humbly with their God to watch and pray They that are fit to dye they are and will be fit for any service that God calls them to Paul prepared for Death and willing to dye is fit to continue and abide with the Churches and to be eminently useful for their furtherance and joy of Truth Phil. 1.25 There are solemn exercising Changes foretold by the fearful signs of this time if we are prepared for Death we are armed against the worst and to endure the greatest affliction that can betide us on this side Death Acts 21.13 Paul being ready to dye is ready for bonds and imprisonment at Jerusalem O how comfortable a thing is it to be ready to doe and suffer any thing for the Name of Christ But not to insist longer here If we would be prepared for Death 1. Be and live in the daily and lively exercise of Repentance It is Sin that makes Death bitter and terrible to the sons of men Be thorough and serious in Repentance for sin Let no sin lye unrepented of This was Pauls practice while he lived to exercise himself to have a Conscience void of offence Acts 24.16 Not but that he had to charge himself with and which Conscience might accuse him of yea but he cleared all Reckonings between God and himself by a lively renewed exercise of Repentance Pass not a day without a serious and close review of your actions and wayes and without deep searchings of heart and repentings for all your errors and violations of Gods holy Law and your Rebellion against the Gospel Give diligence to be found of God in peace and this will make the time of Death and Judgement times of refreshing Act. 3.19 If you can allow and live in any known sin if you can digest sin without great bitterness sorrow of a surety you are not prepared for this Change 2. Believe to the saving of your Souls Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus To dye in truth is to dye comfortably it easeth and looseth the pains of Death This is the way to dye in the Lord Rev 14.13 and to sleep in Jesus 1 Cor. 15.18 i. e. in union with God in Christ They that dye in Christ will die in Peace and be sound of God in peace for there is no condemnation to such Rom. 8.1 And the blood of Christ also cleanseth Believers from all sin now it is a blessed thing to be free from the guilt of sin and to have our consciences purified in the blood of Christ this will prepare us for an happy and comfortable Death Now it s the Son only that can make us free in this matter and that must be in a way of union with Christ by Faith O believe in the Lord Jesus he oft and constant in the renewed exercise of Faith as it is said of Abraham Gen. 15.6 He believed Though he believed long before that when he answered the call of God Heb. 11.8 The Apostle tells us By Faith Abraham when he was called obeyed and yet after this its said He believed as if he had not believed before 3. Be throughly mortified to the world Get your Affections crucified to the honours pleasures and profits of this life Weep as though you wept not Rejoyce as though you rejoyced not Buy as though you possessed not Vse this world as not abusing it as the Apostle exhorts 1 Cor. 7.30 31. When this or that aâ—urement of the world bids high and sollicits strongly for your affections then think with old Barzilloi How long have I to live O my friends God forbid that you should glory save in the Cross of Christ If you are Christ's then crucifie the flesh with its whole Train of carnal and sensual Lusts these corrupt the judgement and put a false varnish upon the things of the world It is a dreadfull sign upon any soul to love the world it undeniably evinceth that the love of the Father is not in him 1 Job 2.15 And he that is destitute of the love of the Father is not fit to dy He shall never be received into the everlasting Kingdome that is totally destitute of the Love of God O then mortifie and purge out all inordinate affection to the world and the things of this life whatever you doe get your hearts dead to the Sins Gallantryes and Jollityes of this time 4. Live to the Lord Serve your Generation this is the way to dye unto the Lord and in death to be the Lords Rom. 14. The comforts of a well compleated coâ—â—â—â— of life and service to God therein will give as a serene and quiet frame of spâ—â—â—â— in Death I am ready to be offered up and the time of my departure is at hand 〈◊〉 comes he to be thus ready I have finished my course saith he 1 Tim. 4.6 7. 