The truth is were not men drowned in sensuality as he whom Seneca speaketh of that knew not whither he stood or sat till his slave told him and their consciences seared and made sensless by them as young Gallants being arrested for debt make the Serjeants drunk and thereby escape at present it would be impossible for men to live thus after the flesh But as some cunning theives if there be a Mastiff belonging to the house which they intend to Rob give it some morsels which will keep it from barking that so they may steal the Inhabitants Wealth and they not have the least warning either to hinder or recover it So the Devil hath an art to make mens consciences dumb whilst he robs them of their inestimable souls poor foolish creatures they are lazing on their beds of carnal security and delighting themselves in their dreams of lying vanities and in the interim he rifleth their houses and taketh away all that is of any value Yet as fast as conscience is now asleep t will shortly awake as the Jaylor at midnight and then what fears and frights will possess them Ah how clearly will they see their folly in sowing to the flesh and trusting to that which was never true to any then they will roar out If we had served our spirits as faithfully as we have served our flesh they would not have failed us thus When Pausanias desired Simonides to give him some grave Apothegm by which he might apprehend his great wisdom for which he was so renowned Simonides smiling spake this Esse te hominem ne excideret tibi Remember that you are a man that your flesh will fail you Pausanius puffs at this but in a short time after being almost pined to death with Famine he began to think of Simonides saying and cryed out O Simonides magnum quiddam erat oratio tua sed prae amentia esse nihil opinabar O Simonides thy speech was full of weight but I mad wretch thought it of no worth Friends Ministers nay the chief Master of sentences himself delivered thee this as the Master piece of wisdom To remember that thy flesh will fail thee Prov. 19.20 Hear counsel receive instruction that thou mayst be wise for thy latter end But possibly thou like Gallio carest for none of these things It is death to thee to think of death Thou hatest it as Ahab did Micaiah because it never speaketh well of thee thy voice to it is as Pharaohs to Moses Get thee hence Let me see thy face no more It is said of Vitellius in Tacitus that he was one hour trepidus dein temulentus fearful the next drunken in the very approach of his fatal ruine striving to drown his fears in his cups Thou art resolved to riot and revel and therefore canst not endure to think of a reckoning Well put off the thoughts of it as far and as much as thou canst make as light of it as thy hardned heart will give thee leave yet be confident t is on its way riding post towards thee with a Warrant from the God of Heaven for thy Execution and O then when thou seest its grim face how will thine heart tremble and when thou hearest its dreadful voice how will thine ears tingle the flesh which thou now pamperest will then wax pale and the vessels which now thou drawest thy comforts from will then run dregs and then O then how mournfully wilt thou screech out O Pastors O Teachers The counsel which you gave me was of infinite weight and consequence but I fool mad man had not the wit to follow it Or as Carolus King of Sicily did on his death-bed Alas alas I am going to dye and yet have not begun to live I shall conclude this use with that sad Relation which Athenaeus makes of a great Monarchs life and death in which as in a Looking-glass thou mayst see that flesh-pleasing vanitities will end in soul-piercing miseries and that as wise as such a man may be counted by the World yet in his latter end he is but a fool Ninus the Assyrian Monarch had an Ocean of Gold and other riches more then the Sand in the Caspian Sea he never saw the Stars he never stirred up the Holy fire among the Magi nor touched his God with the sacred rod according to the law he never offered sacrifice nor worshipped the deity nor administred justice but he was most valiant to Eat and Drink and having mingled his Wines he threw the rest on the stones This man is dead behold his Sepulchre and now hear where Ninus is Sometimes I was Ninus and drew the breath of a living man but now am nothing but clay I have nothing but what I did eat and what I served on my self in lust that was and is all my portion the wealth with which I was esteemed blessed my enemies meeting together shall bear away as the mad Thyades carry a raw Goat I am gone to hell and when I went thither I carried neither Gold nor Horse nor silver Chariot I that wore a Miter am now a little heap of dust CHAP. V. Second USE An Exhortation to sinners to prepare for death with three quickenning motives Death will come certainly it may come suddenly When it comes t will be too late to prepare THE second Use shall be by way of Exhortation which will run in two distinct channels partly to the sensual worldlings partly to the serious Christian I shall speak one word to the Wise but in the first place two words to the Wicked Exhortaion 1. To the Wicked to fit themselves for the other World If the flesh will fail you mind the salvation of thy spirit when one leaf fals in Autumn we conclude that all will follow after by the death of others thou mayst conclude thy own dissolution When mens Leases of the houses wherein they dwell are neer expired they think of providing another Habitation that they may not be exposed to the injury of the wind and weather in the naked streets Reader I am come to thee with a message this day from the faithful God and it is to acquaint thee that the Lease of thy life is almost worn out the time of thy departure is at hand what House wilt thou provide for thy precious soul that it may not be obnoxious to the roarings of damned spirits and to the rage of tormenting Devils The Roman Gladiatours designed to death were very careful so to contrive and carry themselves that they might fall handsomely Sure I am thou art one appointed for the dust where O where is thy sollicitousness to dye comfortably Possibly thou art one who hast often spoken of dressing thy body neatly for the Coffin thy wedding shift the finest sheet thy handsomest head-cloaths must all adorn thy clod of Clay and grace thy carkass to entertain the Wormes at their feast with clean and fine Linnen But in the mean time thou hast no thoughts of dressing
2 Sam. 23.5 Mark how the pious King draws all the Wine which made his heart glad in one of his last hours from this Pipe Death is one of the sowrest things in the World and such things require much sugar to make them sweet David found so much honey in the Covenant that therewith he made Death it self a pleasant a desireable Dish If you observe the beginning of the Chapter you will find that his end was near Now these be the last words of David But this this was the quiet and ease of his heart that Gods Covenant with him was everlasting and without end As Death is famous for its terror being King thereof so also for his power it brings down the mighty Princes and Potentates of the Earth Cant. 8.6 Samson was but a Child in Deaths hands hence we read when Scripture would draw strength in its full proportion and length As strong as Death but as strong as Death is David knew it could not break in sunder the Covenant between God and him nor dissolve the union betwixt his Saviour and his soul The firmness of this Covenant being sure footing for faith to stand on is that which puts life into a dying Christian As Death though it parted the soul and body of Christ parted neither of them from the divine nature they were as a Sword drawn by a man the Sword is in one hand separated from the Sheath in the other hand but neither of them separated from the man so though Death break the natural union between the beleivers soul and body it cannot break the mystical union between Jesus Christ and the soul therefore Saints are said to sleep in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 And truely by the vertue of this Cordial this Covenant they are so far from flying back at the sight of their Foe Death that they can look him in the face with courage and confidence See how they triumph over him as if he were already under their feet O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory 1 Cor. 15.57 58. The sting of Death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but thanks be to God which hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Hark they speak as Challengers daring their disarmed enemy to meet them in the field and they speak as Conquerors being assured through the Captain of their salvation of the victory before they fight Epiphanius faith Epiph. lib. 1. cap 33. that Adam was buried in Calvary where Christ was crucified Sure it is that Christ at Calvary did somewhat which made the Christians bed soft and easie that whereas it would have been a bed of Thorns he turned it into a bed of down and thereby the beleiver comes to lye on it so contentedly and to sleep so sweetly and comfortably By this time Reader I hope thou understandest the necessity and benefit of this relative change With this Covenant thou art armed Cap a pe with armour of proof with the righteousness of Christ which is law proof death proof and judgement proof and leavest Death wholly disarmed and naked Without this thou hast no Weapons and findest Death a man of War In the forequoted place thou seest that sin is the sting of Death and the strength of sin is the Law The Law binds the soul over for disobedience to its precept to its malediction and punishment passeth a sentence of condemnation already upon the creature