be with him which in it self considered was earnest agreeable to his earnest expectation or stretching forth of the hand in looking as that word denoteth in the 20. verse of this Chapter To depart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or to be dissolved according to others or to die as the Apopostle had said in the 21. verse To die is gain The Apostle seemeth to strain himself for a word that he might set forth so gainful a death as he is speaking of which sometimes he calleth a dissolving of this earthy tabernacle and an unclothing 2 Cor. 5.1.4 Peter styles it a putting off of this tabernacle The spirit of God in the Holy penmen of the Scriptures hath set forth the death of the Saints by pleasant and alluring expressions as to sleep to be changed to be gathered to the Fathers and in this place to depart And to be with Christ Paul was in Christ alwayes by grace and Christ revealed in him by the spirit of illumination he was a follower of Christ by conformity and obedience and came behinde none of of the other Apostles in his labour and sufferings for him and as he desir'd to be found in Christ so to depart and to be with him that he might immediately enjoy him and enter into the joy of his Lord and Master unto whom he had been faithful in his ministry and Apostleship The state of happiness is often set forth in Scripture by this phrase of being with Christ and being with the Lord Luke 23.43 This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Rom. 6.8 Now if we be dead with Christ we believe we shall also live with him And 1 Thes 4.17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall ever be with the Lord. Which is far better * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or very much better that is in regard of himself it is better to die then to live though in regard of the Church for him to abide in the flesh it was better and more needful for them as in the following verse And in regard of himself and his glory with Christ it must needs be far better if we consider as Paul did that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which should be the reward of his light afflictions as he so them esteem'd comparatively 2 Cor. 4.17 For our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is beyond expression * Christus caelum non patiuntur hyperbolem And therefore our translation rendereth it a farre more exceeding as Paul here styles it far better Having thus opened the words of the Text I shall lay down one Proposition only from these words of the Apostle and handle that as suitable to this present occasion and solemnity Doct. That it is the desireable and peculiar priviledge of the Saints to be brought immediately to Christ by their departure hence by death In the managing of this doctrine or proposition I shall endeavour to shew and clear these three general Heads the handling whereof will take in the substance and essential parts of the whole Text it self First What is that death in the nature and quality of it that brings the souls of the Saints departed immediately unto Christ Secondly what is it or what may be understood by this phrase to be with Christ Thirdly how doth the death of the Saints bring them immediately to Christ at their departure and in what manner doth the Soul depart to Christ First What it that death in the nature and quality of it that brings the Souls of the Saints departed immediately to Christ 1. Negatively Every death or the death of every man doth not bring him or his soul to Christ It is not death barely and in it self considered as it is a privation of life by the dissolution of nature and parting asunder of soul and body Otherwise what were the priviledge of Paul which here he so greatly desired more then of Judas the Traitor but that Judas went not to Christ but to his own place is evident Acts 1.25 The godly and the wicked die alike in respect of natural dissolution Eccl. 2.26 How dieth the wise man as the fool As there is no visible distinction or marke of difference between the Godly and the wicked by the external things of providence in the course of their lives but all things fall out a like to all men that no man might know love or hatred by what is before him but by what is within him and upon his heart so neither can the righteous be discerned from the reprobates by any visible character of the outward manner of their departure and dissolution And this will appear in the several kinds of death both are subject unto in the course of providence as also in the outward circumstances thereof The godly and wicked may both die of the same disease and distemper of body as feaver consumption dropsie yea the most painful diseases as the gout and the stone and also of the most noy some and uncomfortable distempers as the small pox and the plague it self of which Hezekiah was sick unto death 2 Kings 20.1 Again they may both die by a violent hand Stephen was stoned to death as well as Achan They may both also die by the same occasion and sudden providences as those upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them Luke 13.4 Which did not argue that they were greater sinners then others Moreover they may both die in the full number of their days and a wicked man may live to be an hundred years old and be accursed Isai 65.20 And though wicked men sometimes through the just judgement of God doe not live out halfe their dayes yet the godly may die in their youth and strength and the Lord in mercy take them away from the evil to come Isa 57.1 Lastly they may die alike in regard of the present peace and calm or trouble and disturbance of spirit a godly man may want assurance upon a death bed and a wicked may goe out of the world like a Lamb with peace and presumption and a quiet dissolution Psal 73.4 There are no bands in their death 2. But positively That death which bringeth the Soul to Christ at the time of departure out of this life is to be considered in relation to the state and condition of the person in death as holy righteous and godly So that it is the quality of the person dying that makes him happy in his death whose death is his gain and his departure to be with Christ To this the Scriptures bear clear and rich testimonie Prov. 14.32 The righteous hath hope in his end Ps 37.37 The godly man is marked with this priviledge Marke the perfect man behold the upright the end of that man is
up their tabernacles for 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if the carthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens when the Sons of God the heires of promise shall no more have moveable dwellings but abiding mansions and that in their Fathers house John 14.2 3. In my Fathers house saith Christ to his Disciples comforting of them are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many mansions I goe to prepare a place for you that where I am there ye may be also Lastly the word is also expounded to be delivered Liberari So Beza maketh it the same in signification with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death or from this mortal body Or as Diodate paraphraseth upon that Text O that I were but out of this animal and terrestrial life during which sin doth dwell in me and through it I am yet under the necessity of dying and that I were transported into the liberty of the glory of Gods children in the life of happiness St. Paul saw a law in his members warring against the law of his mind and leading him captive unto the law of sin and death in the foregoing verse under which bondage he groaned for deliverance and for the obtaining of it looked upon death as the only means conducible The Saints are subject to sin while they are in he body because sin receiveth its power from the corruption of nature not wholly mortified in this life therefore called the law in the members and the deeds of the body Rom. 8.13 Our members that are upon earth Col. 3.5 And the lusts of the flesh Gal 5.24 But the death of the Saints is the death of their sins whereby they put off the whole body of sin O happy death that brings the old man of sin to his grave and the new man in grace to his glory and perfection when the Soul shall be no more tempted unto sin no more troubled with sin but perfectly freed from all motions lusts and inclinations to that which is evil by departing hence unto Christ Secondly What is it to be with Christ unto whom the Saints are brought by their departing hence by death That none of the Fathers and Saints of the Old Testament were in heaven before Christs Ascension is but a Popish fiction and delusion contrary to the plain sence and express doctrine of the Scriptures as may appear to name no more in those two remarkable instances of Enoch and Elijah Gen. 5.24 And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him And of Elijah 2 Kings 2.11 And Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind But the question may be made which I shall briefly answer how these Patriarchs and Saints could be with Christ when Christ was not yet incarnate neither ascended into heaven For the Solution of this question I shall only assert and briefly prove that though Christ was not in heaven before his incarnation in his humane nature yet he was there with the Godly departed and they with him in his Divine nature For the Divine nature of Christ being one with the Godhead of the Father and the Spirit as it was coessential so it was coeternal In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God John 1.1 And when Christ was on earch he speaketh