Hour wherein it may not overtake him for ought he knows to the contrary And though what I am now to add can be but little comfort to the careless ungodly World because Religion will comfort none whom it doth not rule yet to the true conscientious Christian I hope it may afford even strong consolation For what more effectual Armor against the fears of Death can be shewed to such a one or be wished by him than this Truth before us That Death it self shall be his advantage and prove a Friend unto his Soul. If a Man have an Antipathy against Bleeding so as to saint almost at the very thought of it yet he that can prove that it is necessary for him as a means against those difficult and dangerous distempers that he feels or fears and can demonstrate the safety of it also may thereby reconcile him to it and make him not only content but glad also to part with a little of his Blood. Much more may a Godly Christian be content to part with his Life when God calls for it while his Faith and his Reason is really satisfied by the word of truth that his Death shall be safe and gainfull and that his Lord and Saviour will be better to his Soul than the Life of his Body and all created comforts whatsoever For a wicked Man to be afraid of dying is no wonder at all nor no Absurdity neither well may he fear Death that shall feel Damnation after it if he dye in the State he is yet in but for a Religious Person that placeth his Happiness in God through Christ and desires nothing more than to be fitter to serve and enjoy him For such a one to be afraid of dying O what pity is it I do not say 't is strange For alas it is but too common with the best Many are now of a fearfull Heart that shall stand without Fear at the Day of Judgment but I may safely say that such Fears in such Persons are very needless and strangely unreasonable As yet I know nothing that a good Christian is less concern'd to fear than dying For when he is absent from the Body he shall be present with the Lord 1 Cor. 5.8 that is in a more excellent manner than he was or could be in this mortal Life in a State far better as 't is expressed elsewhere Philip. 1.23 God hath often said by his Prophets Fear not and in Esay 40.10 He urged it to his Servant with the Reason of it Fear not for I am with thee Be not dismayed for I am thy God c. Now if any shuld say this may excuse them perhaps from fearing ordinary Evils but not from fearing Death I wou'd then demand the Reason of his Speech and can perswade my self that he cannot shew any Reason truly so called in defence of it And I need say no more to confute him therein than to tell him that God is the God of his People as truly and as comfortably at a dying Hour as at any other time and that Death shall not separate them from the Love of God Rom. 8.38 But possibly it may be expected that I should answer some objections which also with God's Assistance I shall endeavour to do Obj. 1. When you have said all you can yet say some we know very well that Dying is a Hard word and a Harder thing and hath such Difficulties accompanying it as are puzling and unpleasing to the most of Men. Answ What it may be to the most is little to my purpose to enquire of For 't is not most Men but good and upright Christians that here I speak of And that Dying is so hard a thing to such persons I think I am not obliged to believe 'T is confessed it may seem so unto them but it is not so indeed for the Difficulties are more fancifull than real And when they are most troubled at the thoughts of Death yet in that Case it is not Dying it self but Snning and Doubting that is the cause of their Distress which as to the weakest true Christian they are pardoned for Christ's Sake so at Death there is an end of them See before Sect. 12. Christ's Death for them has taken away the Sting of Death 1 Cor. 15.56 57. So that they have more cause to be afraid of Living than of Dying For in Life they are liable to variety of Troubles and may often be in heaviness through manifold Temptations But in Dying they are subject to none of them From thence forth their Souls shall never see one evil Hour They that dye in the Lord are blessed from thence forth and they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 Obj. 2. But at a dying Hour we may expect Satan's fiercest Assaults and strongest Temptations For he is never more apt to assail us than when we are at the weakest as some report of the Learned and Pious Mr. Pemble that when he lay on his Death-bed the wicked one managed his subtilest Suggestions against him even in way of Argument to baffle his Faith in the Blessed Jesus to keep his Soul from resting on that Rock of Salvation Answ This needs not to trouble any true hearted Christian For first he cannot conclude it shall therefore be his own case or that his last Hour shall be in any sad sense an Hour of Temptation God deals very variously with his People and ordereth all their Affairs according to the Methods of his own most mercifull Will and Wisdom Mr. Pemble and others had manifold Temptations in their latter Hours Mr. Holland Molinaeus Mr. Robert Bolton and multitudes more had their Hearts then filled with Heaven's Peace and though Satan wants not malice or knowledge to take advantage of their weaknesses and to oppose them with his fiery Darts when he sees them least able to resist yet we are sure his Power is limited so that he cannot give them one Minutes disturbance more than God is pleased to permit whose mercy we are told is to everlasting upon them that fear him Psal 103.17 and therefore shall not be turned from them by all the Power of Hell. How well would they be satisfied if some of their best friends whose kindness they have most experienced had a power given them to order all circumstances that concern their Death Behold the matter is much safer than so and all their Affairs in a better hand Sure I am the truest Affection and heartiest Love of the most compassionate Parent upon Earth is as nothing and vanity to the tender Mercy of that Great High Priest and gracious Saviour with whom they have to do Nor would he be called the Shepherd of their Souls 1 Pet. 2.25 if he did not mean to take care of them accordingly and help them in their greatest need Ob. 3. But the mere Absence of the Soul from its Body may seem to make its condition somewhat uncomfortable for Philosophers commonly write of the Desire it hath to the Body and a
