that to this end To shew the Generality of the Condition All naturally are dead dead in sin To shew the Certainty of it We may believe it and are not to be unbelieving about it To shew the Corruptibility of our Nature Though we are dead yea dead in sin yet it is connatural unto us to be unwilling to take notice of it There is an eternal Death Is the first Death so amazing so amusing what is the second Death then Is the first Death The King of terrours to a Christless Soul who then is able to say what the second Death is to this Soul There is the second Death as well as the first Death He or She that overcometh shall not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rev. 2.11 not so the Greek be hurt of the second Death There is a twofold Death both of the Body and of the Soul The first Death of the Body is the Separation of the Soul the second Death of the Body is the Torment of Eternity There is also a twofold Death of the Soul 1 Separatio Animae The first Death of the Soul is Sin the second Death of the Soul is a casting out from the Face of God 2 Cruciatus aeterni and that for an Eternity Hell as some fancy is not Mount Aetna 1 Peccatum nor yet Purgatory according to the conceit of the blind and bloody Papist Hell must needs be a dismal place 2 Profectio à facie Dei in aeternum a Dungeon of Darkness for the Sun-shine of Gods presence never comes there To the damned saith one the Loss of Heaven is more grievous than the Torment of Hell Heaven and Hell are the greatest Opposites Estius Matth. 11.23 or remotest Extreams And thou Capernaum that art lifted up to Heaven shalt be thrown down to Hell The second Death is Hell and the punishment thereof the punishment of Sense and of Loss There is a corporal or natural Death Moses my servant Josh 1.2 is dead How great soever and good soever Moses was he is dead now he is gone off the Stage now he is gathered to his Fathers now he is gone into an Eternity now Moses is dead and God preach his Funeral Sermon Joh. 11.32 Moses my servant is dead Lord said Mary if thou hadst been here my Brother had not died This is natural or corporal Death which is the following Subject SECTION II. What this Natural or Corporal Death is which is the Circumference of the Vniverse BUT what is Natural Quest Sol. or Corporal Death I shall not pretend to a Definition which relate to the Nature and Essence but present a Description which relate to the Properties and Effects Natural Death Descriptio is the Deprivation of natural Life Death is no Essence nor Substance but Privation Death is the Disunion between the Soul and the Body A man then dies when the Body for a time and but for a time is separated from the Soul or the Soul takes leave of the Body Death is but departed Death from lifened Dust Thou hidest thy face they are troubled Psal 104.29 Mors a morsu which our first Parents tasted Isa 2.22 Mors a mora which yet tarrieth for us All. Gen. 35.18 Omne Ens est Bounm omne Ronum est Ens. thou takest away their breath they die and return unto their dust When our Breath goes out our Life goes out when we cease breathing we cease living our Breath going our Life goeth our Life is but a Breath but a Blast Mans Breath is in his nostrils God breathed into mans nostrils the breath of life Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Unless Breath goeth forth we die and Death is nothing else but a going forth of the Breath Life is a going forth of the Breath by Respiration and Death is a going forth of the Breath by Expiration It is said of Rachel And it came to pass as her soul was in departing for she died that she called his name Ben-oni that is The Son of my sorrow but his Father called him Benjamin that is The Son of the right hand God that made all things saw that all things which he made were very good Every Being is good and every Good is a Being therefore Lord saith one seeing thou hast not made Death suffer not that which thou hast not made to reign over that which thou hast made Death is a Fall August Omnes eramus ille unus Hemo Rom. 5.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which came by a Fall Adam sinning fell he falling all his posterity fell in him and with him It was not Man but Man-kind that fell By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in whom so the Greek all have sinned Nature when she was young caught a fall as Mephihosheth did whereof she hath halted ever since Breath departing is dying and departed Breath is Death Death is not a Creature but the Grave of Creatures Jam. 1.15 Who ever was the Father of Death Sin was the Mother of Death if the Apostle may be credited Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death The first and the second Death are the products of sin Sin Lex naturae Tributurn mortalium Plato Visibile Verbum is that unhappy Womb that have been productive of the first and second Death Death as one calls it is the Law of Nature and Tribute of Mortals It is the municipal Law of the Earth to die once of Heaven to live for ever of Hell to die for ever We may call Death a Visible Word I am writing of natural Death it is as natural to die as to live yet when we say a man dies naturally we seem to speak improperly for a Man dies not as a Beast dies through the Annihilation of Nature but from the Appointment of God It is once appointed unto man to die Heb. 9.27 and after death the Judgment The word once say some is not to be referred to die as if there were some suspition that man could die twice but the word once is referred to appoint it was once appointed and that once shall stand It is enough that God hath once appointed Death but after this the Judgment Some understand this of a particular Judgment which God passeth upon the Soul immediately after death but if I mistake not we may with once interpret it of the general Judgment Estius Pool in loc which will be a solemn Promulgation and total Execution of the Sentence Once for All. SECTION III. Whether Natural or Corporal Death be the Circumference of the Vniverse DEath is the Circumference of the Vniverse Death's Motto is Nulli cedo and every mans Line meet in this Circumference To be a Man is to be mortal for to be a Man is to be a Sinner To be unwilling to die is to
be Hence the Body of man is called vile 1 Cor. 15.47 Who shall change our vile body and make it like his glorious body The Body of the first Adamâ— was formed out of the Earth and is said to be of the earth earthy And as in the first Body so in the bodies of all men Earth is the predominant element our bodies are vile the chief Ingredient oâ— their mixture being the Earth which comparatively to those higher and nobler elements is but vile Gen. 18.27 Abraham writes himself Dust and Ashes Dust is Earth made by the Heat of the Sun Ashâ—s Earth made by the Heat of the Fire They Amos 6.4 who now lye upon beds of Ivory must lye down in a bed of Earth and rest their Heads upon a pillow of Dust. Most sleep in the Dust while they live but all must sleep in the Dust when they die He only who hath laid up his Heart in Heaven Eccl. 12.7 can comfortably think of laying down his Head in the Dust Then shall the Dust the Body return unto the earth as it was and the Spirit the Soul unto God who gave it Mans Body is Dust materially while he lives and Dust formally when he is dead God hath appointed Death Reas 3. Heb. 9.27 Ps 31.15 therefore Man is mortal and must die 'T is once appointed for Man to die and 't is enough that it is appointed once As the Statute is past that Man must die so how long he shall live and when he shall die Isa 57.15 My times are in thy hand He who inhabits eternity is also the Lord of Time Some live as if they were Masters of Time and could appoint out their own Term Isa 28.15 as if they had made a Covenant with the Grave and an Agreement with Death they speak as if their Tongues and their Time were their own To morrow shall be as this day Isa 56.12 and much more abundant That rich Caitiff looked upon his Time as his own Soul take thine ease Luk. 12.19 20. thou hast goods laid up for many years but God said Thou Fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee The Psalmist doth not speak himself the Master but the Servant of Time My times are in thy hand That is all my Times my times of Health or Sickness of Joy or Sorrow of Truth or Triumph of Light or Darkness of Life or Death all my times are in thy hand It is well that our Times are in Gods hands Man is not wise enough to use the Time that God sets him much less is he wise enough to set his own Time God appoints Death all manner of Deaths Jer. 15.2 3. four kinds of Deaths saith the Prophet Death is Heavens Statute and who can reverse that was not that to be reversed by man Esth 8.8 that was sealed with the Kings Ring Who then can reverse Death the Law of Nature the Statute of Mortals the Circumference of the Vniverse Death is the House appointed for all living Job 30.23 Job 19.25 I know that thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living As I know that my Redeemer liveth so I know assuredly know that I shall die and go to the Grave of Silence Death bring us back to what we once were and shew us what we are It is true as I have written that some have lived and not died and that some shall live and not die yet those few Exceptions do not infirm but rather confirm the Truth of the general Rule which is That all must die because none escape but upon some special Exception Death is called a Change If a man die Job 14.14 shall he live again All the daies of my appointed time will I wait until my change come Death is natural but we die by a Law we die by Apointment the house appointed for all living Some say of Malefactors who are put to death for crimes against the Law that They are slain by the Law We may say of every man He is slain by a Law the house appointed for all living Thou turnest man to destruction Psal 90.3 that is to Death the destruction of all men as to their corporeal constitutions and external enjoyments But what then And sayest Return ye children of men God having turned man to Death saith presently Return ye children of men That is go back into what ye were return to the Dust. SECT V. The Brevity of Life IF the first Death Fui nihil amplius be the Mistress of Mortals and the Empress of the Vniverse reflect then the Brevity of Life I have been and that is all said Saladine the Great who was Conquerour of the East The longest liver hath but a handfull of Daies and Life it self is but a Circle alwaies beginning where it ends Dan. 7.9 Hodiè mihi crà s Tibi With the Ancient of Days there are no Days and Time will be when Time shall no more be The Child born in the morning is old enough to die before night To Dâ—â— to Me to Morrow to Thee is Deaths Motto When Jacob was asked by Pharoah How old art thou or according to the Margent How many are the daies of the years of thy life Gen. 47.8 9. His answer was Few and evil have the daies of the years of my life been c. A great Physician say that Art is long Life is short Ars longa Vita brevis Hippocrares Oculus apertus clausus Job 14.1 Margent The Heathens Emblem for Life was an Eye open and for Death an Eye shut as if there were no other difference between the living and the dying but the Twinkling of an Eye Man that is born of a woman is of few daies and full of trouble Job scarce thinks Himself worth the naming who doth not speak of himself in his own name Man that is born of a woman But what of this man he is of few daies short of daies and full of trouble Few daies and many troubles make up the Character of Man We use to say short and sweet Multum in parvo but here it is short and sewre yea short and bitter As some speak Much in a Little much matter in a little Discourse And as some do Much with a Little much Good with a little Talent so all suffer Much in a Little much Trouble in a little Time many Sorrows in a few Daies The daies of man are few compared with the daies that man lived before the Flood then man lived to six seven eight nine hundred almost a thousand years They are few also compared to the daies of God As the daies of God cannot be counted because they are so many so the daies of Man can scarcely be counted because they are so few Psa 39.5 Mine Age says the Psalmist is as nothing before Thee All Time is as Nothing compared to Eternity what a
Nothing then is the Age of one Man unto Eternity Some things created and finite are so great above others that they are nothing unto them What is the Ant unto the Elephant what is the Shrimp to the Whale what is the whole body of the Earth to the body of the Heavens It is but a point say Naturalists As one part of the Earth is but a point to the whole and the whole Earth but a point to the Heavens so one part of Time is but a moment to all Time and all Time is but a moment to Eternity especially to the Eternity of God What is Finite unto Infinite The Brevity of mans life will yet appear beyond all modest contradiction by the expressions wherewith it is cloathed by the metaphors wherein it is emblemed and by the Things whereunto it is compared For instance The Life of Man is compared to a Weavers Shuttle Job 7.6 My daies are swifter than a Weavers Shuttle A Weavers Shuttle is an Instrument of a very swift and sudden Motion this passeth the Loom or Web with such speed that it is grown to a Proverb for all things quick and transient The Life of Man is compared to an Hand-breadth Psal 39.5 Thou hast made my daies as an Hand-breadth That is not long which is no longer than the Breadth of an Hand not long in the largest Extent The Life of Man is compared to a Tale that is told Psal 90.9 We spend our daies as a tale that is told That is suddenly and swiftly A Discourse from the mouth especially in the mind out-runs the Sun as much as the Sun out-runs the Snail The Thoughts of a Man will travel the world over in a moment The Life of Man is compared to a Vapour What is our Life Jam. 4.14 it is even as a Vapour which for a while appeareth and then vanisheth away Though all a man hath is short of Life yet this Life of Man soon evaporates and expires SECT VI. The Certainty of Death OUR Bodies are but living Graves no sooner did we begin to live but we began to die and continue dying until we be swallowed up of Death As every Man had his Genesis his beginning or comming into this world so every Man shall have his Exodus his ending or going out of the world 1 Chr. 29.28 Oh soul flatter not thy self and thy soul with an undiable state David was a man after Gods own heart and yet concerning him it is said That he died Though he lived to a good old age full of daies riches and honour yet he died and Solomon his Son reigned in his stead Anaxagoras Scio me genuisse mortalem Deaths seisure is without surrender and from her sentence there is no Appeal When News arrived at one concerning the death of his only Son he seemed not to be over-concerned but to reply without Regret I know that he was begotten mortal I know the Son is mortal as well as the Father Gen. 5.5 8 11 14 17 20 27 31. Those long-livers recorded in the sacred Scripture and transmitted to posterity died They lived long but they did not out-live Death They lived long in the world but at last they left the world They lived long but a day came when they could not live a day longer Death is the obscurest thing