and beginneth its execution in that bondage and fear as flashes of the unquenchable fire which seize on men in this life Rom. 7.6 John 3.18 Heb. 2.14 And as sin hath its strength from the law the law making it so powerful to curse and condemn so Death hath its strength and sting its venome and vertue to kill and damn to destroy soul and body for ever from sin Sin makes Death so deadly that its the poyson in the cup which makes it so mortal and loathsom a draught Thy work and wisdom therefore is as the Philistinos when they heard that the great strength of Samson the destroyer of their Country lay in his hair were restless till they had cut it off and became weak so now thou hearest wherein the strength of Death the great destroyer and damner of souls consisteth to be unquiet night and day to follow God up and down with sighs and sobs strong cries and deep groans for pardon of sin and to give thy self no rest till thou attainest an interest in this Covenant through Jesus Christ Pious Job though not in thy case was for this cause exceeding importunate for a sense of this pardon And why dost thou not pardon mine iniquity and take away my trasgressions for now shall I sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning and I shall not be Job 7. ult He cryeth out as one fallen into a deep dirty ditch or one whose house is fired Water Water for the Lords sake to clease this defiled soul and to quench this scorched conscience Lord Why doth the messenger who useth to come post to me a poor condemned Prisoner with a pardon lingring so long Alas I wish he may not come too late But what is the reason of this importunity for expedition Why Job in his own thoughts was going to appear before his Judge and he durst not venture without a pardon in his hand for now shall I sleep in the dust The child did not dare to go to bed at night till he had asked his Father Blessing and begd and obtained forgiveness of his disobedience in the day Nothing in the whole creation can pacifie the conscience awakened with the guilt of sin and frighted with the fear of death but a pardon in the blood of this Covenant for want of this it was that the Heathen were either desperate or doubtfull in their deaths and their Orator ingeniously confesseth that notwithstanding all the Medicines they could gather out of their own Gardens the Disease was still too strong for the Remedy But a plaister spread with the blood of Christ and applied by faith to the sore is a soveraign and certain cure Faith in Christ is such a Shield that under its protection a Christian may stand in the evil day of Death keep his ground and secure himself from all the shot which the Law Satan or conscience can make against him I am the resurrection and the life He that liveth and beleiveth in me shall live though he dye Joh. 11. Willet Hexapl. in Levit. c. 11. The Death of the King of Saints is the onely comfort and help against Death the King of Terrors It s a strange property which some report of the Charadrion that if any man have the jaundise and look on the bird and the bird on him the bird catcheth the disease and dieth of it but the man recovereth Christ took mans disease and dyed that all who look on him with an eye of Faith might recover and live
thy immortal soul against the coming of the bride-groom When thou diest thou throwest thy last cast for thine everlasting estate thou shalt never be allowed a second throw An Error in death is like an Error in the first Concoction which cannot be mended in the second Where thou lodgest that Night thou dyest thou art hous'd for ever That work which is of such infinite weight and can be done but once had need to be done well God hath given thee but one Arrow to hit the mark with Shoot that at randome and he will never put another into thy Quiver God will allow no second Edition to correct the Erratas of the first therefore it concerns thee with all imaginable seriousness to consider what thou doest when thou diest One would think thou shouldst take little comfort in any creature whilst thy eternal state is thus in danger Augustus wondered at the Roman Citizen that he could sleep quietly when he had a great burden of debt upon him What rest canst thou have what delight in any thing thou enjoyest who owest such vast sums to the Infinite Justice of God when he is resolved to have full satisfaction either in this or the other world When David offered Barzillai the pleasures and preferments of his own royal Palace he refused them because he was to die within a while How long have I to live that I should go up with the King unto Jerusalem Let thy servant turn back that I may dye 2 Sam. 19.34 35 36. i. e. Court me no courts I have one foot in the grave my glass is almost run let me go home and dye Without controversie thou hast more cause to wink on these withering comforts and to betake thy self wholly to a diligent preparation for death The Thebans made a law That no man should build a house before he had made his grave Every part of thy life may mind thee of thy death Mortibus vivimus Senec. The Moralist speaks true Thou livest by deaths thy food is the dead carkasses of birds or fish or beasts thy finest rayment is the worms grave before t is thy garment Look to the Heavens the Sun riseth and setteth so that life which now shineth pleasantly on thee will set how much doth it behove thee to work the work of him that sent thee into the world while day lasteth that thou mayst not set in a cloud which will certainly prognosticate thy foul weather in the other world Look down to the Earth there thou beholdest thy mother out of whose womb thou didst at first come and in whose bowels thou shalt ere long be laid The dust and graves of others cry aloud to thee as Gideon to his Souldiers Look on us and do likewise O trim thy soul against that time If thou risest up and walkest abroad in the streets thou seest this house and that seat where such a woman such a man dwelt and lo the place which knew them shall know them no more they are gone and have carried nothing with them but their godliness or ungodliness If thou liest down thy sleep is the image of death thou knowest not whether thou shalt awake in a bed of feathers or in a bed of flames but art certain that shortly thy body shall lye down in the grave and there remain till the resurrection Look on thy companions thou mayst see death siting on their countenances its creeping on them in the deafness of their ears in the dimness of their eys nay it s posting towards them in the very heighth and Zenith of their natural perfections Look on thy own house of clay death possibly looks out at thy windows however it looks in at thy windows thou wearest it in thy face thou bearest it in thy bones and doth it not behove thee to prepare for it Naturalists tell us that smelling of earth is very wholesom for consumptionate bodies O Reader a serious thought of thy death that thou art but dust would be very wholsom for thy declining and decaying soul Hard bones steept in vinegar and ashes grow so soft that they may be cut with a thread Give me leave for one half hour to steep thy hard heart in such a mixture possibly it may be so softned through the operation of the Spirit with the Word Drexel Eternit that thou mayst become wise unto salvation It s reported of one Guerricus that hearing these words read in the Church And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years and he died All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years and he died And all the days of Enos was nine hundred and five years and he died And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty nine years and he died Gen. 5.5 He was so strongly wrought upon by those words And he died And he died that he gave himself wholly to devotion Friend if thou hast any dram of true love to thy soul and its unchangeable condition in the other world the consideration of death would make a deep impression upon thee But that I may awaken and rouse thee while there is time and hope and then help and heal thee I shall in the prosecution of this Exhortation First Speak to somewhat that may be perswasive Secondly Offer to thee somewhat that is Directive First I shall offer thee some thoughts which may quicken thee to a diligent provision for this time Motives 1 Death will come certainly First Dost thou not know that Death will come certainly As the young Prophet said to Elisha Dost thou know that the Lord will take thy Master from thy head to day 2 Kings 2.3 Reader Dost thou know that the Lord will take thy soul out of thy body and send it to the unknown regions of the other World where thou shalt see such things as thou never sawest hear such things as thou never heardst and understand such things as thou didst never understand Possibly thou wilt answer me as Elisha them I know it hold your peace But truly I am ready to urge it again being assured that thy knowledge is as Cicero speaks of the Athenians like artificial teeth for shew onely thou dost not yet know it for thy good Therefore give me leave to inforce it still Dost thou know that God will bring thee to death and to the house appointed for all the living Dost thou know that thy ruddy countenance will wax pale thy sparkling eyes look gastly thy warm blood cool in thy veins thy marrow dry up in thy bones thy skin shrivel thy sinews shrink nay thy very heart strings crack And hast thou provided never a cordial against this hour Dost thou not read in the writings of God himself That no man hath power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war Eccles 8.8 No man hath power either to resist deaths force or to procure termes of peace The greatest Emperor with the strength of all his