Edification of others or the like and we know Negatives in Scripture are sometimes meant only in some respect or kind as when the Prophet says there is no Peace to the Wicked that is no sound well-grounded Peace for they may have Peace such as it is yea till sudden destruction come upon them 1 Thes 5.3 It follows Who shall give thee Thanks in the Grave very sure that 's no place for Praise Yet nothing hinders but that the Soul after its departure may have a blessed Remembrance of the goodness of its God and give him perpetual thanks in its way and according to its capacity Nor do those words of the Psalmist import any thing to the contrary For as it was no part of the Psalmist's design to enquire into the state of a separated Soul in that Text so the Soul it self when separated from the Body is not in the Grave Nor doth it answer to the word Who for the Soul is not a Person but only a Constitutive part of the Person With no less vanity is Psal 146.4 objected against this point His Breath goes forth he returneth to his Earth and in that very day his thoughts Perish for Man 's thoughts in that Scripture need be extended no farther than his Earthly Thoughts his Counsels Projects and Policies as to this world Moller in loc which is enough to dissuade us from putting our trust in Man. Which also to doe was the purpose of the Psalmist in that place The Soul of the best Man would be pitifull Poor indeed if after Death it should be deprived of all its thoughts or thinking power and I am very confident the Apostle would not have desired to depart this Life if after Death his Soul should not have so much of Life as a thinking faculty containeth In the new Testament also there are some Texts urged by these Men but chiefly that of St. Paul 2 Tim. 4.8 Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me in that Day meaning the day of Judgment Therefore that Blessedness signified thereby say they is reserved till that day and not given before But this Argument is so far wide that no art can make it come any thing close for their purpose For though we grant that the Faithfull have not their Happiness till then which is the most that it can prove Yet that doth not contradict the Happiness of their Souls in their separated state And how happy soever their Souls be in that case yet their Persons cannot enjoy the State of Glory till they are in the State of Personality in the Union of their Bodies and Souls which will not be till the Resurrection There be I confess other Texts that some can fansie this Doctrine to be opposed by but I pass them because they are so far from confuting it that in my Opinion they do not so much as seem to concern it SECT VII The point improved for Confutation of Errours AMongst the many good purposes for which the truth in hand may be serviceable it may fitly be considered for the disproving some principles that some People have too gladly entertained 1. That of the Libertines that the Soul at Death looseth its very being and vanisheth into Air or what they please or that it then hath a drowsie state if any and sleeps as it were in the Grave or other places Doctrines exactly calculated for the Meridian of Profaneness and may indifferently serve for all bad practices They are indeed of such a dismal Aspect and Malign Influence that I can hardly compare them to any more fitly than those that came out of the mouth of the Leviathan for they look as ugly though not just like them And as one day their folly shall be manifested to all Men so the present truth doth fully discover it For if the Soul in its separated state be capable of Joy and Happiness as was proved certainly then it looseth not its Being nor its Apprehension And well may he be deemed a senseless Man here that thinketh his Soul shall be so insensible hereafter And as plainly doth it oppose the Doctrine of Purgatory which though Bellarmine and his Brethren say hath its difficulties as to those questions about it which the Church has not determined yet is strongly asserted by them as a place of real punishment for the Souls of such as shall see Happiness at last but must in order to it be Purged and Purified in that place of Suffering Which can hardly need any other confutation than the proof of the happy state of the Spirits of the just in their departure from their Bodies which I hope hath been given from the Texts urged for that purpose SECT VIII For Trial of our selves whether we are of the number of those just ones that may justly expect this approaching Felicity SInce there is such a happy state for the just after Death yea presently after it so as that Death it self becomes their advantage and leadeth their Souls into the blessed presence of their Saviour Since it is thus I say methinks it should mightily move considering People to search and try their ways and states and see whether they are in such a state as may warrant them to lay claim to this Happiness at Hand which the word of our God