at all the present Time we enjoy tarries but a moment and then takes Wings and flys away and never returns again already we are dead to all the years we have liv'd and vain 't is to expect to live them over again But the longer we live here the shorter is our Life and in the end we become a Lump of Clay and a Feast for Worms CHAP. I. Several Notions of Death what it is its Author Name and Nature FIrst If we would know what Death is the Philosopher tells you To die is to be no more Vnhappy and if we consider Death according to the right Notion it is but a departed Breath from dead Clay enlivened at first by Breath cast upon it Now Job tells you Death is a Moth and as the Moth breeds out of the Garment so Death do's out of the Body The Heathens were of Opinion that Death was an Eternal Sleep the Fear of the Rich and the Desire of the Poor but Pious St. Augustine often breathed forth this heavenly Wish saying O that I could see Death not as it was but as thou O Lord hast now made it Death is the supremest Monarch in the World as he hath the Dominion over Sin and he is the antientest King whose Reign began from Adam yet St. Paul tells ye 1 Cor. 15.26 at last this King shall be vanquished the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death and Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life pronounces this Sentence O Death I will be thy Death II. Whoever was the Author and Father of Death Sin was the Mother for the Apostle tells ye 1 James 15. that Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death and Eve the Mother of all Living was delivered in Child-bed of Death Now Adam falling Sin follows him and Man being tempted Death assaults him and by Sin Death enters Every Parent is an Adam to his Child infusing Corruption in his Generation Since then Death by Sin crept in at the Window or rather at the Ear which is prone to listen to Evil Counsel let us cast it out by the Sense of Faith in hearkning to God's Word which will make us wise unto Salvation III. As for the Name of Death it is called a Sleep so St. John terms it Chap. 11.11 Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and of St. Stephen it is recorded in Holy Writ after he had done praying for his Persecutors When he had said this he fell asleep 7. Acts 60. it is likewise said of the Patriarchs and Kings of Judah that they slept with their Fathers and Job expresseth That man lieth down and riseth not he shall not be awaked out of sleep till the heavens shall be no more Likewise Saint Paul mentions in his Mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed 1 Cor. 15.51 The Night is the Emblem of Sleep and Mortality Now Sleep is but the Shadow of Death and where the Shadow is the Substance cannot be far off Lastly the Grave it self is but a withdrawing Room to retire in for a time it is going to Bed to take rest which is sweeter than Sleep and when it is time to awake and rise we shall as the Royal Psalmist says be satisfied IV. Next as to the Nature of Death few or none know it though all must sensibly feel it there is nothing after Death and therefore Death is nothing it is without Essence or Substance but a privation which kills he Creature therefore curiously to â—quest the Efficiency of it were but to employ the Eye to behold Darkness Salomon in his Book of Wisdom Chap. 1.13 mentions that God made not Death but created all things that were good this caused good St. Augustine to breathe forth this Supplication Lord thou hast not made Death wherefore I beseech thee suffer not that which thou hast not made to reign over that which thou hast made Now Death came into the World by Man only whose Soul was affected to know that which God never made which was the Evil of Death thinking it had been very good by desiring to know the worst of Evils But so Divine a thing is Knowledge that we see Innocency it self was ambitious of it from whence that Proverb is derived That Evil is not known but by good V. Pet no Learned Man knows so much but Ignorance may suffer him to commit Evil for none of a sound Judgment and right understanding can be guilty of Wickedness and there is no fear of knowing too much Good but there is much Fear of practising too little But since the Almighty has revealed in his word more than we can comprehend and enough to work out our Salvation let us attain to sober Knowledge and not repine but be content with our Ignorance Indeed Knowledge and Power are the Worldling's Idol but let every Man endeavour fully to know himself and then Pride and Ambition will soon vanish CHAP. II. That Death hath no respect of Persons but we are continually dying whilst we live ALthough Men cannot or are unwilling to pay those Worldly Obligations they lye under yet they must pay this Debt to Nature and it is a Favour afforded by Nature that what she hath made most vexatious she hath made Common that the Equality of Fate might mitigate the Cruelty of it and this Question the Psalmist asketh What Man is he that liveth and shall not see death II. Our Saviour told the Jews their Fathers did eat Manna in the Wilderness and are dead 6 John 49. and the Apostle tells ye Phil. 2.8 that Christ being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross. So that we see it is as natural to die as to be conceived and born yet it is improper for us to say Men die Naturally for Man dies not as a Beast by an Annihilation but by a Decree from Heaven it is appointed for all Men once to dye Heb. 9.27 III. Sickness the Messenger of Death respects not the best Complexion the Sores of Lazarus will make as good Dust as the Paint and Washes of Jezabel and like Jonas his Gourd we come up in a night and are gone in a moment we come naked into the World and no sooner we are born but the Grave waits for us but to continue in the Body is not the request of those which desire Heaven for the Apostle he desired to be dissolved and the Psalmist crys out As the hart pants after the Water-Brooks so longeth my Soul after thee O God Psal. 42.1 Death only shortens Time not Life and the Merit of Death is the Debt due to Sin both impos'd on Mankind for Sin IV. Now if we cast never so bright a Lustre in the World yet alas our brittle Bodies how quickly are they broken Man says Jeremiah fades like a leaf and sin like a wind takes him away Let a Man live never so long yet at last Death seizes him but to consider aright
Body for hunger is a Worm gnawing the Intrails calling for Meat or threatning Death Jer. 11.22 Lam. 4.9 Men being hungry and thirsty their soul fainteth in them Psal. 107.5 and by this infirm condition whereunto God hath subjected our nature he calls us to think on Death IV. Our Table as oft as we come to it is the Memorial of our Mortality and our food before it enters the Body for nourishment is diversly prepared as Corn and the like are made to grow by the dung of beasts Luke 13.8 and from hence is the strength of our corruptible Life So that we may say with Holy Job to Corruption thou art my Father chap. 17.14 But this not all but we feed upon Death it self and that by the allowance of the Almighty Gen. 9.3 in taking away the lives of other Creatures to maintain our own this is seriously to be thought upon as a wonderful Work of God that our lives are preserved by the Death of the Creatures our living Bodies are sustained by their dead Carcasses in their Blood Swims our Life and from their pangs of Death spring the Pleasures of our Life our Feasts and daily Food Now if those that in part were maintained by Sin-Offerings were said to eat Sin Hos. 4.8 then those that in part were maintain'd by the death of Creatures may be said in the like Phrase to eat Death So often therefore as we eat the Flesh of the dead Creature and make our bodies to become their Graves So often are we called to remember our own Death and our own Grave in the body of the Earth V. Another Help to preserve our frail Bodies is our Apparel which God hath given us to cover and defend them from Cold to preserve Health and herein we have a double or treble memorial of Death considering that our Apparel was given us when by our Sin we came first into the World to the state of Death Gen. 2.25 and when God first gave us our Garments he took 'em out of Deaths Wardrobe they being made with the death of the Creatures from whence they were taken God made coats of skin for Adam and his Wife and his Posterity Gen. 3.21 Heb. 11.35 our Garments therefore being Badges of Mortality and Cognizances of Death so oft as we look upon them we are called of God to remember Death and so oft as we cloath our selves with them to be mindful that we put on the Livery of Death VI. As Food and Raiment are Means to preserve Life so Labour of Man in his Vocation is a means to get both Food and Rayment and therefore an Help of Helps to maintain Life and yet in and by this Labour also we are called to remember our Latter End and to think of Death for upon Labour attends Weariness and Faintness even a failing and decay of Life Painful Labour sometimes maketh Men weary of their Lives and to think of Death and wish for it as for hid Treasure Ex. 1.14 Job 3.17.22 considering that in Death Men rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 VII And above all consider the Labour Vigilancy and Care that is found in the highest Callings how many Thorns is there platted in every Crown Likewise in the Magistracy what Troubles is there in distributing Justice and in the painful Work of the Ministry who watch over Souls all these have through their indefatigable Weariness in Affairs of Church and State have thought it as the best Expedient to think of Death nay even to wish for it and consequently to prepare for it Numb 11.15 1 Kings 19.4 VIII And not only by the Weariness thereof but by the divers Kinds of Labour in several Vocations God takes occasion to shew the Vanity and Shortness of Life present and summons them by their Callings and by the Quality of their Works to think of Death For the Weaver by finishing every Web God teacheth him how his Days are cut off and the Web of his Life finished Isa. 38.12 yea before the Web is finished by the running of the Shuttle at every Stroke and every Thred added to the Web the Lord admonisheth how swiftly the days of his Life run away Job 7.6 Then the Shepherd in the Field by the removal of his Tent or Fold he is taught to think of the Removal of his Life IX The Travel that Men have by Land is appointed of the Almighty to put us in mind that our days are swifter than a Post Job 9.25 that we ride Post as on Dromedaries that run by the way in all hast to their Journeys end And the Voyages that Men have by Sea in the most swiftest sailing Ships is mention'd by the Almighty to represent the swiftness of our Time that carries us night and day sleeping or waking to the Haven of Death Job 9.26 and according to this Wisdom of God and his Example should Men make right use of their respective Callings Employments and Affairs of the World to see before their Eyes continually their Lawes End X. As Labour and Toil in the Day so Sleep and Rest in the Night-Season is also a necessary Help to preserve this Mortal Life and this Sleep is a lively Image of Death for in Sleep Men lye down as dead Men without Sense or Motion ceasing from their Works and taking no notice of the things that are done by others and therefore the Holy Scriptures describeth Death by the Name of Sleep or lying down to sleep Job 14.12 Psal. 76.5 Matth. 