in the world The Grave is a gloomy place and filled not only with natural but also with metaphorical Darkness SECT VII The Vncertainty of the Time of Death THough Death be certain yet the Time of Death is uncertain Death is certain but the Day or Hour of Death is uncertain Little did Julian think that Death had been at the Door before he was wounded by an unknown hand Vicisti Galilaee vieisti 1 Kings 22.27 1 Sam. 15.32 33. and blasphemed Thou hast overcome oh Galilaean Thou hast overcome Little did Ahab think that the day of Death had been so near dawning when he gave in charge concerning Micaiah Put this fellow in the Prison and feed him with the bread of Affliction and with the water of Affliction until I come in peace Little did Agag think of being hewed in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal when he said Surely the bitterness of death is past Pharoah stood upon even ground with God little thinking Exod. 5.2 Exod. 14.27 Isa 36.13 that the Sea should be his Sepulchre when he said Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Little did Sennacherib think that he stood upon the Brink of Eternity Isa 37.38 when these words were spoken by his servant Hear ye the words of the great King the King of Assyria when he seemed to stand upon higher ground than God Little also did Herod the Mount of Pride according to his name think Acts 12.21 22. that his Grave had been digging when he so charmed his Auditory with his Oratory that they gave a shout It is the voice of a God and not of man The Manner and Time of Death is uncertain Some indeed have predicted the Manner of their Death thus Ridley that he should be burned and not drowned Thus Jewel he long before his Sickness predicted the Approach of it And in his Sickness predicted the precise day of his Death But this is rare very rare What is prayable Object 1. is attainable but the knowledge of the length of life is prayable To pray for a Physical Sol. or Literal knowledge of our End that is what Year or Day our Lives shall end Caryl Vol. 1. p. 355. is a sinful Curiosity and presumptuous Intrusion into the secret Will of God but to pray for a metaphysical or spiritual knowledge of our End that is how we may end any day of the year or hour of the day in an holy Duty and humble submission of our selves to the revealed Will of God this is warrantable But Obj. 2. Isa 38.5 Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his daies and therefore he knew how long he should live and when he should die This Sol. is such a Favour as that we read not of the like indulged any other of Gods Servants though very high in Favour with him This Great and Good King is indulged and assured a Lease of his Life fifteen years longer well now may this be ushered in with a Note of Attention and serious Consideration Behold I will add unto his daies fifteen years It is sealed also being an unusual Grant with an unusual Miracle Behold I will bring again the shadow of the degrees Isa 38.8 which is gone down in the Sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward so the Sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down As we are to reflect the Brevity of Life the children of men being many times of as short a continuance as Jonahs Gourd which came up in a night and perished in a
as he loves himself yea he seems to love them above himself for he loves them and lays down his life for them Who loved us Ezek. 18.31 32. and washed us from our sins in his own blood Why will ye dye O house of Israel For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth saith Jehovah God Why will ye dye will ye not onely kill your selves but also me Let me dye that ye may live let me have a Cross that ye may have a Crown let me be betrayed that ye may be blessed let me be buffeted that ye may be beautified let me be crucified that ye may be crowned let me be sacrificed that ye may be sanctified and saved Thus Joh. 13.1 a Christ loveth and who but a Christ thus loveth His are loved rather than Himself if not above Himself And having once loved he ever loveth Christ is a living yea ever-living Physician Physicians below may dye must dye yea Rom. 6.10 often dye before the Cure is made but Christ having once dyed dyeth no more but lives for evermore The Physician of the Body is mortal as well as the Patient and may dye before the Patient but Christ the Physician of the Soul having once dyed no more dyeth death Joh. 5.26 hath no more domiaion over him As the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself Christ is a valuable Physician Job speaking of his Visicors calls them Job 13.4 Physicians of no value but Christ is of value of great value of greatest value Col. 2.9 In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead personally Christ is rarely skilled infinitely qualified he knoweth every Cause to him therefore is easie every Cure Nullus effectus dature sine causa effectus sequitur virtutem causae Causa est prior essecto Faelix qui â—otuit rerum cognoscere causas 1 Kings 4.32 33. Prov. 8.14 Effects cannot be produced without Causes It is a Maxim That where sufficient Causes are in Act there of necessity the Effect must follow The Effect cannot be existent before its Cause Effects must depend upon their Cause as their Base and Principle It is an approved Aphorism That the Cause precedes the Effect in order of Nature and Time and Both every thing resolves into its principle It is usually said They are happy who know the causes of things And in respect of corporal diseases they say That a disease is half cured when the cause of it is discovered Christ knows the cause and therefore can make a cure Solomon was a great Philosopher his Parables prove his divine wisdom He was prodigiously parted greatly read in Trees and Pants in Beasts and Birds in creeping things and Fishes which manifest his humane wisdom But a greater than Solomon is here under discussion One that is not onely understanding in all things but also understanding it self I am understanding Christ is a sudden Physician Some Physicians of the Body are long in curing As some persons are long diseased palsical Eneas kept his Bed eight years The woman whom Christ called a daughter of Abraham had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years There lay also at the Pool of Bethesda a man which had an infirmity thirty and eight years Now as some persons have been long diseased so some Physicians are long in curing such diseases They are long in curing if there be money coming Their Cures are like Chancery-Suits depending several years Isai 107.20 but Christ is quick at curing He sent his word and healed them It is enough to the Centurion if he can but get a word from Christ Speak the word onely Matth. 8.8 13. and my Servant shall be healed And Jesus said unto the Centurion Go thy way and as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee And his Servant was healed in the self-same hour Christ is a seasonable Physician The season of a mercy does greatly accent the mercy For a person to be sinking in the Thames and for another to rescue him from those merciless waves is not this in season Mark 5.23 24 c. For the daughter of Jairus who was at the point of death and the woman with her issue of blood of twelve years time to be both healed was not this in season For a person to be arrived near the Gates of Hell by his Sin and for Christ to give him check by his Grace is not this in season Zech. 3.1.2 For Joshua to stand before the Angel of the Lord for Satan also to stand at his right hand to resist him to be his Adversary margent and for God to rescue Joshua being a Brand plucked out of the Fire is not this in season Christ is a sutable Physician All Cures they say are by Sympathy or by Antipathy Both these ways Christ cureth Christ cureth by Sympathy In all their afflictions he was afflicted An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth Isa 63.9 1 Cor. 15.21 for a Tooth Blood for Blood By man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Christ cureth by Antipathy There is Good for Evil Light for Darkness Life for Death Heaven for Hell God hath not appointed us unto wrath 1 Thess 5.9 Non cur atur pars nisi curetur totum 2 Pet. 3.18 but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Physicians say If ye would cure any unsound part ye must cleanse the whole Body Christ cures by Sympathy and by Antipathy he must needs universally cure that every way cures Christ hath once suffered the just for the unjust A Physician asking a Lacedemonian How he did answered The better that 〈◊〉 meddle not with Thee nor take of thy Physick Certainly no Soul unto whom Christ hath been a Physician will say so of his Physick Christ is an incomparable Physician Christ is incomparably qualified and under an incomparable qualification It is said of a good Chyrurgion or Physician that he must have an Eagles Eye a Lyons Heart and a Ladies Hand Christ with the greatest Reverence be it written hath all these A good Physician must have an Eagles Eye He that is good at healing had need be good at seeing that he may discover where the fault and the failing is Thus Christ is incomparably qualified He is excellent at seeing excelling in seeing so good at seeing Joh. 9.6 7 that he gave sight unto one that was born blind A good Physician must have a Lyons heart He that is a Physician must be strong and stout-hearted for if the Physician fail how will the Patient bear up his courage A Physician must deal freely and plainly with the Patient telling him the disease and the danger if he take not this or that he is a dead man c. Thus Christ deals freely and plainly with the souls of men and women telling them If ye believe not that I am he ye
that an ENOSH is deterred From dying Thoughts for Bildad hath averred That Death the King of Terrors is to thee If Christless dying and thus unto me Lend but an Ear to what the Romists say Rome unto Heaven is the onely way Ah but my Soul go not so far about A Papal-Toe may sometimes have the Gout Rome's Monster goeth wrong and will not suffer A going right this Candle wants a Snuffer Yea an Extinguisher that lighted may A better be and light a better way Ah needs must Hell a dismal Dung'on be Where Heavens Sun shall never shine to thee Sin hath no Mean but not at all to be Sin is the Means for to endanger thee Prepare for Death let this appear to thee Certain uncertain is the Time to me Death if no Children did a Rachel cry Ah crying be a Christ or else I dye Doth Death arrest and find thee without Grace With Judas then go to thy proper place If true Grace here shall not implanted be Then Woe Woe Woe hereafter unto thee III. Of Triumph A Scend my Soul on Mount Gerizim stand A taking Prospect is the Holy LAND 〈◊〉 joyous Saint no Corrosive to thee â—f stingless Death can a Memento be â—ot fuller is of light the Worlds bright eye â—or yet the Sea with water never dry â—i en that mans Heart with joy who truly see â—he Death of Christ the Death of Death to be â—ad Heaven Sin thus Anselm speaks about it â—uch rather would He be in Hell without it 〈◊〉 drop of Sin doth unto Mortals bring â—ore evil than a Sea of Suffering â—here may be Sorrow without Sin but can â—n without Sorrow be unto the man â—eath's an Eclipse to man this happen may 〈◊〉 in a clear so on a cloudy day â—one until Dearth were blest in Solon's eye â—hey blessed are that in a JESUS dye 〈◊〉 moment Man be winged like a Dove â—nd restless too till Arked with thy Love â—lace thy self with Loves If Christ be thine â—ALL into Honey WATER into Wine â—nverted are Now Marah tasteth sweet â—nd lovely will appear a winding sheet â—ake Death familiar this welcome thus â—ome Life come Death with good Ignatius â—he presence of all Good is Heaven and â—he absence of all Evil Here 's a Land 〈◊〉 then my Soul suck sweetly here and crave it 〈◊〉 Heaven 't is to hope it what to have it â—hus Time 's a Space lent from Eternity Globe that rolls with slie Celerity 〈◊〉 it is true Alpha it is that lends it 〈◊〉 is as true Omega 't is that ends it VI. The Epilogue FAith thorough Grace make now of Sacred Truth Must NESTOR dye so may the Shumem-Youth T is true Life is the Triumph of each Stature T is true Death is the Tribute due to Nature All Ages Statures Sexes Sifes must This payment make and bedded be in dust And he dyed this Epitaph must have Each individual upon his Grave Death ingress had by Sin this sadly woundeth Sin egress hath by Death this gladly soundeth Reader the bodies-Bodies-death doth perfectly From deaths-Deaths-body the Saint indempnifie Death a Dilemma is non-plust are All Who enter Lists and so resign the Wall The Fear of Deáth the Soul with Terror fill Death killeth once but Fear doth often kill A Creature with the Ephemera may Be as to Life a Creature of a Day Tears unto One the God of Nature gives Another not a Day in Nature lives View Nature now and in this Glass descry Art a Day old then old enough to dye The best of Men they are but Men at best The worst of Men dye sooner than the rest In hearing hear in saying also say In trying try in praying also pray In doing do in giving also give In living dye in dying also live Are grace-ful Veins found running thorough Thee All Glory then be given unto THREE FINIS