discovers to us If it be reported any thing credibly that they who are so and so qualified shall have Honours and Preferments how easily would they be brought to consider whether they have the supposed Qualifications at least if they think themselves capable of them though at the same time they are not ignorant that Death will shortly disgrace all worldly glory Much more should Men try whether they can yet lay claim to that real Happiness that shall come quickly and last for ever Now as to this They need no more to prove their Interest in it upon the account of Christ than to prove themselves to be truly Just or Righteous Persons For 't is the Just that shall come out of Trouble Prov. 12.13 'T is the upright one whose end is Peace Ps 37.37 'T is the Righteous that hath hope in his Death Prov. 14.32 'T is the same also that the Prophet tells us shall enter into Peace Esa 57.2 And we know by a Just or Righteous Man the Scripture meaneth a Godly or Religious Man. There are but two sorts the Good and the Bad in Scripture which are commonly called the Righteous and the Wicked Malachi 3. Psal 37. The Just and the Unjust Math. 5. So that the question will be who are these Just Righteous Religious People To which I shall Answer 1. Negatively 2. Positively 1. Negatively They are not the Just ones that laugh at Religion and mock at all that is called Holy that are more taken with the principles of the Leviathan than with the precepts of the Bible that are Enemies to the word of Righteousness and had rather hear of any
Praises here on Earth For it was the design of Christ to bring his People into a nearer Union with each other as well as himself that they may be one as we are one John 17.22 And those Arguments Divines bring for the Saints knowledge of one another after the Resurrection may seem almost as strong for their Souls Acquaintance with one another in their absence from their Bodies The Scripture speaking of the death of the faithfull says that therein they are gathered to their Fathers the holy Patriarchs and other their Religious Predecessours But they are not gathered to them in respect of their Bodies therefore in respect of their Souls 4. Holy Souls after Death shall be with Christ Phil. 1.23 When absent from the Body they are present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.8 And oh what a thing is this 1. To be with Christ in his special and blisfull presence to know love and enjoy him fully clearly continually as the same Apostle maketh it the Crown of all Comforts To be for ever with the Lord 1 Thes 4.17 Thus I say to be with Christ must needs be a matter of purest and persectest Joy to a Christian's Soul. Oh that thou couldest fully understand good Reader the preciousness of such a privilege But Alas I want words to express it much more a heart to conceive it I am my self too little a Christian to tell thee the sweetness of this Consolation to discover the depths of this purest River of the Water of Life If the holy Apostle could solace himself in the hope of having the Company of his converts at Rome If the Lord Chancellour of England in the Reign of King Henry the 8th was so much delighted to see in London the Florentine Merchant that in some difficult cases had befriended him beyond Sea the expressions of whose joy and gratitude were so memorable that the Learned Dr. Hakwell thought good to record them in his Apology of God's power and providence If the Hearts of the weak have gathered strength and revived to admiration at the coming of some eminent unexpected Friends though these were but dying Dust and had not any degree of comfort absolutely at their command How unspeakably then must a gracious Soul be refreshed and most superlatively satisfied by the presence and favour of that immortal Majesty who suffered Death and the Curse to make it happy Surely it must needs be an inestimable benefit to be in the happiest manner present with him who is the King of Glory the Consolation of Israel the joy of Angels and the Saviour of the World. This therefore as he was a Mediatour was his great desire for his People That they might be with him where he is John 17.24 The joy of which we may a little guess at by the things that shall accompany this their Presence with him As 1. a full Deliverance from all Doubts and Fears and all things that may cause or occasion them Here how hard a thing was it for them to get an assurance of their interest in Christ and Salvation by him and when they had it t' was no easie matter to maintain and preserve it yea the best on Earth are not so privileged but that if they be not carefull and watchfull over themselves they may fall into such sins as may darken all their evidences for Heaven and deprive them of the Joy of their Salvation It was David's case Psal 51. But when once their Souls come to dwell with Christ then they shall be ever secured from all possibility of doubting about their spiritual and eternal welfare no such sad mist can cloud that Soul which lives under the Rayes of the Sun of Righteousness Here as they may have assurance so they may loose it again But to be with Christ is far better in that respect and they then Rest from their Labours from all that may be tedious and tiresome unto them Rev. 14.13 2. Their Presence with the Lord in St. Paul's sense will set them free from all manner of cares not only from disorderly and distrustfull cares but also from all natural necessary and prudential cares which their present state doth expose them to And the reason is plain because then their Souls are above all wants and necessities They want not for Monies when they are fully possest of the riches of Christ They want for no