〈◊〉 the labouring Saints and Servants of Christ Death is but a Dismission to Rest So it was to David Acts 13.36 and to Daniel Dan. 12. ult Doe much for God while you live Death will be then sweet and comfortable to you Especially consider and put forth acts of charity and bounty to Christ's poor ones 5. Secure a firm Vnion with Christ that you may dye in the Lord and sleep 〈◊〉 Jesus It hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Col. 1.18 In hiâ—â— there is a full supply of Grace to enable you to live and dye to doe and sufferâ—â— whatever he calls you to now if you are Partakers of Christ have mystical union with him then by the almighty power and working of the holy Spirit you shall have a full supply of all Grace and ability to increase those Graces in Death which are necessary for your comfort an I security in such an hour 6. Number your Dayes yea so number your dayes as Psal 90.12 General Conclusions concerning Death should be enforced upon our hearts by particular application The brevity of Life the certainty of Death and the uncertainty of the time of Death should be thus enforced upon our hearts I know thou wilt bring me to Death Job 30.23 So Eliphaz tells him he shall come to his Grave Job 5.26 27. Hear know it for thy good Lastly Pray to God to prepare and fit you for Death as David Psal 39.4 Lord make me to know my end and the measure of my dayes So Moses applyes himself to God Psal 90.12 in a sence of his own inability to learn Thus in a few words have I desired to discharge something of that great care which bears strongly upon my heart if God shall help us to fall on and seriously to practise this great lesson then our Death will be but a loosing from this troublesome Shore and however various our Course and the season of our departure hence are yet our meeting and Mansion with Christ in his Fathers House shall be sure and everlasting which that it may be is and shall be the Prayer of Madam your most obliged Kinsman
victory Deaths commission and power is taken away it comes not as a penal and judicial evil to the Saints not as a part of the curse but a remain of the cross an evil of affliction sanctified and eminently conducing to their good hence the Apostle gloryes over it not in a way of proud insulting but in an humble triumph of faith in God through Christ which plainly argues death as to him and all believers was spoiled of its power Hence we may take up these two Doctrines of just and weighty Observation Doct. 1. That there is a sore and grievous Sting in natural Death or natural Death is armed by Sin with a sore and grievous Sting Doct. 2. That the Sting of Death is certainly and infallibly taken out so that it cannot really hurt prejudice or annoy true Believers These two Doctrines doe contain the true meaning and intent of the Apostle in these words 1. That there is a sore and grievous Sting in natural Death This lies first in our way Never shall we see our deliverance fully till we see our danger nor be sensible of the excellent remedy till we have felt the smart of the fore hence many men out of stupidity or a wilful slighting or refusing to mind their death their last end have made too light a matter of it but of a truth when death comes armed by sin with an high Commission from the Law it will be found to be piercing painful and poysonous I shall therefore in the first place endeavour to shew more particularly what the Sting of Death is before I come to shew how it is taken out 〈◊〉 â—â—ow there are several Stings in Death 1. The first sting in death is that it came into the world through mans own fault Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entered and death by sin and death passed upon all men c. It is sin brought in death as a curse and punishment Death comes from God not as instituting the course of Nature at first but as revenging sin There is a Saying in Ecclsiasticus that God did not make Death true it is not a Creature but the destruction of the Creature God is not the peccant cause of the falling of this house of clay but our sin as Eccles 10.18 It s plain in the tenor of the first threatning Gen. 2.17 They are Malefactors that are sentenced aâ— judged and condemned to die Every sinner dyes as a Malefactor as an evil doer suffering for his own sin And truely it pierceth deep if a man consider that he fetcht the Viper out of the snow and nourished it in his own bosome which now doth sting and devour him When a man must say In me convertite ferrum mea caedes mea fraus omnis When it shall be told him as Jer. 2.19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee And as Jer. 4.18 thy way and doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness We like the foolish woman Prov. 14.1 pull down the house over our heads with our own hands Before we feel the burthen of sin our own will to it is our warrant for it and because our selves have done it we can easily excuse it but at last it will sting like an Adder This will double the burthen this will be enough to silence any sufferer in this last execution of Justice upon him i.e. in this life This consideration will devolve all