of himself as being at the same time also in Heaven which must be understood of his Divine nature John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosome of the Father hath declared him So also John 3.13 No man hath of cended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven And when he was to leave the world in his prayer for himself his Disciples and all believers he thus petitioneth his Father John 17.5 And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was But in what manner the Divine nature of Christ did put off its glory during the time of his exinanition and humiliation upon earth I shall not take upon me to inquire much less to clear so great a Mystery when being equal with God he took upon him the form of a servant having laid by his glory as to the use of it in the mystery of our salvation as learned Beza noteth * Hâ autem gloriâ quod ad usum illius ottinet in salutis no strae mysterio quodam modo sese abdicaverat filius in servi formâ durante suae illius exinonitionis spatio Beza in Johan 17. verse 5. But being out of all question that Christ is now in Heaven in his divine and humane nature and in both glorified I return to shew you the Saints priviledge of being with Christ and what it is to be with him at the terminus ad quem of the Souls motion in the state of Separation First to be with Christ is to be in the place where Christ is or to be locally present with Christ And that Christ is personally and locally in Heaven I will not seem to suspect your faith by being numerous in Scripture quotations Acts. 1.11 The Angels say to the Disciples Ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him goe up into Heaven And Peter telleth the Jews Acts 3. 21. That the Heavens must receive him until the time of the restitution of all things Stephen saw him in Heaven when he was suffering for him Acts 7.56 Behold I see the Heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God And the Apostle Paul layeth it down as an infallible truth to all beleivers Col. 3.1 If ye be risen with Christ seek the things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Now Christ hath told us that where he is there we shall be also John 14.2 And if any man will serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be John 12.26 Now is it not a desirable as well as a peculiar priviledge to be with Christ Christian wast thou ne're affected in reading the Evangelical story of Christ with the singular priviledge which the Disciples of our Lord had in their immediate attendance upon him and continuance with him to hear and see what they saw and heard and to be his bosom friends and familiar companions and didst thou not wish in thy heart that it might have been thy happy lot to have been one of them How much more comfortable and glorious will it be to be with him in Heaven The presence of Christ on earth was a joyful presence to the Disciples for while the Bridegroome was with
peace Balaam 's wish strongly confirmeth it Numb 23.10 Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his And to add no more quotations in so plain a case Paul in my Text appropriateth this priviledge to himself and such as he was real Christians true Saints and unfeigned believers I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ and to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain Therefore look what we are living such we are dying Death is but the term of life and changeth not the state of the person but the degree of that state Grace must be wrought here but perfected hereafter in glory which is grace consummate and if no grace here no glory hereafter for as the tree falleth so it lieth But if I should draw the curtaines that are about these dying Saints and consider how they die that come to Christ by death I would propose it unto you briefly in two or three expressions for the discovery of it and your information in it according to the Scripture The Godly die in the faith of Christ believing in him and all the promises of God which in him are yea and amen Heb. 11.13 These all died in faith not having received the promises they die in the interest of Christ and they are Christs in death as well as life Rom. 14.8 Whether we live we live to the Lord and whether we dye we dye to the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords Yea they die in union with Christ Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 This is that death and the death of such as these are is that departure whereof Paul speaketh in my Text and how desirable it is beyond this present life it self will further appear by the several and sutable acceptations of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original which we translate to depart in which word as an alablaster box the Apostle hath inclosed precious spikenard to annoint the Saints against their funeral by which we shall understand the gainful advantage of death to the godly as it looketh back to this present life as the terminus a quo or the bounds from which they depart First the word is used to loosen the cables of a ship solvere rudentes a metaphor taken from mariners who sail from one Banke or Port unto another it importeth a flitting or sailing from the state of this present life to our heavenly country Afflictions in the Scriptures are compared to waters and the world is a troublesome sea to the Saints over which they sail through many stormes till they come to shore For through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Many are the afflictions of the righteous and in the world ye shall have tribulation saith Christ to his Disciples John 16. last And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus saith Paul shall suffer persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 But the death of the Saints is the end of their sorrowes and if we suffer with Christ we shall be glorified together Rom. 8.18 Then all tears shall be wiped from their eyes and sorrow and mourning shall flee away when they shall arrive at the land of promise the Cape of good hope Heaven is the Saints fair haven it is called the bosome of Abraham Luk. 16.23 Which Gregory Nyssen expounds to be like a bay or bosome of the Sea into which a godly man sayling from hence putteth in his soul as a haven free from danger and tempest where it shall receive the fulness of all good things Secondly The word is translated reverti to return Believers are sent forth to labour in this world and they are Christs factors upon earth for the advancement of his glory and kingdom and the heavenly gain of their own eternal happiness They trade for heaven by which their conversations are said to be in heaven Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our City life or commerce or our conversation is in heaven whence we look for the Lord Jesus Christ to come They are citizens of heaven but they trade from home in a far countrey as merchants seeking the pearl of great price Mat. 13.44 Which having found they returned home richly laden with the treasure of the Gospel Death is the souls return to God Eccles 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it Job saith he shall return thither Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Greek Scholies expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto God How joyful is the return of the Saints to their heavenly home and their happy rest after their laborious travail and restless pains in the works of their salvation attended with all the fruits of holiness and righteousness as an evidence of their faith and testimony of their obedience Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 As the wagons which Joseph sent for his Father Jacob and his houshold brought them to the land of Goshen and to the full plenty of Joseph's provision so death bringeth the Saints to their joyful rest and to Christ their heavenly Joseph Death is the unharnessing of the Saints at their final return to their full peace and everlasting inheritance * Solvunti◠sarcina vincula Thirdly the word is applyed sometimes to the loosing of the cords of a tent * Solvere sunos tobernaculorum Beleivers in this life and while they are in the body dwell as in tents and tabernacles in an unsetled and changeable estate as pilgrims and strangers having no continuing City and therefore often remove their tents like the Patriarchs of old Heb 11.9 10. Where the Apostle speaking of Abraham saith that by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange countrey dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a City which had foundations whose builder and maker is God Al the faithful are heirs of eternal promises how mean and contemptible soever they seem in the eyes of the world as a gazing-stock unto them among whom they sojourn for a time As they are not of the world so they have little favour and respect from it for therefore the world hateth them John 15.19 No wonder therefore the people of God have alwayes accounted themselves strangers here Psal 119.19 I am a stranger in the earth saith David hide not thy commandements from me And Peter writing to the Jews 1 Pet. 2.11 I beseech you saith he as pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the Soul How welcome then is that dissolution that looseneth the cords of those tents and pulleth