27.52 John 11.11 1 Cor. 11.30 1 Thes. 4.13 Now when Sleep assails us and like a Giant throws us down we ought to think of Death and by sight of our Bed to remember our Grave to look upon it as a Tomb or Sepulchre and every Night before we go into it to labour for reconciliation with God that so we may lie down and sleep safely IX Whenever Sleep seizes upon us let us seriously meditate and think how securely and sweetly do they sleep that take care to go to Bed with a just and quiet Conscience who after a toilsome day of Faithfull Diligence and Industry in a Course of prudent just and pious Living lay down their carefull and wearied Heads in Peace and Tranquillity and safely rest securely in the Bosom of the Almighties Providence if they awake at midnight their Conscience void of Offence comforts them in the dark and with Christian Courage bids them not tremble or be afraid at the Shadow of Death no nor even at the grim Majesty of Death it self but confidently and with good Assurance look up with the Eye of Faith and long for the Dawn of that Eternal Day this indeed should be our chiefest care to note and censure and correct our selves to strive for Mastery over our Passions and to dismiss from our Thoughts what no ways concern us CHAP. V. Of Sin the Means of Death of Sickness Youth and Old Age. OVR Sins the Works of the Flesh in Scripture are called dead Works Heb. 6.1 and 9.14
able sufficiently to declare that we cannot yet make an Estimate of it AND as our Sorrows cannot but be justly Expressed in the Loss of so Excellent and so Vertuous a Queen yet let us offer up our Praises unto God from whom every good and perfect Gift cometh that he has not left us Comfortless that he has not cut down the principal Cedar that he has not deprived us of our chiefest Support and Royal Defender but that we enjoy and have a good King to Sit upon the Throne to Sway the Scepter and to go in and out before us to Protect us from the force of France and the danger of all Europe and that our Dear and Dread Soveraign may be for ever Happy in us his Loyal Subjects and we in so Good and Gracious a Prince let us Implore the Divine Powers to Protect Guide and Defend him in Spirit Soul and Body as for his Enemies let them be Cloathed with Shame but upon himself let his Crown for ever Flourish and let all the People say Amen AND now O all you Sons and Daughters of Sorrow and Affliction that faithfully Lov'd and Honour'd our Renowned Princess Lament your Loss but seem not to Bewail her Felicity do not immoderately drown your Eyes because God has Wiped away all Tears from hers and though in such a National Concern of highest Grief Natural Duty shews us to be Mortals yet let us not forget to be Christians and as our Saviour said to the Holy Women so may I with all Awful Reverence Express Weep not for her Blest Soul but for your selves that you are not so Happy AND this Sweet Advice Saint Hierom gives us Let us not Mourn as for one Lost but rather be thankful that we have had so Good and so Gracious a Pattern nay that we still have her for all still live in Christ yea though they die and whomsoever he thus takes unto himself are still within his Family THINK that you heard her Royal Tongue Express the great Farewel and in the most Tenderest Affection was pleas'd to say Farewel my dearest Soveraign Lord farewel I hear Heaven's call and the mighty Hour is come that we must part farewell my Royal Family and all my mournful Subjects now farewell each in your own order all must prepare to follow me Follow her then first in her Pious Example Fight the good Fight keep the Faith finish your Course as she did and henceforth is laid up for you what she Blest Saint hath now received a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judge hath prepared for all those that Love and Fear him G. B. Advertisement For more particular Concernment in Devotion read these Books following THE Whole Duty of Prayer Containing Devotions for every Day in the Week and for several Occasions Ordinary and Extraordinary By the Author of The Whole Duty of Man Necessary for all Families The Fourth Edition Price 1 s. THE Whole Duty of Divine Meditation in all its Various Parts and Branches By the Author of The Whole Duty of Man Price 1 s. Both Printed for John Back at the Black-Boy on the middle of London-Bridge THE Whole Duty OF Mourning AND THE GREAT CONCERN Of Preparing Our Selves for DEATH Practically Considered PSALM lxxxix ver 68. What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the grave The INTRODUCTION THat needs no Proof where all are Examples to themselves such is that easiest and hardest Lesson that all must die that Death is the undoubted issue of Sin and that it is a Separation of the Soul from the Body for a time but because it stealeth on as they that sleep in a Ship-under Sail who arrive at their Port while they think not of going so we go on with a restless pace to the Grave and Silence and the unknown Limit of our present Life consuming while we are not sensible of it and because it is terrible to flesh and bloud our main care must be to inform our selves first what Preparation we are to make that neither our Life may prove uneasie nor Death terrible Secondly How to fortifie our selves against the Fear of Death And Thirdly How to comfort our selves with Spiritual Remedies against immoderate Grief for the Loss of Relations and Friends These Three Branches shall be the Heads of my Discourse I. First We must prepare for Death for Solomon tells ye 11 Eccles. 3. in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be and as Death leaves us so Judgment shall find us now as the Passage to the promised Rest which was a Type of Heaven to the Israel of God appear'd terrible Deut. 1.19 so likewise is our Journey to the Celestial Canaan we are instantly ripe though not ready for dying are all subject to this pale Prince to whom we are visiting every moment this day we now live we divide with Death and that which is gone is irrecoverably lost II. The Hour is uncertain to all Men but they are certainly Happy who are then provided Luke 12.37 many are apt to watch against the coming of Thieves who can take nothing from them but only that which a little Time must then what a stupid Negligence is it not to watch and provide for Death which they know will certainly and may quickly come and take away Body and Soul nay Heaven it self to all Eternity from the securest Sinner Thinkst thou of Youth and Strength alas how many that are young and in the Vigour of their Age have died before thee Dost thou at the Funerals of others think with the proud Pharisee Luke 18.11 God I thank thee that I am not as other men are seeing then that thou art exempted from the Privilege of Immortality of Body let not Satan delude thee but seriously prepare for that day which may prove thy happiest III. Consider That God is the Great Creator of the World and the Sovereign Judge of all Mankind Remember he sits above on his glorious Throne in whose hands are the Keys of Life and Death that whatever he pleases he brings to pass and none can resist his Almighty Power whatever he does is surely the best and none can accuse his All-knowing Goodness IV. Next If we consider our own sinfull State we may well cry out and say Unhappy we the Children of Dust and Ashes Why were we born to behold the Sun Why did our Mothers conceive us and bring us forth to a miserable World and unkindly rejoyce to hear us cry Whether alas has the Errors of their Lives lead us and in how deplorable a Condition do's our Birth engage us We enter this vain World with weeping Eyes but upon Death's Summons we go out with sighing Hearts V. All the few Days we live are full of Folly and Vanity and our choicest Pleasures are mixt with Bitterness the Time that 's past is vanish'd like a Dream or Shadow and that which we expect to come is not yet
