Soul but to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. A Godly Man acting as a Godly Man is one that is always desirous of Death because he knows the day of his Death will not only be better to him than the day of his Birth but better also than any day of his Life Now that the People of God may always be willing to die there are several Arguments that should encourage them unto it and I shall but name a few in general First the Afflictions and Distresses that the People of God are Subject to in this World and that
Heaven walking in the Light of God's Countenance and is able to say I know that my Redeemer lives and that when this Earthly Tabernacle of his Body shall be dissolved into dust that he hath a Building of God an House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens which death will bring him unto and this is all the hurt death can do him he that hath such an Assurance as this is cannot but welcome death and embrace it not only with Contentment but with Delight and Joy and even then when his Soul is struggling and striving to get loose from his Body with what Holy Longing and vehemency of desire will he cry out and say come Lord Jesus come quickly CHAP. IV. Of willingness and unwillingness to Die Difference between Christians in reference unto Death Whether it be lawful to desire Death In what cases it may and in what not A willingness to Die may be even in Wicked Men and sometimes they may Die peaceably and quietly though Death is never comfortable and happy to them In the Best there may be an unwillingness to Die though a Saint as a Saint is always desirous of Death Reasons that should encourage the People of God always to be willing to Die Believers should not only desire to Die but they should long for Death DEath in it self is not desirable nor can it be Nature not only shuns but abhors it nor is it possible that Nature should be reconciled to that which seeks its Annihilation and Destruction as Death doth And accordingly as these Fears are either strengthened and increased by Sin and Guilt or conquered and overcome by Grace so are we more or less enclined towards or averse from Death To be willing to Die when God calls us to it is a thing greatly to be desired and argues no small attainment in Grace when we do it upon good grounds And yet sometimes to be unwilling to Die is not to be condemned as evil and sinful To be willing to Die that we may be with Christ when God calls us to it is a frame of Soul in which the People of God should always be desirous to be found but yet to be desirous to Live when either the Great Work of a Christian is not finished or when his Life may tend to the Glory of God and the Good of his Church is that which is not sinful or unlawful we may see this Truth both in David and Hezekiah in David in Psal 6.4 5. Deliver my Soul O Lord spare me for thy Mercy-sake for in Death there is no remembrance of thee David at this time being troubled in Mind under the apprehensions of God's Wrath and so wanting the assurance of his Love as you may read in the Psalm prays that he might be spared And so Hezekiah Isai 38.2 prays for a longer time of Life as for other Reasons so for this as one because having begun a Reformation in the Church of God he was desirous to live that he might carry it on farther to the Glory of God and the Good of his Church A Christian ought so to live not only as to be prepared for Death but so as to be willing to die but yet he is a true Christian who though he doth not die so willingly yet dies preparedly he that dies preparedly and willingly dies most comfortably but yet he that dies preparedly dies safely and happily In reference unto Death there is a great difference between Nominal Christians and Real Christians and also between one true Christian and another There is a difference in reference unto Death between those that are called Christians but yet are not truly so Some there are whose Consciences are so awakened upon a Death-bed setting their Sins before their Faces with such horrible bloody Circumstances and withal representing the Wrath of God and the Everlasting Torments of Hell as due unto them for their Sins that they cry out in Horrour and Despair their Sins are greater than can be forgiven and feeling a Hell in their Consciences here they die under Desperation of ever escaping Hell hereafter or of obtaining Mercy and Pardon from God This was the case of Judas who under Horrours of Conscience despairing of Mercy endeavours to ease his Conscience by laying violent hands upon himself and is as the Scripture saith gone to his own place Others there are who though they would be called Christians yet are not so indeed but yet are so bold and confident in Death that Heaven is theirs as if they were in the possession of it already Our Lord tells us of some in Luke 13.25 who had such strong presumptions of Heaven that with a confident boldness they knock at Heaven's Gate crying Lord Lord open unto us as if there were no more to be done but only the opening of the door and letting them into Heaven but you know what Answer our Lord returns them I know you not depart from me ye workers of Iniquity Both these sorts of Persons the despairing Sinner and the presumptuous Sinner are alike miserable in their Death though they differ vastly from true and real Christians for they die neither happily nor comfortably for they die under the guilt of their Sins and so perish for ever which no true Christian doth And as Hypocrites and sincere Christians differ in their Death so also do true and real Christians differ in the manner of their dying some when they come to lie upon their Death-beds God is pleased to withdraw the light of his Countenance and the manifestations of his Love and Favour from them and in their apprehensions God seems to have cast them off and will be favourable to them no more and though their Life draws nigh to the Grave yet their Soul is full of trouble they are so in the dark and can see no light in such a State of desertion that God seems to have forsaken them their Sun is as it were setting in a Cloud and in this State of dismal darkness they die not knowing what shall become of their Souls for ever which yet go safely to Heaven being built upon the Rock of Ages the Lord Jesus Christ against which the Gates of Death and Hell shall never prevail Some again there are who though they are true Christians yet are weak Christians though they have the Grace of God in Truth yet they have it not in that growth and strength that some have their Faith is true but they are not strong in Faith they love the Lord Jesus in sincerity but not with that fervour and ardour that some do they have a good Hope towards God but their Hope is not lively and operative Such Christians as these now though they take Death patiently yet they would willingly live they go indeed when God by Death calls for them but they could wish that it would please God to stay for them a little longer they have some good Hopes of Heaven when they die but they desire a little