continuance of its separation having a natural inclination to be re-united to its own body without which it cannot be perfectly happy though in heaven it self in all degrees for notwithstanding the fulness of the glory of God in heaven whereof it is partaker in the presence of Christ yet being but a part it wants the natural perfection of its relation and receiveth its happiness and glory but according to the measure of a part waiting for the redemption of its body Whence we may conclude that the natural state and condition of the sould of every man is to be in the body and there it is in its proper habitation as the Apostle saith we are at home in the body 2 Cor. 5.6 So that how strange soever the desire of a gracious soul may be to be with Christ and to be absent from the body by departing hence yet it is naturally and necessarily detained till the death of the body leave it free as in a be-widdowed estate to remove to Christ its wellbeloved and to the Father of spirits for a time to visit those mansions wherein it shall abide for ever in the fulness of glory with the assumed body made more suitable and spiritual for it at the resurrection It appeareth also from hence that it is no less then wilful murther and consequently a breach of a great command voluntarily to endeavour or hasten the dissolution of these two united parts of body and soul nature and grace commanding and commending the use of all lawful meanes and that by physick as well as food and other natural helpes to preserve this present life until God in the course of providence shall make a separation Secondly Believers while they are in the body are absent from the Lord Christ both in respect of local distance and also of the nature and manner of their communion with him For Christ is in heaven and they upon earth and their communion with him now though it be spiritual and joyful yet it is weak and darke in comparison of an immediate presence For we walk by faith not by sight 2 Cor. 5.7 Which faith being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen begetteth in the heart a fervent love and an unspeakable joy in an absent and unseen Saviour 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Nevertheless the communion the Saints have with Christ through faith and hope in him is but weak and dark here in comparison of what shall be in heaven when they shall be with him and these graces appropriato this present life and state shall cease through immediate vision and fruition whereby their love shall be perfect in the presence of its object For faith apprehendeth Christ by spiritual knowledge which is the sight in the eye of faith and the highest degree of knowledge the soul is capable of here in heavenly things is but obscure to what it shall be hereafter What we see through many mediums is but darkely seen and though mediums may be helpful to natural sight in case of weakness of the organ or distance of the object yet such a sight falls short of a strong and clear inspection of something near at hand and at a due distance Thus it is in regard of the souls apprehension and knowledge of spiritual things which being at a great distance and far remote in their nature and perfection we look at them as through a glass and that darkely 1 Cor. 13.12 For we know in part and we prophesie in part and now see through a glass darkely but then face to face We see the things of God and of heaven through the glass of the Word and Sacraments and the glass of the workes of Providence in which glasses we may be said to see these things also as by reflexion of their image according to that other expression of Paul 2 Cor. 3.18 For we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image this also is darke in respect of the sight of the maked face or substantial glory of Christ in a direct line and without reflexion for though it be with open face the vail of natural ignorance and blindness being taken away yet it is not face to face in the appearance of Christ nakedly and immediately unto us But what this darkness of knowledge is in this life I shall in a few words more explain The mysteries of heaven and of God and Christ are revealed unto us in the Scriptures according to our capacity of understanding them and the Lord condescending to the nature of man speaketh unto us after the manner of man Now the nature and kind of knowledge which is proper unto us is not intuitive but discursive the rational soul using the organs and senses of the body for the attaining of its knowledge and understanding So that we know all things in a sensible manner according to the first species and impressions made in the understanding which it receiveth from the senses and from thence the understanding by discourse and reason formeth the notions of spiritual and insensible beings And hence it is that in most things that incurre not immediately into the senses our knowledge is so darke and dubious that in natural science we agree not but dispute principles themselves In like manner God revealeth spiritual and invisible things and the great mysteries of the Gospel unto us wherein he speaketh our language and presenteth heavenly things unto us in earthly formes as when he revealeth and describeth himself it is as having the members of our bodies and the passions of our minds which we art to understand figuratively and not literally least we become guilty of blasphemous thoughts and carnal apprehensions of God And thus when our Saviour instructed Nicodemus in the mystery of grace and conversion to God he telleth him he must be born again John 3.5 Nicodemus understood him at first literally and rather wondred then believed wherefore Christ reproveth him verse 13. If I have told you earthly things and ye beleive not how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things Not that regeneration is an earthly thing though it must be a state upon earth and wrought while we are here but Christs meaning is if I have spoken to you of these heavenly and spiritual things in an earthly manner and sensitive way by parables and similitudes and yet ye understand me not so as to beleive how shall ye beleive if I speak in a spiritual and heavenly Dialect and Language Now if we understand heavenly things only as they are revealed for they are therefore so revealed that we might understand them what dark and low what short and weak apprehensions have we of them Therefore a gracious soul desireth to be absent rather from the body and present with Christ that it might
to the eternity of the Saints felicity with Christ and the eternity of your own misery in Hell torments Therefore Christ in the parable bringeth in Abraham thus speaking to the rich man in Hell Luke 16.25 Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented The Prophet David also praying for deliverance from his enemies describeth them by their temporal blessings Psal 17.13 14. Deliver my soul from the wicked which is thy sword from men which are thy hand O Lord from the men of the world which have their portion in this life Let not therefore the people of God envy the prosperity of the wicked for they have but the crumbs and broken meat that your heavenly Father giveth to strangers and enemies yea to Doggs for so the Scripture calleth the wicked Rev. 22.15 Without are Doggs and Sorcerers and Whore-mongers and Murderers and Idolaters and whatever loveth and maketh a lye And let the fear of death bridle and restrain the rage and riot of all prophane persons considering how soon your present joyes shall be at an end and your endless sorrowes commence when God shall lay your honour in the dust and require your souls from you Why tremble ye not at the sight of an inclosed corpse and the open grave before your eyes Ye also shall surely dye O ye covetous worldlings wretched drunkards prophane swearers unclean adulterers ye proud and gaudy vanities put your heads into the dust and stretch forth your hands and feel those cold and dry skulls and bones and lay it to heart before ye lye down in sorrow And for the awakening of your sleepy consciences who look and see no further then to what is obvious to your senses like a brutish people and a generation of sottish and foolish men give me leave to deal faithfully with you according to my present design in shewing you what is on t'other side the Grave and the deplorable estate of every carnal heart in death as soon as the soul hath taken its leave of its sinful body and house of clay First Every wicked and ungodly soul is miserable in death in that it is deprived of the happiness of heaven and the glory thereof in the presence of Christ for as it is the Saints priviledge in death to depart unto Christ so on the contrary it is part of every sinners punishment to depart from him Matth. 7.23 Depart from me ye that work iniquity How will your hopes perish and your hearts break when ye shall find heaven gate shut upon you and Christ himself deny your knocking 's and intreaties with I know you not Matth. 