save any thing by his Religion but his Soul He that sets up Religion to get any thing by it more than the Glory of God and the Salvation of his Soul will make a bad Bargain of it in the Close It is said of One that he would have Religion along with him Andronicus so far as it lay in his way Religion is like cold weather good for those that are sound bad for those that are unsound Differences also about Religion should not make men careless to have any but careful to have the best Julian That wicked Apostate loved the worst Religion best and was a professed Friend to all Foes of Goodness One being convinced of an Heathenish Custom thought Monica that Religion was not so poor as to borrow Rites from Pagans The Polanders are said to be of all Religions It is said if a Man hath lost his Religion he may seek it in Poland Poland and he shall be sure to find it or he may conclude that it is vanished out of the world May not the same be said of England that was said of Poland Galeacius to the Jesuit Let that Religion said one to another be cursed for ever which shall wed men to the World and divorce men from God Men may differ in Religon and yet be of the same Religion for every Difference in Religion is not a differing Religion Have a care not only of the Profession of Truth but also of the Truth of Profession lest bare Profession ends not in blessed Possession It is not enough to act a part or personate Religion but a man must be a religious person He spake like Himself who said Clarks Mirrour p. 39. that Religion did but effeminate mens minds and unfit them for noble Enterprises But why do I harp upon this string so long I shall only add this and so close Be of that Religion which the Protestant spake of who being asked by a Papist where his Religion was before Luther wittily answered in the Bible where thy Religion never was Now Reader Deut. 33.27 that the Eternal God may be thy Refuge and underneath thee everlasting Arms That Grace may be opened to thy Heart and thy Heart unto Grace that the Blessing of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob may be upon thee that the Eternal Spirit may be with thee that thou mayest distinguish between Light and Darkness Life and Death Truth and Error Gold and Dross Silver and Tin Flowers and Weeds Corn and Chaff is the Breathing of his Soul who through Grace more than desires as for Himself so for Thee that thou mayest not live to die but die to live and dying see the Death of Death in the Death of Jesus R. Mayhew Vita fugit nulloque Sono dilabitur Aetas Sic fugiendo solet fallere Vita fugit Vita fugit liquidam velut Unda supervenit Undam Sic Tempus trudit Tempora Vita fugit Vita fugit pars prima fugit pars altera fugit Tertia pars fugiet tempore Vita fugit Vita fugit res dicta satis res omnibus aequa Cognita nòn aequè credita Vita fugit Vita fugit celeris Mors Vltima Linea rerum Rerum tempus edax Vivito Vita fugit THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK SECT I. WHether there be a natural or corporal Death the circumference of the Vniverse Page 1 2 c. SECT II. What this natural or corporal Death is which is the circumference of the Vniverse Page 4 5. SECT III. Whether natural or corporal Death be the circumference of the Vniverse Page 7 8 c. SECT IV. Why natural or corporal Death is the circumference of the Vniverse 1. Man hath sinned therefore Man is mortal and must dye Page 11 12 c. 2. Man is formed out of the Dust therefore Man is mortal and must dye 3. God hath appointed Death therefore Man is mortal and must dye SECT V. The Brevity of Life Page 14. SECT VI. The Certainty of Death Page 16. SECT VII The Vncertainty of the time of Death Page 17. SECT VIII The Impartiality of Death Page 19. SECT IX Directions concerning Death the Tribute of Nature and Law of Mortals This Section hath a double Aspect looking to a Soul out of Christ and to a Soul in Christ Page 20 c CHAP. I. To the Soul out of Christ Direct 1. Put not far away the day of Death Direct 2. Take not God's work out of God's hand Direct 3. Tremble for thou may'st dye and be damned That Death is terrible appears by its 1. Antecedents 2. Nature 3. Consequents Page 22. Direct 4. Go to Christ in whose Death is the Death of Death Quest 1. What is this coming or going to Christ Sol. It is a believing in Christ. Page 24. Quest 2. Is there a necessity of going to Christ for Salvation Sol. Christ is a Saviour is the Saviour Quest 3. But am I called to go unto this Saviour for Salvation Page 25. Sol. Called thou art therefore go Quest 4. But what shall I be welcome if I go Sol. Come and welcome Quest 5. But is not an Impossibility imposed Sol. He that commands coming concerns himself with drawing Quest 6. May a lost Soul go to Christ Sol. A lost Soul may go must go Quest 7. But can a Soul believe in Christ without Christ Sol. No but he that calleth to come causeth to come Quest 8. What manner of Saviour is this Saviour Page 26. Sol. 1. A merciful 2. A meek 3. A free 4. A desirable 5. A delectable 6. A faithful 7. A fruitful 8. An incomparable 9. An invincible A fourfold Conquest hath Christ made 1. Over the World 2. Over the Heart 3. Over Hell 4. Over Heaven Page 31. 10. Christ is a full Saviour There is in Christ a fulness 1. Of Power 2. Of Pardon Christ pardons Sin in respect of his 1. Deity 2. Dignity 3. Mercy 4. Merit There is also in Christ a fulness 3. Of Light 4. Of Love 5. Of Wisdom 6. Of Righteousness Pag. 35. The Law required a threefold Righteousness 1. Habitual 2. Practical 3. Passive Wherein the Law threatned 1. A Privation of Comfort 2. An Infliction of Torment All answered by Christ for those that are Christs CHAP. II. To the Soul in Christ Page 38. DIRECT I. Direct 1. Prepare thorough Christ for the first Death Quest But what course shall I steer and by what compass shall I sail that I may prepare for this Death Sol. 1. Make thorough Christ Mortality thy Meditation 2. Be much thorough Christ in Prayer To this end reflect Page 42. 1. The Income of Prayer 2. The Influence of Prayer 1. Prayer thorough Christ had an Influence over the four Elements 1. Over the Air. 2. Over the Fire 3. Over the Earth 4. Over the Water 2. Prayer thorough Christ had an Influence over the Prison 3. Prayer thorough Christ had an Influence upon the great Luminaries 4. Prayer had an Influence upon the Son 5.
be unwilling to be a Man for to be a Man is to be mortal Luther Cedo nulli As one said in the matters of God and Faith I give place to none so saith Death I give place to none As it is true what Man is he that liveth and sinneth not Eccles 7.20 Ps 89.48 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homo There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not It is as true what man is he that liveth and dieth not What man is he that liveth and shall not see death that is shall not die What Man What Man or Woman The Greek and the Latine words for Man comprehend both Sexes What Man so the English and Junius What strong Man so Ainsworth and the Hebrew Mi Geber Mi Geber Geber a Man so called from his power and strength A strong man or a man in his strength It is properly one who is neither a Boy nor an old Man What strong man or man in his strength is he that shall not see death that shall not die Shall he deliver his soul or Life from the hand or power of the grave From this long Text there is this short meditation That man is mortal Every man and woman is mortal and not a match for Death All men and women may die yea must die What man is he that liveth and shall not die what man that is no man Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect Rom. 8.33 34. That is none shall Who is he that condemneth That is not one Thus here what man what strong man That is no man no strong man Not Caesar nor Pompey though the one could not endure a Superiour nor the other an Equal Not Sampson or Scaliger though persons of strength not Gustavus or Huniades though persons of conduct and courage Not Alexander or Ajax though persons of Terror Not Gideon or David though persons of valour Not Peter or Paul though the one the Doctor of the Jews and the other the Doctor of the Gentiles All the Apostles died yea all the Apostles save John who had such intimacy with Jesus died violent deaths and laid down their Blood on this side the Grave concerning which Luther was so troubled that he did not Death is the way of all flesh the way of all men the way of all the world Death is a Tribute due to Nature and every man must pay this Debt what Debts soever he leave unpaid Death is the way of all men This way Gen. 47.28 31. Gen. 35.29 Jacob went He bowed himself upon the Beds-head that is he died This common way did Isaac go He gave up the Ghost died and was gathered unto his people being old and full of daies Though Isaac was old and full of daies yet he died This common way Abraham went He gave up the Ghost Gen. 25.8 and died in a good old age an old man and full of years and was gathered unto his people Though Abraham lived to a good old age yet he died He died in a good old age an old man and full The Hebrew goes no farther He died full Full of what Our Translators to fill up the sense add by way of Explication full of years This way Methuselah also went Gen. 52.7 His daies were nine hundred sixty and nine years and he died This man was long-lifted indeed would not a man living in his time have thought that he had been immortal But he was mortal Though he lived to be very gray yet he died at last If the Majesty of Heaven call him upon the stage this is the last Act wherewith the Commedy ends Et mortuus est And he died Methuselah is his name which is by Interpretation He dieth And He died is the Epitaph for every Individual Death periods the daies of a long-lifed Methuselah And He died Though he had lived so long yet he died at last Though he had lived so many daies yet there came a time when he had not a day longer to live Though he had lived so long in the world yet there came a day when his Time went into Eternity And He died All Object have not died All have not been graved All have not had a Pillow of Dust for their Head All have not passed under the first Death All Solu have died or been translated All shall die or be changed To these distinctly All that have lived have died or been translated I read but of two men who made a leap over the Grave and did not see Death Now these two were Enoch and Elijah Enoch Enoch taught as the word signifies walked with God Gen. 5.24 and was not for God took him Enoch was so little like the world that his stay was little in the world Enoch was so like God himself that God takes Enoch unto himself He was not for God took him Not that there was an Annihilation of him but a Translation of him he was personally translated Soul and Body were translated to Heaven Enoch walked with God and he was not And not He so the Hebrew He was saith one translated from the society of men Junius This is a difficult Scripture but the Apostle gives a full Heb. 11.5 and unerring Comment upon it By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and he was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God Here is One that never went to the house of the Grave As God had before translated him out of a State of Sin into a State of Grace so Enoch was such a proficient in Grace that God translated him from Grace to Glory without so much as looking into the Grave Gen. 4.17 Jude ep v. 14. There was an Enoch in the Hebrew Chanoch who was the third from Adam and who was the immediate Son of cursed Cain But this Enoch or Chanoch was according to Jude the seventh from Adam And Enoch also the seventh from Adam Enoch was so the seventh from Adam as that both Adam and Himself must be computed to be Two of that Number Enoch was not so the seventh from as to be the seventh after or the seventh that came of Adam The like expression there is in Matthew Mat. 1.17 All the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations Into which Abraham and David themselves must be taken to make them up fourteen Enoch also was not so the seventh person from Adam as that there were no more than seven persons begotten from the time of Adam to Enoch for all those six Patriarchs mentioned before Enoch are said to beget Sons and Daughters but Jenkin in loc Enoch is called the seventh from Adam because he was exactly in that particular direct Line the seventh from Adam to Him Ainsworth This Enoch after saith one he had lived so many years upon the Earth as
there be daies in the Year of the Sun was translated from Earth to Heaven next after Adams death seven Patriarchs remaining Witnesses of his Translation Elijah Elijah a strong Lord as the word signifies called also Elias who in prayer Jam. 5.17 18. 2 King 2.11 12. prayed so the Greek that it might not rain and it did not rain that it might rain and it did rain This Elijah had his Rapture and his Rapture was a Type of Christ's Ascension He went up by a whirlwind into Heaven Elisha seeing it cryed my Father my Father the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof All that do live shall die or be changed Behold I shew you a mystery we shall not all sleep That is 1 Cor. 15.51 52. we shall not all die Now that by sleep he means Death the whole Discourse of that Chapter makes evident What shall become of us then This is answered in the words following but we shall be changed There shall be a corporeal and numerical Resurrection if Job may be credited Though worms destroy his body Job 19.26 27. yet in the flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reins be consumed within me Every man shall have a Resurection out of his own Dust The dead in Christ 1 Thes 4.16 1 Câ—â—â—5 53 54. shall rise first These shall be raised into a state of Incorruption This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality Now those then living having Christ for their Life shall not die but be changed into the same state of Incorruption Col. 3.4 and Immortality of those that shall have a numerical Resurrection given them by the power of God and the God of power SECT IV. Why Natural or Corporal Death is the Circumference of the Vniverse THat Man is Mortal and not a match for Death hath appeared why Man is mortal and not a match for Death will appear by these following Reasons Reasons Man hath sinned therefore man is mortal and must die Sin is that wretched womb wherein Death lay Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death All sorts and kinds of Death whether violent natural spiritual or eternal they are the stipend of sin Sin is the most mischievous thing in the world for it begins in turning the Heart from God and ends in turning God from the Heart Psal 9.17 now is not this man like to be turned into Hell Sin is that unhappy womb that have been productive of all the penal Judgments that have been in the world the first and the second Death Fire and Famine Poverty and Prison Plague and Pestilence the Rack and the Stake binding and banishing bleeding and burning they are the products of sin Oh my soul Nil nisi peccata timeo Chrysostom So Anselm all thy cares and crosses all thy fears and frowns all thy sorrows and sufferings all thy tears and troubles all thy tryals and travels they are the monstrous and prodigious Births and Effects of sin Wonder not that one said I fear nothing but sin Sin is the Mother Death is the Daughter Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned Sin is like Pandora's box which being opened was full of all evils filling the Earth with Diseases and all other Calamities What is said of War Bellum est malum complexum may be said of Sin it is a complex and complicated Evil. Sin is Evil only Evil all Evil alway Evil altogether Evil. We cannot speak worse of Sin than it is nor of Man being a Sinner than he is As God is that Good in whom is all Good Bonum in quo omnia sunt bona and no Evil so Sin is that Evil wherein is all Evil and no Good Death is the product of Sin Let the great Doctor of the Gentiles speak who had a great command of Oratory 1 Cor. 15.21 Vorstius By Man Adam the first came death That is by the Sin of Man came the Death of man by the Sin of man came the first and the second death upon man By man came death Not only Mortality as one saith but also eternal Death When the Jews are under a severe stroke they say This is part of the Golden-Calf That is this suffering is for our sin The Mother of Nero concerning him and from our sin Is it not pity that any man should say of his sin as she did of her Son Let me die so He may live Dost thou say let my sin live though I die and be damned then I say thou seemest to me to be within a step of Death within a step of Damnation Dost thou say to thy sin as God did to Joshua I will not fail Thee Josh 1.5 nor forsake thee Then I say thou art in danger of Hell fire and it is mercy to a wonder yea mercy above wonder that thou art out of Hell All men that live must die and all that die are bound for the grave that is the next stage When sin came into the world and that came in by cating Death came in with it Well may we cry Ah Sin Sin Sin thou hast digged all the graves and made all the funerals that have been in the world It was once said of the goodly Buildings of Rome that the sins of the Germans meaning the money got by the Popes Factors for sin-pardons granted the Germans have built these Thus when we see those goodly Buildings the bodies of men cast unto the ground yea cast into the ground we may truly say the sins of men have unbuilt have pulled down their Bodies Man Reas 2. is formed out of the dust therefore man is mortal and must die As our Bodies dwell in houses of clay Job 4.19 the foundations whereof are laid in the dust so our Bodies are but Clay-builts and they cannot stand long We were reared at first our of the dust and we are making to our Center every moment Bodies are but Clay-builts though some be painted and decked and beautified more than others yet all are dust and that makes to its Center Soul as thy Original was so shall thy Conclusion be as thy beginning was so shall thy endiâ— be Though Man now seem to be somewhaâ— better than dust yet to dust shall he return Bodie alive are but living dust Man is dust while he lives returns to the Dust when he dies and 〈◊〉 turned into dust after Death It was said to Adam and in him to all Mankind not only as a curse but also as a command Gen. 3.19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou returnest to the ground that is until thou diest for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return Phil. 3.21 As thy Alpha was so shall thy Omega