Friendship and good Company when they are happily joyned to the whole Family of Heaven They take no care for Food or Sleep when they enjoy him who is the Bread of Life and partake of that eternal Rest which he hath purchased for them 3. In a word Then they shall be freed from taking any care about doing their Duty and pleasing their God For the Difficulty of Duty will then be over and the Comfort of it only shall remain When they thus dwell with the holy one they shall be fully framed to his holy Will. To love God in perfection and delight in him without which Heaven it self cannot make us happy These things I say will be as natural and easie to holy Souls after death as it is to a thirsty man to drink or to the eye to behold the desired Light There being no sin then remaining in them to alienate and estrange them from their gracious God as hath been already proved And as their Being with Christ secureth them from all Trouble so it shall afford them the truest and strongest Consolation and that on these following grounds 1. Because they shall then see Christ to be their Own for ever And in all their knowledge of him they shall know him to be Theirs Propriety is in it self a pleasant thing with what content do Men many times speak even of those outward insufficient comforts which they can truly call their own My Mony and my Lands my Relations and my Friends c. Do usually sound with an Accent of Pleasure O what blessed Delight then must a pious Soul be elevated with when it dwells with Christ in a better World What Triumphant exultation will it be filled with when it can say with full assurance My Rock and my Refuge my Lord and my King my God and my Saviour my great High Priest and my Redeemer 2ly When they are with Christ in the sense aforesaid they shall possess the eternal Treasure and know perfectly the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge Eph. 3.19 The very Being with him necessarily implies the enjoying of his Love as the Departing from him imports the want of it Mat. 7.23 And how great a Happiness must that be And though I cannot comprehend it yet I may fitly take occasion to consider it and it shall be the substance of the following Section SECT XIII Shewing the Greatness of the Love of Christ which the Souls of his People shall enjoy after Death WIthout this my small Book would be too small and would speak me guilty of too great an oversight to be handsomly excused For how should I make
Happiness at Hand OR A Plain and Practical DISCOURSE OF THE Joy of Just Mens Souls in the State of Separation from the Body For the Instruction of Weak Christians and for the Comfort of the Afflicted By J. B. Rector of Finchamsted in the County of Berks. Psal 63.3 Thy Loving Kindness is better than Life Qui cupit dissolvi esse cum Christo haud patienter moritur sed patienter vivit delectabiliter moritur Aug. LICENSED July 2. 1686. LONDON Printed by J. H. for L. Meredith at the King's Head at the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard 1687. THE Epistle Dedicatory To the Worshipfull and my most worthily honoured Friend Dr. Robert Woodward Chancellour of my Lord Bishop's Court at Sarum Worthy Sir AS I have adventured to make use of your Name in this way so I am perswaded 't is scarce more easie for uncharitable Minds to Blame me for it than for your Kindness and Courtesie to excuse it in some Measure And if Any should account me presumptuous in so doing I can truly tell them That I had a very great and almost Irresistible Temptation to it For Gentlemen of good Repute and Judgment do not seem to doubt but I might bear the Reflections of Ingratitude as well as Imprudence if having an opportunity I should not make some publick Acknowledgment of my Obligations to your Worship for those great Instances of your undeserved Friendship which Blessed be God I so happily received in those publick Circumstances that made me stand in need of so Good a Friend Accept therefore I beseech you Sir this plain Piece as a Pledge of the unfeigned Thanks that I must ever owe you And Sir I do the rather beg your Acceptance of it because the Doctrine defended is apparently owned by the Church of England and partly Because if it find in the Main that Honour and Favour I shall think my self sufficiently Armed against the Censures of the Profane Malignant World. The Father of Mercies follow you still with His Goodness Granting you many Happy Days here on Earth and when your Time is ended the Joys of Eternity and the Blessedness of Them that Dye in the Lord. So praying refteth Good Sir Your Worship 's most humble Servant and most effectually obliged John Brandon A Word to the READER CHristian Reader If thou askest why I publish this Discourse I can safely answer 'T is not to offend thee But possibly Thou mayst expect some further Account which take as followeth 1. The Subject here treated of is not so commonly handled as many other Points of Religion Among the Multitudes of Books abroad in the World which I have made some Enquiry about there is not so much as one Pocket-Volume that I can find written upon it purposely plainly and practically And Those that have spoken occasionally of it in larger Pieces containing various Subjects have said a great deal more than they have proved about it I could shew a prety many pages relating to it that afford not so much as one good Substantial Argument for the truth of it and yet it deserveth to be as well proved as most Doctrines that I know of and much better than some that have been sufficiently contended for 2. 