25.12 Be not deceived any longer but know that neither fornicators nor Idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. And such are some of you Friends what think ye of perishing and being banished from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power when ye shall weep and gnash your teeth because ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and your selves shut out Luke 13.28 Ye shall see indeed the righteous whom ye have despised and persecuted and reproached solacing themselves in their full plenty and rejoycing in their everlasting inheritance all the treasures of heaven being opened unto them but ye shall not be able to passe that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or great gulf of separation that is and shall be fixed between them and you so as to approach their presence or to partake of their joyes Augustine moveth a question why the rich man could see Lazarus in Abrahams bosome and Lazarus could not see the rich man in hell and he giveth this answer to it because he that is in the darke may see him that is in the light but he that is in the light cannot see him that is in the dark Heaven is a place of light through the presence of the glory of God and of Christ the Son of righteousness wherein all the righteous shall shine as the Sun and therefore called the inheritance of the Saints in light Acts 26.18 But the state of the wicked shall be darkness and blackness of darkness a total deprivation of the light of the countenance of God and the comfortable presence thereof from which they shall be driven into the remotest distance of place and condition and therefore it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outer darkness Mat. 25.30 Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth And though this be the greatest loss imaginable yet it is the least of your woe in regard of the torments ye shall suffer in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone And so I proceed from the punishment of loss to the punishment of sense and torment Secondly Every wicked man shall be miserable in his death in respect of the state of his soul which death shall bring it unto without Christ And the state of a damned soul after death and the manner of a sinful soul entring into condemnation and torment after dissolution may somewhat be discerned by these following steps and degrees In opening whereof I shall wholly wave the question about the place of hell and torment as a nicety rather then a necessary Subject for serious Auditors First Every wicked and unbeleiving person dieth in the guilt of all his sins unpardoned Remission of sins is a priviledge peculiar to beleivers through faith in Christ Jesus faith being the condition of the promise and the application of the death and righteousness of Christ for justification Rom. 3.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus But he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not beleived in the Name of the only begotten Son of God John 3.18 So that unbelief leaveth the soul under the guilt of sin and sealeth up the final condemnation thereof Whereupon Christ telleth the unbelieving Jews that they should die in their sins John 8.21 24. Then said Jesus again unto them I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall dye in your sins whither I go ye cannot come I said therefore unto you that ye shall dye in your sins for if ye beleive not that I am he ye shall dye in your sins A wicked man carryeth all his sins to the grave with him which for number are as the hairs of his head and for nature damnable and defiling he dieth clothed and clogged with sin and the guilt of all his sins that ever he committed in thought word or deed cleave to his
soul It is dreadful to consider what a mass and mountainous bigness the sins of a poor carnal wretch arise unto if we lay them together his original sin actual sins sins of omission and commission his secret sins and open and scandalous sins his whole life hath been a trade of sin and whatsoever proceedeth from him is sin the ploughing of the wicked is sin and his prayer is turned into sin And to his own sins personally committed we may add his other mens sins either occasioned countenanced or allowed Now multiply these by their particulars and individuals and measure all by their sinful circumstances and then judge of the guilt of every sinful ma that dieth in unbelief and without pardoning grace through the bloud of Christ Secondly The conscience of every wicked man is awakened immediately after death and dissolution to a continual sense of the guilt of all his sins Natural conscience in carnal men is for the most part peaceable silent in this present life delight custome in sin hardning the heart and searing the conscience which they labour to keep asleep by diverting the thoughts to worldly objects or to satisfie by a formal profession attended with some outward performances But as soon as ever the soul of an unregenerate person is separate from the body this lyon awaketh sleepeth no more the faculties of the soul being alwayes in act and exercise in a separate state whereby his sins shall be alwayes before him and set in order before his eyes upon which his conscience shall reflect continually without diversion or intermission Then the sins you have laboured to forget and cast out of mind shall be brought to remembrance and ye shall ever behold them for which conscience shall charge and accuse you and in the fresh remembrance of them you shall lye down self-condemned for ever This is the worm that never dieth Mark 9 48. But shall gnaw your hearts to eternity Thirdly Hereupon the soul of a wicked man shall tremble at the sight and presence of God That the soul of every man and consequently of the wicked shall see and approach the powerful and immediate presence of God in his Divine nature and essence upon their dissolution is apparent in that the spirit of man is said to go upward Eccles 3.21 And to return to God who gave it Chap. 12.7 As also by the particular judgement immediately consequent upon death whereby God appearing to conscience decideth and determineth the eternal state and condition of every soul preparative to the last and glorious appearing of Christ at the great and terrible day who shall then judge the whole world and the soul and body together For it is appointed unto men once to ye and after this the judgement Heb. 9.27 Which may include this particular judgement after death whereof we are speaking as well as the last and general judgement yet some restrain it to the particular only But in what manner the soul of a wicked man shall see God take in a few words Death being the unclothing and putting off off the earthly house of the body the soul remaineth naked in respect of that clothing which nakedness of the separate souls of the Saints is covered and clothed upon with the glory of their house in heaven 2 Cor. 5.3 In which state of nakedness wherein the souls of the wicked abide the soul must needs be quickly and powerfully apprehensive of God and of any impression and influence of God upon it as the body being naked of its clothing is tenderly sensible of heat or cold and any thing that approacheth unto it For the foul being separate from the body receiveth its object no more through the senses of the body but in an immediate way of discovery of them We know also that the Lord doth sometimes immediately wound the spirit of man while it is in the body by letting fall the drops of wrath upon it and thereby tormenteth it which David calleth the rebukes of God Ps 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct a man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth Moreover if the soul being a spirit and separate from the body can converse with spirits as the Saints with Angels and the damned with Devils much more with God the Father of spirits who can discover himself unto them as he pleaseth But take heed of mistaking here for though a gracious and and sanctified soul reconciled unto God hath to do with him as a father in the apprehension of his love through which it hath comfort and joy in communion with him yet it is not so with the sinful soul of that than that dieth in his sins which apprehendeth God only as he appeareth to it in wrath and displeasure for without holiness no man shall see the Lord that is with peace and comfort Heb. 12.14 Now consider ye that forget God can ye see and behold the wrath of his countenance doe ye not tremble in your very thoughts of him Surely the presence of an angry God will make every guilty soul to fear and tremble at his feet when they shall be brought before him by his Serjeant Death The apprehension of guilt and of God together made Adam and Eve to run behind the Trees for fear when they heard the voice of God in the garden Gen. 3.8 Moses though a Favourite yet when he saw the appearance of God in the thundrings and lightnings and earthquakes the smoke and fire heard the sound of the trumpet upon Mount Sinai he said I exceedingly fear â—nd quake Heb. 12.21 When Elijah apprehended God was in the still small voice he wrapped his face in his mantle â—nd went out and stood in the entring of the â—ave 1 Kings 19.13 When Job came to see God with his eyes he abhorred himself in dust and ashes Job 42.6 The judgements of God made holy Davids flesh to tremble Psal 119.120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee I am afraid of thy judgements The glorious vision which Isaiah saw how did it work upon that holy Prophet Isaiah 6.5 When he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne and cryed woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King â—he Lord of Hosts And if these Saints so eminent for grace and holiness have trembled at the presence of God manifested unto them in love and mercy how shall the unner and ungodly stand in his sight Doest thou beleive there is a God If not thou shalt see and beleive but remember that the Devils beleive and tremble Fourthly The soul of a wicked man thus trembling before God the holiness of God breaketh forth in wrath upon the soul to punish torment it For the soul appearing before God in the guilt of all its sins which are the greatest contrariety opposition against the holy nature of God who