Death is instrumental in our Passage to Heaven therefore how can any think their Time ill spent in preparing for that which will compleat their Happiness V. There is no Circumstance of our Lives but has been imbittered by some sad Occasion of a dying Relation or Friend a happy Meeting often ends in some sad Misfortune which conduces to an Eternal Parting This King of Terrors meets us every where 〈◊〉 creeps in at our Windows like a Thief and enters in at our Doors with his Grand Commission he accepts of no Bribe but will draw his fable Veil over all the splendour and glory of the Universe VI. Death hath his several Instruments to accomplish his Ends sometimes we are taken away by Violence and secret Influence by the Aspect of a Star and the stink of a Mist or by the sending out of a Cloud and meeting of a Vapour Accidents has happened by the Fall of a Chariot a sinking House or a high mettled Horse to cast his Rider others by the stumbling at a Stone the scratch of a Nail or Fin by a full Meal or an empty Stomach by watching at the Wine and drinking of it in full Bowls and Glasses the Healths of others when in the mean time they destroy their own Some by too great Study and Watching at Prayer others is blasted by the Sun or Planet-struck by the Moon sometimes Death's Harbingers are Heats or Golds watchfull Nights or slumbring Days by Water turn'd into Ice or thaw'd into the Flouds of a River sometimes by a Hair or a raâ—Raâ—sin by violent Motion or sitting still by Severity or Dissolution by God's Mercy or his Anger by every thing in Providence and every thing in Manner Nature and Chance VII Like Worldlings we take indefatigable Pains to heap up Necessaries for our Life and in the greedy Negotiation we purchase Death then we are snatched away and leave what we have so hardly ventured for behind us Now all this is the Law and Constitution of Nature it is a Punishment due to our Sins the unalterable Event of Providence and the Decree of Heaven The Links and Chains which confine us to this Condition are strong as Destiny and immutable as the Eternal Laws of the Almighty CHAP. III. The Certainty of Death practically considered O Vain and miserable World how infallibly true is it that all must die and yet alas this is not all but many complaints remain which does attend and perplex us for here we begin our race in frail and contemptible Weakness and the whole course of our lives is a hazardous progress of dangers If we escape the mischances of silly Children we drive on the rash adventures of Head-strong Youth If we out live those sudden Storms and Tempests we fall into more Malicious and Wicked Calamities our own negligent and superfluous Cares deliberately pine and consume us and the crosses and affairs of the World wear and tire out our Lives II. If fortunately we should by a strange and miraculous Success o're come all these and still bear up our healthful and prosperous Head we are sure at last old Age will creep and find us out and check our Nerves by bowing our strength down to the Grave The Grave of Silence from whence no claim or priviledge Exempts nor any potent Power controuls his Command Kings and Princes must lay down their Crowns and Scepters and Queens must leave their Diadems and Royal apparel the Rich must leave their Wealth behind them and the Great ones of the World must be crumbled into Dust the Beautifullest face must be converted into Rottenness and the Pampoured and well fed Body must become the food of Wormes the buisie and most activest Man must find a time to dye though his great Affairs and full Employment can spare none to provide for it Even the Learned the Eloquent the Wise and most Vertuous must submit to Fate and the Heirs of Life it self be the Prisoners of Death III. Now this when we see we weep and are afraid since we all must drink of the same cold Cup all Heads must descend to the same dark Grave and none can imagin how soon they may be called To day we are jocund in health among our Friends and earnest about our Affairs and to morrow Arrested by the hand of that unwelcome Serjant Death Frail flesh and blood may naturally and faintly struggle for a time but at last must yield and be buried in the Earth from whence we were taken IV. At last we must take our leave of our nearest Relations and dearest Friends and bid for ever a long farewell to all the World then perhaps our acquaintance may talk of us a while sometimes as we deserve and often as they please perhaps our Bodies once laid out of sight we are no more remembred than if we had never been born only our good Works follow us to our Graves and faithfully accompany us beyond our Funerals But 't is not for us O Lord to chuse our own connditions but to manage well what thou appointest CHAP. IV. Several Motives to Remember Death practically Considered GOd having made Man of the Dust of the Earth Gen. 2.7 and thereupon after his Fall shewing him his readiness to return to dust Gen. 3.19 Ecclus. 12.7 doth yet further call us to consider our frailty ordaining that this House of Clay is to be supported by a puff of Ayr continually breathed in and out and that this being stopt the building must of necessity fall from whence we see our life hangs as it were loose before us going in and out every moment therefore it is called the breath of Life Gen. 2.7 and. 7.15.22 this ought to put us in mind of Mortallity by thinking on the breath of our Nostrils so easily departing this is plainly demonstrated by the Prophets Isa. 2.22 Psal. 146.4 and 104.29 II. Another Instrument of human frailty is the Pulse which ariseth from the Heart and the Arteries or beating Veins and this by a double motion of Contraction and Dilatation whereby they are drawn in and out both for the expeling of noxious fumes through the insensible pores of the flesh and for drawing of air to refresh the heart and vital Spirits from the variety of the Pulse are taken many signs of Health and Sickness Life and Death it is the Character of our Strength or Weakness and from hence is described the fainting and decayed state of Man from the panting of the Heart and restlesness of the Arteries and beating Veins III. Another Sustainer of our Life is our daily Food Meat and Drink whereby the Spirit is revived 1 Sam. 30.12 and without it we fall down into the Grave Now if our appointed Food for a Meal or more be wanting then instantly the Body faints and the Flesh fails Isa. 44.12 then Death creeps on by degrees and Men begin to dye sensibly there is a Sense both of painful hunger in the Stomach and of universal faintness and languishing through the
and the Workers of them are called dead Men Mat. 8.22 Luke 15.32 John 5.25 Eph. 2.1.5 and therefore upon every occasion of Sin committed we are taught to remember Death Whatsoever thing hath Death annex'd and threatn'd as the Reward and Fruit belonging to it the same thing is a just and necessary Memorial of Death Now all our Sins have this Reward denounced Rom. 6.23 and 7.5 and therefore in all Sins Death is set before us as God also speaks expresly in his Warnings against Sin Deut. 30.15.19 as in sight of Death we are to remember Sin the Cause of it so in the sight of Sin we are to remember Death the Effects of it II. Neither are these Sins thus to be considered by us only in respect of their future Reward but God by a further Judgment in sending a present Terrour and Fear of Death upon the present Acts of Sin Lev. 26.36 Heb. 2.15 doth call Men yea and force them to remember Death thus it is with all Wicked Doers and with the Just sometimes in part through divers Temptations Psal. 77.3.7 8. but with the Faithful there is another Remembrance of Death by occasion of Sins as comfortable to them as the former is terrible to the Wicked for in fight of Sins that perplex 'em they call to mind what shall quite free 'em from those Sins which Expedient is Death thereupon they set Mortality before their Eyes and are taught that Lesson of the Almighty to long for their Redemption by desiring to remove out of the Body Rom. 8.23 2. Cor. 5.8 III. Afflictions Sicknesses and Dangers wherein Death is threatned unto Men are likewise Means of Death and by them also we are called of God to remember our Latter End Sometimes it pleaseth the Great Being for the Warning of Secure Men to bring them to the Gates of Death before they enter Psal. 9.13 and though he bring them back again yet is this done by the Almighty for a Memorial of Death God brings Men into such Extremities that nothing but Death is to be expected they receive the Sentence of Death in themselves and despair of Life 1 Cor. 8.9 and are free among the Dead in their own and others Judgment Psal. 88.4 5. and thus many times they are in Deaths often 2 Cor. 11.23 and such things God worketh oftentimes that Men might renounce the World and set their Heart and their House in Order as a Preparation for their Departure Job 33.22 29. IV. Let us praise then the Goodness of the Almighty who ordains all things for the best to his Servants whose unlimited Providence governs us all our Life and takes so peculiar a Care of our Death He wisely casts us down on our Beds of Sickness and mercifully draws the Curtain 'twixt the Transitory World and us shutting out all its vain and pernicious Designs and contracting all our Affairs and Business to a little Room or Chamber there in that close and quiet Solitude he speaks to our sorrowful Hearts and methodically sets before us all our sinful Life there he prudently discovers to us the Frauds and Fallacies of this World and kindly invites us now at last to prepare speedily for the other Thither he carefully sends his Messengers of Peace to treat earnestly with our Souls and reconcile them to his Heavenly Kingdom Thither he sends even his only beloved Son to secure our strait Passage and to guide and conduct us to himself V. O how quite contrary will our serious Thoughts be then to what they were in our Negligent and Careless Health how shall we justly and freely Censure what we once much esteemed and be easily and readily convinc'd into wiser Counsels when our unruly and stubborn Senses shall be check'd with Aches and Pains and our rash and inconsiderate Minds made sober and calm with Fear When the Opportunity and Occasions of Sin shall be removed away and every Object about us encline us to Repentance VI. Let thy Holy Name O Lord for ever be magnified whose Mercy Sanctifies even thy Punishments and Judgments into Favours thou bringest us Low and Weak to persuade us to be humble and prescribest us a Sickness to heal out Souls and cure our Infirmities thou commandest the unsatisfied Grave to dispense with none but indifferently seize on all alike That all may not neglect to provide for that last and fatal hour and none be utterly undone with foolish and mistaken Hopes thou tell'st us sincerely and plainly we all must dye but tenderly and kindly concealest the Time and Place that every where we may readily stand on our Guard and every moment vigilantly expect thy Coming VII In the Age of Man where they first climb up and ascend to their height and then presently decline and descend again is propounded by the Almighty Now the Face of Man is a Dial of his Transitory Age and the manifold Changes thereof from time to time as the Shadow of Declination in the Dial do shew his Mortality and the main Differences in the Physiognomies of Men may justly serve for a Memorial of Man's changeable Estate his Beauty and the Vigour of his Countenance being daily altered as the Grace and lovely shape of the Flower that perisheth James 1.11 This ought to affect us daily that the different Faces which we behold may put us in mind that the fashion of this world passeth away VIII As the Face so the Stature of Man growing up as a Plant according to the divers Measures and Degrees of his growth appointed of God Psal. 144.12 Luke 1.80 and 2.52 is another Testimony of his changeable Estate even from the Child of a Span long unto those that have their full growth Lam. 2.20 though some be of low stature as Zacheus Luke 19.3 and some again higher by the head as was Saul 1 Sam. 10.23 24 yet even in these compared with themselves the proportion of their Growth is an Evidence of their Age to such as know them and thus the Wheel of Man's Age is visible in the variation of his his Stature which may put him in mind of his Latter End IX Besides the Face and Stature the Almighty hath set other Marks upon the Bodies of young and old for a Memento of their Time passing away God describes to Youth the Time of Love Ezek. 16.7 8. and to Age the near approaching Tokens of Death whereby they are warned of God to prepare for it for through decay of strength the Arms and Hands the Keepers of the House begin to tremble Eccles. 12.3 and the Legs that are as Pillars of the Body bow themselves and the help of a Staff to rest on is sought of the Aged Person Zach. 8.4 and with that Assistance at every Step he takes he strikes upon the Earth and raps at the Gate of the Grave untill it be opened unto him This Weakness is further signified by the ceasing of the Grinders Eccles. 12.3 both the upper and the nether Millstone which are called the Life of Man