Wisdom the Wisdom of God yea the God of Wisdom hath builded her house prepared him a Church he hath hewn out his seven pillars Patriarchs Prophets Seers Apostles Evangelists Pastors and Teaâ—hers or by seven may be understood the manifold gifts of the Spirit for it is ordinary in Scripture to take seven for a perfect number Pro. 8.14 for a number of perfection Is not that a lofty as well as a lovely strain when Christ thus speaks of himself Counsel is mine and sound Wisdom I am Vnderstanding I have strength Oh Soul though the best and wisest of men have too little of that wisdom from above which is first pure Jam. 3.17 and then peaceable yet there is in Christ for those that are Christs a fulness of Wisdom There is in Christ for those that are Christs a fulness of Righteousness He is stiled Jesus Christ the righteous Little children 1 Joh. 2.1 I write unto you that ye sin not Whatsoever ye do or suffer do not sin ye had better be sick than sinning better be suffering than sinning better be dying than sinning better be dying for a Christ or dying in a Christ than sinning against a Christ Little children I write unto you that ye sin not but if any one sin so the Greek whether Jew or Gentile whether man or woman Tis. We have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Christ is not only righteous but also Righteousness Jer. 23.6 In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby he shall be called Jehovah our righteousness There is in Christ a twofold Righteousness imputed and imparted an imputed righteousness in order to Justification an imparted righteousness in order to Sanctification Both these are together legible Who is made of God unto us wisdom 1 Cor. 1.30 righteousness sanctification and redemption That there is a fulness of righteousness in Christ is evident because he fully answèred what the Law could challenge of those that are His now the Law required of these a threefold righteousness habitual practical passive Habitual that is a Conformity of our Natures to the Holiness of the Law Now this was found in Christ in whom there is a fulness for his 1 Pet. 1.19 He was a Lamb without blemish and without spot Christ was free from all sin without blemish and spot without original and actual sin he was sound within and without Practical a Conformity of our Wills to the Edicts of the Law This also was found in Christ. There was not the least Aberration in his works words Joh. 14.30 or thoughts The Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me Christ had no Corruption that might be sewel to his Temptation though tempted unto sin yet was he not tempted into sin Passive a Conformity of our sufferings to the Threats and Curses of the Law This also was found in Christ in whom there is a fulness for His. But what did the Law threaten Quest. Sol. The Law threatned a privation of Comfort and an instiction of Torment A privation of Comfort This answers to our omission of good Time was when Christ was deprived of that Comfort and Influence Mark 15.34 which at other times he had from the Deity so far as to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me An infliction of Torment This answers to our commission of evil Luke 22.44 This also was found in Christ in whom there is a sulness for His. Time was when Christ lay under torment and sense of wrath which caused him to sweat water and blood Thus is the Law exactly answered by the fulness of Christs righteousness CHAP. II. To the Soul in Christ. ART in Christ prepare then through Christ for the first Death Directions It is a solemn work to die we had need therefore prepare to do that work well which is but once to be done In this world we pray often and preach often and hear often in this world we meditate and mourn often discourse and dispute often yea which is worse than all in this world we sin often but we shall die but once Caesar Borgia I have read of one who being sick unto death said when I lived I prepared for every thing but Death now I must die and am unprepared for Death It is our prudence to die well because we can die but once A man had need to do that wisely which he can do but once An error in Death is like an error in War ye cannot commit it twice All the time we live is but a passage unto Death and therefore should be a preparation for Death It is said of David 1 Chron. 22.5 that before his death he prepared abundantly for the house of the Lord. It is the Duty and Dignity the Prudence and Property of those who are actually Christs before their death to prepare abundantly for their death What is true of Judgment is true of Death Amos 4.12 Not Vi Armis but this is true of Judgment Prepare to meet thy God oh Israel The Israel of God is to meet the God of Israel in the way of his righteous Judgments by Prayers and Tears not by Sword and Spears Heart-work is hard work and yet this is imposed 1 Sam. 7.3 Prepare your hearts unto the Lord and he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines Ezek. 18.31 Ezek. 36.26 God impose upon man the making of a new heart and he might as well have imposed upon him the making of a new Heaven but what God impose upon man in one place he promise to do for man in another place Make ye a new heart Pro. 16.1 A new heart will I give them God impose upon man the preparation of the heart when the preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. But what course shall I now steer Quest. and by what compass shall I now sail that I may prepare for Death Make through Christ Mortality thy Meditation Sol. 1. Meditate death Bern. be much in the Meditation of Mortality Nothing saith one so revokes from sin as a daily Meditation of Death The Heathen could say that the whole life of man should be nothing else but a Meditation of Death One presented Antipater King of Macedon with a Book treating of Happiness but his answer was I have no leisure to read it Days of Grace have their Dates take heed therefore of saying to morrouâ— to morrow As a man must not say to Christ so a man must not say to Death as a penurious and parcimonious man say to an indigent person come to morrow Sine mora Heb. 4.7 Diem perdidi Vespatian Mané I am not at leisure now Without delay was the Motto of Alexander the Great To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts The present time
and Trouble in this Death to this person for these Reasons Because this Death is stingless to this person Reas 1. Oh Death where is thy sting If Death hath no sting then it hath much honey for this person Christ Jesus Judg. 18.8 9. the true Sampson hath slain this Lion and brought a honey-comb out of the carkass to this person Christ hath been the Death of Death for this person and why should that have Terror in it which hath no Life in it We say the living Lion is not so terrible as he is painted what terror then is there in a dead or in a painted Lion Because this Death cannot break the Bond of the Covenant between God and this person Though the House of this person be not so with God 2 Sam. 25.5 though the Head of this person be not so to study for God though the Hand of this person be not so to work for God though the Heart of this person be not so to lodge a God and though the Foot of this person be not so to run to a God and for a God yet he hath made with him an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure The Covenant of God Mat. 22.32 is with this person though he dies I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob They were dead when God spake this Exod. 3.6 Now saith Christ there God is not the God of the dead but of the living All are alive to him even the dead are alive to him As their Souls are alive to him so their Bodies are as living Bodies to him though rotting in their graves he owns them as much as when flourishing in stately Structures The Relation of God to Abraham Isaac and Jacob was as strong when they were dead as when they were alive Because this Death is called a Sleep to this person What Terror is there in Sleep What Trouble in going to Bed weep not saith Christ concerning the Maid Luk. 8.52 she is not dead but sleepeth It was Christ also that said Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Joh. 11.11 but I go that I may awake him out of sleep Now sleep is sweet especially the sleep of a labouring Man Because this Death is called a going or gathering to Fathers for this Person Thus Abraham died and was gathered unto his People Gen. 25.8 Thus Jacob also died and was gathered unto his People Gen. 49.33 But as Death is a going and a gathering to our earthly Fathers so it is a going to our God and a gathering to our Heavenly Father Because this Death is called a Rest to this Person As sleep is a short Death so Death is a long sleep And as Death is a sleep so it is a Rest We usually say when a Man goes to sleep he goes to Rest yet Rest is more than sleep for sometimes a man sleeps when he doth not Rest Job 3.13 his very sleep being troubled and he troubled in his sleep but when Rest is joyned with sleep it is perfect sleep Job cursing his Conception and Production saith Now should I have lien still and been quiet Isa 52.7 I should have slept then had I been at rest This Life is a Day of working and Death is a Night of resting Hence the Grave is called a Bed The righteous shall enter into Peace they shall rest in their Beds When the righteous man dies or is taken away he is but gone to Bed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dormitorium We therefore call those places where the dead are laid up and buried Dormitories or sleeping places Both the Greek and Latin words meet in this Signification There is a four-fold Rest Obtained by Death A Rest from Labour and Travel Eccl. 9.10 There is no workring in the Grave There is no work nor device nor Knowledg nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest A Rest from Trouble and Oppression No Wars no bloody Battles in the Grave What is said of Babylon may be said of the Grave Isa 14.4 How hath the Oppressor ceased A Rest from passion No Sorrow no Grief in the Grave There the wicked cease from troubling Job 3.17 and there the weary be at Rest. A Rest form Sin This is the last but this is the best There is in the Grave no Law of the Members warring against the Law of the Mind He Rom. 7.23 that is dead is freed from Sin Because this Death cannot break the Vnion between Christ and this Person Christ and those that are Christs are one That they may be one Joh. 17.21 22 23. as thou Father art in Me and I in Thee that they also may be one in us That they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one Though Death may break the Vnion between the Soul and the Body yet it cannot break the Vnion between the Soul and Christ For as when Christ died Death did not break that hypostatical Vnion between the Divine and the Humane Nature though Death disunited the Soul and the Body of Christ yet it did not disunite God and Man in Christ So though Death triumph over the natural Union of the Soul and Body it can never break the mystical Union between Christ and the Soul The Vnion between Christ God-man and those actually His is inviolable this Vnion out-lives Death Be through Christ in a right Reflection of the promise in respect of the greatness and preciousness of it Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises 2 Pet. 1.4 Exceeding great greatest so the Greek In which pure and precious Text and Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye have something implied and something expressed 1. Implied This is the Giver and this is Christ. As he is the great promise so he is the great Giver of the premise As he is the great Gift so he is the great Giver Given 2. Expressed Now herein ye have 1. The Gift Promises These are great things they are the Churches Stock they are a Believers Patrimony 2. A Description of these Promises 1. By their greatness exceeding great or greatest 2. By their preciousness And precious Given exceeding great and precious promises 3. The persons concerned in these exceeding great and precious promises 2 Pet. 1.1 Vs Given unto us But who were these They were those that had obtained precious Faith 4. The Medium through which were given these greatest and precious promises whereby Through the power of God and Christ in the Dispensation of the Gospel Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises That is saith one Gifts spiritual and eternal of old promised by the Prophets Gerrard The promises are divine conveyances of Consolation they are the Veins of Christ whereby his Blood is carried into all his Body The promises run with the sweetest stream◠when Satan rages with