blasphemy whereby the soul requoi leth a-against God through anguish thereof By this we may conceive how exquisite the torments of the wicked will be hereafter the soul eternally sinning and continually adding fresh oyl to the flames of wrath for sin kindleth wrath and wrath kindleth hell and hell kindleth sin and sin again wrath and so for ever This is the work and action between an infinite God and a poor unhappy soul to eternity God punishing the soul sinning and the soul sinning God punishing in which torments the body shall partake with the soulafter its resurrection being united again made so far capable to endure its torments as not to be dissolved or destroyed by the extremity and eternity of them Thus sinful and wretched man shall be ever dying weeping yelling howling and sinning under the intollerable pangs of the second death Rev. 21.8 The fearful and unbeleiving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Repent therefore and beleive the Gospel turn from your sins and forsake your wayes that ye may escape this judgement of God for now is the day of salvation through the forbearance of God who would have have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth From this Text and Doctrine we may be again informed upon what grounds the people of God may desire their dissolution How desireable a priviledge the departure of the Saints is hath been already opened but for further direction in it I shall here make up the banks to keep these desires in their right channel which otherwise are ready to break out into unlimited and unlawfull currents Therefore to satisfie this case of conscience concerning the desire of death let every precious soul consider these following Propositions First It is altogether unwarrantable for beleivers to desire dissolution out of meer passion under the forest trouble affliction or tryal It is usual for carnal men upon discontent to wish they might dye who also under the burthensomness of corporal distempers often desire a release from their present paines not knowing or considering that thereby they shall immediately fall from their beds into hell This also is incident to the Godly through infirmity whose passions in this case are not excusable Thus it was with that holy Prophet Elijah when he was forc'd to flee from the rage and persecution of Jezebel who threatned to take away his life 1 Kings 19.34 And when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba and left his servant there but he himself went a dayes journey into the wilderness and came and sate down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am no better then my Fathers Elijah's passion under this persecution being now alone tired and weary probably with his journey as well as assaulted and troubled with slavish fear was the ground of this his request and supplication Now if we compare with this story the expression of S. James presenting Elias as an example of the prevalency of prayer we may judge that this passion was an infirmity in this Prophet James 5.17 Elias was a man subject to passion as we are and he prayed c. The like instance we have of Job who through passion gratified Satan so far under his temptation as to curse the day of his birth and also through vexation of spirit under his afflictions to wish and long for his grave Job 3.20 21 22. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul which long for death and it cometh not and dig for it more then for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Take also the Prophet Jonah for an example hereof who after he had preached destruction to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord and saw not the execution thereof according to his prophecy was discontent at the patience and repentings of God towards that City and besought the Lord he might dye Jonah 4.3 Therefore now O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye then to live for which the Lord checketh him in the next verse dost thou well to be angry And in the 9 and 10. verses When the Gourd was withered and the Wind and Sun beat upon him that he fainted he wished he might dye again and passionately replies to Gods second rebuke of him I do well to be angry even unto the death Secondly Every Christian looking upon death as a priviledge and means to bring him to Christ ought no further to desireit then with submission to the will of God and a willing subjection to his work and service in his generation To hasten death by unlawful meanes is no less then self murther as hath been already proved and hereby the desire thereof is in some measure limited preservation of life by all lawful means being a duty incumbent upon all Our times and seasons life and death are in the hands only of God the wise disposer of all things for the good of them that love him between whose will and ours there ought to be a perfect conformity in relation to all changes and dispensations Christ escaped from the Jews when they often sought to kill him because his hour was not yet come but then he refused not but accepted that bitter cup which his Father gave him to drink When Job had recovered himself from under the power of his passion he besought the Lord to appoint him a set time and he would wait Job 14.14 All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change come We must not run home before we have done our worke but mind our worke as well as our reward God hath appointed a particular service for every beleiver in his generation which he should labour to finish with David before he falleth asleep Acts 13.16 For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep Saint Paul declaring to Timothy the near approach of his dissolution and departure forgetteth not to mention the finishing of his work in the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But till it was finished he was willing to abide in the flesh notwithstanding his great desire to depart and to be with Christ as in the words following my Text. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you And having this confidence I know I shall abide and continue with you for your furtherance and joy of faith Thirdly This being minded it is lawful and warrantable for a
gracious person to desire to depart and to be with Christ Who among all the heires of promise doth not desire the possession and enjoyment of his hopes in Christ his deliverance from sin sufferings and sorrow and the full fruition of all the glory and happiness of his heavenly portion and inheritance Let the spiritual ecchoes and silent answers of all true born Israelites resolve this question whose hearts are enlarged to rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God unto which they are begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead This maketh the greatest afflictions of the Saints in this world so light unto them while they look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen 2 Cor. 4.18 And therefore reckon with Paul That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in them Rom. 8.18 Hence are those earnest groanes and longing desires of the righteous to be uncloathed and cloathed upon with their house from heaven wherein they symbolize and sympathize with the whole creation which desireth to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God Rom. 8.23 And not only they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body Use 3. Use of inquiry If it be the desirable priviledge of the Saints to be brought immediately unto Christ by their death then it may be profitable and useful for us to inquire into the causes why many Christians are so far from desiring it chearfully submitting unto death as that they tremble at it and seem to slye from it What is the reason that they are still in bondage to the fear of death notwithstanding the sting thereof is taken away by the destruction of sin and the grave perfumed as a bed of spices by Christ's lying therein Now therefore for satisfaction to this case and withall to remove and cure this uncomfortable distemper I shall lay down briefly some of the chief causes whence this fear may arise First it may arise from a natural principle of self-preservation For God hath planted this instinct of nature in every part of the creation to labour to preserve its being and secure it self from dissolution Hence it is that nature abhorring avacuity or emptiness in any part of the universe because it tendeth to destruction for the preservation thereof causeth in the creatures motions contrary to their inclinations causing the air to descend to fill up vacuities in the earthly element and the water to ascend contrary to its nature to supply the room and absence of the forced air which we see in several experiments and ordinary inventions And this principle appeareth in every particular creature naturally avoiding whatsoever threatneth or tendeth to its destruction But to come nearer to the case of humane dissolution We naturally shun whatsoever we apprehend may offer violence to us and are subject to sudden passions at the approach of cruelty yea nature put in mind of a weakness in any part of the body maketh strongest reparations and fortifieth that place where a breach was made a broken bone well set becometh stronger then before And hence it is that through fear we decline any eminent danger and labour to preserve our natural beings resisting dissolution as the greatest natural evil Therefore the Philosopher called death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most terrible of terribles and Job the King of