For Friends to be parted never to see the Faces of one another again this is sad And therefore when St. Paul was taking his leave of the Saints in Macedonia in Acts 20.38 it is said They fell on his Neck and kissed him sorrowing most for the words that he spake that they should see his Face again no more But it is sadder for Parents and Children to be disunited David found it so when he cryed out so Passionately for his Son 2 Sam. 18.33 O Absalom my Son my Son would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son It is yet more sad to have a dis-union made between a Man and the Wife of his Bosom when God shall take away with a stroke the desire of his Eyes one that hath been a meet and fit Yoke-fellow in the Lord whose Eyes can refrain from weeping or their Hearts from bleeding under such a sad stroke of Providence But yet there is a dis-union that comes nearer than all these and that is a dis-union between the Soul and the Body those two Old Sweet Intimate Companions born together into the World and who have lived in sweet Society together all their Days for Death to come and make a Dissolution between two so near and so dear together by a violent rending and tearing the Soul and Body asunder Oh this is exceeding sad and dreadful indeed and that which must needs make the Work of Dying hard and difficult Thirdly Death is a Destruction So David calls it Psal 90.3 Thou turnest Man to destruction That Excellent Frame of Man's Body which David tells us was fearfully and wonderfully made in secret and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the Earth by God himself and that with Infinite Power and Wisdom Psal 139.14 15. Sickness will not only stain its Glory and make the Beauty of it to consume like a Moth But Death will Demolish and pull it down to the ground turn it into Corruption and Putrefaction yea into Dust it self utterly destroying it so that it shall not be any more until by the Power of God it shall be raised up again at the last day Death now being so destructive a thing unto Man that nothing will content it less than his Annihilation in the Grave dying must needs be a hard and difficult thing unto Flesh and Blood Secondly Dying is an important difficult Work if we consider what Death doth now this I shall explain by opening these two things First Death occasions our Spiritual Enemies to assault us Secondly It awakens Conscience against us First Death occasions our Spiritual Enemies to assault us most fiercely Now these Enemies are two Sin and Satan First Sin When doth the Guilty Prisoners Crimes come into his Mind but when he hath a Summons to appear before his Judge And when doth the Guilt of Sin fly in the Face of a Sinner but when Death hath him under his Arrest to carry him before God the Great Judge of Heaven and Earth Multitudes of Sins that before lay hid and seem'd to be quite forgotten now shew themselves and come fresh into a Sinner's mind as so many Witnesses against him which upon the Review he cannot but Remember though formerly he had forgot them Oh what a number of horrid Wickednesses do now haunt his Thoughts with dismal apprehensions in the dark night of Death walking up and down like so many Frightful Ghosts scaring and terrifying his Soul Well may an Impenitent Sinner say then unto Death hast thou found me O mine Enemy art thou come O Death to call my Sins to Remembrance and to slay my Soul Secondly The Devil will then be very fierce and furious in his Assaults His Time now is but short and therefore his Rage is great This is his hour yea his last hour and therefore the Power of the Prince of Darkness is now most put forth he knows he hath but a few hours more to wait and if he can but keep the Sinner so long he is then his for ever Assure thy self therefore O Sinner he will be diligent in watching thy Sick-bed both by night and by day and if all the Power or Policy of Hell can prevent it neither Cordial shall benefit thy Body nor Counsel and Advice profit thy Soul The Devil is the great Enemy of Souls and because he is miserable himself he therefore labours that all others may be as miserable as he is now the ways by which he expresseth his Enmity against Souls that he may keep them from Eternal Life are these Sometimes by obstructing the Work of Grace in the Souls of Men and thus he works with all his might by all his Wiles and Devices that he can to draw men unto and keep them in a way of Sin that they may not set their Faces towards Heaven much more that they may not with earnest endeavours of Soul seek to obtain it It is true God always hath the Devil in a Chain and can if he pleaseth restrain and hinder him in all his Malicious Attempts against his Children and many times he doth manifest his Power and Grace towards his Servants in a dying hour by curbing in the Malice of that Evil one that he shall not be able to trouble and molest them in their Passage into Heaven But yet sometimes God doth then permit the Devil to shew his Malice against his People and then how fiercely and furiously doth he make his Assaults upon them Then it is they meet with the sorest Trials and because he could not prevail upon them formerly as a Tempter now he turns to be their Accuser charging all their Sins upon their Souls with all the bloody aggravations of them upbraiding them with all their Profession as if they had been but Hypocrites in all that they had done This God sometimes permits him to do that their Grace being exercised the Trial thereof may appear to be more precious than Gold that perisheth being found to the Praise and Glory of God and the Shame and Reproach of their Adversary the Devil in a most Glorious Conquest over all his Temptations for through the Grace and Strength of Christ they overcome him in all his Accusations and notwithstanding all they go not only quietly but sometimes Triumphantly into Heaven and Glory Secondly Death awakens Conscience The Practice of a Sinner is to lull Conscience asleep that he may the more quietly and undisturbedly go on in Sin but when Death comes usually the Conscience of a Sinner is awakened if the Sinner be not past feeling given over to a reprobate sence Conscience hath its Times and Seasons of stirring in the Souls of Men as sometimes under the Preaching of the Word Conscience begins to stir within a Sinner and tells him that those Duties that have been laid before him by the Minister are the Commands of the Great God and therefore ought to oblige him to Obedience Here Conscience is an honest Informer Sometimes when a Sinner is taking the
Word of God into his hand and falls a Reading of it where he meets with some things Commanded by God which possibly through ignorance or heedlessness he did not take notice of before to be his Duty Conscience at such a time takes part with the Word of God and by its Admonitions helps forward the Convictions of the Word upon the Heart of a Sinner that so there may be an Obediential Conformity thereunto Here now Conscience is a Faithful Monitor At another time when a Sinner hath not only through carelessness but through wilfulness and presumption fallen into the Commission of some great and horrid Sin possibly at such a time some Friend comes to him and deals plainly and freely with him by reproving him sharply and severely for his Sin Conscience now joyns in with the Reproof and becomes as true a Friend unto the Sinner as any he hath if he will but hearken unto him here now Conscience thunders out both the Threatnings of the Law and the Vengeance of the Gospel telling the Sinner that they that do such things are worthy of Death nay that they deserve Hell for because of these things sake says Conscience cometh the Wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience Conscience here now shews it self an exact and upright Reprover But then there is another Office that Conscience hath and that is to be an Accuser and this Office it commonly makes use of when it is throughly awakened upon a Death-bed for when a Man comes to lie upon a Sick-bed and sees the Visions of Death and the Grave before him the Charges of Conscience at such a time upon a Sinner are most quick and smart for Conscience being just as it were a going to give up its Accounts unto the Great God the Judge of all Flesh where it will speak nothing but the Truth begins now to give the Sinner some Account of what it must and will say before the Tribunal of God then And this is one Reason why Conscience is so strict and so severe in its Charge against the Soul that it will let nothing pass that comes into the mind of a Sinner without leaving some stinging Remembrances of its former guilt even such as are more bitter than Death it self This now makes Dying to be so hard and difficult a Work O happy Souls are they who at such a time have their hearts sprinkled from the Evil of an Accusing Conscience by the Blood of Jesus Christ for they only can have Peace and Comfort in the hour of Death This Work of dying though it be so hard and difficult a Work yet is it that we must all undergo for Death is continually hastening towards us The Blessed Apostle St. Paul thought Death always to be near it made such speed to him that he lookt upon himself always as a dying Man and therefore he tells us That he did die daily 1 Cor. 15.31 and in Rom. 8.36 For thy sake says he we are killed all the day long we are counted as Sheep for the Slaughter And if we make Hezekiah's Reckoning to be our own though he was under a fit of Sickness when he said it but we are in Health yet we shall not be much mistaken in the Account when he tells us From day even unto night says he thou wilt make an end of me What though Death hath not laid his cold hands upon us by some Mortal Disease yet may he not lie in Ambush for us and cut us off suddenly Time hath Wings and flies away swiftly from us and truly Death doth not creep but with the same swiftness posts towards us Man is wasting and consuming every day his Body wastes his Strength wastes his Parts waste his Time wastes yea his very Life wastes and whither tend all these Consumptions and Wastings but only to the hastening of Death neither will these end till they terminate in Man's Dissolution But though Man in this Life is always hurrying on unto Death yet how few are there that consider how suddenly themselves or others may die we easily and slightly pass over the Thoughts of Death and the suddenness of its approach because it is that we have no mind to We would not yet die our selves and therefore we will not think we shall Guests that are unwellcome to us we either keep them out of our Houses or turn them out as soon as we can Such are the Thoughts of Death either of our own or others and therefore if possible we endeavour to keep them out of our minds altogether but if sometimes they will thrust in upon us we turn them out again as soon as we can filling our Thoughts with some other things But alas this will not do always for the Thoughts of Death will return again upon some occasions or other God by some Providence may be will awaken Conscience and stir up Thoughts of Death in our minds let us do what we can to hinder them yea though we do what we can to stifle them but this is no thanks to us for of our selves we will not be brought to think of or regard how suddenly others do and our selves may die till by some sad Providence we are brought to the Sick bed of some Friend whom Death hath bedewed with cold Sweats and rackt with Convulsims so that he lies gasping and dying before us till our Eyes be brought thus to Affect our Hearts our Hearts are seldom Affected as they ought with the Sence of our Mortality Now as Death comes suddenly upon many so commonly it comes violently upon wicked Men their Souls are not surrendred or delivered up unto God but they are rent and torn from them by Force and Violence A wicked Man cannot commend his Soul into the Hands of God when he is dying Indeed we have a form of making the Wills of dying Men wherein the Person that lies upon his Death-Bed says I commend my Soul into the Hands of God which in the Judgment of Charity because we have nothing to do to Censure Mens Eternal State in the General we must not wholly Condemn yet it is to be feared that few that say those words do it heartily and sincerely and upon such Grounds as God will accept and receive when they leave their Bodies There are some who have lived in Sin all their Days yet have strong presumptions of the Mercy of God upon their Death-beds God is a merciful God say they and therefore with boldness and confidence they commend their Souls unto him relying upon his Mercy for Salvation But such are strangely Ignorant of the method of God in saving Sinners and by Custom in Sin and the Judgment of God upon them for it they are become insensible their Consciences are seared and asleep and so neither their Sin nor the misery they are liable to for Sin doth in the least trouble them But otherwise the Death of a wicked Man is violent he doth not resign up his Soul unto God but it is
such The Happiness of those that are in Christ lies in the Manifestation of the Divine Love and Favour unto their Souls now this Death cannot hinder them of I know many of God's People have not the Light of his Countenance liftted up upon their Souls in Death but their passage to Heaven is dark and uncomfortable God loves them though they know it not yet by this darkness and uncomfortableness which Death brings upon them by their passage through it Death is but bringing them to the most clear Discoveries of the Love of God to their Souls in Heaven with which they shall then be filled and satisfied to all Eternity Our Comfort in Death lies in the Knowledge of our Interest in Christ but so doth not our Happiness that lies in our Interest in Christ whether we know it or not Our Consolation in a dying hour springs from our Assurance that Christ is ours and we are his but our safely and security in that hour ariseth from the certainty of our Interest in Christ Indeed our Ignorance that we are in Christ when we come to die may prejudice our present Peace and Comfort in Death but it shall not prejudice our future Happiness after Death They that are in Christ are always in a safe Condition they may die uncomfortably indeed but they cannot die miserably they are built upon the Rock of Ages and therefore though they fall by Death into the Grave even as others yet they perish not with others Death may kill them but it cannot hurt them He that hath an Interest in Christ being united to him by Faith need not fear what Death can do unto him True and thorough Conversion from Sin unto God is a sure Foundation for Peace and Safety both in Life and Death He that is interested in Christ is built upon a Rock that is Impregnable the Gates of Death and Hell shall not prevail against him To behold a Man dying that is in Christ this is Comfortable for such a one dies that he may live for ever and changes only a Temporal for an Eternal Life To behold a Christless Person but not in a dying condition this is something