'T is a Subject that seems to afford an Eminent Degree of Support and satisfaction to a Pious Soul. For though the Being for ever with the Lord be the Top of our Felicity whether we enjoy it sooner or later yet me thinks the Hope of being with Him in a little Time may be agreat Addition to a Christian's Joy. May it not be a Matter of Special yea strong Consolation to think and Believe on Scripture grounds that he shall be a Gainer by his Dissolution have his Soul with Christ and his Angels before his Body is with Worms and Dust and see the Eternal Light and Love as soon as Death has drawn the Vail of Flesh And that it may Assist thee Christian Reader in the chearfull Service of thy God which is the truest Heaven that Thou canst hope for here on Earth is so evident that it need not be proved Well may he serve his God with Gladness that hopeth so shortly to see his Salvation And I was the more encouraged to go on herein because I feared no Opposers For the Church of England teacheth its Friends to say in the Burial Service O God with whom the Souls of the Faithfull after they are delivered from the Flesh are in Joy and Felicity And if I am opposed by its Enemies it will be matter of small Regard with me yet if any man of what perswasion soever shall employ his Pen to Disprove the Main of what I have said on this Point He may be attended to if God grant Life and Leisure I can easily judge that a Work of this Nature were fitter to be managed by others than by Me yet that must not hinder me from doing it as I can And if my Imperfect Doing of it may Anger any man so far as to move him to do it Better I shall think I have written to very good purpose And now I have onely to Request of thee these few things 1. That thou wouldst reade over this Discourse when thou hast not a better at hand for which I need urge no other Motives than the Smallness of it and the Greatness of it's Subject 2. That thou reade it with a Charitable Eye and a Christian Aim receiving the Truth with all Readiness of mind not Rejecting any thing thou findest to be Sound for the Sake of any thing that thou thinkest to be weak 3. That thou wouldst beseech God of all Grace to give us such Grace as may be sufficient for us such as may fit us both in his due time for the Participation of that Felicity which this small Book is designed to Discover I add no more but to Subscribe my Self Thy Servant for the Sake of Jesus John Brandon Finchamsted Berks May 10th 1686. A Table of the Contents of this Discourse THE Introduction with some Presuppositions relating to the Point Viz. The Soul's Immortality and it's Capableness of being Happy out of the Body Page 1 SECTION I. The Happiness of good Mens Souls in their Separation from the Body asserted and the Probability of it discovered pag. 12 SECT II. The happy State of good Mens Souls after Death proved from Phil. 1.23 having a Desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better together with an Answer to a Socinian Exception pag. 17 SECT III. The Point proved from Luke 23.43 This day Thou shalt be with me in Paradise and Colos 1.20 To reconcile all things to himself whether Things on Earth or Things in Heaven with an Answer to some Exceptions pag. 26 SECT IV. The same proved from 2 Cor. 5.8 We are willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord and Heb. 12.23 The Spirits of Just Men made perfect pag. 31 SECT V. The same Doctrine proved
is that no Persecutors can damn the Souls of God's Servants I wou'd fain know why they suppose him to have taught so plain a truth in so dark a manner For how shall we be certain that killing means Damnation in that place when it signifieth no such thing in any other Scriptures Others can fancy the meaning is that men cannot kill the Soul for ever or for good and all as we say But that 's as vain as the former and appears to be so by the same reason for then there should be no more said of the Soul than may be said of the Body for they cannot kill the Body for ever it shall be alive after death has done its worst It shall be raised Incorruptible 1 Cor. 15. and this mortal must put on Immortality And that the word kill in St. Matthew must be meant of killing for ever no proof can be pretended to either from the phrase or circumstances or scope of the place and therefore it might be sufficient to deny it without confuting it Others again would evade the force of this Text of St. Matthew by comparing it with Luk. 12.4 Fear not them that kill the Body but after that have no more that they can do where there is nothing said of the Impossibility of killing the Soul. And indeed as a Kingdom is most in danger when it is divided against it self so Religion they perceive is most powerfully resisted when it is opposed by its own strength by that blessed word which is at once its rule and support But it cannot be used for so ill a purpose without gross ignorance or great perversness as may easily be exemplified in the said Objection For first both these Texts are from the same Spirit of Truth and however the latter be expressed yet the former is the word of Christ also and he really meaneth as he speaketh therein And if Men could any way make the Soul of Man to cease to be a living Soul it would signifie little to say that they cannot kill it since on that supposal they may do as much whether it be properly called killing or no nor would that Man well escape the imputation of a Blasphemer that should say the infinite wisedom would speak so vainly on any occasion Obj. But yet St. Luke doth not so express it and St. Matthew say some may be expounded by S. Luke Sol. 1. Though it be not so expressed by St. Luke yet where it is so expressed I desire the liberty of believing it true 2. There is no necessity in this affair of expounding the one by the other and if there were it