under Sail whether we heed or no we are in continual motion Yet many that have one foot in the Grave and the other ready to drop into Hell yet put far from them the evil day and under gray hairs nourish green hopes and desires and Young Persons depend over-much upon their Youth But the Jewish Proverb is That many an old Camel carries a young ones Skin to the Market And we say A young Sheep-skin may go thither as well as the old And Experience teacheth us that Old Men many times carry Young ones to their Graves Man in Scripture is compared unto Grass which in the morning grows up and flourisheth and in the evening is cut down dead and withered Psal 90.5 6. Or like unto a Sleep ver 4. Or to a Dream when one awakes To the Dream of a Shadow as Pindarus hath it or the shadow of Smoak saith another Or if there be any thing more vain it may lively represent our Lives and when Death comes he knows no difference between the Poor and the Rich the Noble and the Base Time with his Sithe mows down the Lillies of the Crown as well as the Grass of the Field All flesh is grass and the glory thereof as the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth c. Isa 40.6 7. Who then would trouble themselves much about Worldly things Who would cark and care pine and repine when he knows not whether he have a day to live or what shall be in the Womb of the next Morning How much better is it to mind our own end than to be troubled at anothers Death For we must deny our selves in our Relations if we will be the Disciples of Christ If we love any thing in the World above Christ we cannot be his Disciples he will have the prevailing degree of our love or he will not love us if we lodge any thing nearer to our heart than himself he will give us a Bill of Divorce and put us away The resigning up our Comforts and Relations to him is the best way to secure them for God will remove our Idols out of his sight we are his Spouse and have devoted our selves to him and must hang loose to the Creature and stick fast to him and not break our Vows to God made when we were espoused to him lest we provoke him to Jealousie by our over-fond affecting any Creature-Comfort These things we can spare Christ we cannot spare let all go so our Husband remain If we keep up our Love to him unspotted these saddest Providences will work for our good Rom. 8.28 Submission under the Correcting Hand of God is the surest soonest way to get from under the Rod when murmuring and repining makes him double his strokes for he will either bend us or break us humble us or make our hearts ake he will bring down our stubborn Wills or he will know why for 't is in vain for us to think to struggle out of his hands or to keep out of his reach and indeed the World is not so desirable now neither have the Godly found it so heretofore So as to desire it for our selves or Relations for though it be a Wicked Man's Heaven 't is a Godly Man's Purgatory yea all the Hell they are like to have and who would desire to live in Hell When our Work is done and our Wages ready who would wish himself again in the Vineyard to moil and toil and bear the burden and heat of the day When we are entring Canaan shall we again have a hankering mind after Egypt the Onions and Garlick and the Flesh-pots and to have our Ears bored and be made Bond-slaves for ever The World is full of the Devil's Lime-twigs and he baits his Nets and Hooks with Riches Honours and Pleasures when he fishes for Souls It may be said of Poverty and Riches as the Women in their Dances said of Saul and David Poverty hath slain Thousands but Plenty Ten Thousands Many thousands dye of a Surfeit Oh how hard have many found it to guide a great Ship in a Storm and Tempest when a little one can thrust into any little Creek or Harbour 'T is hard carrying our Cup even in a prosperous condition 't is much to keep under Pride Sensuality Passion Luxury Drunkenness and Debauchery and other enormous sins which are the Worms which breed in abundance 'T is not in vain that Agur prays Prov. 30.8 Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Or lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of God in vain A Mediocrity a Competency a Sufficiency without Superfluity is the surest Portion a State too big may be as troublesome as a Shooe too big for the Foot 'T is not the greatness of the Cage that makes the Bird sing neither a great Estate that produceth inward Joy A Staff may be helpful to a Traveller when a burden of Staves may be troublesome The Moon never suffers Eclipse but at the Full. I know Poverty is a hard Weapon but Abundance is more dangerous and wounding Hence it is our Saviour Christ tells his Disciples how hard it is for a Rich Man to enter Heaven even as hard as for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle Matth. 