Spear he counts thy strength but as Straw and thy youth but as rotten wood he maketh a leak in a strong new Vessel and it presently sinketh though thy body be never so strong a Fort Death to take it needeth not besiege or block it up with lingering diseases Maximum vivendi impedimentum est expectatio quae pendet excrastino Senec. de brevitat vita cap. 9. but can undermine it and blow it down in a moment Think therefore with thy self this day may be the last day that ever I shall see this hour may be the last hour that ever I shall spend these words may be the last words that ever I shall speak O what a fool am I to live thus contentedly without fear next door to the eternal fire there is but one step betwixt me and Hell and for ought I know the very next step that I take may be thither and then Wo and Alass I am gone for ever Surely this consideration like an Hectick Feaver might cause an irrecoverable Consumption of all thy carnal joy Death is called War Eccles 8.8 thou knowest not but orders may come from the Lord of Hosts for thy sudden march thou mayst not have an hours warning to put on thy Armour or prepare thy self Invasions are judged far more dangerous then pitcht Battels because those are sudden and usually take men unprovided I must tell thee that when ever Death cometh t will be dreadful and dangerous for continuing as thou art t will surprise thee unprepared and unable to make any resistance O how t wil tear thy soul like a Lyon renting it in peices whilst there is none to deliver it No Chapman comes amiss to him whose shop is ever furnished but every Enemy will foil him who goeth always unarmed and naked Death to a sinner is always sudden They go down quick into hell Job 21. Thirdly When Death comes too late to prepare Thirdly Dost thou not know that whensoever Death comes t will be too late to prepare for it The Ship must be Rigd in the Harbour t will be too late to do it in the main Ocean in a storm Probably enough though now thou canst spend thy days delightfully without Christ and grace yet when the Bridegroom cometh by Death thou wilt as the foolish Virgins talk of getting Oyl because thy lamps will be then gone out but alas then t will be too late onely such as are ready enter in with him I have read of a Woman in Cambridge who lying on her death bed was visited by persons of Worth and Piety and heard much Heavenly discourse from them but they could hear nothing from her save this Call time again Call time again But time runs swiftly and being once past is irrecoverable Time saith Bernard were a good commodity in Hell if it could be bought up at any rate Ah when thou comest to dye a Week a Day nay an Hour would be more worth to thee then all the World But t will be impossible to put off the Tryal which Death hath with thee for thy soul till another time till another Term. When Death calleth at leisure or not at leisure ready or unready willing or unwilling thou shalt not deny but must go the way whence thou shalt never return The Tide will not stay for the greatest Merchants goods they must be shipt before or left behind Death will not stay for any man to fraught his heart with grace he must do it before Death cometh or it can never be done If our spiritual change be not before our natural change we are miserable unchangeably Petronius speaks of one Eumolpus who in a desperate storm was composing Verses and when the Ship split upon a Rock and they called to him to shift for himself He Answered Let me alone till I have finisht one Verse which I perceive to be lame Death will not wait whilst thou finishest the most serious works It is said of Demetrius after that though he lived a slave all his life time yet when he lay on his death-bed he earnestly desired manumission that he might descend into his grave in freedom Reader I doubt not but though thou livest a slave to sin and Satan yet thou wouldst dye the Lords freeman but God himself tells thee that if thy life be in bondage to thy lusts when Death comes there is no getting thy liberty Eccles 9 10. Either now mind thy soul and ensure thy salvation or it can never be done there is no doing it in the place whither thou art going Life is Deaths seed time and Death is lifes Harvest Expect thy Crop both for quality and quantity answerable to thy seed which thou now sowest Cicero saith of Hercules that he had never been enrolled among the Gods in Heaven if he had not layd out his way thither whilst he lived Neither canst thou live with God hereafter unless thou livest to God here Friend think of it seriously Thy preparation for Death must be now or never Bees work hard in Summer flying over this and the other field sucking this and the other flower and all to lay in Provision against Winter at which time else they must starve no honey being then to be made The Shell Fish opens and takes in moysture whilst the tide floweth in upon them that they may be supplyed when the Waters ebbe And wilt thou like a Drone now sleep and then starve Let thy reason judge Is it a fit time to dress thy soul for the Marriage feast of the Lamb in the dark night of Death Or what canst thou think to do in that dismal hour conscience will tell thee thou hadst thy candle of life set up to have wrought by and that is burnt to the snuff whilst thy work is still undone The day is past thy soul is lost because thou unworthy wretch didst defer it till it was too late Wilt thou call to the Sun of thy life as Joshua did Stand still for one hour that I may be avenged of these fleshly Lusts which hinder me of the Heavenly Canaan Alas alass it will not hear thee it cannot obey thee for time shall be no more with thee thou art entering upon thy eternity Remember that thou art warned of it and do not as Cesar being warned by Artemidorus of a conspiracy to slay him suddenly Pocketed up the Paper and was very busie in saluting the People till at last he was slayn so trouble thy self with trifles as to complement away thy soul and salvation CHAP. VI. Three Motives more A Dying Hour will he a Trying Hour The misery of the unprepared The felicity of the prepared FOurthly Fourthly Dost thou not know that thy Dying Hour will be a Trying hour When Grapes come to the Press they come to the Proof The Marriners skill is seen in a storm The Souldiers courage is known when he comes to the Combat while he lyeth in Garrison he may boast much but then he fighteth onely
resolved since thou wouldst live without his counsels thou shalt dye without his comforts thou lookest downward and seest Satan who formerly was thy flatterer and seeming friend now thy tormentor and desperate Foe waiting like the Jaylor to drag thee to his own Den Thou lookest inward and conscience presents thee with a black Catalogue of thy bloody crimes and in the name of God whose Officer it is arresteth thee for them and chargeth thee to answer them at his dreadful Tribunal to which thou art even now going Thou lookest without thee among thy Friends and Relations and earthly comforts and seekest the living among the dead as the Angel said to the Woman living comforts amongst dead creatures but alas t is not there thy Wife and Children and Neighbours may weep with thee but cannot ease thee of one tear they may give thee occasion to call to mind thy sins but not abate the least of thy sorrows Miserable comforts are they all Physitians of no value I have read of one in Holland that being condemned for killing her Bastard when the Messenger was dragging her away to Execution looks pitifully on her Father a Person of quality then present and casts a doleful eye on her Mother Will ye not help me Where are your bowels Can ye find in your hearts to let your own Child be thus cruelly dealt with But alas they might not they could not help her Such truely is thy case thou lookest on thy right and left hand on thy Father or Mother or Husband or House or Land and dost as it were call for help but alass they cannot give thee any comfort in this groaning Hour in this thy dreadful conflict they may be about thy body as Ravens about a carkass to devour it to get something from thee but they cannot defend it Well now the Screech-owl of Death which all this while clawd about thy Windows is entered thy Chamber flyeth towards thy bed side the Messenger by this time is come to thee and sheweth thee the Warrant for thy speedy and immediate execution Now Now is the beginning of thy sorrows Live thou canst not and dye thou darest not fain wouldst thou be rid of thy pain but fearful least thou shouldst go to a worse place Thou dislikest thy dirty nasty dungeon but dost not like to exchange it for a Gibbet Thou choosest to stay but Death will not be denyed thou must go Thou sayst thou art not at leisure thou hast such worldly affairs of concernment to finish thou art not prepared thou hast the business of thy soul a work of infinite weight to begin as they for their farms so thou I pray thee have me excused thou begest on Week one Day nay one Hour Death will not wait one moment Death pulls thee as Benaiah did Job towards the place of thy eternal punishment thy soul clings about thy body as he about the Altar and still sings loath to depart Death like Solomons Officer renteth thee in peices by force and slayeth thee there Now thy soul standst quivering upon thy pale lips ready to take its flight to its everlasting home thou seest Divels looking and longing like so many ravening and roaring Lyons for thee their prey thy past sins trouble thee O how thou cursest thy pastimes and pleasures thy Companions and possessions which stole away thy time and affections and hindred thy preparation for such a dreadful hour thy future fufferings terrifie thee and Ah thinkest thou Whither am I going Where must my soul lodge