Life a Taper burning 'T is like the wind that passeth not returning Ah! what is Life a Flood and Ebb and Man Sails then into a timeless OCEAN Ah puzling Theme was Austin at a loss What Life to call let not my Gold be Dross Mans Nostril is a passage for his Breath 'T is then a dying Life or living Death Life 's but a dying Death our Bodies are But living Graves the longest Liver share But in a span of days Death homeward sends A CIRCLE 't is beginning where it ends Ah daring Death the Tribute due to Nature The Law of Mortals not reflecting Stature And of the Universe the Emperess That visit Mortals in a various dress III. The Assertion THE Hebrew Proverb travels very far In Golgotha Skulls of all Sizes are Death 's not a bie but beaten path for All Here Croesus Codrus stumble may and fall One shoots the Gulf yet grounds upon a Shelf A Manuscript deceiveth DEATH it self No distance doth this Law of Nature know But Mortals reap according as they sow Death to the Grave is path for any Foot This common Gulf the mean and mighty shoot They blessed are much more let this take Air In Peter's Chain than He in Peter's Chair Ah Miscreant to refuge in a Lye Ah Monster-Man I see as I pass by Thy Triple-Crown begins to stand awry Down Dagon-like let this fall from on high Break Crown Head Neck this is the common Cry Thus wished 't is that thou may'st ever dye Popes dyed have without a doleful Song Unless it were because they lived long Where 's Adam Abram Isa'c Jacob Where Inventi non sunt they SEPULCRED were What Proto-Adam Yea He was a Man Red-earth I find when that his name I scan This Proto-Man finds Death on Nature enter Thus earth to earth returns as to its Center What Abraham 't is strange 't is true he dies And in the CAVE of Mackpelah he lies What Isa'c too a TYPE so eminent Types Shadows are Death pitched hath his Tent With Abraham Ah when his Days were spenâ— He like a Son unto his FATHER went WHat Jacob too Esau supplanted He One named right for Name and Act agree Ah but Supplanters may supylanted be Him daring Death transplanted have I see Mortality whatever Men suggest Antiquity hath for her native Crest Did not Death reign from ADAM unto MOSES Wher 's Matthew Mark Paul Peter James and Joses Our Fathers where are They the greatest Sage Is slily passing going off the STAGE Well stiled then is Death most aged King Who led the Van and up the Rear does bring Ah read Death's Motto in a Ladies Line My lot's to Day to morrow may be thine And wondâ—r not at that true Celled-sense Amongst these Skulls I find no difference But where 's Methuselah of all most gray Scan but his name the word the man bewray Years lived he Nine hundred sixty nine But dyed then no longer was his Line Though many now on Beds of IVORY Do stretch themselves yet these must also lie In Beds of Earth this Tribute pay they must And for their Heads a Pillow have of Dust The great Mogul erects his Nest on high But liveth he that shall not also dye All dyed have that lived have or have Translated been and so deceiv'd the Grave Thus dye shall All that live or changed be From ADAM all derive their Pedigree Now Reasons take from one so low in Stature Why Death should be a Tribute due to Nature IV. The Reasons 1. The Decree of God DEath seizeth All for this is God's Decree She seizeth but will not surrender Thee Death Heavens Statute is in Scripture-sense Each mans line meets in this Circumference Earth Heaven Hell their Laws are different If writing thus be not impertinent Earths Law municipal is once to dye But Heavens is to live eternally Hell also hath a LAW to dye for ever Take prospect here of three Once alway never 2. The Matter of the Body ADd nextly now the Matter of the Man This Fabrick then Eternize if ye can Ah mortal Man made up of Elements Earth Air Fire Water are Ingredients For Man to dye to me appeareth just Who at the first was reared out of dust The Breath of God the Soul I find to be The Work of God the Body seems to me The Building 's Clay the Basis also Dust The Creature to the Center dying must 3. The Merit of Sin ALl sinned have and therefore All must dye This must be true or Truth must be a Lye The Soul dyes not 't is an immortal Spirit The Body dyes 't is Sins undoubted Merit Sins venial and mortal Papists make But this distinction is a gross mistake As Adam's bounds were set and Soul endued So breaking these a double Death ensued 'T is better thus infernal Sophistry To naus'ate than a double Death to dye V. The Uses THree Uses now of daring Death be making High Prudence 't is right Measures to be taking I. Of Trial. TRy mortal Man come to the Test and try Stage Persons also Things yet Man must dye Can any PERSON Or can any THING That Persons deck match Death this timely bring I. Of Beauty CAN Beauty that 's a Snare from Death's Arrest Bail MORTALS No as Ages do attest Can Beauty so admired by the Tall No mortal Man for Nature caught a Fall When she was young as did a petty Prince Which caused hath her halting ever since She 's courted painted spotted yet I see 'T is native Beauty without sports to be Some try to mend but while they mend they marr For Beauty-spects the SPOTS of Beauty are Fade Beauty will like Flowers of the Field Not shot-free girded with an Ajax's Shield She fades faints falls and running of her Race Hath for her Soutch'on but a wrinkled Face Where 's Sarah that the Court of Pharaoh charm This daring Death this Beauty doth alor'm Where 's Absalom the Beauty of his Age He acts his part and gooth off the Stage From Head to Fóót no Blemish could be found But Beauty dyes Death marching is her Round This Tribute due to Nature payed He The Halter was his Hair upon a Tree Here Isr'el's Mirror had his mortal Stroak Will others now call this the Royal Oak II. Of Men and Means CAn Men or Means each Creature in its Station From Natures instinct plot its Conservation What Drug by Galen could prescribed be Or could Hippocrates by DOSES free His Pat'ents No they differ as to Stature Yet payment make of Tribute due to Nature For Spirits Chymists are Phlebotomy A Monster seems in that extracting eye They breathe no Veins rare Spirits they apply But salved is not DEATH by Chymistry Two wayes there are Diseases for to cure But neither can face-paling Death allure Is Sympathy the way the Arrow 's wide For Digby that admired Artist dy'd Or is A NTIP ATHY ah but undarted Is still the White beloved Luke's departed Speak Borgius that I may hear the sound Who
ἜΣΧΑΤΟΣ ἘΧΘΡΟΣ OR THE DEATH of DEATH IN THE DEATH of CHRIST BEING A NARRATIVE of the First DEATH as the MISTRESS of MORTALS and EMPRESS of the UNIVERSE Consisting of various Sections and Directions as appears by the Index in order to a holy LIVING and happy DYING By R. MAYHEW Minister of the Gospel Author of Love to the Life and the Paternal Gift â—ob 30.23 I know that thou wilt bring me to death and â—o the house appointed for all living Cor. 15.26.55 The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death O Death where is thy sting Nil sic revocat a peccato quam assidua Mortis meditatio Bern. Quis intelligit se quotidie mori Sen. LONDON Printed by Thomas Snowden for the Author in the Year 1679. TO THE Candid and Cordial READER Reader A Reflection of four things the Immutability of God the Mutability of the World the Immortality of the Soul and the Mortality of the Body have been alaruming unto this Essay and alluring this Narrative of pale Death the Mistress of Mortals and Emperess of the Vniverse To these distinctly The Immutability of God Man is mutable but God is immutable Mal. 3.6 I am Jehovah I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed The most of Men are mutable as the Moon which scarcely abideth two daies in a shape but God is immutable Under all the Changes that are made by Man yea under all the Changes that are made by God there are no Changes made in God He is the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness Jam. 1.17 neither shadow of turning He is the Father of Lights not of Light God is compared to the Sun but his Light is much perfecter The Sun is the Body of Light but God is the Father of Lights of all Light Aethereal Natural Spiritual Coelestial The firmamental Sun hath its Turnings and annual Departures from us it rise and set may be clouded and eclipsed but God in some sense riseth not setteth not Psal 145.18 departeth not He is nigh unto all them that call upon him unto all them that call upon him in truth There is not only no turning in God but also not so much as the Shadow of it nor the least Imagination of a Shadow The Mutability of the World The World is a Mass of Mutabilities every Man every State every Thing is as it were a Planet whose spherical Revolutions are some of a longer and some of a shorter continuance That Cardinal was an Atheist Cardinal as well a Papist who preferred his part in Paris to his part in Paradise The World is a Fools Paradise and its Motto is This Something is Nothing Hoc aliquid nihil Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not for riches certainly make themselves wings they fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven Prov. 23.5 Luther The whole Turkish Empire saith one is but a crum that the Master of the Family casts to a Dog Who but the Alexanders and Caesars of the World the Nebuchadnezzars and Nimrods of the World the Pharoahs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thes 6.17 and Pompeys of the World that have been ordinarily the Lords of the World Riches are uncertain Trust not in uncertain Riches In the Vncertainty of Riches Eccl. 5.10 so the Greek Riches are unsatisfying He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied therewith Pro. 11.4 nor he that loveth abundance with increase Riches are unprofiting Riches Aut deserunt aut deseruntur profit not in the day of wrath but Righteousness delivereth from death Riches either leave us or are left by us They are not Food but Fewel to Desire They are like Salt-water the more we drink Dulce Venenum Bern. the drier we are Riches are like the Apples of Sodom more in shew than in substance and if touched they crumble to sulphur Riches saith one are a sweet poison The World and the Soul must part or Christ and the Soul will not meet The two Poles will sooner meet than the Love of Christ and the Love of the World The Immortality of the Soul In this World the Body was first and then the Soul but in Heaven the Soul is first and then the Body Origen If the World saith one be the Book of God then the Soul is the Image of God Plato Another calls the Soul the Glass of the Trinity The Soul is worth more Worlds than this world hath Souls in it The Soul is precious The precious Sons of Sion Precious Sons Lam. 4.2 having precious Souls And as the Soul is precious so the Redemption of the Soul is precious Psal 49.8 Oh how highly did Christ prize it when his Veins were breathed and his Vitals let out to redeem it He became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Phil. 2.8 The Soul is the Breath of God the Beauty of Man the Wonder of Angels the Envy of Devils The Body is but the Cabinet the Soul is the Jewel and this is immortal Eccl. 12.7 Then shall the Dust that is the Body return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit that is the Soul unto God who gave it Christ and the converted Thief do go from Cross to Crown from Earth to Heaven To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 23.43 Mark 8.37 The loss of the Soul is a considerable loss a comprehensive loss an irreparable loss What can be given in Exchange for the Soul The Loss of the Soul is a kind of an infinite loss for it is the loss of an infinite God Psal 145.9 and this God a God of infinite Love The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works The Soul is a Blossom of Eternity and hath a Stamp of Immortality Man hath a Soul Matth. 10.28 which Death it self despaireth how to kill Fear not them which kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul The Mortality of the Body Man is Mortal and not a Match for Death Zach. 1.5 Our Fathers where are they and the Prophets do they live for ever To be a Man is to be a Sinner and to be a Sinner is to be Mortal As it is true what Man is he that liveth and sinneth not It is as true what Man is he that sinneth and dieth not What man is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his soul from the power of the grave Man is but a Wink of Life Psal 89.48 Oculus apertus oculus clausus The Heathens Emblem for Life was an eye open and for Death an eye shut as if there were no material difference between the living and the dying Job 30.23 but the Twinkling of an Eye Death is the Circumference of the Vniverse and every mans Line meet in this Circumference May not every Individual say as He did I know that thou wilt bring me
night And as we are to reflect on the Certainty of Death this being a Tribute due to Nature and a Debt to be paid by every Individual so we are to reflect the Vncertainty of the Time of Death which comes to many persons as a Thief in the night suddenly silently unexpectedly SECT VIII The Impartiality of Death DEATH is common to All. Pallida mors pulsar Regum turres pauperumque tabernas Zach. 1.5 Death when she marches her Rounds knocks at a Palace as well as at a Cottage at the Princes Palace as well as at the Peasants Cottage The King as well as the Beggar may die must die The persecuting as well as the persecuted may die must die The man in his Robes as well as the man in his Rags may die must die Your Fathers where are they and the Prophets do they live for ever The Hebrew Proverb is That in Golgotha are Skulls of all sizes as well as of all sexes Death knows no difference no distance Death is like the Sword of Alexander the Great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11.13 that knew not how to make a Difference The Apostle in the Book of Martyrs epitomized speaking of those Worthies of whom the world was not worthy saith These all died in Faith or according to the Greek according to Faith All these died naturally though they died believingly There is not a man in the Charter of man-kind but he is obnoxious to the common and equal Law of Death There are no Sons of Zerviah too hard for Death though a Sampson this great Leviathan Death account him but a straw One being asked by another where he had been answered Diogenes to Alexander the Great Job 3.19 I have been comparing the Skulls of Princes with the Skulls of Peasants the Skulls of the mightiest with the Skulls of the meanest the Skulls of the richest with the Skulls of the poorest the Skulls of the highest with the Skulls of the lowest and I find no difference The small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master The small cannot escape the Hands or slip through the Fingers of Death because they are little the great cannot rescue themselves from the power or break out of the hands of Death because they are big Death is impartial from the Threshold to the Throne SECT IX Directions concerning Death the Tribute of Nature and Law of Mortals This Section hath a double Aspect and looks to a Soul out of Christ and to a Soul in Christ Chap. 1. To the Soul out of Christ ARt out of Christ Take heed then of puting far away the day of Death Directions There is a wicked Proverb I thought no more of it than I did of my dying day As if a man should not concern himself with the Thoughts of Death What became of that French King when he died Lewis the 11th that would not think of Death while he lived He prohibited upon pain of Death to speak of Death in the Court There is Deaths day Non putaram and this is not to be put far away This is the Fools motto I never thought of it The Master say to the Servant Is this done Is that done The Servant say to the Master I never thought of it Mark 16.16 Luk. 13.3 Oh say Christ to the Soul why didst thou not believe and repent for He or She that believeth not shall be damned and except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Oh say the Soul to Christ I never thought of it Oh say Christ why didst not thou love me 1 Cor. 16.22 for If any man love me not let him be Anathema Maran-atha a curse to the coming of the Lord to pass the definitive Sentence Oh say the Soul I never thought of it Oh say Christ why didst thou not Ark in me and Anchor upon me Joh. 14.6 when I am the Way the Truth and the Life Oh say the Soul I never thought of it Oh say Christ why didst thou not get Oil in thy Vessel against a dying hour and a wedding-garment against a judging hour Oh say the Soul I never thought of it Oh Soul if thou hastary love to thy self love to thy Soul take heed that â—â—ou dost not lay under that black Brand as to Death that they did as to Judgment Yâ— Amos 6.3 that put far away the evil day and cause the seat of violence to come near Oh Soul take heed thou speakest not of Death as one did of Hell Demonax who being asked what Hell was profanely said stay until I come there and I will send thee word from thence Hell is not a place to be sported with There are many that have not only a name to live but also the nature of life that sometimes tremble at the Thoughts of shooting this Gulf. That saying Isa 56.12 had too great a Tincture of Atheism To morrow shall be as this day and much more abundantly Art out of Christ Direct 2. Take heed also of taking Gods work out of Gods hand God who giveth life may call for it when he pleaseth but man must not Gen. 22.2 God imposed upon Abraham an Oblation of Isaac it had been Murder for the Father to have killed the Son had not God imposed it God is the Being of Beings and doth all things well Some Romish Parasites have flattered the Pope into this divine priviledge which is peculiar to God and the prerogative of God God is so high that he cannot look above himself but looks below himself and hath none to whom he is to give an Account of his Actions Behold he taketh away Job 9.12 who shall turn him away who may say unto him what dost thou yet the blind and the bloody Papists have slattered the Pope into this divine priviledge no man must question him do what he will if he carry thousands to Hell with him no man must say unto him what dost thou I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand is a Dialect becoming a God but unbecoming a man Gods work is not to be taken out of Gods hand Might not the consent of Paul to the Death of Stephen lay near Pauls heart so long as he lived Act. 22.20 When the blood of thy Martyr Stephen was shed I also was standing by consenting to his death and kept the rayment of them that slew him Oh Soul take heed of breathing their Veins and letting out their Vitals unto whom Death is stingless Take heed of having a hand in their Death who through grace see the Death of Death in the Death of Christ If those who are actually Christs die a natural Death God takes notice of it Moses my servant is dead Josh 1.2 Psal 116.15 But if they die a violent Death God takes especial notice of it Precious in the eyes of Jehovah is the