19.24 The Reason is because 't is hard for those that have Riches to keep off their Affection from making them their God by loving them trusting in them and taking them for their Portion But this doth not always follow some great Men are good Men but many times Pride and Sensuality are the Worms that breed in the fairest Fruit or in the finest Cloath And if Riches be so dangerous what Estate should we wish for our Friends The World also is a Pest-House and almost every one ready to infect another and is there not cause to rejoyce when any of our Relations are out of the reach of the Infection 'T is an Egypt not only for Slavery Misery and Bondage but also there is scarce a House where there is not some dead Person in it yea many Families Villages and Towns there are where very few Spiritually alive are to be found and who but Mad-men would delight to live among the Tombs 'T is a Sodom for Wickedness and but a few Righteous Lots to be found in it and their Souls also are continually vexed with the unclean Conversation of their wicked Neighbours 'T is a Raging Sea and the Godly are Weather-beaten and continually driven up and down by Storms and Tempests and many Professors here make ship wrack of Faith and a good Conscience 'T is an Inn where good and bad are Entertained for a Night but the worst Men are accounted the best Guests and if any suffer it shall be the Godly The World is an Own Mother to Vice but a Step-mother to Vertue as the Earth is to Weeds when it would choak
Excuse then also And think you God will be thus put off And is it not a sad thing that the main Concern should be neglected and time found for every thing else But for wicked Men there is no cause why they should desire Death nay great reason why they should dread it as the worst of Evils they leap but out of the Frying-pan into the Fire out of a Temporal Misery into Eternal Torments and by hastning their Death out-run their Happiness and fall into endless Misery which comes fast enough without hastning But many of those mind no more their Eternal Concerns than the Ox that perisheth These Men either think Repentance is not necessary or else that they have time enough to repent in but ere long they will be sadly convinc'd of their mistake Many hasten Death by their Intemperance which yet they fear more than God himself But to let these pass I would have Believers be better acquainted with Death than to fear it for it cannot separate them from the love of Christ and those that have the Riches of Assurance cannot fear Death greatly knowing when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved they have a building of God a house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens And who will not part with Rags for Robes with a Cottage for a Crown and with a handful of Muck for a handful of Angels Now this Assurance is the Top-Gallant of Faith the Triumph of Trust and the Sweet-meat of the Feast of a good Conscience where there are many dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet 't is Heaven upon Earth and such a Jewel no wicked Man upon Earth can know the worth of it any more than Aesop's Cock did of the Precious Jewel When the love of Christ warms the Heart it raiseth the desires of stricter Union and Communion with him and a fuller Enjoyment of him which will never be satisfied till the full fruition in Glory He that loves God better than Father and Mother c. will part with these for his sake If we hate Hell we shall not so earnestly desire to live in the Suburbs of Hell We complain of Sin and well we may it being the cause of all our Misery but did we hate it as we ought to do we should be willing to dye that we might be rid of it for when we enter through this strait Passage and narrow Way we shall leave this and all other Burdens behind us We pretend we would serve God without Distraction and shall we fear the time and place when and where it can only be done But till Grace be in the Heart Heaven it self cannot be desirable the Employment the Company and Society cannot please a Wicked Man But Grace enables a Man to see that Death it self cannot break the Marriage-Contract between Christ and the Soul but then the Marriage will be fully consummate and when the Soul is separated from the Body it shall by the Angels be carried into the Bosom of Christ where sin and sorrow shall be no more Those that are sufficiently satisfied of the vanity of the World the emptiness of the Creature the fulness of Christ and the worth of Heaven we cannot rationally imagine but they will be willing to part with one to enjoy the other in Earth we shall never meet with Content or Satisfaction in Heaven we shall meet with no Disappointment Troubles or Vexations will a Wise Man choose a Prison or a Pest-House for his Habitation if he might have