tolerable for who can tell but that the next Sabbath or the next Sermon God may make it a time of Love to his Soul even such a day of his Power and Grace towards him as thereby savingly to draw him unto Christ But to behold a dying Man and a Christless Man also this is dreadful yea even intolerable for such a one dies from Earth to be Damned in Hell It was a sad and doleful Complaint and Oh that it might startle and awaken some secure Sinner to look after Christ that was once uttered by one upon a Death-Bed being just a dying Oh I want nothing now but a Christ to Save me O miserable State and Condition indeed for in having him the Soul hath all that can do it good or make it good but in wanting of him the Soul hath nothing that can do it good here or make it happy hereafter Interest in Christ is the only true Preparation for Death This now is the general Direction for our Preparation for Death without which there is no dying happily or comfortably But the more particular Directions are these that follow First Wouldst thou be prepared for Death then die unto Sin by daily and constant endeavours to mortifie and subdue the Power and Strength of it in the Exercise of a Holy Life The Apostle tells us in Rom. 6.23 That the wages of Sin is Death By which he means Temporal and Eternal Death This now is the Fruit of Sin for Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death But is there no way to escape this Death yes from Spiritual and Eternal Death there is a deliverance and therefore the Apostle tells us in Rom. 6.13 That if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body that is the deeds of the Body of Sin then we shall live and not die that is we shall live Spiritually and not die Eternally and as for a Temporal Death though we cannot scape the stroke of it yet we shall be free from the Curse and Sting of it Wouldst thou therefore O Christian be prepared for Death when it comes then take from it now its Power and Strength When the Philistines saw Sampson was too strong for them they labour to know wherein his great Strength lay and when they found it was in the Hair of his Head they would not be quiet till they got his Hair cut off Every Christian hath to deal with a dreadful Enemy unto Nature and that is Death Assault he will all of us at one time or other yea and be too hard for us If now we would overcome him we must find out where his great Strength lies the Spirit of God now tells us that the Power and Sting of Death is Sin so we read in 1 Cor. 15.56 The Sting of Death is Sin And the Power and Sting of every Mans particular Death lies in his own Sins Death cannot hurt any of us but by that Power and Strength that our sins put into its hands Christian the way how thou mayest overcome thine Enemy Death is set open to thee his Strength is discovered to thee that thou mayest have thine Advantage against him to weaken him and to take away his Strength and that is by dying unto Sin this will be the Death of Death Yield not therefore at any time to its Solicitations for this is but to make Death the more strong and Powerful to wound thy Soul and Conscience When therefore thou art tempted unto any Sin though it may seem pleasant and delightful yet before thou yieldst unto the Temptation say to thy self O my Soul how will this relish with me when I come to lie upon a Death-bed and my Soul sits trembling upon my Lips ready to take its Flight unto the Tribunal of God What Peace and Comfort will it procure to my Conscience then Will not the Remembrance of it prove more bitter than Gall and Wormwood and the grating Reflections of Conscience more stinging and tormenting to the Soul than a thousand Deaths could possibly be Wouldst thou not have Death bitter then let not Sin be sweet now Part with Sin betimes get that removed that is the troubler of a Death-Bed and the Sting of Death and that is Sin Make it your daily business to be dying unto Sin Now this dying unto Sin implies our constant endeavours to subdue the Power and Strength of Sin and this is done by daily Mortification It is true in the People of God Sin doth not Reign and that is Comfortable to consider Sin in the Work of Conversion hath received such a Wound as is incurable but yet wherever Sin is in any Soul it doth not use to lie dormant but where it cannot Reign it will molest and struggle yea and it
yet it may Rule as a Tyrant and we be brought into Captivity by it and by force kept in Bondage under it sometimes How willing therefore should a Christian be to die that he may be free from Sin for he that is dead saith the Apostle Rom. 6.7 is free'd from Sin Death only will free us from the danger and possibility of offending God any more for then we shall come to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Why then O Christian shouldst thou desire to linger long here upon Earth and to spin out a miserable Life in this VVorld whereof Sin and Sorrow will have the greatest Share Here the best Christians are engaged in perpetual Conflicts between Sin and Grace Sin will not yield and Grace cannot yield Corruption compels one way and Grace commands another Haste therefore O Christian out of this troublesome Contest yea make haste to Heaven for there and there only it is that this Controversie will be ended for there we shall no more live in fear of new Sins nor in sorrow for old Sins but all Sorrow and Sighing shall cease all Tears shall there be wiped from our Eyes and which is better all Sin shall be rooted out of our hearts for ever Upon this Account now Death is not only necessary in it self but it is that which the People of God should embrace with the greatest willingness and chearfulness that may be But this is not all for the People of God must go one step higher and it is what the VVord of God doth require and that is not only to be content or willing to die but long for Death To be contented to die is a good Temper of Soul and may be an Argument of the Truth of Grace for it is seldom or never found in a wicked man to be sure not from a right Principle But truly Christians this is no such great Matter in comparison of what we should labour to attain unto Muse seriously upon it a while O Christian Is it not a strange kind of Expression to drop from the mouth of a Saint that he is content to be happy that one that professeth all his Happiness lies in the hopes he hath of enjoying God in Heaven and that it is the End and Design of his Life that he may attain unto this and that yet when he comes to speak of Death he should only say he is contented to die that he may be happy in the Enjoyment of God We use not to speak thus concerning the World here Men are not said to be content to be rich but covetous after Riches not willing to be advanced but ambitious after it And why then should it be said only of a Christian that he is contented to be with God and contented to be in Heaven Why Oh why should not the Soul the more noble excellent Part of a Man be carried out with vehement and earnest longings after its proper and full Happiness as well as the Body that vile Part of Man is carried with restless Appetite after Health Safety and Liberty Why should a Soul alone be contented to be happy when all things in the World do so ardently court and so vehemently pursue their respective Ends and several Perfections Truly this is not that Frame and Temper that