may seem fitter to expound Luk. 12.4 by Mat. 10.28 than contrarily for that of Matthew is more special and particular than that of Luke And if any will say our Saviour did not intend to teach us the Souls immortality in the former because he did not mention it in the latter yet we must not suffer their confidence to carry it as we say or take their word for it Nor can they require us so to doe unless they should pretend to Mr. Hobbs's profoundness or a greater Man's infallibility Having supposed and in part proved that the Soul of Man remains alive after his Body is dead the next particular I would premise is this that it is a Subject capable of joy or sorrow after it leaves the Body according as it leaveth it in a State of Sin or a State of Grace It is not like some sort of Insects in the depth of Winter that have a vital principle without motion or operation that are alive and seem as insensible as if they were dead I know some would perswade us the Soul sleeps after Death but their great errors in other things may fully excuse us from believing them in this and I think it as strange a fancy as can enter into the Head of any Man that hath his understanding well awake for as the Psalmist says of God He that made the Eye shall he not see So we may say of the Soul that which gives sense to the Body shall not it perceive especially since it liveth after it leaves the Body as hath been proved SECT I. The Happiness of good Mens Souls in their Separation from the Body asserted and the probability of it discovered BEfore the proof and Vindication of this point it may be proper to shew the probability of it that they who are not perswaded 't is true may not be over confident that it is false by shewing the judgment of Eminent Writers that are presumed able to judge of a matter of this nature And if I were to satisfie a Romanist of it I might cite the noted Men of his Church i.e. 1. Aquin. their great Schoolman Sum. prim 2 dae quest 4. Art. 5. Aliqui dicunt quod Animae separatae ad beatitudinem non perveniunt c. Some says he tell us that good Mens Souls come not to Blessedness till the day of Judgment But this is plainly false In like manner goes Bellarmine in his tract de Arte Moriendi and especially in Lib. de ascens mentis grad 2 chap. 5. p. 35. Quid mirum ait si Angeli beatae Animae c. Where he joins together the Angels and Just Mens Souls doubting the happiness of the one no more than the other So grad 7. cap. 5. Quibus perpetuus Dies est c. Speaking of the same 'T is always day with them they know no darkness of sin or sorrow Tho. Ã Kempis de imitat Christi lib. 1. cap. 23. Sect. 6. Drexel Heliotrop l. 1. c. 1. Sect. 4. Cajetan in Philip. 1.23 most plainly in several passages that I need not transcribe But I leave these and rather cite our Protestant Worthies Musculus in Math. 17. Mors piorum Egressus est ex mundo ad patrem c. i. e. The death of Godly ones is a going out of this World to their Heavenly Father therefore to be desired more than to be dreaded Zanchius in Philip 1.23 Quanam sui parte c. In what respect did Paul desire after his dissolution to be with Christ Not in respect of his Body apparently therefore of his Soul therefore his Soul was capable of that Happiness immediately after death Others speak to the same purpose as follows D. Joh. Maccov de Anim. fept in explic Theorem 2. Ursin Catech. part 2. Resp ad quest 42. Paraeus in Rom. 6. Resp ad Dub. 9. Alsted Theol. Casuum p. 172. Piscator in Philip. 1. Essenius in Triumpho Crucis de satisf Christi lib. 1. sect 4 cap. 3 part 1. Dan. Chamiet lib. 25. cap. 2. de Beatitudine Jos Stegman Photin disp 52. q. 1. Jo. Scarpii curs theol de purgatorio Palan syntagmo l. 7 cap. 5. Arnoldus Lux. in Tenebr p. 418. D. Henr. Altingius L. C. Loc. 5. Controvers 2. To whom I may add a few of our English Worthies and those are as good as a great many Bp. Usher
of Righteousness when the Spirit of Glory hath perfected all its Graces and delivered it from all the darkness of sin And in being free from sin it shall be free from all other evils as he that is freed from his Debt is secured from all arrests and troubles that relate to it for whatsoever our God may be pleased to doe out of Sovereignty and without respect to his Creature 's sin as 't is supposed Job's Afflictions came on him in that way Yet Divines agree that God did never lay Affliction on his People but while they had sin dwelling in them so that the Souls of his Servants after Death are rid of all other evil as well as of sin They shall then be no more disturbed by any Enemies of their Peace the Regions of the unseen World they are then in shall be always Serene The Ocean of Eternity shall be calm and comfortable to them Then they shall have no more to doe with the Temptations of Satan the Mocks of the Profane the Snarls and Censures of proud-hearted Hypocrites These shall follow the upright no farther than the Grave For their end is Peace Psal 37.37 How found and substantial will the Soul's Joy be when it sees it self safe in the Arms of God's Love beyond the sphere of sin and sorrow which should move it to bear the more contentedly the Troubles and Temptations of this Transitory Life In particular the gracious Soul shall then have the excellencies that are most essential to true Happiness and be perfected in the Knowledge and love of God in Christ St. Paul himself though he knew much more of Christ than most ever did or shall do in this World and had the Revelations of things too great to be uttered 2 Cor. 12. Yet his knowledge had a real imperfection at the same time We know but in part 1 Cor. 13.9 and vers 12. Now I know in part but as it follows then I shall know as I am