terrors Job 18.14 This natural fear was in Christ himself as he was man when he approached his death and sufferings who through a conflict of nature desired to be delivered from them Mat. 26.39 O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me And yet there was no sin in it because it was a natural desire and that for a moment suddenly overcome by reason and deliberation or a short suspension quickly subdued by a voluntary submission and firm resolution the spirit being willing but the flesh weak in Christ himself But grace doth not only teach to deny self but is also powerful to subdue our natura wills and inclinations to the will of God as it was also in Christ nevertheless not my will but thine be done Secondly It may proceed from immoderate love and inordinate affections to the world and the things of this present life And there is a great proneness in believers themselves to â—ive too much liberty to earthly and worldly affections and to take too much delight and content in the good things of this life which are but bona corporis the goods of the body These things are snares unto us in our life and as stocks to the feet of the soul at the time of departure How loth are we to let go our tenure and hold of these delights upon a sick bed to take our last farewell and shake hands with near and dear relations to have our eyes closed and no more to be opened upon these visible comforts and to suffer the pillow to be drawn away from our heads that we may yield up our spirits to a more easie and free passage Certainly if we were more crucified to the world and strangers in it we should far more willingly leave it whereas through the love of it we are still hoping for a longer time and continuance in it and that God would still add either more yeares to our dayes or at least more dayes to our years Were not the stakes of our worldly delight drove so deep and strongly fastned in the earth our earthly tabernacles would more easily be dissolved The creatures in themselves are good and life is not only sweet in it self but as it is also ratio possidendi our tenure of them they are but for one life without renewing the lease thereof Therefore for the loosening of these cordes and stakes consider how much better one Christ is then all the creatures and one God then a thousand worlds and the glory of heaven then the superficial varnish and beauty of the whole earth If ye be Christians and risen with Christ take the Apostles counsel Col. 3.1 2 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Therefore saith he mortifie your members which are upon the earth inordinate affections evil concupiscence and covetousness which is Idolatry Christians take heed of fastning your affections here it may be Christ may require you should testifie your love to him by suffering for his sake and the Gospel and that unto the death and if worldly affections discompose
the spirit and render beleivers unfit for a natural dissolution how much more will they entangle in a time of persecution And what will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul For saith our Saviour whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it Matth. 16.23 24. Remember that Christ is your life and the cause and fountain of life and if you lose life it self for him you will find it again in him nec propter vitam vivendi perdere causam venture not the losing of Christ himself for this life sake This was Pauls present case and condition in my Text he was willing to suffer and by suffering for Christ to depart unto Christ which is far better Thirdly This fear of death may flow from a want of a clear evidence of an interest in Christ When a Christians evidence for heaven is darke and dubious the white stone slurred and the new name hardly legible when neither his own spirit nor Gods spirit beareth full witness or give in a clear testimony to adoption and reconciliation in this case eternity is terrible and the face of death and its appearance exceeding ghastful Sometimes the death of the Godly is a streight passage and a darke entrance when together with the pangs of dissolution the guilt of sin appeareth to conscience the wonted favour of God is withdrawn by removing his supporting presence and the Devil by strong assaults and temptations takes advantage of weakness to vex and disquiet the soul striving and strugling for support and comfort Methinks I hear such a heart cry out in the words of the Prophet David Psal 39.13 O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more seen It is exceeding hard for a Christian to venture to launch forth into eternity upon uncertainties and without a hopeful at least if not a full and satisfactory perswasion of happiness and salvation In this case the soul hath no other help but to roul it self upon mercy by renewing the acts of faith upon Christ to stay it self upon God though hiding his face and strongly to rest and rely upon the rock of ages And let this comfort and support in such an hour of trouble and tryal that when thou droppest into eternity and seemest to fall in the act of dissolution into eternal sorrow then the everlasting armes are ready to receive thee and as soon as ever death closeth the eyes of thy body thy soul shall see the glorious face of God himself to thy everlasting though unexpected joy Therefore imitate and follow the steps of Christ thy forerunner who in the same condition of desertion exercised faith upon the cross saying Mat. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Fourthly The Saints may be subject to the fear of death and not chearfully submit unto it from their ignorance of the state of heaven and their happiness with God hereafter It is a received axiome ignoti nulla cupido we cannot desire what we do not know and apprehend And though the greatest part of what we know here be the least part of what we know not but shall know hereafter for we know but in part yet most Christians are guilty of neglect unexcusable ignorance in that they might know far more of the state of heaven then they doe It is true what the beloved Disciple and Apostle asserts 1 John 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is The Scriptures are not altogether silent in revealing So the glorious inheritance of the Saints that though we are not able in our understanding while we are in the body to behold so great a glory had it been fully revealed yet so much is revealed thereof unto us that we may in the promises thereof discerne and contemplate as we doe the glory of the Sun by its reflexion in still waters For as it is written 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath revealed unto them that love him but as it followeth in the next verse God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God among which are profunda coeli the high or deep things of heaven It would be endless to gather together those pieces of heaven which like rich pearles and sparkling diamonds lye scattered up and down the Scriptures Let every high and heaven-born soul look more after his portion and spend more i me in surveying that inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in the heavens for him This will sweeten the thoughts of death and strengthen the soul to encounter the King of terrours Who would not endure the strongest paines for heavenly pleasures who would not shoot this gulph for eternal gain who would not dare to dye once that he might live and never dye more yea who would not depart that he might be with Christ Use 4. Then suffer the word of exhortation and first let every natural men accept of a friendly call to provide and prepare for the day and hour of his dissolution Consider wherefore thou art come into the world and how thou mayst close thy dayes in peace Wherefore hath God given thee a being and breathed into thy nostrils the breath of life Why did not she that bare thee miscarry before she had reckoned her months that thou wast not the untimely fruit of the womb why wast thou not stifled in the birth and the long expectations of him that begat thee frustrate with the news of a stilborn child or why diedst thou not in thine infancy as a blossome withered through sudden blasting By how many preventing and preserving providences hath thy life been renewed and continued unto thee that thou still drawest thy breath and swallowest thy spittle what account canst thou give of the golden talent of time God hath betrusted thee withal upon every moment whereof dependeth eternity Call to mind the dayes that are past and gone and shall return no more and examine the short periods and divisions of time never to be recalled which thou hast spent either idlely and impertinently or for the most part sinfully and prophanely Art thou born to sin or dost thou therefore sin that thou mayst shorten thy dayes by hastening to fill up the measure of thine iniquity why shouldst thou dye before thy time Is there no measure of sin or bounds of profaneness that thou drinkest in sin as the fish the water and drawest iniquity with cart ropes and the cords of vanity O make not so much hast to hell thou wilt be there too soon but turn at reproofe and to day whilest it is called to day harden not thy heart who knoweth