Christians ought to content themselves with but their Souls should be raised up to a higher pitch even to a holy longing after their being ever with the Lord. It is the Duty of a Christian to look out after so much Enjoyment of the blessed God as we are now capable of and because we cannot fully and perfectly enjoy him in this Life to long after the time of our departure hence and with holy Pantings of Soul breath forth earnest Desires that we may be fully and eternally happy in the Enjoyment of him Be not therefore O my Soul contented only but be holily covetous and full of vehement longings after an Eternity of Blessedness in the Enjoyment of God and because this Body is that which hinders this desired and longed for Happiness though thou may'st not dissolve and break it into pieces thy self yet with Submission to the Divine Will wish it were broken desire that it may be dissolved And though thou must be contented to live God's time yet henceforth be desirous of and long to die To set this a little home upon thy Conscience O Christian consider that this Frame of Soul is that which the Scripture makes the Temper and the Duty of all Believers Indeed there are few Professors that are of this Evangelical Temper of Soul yea but few that are willing to believe they ought to be so But yet this Frame of Soul is made the Character of a sincere Christian the Scripture abounds with Expressions of this Nature Luk 21.28 Our Lord speaking concerning the day of Judgment for the encouragement of Believers bids them look up and lift up their Heads for their Redemption drew nigh by with our Lord means not a bare speculation but a beholding with joy and longing for that day and time 2 Tim. 4.8 The Lord shall give a Crown of Righteousness to them that love his appearing And in Tit. 2.13 we are commanded to live godly in this present World as those that are looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ So in 2 Pet. 3.12 What manner of Persons says the Apostle ought we to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness looking for and hastning to the coming of the Day of God By these Scriptures it appears what is the nature and temper the disposition and inclination of a Godly Man even to look to love to long and to hasten unto the enjoyment of God for that which is of God in any Soul must needs carry the Soul after God But here I am afraid least some weak Christians should be troubled because they cannot find these ardent desires and holy longings of Soul in themselves after their dissolution and enjoyment of God Now that I may not discourage any weak Believer nor make the Hearts of those sad whom God would not have made sad I shall add a few words though not for encouragement unto sloathfulness yet for support against fears and despondency Therefore O Christian search thine own Heart and see how it is with thee and if thou findest it is so as the objection intimates see then if thou canst find out the cause thereof possibly thou art grown careless in thy spiritual watch or thou givest too much liberty to thy self in things that are lawful the World it may be is got too near thy Heart thy Affections run out too much after it And no wonder then if while this frame and temper continues and things are thus out of order with thee thou dost not long after Heaven nor art willing to die though it be the only way by which thou canst come to the enjoyment of God
the Body in the Grave it were then a tolerable evil but when we shall consider death as a punishment for sin as that which puts us into an unchangeable Estate this is that which makes it dreadful and terrible indeed While we are in this World which is the time of our preparation for an Eternal State of Strangers yea of Enemies we may become Friends but when death hath once seized upon us it is impossible our State should then be changed We cannot now say of the vilest Sinner in the World that there is no hope of him we must not write desperation upon the fore-head of the wickedst Man on Earth but if he dies in that State then he is lost and undone for ever for as the Tree falls so it lies as death leaves Men so Judgment will find them And this Judgment is such as is conclusive and never to be Repealed Hence it is therefore that take the most hardned Sinner one whom Custom in sinning hath made past feeling yet when he comes to die if Conscience be but awakened it is impossible for him to look death in the Face without great fears and horrours Nay it is a sight so amazing and confounding that were it not for the Righteousness of Christ and that Satisfaction he hath made unto the Justice of God by his death it were utterly impossible that any Believer should bear up under it but Blessed be God the Blood of Christ then speaks Peace and so Believers are not only supported but carried comfortably unto Heaven through the gloomy Valley of the Shadow of death Death being thus terrible now it must needs be looked upon as a dreadful Enemy unto Man An Enemy now is one that when he comes against us always comes Armed to do us a mischief such an Enemy now is death for ever since the Fall of Man death hath been Armed with a deadly Sting now this Sting of death whereby it becomes hurtful unto Man is sin so saith the Apostle The sting of death is sin Now this Sting reacheth not only to the Body but to the Soul also as to the Body it takes away all those Contentments and Comforts wherewith it was here Refreshed and Delighted Death rends the Husband from the Wife and the Wife from the Husband it divides Children from their Parents and Parents from their Children death spoils us of whatsoever is desirable in this life strips a Man of all and turns him naked out of the World But this is not all death not only bereaves us of all that is good here but it brings many Evils along with it Sickness pains on the Body Grief and Anguish upon the Mind and Spirit It is a terrible Enemy to wrastle and contend withal it will make a Man sweat and bleed no Man can Encounter with death but he shall feel great Anxiety and Vexation both of Body and Mind unless he have strength from above to enable him to go through the Contest Death in its own Nature is so furious an Enemy unto Sinners that it will not cease till it hath pulled the Body down into the Grave and dragg'd the Soul into the Presence of God and from his Tribunal into the Torments of Eternal Fire where the first death terminates in the second death and the Torments exceed not only all our Expressions but all our Apprehensions also where death that is now such a dreadful Enemy would there be counted an unspeakable Mercy for there they shall seek death but shall not be able to find it But more particularly the Enmity of death appears in these particulars First The Fears of death do much abate our desires after the Enjoyment of God in Heaven It is true every Believer is one that loves God above all and looks upon Heaven as that which shall be his dwelling place for ever and accordingly sincerely desires and longs after it and in his daily Conversation walks with his Face thitherwards but when he sees death stands in the way between him and Heaven and that there is no coming for him to that place of Bliss but he must pass through that dark Valley this puts him to a stand and makes his desires weak and low The best Christians I believe have sometimes felt such