known I will not play the Critick on that phrase nor search curiously into the depths of it 't is for our purpose clear enough for it must be meant of perfection of knowledge because 't is opposed to a knowing in part If any say it is to be understood especially of the state at the Resurrection I shall not gainsay it But I see not why it may not be applyed also to the Soul in its Separation For as the particle Now doth confessedly denote the state of this Life so the particle Then doth as plainly intimate any time or state after this Life ended And he might express it so if it were properly and primarily meant of the Soul in its Separation from the Body As when he said Phil. 1. I desire to depart and be with Christ Which Being with Christ is confessedly intended in respect of his Soul. Nor is it easie to conceive how his Soul 's being with Christ after Death should be so much a better condition than any in this Life if therein it had not perfection in the Knowledge and Love of Christ For on Earth he had a great measure of them and was daily tending forwards towards perfection and was assured that nothing should separate him from the Love of Christ Rom. 8. Surely therefore a holy Soul will not want for knowledge when it has left the World. How can it be any thing less than perfectly light in the Lord when it shall be perfectly and gloriously present with him And who is able to tell us what a Joy and Blessedness this must be If I could know my God and Saviour with such a powerfull spiritual and affecting knowledge as some good Men have had on Earth my heart should be glad and my spirit rejoyce though I were utterly despised in the World and had not one hours health all the days of my Life yet all their knowledge here was imperfect as we have seen And how much better shall that state be where all sinfull imperfections shall be done away If the Mystery of Christ and Salvation by him be such a glorious thing that the Angels of Heaven desire to look into it 1 Pet. 1.12 O then what abundant matter of satisfaction and joy will it yield to all those blessed Souls to whom it doth really and eternally belong and to whom the worth and excellency of it with their interest in it is fully discovered by the Spirit of Grace and Revelation 2. Another privilege that holy Souls shall have after their departure hence is their Company They shall then converse with the best of Creatures and such as never offended their good God I mean the Holy Angels After Death they shall be as it were made Free of that Company and see themselves Members of that Blessed Society united in and under the same Head Christ Jesus Now indeed if they should see but one of those immortal Spirits standing be fore them with his Crown of Glory compassing them about with a Light brighter than that of the Sun offering to draw nigh unto them and asking to joyn with them in the Praises of the great Jehovah such a sight probably would more astonish them than rejoyce them because the sense of their sinfulness might cast a Damp upon their Hearts and make them unfit for the heavenly employment But it shall be otherwise with their Souls when they are fully conformed to their Maker's Will and as free from sin as the Angels of his presence for the Angels of Heaven and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect are Members of that happy Society which Divines use to call the Church Triumphant and therefore are related to one another by a far nearer and nobler Relation than that of Fellow Creatures of which the learned may consult Polanus in Syntag. and H. Altingii Theol. Nov. problemat p. 616. In a word they are called in the Gospel Their Angels Math. 18.10 And we cannot think that those blessed Spirits above that have ministred to them and by Gods appointment took charge of them and especially rejoyced at their Conversion Luke 15.10 I say we cannot think they will do any thing less than joyfully congratulate their safe Arrival at the state of perfect purity and peace and chiefly as it is the proper Fruit of the Will of God and the purchase of his Christ Surely the holy Inhabitants of the best World will not be strange to Holy Souls when they come into it nor are they like the foolish Hypocrites of the Earth that delight to shew themselves proud and scornfull and look with an evil eye upon the welfare of others 3. As I question not a Holy Communion and Converse between the Angels of God and the perfected Spirits of the Just so hitherto I can as little doubt their knowledge of one another and their satisfaction in each others Happiness in their state of Separation at least and especially those of them that were before more nearly related and were wont to join together in God's Service and
ensuing Assertions 1. That such a case is not inconsistent with the State of a true Christian Though the bright Morning Star Christ so called be truly risen upon any Person and hath imparted to him the Light of Life yet that doth not make it impossible for his Sun to set in a Cloud for the Word of God says nothing to the contrary Though he therein promiseth his Servants everlasting Joy after Death yet he promised not that they should have Joy the Minute or Hour before they dye And when Solomon tells us there is one Event to the Righteous and to the Wicked as to outwards he meaneth Ecl. 9.2 I cannot fansie why any uncomfortable Circumstances about Death should seem to be excepted Our Blessed Lord himself in comparison of whose Holiness the Heaven of Heavens is but unclean departed this Life in the Depths of Sorrow and cryed with a loud voice My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Math. 27.46.50 Which being intimated gave some satisfaction