Deut. 24.6 these Teeth failing Life begins to fail wherein the Memorial of Death is set before us X. And as in the outward Parts so the like Weakness and Decay of strength is to be observ'd in the inward the Silver Cords of the Sinews which conveys the Faculty of Sense and Motion from the Head in Old Age are loosed Eccles. 12.6 that Cable of the Marrow in the Back Bone which was wont so firmly to hold and stay the frail Bark of our Body tossed with so many Motions and by those many Conjugations of Nerves which kept our Body steddy begins now to dissolve the Head which is the golden Bowl wherein is emboxed the Brain that ministers that Faculty of Sense and Motion through Age is broken and become crazy the many Veins which carry the nourishing Blood from the Liver unto each part of the Body become like unto broken Vessels and the Arteries which by the reciprocal Motions and Pulses do convey the Vital Spirits from the Heart even to all Parts of the Body these through languishing Age becomes slow and weak and all these faint Operations are so many Memorials of Death and do plainly portend the Approach of our Latter End XI The Old Man's gray head is in Scripture compared to the white Blossoms of the Almond Tree Eccles. 12.5 this Tree making hast to flourish before many others in the Spring is therefore in Vision used to signifie that God will hasten his Word to perform it Jer. 1.11 12. and consequently the sight of the gray head either in our selves or others serves as a Divine Vision to warn us of God's Decree of hastning our Latter End yea those are upbraided of God as Contemners of this Vision who though their head be not all white do not observe the first sprinkling of the head when as the gray hairs are here and there upon them and they know it not Hos. 7.9 and regard not this Memorial of their Mortality XII As to the decay of Sense in Old Age they that look out of the Windows be darkned Eccles. 12.3 the Eyes fail Gen. 27.1 and 48.10 1 Sam. 3.2 and 4.15 and that dimness of Sight is one of Death's Apparitors to summons Men to their End by that restraint of Sight God calls Men to make a new Covenant with their Eyes to turn them out of the Corners of the World not to gaze longer after Vanity nor to walk after the Lust of their Eyes to live by Faith and not by Sight 2 Cor 5.7 not to look after things temporal which are seen but after things Eternal which are not seen 1 Cor. 4.18 and as the Sense of Seeing waxes dim in Old Age that of Hearing likewise fails the daughters of Musick are abased and brought low Eccles. 12.4 Men cannot then any more hear the voice of singing-men and singing-women 2 Sam. 19.35 God that planted the Ear Psal. 94.9 when he makes this Plant to wither again calls them to remember their Transplantation into another World to wait for their changing and to prepare for it The Tasting likewise decays for Old Barzillai cannot taste what he eats or what he drinks 2 Sam. 19.35 Old Isaac by his touch cannot distinguish betwixt the hands of his Son and the Skin of a Beast Gen. 27.16.21 22 23. The Psalmist when Old is covered with Cloaths and feels no heat 1 Kings 1.1 yea the inward Senses begin to fail also Memory decays the Understanding is diminished and the Aged sometimes in their decrepid Age return to their Infancy and not able to discern between Good and Evil 2 Sam. 19.35 how inexcusable are they that live securely and think not of Death when they have so many Warnings given them XIII With Decay of Strength and Sense comes the decay of Health Old Age is many times a continual Sickness and when the days of Man are multiplied they are but Labour and Sorrow even the strength of them Psal. 90.10 then is the time when the evil days approach and the years of which Man says I have no pleasure in them Eccl. 12.1 then is the Light of Sun Moon and Stars obscured and then the Clouds return after the Rain one Infirmity after another v. 2. Through decay of Natural Heat ariseth Indigestion and Crudity of Stomach and thereupon follow Rheums and Catarrhs and from thence proceeds Aches and manifold Pains and Diseases whereby the Almighty as with an Iron Pen writeth our Lesson and engraveth this Sentence deep in our Flesh and Bones Remember your latter end approaching and prepare for Death CHAP. VI. Several Forerunners of Death which may warn Men to prepare for it Practically Considered THus in every Age before Death Approaches we have manifold Fore-Warnings of his Coming and when Death appears God usually brings with it some Joynt-Warnings to prepare us further for our speedy Dissolution And first before Death makes a Seizure there is commonly Pain like a Harbinger sent before to warn the Soul to entertain the Almighty with a present and diligent renewing of their Faith and Repentance for God could have taken Men out of the World without Pain or Sickness by a sudden Change in the twinkling of an eye 1 Cor. 15.51 52. but the Divine Wisdom saw it not necessary II. When the Lord appeared unto the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles and vouchsaf'd unto them Visions of his Glory he used commonly to send before as a Marshal or Usher some great fear Gen. 15.12 Exod. 3.6 so that they fell down as dead Men Ezek. 1 28. and 2.1 2. Rev. 1.17 or stood trembling Dan. 10.8.11 their hair stood an end and all their bones did shake Job 4.14 15. But since God in his Divine Wisdom has altered that Method and appears unto a Sinner at his Death in sweeter Visions of Heavenly Comfort and prepares them with all Reverence for that hour III. God doth now as it were usher his way by sending Sicknesses and bitter Diseases that thereby we might be humbled for Sin and renounce this Transitory Life by giving a more willing Farewell unto it and to long for our Translation and the Joy which succeeds it God shews that then he expects a special Act of Humiliation when near our End he visits us with such Pains which creates a Mourning in us for Sins committed in the World before we depart out of it then are we summoned to stir up the Grace of God within us and to raise up our Spirits with all Love and Reverence to meet the Lord that we may receive his Blessing and enter into his Gates with Joy and into his Courts with Thanksgiving IV. These Pains prevailing at the approach of Death causeth Men to lye down and fall upon their Beds Job 33.19 Acts 5.15 and to let all the Affairs of the World alone with the Works of their several Callings through Infirmity of Body God forceth them to stoop and calleth them to remember their Frailty and their End as if he should command them to couch down
exhorts 1 Cor. 15.58 Brethren be ye stedfast and unmoveable your hope being not in vain in the Lord we look for a City to come and that shall come which we look for I and not only come but ever shall continue the futurity speaks the permanence that while 't is present it shall be still to come this future knows not any Preter-perfect-tense Years eating up Days Ages swallowing up Years Time loosing his ne'er so much past yet ne'er the less to come not like our slender Joys here no sooner flow'd to us almost but ebbing from us but a Continuing City Stor'd with fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore Psal. 16.11 Evermore more perennious than the Gliding Stream or Constant Sun here the Sun may be one day Darkned and the Moon pay home her borrowed Light the fixed Stars may become Planets and wander headlong from their Spheres whole Nature may so forget her Office that Heaven and Earth may pass away but these Pleasures like the Right-hand they wait on remain for evermore and this is our expected City whose Inhabitants you 'l say by better title than they of Tarsus may be called Citizens of no mean City Act 21.29 XII And in this Royal City the days brightness there it knows no light no nor ever fears the least Eclipse whose chearful and smiling Brow no Moving Cloud o'recasts nor tempestuous Storm molests the passage of its Rays but still shines on Serene and clear and fills with splendors that Spacious City it needs not the declining lustre of our Golden Sun nor the borrow'd Silver of the Pale faced Moon the Radient Sun that appears there is the Lamb and the Light that shines is the Glory of God the Walls of this City are raised with precious Stones and every Gate is of one rich Pearl the Mansions are built with choicest Jewels and the Streets are paved with transparent Gold in the midst of this City runs a pure Crystal River perpetually flowing from the Heavenly Throne there all along those pleasant Banks deliciously grows the Tree of Life healing all Wounds with its balmy Leaves and making Immortal all that but taste its Fruit. XIII Thus is the holy City which we are too seek Built thus is the City of the New Jerusalem Adorn'd O thrice fortunate and most glorious City how free and happy are thy blest Inhabitants every Head there wears a Royal Crown and every Hand a Palm of Victory every Sparkling Eye o'reflows with Joy and every Silver Tongue with Psalms of Praise there we shall dwell perpetually in the view of God and be filled for ever