workings as these within their Souls for tho' the Regenerate part discovering it self in the work of Sanctified Affections would be soaring upwards towards God and Heaven in whose presence the Soul would fain be but seeing death standing in its way how are the desires of such a Holy Soul kept down by the fears of it and he turned back as one that was afraid to come into his Father's presence Where is the Christian the Eye of whose Faith is so steadily fixed upon Christ in Heaven whose Soul is sometimes ready to cry out I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better yet withal when he sees the rude hand of death stretched out to undress him and that there is no coming unto Jesus Christ for him but by first suffering a Dissolution and laying down of his Earthly Tabernacle in the Grave though he would fain be with Christ that he might enjoy him whom his Soul loveth yet seeing this dismal Enemy death in the way doth not shrink back and cry out O I dare not venture O what a dreadful Enemy is this and what dreadful Enmity doth it put forth in the obstructing our desires though after God and Heaven causing us to run from God as it were at that time when we truly and dearly love him Happy Souls are they in whom Faith and Love work so powerfully as to conquer and overcome these fears Secondly If death as an enemy prevails so as to abate our desires after the Enjoyment of God in Heaven it will be apt to endanger our falling in love with this present World and so make us miserable by causing us to take up with the men of this World who have their Portion in this Life Take a Christian whose desires after Heaven are weak though true because blunted by the apprehensions of some frightful difficulties that must be gone through for the attaining of it how apt is such a one to be tempted to think that it is best for him to take up with those delightful pleasures that may be had here without such dangerous adventures but now if that which darkens the Blessed Vision of Heaven and our unspeakable Happiness in the fruition of God there and which also deadens our desires after this blessedness be once removed which usually is the dreadful apprehensions of death with what ease can such a Soul with a Holy Scorn and Contempt despise all the trifling Vanities of this World as things not worthy to be regarded Thirdly The Enmity of Death manifests it self in obstructing a Christians endeavours towards Heaven A discouraged disconsolate Soul moves but slowly be it towards Earth or Heaven Difficulties that should stir up greater diligence usually are great
deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave No he cannot Now God hath in Mercy made that to be most common which is most grievous and afflictive that he might thereby abate the terrour of it to us and for any one to strive against that which no Man can avoid or shun argues that Man to be guilty of great folly It is therefore very unbecoming thee O Christian to fear Death which is the common way of all Flesh yea the way by which all the People of God enter into Heaven and Happiness But to proceed a little farther in this subject I shall in the next place endeavour to discover that the fears of Death may not only be overcome for a time but that it is possible for a Christian to live without them or above them which though it be a high attainment yet is it that to which Grace may reach and that which many of the People of God do daily experience the comfort of Now by a Christians living without the fear of Death I mean a holy quiet ation and satisfaction of Soul as to his future State of Happiness founded upon the knowledge of his Interest in Christ who hath overcome Death for all Believers whereby the thoughts of it approach doth neither distract nor disquiet his Mind so as to bereave him of that Peace and Tranquility of Soul that he enjoys is his Hopes and Expectations of Heaven and Glory but that he can with a holy Contentation and Satisfaction resign up his Soul unto God whensoever he calls for it Now that such a State as this is attainable I need say no more than that this was one of the ends for which Christ died that by Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and deliver them who by reason of the fear of Death were all their life-times subject unto Bondage So that we being delivered out of the hands of all our spiritual Enemies whereof Death is one we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our lives In this Heavenly frame was Holy David when he said though he walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death he would fear no evil And so was St. Paul when he tells us he was perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come should be able to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No wonder therefore that he could say I desire to be dissolved though it was by Death that he might be with Christ Thus to live above the fears of Death will cost much pains with our own Hearts great diligence and circumspection over our selves in all our thoughts words and ways much watchfulness against all Sin and Temptations for if we be remiss and through carelessness much more through presumption we fall into Sin or neglect Duty we shall soon be brought into Bondage and Slavery by the fears of Death If therefore O Christian thou art one who hast overcome the fears of Death and canst live above them thou may'st then die with courage and leave this World though Death carry thee out of it with joy and rejoicing And that thou may'st be able to do so let me briefly lay down two or three Directions First Have a great care of blorting thy Evidences for Heaven Darkness is an uncomfortable thing And when Christians have been tampering with the works of Darkness I mean some known Sins blotting their Evidences which should discover their Title to Heaven so that they cannot read them what wonder is it while they are thus in the dark that they are afraid to leave Earth though it be to go to Heaven because they know it not for which they may thank themselves God would not only have his People go to Heaven certainly but joyfully and therefore he hath made ample provisions for their Peace and comfort both in Life and Death so that they may not only have good hope but strong consolation through Grace yea may with a holy exultation of Soul cry out Thanks be to God who always causeth us to Triumph in Christ But now if when God hath spoken Peace they will turn again unto folly by venturing upon Sin they hereby create their own sorrows Fear and Consternation of Soul under the apprehensions of Death come from themselves they are their own Tormenters and the hinderers and disturbers of their own Peace and Joy And now if instead of being able to read their Evidences for Heaven which should comfort them they can only make wounding reflections upon their Sins that have blotted those Evidences so that they walk in darkness and the fears of Death continually afflict their Souls they must thank themselves for where there is the apprehensions of guilt lying upon any Soul unpardoned there the thoughts of death will be terrible This made David when in his own apprehensions he was drawing nigh to the Grave beg so importunately of God that he would spare him a little longer that he might recover his strength before he should go away from hence and be seen no more If therefore