the load upon our selves Who shall relieve us Who shall grieve for us Whom shall we blame but even leave our complaint upon our selves 2. Another Sting in Death is that it comes from the Wrath of God Psal 78.50 He made a way to his anger and spared not their soul from death God takes away the wicked in his wrath Psal 58.9 Death is his destroying Angel that chaseth them out of the world There are two thing in a curse or punishment 1. Something that is evil some oppressing evil 2. The wrath of God mixt with it Now death is a part of the curse now this is piercing and painful indeed for a man to be taken away in wrath Sinners in Sion are afraid and a fearful thing it is to tall into the hands of the Living God 3. Another sting in death is that it is the punishment due to sin It comes armed therefore with a Commission to take satisfaction for of sence and wrong done to the infinite God It is the wages of sin Rom. 6. ult We were bound upon peril of our lives and on pain of death to keep Gods Law Gen. 2.17 In the day thou catest thereof thou shalt surely dye that being broken death ensues and seizeth on us as our punishment So v. 22. of this Chapter In Adam all aye Sin and punishment goe together When the body of sin goes before Punishment as its shadow attends it When Eve brought forth a son she was brought a bed of death according to the Proverb Ex malo Corvo malum Ovum The Jews have a Saying There was never any punishment hapned to them but there was anounce of the golden calf in it So there is no death but there are some drachmes of sin in it The lively Image of Sin is ever to be seen in Death Would you see the sad influence that moisture hath upon iron Look upon the rust of it Would you see the horrid evil of drunkenness Look upon the effects of it Prov. 23.29 Who hath woe who hath sorrow Who hath contention Who hath babling Who hath wounds without cause Who hath redness of eyes v. 30. They that tarry long at the wine they that goe to seck mixt wine So here Who hath shortness of breath a pale countenance a crazy body Catarrhs Epilepsies Palsyes c They that continue in sin Why doth the living man complain Lam. 3.39 A man for the punishment of his sin This stings pains and pierceth the sinner when death comes 4. Another sting in death is that it separates the soul and body each from other These antient friends whose lives and happiness here as Jacobs was in Benjamins Gen. 44.30 lare bound up in one anothers welfare Will ye take Benjamin away All these things are against me If mischief befal him then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave Gen. 42 36 38. So may the body which is so closly wedded and so dearly affected to the soul say If ye take away my soul you take away my life As it is reported of Madrian the Emperour when he was dying he thus trembling at the gastly countenance of the King of Terrors bespake his miserable soul Animula vagula blandula Hospes Comesque corporis Quoe nune abibit in loca Pallidula rigida nudula Nec ut soles dabis Jocos O thou little pleasant wandring soul the guess and companion of the body 〈◊〉 what place will it goe c. So hard did he find it for these two friends to part If it be so hard for a man to part
you may observe as the temptations of dying Christians are stronger so the breathings of their souls the sense of Gods love the relish of spiritual things the ready and apt application of Scripture are more vivid and copious with them then than in all their lives before even as the Spirit of God and of glory hath been wont to rest upon the Martyrs when they were called to great and emâ—nent Susserings so here there are those supplyes of the Spirit and 〈◊〉 grace to help in this time of need that takes away the sting God suffeâ—â— Satan sometimes to draw out his strength like God Magog to the batter and stands himself as it were aloof for a while that he may give him thâ—â— more sudden and fatal overthrow I may therefore conclude this parâ—â— lar with the words of Christ Luk. 12.32 Fear not little Flook and of the Apostles 1 Job 4.4 Greater is he that is in you then he that is in the worâ—â— 10. Deaths sting is taken away in that how unavoidable soever it is or 〈◊〉 den unalterable yet its welcome to the Believer he is reconciled 〈◊〉 1. Though it come inevitably yet its welcome he doth not 〈◊〉 desire to avoid it as to meet with it t is the fruit of the promise the end of his desire the answer of his Prayers and an ease to all his sufferings They rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 If in this life only we have hope saith the Apostle v. 19. He doth not therefore desire to avoid death Mors si non bona est finis tamenâ—â—lla malorum saith Cato Hence Job hate his life and would not live alwayes Job 7.16 The Saints are even glad