with the sweetness of his Presence this is that Coelestial Sphere whose Zodiack is Felicity whose Constellations are degrees of Glory and whose Poles are Joy and Eternity THE Second Branch HOW To Fortifie our Selves against THE Fears of DEATH CHAP. I. That if we dedicate our Lives to Christ the advantage of Death will be to our Selves THe Apostle tells us Phil. 1.21 to me to live is Christ and to dye is Gain First St. Paul lived so do all Men so do all Animals what our Apostle saith of Bodies I may of Life there is a natural Body and there is a spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15.44 so there is a Natural and there is a Spiritual Life this is an hidden but that a manifest Life this an inclosure but that a common it is common to Heathens with Christians to Beasts with Men the little Ant the crawling Worms have a share in Life as well as we so that these may say as well as St. Paul to me to live why should we be so much in love with or dote upon this Life which we have no more Interest in than the meanest living Creature indeed it is a Mercy for which we ought to be thankful it is a Talent which we are to improve but it is no Priviledge wherein we should glory whereof we should boast or wherewith we should be too much affected II. Secondly as St. Paul lived so he made account of dying others live as well as he and he must dye as well as others and as certainly as we live we must die and Man is no less subject to perishing than the Beast yea the good man hath no more exemption than the bad for so the Prophet asserts Isa. 57.1 The Righteous perisheth indeed the Apostle elsewhere calls Righteousness a Brest-plate Eph. 6.14 but it is not Death proof and though it delivereth in yet not from Death it is true Death is the wages of Sin but still it is here the Lot of a Saint perfect Innocency should not have known Mortality but Grace in the best is mixed with that Sin which bringeth Death Christ I grant hath taken away Death but so as he hath taken away Sin for the present only in part not fully Sin is taken away by Death that is the Power and Guilt of it III. And indeed it is not without manifold Reason that divine Providence hath so ordered it first that the Members may be conformable to their Head and that we may follow Christ the same way of Death in which he hath gone before us to Glory secondly that by pulling down of the Wall the Moss may be fully plucked out and by the dissolution of the Body its Infirmity and Frailty wholly Purged away thirdly that the Power of God may appear the more Glorious in Raising us up after Death hath laid us in the Grave and the Grave turn'd us into Dust fourthly finally that the Strength of our Faith might appear the more in believing we shall live though we die for these Reasons the Wise God hath appointed his own Children to Walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death IV. To carry it yet one Step further and that in a few Words it is no other than St. Paul who was not only a Christian but an Apostle who taketh it for granted that he must die neither the Word nor the Work of Righteousness can secure from Death for Prophets Apostles Ministers as well as others are Mortal and must dye indeed they are according to our Saviour's Metaphor the Lights of the World but such as after a while may be blown out by a violent however must go out by a natural Death Clouds they are from whom the Rain of Instruction falls upon the People but at length they themselves vanish away finally Angels they are in Respect of their Office but still they are Men in regard of their Nature and must die like Men St. Paul himself hence supposeth it is a thing which sooner or later would befall him V. Now this blest Pattern of the Apostle might serve to shame us out of our inordinate living to our Selves and quicken us in our endeavour to live to Christ as Peter said in another case to Christ John 6.68 Lord whither should we go thou hast the Words of Eternall Life let us say in this Lord to whom should we live thou hast Command of our Natural
Life yea thou art the Life of our Life and Soul of our Soul oh that all our Oyl might empty it self into this Golden Candlestick that all our Water might run in this Channel all our Actions be levell'd at this Mark CHRIST and his Honour for indeed all he did was in reference to us he was born for us liv'd for us died for us Rose again for us is Ascended and Sitteth at God's Right-hand and shall at last come again for us why should not our Souls then wish to be with him it is a known saying the Soul is not where it liveth but where it loveth and it is no less true whom the Soul loveth to him it will live and it is by Faith that Christ liveth in us and it is by Love that we live to Christ let him be the sole Object of thine Affections and then he will be the chief end of thy Actions VI. That Expression of the Spouse in the Canticles my beloved is mine and I am his Cant. 2.16 is very considerable to this purpose my beloved is mine in that she expresseth her Sense of Christ's Affection towards her and I am his in that she insinuateth her love towards Christ and which was the Fruit of it the Resignation of her self to Christ excellently doth St. Bernard Illustrate these Words he is mine and I am his he mine because he is merciful I his because I am not unthankful he Conferreth on me Grace for Grace I return him Praise for his Grace he is for my Deliverance I for his Honour he for my Salvation I in Subjection to his Will Thus it was with the Spouse and thus it will be with every Christian who duly pondereth upon the Mercy of Christ towards him and hath his Soul affected with Love and gratitude to Christ. Now if there were not in us any Spark of Love to Christ yet even Self-love cannot but strongly oblige us to live to Christ in as much as this is the only Honourable Profitable and Pleasurable Life VII No Life so honourable as this all Actions are dignified especially by the End to which they tend whence the more noble the Intention the more noble the Operation and what Intention can be higher or end nobler than the Glory of Christ this is that which by a strange Activity turneth our Earthly into an Heavenly our Natural into a Spiritual Life which is the most excellent of all Lives to live to a Man's Lusts debaseth his Life and maketh it no better than Beastial but to live to Christ exalteth it and rendreth it no less than Angelical VIII Nor is no Life truly Profitable but this the Way to live to our Selves is to live to Christ whilst he hath the Glory we have the Benefit and as his Name is Advanc'd so our Good is Advantag'd there is a strange Riddle and a seeming Contradiction in those Words of God by the Prophet Hos. 10.1 Ephraim is an empty vine and bringeth forth fruit a Vine is then said to be Empty when it is Fruitless and can that which bringeth forth Fruit be said to be Fruitless but the next Words to himself unfolds the Riddle and reconciles the Contradiction since the Fruit which is brought forth to our selves is no Fruit what one said of the day wherein he had done no good I have lost a day that may we say in this case that day and time of our Life is lost wherein we live not to Christ. IX Finally this is the most Pleasurable Life free from those Cares and Fears Distractions and Vexations with which living to the World and our Lusts is encumbred full of those Joys and sweet Pleasures and Delights whereof all others are Ignorant he that can say to me to live is Christ may say to me to live is peace of Consience contentment of Mind and Joy in the Holy Ghost in one Word this is the only way to make both our Life Comfortable and our Death Gainful X. I shall now Conduct you into the Walk of the pleasant Field of Death's Gain where it will appear that Death is Gain to a Godly Man and a Good Christian many are the Miseries under which we Groan in this Life but as St. Ambrose says Death is a Cure for 'em all in this respect it is that Seneca saith aptly it is the cause of none but the end of many evils upon this account it was that Death hath been even by the Heathens looked upon as an Advantage when those two famous Carpenters Agamedes and Trophonius had built a Temple for Apollo at Delphos they begg'd of him a Reward to whom this Answer was given by the Oracle that it should be Conferred on them within Nine days within which time they died and when Cydippe begg'd of Juno a Boon for her two Sons Cleobis and Bito she found them in the Morning dead in their Beds as if the Gods could not bestow a greater Benefit than Death by which Men are freed from the Calamities of Life XI In this respect Seneca's Comparison is very fit who resembleth Death to an Haven into which when the Ship enters she is past all the danger of Rocks Sands Waves or Winds to which she was Continually liable upon the Tumultuous Seas indeed Death is that which delivereth our Bodies from Pains and Aches our Tears and our Hearts from Sorrows and in this respect St. John calls them who die in the Lord blessed because they rest from their Labours Revel 14.16 to wit all Labour both of Mind and Body with which here they are oppressed XII The Truth is many are the Afflictions of all Men so especially of the Righteous in this Life they are sure to meet with Persecution from Wicked Men for their Righteousness sake as the Tree is beaten with Sticks for its Fruits sake yea such is the rage of Persecutors that they care not to what Sorrows of Hunger Cold Nakedness Imprisonment Banishment and Want they expose them besides Almighty God is pleas'd to Chastise em for whilst he lets others alone in Sin he exercises their Graces by Adversity whilst others enjoy Prosperity but when Death comes it sets them free from all as being the last Chastisement which God doth inflict upon and the last Mischief which Wicked Men can do to the Godly XIII Finally so long as we continue in this World the bur of Corruption will cleave to us but Death rids us of it according to that of St. Paul 6.7 He that is dead is free from Sin in this respect Death is fitly called by St. Ambrose the Grave of our Sins and by Gregory Nyssen the Expurgation of Wickedness for till the Vessel be broken the muddy Water of Corruption cannot be wholly poured out Consult the Experience of the Saints and you shall find them still Complaining of Spiritual Conflicts with their Corruptions we are besieged on every side as Saint Cyprian observes and oh how often is a Breach made upon us if Covetousness be knocked down Lust