when you come to die you would leave this World cheerfully you must live in the World conscienciously Exercise your selves in all things to keep Consciences void of offence towards God and towards all Men. Take heed of those black Fiends thy Sins which will fright thy Soul in the dark night of death If thy Conscience be kept clean thy Evidences for Heaven will be clear and the thoughts of death comfortable Many be venturing upon Sin wound their Souls and when death approaches O then they start back and sain would they be spared a little longer If Conscience be raw with the guilt of any one Sin a very light affliction much more death will make a Man kick and fling and very unwilling to bear it but where the Spirit is sound and the guilt of Sin taken off from the Conscience by the love of Christ death it self will be embraced with courage and joy Secondly Deaden your Hearts and Affections to the World and all the comforts thereof The inordinate love of worldly enjoyments and the imperfect love of God makes Men afraid to die He whose Heart and Affections sit loose to the World a small matter will make him willing to leave it but where the Heart is fastned to it in love and affection there will be no parting from it without much reluctancy He that hath laid up his Heart in Heaven can comfortably think of laying down his Body in the Grave Prize therefore Heavenly things above Earthly Place your Happiness in spiritual things count them not only your Food but your Feast yea make them your recreation Were Heaven and Heavenly things the continual solace and delight of our Souls with what joy and rejoicing should we leave Earth to go to Heaven Thirdly Familiarize the Thoughts of Death
we may come to the full Enjoyment of our longed for Happiness Hath God cast thee O Christian upon a Bed of Pain and Sorrow and is it likely to prove thy Death-bed Are there such Symptoms of thy departure that God seems to tell thee plainly thou shalt die and not live O do not reply and say It is too soon yet thou art too young to die and go to Heaven What though God call thee to Glory and Blessedness sooner than thou expectest yet shame not thy self grieve not others that behold thee much more disparage not the Happiness of Heaven nor of that God who is to be eternally enjoyed there by thy unwillingness to go thither Secondly May some say we shall have so many Evils to encounter with that will create us so much fear and trouble and withal so many Pains will befall us in a dying hour that we cannot tell how to think of Death we are so affrighted at it To this I answer It is true a Christian cannot expect to die without Assaults of Enemies nor without the Pains of Death but yet a Christian need not fear nor be unwilling to die for all this First One Discouragement may be the Apprehension of the guilt of Sin which they then fear will stare their Consciences in the Face and how to bear up under it they know not But know O Christian if Sin hath lost its Throne in thy Soul if it hath no Interest in thy Affections so that it is not embraced with any Love or Delight it shall never ruine or condemn thee For it is a certain Truth where Sin doth not rule there Sin shall never damn He that by the Grace and Spirit of Christ is enabled to mortifie his Sins and all sinful Affections and Inclinations thereunto and by a penitential Conversion of Soul from Sin unto God hath forsaken his sinful ways all his former Provocations though never so great lose their damning Power For where Sin is once in the Exercise or godly Sorrow confessed unto God it is by him graciously pardoned Nay the Apostle tells us in 1 John 1.9 If we confess our Sins God is not only merciful and gracious but he will be just and righteous to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness And what greater security can a Christian desire for his support than the Truth and Faithfulness of that God who is Truth it self and cannot lie Secondly There is another thing that may startle a Christian's Confidence and make him unwilling to die and that is the fears of the Assaults of Satan who will do what he can not only to hinder our future Happiness but to interrupt our comfortable passage through Death It is true the Devil will be very active in a dying hour But be not discouraged give not place to his Temptations For where Sin is pardoned as it is to all Believers What hath the Devil wherewith to shake a Christian's Confidence or to undermine his Hopes and Expectance but what is built upon Lies and Falshood If therefore you will give Credit unto this Father of Lies when he endeavours to weaken those certain Assurances the great God hath given you of his resolved Designs to save such as you are and so come to be disturbed and confounded in your Thoughts about your present and future State you must blame your selves Till therefore it can be proved that Sin may be repented of and not pardoned that Sin may be pardoned and yet the Soul perish and undone till God or Christ prove either forgetful unable or false be not dejected It is the great Comfort of a Christian that the Devil hath no other Arguments to disquiet a Believer with in a dying hour but what are bottom'd on these gross Absurdities And though Satan may be furious in his last Assaults yet O Christian remember when thou art walking through the Valley of the shadow of death thou walkest not alone In that dark and gloomy Valley God hath his Rod and his Staff in readiness for thy Assistance and Encouragement and know further O believing Soul that Christ our compassionate High Priest knows what it is to die and hath been acquainted with the Subtilties and Fury of the Tempter by smart Experience and his sympathy hath taught him pity and because he is our Head he will not forget his Members under their afflicting Temptations in that hour For though he be in Heaven he retains the same Bowels and Affections now in his glorified State which he had here upon Earth and doth continually improve his Intercession in Heaven for the benefit security and relief of his afflicted People in their greatest dangers and Extremities If any poor Believers shall here object the pains of Death as being so great and to their apprehensions insupportable and therefore they are unwilling to die Let them consider that they are but short and suddain and though they are made by God our necessary passage into Glory yet they shall soon be over and forgot when the Soul by death is set free from the Body and takes its flight into the Presence of God in Heaven And alas what are the dying pains and groaning gasps of departing Saints compared to the Gripes and Stingings of an awakned Conscience for sin and the horrid fears of the Wrath and Vengeance of God which though they are not seen by others because inward yet are they the frequent and daily Tormenting Exercises of sinners both in Life and Death And though the pains of the Godly in a dying hour may sometimes be afflictive unto Sense yet it often happens through the Goodness and Mercy of God to them that their Fears in Life exceed their Pains in Death and this King of Terrors doth not gripe so hard nor stab so painfully as we are apt to think and if he doth God many times comes in with such strong Consolations upon departing Souls in the Manifestations of his Love to and Presence with them as turns their Fears and Sorrows into Joy and Rejoycing But if God should not manifest himself thus Comfortably unto some for their Support but leave them to the feeling of their Fears by undergoing great pains in Death yet as soon as the stroke is given the pains are gone and their fears are over How quickly do the first openings of that Eternal Morning swallow up all the Remembrances of our dying sorrows O when the Joys and Visions of our God invade and Exercise our departed Souls then comes the great and welcome Pledge of our Eternal Conquest of this last Enemy and after a short sleep of Bodies in the Dust whilst Souls return to God the Trump will sound the Lord will come the World shall perish or be refin'd by Flames and the Dead shall rise and die no more and then as the Apostle speaks shall we be ever with the Lord. But some may say we could willingly die but that we know not what will become of us hereafter we cannot tell