death of his Saints If a Christian of Christs making goes bleeding to Heaven or burning to Heaven if he lays down his Blood on this side the Grave this goes near the heart of God Art out of Christ Direct 3. tremble then for in a moment thou mayest die and be damned too They spend their time in mirth Job 21.13 Anxius vixi dubius morior Oh ens entium miserere mihi Sed c. Arist Job 18.14 Caryl in loc and in a momeut go down to the grave Death by the Philosopher is called of all formidable things the most terrible These were some of the last words of that great Philosopher I have lived anxiously I die doubtfully Oh Being of Beings have mercy upon me but now it is too late for me to call for mercy Death is called by Bildad the King of Terrors This is a very strange Title We have read of many Titles which have been given the Kings of the Earth as most Serene most Christian most Sacred c. but if at all rarely of such a Title as this King of Terrors For a man to be brought to the King of Terrors is for a man to be brought to death or to his last end The Philosopher in this sense called Death the King of Terrors when he called it the most terrible of terrible things Death is terrible upon a threefold consideration Antecedents Nature Consequents Death is terrible if we consider the Antecedents of it 2 King 4.18 19 20. The Forerunners or Harbingers of Death are Pains Diseases Sicknesses and these are terrible The Shunamites Son was taken sick when he was with the Reapers crying to his Father My Head my Head being carried home he sate on his Mothers knees until noon and then died Death is terrible if we consider the Nature of it Death Mors Sceptra Ligonibus aequa is a Disunion All Disunions are troublesom but some are terrible Death according to the Poet is the greatest Leveller in the world Death levels Scepters and Plow-shares it makes all alike The Disunion that Death makes between Husband and Wife is terrible but Death makes a Disunion between them that are nearer than Husband and Wife even between Soul and Body Eccl. 12.7 Husband and Wife are one flesh but Soul and Body are one person Then shall the Dust the Body return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit the Soul unto God Death is terrible if we reflect the consequents of it I have said to corruption thou art my Father Job 17.14 Nativitas mala Vita pejor mors pessima and to the Worm thou art my Mother and my Sister Now soul art out of Christ what is thy Death then like to be It may be said of a person living and dying out of Christ that his Birth is bad his Life is worse his Death is worst of all Some are so sick that they cannot live and yet so sinful that they cannot die their Cry is Oh Lord we cannot die Oh Lord we must not die O Lord we dare not die Oh Lord we will not die Rev. 9.6 We read of some that shall seek death but shall not find it and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them Others there are that Death seek but they would not be found and that Death desire to have but they flee from it A great person hearing the Verdict which the Physicians brought in against him that he must die cryed out Let me live though it be the Life of a Toad under a Threshold Art out of Christ tremble then and realize a state of Death Do not only read of Death but also realize Death Do not look upon Death as a Physical Notion and a Mathematical Conclusion be much in the reflection of this Text and Truth Luk. 16.22 23. It came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosom the Rich man also died and was buried and in Hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment Here is Death and Damnation too Thou mayest die and be damned too Art out of Christ go then to Christ Direct 4. in whose Death is the Death of Death To be Christless is to be Godless to be Graceless to be Gloryless go then to Christ Art in a state of Sin go then to Christ for Grace Art in a state of Darkness go then to Christ for Light Art in a state of Death go then to Christ for Life Art in a state of Damnation go then to Christ for Salvation Isa 53.3 Encline your ear and come unto me hear and your souls shall live Paul was a great Orator a great part of his Oratory was to perswade men to come to Christ and be saved He that winneth souls is wise Art Christless and Godless Graceless and Spiritless May not I say to thee with the Alteration of a word Acts 13.36 as was said to the stock of Abraham To thee is the word of this salvation sent But there is a Lion in the way an Adder in the path But what is this comming to Christ Quest 1. this going to Christ A comming Sol. Joh. 6.40 or going to Christ is a believing in Christ As Faith is the Souls Eye He that seeth the Son and believeth on him hath eternal life And as Faith is the Souls mouth Joh. 6.54 Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life And as Faith is the Souls Ear Joh. 5.24 He that heareth my Word and believeth on him that sent me And as Faith is the Souls Hand Joh. 1.12 To as many as received him to them gave he priviledge to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name So Faith is the Souls Foot Joh. 6.35 He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst But Quest 2. is there an indispensible Necessity of going to Christ for Salvation Can Salvation be had no where else Is he not only a Saviour but also the Saviour That Christ is a Saviour Sol. Luk. 2.11 is evident Vnto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. That Christ also is the Saviour is as evident Now we believe not because of thy words Joh. 4.42 for we have heard him our selves and know that this is indeed the Christ the Saviour of the world I remember the time when if I could have gone to Heaven by my Education Civility Forms of Prayer of mine own making or by my Fathers Copy I would not have made use of Christ but at last I found that there was Salvation in no other Act. 4.12 Isa 51.12 and sailing by the gates of Hell in my apprehension I also found that no Voice but the Voice of Christ would still the Voice of Desperation There is no Paradise without this Tree no Light without this Sun no God no
Glory no Heaven no Happiness without this Christ in this world But am I called to go to this Saviour for Salvation Quest 3. Called thou art therefore go Look unto me Sol. Isa 45.22 and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else Here is not only looking but looking for Salvation and Salvation upon looking Look unto me and be ye saved But if going unto Christ be imposed Quest 4. shall I be welcome if I go unto him for Salvation Come and welcome Sol. Joh. 6.37 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and he that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me All that are chosen in me shall be called by me All that were given unto me shall believe in me All that were mine before time by eternal Donation shall be mine under time by effectual Vocation Is here all No And he that cometh unto me that is He or She that believeth in me I will in no wise cast out or according to the Greek wherein there are two Negatives I will not not cast out of doors Soul Christ will not shut the doors upon thee when thou comest nor cast thee out of doors when thou art come Oh infinite mercy Oh but I am a lost Soul and in a lost state Now Quest 5. may a lost Soul in a lost state go unto this Christ for Salvation A lost Soul in a lost state Sol. Luk. 19.10 may go to Christ for Salvation The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Christ came that he might seek and sought that he might save that which was lost What go to Christ Quest 6. Is not an impossibility imposed upon me Can there be going without drawing He that commands going Sol. Joh. 6.44 concerns himself with Soldrawing No man cometh unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him But if going unto Christ be believing in Christ Quest 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can a man without Christ believe in Christ Faith is the work the work of works It is true Faith is the work of works Sol. When they called upon Spira to believe Hic labor Hoc opus he told them it was as possible to drink up the Sea at a draught You call upon me said he to believe I tell you I cannot oh now I cannot It is as possible yea more possible to keep the Moral Law than to believe for it is natural to work for life but supernatural to believe for life Faith is an out-landish Plant and of a divine Extract it is not a slip growing in our Gardens but a heaven-born Grace Faith Eph. 2.8 is not a Native but a Donative it is the Gift of God it is the Work of God Now though there cannot be a believing in Christ without Christ Col. 2.12 yet there may be a believing in Christ through Christ Phil. 4.13 Heb. 12.2 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Christ is the disposer and dispenser of all Grace he that calls thee to go can cause thee to go that calls thee to believe can cause thee to believe What Quest 8. go to Christ for Salvation what manner of Saviour then is Christ My Line will not sound this Depth Sol. what is a Muscle-shell to empty an Ocean Is it not much more easie to say what Christ is not than to say what Christ is But take a Tast Christ is a merciful Saviour Mercy is the Element of Christ Duty should be the Element of a Christian. Christ is a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God Heb. 2.17 to make reconciliation for the sins of the people Christ delights rather to write in Hony than in Gall and to draw lines of Love than of Wrath His Grace is a larger Territory than mans Sin and his Mercy than mans Iniquity The Law entred that the offence might abound Rom. 5.20 but where sin abounded grace did much more abound Man is not so unworthy as Christ is worthy not so sinful as he is merciful Christ is a meek Saviour There is no forbidden passion running in his Veins Num. 20.10 Psal 116.11 Job 3.3 Meek Moses had his passion Hear now ye rebels must we fetch you water out of this Rock David had his passion I said in my haste all men are lyars Just Job had his pettish humour He wished the day to perish wherein he was born though his passion was buried under his patience and his infirmity under his Grace Jam. 5.11 Ye have heard of the patience of Job Jonah a Dove as the word fignifieth and Doves they say are Gall-less was not without his passion Jon. 4.9 Jonah saith God dost thou well to be angry And he said I do well to be angry even unto death As if he had said I am angry and I do well to be angry and I do well to be ever angry Should Man thus speak to God Though Blood ran in Christs Veins yet passion did not run there Learn of me for I am meek Mat. 11.29 and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls Learn of me what to do Aug. Not saith one to create the World not to walk on the Water not to raise the dead Learn of me there is the precept for I am meek and lowly in heart there is the president The one requires our Obedience Praeludium Coeli the other our Conformity And ye shall find rest for your souls there is the promise Ye shall have repose of mind and peace of conscience which is an Anticipation of Glory Heaven here Christ is a free Saviour Though Christ cannot be valued to his worth yet he may be had without money What is freer than Gift Christ is a Gift Joh. 4.10 He is the Fathers Gift and the Father in giving Him gave like Himself If thou knewest the gift of God He is also his own Gift Tit. 2.14 and in giving Himself he gave like Himself Who gave himself for us He gave his Soul his Body his Life which shew the willingness of his Death Though Christ be a pearl yet he may be had without a penny Though Christ be the pearl of great price of greatest price able to enrich a Beggar that is worth nothing yea a Bankrupt that is worse than nothing yet he may be had without money and without price Christ is a desirable Saviour Desire is the motion of the Soul after any apparent or promised Good The desires of man are vast as his thoughts Bloyse Modern Policies boundless as the Ocean saith one There is a threefold Desire of Nature of Grace of Glory Of Nature This will be content with a little Of Grace This will be content with less Of Glory This