riseth up if Lust be quelled Pride starteth forth if Pride be subdu'd Anger exasperateth thus are we forced to a continual strugling with our Sins but when we die the Combat ceaseth and as for the present we are not under Sin so then we shall be without Sin or so much as the Motions of Sin CHAP. II. Of the Fears of Death and how to Fortifie our Selves against them Practically Considered DEath in all Mens Opinion is the King of Terrors and the most formidablest Enemy in the World to humane Nature now all Grief ariseth from Love and Self-interest and naturally Men fear Death because it puts a period to that Life which Indulgent Love and Weak Nature would preserve Christians were wont to assume that Courage that no Fear possess'd 'em but that of Sin they could Expostulate with the Law and say thou hast no power over me for God the Father hath sent his beloved Son to Redeem me from the Captivity of thy Bondage and therefore thy Terrors and Accusations are all in vain for this Expedient I have I will creep into the hole in my Saviours Side there will I hide my self from all my Foes and plunge my Conscience in his bleeding Wounds and by Vertue of his bitter Death Victorious Resurrection and Glorious Ascension shall I gain the Conquest II. Why should we then thus be surrrounded with Fears and permit Death's Terrors thus to affright us seems it so hard a task to Walk the Path which all our Ancestors have Trod before us Adam the first of all Mankind and Righteous Noah that feared the Almighty Abraham the Father of the Faithful and Friend of God and Moses the Servant of the Lord David the Man after God's own Heart and Solomon the Wisest King that e'er Sway'd the Scepter all these have Justly paid their Debt to nature and subcribed to the Law of universal Mortality Nay Jesus himself the blessed Saviour of the World has expired on the Accursed Cross of Eternal Shame and went to his Transcendant Glory through the Gates of Death III. And Now shall our Childish and fond Self-love so blindly flatter us as to wish an Exception from this regular and general Rule shall we be still murmuring and repining when our Life is but a Bubble a Vapour nay but a Span and still expos'd to innumerable Sorrows and Afflictions does not the very shortness mitigate and abate its Miseries and does not those many Miseries highly applaud its shortness should we not rather be glad and rejoye at the approach of Death that when e'er it comes it proves so advantagious to us if in our Aged Years t is a Haven of Repose and ought to be kindly Entertain'd after so long and tedious a Voyage if Death appears in our Infancy and Youth it prevents a Thousand Calamities and numberless Dangers of ruining our Souls if by an ordinary fit of Sickness 't is according to the Course of Nature if by any disaster or outward Violence 't is always the will of Heaven what occasion have we then to dread or fear how many Darts Death has in his Quiver when we are sure he can throw but one at us IV. Therefore to depart this World is an act to be done but once and that once well done we are happy for ever we must needs confess the Decrees of the Almighty are always Just and that 't is only our selves are the cause of all our Miseries for no sooner are we Born but we begin to Sin we Sacrifice our minority and Youth to Vain Sports and Follies and our Riper Years to Gluttony Drunkenness Lust and Pride we spend our Old Age in Politick Craft and Greedy Avarice and begin not to live till we are ready for the Grave then indeed we lament the shortness of our time when we have our selves like Spend thrifts thrown it all so Prodigally away for when we have lived and led a loose and negligent Life we then Complain Death seizes on us unawares we find fault that perhaps our days are too few to grow Rich or to satisfie the Ambition of a haughty Spirit but did we strive to be Taught the Love of God and to immitate the meek and humble Life of the Blessed Jesus it would require not so much the number of Years as the faithful endeavours and utmost diligence of a Pious Mind could we but bestow on the improvement of our Immortal Souls the time we so vainly trifle away on our Frail Bodies our day would be short enough and not seem tedious and long enough to finish our appointed Task V. Then what shall we but say to our Souls that our only business here is but like unto the Wise Virgins to Trim our Lamps and to wait the coming of the Bridegroom but to sow the Immortal Seed of a never failing Hope and expect hereafter to reap a due Increase it is insignificant how late in the Year the Fruit be gathered if still it improve in growing better no matter how soon it falls from the laden Tree if a Stormy Wind blow it not down before it proves Ripe let us then Contemplate on God's most Just and Secret providence who governs all things by the Counsel of his Divine Will whose powerful Hand can Wound and Heal lead down to the Grave of Silence and bring back again let us be ever ready to him to bow our Heads and freely submit to him our dearest Concerns let us say unto him Lord strike as Thou pleasest our Health or Lives we cannot be safer than at thy disposal only these few but earnest Requests we humbly make which O may thy Clemency Vouchsafe to hear Cut us not off in the midst of our Sins and Folly nor suffer us to Expire with our Sins unpardoned but make us Lord first fit and ready for Heaven and then take us to thy self in thy own due time for 't is not for us O Lord to choose our own Conditions but to manage well what thou hast appointed VI. It is true Death bereaveth us of a Mortal and Transitory Life but it is an inlet to an Immortal and Everlasting Life it despoileth us of our Worldly possessions I but it putteth us in possession of our Heavenly Inheritance it taketh us from the Society of our bosome Friends and Neighbours I but it sends us to Abraham's Bosome and makes way for our Society with Christ finally it severs the Soul from the Body I but it unites the Soul to God what is it for the Candle to be put out whilst we enjoy the light of the Sun for the standing Pools to be dry so long as we may drink at the Fountain for our Earthly Comforts to be taken from us when Heavenly Joys are Conferred on us the truth is Death is not a privation but a permutation so Holy Job calleth it a Change Job 14.14 and that a Blessed Exchange of a Cottage for a Palace a Wilderness for a Paradise a House of Bondage for a Place of Liberty of
Brass for Gold Pebles for Pearls Earth for Heaven VII But let the advantages of Death mitigate the Fears which is apt to arise in us from the apprehensions of it when Abigall told Nabal the threatning Words of David the Text says 1 Sam. 25.27 his heart died within him and became as a Stone thus is it with the most of us when any Summons of Death is given nay not only with the most but even sometimes with the best Christ cometh to the Disciples on the Sea to preserve them from the Storm and they are Troubled Death cometh to deliver us from all evil and we exceedingly Tremble indeed the reason is because we Consider not that Death is a deliverance and an advantage to us what Chrysologus saith of Martyrs is true of all Good Men Their death is a birth and end a beginning they live by being killed and whilst they are thought to be extinguished on Earth they shine in Heaven and surely were this well pondered by us we would not seek Consolation against Death but Death it self would be our Consolation those Words of Job chap. 16.14 I have said to Corruption thou art my Father to the Worm thou art my Mother and Sister are not unfitly allegorized by Origen to this purpose as if he therefore called Corruption and Worms his Father and Mother because as Parents are comforters to their Children so were they to him VIII It is true the Separation of Soul and Body is Terrible and a natural Fear of it cannot but be in all I but it is as true in respect of the Godly that when this Separation is made the Soul is set at Liberty and rejoyceth yea the Body is at rest and knoweth no Trouble and is such a Separation to be feared this Life what is it but a going to Death and Death what is it but a going to Life little cause there is then sure why we should either too much Love the one or Fear the other shall that be the Object of our Fear says Tertullian Which freeth us from what ever is to be feared and this we have from the Mouth of a Roman I would not be Young again though God would grant it me and he giveth this Reason because when I die I shall go from my Inn to my home I. It is not Death it self but our mis-apprehension of Death is terrible to us says St. Ambrose Did we look through beyond Death at the happiness which followeth it would not be dreadful but Amiable in our Eyes and with the Apostle we would not Fear but desire to depart that of the Wise Man Prov. 14.32 the Righteous hath hope in his death the Caldee reads the Righteous hopeth he shall dye so far is a Good Man from fearing of that he hopeth for his dissolution and though he dare not rashly hasten yet he willingly entertaineth it whensoever sent by the Almighty to him X. Now if a good Life preceed an happy Death cannot but follow nor is it probable a happy Death should be the Consequent if a religious Life hath not been the Antecedent some there are who would invert these Words of the Apostle Phil. 1.21 To me to live is Christ but to die is Gain and make Gain the predicate of the former and Christ of the latter thus doth every Covetous man say To me to live is Gain and to dye is Christ Vain Men who will have Gold to be their God and yet Christ to be their Redeemer they will serve Mammon whilst they live and yet be saved by a Saviour when they dye but it will be Just with Christ to say to all such Mammonists in these Words of God to the Israelites in the day of their distress Go to the Gods which you have Served the Gain which you have lived to and let that deliver you in this hour of your Death XI Others there are who would severe these Clauses whilst they would gladly say To dye is Gain but not to live is Christ one was asked whether he had rather be Croesus or Socrates his answer was he would be rich Croesus in his Life and good Socrates at his Death you know whose Prayer it was Numb 23.10 Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his