this Night In what place with what persons must I dwell for ever Oh that I had provided for this before hand how many a time did God wish me Ministers perswade me Christ beseech me and Conscience warn me but fool that I was I rejected the intreaties of Christ stifled the convictions of conscience scorned the counsels of men set at nought the commands of God trample on Sabbaths and Sermons and seasons of grace as things of no worth and now my day is past my soul is lost Heavens Gate is shut and Wo and Alass it s too late The Blessed God in whose favour is life to whom I wicked wretch said Depart from me hath now fixt my doom to depart from him for ever O what unconceivable evil is there in the loss of so great a good ten thousand hells are included in my banishment from that Heaven The frightful and cruel Divels whom I defied in my words but deified in my heart and works whose lust were my laws and whose Wills were my warrant shall be my Masters Tyrants and Tormentors to all eternity My own spirit O that I could flee from my self is infinitely more greivous and painful then ever Sword was to any flesh what Wolf in the Breast what pangs of the Stone what pain of the Teeth what Cancer in the Bowels ever caused the thousandth part of that torture which the Worm in my conscience causeth but it is as impossible for me to avoid it as for the Wounded Deer to run from the Arrow that sticks in his side The fire burns me yet consumes me not gives heat to scorch me but no light to refresh me Here is blackness of darkness yet I can see the heart cutting frowns of an angry God and can see my self to be infinitely miserable I enjoy a long night but no rest I must always complain but have no releif here is crying without compassion all pain without the least pity sorrow without the smallest dram of solace or the least drop of succour If my misery were ever to end though after so many millions of Ages as all the men in the World could number my heart would have some hope but alas alas as it is intollerable so it is unchangeable as long as God is God I must fry in these flames all my tears shall not quench the least spark of this fire though I must weep for ever all this fire will not dry up the least tear though it will burn for ever O that I had never been O that I might never be What must I ever live and yet never live must I ever dye and yet never dye Consider this all ye that pass by is there any sorrow like unto our sorrows wherewith the Lord afflicteth us in the day of his fierce wrath for who can dwell in such everlasting burnings and who can abide such devouring flames O that the Mountains would fall on us and the Hills cover us from the presence of him that sits upon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb because the day of his wrath is come and who can stand O what a dreadful Sunset of life will it be which brings such a dismal Night of eternal death O Friend think of this now how wilt thou do to dye If thou shouldst leave this life in the service of thy lusts thou art thus irrecoverably lost Thou art miserable beyond all expressions beyond all conceptions If Job because of some temporal
little dost thou think what Rings and Robes what dainties and delicates what grace and mercy and peace he provided on purpose against the return of thee a wandring prodigal Thou needst now no longer run a score with the World for any of its course carnal fare thy beloved will entertain thee at his own table with curious and costly feasts thou shalt have bread to eat which the world knows not of If dangers and evils pursue thee thou hast thy City of refuge at hand wherein thou mayst be secure from the fear and fury of men and Devils T will be life to thee now to think of Death thou mayst lift up thy head with joy when that day of thy redemption draweth nigh Death will give thee a writ of ease both from sin and sorrow then thy Indentures will expire and thy soul be at liberty Thou hast now taken in thy full lading for Heaven and mayst therefore call like a Merchant that hath all his goods on shipboard to the Master of the Vessel to hoise up sail and be gone towards thy everlasting harbour O how may thy heart revive with old Jacobs to see those wagons which are sent to fetch thee to thy dear Jesus for thou knowest that he is Lord of the Countrey and able to make thee welcome when thou comest thither Now thou art present in the body and so absent from the Lord but then thou shalt ever ever be with the Lord but if thou refusest so great and so good an offer chusing slavery to the flesh before this Christian liberty and resolving as many wicked ones do rather to be free for many Harlots then to take one Wife rather to love and serve divers lusts and pleasures then to be wedded to Jesus Christ go on take thy course but be confident that thy fleshly life like the head of Polypus though pleasant at present will afterwards cause troublesome sleep and frightful Dreams If thou intendest to lanch into the Ocean of eternity without this Pilot the blessed Saviour who alone can steer the Vessel of thy soul amidst those dangerous shelves and sands aright and the ballast of grace not regarding what passage thou hast nor at what Port thou arrivest in the other World whether Heaven or Hell prepare thy self to take up thine eternal lodging amongst frightful Devils and to bear thy part in the endless yellowings and howlings of the Damned and know withal to thy terror that this very tender of grace will one day like Joabs Sword to Abner stab thee under the fift rib cut thee to the very heart and like a mountain of Lead sinck thee deep into that Ocean of wrath when thou shalt have time enough to befool thy self for refusing so good an offer and where thou shalt be tormented day and night for ever and ever I have this day set before thee life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live That thou mayst love the Lord thy God and that thou mayst obey his voice and that thou mayst cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy days Deut. 30.19 20. CHAP. VIII The Second Exhortation To the serious Christian shewing how a Saint may come to dye with courage I Shall now speak in this Use of Exhortation to the Serious Christian If thy flesh will fail thee so fortifie thy Spirit 2. Exhortation To the serious Christian to be valiant in Death that thou mayst give the flesh a chearful farewel Thy care must be to dye with courage A good Souldier in all his Armour may be daunted at the sight of that Enemy whom he meeteth on a sudden Mary was troubled at the sight and sayings of that Angel which brought the best news that ever the world heard Luk. 1. T is true thou canst never dye before thou art ripe for Heaven but thou mayst dye in some sence before thou art ready in thy own apprehensions to leave the earth Many go to Heaven certainly who go not to Heaven comfortably Tertul. de Spectat cap. 1. It was Tertullians character of the Christians in his time that they were Expiditum morti genus A sort of people prepared for death When a son hath loytered in the day he may well be affraid to look his Father in the face at night but when he hath laboured faithfully he may come into his presence without fear Though he that is sober at home be more ready to put off his cloaths and go to sleep then he that is drinking and vomiting in a Tavern yet even this man may think of some business which he neglected in the day time that may make him unwilling to lye down Surely somewhat is the cause that the children of God are so unquiet when night cometh and so many of them go wrangling to bed Christian I would in a few words direct thee how thou mayst put off thy earthly Tabernacle as chearfully as thy cloaths and lye down in thy grave as comfortably as ever thou didst in a bed of Down It is thy own fault if thou dost not keep such a good fire all day I mean Grace so flaming on the hearth of thy heart that thou mayst encrease it at night and so go warm to bed even to thy Eternal Rest The first Means Take heed of blotting thy Evidences for Heaven Darkness we know is very dreadful 1 Blot not thy evidences for Heaven when men by great or willful sins have so blurred the deeds which speak their right to Heaven that they cannot read them no wonder if being thus in the dark they are affraid to leave the earth It is reported of good Agathon Doroth Doct. 2. that when death approached he was much troubled whereupon his friends said unto him What dost thou fear He answered I have endeavoured to keep the commandments of God but I am a man and how do I know whether my works please God or no for other is the judgement of God and other is the judgement of men He must needs be troubled to be removed from present pleasures who knoweth not that he shall go to a better place Twenty pounds a year certain is counted better then and a man will be unwilling to part with it for forty pounds a year that is doubtful It is assurance onely of a better life which will carry the soul with comfort through the bitter pangs of death Hence it was that Job called so frequently and cried so earnestly to be laid to bed O that I might have my request that God would grant me the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off then should I yet have comfort Let him not spare for I have not concealed the words of the holy one Job 6.8 9 10. Job had lived with a good conscience and therefore feared not to dye with great comfort His fidelity to God