a Palace Or any but a Mad-man dwell among the Tombs The World is all this and much more He that looks upon the World as an Enemy and the Body but a Skreen between God and the Soul will not be unwilling to have both removed Will not a sick Man desire his Health and an hungry Man his Meat a Captive his Liberty and a Souldier the Victory the Husband-man the desired Harvest and the Labourer his Wages And why then should not Christians long for the time when they shall receive at God's hand the promised Reward for all they have done and suffered for the sake of God Shall those that have done and suffered so much for Heaven now be unwilling to have it when offered The Assurance of Eternal Life may make us willing to leave these our Temporal Enjoyments Well then you see though a small measure of Grace cannot overcome all Difficulties yet there is nothing else but Grace can fit us for Death or enable us to grapple with it And therefore above all gettings get Grace 3. Consider Grace is such a Qualification that without it we can neither please God nor enjoy Him who is our Chiefest Happiness Heb. 11.8 Without Faith 't is impossible to please God These are the Ornaments of a Christian the Gems and Jewels that make him lovely in the sight of God the Gold tryed in the Fire the white Raiment the Spiritual Eye-salve which God adviseth Laodicea to buy of him Rev. 3.17 18. greater Riches than the Indies can produce Christ and Grace go together he that hath one will have the other also without Grace all our Duties are worse than nothing abominable Sins for how can pure Water come from a polluted Fountain The Heart by Nature is an Augean Stable full of Filthiness but without Holiness we shall never see God Heb. 12.14 We may fast and pray and give Alms with the Pharisee Mat. 6.1 c. and offer Sacrifices c. with those Isa 1.11 c. and God will not regard us though it be commanded Duties if they proceed from a rotten Heart or be performed for a by end the Sacrifices of the Wicked are an abomination to God The Incense of the Wicked stinks of the Hand that holds it their Good Words are uttered with a stinking Breath though they may be materially good they are formally evil a good Motion cannot proceed from a soul Mouth these men deny in their Lives what they profess with their Lips they are like the Aethiopians black all but the Mouth some of them are fair Professors but foul Livers dicta factis crubescunt their Practice shames their Profession You may see how such Men's Sacrifices are accepted Isa 66.2 3. The Fountain must be cleansed or the Streams cannot be sweet the Tree must be good or the Fruit will be bad Whatever proceeds from a Wicked Man smells of the Cask If the Heart be right God accepts of Pence for Pounds Mites for Millions and esteems a Man as good as he truly desires to be Dat bene dat multum qui dat cum munere vultum God loves a chearful giver and esteems the willingness of the Mind before the worth of the Work the more of the heart is in the Sin the worse but the more of it is in the Duty the better God loves no heartless or grumbling Service My son saith he give me thy heart Prov. 23.26 David's intention to build God an House was accepted as if he had
is the Key of God's Treasury those that have it and know how to use it may fetch out what they please Job will trust God though he kill him though by Affliction he crush â—he very breath out of his Body yet will he not â—oose his hold he shall not be so short of him Dum spiro spero saith a Believer nay Dum exâ—iro spero The Righteous Man hath hope in his Death The Woman of Canaan would not be beaten off with two or three repulses like Jacob she wrastled with God till she got the Blessing Grace â—s to the Soul as Ballast is to the Ship it makes â—t more steady when otherwise it would be â—luctuating and wavering A Gracious Man like Caleb follows God fully and keeps himself unspotted in the World Grace keeps the Heart from desponding under the darkest Dispensations of Providence though Trouble hang long on â—et he that believeth will not make hast This â—â—ke a Skilful Physician will extract Soveraign Antidotes out of the rankest Poison David got good by Affliction If there be no help in the World Faith will make a Journey to Heaven and fetch help thence and engage God himself in the Quarrel or sue him on his own Bond. Thou hast said saith Jacob thou wilt do me good deny it if thou canst therefore I expect thou shouldst make good thy Promise Grace is the whole Armour of God wherewith we grapple with Sin the World and the Devil Ephes 6.13 The Shield that beats back the fiery darts of Satan A Catholicon an Universal Medicine against all Maladies of Soul or Body And as it helps us to bear all Burdens so 't is a qualification without which we are fit for no Relations no Offices or