appointed in Christ Jesus but this measure or stature is not the same to every Christian some Christians have a longer term of Life than others some have more means and opportunities than others and some have greater Parts and Abilities than others Now God is not a severe Master expecting to reap where he hath not sown or to gather where he hath not strowed God doth not look for what he doth not give where he gives more he expects the more but where he gives less he expects the less Christians to whom God hath given great parts and Abilities with great means and opportunities of Grace even unto Old Age from such God expects much because he hath given much Ordinary degrees of Grace must not serve their turns but they must transcend others in Faith Love Humility and all other Graces contending for the attaining unto the State of the Resurrection from the dead But now for others whose parts have been low whose means and opportunities are small and their time in the World but short God doth not expect that the Beauty of their Grace should shine so Gloriously as others Say not therefore O doubting Christian that thou knowest not believest not lovest not delightest not in God to that degree that others do It may be thou dost not but if thy Knowledge Faith Love and Delight be not so great as others yet thy Grace may be as true and as real as any others In a Star there is as true light as in the Sun though there be more light in the Sun And thy Grace though little and weak is true Grace though it be not so much nor so strong as others Quiet thy self therefore O drooping Soul for such may be the weakness of thy parts such the smallness of the means of Grace that thou enjoyest and so few the Talents thou art intrusted withal that God expects not so much from thee as he doth from others And if the Great God will accept of yea Reward the little that thou hast why shouldest thou be troubled or disquieted God doth not despise the day of small things and why shouldest thou A little Grace yea the least of Grace is too good to be cast away Though thou couldest not be Saved without a strong Saviour and therefore Christ is said to travail in the greatness of his Strength mighty to Save yet a little Faith laying hold upon this strong Saviour will keep thee from perishing be not therefore discouraged O Christian fear not Death though thy Grace be weak and imperfect and so may not give thee that comfort in Death that thou expectest yet shall it as truly overcome Death through the strength of Christ as the strongest Grace and though Death kill thee yet it shall not hurt thee nay it shall make for thy Eternal Advantage for it shall be the ending of all thy Fears but the beginning of thy Eternal Joys and Rejoycings But may some poor Soul say I want the assurance of the Love and Favour of God and this makes me unwilling to die were I but assured my sins are pardoned and God reconciled to my Soul through Jesus Christ I could then chearfully submit my self to the stroke of Death but this is that which afrightens me I fear lest God is mine Enemy and then I am sure death cannot be my Friend and how then shall I dare to think of dying in this Condition To this I Answer art thou under some fears and apprehensions that God is not thy reconciled Father in Jesus Christ though I cannot blame thee that thou art fearful of dying under such apprehensions yet I must blame thee for thy former negligence that thou hast not made this sure to thy self in the time of thy health and strength Next to dying in a State of impenitency and the Horrors of Conscience under the fore tasts of Hell and Wrath dying under the apprehensions and fears of God's being our Enemy is the most dreadful condition that can be for though our future safety and happiness depends not upon our assurance that God is at peace with us yet our present Comfort doth and it is all one as to the present quietation and satisfaction of our Souls when we are a dying whether God be our Enemy or no if he will not smile upon us when our Souls are a departing but leave us in that hour as our last punnishment for some sin that he hath been provoked by to breath forth our Souls under the apprehensions of his Wrath and Displeasure Assurance of the Love and Favour of God to know that our sins are Pardoned and we accepted in the Beloved to know the joyful sound to have the light of God's Countenance lifted up upon our Souls when we are passing through the gloomy Valley of the shadow of Death For God not only to Love us but to tell us that he Loves us and to manifest it to us by shedding abroad his Love into our Hearts by the Holy Ghost so as to fill us with Joy and Peace by believing this is Life nay this loving kindness of God is better than Life it is the Suburbs of Heaven yea it is Heaven it self for it is as much of Heaven as we can desire or contain of Heaven whilst we are on this side Heaven On the contrary to be doubting of the Love and Favour of God to fear he is our Enemy that we are yet in our Sins liable unto the Wrath and Vengeance of God this is very sad and uncomfortable yea some resemblance of Hell it self especially if Conscience be awakned and these Apprehensions and Jealousies continue upon us under the approaches of Death this therefore must needs be very Afflictive to a poor doubting Soul But yet be not discouraged for it is the Condition of many of God's Children for a long time to remain doubtful both as to their present State in Grace and their future State of Glory There are Believers of divers growths in the Church of God Fathers Young-men Children and Babes And as it is in most Families in the World there are more Babes and Children than grown Men So is it in the Church of God there are more weak and doubting Christians than strong Men who are grown up unto a full Assurance But remember the Promise is made to the being of Faith not to the Knowledge and Evidence of it to Faith as it is a true Faith not to Faith as it is a strong Faith Heaven may be sure to those who yet in their own Apprehensions may not be assured of Heaven Live therefore by Faith O Christian when thou canst not live by Sence and Feeling and know that that God who hath given thee a true Judgment to value Jesus Christ and a Sanctified Will to choose him with ardent and strong Affections to Love him and desire him and supported thee under the fears of sin and guilt will come in with assurance also if he sees it good for thee And know also for thy