are ever Hooded within doors Mori timeat qui ad secundam mortem de hac morte transibit Cypr. de mortal blind at Home and never use their eyes but Abroad to the hurt and censuring of others The Egyptian slaves drank Wine freely and wrapt their heads in Vails that they might dye without sight or sorrow I know many drown the thoughts of their future mourning in carnal pleasure and present mirth but such mirth like Nabals will last no longer then while they are drunk with ignorance and senslesness for they no sooner come to themselves to understand the state they are in but their hearts dye within them Besides hereby they put themselves upon a necessity of perishing for alas how will they do to dye who consider not before hand of their latter end Naturalists tell us of a Cockatrice that if men see it first that dyeth if that seeth a man first the man dyeth It s most true of Death if we see it first by an holy preparation for it we kill it it cannot hurt us but if Death see and seise us first it kills us eternally O believe it sirs It s another manner of thing to dye well then the sleepy World dreams of The lustiest of you all must expect that ere long Death will trip up your heels and give you a fall Ask your souls whither you are ready for it Will it not prove your downfal When Death throweth you will it not be your eternal overthrow It s possible ye think of preparing for Death hereafter but why not now Do any of you say To morrow I will repent What if God say Thou Fool this Night thy soul shall be required of thee Where are you then It s one of the greatest stratagems of the Devil whereby he hath undermined millions of souls by prevailing with them to delay till it was too late O Consider Death like Thunder and Lightning blasteth the green corn and consumeth the strongest buildings Job 21.23 24. One dyeth in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet His breasts are full of Milk and his bones are moistened with Marrow The Cock in the Arabick Fable having overcome another Cock in a Battel thought now that he had no Enemy Vide. Locmu and therefore got to the top of an House and began to crow and clap his Wings in token of Triumph When behold on a sudden a Vulture cometh and snatcheth away this braging Champion and Conquerour If nature in any of you have mastered one distemper it gives you not leave to be secure for an outward accident or inward disease will on a sudden Master you It is observable in the days of Solomon when Israel enjoyed the greatest peace they made strong preparation for War 1 Kings 4.25 26. And Israel and Judah dwelt every man under his own Vine and Fig-tree And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of Horses for his Chariots and twelve thousand Horsemen Iphicrates the Athenian General in times of peace entrencht his Army ordered his outworks set his watch kept his guards and observed all Martial Discipline as if he had been in the height and heat of War And being asked the reason by one of his Familiars and what he feared He answered to be surprised and least it should so fall out that he should be constrained to say I thought not on it O that we were as wise who are Listed under the Captain of our Salvation for that War wherein there is no discharge Beloved friends Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of man cometh Mat. 25.13 The Brachmanni had their Graves before their doors The Sybarites at Banquets had a Deaths-head delivered from hand to hand by every guest at the Table The Emperour Ferdinand had one appointed at certain times to salute him with Vive memor Lethi Ferdinand O Ferdinand live as one that is mindful he must dye Joseph of Arimathea had his Tomb in his Garden When the blessed Saviour was in his glorious transfiguration in Company with those heavenly Courtiers Luk. 9.31 they spake to him of his decease Could you think but one quarter of an hour every day what a searching trying day the day of Death will be Ah how holy would you live how exactly would you walk Were death at your doors at your tables in your gardens in your shops present before your eyes in all your projects and pleasures how would it deaden your hearts to these sublunary vanities and quicken your affections to celestial felicities I have read of one that prayed six times a day and being asked the reason said no more but this I must dye If any argument in the World will disswade from wickedness and perswade to godliness and abounding in the work of the Lord Death will They who steer the ship aright sit in the hindermost part of it They who order their conversations aright dwell in the thoughts of their dissolutions When our time is short we must work the harder It s reported of the Birds of Norwey O Laus Mag. Hist Septentrion that they flye faster then the Birds of other Countries not because they have greater nimbleness of wing but by a natural instinct they knowing the day in their Climate to be very short not above three hours long say some make the more hast to their Nests Your time is little your accounts will be great your work must be done now or never O work the work of him that sent you into the World while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work Joh. 9.4 I am bound to tell you that God hath committed many Talents into the hands of several amongst you ye are higher in place and power ye have more opportunities then others to serve the interest and honour of Christ and therefore God expecteth that you should do more for him then others Indulge the Drunkenness and Swearing and uncleanness and Sabbath breaking of others least ye should be counted busie-bodies or precise persons and you destroy both your own and their souls There is no such cruelty to mens souls as clemency to their sins He loves his friend best who hates his lusts most Besides the wrong your sinful compliance doth to others whilst ye bear the Sword as Women wear their Artificial teeth for shew onely not for service ye treasure up wrath on your own heads against the day of death for as a reverend Divine now with God said truly Nothing more sads the heart when one comes to die then his neglect of those opportunities which Gods providence or his own place have put into his hand of doing or receiving good Neither is there a sharper Corrosive then the reflection upon those days and times which have passed over him male aliud nihil agentem It s Cronicled of Philip the third King of Spain that though he never committed gross sin Val. Max. all his life time yet when he came to
Rite ordering the Bee is excellentlly described with discourses historical and phycical concerving them with a second part of meditations and observations theological and moral in three centuries upon the same subject By Samuel Purchase M. A. An Exhortation of the Churches of Bohemiah to the Churches of England wherein is set forth the good of unity order discipline and obedience in Churches rightly constituted with an exhortation premised of the order and discipline used in the Churches of the Brethren of Bohemia dedicated to his most excellent Majesty Charles the second in Holland at his departure for England If possibly it may be for an accommodation among the Church of Christ By J. Amos Comenius the onely surviving Bishop of the remains of these Churches The whole Tryal of the Marquess of Argyle wherein you have had his indictment and his Answer together with his last speech and words upon the Scaffold The great mystery of godliness opened by way of Antidote against the great mystery of iniquity now a work in the Romish Church wherein 1. The incarnation of the Son of God is fully displayed 2. Ceremonies in point of Worship Proved to be by Christ abrogated 3. Christian liberty with its eight steps and five boundaries by Thomas Douglass M. A. Truth brought to light and discovered by time or an Historical Naration of the first fourteen years of King James The sacred Ordinance of Ordination by imposition of the hands of Presbytery as it was lately held forth in a Sermon Preached at a solemn Ordination of Ministers in the City of Norwich by John Brinsley Large Octavo's THe Pastor and Clerk or a debate real concerning Infant Baptism by John Ellis A breastplate for the keeping of the heart with a rich Treasury for the promises being Several Sermons by Jeremy Turner Mr. Robinson Christian Armour Divine principles or a Scripture Catechism Five Sermons in five several ways of preaching the 1. in B A. the 2. in B H. way the 3. in Dr. M. and M. C. way the 4. in the Presbyterian way and the 5. in the Independent way of preaching by A. VV. Minister of the Gospel A Wedding-Ring fit for the finger or the salve of Divinion the sore of humanity I aid open in a Sermon at a Wedding in Edmonton by VVilliam Seeker preacher of the Gospel To which is adjoyned the non such professor in his Meredian Splendor or The singular actions of sanctified Christians being the substance of seven Sermons on Mat. 5.47 by the same Author Four profitable Treatises very useful for Christian practice viz. The killing power of the Law The Spiritual watch The New birth of the Sabbath by the reverend VVilliam Fenner late Minister of Rotchford in Essex Inchyridion Jndicnm or Jehoshaphats change to his Judges together with the Catastrophe Magnatum or King Davids lamentation at Prince Abners Incineration by James Livesey Minister of the Gospel at Atherton The greatest loss on Mat. 16.26 by the same Author Meditations Divine and moral by Henry Tabb M. A. The Psalms of King David translated by King James Wilful impenitency the grossest Self murther by that able faithful and laborious Minister of Jesus Christ Mr. VVilli m Fenner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the almost Christian discovered or the False Professor try'd and cast by Matthew Mead. Spiritual wisdom improved against Temptation by the same Author Beams of former light discovering how evil it is to impose doubtful and disputabe formes or practices upon Ministers Habbakkuck's prayer applied to the Churches