what a night may bring forth or whether thine eyes shall see the light of another day Compose a while thy wandring unsetled thoughts and if thou canst be serious at such a solemn assembly and sad occasion tell me if thou canst venture this night thy eternal condition to be determined upon thee by a sudden dissolution Art thou ready to be uncloathed and to lye down in the dust of death or dost thou not tremble at the thoughts of it as a poor sinful creature amazed distracted and confounded in thy self through the fear of death and hell that followes it Oh cast not away so precious a soul though thou hast hitherto made it a servant to sin and a drudge to Satan If thou knewest the worth of an immortal spirit thou wouldest not barter it away to the Devil for such short and empty pleasures nor expose it to the rapine of vain lusts to be defiled and deflowred but on the contrary by all means and unwearied paines seek the deliverance and salvation thereof from eternal misery and everlasting ruine which shall be inevitable without true and unfeigned repentance That I may now catch thee in thy fall and pull thee out of the fire and through compassion save a soul from death for knowing the terrour of the Lord we perswade men oh resist not the counsell of God to thy destruction but accept of direction from an unworthy labourer in the Lords vineyard who shall rejoyce to become an instrument of bringing thee in to God that thou mayest be translated from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of his dear Son First Search the Scriptures and make them the impartial judge of thy condition Examine thy heart and wayes by the infallible touchstone of the word of God and try the rectitude or declination of thy soul by this line and plummet The word of God is the true standard and exact ballance of the Sanctuary by which if thou wouldest not be deceived thou mayest know thy present and consequently thy future estate to eternity Therefore open this booke and in obedience to this present call of God unto thee take and read and judge thy self that thou mayest escape the final condemnation and judgement of God when this book with the rest of those bookes mentioned by Saint John in his Revelation shall be opened Rev. 20.12 And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes Friend God will not judge thee by another law and rule then what he hath revealed unto thee for he is righteous in judgement And though the heathen that have not this law of God revealed unto them shall be judged without it even by the light of nature and the law of their own consciences whereby they are a law unto themselves yet they that have it shall be judged by it Rom. 2.12 13 14 15. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law c. And think not to plead ignorance in that day for that will be but to plead guilty also where God hath afforded so much meanes of knowledge For God hath not cast thy lot and habitation in a land of darkness but of light and under the plain and powerful ministery of the Gospel under which thou canst not be ignorant unless thou shuttest thine eyes against the truth and lovest darkness rather theu light that thou mayest sin more securely Therefore supposing through charity that thou art not wholly ignorant and unacquainted with the mysteries of the Gospel and the rule of righteousness contained in the holy Scriptures let me engage thee to a self examination by them as being able to make thee wise unto salvation But give me leave however to put that question to thee which Paul put to King Agrippa Acts 26.27 King Agrippa beleivest thou the Prophets Beleivest thou the Scriptures if thou beleivest why tremblest thou not at the wrath of God proclaimed and his judgment denounced against sin and sinners But how canst thou beleive and still persevere in prophaneness and a wicked and licentious conversation Suppose thou shouldest see one of thy old acquaintance and companions in iniquity now in torments arise out of his grave and hear him relate with trembling and astonishment the miserable estate of the damned in hell and the unexpressible paines they endure there and withal falling prostrate at thy feet with cryes and teares beseech thee to repent and accept of the riches of mercy now offered unto thee in the Gospel that thou mightest not perish in the same condemnation and destruction would not this scare and affright thee or worke in thee a serious reflexion upon thy sinful condition Now hath not the eternal God and Jesus Christ the faithful and true witness declared the same unto thee by the word of truth which cannot be broken or changed and dost thou remain still secure and obstinate It is to be feared if thou beleivest not the report of God that thou wouldest not beleive the report of man though God should miraculously call up the dead to warne thee As Abraham told the rich man in hell intreating him to send Lazarus from the dead unto his Fathers house to his five brethren to testifie unto them least they should come to that place of torment Luke 16.29 31. They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them and if they hear not Moses nor the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead Hearken therefore not only to Moses and the Prophets but to a greater then Moses to Christ and his holy Apostles by whom the counsells of God and his good and perfect and acceptable will are sufficiently made known unto the Sons of men For the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thessal 1.8 Let every soul then enquire after God and examine the evidences of his salvation the grounds of his hope the fruits of repentance the signes of regeneration and the Scripture markes and characters of a sound and saving faith in Christ Jesus For without faith it is impossible to please God without holiness no man shall see him and without repentance and regeneration no salvation Therefore be not deceived but search the Scriptures daily whether these things be so or no. Secondly set the fear of God and his wrath before your eyes continually Consider O ye Sons of men in whose presence ye are at all times yea when ye are most retired from the eyes of men who can strike you dead in the act of sin though never so secretly committed stand in awe therefore and
and unworthy wretches who disdain and slight such reports of mercy and the rich mystery of Gods good will towards men in Christ which the Angels admiring bow themselves and stoop down to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 Hearken O ye unbeleivers Is it not a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners whereof ye are the chief What is the meaning of so many publique Assemblies every Lords day and our occasional comings together upon this or any other providential call what is the meaning that so many are set apart and make it their study and labour to preach unto you whom ye openly see in their Pulpits spreading their hands and hear them with so much zeal and fervency crying aloud spending their very strength and hazarding their healths and life it self in their unwearied paines Is it not Christ whom we preach and in whom ye say that ye beleive How can ye beleive that wallow in the mire of your unclean and polluted conversations How can ye beleive that commit iniquity with greediness and blush not at your open sins and profaneness How can ye beleive that make the world your God and prefer the trrash of the earth before the treasures of heaven How can ye beleive that seek the honour and praise and favour of men more then the honour that is of God that ye may be great upon earth and get a name which shall be written in the earth Is it not true that all men have not faith ye say ye beleive and ye have faith can your faith save you can a dead faith a feigned faith a fruitless and a workless faith save you Can ye prove or shew a true faith without workes Give me leave to try your faith in regard of the object of it Doe ye beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ Doe ye beleive in that Christ who from the beginning was promised to the sore-fathers who saw his day and rejoyced who in the fulness of time appeared in our flesh made of a woman and under the law and took upon him the form of a servant who suffered so much shame and reproach by the contradiction of sinners and at last an accursed death the death of the cross for the satisfaction of divine justice and appeasing of the wrath of God so highly provoked by the sins of men who arose from the grave having overcome and broken the bands of death to assure unto us our justification who lastly ascended into the highest heavens and is there interceeding for his people and ruling and reigning till he overcome all his enemies whence he shall come again and appear the second time without sin unto the final judgement of the world and the full salvation of all that beleive in him Why then do ye say in your selves or is it not the language of our unbeleiving hearts who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ from above and who shall descend in to the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead What strange fancies have ye in your mindes of Christ and beleiving in Christ Is not your faith a fancy O that the word of faith were nigh unto you even in your hearts the word of faith which we preach And that ye would beleive our report when we preach Christ and him crucified as we have evidently set him forth crucâ—fied among you Besides if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed it would soon manifest its self by the growth of it and the fruits that proceed from it It would be a Christ prizing faith a heart purifying faith a world conquering and crucifying faith it would be a Saint loving and a soul humbling faith it would work in you the fear of God and the fear of sin a love to the truth and to