and it is that no doubt which many wish and desire nay hope who yet regardeth not to live the Life of the Righteous and that their Course to that end may be like his but what a Folly nay Madness is it for Men to expect to Reap that they do not Sow to Sow to the Flesh and to the World and yet Reap by Christ the Gain of everlasting Life after Death as therefore we expect the one let us endeavour the other and if Gain by Death be our Hope let living to Christ be our practice XII So that this Scripture thus Considered doth plainly put a difference between the Precious and the Vile the Godly and the Wicked whilst to these who live to themselves Death is a loss but to those that live to Christ it is a Gain Adrian was wont to say that Death is the Rich Man's fear and the Poor Man's desire and this I may well apply here Death either is or may be the bad Man's fear but the good Man's wish or to use St. Ambrose his Expression it is an Haven to the Just but a Shipwrack to the Guilty to the Good a Bed of Repose but to the Wicked a Rack of Torture The Man who liveth to the World saith to Death as Ahab to Elijah 1 Kings 21.20 Hast thou found me oh mine Enemy but he who liveth to Christ may say to it as David of Ahimaz 2 Sam. 18.27 it cometh with good tydings XIII And now would you on the one hand see the reason why you are so fearful of Death it is because your Consciences accuse you that you have not lived as becometh Christ's Disciples and so you may thank your own Guilty Consciences for those fears of Death it was not without reason that St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.56 The sting of death is Sin since Death is only venemous and deadly to them who live in Sin on the other hand would you see the way to a joyful End would you have Comfort in and Gain after Death Oh let it be your Study to live to Christ it is our Saviour's Counsel to his Disciples Mat. 6.25 Take no thought for your life let me alter it a little take no thought for your death but for your Life let your Care be to advance Christ in your lives and it will be his Care to Confer the Gain of Glory and Immortality upon you at your Death XIV Lastly I shall earnestly beseech you in those Words of our Saviour to his Disciples I say unto you all Watch indeed when we see many falling in their full Strength and snatch'd away in the prime of their days have we not reason to Watch and Watching to prepare for the Hour
of our Death let it then be the Care of us all whilst we live to live to the Glory of our Creator every one of us in our Station Consecrating our selves to and Employing our Talents in his Service and for his Glory and whensoever that time shall approach whether sooner or later to any of us we may like good Stewards give up our Accompts with Joy and not with Grief and receive that happy Commendation of Well done goood and faithful Servants enter into the Joy of thy Lord. XV. It was reasonable Advice and a proper Instrument of Vertue which Pythagoras taught his Scholars Let not Sleep seize upon the Regions of your Senses before you have three times recalled the Conversation and Accidents of the day Examine what you have Committed against the Divine Law what you have Omitted of your Duty and what Use you have made of the Divine Grace to the purposes of Vertue and Religion joyning the Iudge Reason to the Legislative Mind or Conscience that God may Reign there as a Law-giver and a Judge then Christ's Kingdom is set up in our Hearts then we always live in the Eye of our Judge and live by the Measures of Reason Religion and Sober Counsels THE Third Branch CHAP. I. Containing Spiritual Remedies against immoderate Grief for the Loss of Relations and Friends Practically considered SAint CYPRIAN affords us these two Golden sayings That we should not too much bewail the departure of our dearest Relations and when the day of our Dissolution doth approach that we readily and chearfully Obey God's Call Let the Comfort then which Death brings moderate our Sorrow for our Friends who Sleep in Jesus why should we be troubled for them who are at Rest and sit down in Sorrow for them who are entred into Joy why are we Clad in Black for them who Walk in White and so many Tears flow from our Eyes for them who have all Tears wiped away from theirs It is Storied of the Thracians that they mourn at the Birth and rejoice at the Death of their Friends nor was it without Reason that they should account those fit to be bewail'd who are launching forth into the Tempestuous Sea of this World and attend them with Joy who are got into the Harbour of Rest. II. We read concerning Lazarus that Christ Rejoyced when he was dead but Wept being to raise him to Life and Chrysologus his Note is very apt to our present purpose Christ bewaileth not the losing but restoring of his Life according to which the Greek Fathers make the Reason of our Saviour's Tears to be that he should now call him back to a miserable Life indeed as St. Hierom saith concerning Nepotian we may say of every one who departeth in Christ We are not so much to condole his loss of this Life as to Congratulate his deliverance from the miseries of this Life III. Thou wilt say perhaps it is my Friend my dearly beloved Friend who is dead and can I choose but Mourn But is he thy Friend and dost thou envy him his Happiness dost thou dearly Love him and yet grieve at his Welfare he is thy Friend and Death is his Benefit and shall the Benefit of another especially of thy Friend be thy Sorrow I but he is snatch'd from my Arms and I have a great Loss in his departure and that is my Trouble True this nature prompteth to that we should be sensible of our own Loss yea Grace requireth that we should be sensible of such a Loss as it is a Cross inflicted upon us by divine Providence IV. Thus Patient Job Chap. 1.20 When the News came to him of his Childrens Death Shaved his Head and rent his Mantle Signs of that Sorrow which natural affection put him upon yea he fell down upon the ground and Worshipped Signs that in his Sorrow he looked higher at the Hand of God which had done it but as with one Eye we look on our Loss and Weep so with another Eye we must look on their Profit and Rejoyce as it is a Chastisement we must be affected with Sorrow and as a Mercy to them we must express our Joy and thus whilst we mingle these affections together our Sorrow will not be Exorbitant V. Indeed when any die to whom we have reason to fear Death is the beginning of Sorrow and there is sad Cause of bitter Mourning but not for them who die in the Lord David justly bewailed dead Absolom because he died in his Rebellion and therefore despaired of his Bliss but when the other Child died he drieth his Eyes as not doubting its Happiness they indeed cannot sufficiently be lamented at their Death who dying in their Sins drop into Hell not they who are carried into those heavenly Mansions saith Isidore Excellently VI. Let not I beseech you immoderate Grief too much overwhelm you but when you have shed your solemn Tears and paid your due Sighs to the memory of your Friends then wipe â—our Eyes with the Comfort of Hope and change your Grief into a Charitable Joy Remember the Friends you Mourn for are delivered from the Miseries of this Sinful World and all the Miseries you so Justly deplore their Frail Bodies Tremble no more with a shaking Palsie nor Burn with the violent Flames of a scorching Feaver they cry out and lament no more for want of Sleep nor tumble and roul up and down their uneasie Beds but quietly rest in the silent Grave till they rise again to Immortal Glory which while their Bodies there expect in Peace their Souls are enlarg'd to a spacious Liberty no longer are they Confin'd to this Prison of the Body but gone to dwell in the Region of Spirits they are no longer exposed to these Stormy Seas but are gladly arrived at their safe Harbour VII Comfort your selves with this firm belief that they are not lost but gone before us that the living Body which thou now sowest with Tears shall rise again with Joy a Glorified Creature that we shall meet in Heaven and never part again and that with greater advantage of Love and Perfection the most perfect Secular Amity hath some bitterness because the best hath some imperfection but there shall be no Animosity in Friends to disturb each other because no Sin nor imperfection Now indeed if we are Confident of such a Resurrection Why should we bewail the Dead Why too much if we believe they are not lost Why should we impatiently take it that they are withdrawn for a time whom we believe returning to Eternity why should we immoderately grieve that our Friends go before us seeing we must quickly follow after VIII Moderate weeping is most highly Commended for it expresseth a natural affection we had to the departed but with a Christian-like Moderation of our Grief whereby our Faith to God-ward is demonstrated and the reason is manifest for they rest from their Labours and their Works follows them why should we then weep since they are received