present occasians on Hab. 3.2 and Christs counsel to the Church of Philadelyhia on Rev. 3.11 by that late reverend and faithful Minister of Jesus Christ Mr. Samuel Balmford Pastor of Albons VVood-street London The Rudiments of Grammar The Rules composed of English Verse for the greater benefit and delight of young beginners by James Shirley The Ladies Dispensatory containing the Natures Vertues and qualities of Herbs and Simples useful in physick reduced into a methodical Order for their more ready use in any sickness or other accidents of the body Small Octavo's TEntation their nature danger cure by Richard Capel to which is added his remains Balme for bleeding England and Ireland or seasonable instructions for persecuted Christians delivered in several Sermons by Nicholas Lockyer M. A. The good old way or Perkins Emproved in a plain Exposition and sound application of these doubts of Divinity briefly comprised in his six principle by Charles Broxolme Gospel glory without prejudice to the Law shining forth in father son and holy ghost for the salvation of sinners by Richard Byfield A glimpse of Gospel glory being the sum of several Sermons on 2 Cor. 13.18 Preached by VV. Sherwin Catechizing Gods Ordinance in sundry Sermons by Mr. Zachary Crofton Minister at Butolphs Aldgate London The Godly mans Ark in the day of his distress discovered in divers Sermons the first of which was preached at the Funeral of Ms. Elizabeth Moor. Whereunto is annexed Ms. Elizabeth Moors Evidences for Heaven by E. Calamy B.D. Pastor of the Church at Aldermanbury The Gale of opportunity and beloved Discipline by Thomas Froysal Sion in the house of mourning because of sin and suffering being an exposition on the fifth Chapter of the Lamentations by D. S. Pastor of Vpingham in Rutland A word of Comfort for the Church of God by Mr. Tho. Watson Minister of Stephens Walbrook A Plea for Arms delivered in a Sermon at the Spittle on Tuesday in Easter week April 13. 1658. by the same Author Moses unvailed or those figures which served unto the pattern and shadow of Heavenly things pointing out the Messiah Christ Jesus briefly explained whereunto is added the harmony of the Prophets breathing with one mouth the Mysteries of his coming and of that Redemption which by his death he was to accomplish by William Guild Minister of Gods Word at King-Edward in Scotland Good company being a collection of various serious pious meditations by J. Melvin Minister of the Gospel at Vdimer in Sussex A Religious Treatise upon Simeons Song or instruction how to live holily and dye happily by T. VVoodâ—iff B. D. pastor at Kingstand in Herefordshire The reformation in which is reconciled with God and his people or a Catechism unvailing the Apostles Creed with Annotations in which Faith Ordinances and Government are professed as in the primitive times in opposition to all Errors and Heresies by W. K. Minister of the Gospel Prospering prophaness provoking holy conference and Gods attention several Sermons from Mal. 3 15 16 17. by Zachary Crofton The Catechism of Hugo grotius done into English Benedictio Valedictio or the remembrance of thy friend and thy end being a farewel Sermon preached at the house of the late Right honourable Leticia Lady Paget Dowar deceased by her Chaplain Anthony Sadler Twelves IOhnsons Essay expressed in sundry exquisite fantacies The dangerous Rule or a Sermon Preached at Clonmel in the Province of Munster in Ireland upon August 3. 1657. before the reverend
breakfast every morning and the table was covered with sackcloth and furnished with the same bitter herbs both at Dinner and Supper For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning vers 14. Nam quicquid adversi accid t aut carni accidit aut animo Muscul in loc Now the weight of this burden was so great pressing his body and oppressing his mind that without an Almighty power it had broke his back His flesh and his heart failed him 3. Others take the words in a natural sence as if the Prophet did neither intend by them his fault Sunt quibus praesens tempus plaâ—et aliis futurum magis arr det Marl. in loc as some who take them in a spiritual sence nor his fear as those who take them in a civil sence but onely his frailty as if he had said My moysture consumeth my strength abateth my flesh falleth my heart faileth or at least ere long my breath will be corrupt my days extinct and the grave ready for me how happy am I therefore in having God for the strength of my heart Deficit consumâ—tur caro mea cor meum Mollerus Ainsworth reads the words Wholly consumed is my heart and my flesh I shall take the words in this sense as being most sutable to this occasion So far the Thesis now to the Antithesis Robur cordis Calv. But God is the strength of my heart Though my flesh fail me the Father of spirits doth not fail me when I am sinking he will put under his everlasting arm to save me The Seventy read it But God is the God of my heart because God is all strength God in the heart is the strength of the heart Petra cordis Moller The Hebrew carrieth it But God is the rock of my heart e. i. A sure strong and immovable foundation to build upon Though the winds may blow and the waves beat when the storm of death cometh yet I need not fear that the house of my heart will fall for it s built on a sure foundation God is the rock of my heart The strongest child that God hath is not able to stand alone like the Hop or Ivy he must have somewhat to support him or he is presently on the ground Of all seasons the Christian hath most need of succour at his dying hour then he must take his leave of all his comforts on earth and then he shall be sure of the sharpest conflicts from Hell and therefore its impossible he should hold out without extraordinary help from Heaven But the Psalmist had armour of proof ready wherewith to encounter his last enemy As weak and fearful a child as he was he durst venture a walk in the dark entry of death having his Father by the hand Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will fear none ill for thou art with me Psa 23. Though at the troubles of my life and my tryal at death my heart is ready to fail me yet I have a strong cordial which will chear me in my saddest condition God is the strength of my heart And my portion It s a Metaphor taken from the ancient custome among the Jews of dividing inheritances whereby every one had his allotted portion as if he had said God is not onely my Rock to defend me from those tempests which assault me and thereby my freedom from evil but he is also my portion to supply my necessities and to give me the fruition of all good Others indeed have their parts on this side the land of promise but the Author of all portions is the matter of my portion my portion doth not lie in the Rubbish and lumbar as theirs doth whose portion is in this life be they never so large but my portion containeth him whom the Heavens and Heaven of Heavens can never contain God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Not for a Year or an age or a million of ages but for eternity Though others portions like Roses the fuller they blow the sooner they shed they are worsted often by their pride and wasted through their prodigality that at last they come to want Quicquid praeter deum possideas non poteris dicere quod pars tua sit futura in sâ— ulum De deo solo dicit fiâ—â—lis Pars mea deus in seculum Muscul in loc and surely death always rents their persons and portions asunder yet my portion will be ever ful without diminution and first without alteration this God will be my God for ever and ever my guide and aid unto death nay Death which dissolveth so many bonds and untieth such close knots shall never part me and my portion but give me a perfect and everlasting possession of it The words branch themselves into these two parts The parts of the Text. First The Psalmist Complaint My flesh and my heart faileth me Secondly His Comfort but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Or we may take notice in them 1. Of the Frailty of his Flesh My flesh and my heart faileth me 2. Of the Flourishing of his Faith But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever According to the two parts of the Text I shall draw forth two Doctrinal truths Doct. 1 1. Doct. That Mans flesh will fail him The highest the holiest mans heart will not ever hold out The Prophet was great and gracious yet his flesh failed him Doct. 2 2. Doct. That its the comfort of a Christian in his saddest condition that God is his portion This was the strong water which kept the Psalmist from fainting when his flesh and heart failed him I begin with the first The 1. Doct. man is mortal That mans flesh will fail him Those whose spirits are noble will find their flesh but brittle The Psalmist was great yet death made little yea nothing of him like the Duke of Parma's sword it makes no difference between great and small this Cannon hits the great Commanders as well as the Common Souldiers like a violent Wind it plucks up by the roots not onely low Trees but also tall Ceders They who lye in beds of Ivory must lye down in beds of earth Some Letters are set out very gaudily with large flourishes but they are but Ink as the other Some men have great Titles Worshipful Right Worshipful Honourable Right Honourable but they signifie no more with Death then other men they are but moving earth and dying dust as ordinary men are Worship Honour Excellency Highness Majesty must all do homage to the Scepter of this King of Terrors When Constantius entred in triumph unto Rome and had along time stood admiring the Gates Arches Turrets Temples Theaters and other magnificent Edifices of the City at last he ask'd Hormisda what he thought of the place I take no pleasure in it at all saith Hormisda for I see