when they can find the grave they don't dye as those that must dy but as those that upon deliberation and choice desire to dye Luk. 2.29 Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Hence Paul is so far from flying from it that he pursues it Act 22.13 As it is said of Cato Quasi morion diâ—eccasionem se nactum esse ganderet 2. Enough it come suddenly its welcome for it is not sudden to them that wait for it all their lives Job 14 14. All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change comes They may dye sooner then they thought for but not sooner then they would they may dye too soon for others but not for themselves their own comfort and profit Yea even the child in Christ dyeth an hundred years old Isa 65.20 When I hear Job cry as Job 14. 13. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave and and see the good old Patriarch break off from blessing and saying as Gen. 49 18. I have waited for thy salvation O Lord. Those that have the first fruits groaning as Rom 8.23 bearing a part with the whole creation and with the Bride Rev. 22.20 I rather think they dye too leisurely and slower then they would Doe not tell me of a sudden death where there hath been a setled course in a godly life Nemo parùm diu â—ixit qui virtutis perfectae profecto functus est munere He comes in like a shock of corn in its season Job 5.26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in full 〈◊〉 like as a shâ—ck of corn cometh in in his season now the season is never 〈◊〉 with being too sudden It was sudden we say of this and the other death but he was throughly ripe first and where there was sufficiâ—ney of life there cannot be suddenness of Death God knows when 〈◊〉 cut his harvest when to call in his labourers Yea but he lived but a 〈◊〉 â—ort time therefore his death was sudden Not so for some live more 〈◊〉 one year then others doe in many and for the true Christian he is alwayes ready Act. 21.13 I am ready to dye 3. Though it be unalterable yet it is welcome its certain the hours yesterday will never return again and he that is once gon off the stage 〈◊〉 â—turn no more There is no shooting of the Gulph of Eternity Lazarus cannot come as a Messenger to Dives his brethren He that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more But as there is no alteration so the Saints desire no alteration it s the best flower in their crown that their state of happiness is everlasting 1 Thess 4.17 So shall we ever he with the Lord. Do you think to scare the Saints with this you cannot tell them more joyful Tydings than that their joyes shall be for ever The Rivers of pleasures at Gods right hand flow alwayes The tree of life never fades The robes of glory never sully nor admit of spot or wrinkle or any such thing they doe not wax old Serving God instantly day and night will not weary nor will the light of heaven grow dim like a candle nor goe down as the sun the Lord shall be our light and our God our glory Isa 60 19. Set a man in such a condition as it cant be better with him and tell him it shall never alter nor be worse with him it will not much grieve him So it is with the Saints in light the chang is unalterable you shall dye no more nor be sick nor sorrow nor doubt any more nor sin no more nor want any more as Moses said to the Israclites so may it be said to the Saints The Egyptians whom you have seen to day you shall see them no more for ever as Exed 14.18 Well may Believers breathe our their souls in tryumph and say O Death where is thy sting Let that be our station where there is no alteration let the better part be ours which shall never be taken away For simple is the best of titles and that only is heaven in all other things we are but Tenants for life and hat at the will of our great Lord. 11. The sting of Death is taken out in that the Saints know whither and into what estate they enter after Death The wicked walk in darkness and know not whither they go as he said Anxius vixi dulius morior heu quo vado They leap as it were from an high hill into a dark and deep pit not knowing where they shall light But the Saints know in whom they have believed how far and for what and are begotten again to a lively hope of the inheritance of glory they have their eyes upon it all their lives have a certain assurance of it and have the clearest apprehensions of it at Death Job 14 4. Whither I goe ye know and the way ye know 2 Cor 5.1 We know we have a Building of God 〈◊〉 house not made with hands eternal That which the Saints are ignorant of is the transcendent exellency of the glory they are going to 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen But we know when he shall uppear we shall be like him 1 〈◊〉 3.2 Our friends to us are as water spilt upon the ground but with 〈◊〉