Places in Church or Common-wealth nor to perform any Duty to God or Man Though Grace cannot fit every Man for every Office Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius yet 't is such an Ingredient without which a Man is fit for no Place neither can he perform the Relative Duties of any such an Oâ—ye cannot Preach nor Pray Read nor Meditate as he ought or perform any Ministerial Function he is neither fit to be Magistrate Minister Husband Wife Parent or Child Master or Servant for without Grace he can never do the Duties of these Relations for all these Relations require Grace Now Grace being so necessary in the whole course of our Lives let us above all gettings get Grace 2. Consider if Grace be so necessary in the Affairs of this Life then doubtless 't is much more useful in the concerns of another when nothing else can stand us in stead If it will fit us to live it will much more fit us to dye and to leave the World it will bear up the heart under the direful Apprehensions of Death it self it will defend the heart against the venemous Darts thereof and keep the heart from desponding under the apprehensions of it When Gold and Silver Gemms and Jewels will do little good a Man armed and fortified with Grace will dare to meet this Enemy in the Field and treat him as the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory c. The bravest Challenge saith one that ever rang in Death's Ear for when the Heart is defended with this Shield of Grace no venemous Dart can ever pierce it the sting is to such taken out and they may put the Serpent into their Bosom 't is a conquered Enemy lying prostrate at their Feet or rather an Enemy to Nature but a Friend to Grace the same blow that kills the Body sets the Soul at Liberty Now he that hath his Soul garnished with Grace and his Conscience purged from dead works He that hath assurance of the Pardon of his Sin and an Interest in Christ in Heaven and Glory he will not be dash'd out of Countenance with the rugged looks of Death He that hath on the Wedding-Garment needs not fear when he is called to the Supper He that hath Oyl in his Vessel as well as a Lamp in his Hand needs not fear the coming of the Bridegroom nor the Servant that is watching when his Lord comes home Death may kill a Godly Man but cannot hurt him the worst it can do is but to send him to his Father's House the sooner Then Baca shall be turned to Baracha Sighs into Songs and Misery into Majesty then shall the singing of Birds be come then shall they take Possession of their Purchased Inheritance and those Mansions of Glory prepared for them John 14.2 Then they come to Age and shall receive their Kingdom the thoughts of this will comfort the heart of a dying Man and make him say with Old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace c. Luke 2.29 And with Paul Phil. 1.23 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ He that had been in the third Heaven no wonder if nothing would content him on Earth Some clusters of Canaan's Grapes we meet with in the Wilderness which makes us long to go over Jordan 'T is true no Man loves Death for its own sake neither can he it is an Enemy to Nature but when a Believer knows the only way to Paradice is under Death's Flaming Sword and the only way to be freed from all Sorrow is to suffer a little Pain that one blow will free him from Sin and Sorrow the Devil's Temptations and the World's Allurements and set him out of the reach of all his Enemies even in the Bosom of Christ himself Who would be afraid of such a blow Or who would fear the time when his loving Father should send a Messenger for him out of a troublesome World into Eternal Happiness to wipe all Tears from his Eyes and drive all Sorrow from his Heart Can those that really believe there is a reward for the righteous and that they are of that number fear the time when they shall enjoy it Can the Mariner after a dangerous Storm fear to enter into the desired Port or a Prisoner to enjoy his Liberty or a Sick Man his Health or a Weary Man his Rest Let those that enjoy their Pleasures Treasure and Promotions only for term of Life fear the Expiration of their Lease whose Lives do only defer their Torments Let those I say fear Death and well they may and did they but know the sequel it would send them trembling to their Graves But I fear many that yet have honest Hearts yet live at such uncertainty that they would willingly spin out the thread of their lives to a great length before they were willing to dye though it were accompanied with many Troubles many of them under pretence they are not yet prepared the more shame for them is not their main Work done Why then do they not set about it What have they done all this while If God should add Twenty Years more yet to their days will not this be their