the end of this City will be the same with all her Predecessors What he spake of places is as true of persons though men may admire them for a while yet the stateliest and most curious buildings of their bodies will fall to the ground as their Ancestors have done before them Job 3.15 This storm will beat on the Princes Court as much as on the Peasants Cottage What man is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Selah Psal 89.48 The interrogation is a strong negation The Prophet challengeth the whole World to find out a person that can procure a protection against Deaths Arrest The Psalmist was gracious yet grace gave way to nature death will like hail and rain fall on the best gardens as well as the wide wilderness The Wheat is cut down and carried into the Barn as well as the Tares A godly man is free from the sting but not from the stroke from the curse but not from the Cross of death Holy Hezekiah could beg his own life for a few years but could not compound for his death he did obtain a reprieve for fifteen years but not a pardon the best fruit will perish because it is wormeaten The gold and the dross the good and the bad go both into this fire the former to be refined the latter to be consumed The whole World is a charnel house and the several inhabitants thereof so many walking carcasses The voice said Cry and he said what shall I cry All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field The grass withereth the flower fadeth because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it surely the people is grass Isa 40.6.7 The words speaks mans mortality He is grass withering grass a flower a fading flower Secondly Its certainty the voice said cry The Prophet had a charge in a Vision given him to proclaim so much from God to his people surely the people is grass Thirdly the Vniversality the flesh of Kings and Counsellors the flesh of Saints and Martyrs the flesh of high and low rich and poor All flesh is grass Man is sometimes compared to the flower for its beauty but here for its frailty a flower will quickly fade if it be not cut down by an instrument of Iron nor cropt by the hand yet the gentle breath of Wind quickly bloweth off its beauty Besides an Expositer observeth t is to the flower of the field not of the garden flowers of the garden have more shelter and are better lookt to then flowers of the field these are more open to hard weather and more liable to be pluckt up or trod down Naturalists tell us of a Flower called Ephemeron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. ad Apol. because it lasteth but a day Man is such a Flower his life is but a day whither longer or shorter a Summers or a Winters day how quickly do the shadows of the Evening stretch themselves upon him and make it night with him Pliny speaks of a Golden Vine which never withereth The bodies of Saints shall be such hereafter but at present the best Hearbs wither as well as the worst Weeds Neither the Dignity of a Prince nor the Piety of a Prophet can excuse from enrting the List with this Enemy Against this Arrest there is no Bail CHAP. III. The Reasons of the Doctrine Mans Corruptibility Gods fidelity and Mans Apostacy from God Reasons of the Doctrine I Shall onely lay down in the explication of the point two or three Reasons and then proceed to that which will be practical 1 Man corruptibility The first ground of the Doctrine is the corruptibility of mans body It s called in Scripture an house of clay Job 4.18 and an earthly Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5.1 The body of man at best is but a clod of clay curiously moulded and made up The Greek Proverb hath a truth in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man is but an earthen Vessel Some indeed are more painted then others in regard of dignity and place others are stronger Vessels then the rest in regard of purity of constitution Profecto omni moda vanitas Iun but all are earthen Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity Psa 39. All Adam is all Abel Man nay every man when most high in regard of his hopes and most firm in regard of his foundation is even then the next door to and but one remove from corruption What the great Apostle said in a proper every one may say in a common sense I die daily We carry our bane every moment about us The very food which preserveth our lives leaves that be hind it which will force our deaths It s holden for certain saith one that in two Years space The Netherland cure there are in the body of man as many ill humours ingendred as a Vessel of a hundred ounces will contain Ipsa suis augmentis vita ad detrimenta impellitur inde deficit unde proficere creditur Greg. Against some these enemies appear in the open field often skirmishing with them but against all others they lye in ambush and wait for an opportunity to fall on and destroy them In the best timbered body they are but like fire raked under the ashes and reserved to another day when they will flame out and burn it down We are all like the Apples of Sodom quae contacta cinerescunt Tertul. Apol. cap. 40. which being touched crumble into dust or as the Spawn of Locusts which being handled dissolveth Arist Hist Animal according to the Philosopher God needs not bring out his great Artillery to batter down the building of mans body a small touch will tumble it down nay it s every moment decaying and will at last fall of it self There is rottenness at the core of the fairest fruits Our flesh is no match for the Father of spirits An ordinary Besome will sweep down the Spiders Web. Though it hath accurate weavings and much curiosity yet it hath nostability As it was with the Gourd of Jonah so it is with the Children of men we breed and feed those Worms which will devour and destroy us Every Mans passing Bell hangs in his own Steeple The second Reason is Gods fidelity 2 Reas Gods fidelity The righteous and gracious God hath threatned eternal pains to the wicked as the wages of their sins and hath promised endless pleasures to the godly as the reward of Christs sufferings now the place of payment where these threatnings and promises shall be accomplished is the other world to which death is the passage Man dieth that Gods Word may live and falleth to the earth that Gods Truth might stand Sin though it be finite in regard of the subject as being the act of a limited creature In peccaeto duo sunt Quo cum unum est aversio ab immutabili bono quod
with his words but in a Battel t wil appear how he can handle his Sword Many flourish with their colours when they know their enemies to be far enough off woh change their countenances when they meet them in the field In thy life time thou art walled in and lyest warm in the confluence of creature-comforts no visible Enemy appeareth against thee but when this Champion sheweth himself bidding thee defiance and offering to fight with theef or thy soul and Saviour and Heaven and happiness at the sight of whom the hearts of Kings and Captains have melted like grease before the Sun then then thou wilt perceive what mettle thou art made of whither thou hast the faith and spirit of a David and canst encounter him in the Lord or no. Now thou art a Vessel in the Harbour and so art kept above Water though several things are wanting but when thou launchest into the Ocean the boysterous Waves and tempestuous Winds will soon discover thy leaks and tell thee what is lacking It s like enough thou hast some armour with which thou hopest to defend thy self against the stroaks of death but know for a truth that Death will stab thee through all thy Paper Shields of profession priviledges and performances since thou art a stranger to Christ and the power of godliness Thy life is like the letting down a Fishermans net thy death as the drawing up of this Net while the Net is down a man cannot tell certainly what he shall catch for the Nets may break the Fish may escape whilst thou livest it s not so evident what thine aim is or what thine end shall be but at thy Death when the Net shall be drawn up then thou wilt see what draught thou hast made Though godly men at their Deaths may look up to the Lord of life and say At thy word we have let down our Nets and caught abundantly we fished for holiness and have caught happiness fished for grace and have caught glory and honour and immortality and eternal life yet when the Net of thy life cometh to be drawn up thou mayst say with Peter Lord I have fished all Night all my life time and have caught nothing I fished for honours and pleasures and riches and I have caught nothing but the Weeds of wrath and damnation I blessed my self many a time like the vain confident Husbandman in the goodly shew which my Corn made on the ground but now the threshing time is come I find nothing but Straw and Chaff vanity and vexation It must needs be a trying hour upon this twofold account 1. Because all thy temporal mercies will then leave thee When the hand of death shakes the tree of life all those fair blossoms will fall off We brought nothing into the World and it is certain that we shall carry nothing out of this World 1 Tim. 6.7 The Hedghog gets to a pile of Apples and gathers as many as she can up upon her prickles but when she comes to her resting place her Hole she throweth them all down and carryeth not one in with her Thus men walk in a vain shadow and disquiet themselves in vain heaping up riches which die with them naked they come into the World and naked they go out of the World Plutarch wisely compareth great men to Counters which one hour stand for thousands and the next hour for nothing Hermocrates being unwilling that any