to a Learned and worthy Divine when in his last Sickness he asked his Friend what that man might think of the State of his Soul that is just a-dying and can find no comfort in his God Mr. Rob. Bolton mentioneth a very Religious Gentlewoman who in her latter Hours was exercised with many Sorrows and to appearance dyed in them shewing little or no Sign of any comfort in her Soul. But that judicious Man of God did not think the worse of her State or question her Salvation but rather supposed that sad Dispensation of her God to be in Judgment to those wicked People that maliciously slaundered her good Conversation in Christ that those who would not be bettered by her unblamable Life might be hardned by her uncomfortable Death But this we may account God's strange Work most commonly the way of Holiness doth end more comfortably And we are assured the upright ones end is peace Psal 37.37 though we cannot be sure of peace in his Soul just before his End because we read God's Judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out Thus of the first Assertion The Second is this That to be followed much with Satan's sorest Temptations is no ill Sign St. Paul himself complained of Terrours within as well as Troubles without Yea Christ himself when his Heavenly Father had solemnly owned him for his Beloved Son in whom he was well pleased Math. 3.17 the next news we hear of him was that he was led into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil yea 40 days as St. Mark hath it Mark 1.11.13 whilst the strong man armed keepeth possession the things he hath are in peace The Pyrate spendeth not his biggest Bullet upon the empty Ships but upon the laden and best laden So Satan doth not cast the fiery Darts of his Temptations against those that are under his accursed slavery and follow the ways he would have them at least not usually nor unless he have them at a pinch as we say under some considerable Crosses as to the World but rather against those that have chosen a better Master and turned through grace into the Holy Path. The third Assertion in answer to the said Objection is thus That a Christian's Fear of Dying uncomfortably is no sign that he shall Dye so As God bids his Prophet say to them that are of a fearfull heart Be strong and fear not So he is pleased many times to strengthen and encourage them abundantly and do for them above all they could ask or think He that had his Spirit overwhelmed in him and walked mournfully all the year round by reason of those blasphemous Suggestions that the unclean Spirit had so constantly exercised him with yet at length was enabled to offer up joyfull Praises to his God and Saviour and ended his days in a blessed peace as a great Authour hath testified The like is recorded of Mr. Saunders viz. That though he was sometimes much concerned as we call it to think what he should do if he should be brought to the fiery Trial yet when he was brought to it he had his Fears removed and being strengthened with God's Spirit of Might passed as comfortably through that Sea of Blood as the rest of that noble Army of Martyrs The fourth Assertion God often worketh by contraries and brings about his gracious purposes by means that seem the most unlikely As he brought water for his People not out of the Sea or the River but out of the Rock so he often suffers those People to be most shaken with Temptations whom he meaneth most to establish to make most grounded and rooted in the Faith. Of which I might instance in Luther and others if it were my purpose to enlarge on this particular The fifth Assertion The Arm of God's Love is infinitely stronger than the Arm of a Christian's Faith If therefore he be such in sincerity he may be sure that either he shall not Dye in despair or Discomfort or else that he shall not be ruined by Dying so For if his Graces be never so much opposed yet God's Kindness to his Servants is absolute and unconquerable If their Faith and Hope should seem to be shaken beyond recovery yet compassion cannot fail in the Father of Mercies and his Covenant of Peace shall not be removed Esay 54.10 so Rom. 8.38 What shall separate us so speaking of the rest of the faithfull as of himself from the Love of Christ Neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come that is they shall never do it by any means or any sad Circumstances that can attend them The sixth Assertion Despair in all kinds and cases is no such heinous and dangerous Sin as some have imagined And it were to be wished that some Authours otherwise learned and good had written more cautiously about it than they have done And those that despaired of Francis Spira's Salvation because he ended his days in the darkness of Despair may seem as unskilfull as uncharitable and I believe they have been blamed for it by many Divines besides and since Mr. Perkins But to come directly to the point it self Despair therefore may be considered in several sorts of People and on several grounds or occasions of it As to the first Despair in a wicked man if total and ordinary I confess must needs be a very sad matter because it hinders him from using the means of Salvation Yet it doth not make his Salvation impossible because 't is not impossible for it to be removed 2. To despair of Salvation out of a conceit that there is not in Christ a sufficient Power and Merit for that purpose This I say is no less dangerous because it is grounded on a prevalent Unbelief and argues the Person under it to have no right Apprehensions of the Person of Christ or the Excellency and Alsufficiency of his Merit and Righteousness 3. But for a true Christian to be brought into Despair by Temptations and Mistakes