every ordinance of Christ it would make conscience tender and the heart sincere and upright with God yea it would render holiness beautiful and lovely and all the wayes and commands of the Lord delightful and easie besides it would make future things present and present things absent and as if they were not and yet the beleiving soul inherits all things and possesseth all things The exercise of faith is a pleasant joyful and glorious act through the transcendent and unspeakable excellency of Christ the object thereof Now if these things be a mystery unto you and your hearts wholly strangers unto them look into the Gospel more seriously and acquaint your selves further with the riches of the mystery of Christ even the riches of mercy and the unsearchable treasures of Christ and be no more faithless but beleive If ye were but sensible of the wants of your souls as ye are of the straights and necessities of your bodies it would not be so hard to perswade you to come to Christ the great treasury of all supplies who hath gold for the poor and eye-salve for the blind and white rayment for the naked Rev. 3.13 Now are not ye thus poor and blind and naked and consequently wretched and miserable And how freely doth Christ offer himself to become all fulness unto you who is made of God unto all that beleive wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 what sure foundation can ye build upon if Christ be not the corner stone and rock of your trust and confidence and to whom will ye goe for eternal life if ye refuse him and reject the counsell of God by persisting in unbeleif and impenitency I can assure you from the word of God that other foundations can no man lay then is laid by Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 To day therefore whilst it is called to day harden not your hearts refuse not him that speaketh from heaven lest you perish in your unbeleife but lay hold upon this strength of God that ye may make peace with him ye shall make peace Isai 27.5 For he is our peace by whom we have access with boldness unto the throne of grace and he is able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by him Heb 7.25 O sinners beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved every soul of you your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquity shall be remembred no more and receive him who is ready to receive you and to bless you with all spiritual blessings that ye may be the children of God and heires of the promises and of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven Secondly The exhortation is also to all Christians for to such my text hath a more special relation even to those who with their hearts beleive and love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity who though peradventure they cannot so freely with Saint Paul desire to depart yet in case of departing unfeignedly desire to be with him And because
some of us are come to this place at this time as Abraham at the cave of Machpelah to bury the dead out of their sight and are mourning for the departure of a near relation I shall speake a few words unto them before I come to direct and counsel Christians in general And I shall only exhort you freely to resign your relation to Christ and not to mourn as those that have no hope which was Saint Pauls counsel to the Thessalonians in the like case 1 Thess 4.13 14. which he presseth with a strong argument for saith he if we beleive that Christ died and rose again even so them also which beleive in Jesus will God bring with him which implieth that they are with God and Christ It becometh all that fear the Lord to be silent in submitting to every providence of God It is recorded of Aaron when his two Sons were slain by an immediate hand of God and the fire of his displeasure that after Moses had declared the mind of God unto him he held his peace Levit. 10.3 When David understood the death of his child for which he mourned so exceedingly during the time of its sickness he rose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped 2 Sam. 12.20 The patience of Job is set forth in Scripture for an example to all beleivers who when he had heard out the relation of the evil tidings which his sad messengers brought unto him of his great losses in estate and also of the sudden death of all his children glorified God under all Job 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. How then should Christians not only labour to submit but willingly and chearfully satisfie and quiet their spirits when they part with Relations upon such Comfortable terms that no sooner they are out of their sight but they are immediately with Christ It is true nature is strong in her affections and loth to let go the possession of any present comfort and therefore cannot but discover her passions when she is bereaved of near enjoyments And this seemeth to be the ground of sorrow in the breach and dissolution of natural bonds even a long continued absence or an imagination of never seeing departed friends any more if not a conceit of annihilation and that the dead are not as ignorant persons are ready to entertain strange notions thereof But however natural men may immoderately mourn upon such apprehensions of the state of the dead or which we may add of the greatness of their own loss in such a case who know not how to value or prize a creature comfort with any moderation because they mind not a greater and better portion yet where nature hath been at school and under the teaching and instruction of grace in those who understand and are acquainted with the truths of the Gospel and the mysteries of Christ how should all such manifest a more noble and heavenly principle ever the grace they have received in adorning their profession and justifying the truth and worth of religion by a comely gracious solid and sweet behaviour and demeanure of themselves under such providences The faithful part with their spiritual Relations at their dissolution upon the grounds of heavenly promotion wherein they should be more free then those that can take a joyful farewell of their nearest friends for the greatness of earthly preferment Let the Godly husband therefore rejoyce under his sorrow and rather weep for joy that the wife of his bosom is translated into the bosome of Abraham and taken into the presence and embraces of Christ her heavenly head and husband now knowing her no more after the flesh but in Christ in whom all natural relations are spiritualized by the medicinal union of fellow membership in his body which is the church and the spouse of Christ And let the off-spring and children of such aparent no longer look with teares upon the womb that bare them the papps that gave them suck and the tender bowels of her that now ceaseth to care for them but unto the Lord with whom the fatherless find mercy and the orphans succour and releif when they put their trust in him and cast their cares and burthens upon him How soon would tears dry upon our cheeks and our sighs and sobbs turn into songs could we see the heavens open and not only Christ standing at the right hand of God but our dear and godly relations departed at the right hand of Christ having put off the weedes raggs of mortality and temporal misery and being clothed with the garments of praise and robes of immortality and glory Such a sight the eye of faith can see which periceth the heavens and seeth things invisible Therefore let us not think that the Saints departed are less happy because we are uncapable of beholding their heavenly advancement like Jacob deluded by Josephs brethren and his coat of many colours which they presented unto him as torn by wild beasts whence he concluded that he was not though yet alive and in the way to be advanced to be Lord of Egypt and the next unto Pharaoh in the Kingdom Our godly relations though dead are yet alive and we shall shortly goe to them though they return not to us I shall say no more in this case but what Christ said unto those who followed him towards his death lamenting him Luke 23.28 Weep not for me but weep for your selves your children So weep we not forthe dead in Christ but let us weep for our selves and mourn over our dead hearts and their corruptions that sin still dwelleth in us and we cannot honour Christ as we desire nor doe that which we would the flesh lusting against the spirit and withall let us follow Christ on earth and the faith footsteps of those who are with him that when we depart we may also be with Christ which is far better Thus I come at length to lay down some spiritual directions and counsels to Christians in general in reference to their comfortable and joyful departing unto Christ at their dissolution Direct I. Labour to rejoyce in beleiving and so to exercise and act faith upon Christ as spiritually to rejoyce in him This is a duty incumbent upon all beleivers though all doe not at all times attain nor keep up and maintain this heavenly frame and sweet temper of spirit but walk mournfully and disconsolately depressed by fear and doubtings concerning their state and condition in grace dejected by corruption of nature and the motions and strivings of the flesh the cause either of sinful falls of distracting infirmities or else darkned and clouded by spiritual desertions and withdrawings of the gracious presence of God formerly enjoyed and the light of his countenance sometimes lifted up upon them vexed also by Satan troubling their peace by his strong and powerfull temptations who envying their