man should enjoy his estate after his death made himself in his Will his own heir Athenaeus reports of a covetous Wretch that on his Death-bed swallowed many peices of Gold and sowed up others in his coat commanding that they should be buried with him but who doth not laugh at such folly In that storm of death all thy glory and riches which thou hast taken such pains and wrought so hard for must be thrown overboard As the Great Sultan hath an officer to search all persons that come into his presence and take away all their Weapons so the great God by his Messenger Death will search thee and take away all thy wealth In that day the Crowns of Princes and Shackles of Prisoners the Russet of Beggers and Scarlet of Courtiers the Honours and Offices of the Highest the Meat and Drink and Sleep and Mirth of the Lowest must be laid by As it was said of Sarah It ceased to be with her after the former manner so the time will come that it may be said of thee It ceaseth to be with him after the former manner Now thou canst relish thy food and delight in thy friends ravish thine Ears with melodious sounds and thine eyes with curious sights rejoyce in things of naught and be Titled with vanity and nothing but when Death comes t will cease to be with thee after the former manner Now thou pleasest thy self in thy lovely Relations and pridest thy self in thy stately possessions these weak props preserve thy spirit from sinking at present but Ah what will become of thee when they shall all be taken away from thee when thou shalt bid thy Wife and Children and Friends Farewell for ever and say to thy House and Lands and Credit and Sports and Pastimes Adieu to Eternity or as dying Pope Adrian did O my soul the loving Companion of my body thou art going into a solitary place where thou shal never never more take pleasure At the hour of Death thy most costly jewels and most pleasing delights will be as the Pearl in an Oyster not thy priviledge or perfections but thy disease and destruction When those carnal comforts are gone thy spiritual comforts if thou hast any will be known When the hand which held thee up by the Chin and kept thee above Water is taken away thy own skil in swimming will be discovered When the vertue of those Cordials which supported thy spirits for a time is spent t will appear whither Nature hath any strength or no. 2. Because thy spiritual enemies will then assail thee Those Adversaries which before were hid and lay lurking as it were under the Hedge will then appear openly and wound thee to the very heart Thy sins will then assault thee When the Prisoner appeareth before the Judge then the Evidence is produced and the Witnesses which were never before thought of shew themselves When thou goest to stand before the Judge of the whole Earth thy sins will bear thee company In the Night of Death those frightful Ghosts will Walk Thy Lusts which are now Lyons Dormant will then be Rampant Thou mayst say to Death as the Woman to the Prophet Art thou come to call my sins to remembrance and to slay my Son Art thou come to call my sins to remembrance and to slay my soul While the Hedgehog walketh on the land she seemeth not so uncomly but when she sprawleth in the waters her deformity appeareth Whilst men walk up and down they usually look in false glasses and judge themselves fair because some may
heart of man Isai 32.24 Is thy body sick thy soul is sound and so long all is well The inhabitants shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities Is thy life in danger If thine enemies kill thee they cannot hurt thee they will do thee the greatest courtesie they will do that kindness for thee for which thou hast many a time prayed sighed wept even free thee from thy corruptions and send thee to the beatifical vision When they call thee out to die they do but as Christ to Peter call thee up to the Mount where thou shalt see thy Saviour transfigured and say Let us build Tabernacles O 't is good to be here Though Saul was frantick without a Fidler and Belshazar could not be chearful without his cups yet the Philosopher could be merry saith Plato without musick and much more the Christian under the greatest outward misery What weight can sink him who hath the everlasting armes to support him What want can sadden him who hath infinite bounty and mercy to supply him Nothing can make him miserable who hath God for his happiness Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. O Christian thou maiest walk so that the world may know thou art above their affrightments and that all their allurements are below thy hopes In particular the Doctrine is comfortable against the Death of our Christian Friends and against our own deaths First It is a comfort against the death of our friends God is a godly mans portion therefore they are blessed who die in the Lord without us and we are happy who live in the Lord without them It s a comfort that they are happy without creatures what wise man will grieve at his friends gain In the ceremonial law there was a year of Jubile in which every man who had lost or sold his land upon the blowing of a trumpet had possession again The deaths-day of thy believing relation is his day of Jubile in which he is restored to the possession of his eternal and inestimable portion Who ever pined that married an Heir in his minority at his coming to age and going to receive his portion Their death is not paenall but medicinal not destructive but perfective to their Souls It doth that for them which none of the ordinances of God nor providences of God nor graces of the Spirit ever yet did for them It sends the weary to their sweet and eternal rest This Serpent is turned into a rod with which God works wonders for their good The Thracians wept at the births of men and feasted at their funerals if they counted mortality a mercy who could see death only to be the end of outward sufferings shall not we who besides that see it to be the beginning of matchless and endless solace A wife may well wring her hands and pierce her heart with sorrow when her Husband is taken away from her and dragd to execution to hell but surely she may rejoyce when he is called from her by his Prince to live at Court in the greatest honours pleasures especially when she is promised within a few days to be sent for to him and to share with him in those joyes and delights for ever Some observe that the Egyptians mourned longer for they mourned 70 dayes for old Jacobs death then Joseph his own Son and the reason is this because they had hopes only in this life when Joseph knew that as his fathers body was carried to the earthly so his Soul was translated to the heavenly Canaan I would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others that have no hope 1 Thes 4.12 As they are happy without us for God is their portion so we are happy without them We have our God still that stormy wind which blew out our candles did not extinguish our Sun Our Friend when on his or her death-bed might bespeak us as Jacob his Sonnes I die but God shall visit you I go from you but God shall abide with you I leave you but God will find you he will never leave you nor forsake you Reader If God live though thy friends dye I hope thou art not lost thou art not undone May not God say to thee when thou art pining and whining for the death of thy relations or friends as if thou wert eternally miserable as Elkanah to Hannah Am not I better to thee then ten Sons Am not I better to thee then ten Husbands then ten Wives then ten thousand worlds O think of it and take comfort in it 2. It s comfort against our own deaths Secondly It is comfortable against thy own death God is thy Portion and at death thou shalt take possession of thy vast estate Now thou hast a freehold in law a right to it but then thou shalt have a freehold in deed make thy entry on it and be really seised of it It s much that heathens who were purblind and could not see afar off into the joys and plesures of the other world the hopes of which alone can make death truly desireable should with less fear meet this foe then many Christians Nay 't was more difficult to perswade several of those Pagans to live out all their daies then 't is to perswade some amonst us to be willing to die when God calls them Codrus could throw himself into a pit Plut. in vit Vtic. Ca. that his Country might live by his death Cato could against the intreaty of all his friends with his own hands open the door at which his life went out Platinus the Philosopher held mortality a mercy that we might not alwaies be lyable to the miseries of this life When the Persian King wept that all his army should die in the revolution of an Age Artabanus told him that they should all meet with so many and such great evils that they should wish themselves dead long before Lysimachus threatened to kill Theodorus but he stoutly answered the King that was no great matter the Cantharides a little flie could doe as much Cleombrotus having read Plato of the Souls immortality did presently send his own Soul out of his body to try and taste it The bare opinion of the Druides that the Soul had a continuance after death made them hardy in all dangers saith Cesar and fearless of death Câ—s lib. 6. de bell 6. Christians surely have more cause to be valiant in their last conflict and it s no credit to their Father that they are so loth to goe home The Turks tell us that surely Christians do not believe Heaven to be so glorious a place as they talk of for if they did they would not be so unwilling to goe thither It may make the world think the child hath but could welcome at his Fathers house that he lingers so much a broad certainly such bring an ill report upon the good land Christian