into the Throne of Bliss and are made partakers of Eternity and St. Cyprian saith those that depart in the Faith of Christ they are sent before us not lost from us they shall receive Immortality and be Heirs of Christs Kingdom again they who attain to the Glory of God's Kingdom are to be thought Happy and in Joy not in Sorrow Vexation or Woe and therefore not to be grieved for in that they are departed from us for of necessity it is we must either depart from them or they from us IX Thrice happy were we if we were received into that Joy that Glory that Eternity whereof the Saints in Christ's Kingdom are Partakers a Glory Distinguished but a Joy Communicate O admirable Mystery O ineffable Mercy A Mystery only to those Revealed whom he in his Mercy hath reserv'd to be Inheritors in the Covenant of Peace established by his Promise Confirm'd by his Power and Confer'd on his Elect Israelites Glorified by a Saviour in the highest Heaven even where Cherubims and Seraphims make Melody and Solace to the Blessed Trinity X. Touching the Inconvenience of immoderate Sorrow St. Paul 1 Thes. 4.13 giveth us an Exhortation I would not brethren have you ignorant concerning them which are a sleep that ye sorrow not even as them which have no hope whence it appears that excessive and immoderate Sorrow implieth a diffidence or distrust we have of our Soul's Immortality Resurrection and Glorification whereby we seem to derogate from that Written Verity who said Verily verily I say unto you the hour shall come and now is when the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear it shall live John 5.25 XI But many Carnal Men there be whose Spiritual Eyes are dazled or rather blemished with Terrestial Objects and can extend their Intellectual Sight no farther than the exteriour Object of Sense guides 'em and these like Nicodemus will not scruple to enquire How can a Man be born again which is Old can he enter into his Mother's Womb again and be born Little do these consider how nor know they how there happens Children by procreation and regeneration of which sort might Rachel seem to be who wept for her Children and would not be Comforted because they were not so strangely doth the violence of Passion transport these as they become Stupid and Senseless in the deprival of a Friend XII To Conclude I wish every immoderate and dispassionate Mourner to Reflect on these two Considerations First To Conceive the Matter or Composition whereof he was made for whom he mourneth Secondly The necessity of his dissolution being enjoyn'd by that universal Doom which cannot be repealed to return to that Mould from whence he had his beginning as to the first for his Composition thou shalt find the Matter whereof he was made Vile Sordid and Contemptible where that Beauty wherein Consisted the eminent part of his Luster is but Earth which we make our inferiour Center yea though he were by Birth in the highest Rank of Descent yet the Matter whereof he was Compos'd is but equal with the obscurest Vassal XIII As to the latter namely his Dissolution as the time is dubious to all Men so is the necessity of the Doom not to be avoided it was the Pagans Maxime Earth must to Earth and it is Pittacus saying That the Immortal Gods themselves could not Struggle against Necessity seeing then the Frailty of his Composition the Necessity of Dissolution have recourse to him in the depth of thy Affliction who will infuse into thy Tear-distilling Wounds the Balm of his Consolation acknowledge thou thy Infirmities with the Publican and he will act the Faithful Samaritan restrain thy too tender Affection as one that is believing so shall not the Death of thy Happy departed Friend grieve thee but by the Wings of Faith Transport thee from Earth to Heaven Translate thee as a Faithful Bezalie from Idolatrous Babel to Zealous Bethel from Edom to Eden from the Tents of Kedar to the Habitations of Moloc to those Princely Cedars of Lebanon from Marah the Water of Bitterness to Bethesda the Pool of Solace Finally from this Exile of Tears and Misery to the Siloam of Joy and Eteral Glory there to receive That Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him The Close TO Sum up this Duty of being ready prepared for Death we must reflect with Sorrow and hatred upon Sin the true Cause of Man's Vanity Man in his first Estate was altogether Excellency God saw every thing that he made and behold it was good Gen. 1-31 Surely this was much more true of Man the Master-piece of the Creation not Vanity but Divinity was his Nature he was not Envelop'd with Rags of Frailty but Enobled with Robes of Innocency nor did he walk in a Vain Shew but a Sacred Representation of God himself II. And now if you would know how this Flower was Blasted it was by the Breath of the Basilisk how this Image was defaced it was by the Poison of the Serpent how Man became Vanity it was by reason of Iniquity this Verifies that saying of the Wise-man Prov. 28. He that soweth iniquity shall reap Vanity III. Let us provide then for our selves another a better Estate than the best which this World affords an Estate of Glory in the Heavens Man's best Estate on Earth is Mutable but that is Durable Empty but that is Satisfying Uncertain but that is Sure only for term of Years but that is for Eternity IV. That we may be ready prepared to meet this certain Herald of the Grave let us carefully provide for that Hour and set our House in order take leave of our best Relations and Friends and support our selves with the Comfortable Hopes of Immortal Life and a Glorious Resurrection and that Death come not upon us unawares let us always observe what Christ did instruct his Disciples Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh V. That Person hath not well Conned over his Lesson of Happiness that is loath to go to it though it be through a dead Sea nor can he be Justly thought desirous of Heaven who is unwilling to shake Hands with Earth it was justly said to that Lame Beggar who refused the offer of his Prince to take him into his Coach Thou well deservest to stick in the Mire and surely it is but fit that they should live and lye in Sorrow who are unwilling that Christ should take them up to himself VI. Let Peace and Tranquillity of Mind be our Continual Study and therefore in whatsoever State we are here let us learn to be Content be it never so mean so as not to repine and let us not be Content be it never so high so as to rest satisfied and whether our Estate in this World be high or low let the first and best of our desires and endeavours be after that Estate which
is not a Shadow but a Substance not a Lease but an Inheritance not Vanity but Felicity and shall be far more in the Fruition than it is in the Expectation VII Are our Friends for the present in a flourishing Estate Take we heed how we Launch out either our Hopes or Love too much towards them considering that they are but Vanity and therefore our Hope which is placed on them will end in Shame and our Love in Vexation VIII Why so big with Expectation of Advantage or Advancement from thy Rich Ally Honourable Lord Potent Friend Alas thou dost but set thy Foot upon the Water which cannot bear thee why so inflam'd with Affection to thy beautiful Wife Child or near Relation Alas thou dost but embrace a Shadow in thine Arms which cannot nor must not stay long with thee but set thy Affections on Heaven to the possession whereof he will bring us who hath purchased it for us IX Now because Death daily attends us let us wait for it and consider well these Four things First Whence thou camest now this thou art told That Sinners begat thee in Sin and miserable Wretches brought thee into this Vale of Misery So that thy Conception was Sin thy Birth Misery thy Life a Punishment and thy Death a Torment and the longer thy Life is the more Sin thou wilt have to answer for But perhaps thou wilt say To what end is this humane Life lent thee Why only to gain a Heavenly Life and this is all Divine Love aims at that thy Life may seem shorter and thy Labour less X. Secondly Consider whether thou goest thy Life which like a Flower is subject to fade and decay tells thee That thou art in a passing State but let it rejoice thee to think that thou goest to thy Fathers and be comforted in this hope thou shalt be buried in a good old Age therefore let it not trouble thee to live nor affright thee to Dye but live in Patience and dye in Desire though thou dost here for a while bewail thy Sorrow thou wilt at length forget thy Banishment and return to thy own Country XI Thirdly to express what thou art what Language can that unfold Dust and Air this thou knowest and to Dust thou shalt return that is certain Man is a sickly diseased empty thing and every Man shall be turned into nothing This none can plead ignorance in for our Metal is a moist Humour and the Mould no better in an unclean Womb condemned sooner than born that 's our condition our best Stock is the Seed of Abraham and with Job we say to Corruption thou art our Mother and to the Worms thou art our Brethren and Sisters these are our great Kindred our dwelling is amongst Insects our quantity vile our weight lighther then Vanity our worth nothing What then is our being a Dream and Sorrow XII Fourthly Consider what thou shalt be thou knowest what thou art and therefore dost know thy self not to be but yet thou dost desire both to be and to know what thou art for to see God and to live with him is to enjoy him and this is eternal Safety and secure Eternity this may be admired though hardly understood yet better understood then can be expressed therefore to thy Soul say O Soul that art ennobled with the Image of God adorned with his likeness espouto him by Faith redeemed by his Blood endowed with his Spirit ranked with his Angels What hast thou to do with Flesh but to contemplate on that brightness that sweetness and pleasure which remaineth for thee in that Vision where thou shalt behold Christ Face to Face for evermore THE TABLE THe Introduction Page 1 Chap. I. Several Notions of Death what it is its Author Name and Nature 6 Chap. II. That Death hath no respect of Persons but we are continual dying whilst we live 10 Chap. III. The Certainty of Death Practically Considered 14 Chap. IV. Several Motives to remember Death Practically Considered 17 Chap. V. Of Sin the means of Death of Sickness Youth and Old Age. 26 Chap. VI. Several forerunners of Death which may Warn Men to prepare for it Practically Considered 37 Chap. VII Of the Separation of Soul and Body with other Memorials of Mortality Practically Considered 46 Chap. VIII Eternal Life Described and Practically Considered 57. Chap. IX The Christian's Map of the World wherein the Vanity of it is shown in the shortness of Man's Life and that this World is not a Place of long Continuance Considered Practically 68 Chap. X. That Man himself is Frail and is no Continuing City or has any Duration here Practically Considered and Emblematically Discussed 78 Chap. XI That there is nothing in this World Worthy of taking off our Affections from Heavenly things Practically Considered 89 Chap. XII Several Instrumental means to be used in the seeking and attaining of a Heavenly Kingdom Practically Considered 101 Chap. XIII A Prospect of the Heavenly Jerusalem which we are to seek Practically Considered 113 The Second Branch How to Fortifie our Selves against the Fears of Death CHap. I. That if we dedicate our Lives to Christ the Advantage of Death will be to our Selves 125 Chap. II. Of the Fears of Death and how to Fortifie our Selves against them Practically Considered 136 The Third Branch CHap. I. Containing Spiritual Remedies against Immoderate Grief for the Loss of Relations and Friends Practically Considered 150 The Close 160 FINIS