at the Being of God Sin would not only un-saint a Saint Psa 137.7 but also unchrist a Christ if it were possible Remember Oh Lord the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said rase it rase it even to the Foundation thereof As it is true in a Physical so in a Metaphysical sense what would not Sinners do against the Fabrick and the Foundation too against the Christian and Christ too Sin would un-god a God if it were possible Is not this the Dialect of Sinners Cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us Isa 30.11 If now we would prepare for death we must then imbitter Sin and if we would imbitter Sin we must then look upon Sin as a cursed Inmate and as a cursed Makebate Would ye imbitter Sin Look then upon Sin as a cursed Inmate Rom. 7.17 20. Reliquiae peccati Though Sin had not a Being from God yet it hath a Being in Man But Sin that dwelleth in me Though Sin for a Believer be perfectly covered yet Sin in a Believer is not perfectly cured there are still the remainders of Sin within which must be mourned over and turned from Would ye imbitter Sin Look also upon Sin as a cursed Makebate It is so between God and Man between Man and Man between Man and Himself Sin is a Makebate between God and Man God and Man at first were One but Sin hath made these Two Sin hath set God at an infinite distance from Man and Man at an infinite distance from God Isa 59.2 Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear Sin is a Makebate between Man and Man There was War between Jeroboam and Rehoboam all their daies From whence come all those animosities differences discords and distances among Men come they not from their Sin As Sin is the Makebate between the Men of the World Benhadad and Ahab were two 1 Kings 20.1 2. 1 Joh. 3.12 And as Sin is the Makebate between the Wicked and the Righteous Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous So Sin is the Makebate between the righteous themselves From whence come Wars and fightings among you Jam. 4.1 come they not hence even of your lusts which war in your members Sin is a Makebate between Man and Himself None can Sin at a cheap rate How dear do the dead who died out of Christ pay for Sin The damned pay dear for Sin How dear have Sin cost the living Yea those who had Christ for their Life witness Bilney Glover and Spira who for a time upon Earth were like living men in Hell Psal 6.6 Margent May David though dead speak I am weary of my groaning all the night or every night make I my bed to swim I water my couch with my teares Oh the fears and tears that Sin hath cost Psal 38.3 I have no soundness in my flesh why because of thine anger neither have I any peace for my bones why because of my Sin Oh the sorrows and sufferings the Tryals and Troubles that Sin hath cost Oh the wearisome Daies and Nights the Pains of Body and Pangs of Soul that Sin hath cost If now we would prepare for death we must imbitter this Sin which is such an Inmate and Makebate Would ye prepare for Death Endear then Grace and Glory Eternal life is made up of Grace and Glory but to these distinctly Endear through Christ Grace Grace is not a Pebble but a Pearl Oh set a greater Estimate upon Grace Lay up and lock up this Pearl in thy Cabinet for it is of great price The Toyaz of Ethiopia and the Riches of both the Indies are but a Pebble to this Pearl Grace in God Yea Grace from God is a Pearl Grace entitles Glory Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12.14 Joh. 4.14 Grace entails Glory The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life One dram of Grace is worth a world a thousand worlds tenthousand worlds if there were so many Grace is of such worth as that it cannot be valued to its worth Grace will go into Glory when Time goes into Eternity and is not this to be endeared If there be any Discourse in Heaven as there is upon Earth it is a discourse of free-grace not of free-will The two Poles will as soon meet as free-will and free-grace in the justification of a Sinner before God Grace is so pure that there is no sin in it As there is no Grace in Sin so there is no Sin in Grace The Heart that is the Soil Grace 1 Pet. 1.23 that is the Seed and this is incorruptible And as Grace from God is so pure that there is no Sin in it so Grace in God is so precious that the stress of salvation is laid upon it By grace ye are saved Is not this a blessed Parenthesis without which we cannot be blessed The whole Alphabet of Salvation from the Alpha to the Omega thereof is legible in free-grace By grace ye are saved The bottom-stone Gratia nòn est gratia ullo modo nisi sit gratuita omni modo Aug. 1 Cor. 15.10 coner-stone and top-stone of Salvation they are all laid in free-grace It is Grace saith one no way unless free every way Every step in Salvation from the Cell of Nature to the Chair in Glory is of free-grace now shall not this grace be endeared By the grace of God I am that I am By Sin I was what I was but by Grace I am that I am I am what I am May it not now be the wonder of the world if those who are gracious should not be found endearing of Grace Endear through Christ Glory As the more ye endear Grace so the more ye endear Glory the more ye prepare for Death The Life of Glory is the grace of Life Greenham There is saith one a huge and heavy weight of Glory Glory from God is the Object of Hope and Glory with God is the Object of Hope Tit. 1.2 In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began As the Person of Christ is the Object of Faith Rom. 3.26 Col. 1.4 That he might be just and the justifier of him that believ thin Jesus And as persons in Christ are the Objects of Love Since we heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints Rom. 5.2 So Heaven is the Object of Hope And rejoyce in hope of the Glory of God In hope of eternal life now eternal life is made up of Grace and Glory Life would be little better than Hell were it not for the hopes of Heaven I had rather saith one enjoy Christ in a Chimney-corner Bernard than to be in
Beaven without him I had rather saith another be in Hell with a Christ than to be in Heaven without him Heaven is the presence of all Good and the absence of all Evil. Redde mihi vitam aeternam quam debes That Monk died like himself who said Lord pay me Heaven which thou owest me Heaven is a Flower of Salvation blown out the Saint here is in the Suburbs of Heaven Heaven is the Inheritance of those unto whom Christ is Life and unto whom Death shall be gain If Heaven be the Inheritance of these Quest what manner of Inheritance then is Heaven Heaven is a free Inheritance Sol. 1. Would it not puzzle all the Saints on Earth and Angels in Heaven to bring in the worth of Heaven and yet this is a Donatâ—â—e Many Inheritances here below are bought but this Inheritance is given Here men buy Inheritances and pay to the worth of them Luk. 2.32 but Heaven though it cannot be valued to its worth yet it is given 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fear not little-little Flook there are two diminitives in the Greek for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom The word translated Flock signifies a little Flock but Christ to shew the exceeding littleness of it adds another word little Fear not little-little Flock Heaven is a full Inheritance Ahasuerus had a large Territory he reigned from India unto Ethiopia over 127 Provinces A man would have thought that 127 Provinces had been enough for 127 persons and yet this large Territory was a poor pittance Many have large Inheritances here below and cannot live upon them but Heaven is an Inheritance thou mayest live upon if possessed of this Inheritance thou shalt never want more Heaven is a perfection of Felicity without intermission and amission If once possessed of this Inheritance then thou wilt say with Jacob It is enought Thou wilt as one reads it make known the way of life satiety of joys before thy face Ainsworth Psa 16.11 pleasures at thy right hand to perpetuity Heaven is a living Inheritance Heaven is not only a living Inheritance but also an Inheritance of Life Death is legible in the face of the Earth but Life is legible in the face of Heaven I am come that ye might have life Life here life hereafter Mutability and Mortality Rev. 2.10 are written upon all things here below but Heaven is called a Crown of Life Be thou faithful unto death there is the precept and I will give thee a Crown of life there 's the promise Heaven is a lasting Inheritance The Inheritance will last so long as the Heir last Into what a time of Debauchery are we fallen and how short-lifed are earthly Inheritances How long soever the Fathers were in getting them the Children are not long in spending them An earthly Inheritance may be spent but this heavenly Inheritance cannot be spent Though those who are actually Christs may lose all at Sea and all 〈◊〉 Land all in the Ship and all in the Shop all within doors and all without doors yet they cannot lose Heaven this is a lasting Inheritance yea this is an everlasting Inheritance The Apostle having imposed a making of the calling and election sure subjoyns this For so an entrance will be ministred unto you abundantly 2 Pet. 1.10 11. into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This Kingdom is the Kingdom of Glory because stiled an everlasting Kingdom It is called the Kingdom of Christ because given to him as a reward of his passions It is an everlasting Kingdom because the Vnion between Christ and a Christian is everlasting As Christ on earth is the Christians Medium of Reconciliation and Communion so Christ in Heaven is the Christians Medium of Vision and Fruition There are among other things these six things which those who are actually Christs can never lose The Soul cannot be lost The Soul is a Blossom of Eternity hath a stamp of Immortality now Death it self though the Mistress of Mortals and Empress of the Vniverse despairs how to kill this Fear not them which kill the body Luk. 12.4 and after that have no more that they can do Men. may kill the Body but they cannot kill the Soul Those who assert without blushing the Mortality of the Soul seem at least to stand upon the Brink of Atheism Though the Body return unto the Dust yet the Soul to Hell or Heaven Luk. 23.43 1 Pet. 1.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peccare not Perire Though the Veins of the penitent Thief were breathed and his Vitals let out yet his Soul goes to Heaven To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise To day is not this emphatical and doth not Christ promise more than the Thief asks Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation Who are kept the Greek word is a military word taken from Souldiers they are safely kept kept as a Garrison in time of War against the Enemy Though a Soul actually in Christ may sin 1 Joh. 3.9 and do sin yet not unto Death not unto the second Death He that is born of God sinneth not not to condemnation The Saviour cannot be lost Once and Ever is Christs Motto Though yesterday some were not Semèl Simùl Heb. 13.8 to day some are but to morrow these may not be yet yesterday to day and for ever Christ is the same Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever The same yesterday before his coming in the flesh The same to day while in the flesh The same for ever Heb. 9.24 after his Ascension unto and Admission into the Kingdom of Heaven now to appear in the presence of God for us Art actually Christs then though thou mayest lose thy Lands lose thy Limbs lose thy Liberty lose thy Life yet thou canst not lose thy Love lose thy Christ The Grace of Christ cannot be lost Grace may decay but it cannot die it may be abated but it cannot be abolished it may be shaken in the Soul but it cannot be shaken out of the Soul Grace 1 Pet. 1.13 is incorruptible seed Which were born not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible Grace is the Seed the Heart is the Soil Gold may be lost Goods may be lost Grandeur may be lost but Grace cannot be lost this must go into Glory when Time goeth into Eternity The Spirit of Christ cannot be lost What the Body is without the Soul Lifeless and Loveless that the Soul is without the Spirit and yet this Spirit cannot be lost What Wheels are to the Chariot and Oil to those Wheels that the Spirit is to the Soul and yet this Spirit cannot be lost What Sails are to the Ship and Wind to those Sails that yea infinitely more than that is the Spirit to the Soul Joh. 16.14 and yet this Spirit cannot be lost I will pray the Father and he shall
give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Interest in Christ cannot be lost Interest is a great thing and will not lie Interest some way other at some time or other byass persons As Thou hast Interest in Christ so Christ hath Interest in Thee Joh. 17.12 and this cannot be lost All that thou hast given me I have kept and none of them are lost A Being in Christ cannot be lost Inheritance with Christ cannot be lost Art in Christ then though thou mayest leave the Earth yet thou shalt not lose Heaven To an Inheritance incorruptible 1 Pet. 1.4 and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Would ye prepare for Death be then in the reflection of Eternity Time passeth Eternity standeth Eternity is a fixed Now. Of Eternity there is no Finis Xeuxis Aeternitati pingo A famous Painter being asked why he was so curious and long in drawing his Lines answered I paint for Eternity Thus what we do we should do for an Eternity we should meditate and pray for an Eternity we should preach and hear for an Eternity Should any one ask me what Time is might I not answer it is nothing else but a meditation of Eternity Psa 27.13 Job 10.22 There is a Land which is called the Land of the living so there is a Land which is called a Land of darkness as darkness it self There is a two-fold Eternity that of the Blessed that of the Cursed There is a two-fold life after death a life in eternal Triumph or a life in eternal Torment a life in eternal Gain or a life in eternal Loss Mat. 25.46 And these the Goats shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous the Sheep into life eternal It is prudential therefore in this short life to think upon that life which will be endless Trismegistus Plato Drexelius of Eternity p. 3 4. Ex hoc momento pendet Aeternitas The Soul saith one is the Horizon of Time and Eternity What another saith of God that I may say of Eternity what God is that I know not what God is not that I know So what Eternity is that I know not what Eternity is not that I know It is good in Time while we are sailing to have an Eye still upon our Compass and think upon Eternity Cast but an eye upon some Dials and you may find this Inscription Vpon this Moment hangs Eternity Our Glass is running our Time will go into an Eternity be therefore much yea much more in the reflection of an Eternity Would ye prepare for Death improve then the Spirit As the Soul is the Life of the Body so Christ is the Life of the Soul and his Spirit the Soul as it were of our Souls Light is in the Air but dwells in the San Good if Christ be thine is in the Flesh but dwells in the Spirit It would argue great power to convert Clay into Gold and a Pebble into a Pearl a greater change is wrought in the Soul and requires greater power It is as great a Miracle to see Grace growing in the carnal and corrupt heart of man in the dark and dead heart of man in the treacherous and timpanious heart of man in the wanton and worldly heart of man as to see the Stars growing upon the Earth and yet this the power of the Spirit doth The Spirit is the principal Verb in the Sentence be much then in the improving of this Spirit But what manner of Spirit is this Spirit Quest Sol. There are three Divine Subsistences in one Divine Essence Father Son Spirit As there are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit and the Water 1 Joh. 5.7 8. and the Blood and these three agree in one so there are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word the holy Spirit and these three are one They are not three Gods but one God A Trinity in Vnity and an Vnity in Trinity looks like the Mystery of Mysteries 'T is called the eternal Spirit Heb. 9.14 Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God 'T is also written The Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is 2 Cor. 3.17 there is Liberty I am writing of this Spirit Officially and the Offices of this Spirit follow 'T is an enlivening Spirit All men in their Naturals are dead dead in Sin Persons in red Letters while they live in the Region of depraved Nature are dead they are at most and at best but imbalmed Jacobs and Josephs lifeless and loveless motionless and actionless There may be an artificial Motion but there cannot be a natural Motion without natural Life Joh. 6.63 A Watch may go a Clock may go a Jack may go but these go not as a man goeth It is the Spirit that quickeneth 'T is an enlightening Spirit As God and Christ so the Things of God and Christ are out of the Viow of a person Godless and Christless It is the Spirit of God that unmasks and unveils God that discovers the things of God The Apostle speaking of those things which were invisible inaudible and inconceivable connects 1 Cor. 2.9 10. and connexes this But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God In these words there is an Assertion and the Reason for that Assertion The Assertion God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit The Reason for that Assertion Now herein ye have the Conclusion and the Comment The Conclusion The Spirit searcheth all things The Word here search is metaphorical taken from such as search in Mines for Gold and Silver they will dig deep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they will break the several Clods and Clots of the Earth all to pieces to find out the Golden Ore The Comment Yea the deep things of God the Depths of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Greek Some men are born naturally blind but all men are born spiritually blind and cannot see the Depths of God without the Spirit of God 'T is a bearing Spirit The Spirit is not a barren but a bearing Tree Gal. 5.22 23. it bears Variety The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no law no law of Condemnation 'T is a Witnessing Spirit He that believeth hath the witness in himself Evidences quoad extra 1 Joh. 3.24 Rom. 8.16 He that hath the Fruit hath the Tree that hath Faith hath the Spirit for Faith is a fruit growing upon this Tree There are many things subordinately evidential but the Spirit is primarily and principally as well as infallibly evidential as to interest in Christ. By this we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit that he hath given us The spirit himself witnesseth together with our Spirits that we are the
children of God 'T is a sanctifying Spirit Abel differed not from Cain Abraham from Absalom Isaac from Ishmael Jacob from Esau Simon Peter from Simon Magus James the Lords Brother from Judas the Lords betrayer in respect of their Substance but in respect of the Spirit which the one had but the other had not It is the Spirit that sanctifies 2 Thes 2.13 God hath chosen us to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth 'T is a sealing Spirit After ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of Promise Eph. 1.13 The use of a Seal is two-fold and consists in two things In the Nature of it In this sense Christ was sealed Labour not for the meat that perisheth Joh. 6.27 but for that which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give for him hath the Father sealed To Seal a thing is to stamp the Character of the Seal upon it In the Vse of it This is two-fold To ratifie A Seal is to ratifie any Grant or Conveyance made in writing A writing sealed is authentick this confirms the Testimony that is given by any one of the Truth of any thing Such was the manner among the Jews Joh. 3.33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true Thus by way of Ratification To Appropriate A Seal is to appropriate distinguish or keep safe Rev. 7.4 In this sense are the Servants of God sealed I heard the number of them that were sealed and there were sealed an hundred forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the Children of Israel Thus by way of Appropriation Thus the Spirit of God is a sealing Spirit it confirms and assures the Soul of the love of God of life from God of life with God And grieve not the holy Spirit of God Eph. 4.30 whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption The Spirit here according to the Greek Text is set forth with very great Energy and the Text may be thus read Grieve not the holy the Spirit of that God Not a Spirit but the Spirit not holy but the holy and not of God but of that God Would ye prepare for Death Look then unto Christ and lay the Stress of Obedience upon Him Obedience is or ought to be the White in a Christians eye at which he should level every arrow Obedience is better than Sacrifice and hearkning than the fat of lambs A man truly gracious had rather with one have Grace to be obedient Luther than Power to work Miracles Obediene is two-fold active and passive and the stress of both to be laid upon Christ but to these distinctly Active Lay the stress of Doing for a Christ upon a Christ. Acti agimus Active Obedience is a Doing what God imposeth now being acted we act Not that we we Apostles we Disciples we accounted Cedars in Lebanon not Shrubs of the Valley are sufficient of our selves 2 Cor. 3.5 to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God Were they so what are we then If insufficient as to thinking what are we then as to acting To do what we ought when we ought and as we ought is from Christ. Passive Lay the stress of Dying for a Christ upon a Christ. Passive Obedience is a suffering what God inflicteth Passive Obedience brings as much Glory to God as active Obedience doth Luther was troubled that he did not lay down his bloud on this side the grave and pass through a violent death as all the Apostles but John did Art actually in Christ then possibly thou shalt not long live his Servant but die his Sicrifice now Passion as well as Action dying as well as doing bleeding or burning as well as believing is from Christ Phil. 1.29 and the Grace of Christ To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for his sake Suffering-work is Noble work the Noblest work Mat. 6.10 for though Saints be inferiour to Angels as to Action yet they are superiour to Angels as to Passion for they are Spirits and incapable of suffering 1 Tim. 5.21 6. Verse of Judes Epist Psa 37.24 2 Pet. 2.4 The Apostle speaketh of elect Angels These fell not from their estate As the elect Saints cannot finally fall Though he fall yet shall he not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand so the elect Angels did not foully fall Now Suffering was the Consequent of Sinning And spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell True Obedience may be known three waies By the Sincerity of it My rejoycing is this the testimony of a good Conscience how that in sincerety 2 Cor. 1.12 and godly simplicity c. By the Vniversality of it Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments Psa 119.6 We must not only respect all Gods Commandments but also respect them all alike and give them all the like respect Obedience must be Vniversal By the Constancy of it As Obedience must be sincere and Vniversal so constant 1 Cor. 15.58 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 3.11 Be ye stedfast unmoveable alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord. If we would prepare for Death we must lay the Stress of Obedience whether active or passive upon Christ for he is All and in All or according to the Greek All things and in all things It may be understood of Persons as well as Things Christ is All from the Father All to the Father All with the Father but to these distinctly Christ is All from the Father I am come that ye might have life life here Joh. 10.10 and life hereafter and that ye might have it more abundantly The life of Grace and of Glory they are by Christ Christ is All to the Father I am the Way the Truth and the Life Joh. 14.6 no man commeth unto the Father but by me Every word here hath its Article in the Greek Christ is the Way wherein the Truth whereby and the Life whereunto we walk Christ is the Way without Error the Truth without Falshood and the Life without Death Truth lies between Way and Life as if the Way to Life were through Truth Christ is All with the Father I know thou hearest me alwaies Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 3.17 hath Gods Ear at all times Christ is at Gods right hand yea Christ is as Gods right hand Christ is the Object of the Fathers delight This is my Beloved Son in whom I acquiess so the Greek It is an emphatical word and signifieth an infinite Affection DIRECTION II. ART actually in Christ Direct 2 Sen. Artem bene vivendi moriendi study then through Christ the Art of Dying well May a Heathen speak When I was young my care was to live well I then
hand but in Christ their publick head Because I live Joh. 14.19 ye do live yea and ye shall live To have a portion for the Body is a mercy but to have a portion for the Soul and Christ this portion who hath Rhetorick enough to express this mercy Now Christ is a Soul portion under a double notion as he is Meat to the Soul and Medicine to the Soul Christ is the portion of the Soul as he is the Meat of the Soul Can the Body be without Bread Is not Bread that one thing without which a man would not long be Yea that one thing for which a man would part with any thing rather than long be without Christ is Meat to the Soul He Joh. 6.55 is the Bread of Life His flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed As Christ said I have meat to eat that the world knows not of So may the Christian say who hath Christ for his portion Christ is meat to my Soul which the world knows not of Christ is the Portion of the Soul as he is Medicine to the Soul He that is Meat to the Soul and Medicine to the Soul too that is Food for the Soul and Physick for the Soul too must needs be a Soul Portion but thus Christ is The Wilderness-Manna was Meat but not Medicine Food but not Physick If an Isralite had been Sick that Manna could not have cured him if an Israelite had been Stung which the fiery Serpents Num. 21.9 that Manna could not have healed him There was a Serpent of Brass lifted up upon a Pole that whosoever was bitten might look up unto and be healed Now this brozen Serpent was an emblem of Christ and shadowed him out Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life As Aron lifted up the Sacrifices at the Altar so Christ the Son the Substance of all Sacrifices was lifted up Christ is a satisfying Portion An Affluence and Confluence of these lesser and lower things will not satisfy without a Christ but a Christ will satitsfy without an Affluence and Confluence of these lesser and lower things The Eye is not satisfied with seeing but could see a thousand times more than it does Eccl. 1.8 not the Ear filled with hearing but could hear a thousand times more than it does Now if the Eye and the Ear cannot be satisfied how then should the Heart of Man which is the vastest thing in the world be satisfied without a Christ A man may have a Crown upon his Head and a Scepter in his Hand and not be satisfied but if a Soul hath Christ he cannot be unsatisfied It is enough said Jacob that Joseph is It is enough said Simeon that Jesus is Lord now let thy servant depart in peace why for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Simeon had lived long enough having lived to see Christ. Eccl. 5.10 Jer. 31.25 Psa 107.9 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with it nor he that loveth abundance with increase It is Christ that satiateth the weary Soul It is Christ that satisfieth the longing Soul and filleth the hungry soul with Goodness Now there are two things at least that contribute to the constituting of a right satisfaction the suitableness and sufficiency of the Object Christ is a satisfying Portion in respect of the sutableness of the Object There must be a sutableness in the Object to satisfie the Subject Had there been a Will in Christ and not a Power in Christ there had not been sutableness nor sufficiency in the Object to satisfie the Subject There can be no satisfaction without sutableness It is not Dirt but Bread that sâ—â—ts the Body There is not any thing so suits the Body as Christ suits the Soul Is the creature a Sinner Christ is a Saviour Was it man that sinned it was Christ that suffered and that as man By man came Death 1 Cor. 15.21 by man also came the Resurection from the dead He that suffers for man must come in the Nature of man thus Christ did He took not upon him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Or thus Heb. 2.16 He taketh not hold of Angels but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold So that here wâ—s sutableness Christ is a satisfying Portion in respect of the sufficiency of the Object There must be a sufficiency as well as a sutableness in the Object for the Subject in order to satisfaction Had there been a propensity in Christ and not a sufficiency in Christ this would not have satisfied but now as Christ was Man that he might suffer so he was God that he might satisfie here is sutableness and sufficiency There is a sufficiency in Christ in order to salvation He is able to save to the utmost all that come unto God by him Heb 7.25 1 Cor. 1.2 And as Salvation so Sanctification in order to Salvation is from Christ. Sanctified in Christ Jesus Christ is a durable Portion Christ is a Portion that will last for ever Other Portions may be wasted but this cannot other Portions may be spent or lost but this cannot other Portions whether in our own hands or in the hands of others may be lost a Fare may come and Houses may be made heaps The more a man spends of a worldly Portion the less he hath he may beggar himself yea bankrupt himself but the more a man spends of this Portion the more he hath Christ is a Portion that will last as long as the Soul lasts Psal 73.26 and yet the Soul hath a stamp of Immortality upon it My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Worldly Portions are transient but this is permanent others fleeting but this abiding others temporal but this eternal Christ is not only the Christians Portion here but also hereafter But consider the Duration of this Portion under a double Notion in respect of his Life and in respect of his Love In respect of his Life As the Father hath life in himself Joh. 5.26 so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself Christ once dying no more dieth In respect of his Love As Christ lives for ever so he loves for ever Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love As the Essence so the Attribute Christ is a seasonable Portion According to the timing of a Deliverance is the greatness of the Deliverance many times The timing of a Mercy greatly accents the Mercy many times The timing of Daniels Deliverance out of the Den and of the three Childrens out of the fiery Furnace did greatly accent their Deliverance and cause Heaven and Earth to ring with it When Man was so poor that he had beggared himself and was worth
lay down their Blood on this side the Grave But I rather understand it with others which dye in the Lord in the Faith of the Lord Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11.13 for the One is blessed as well as the Other All these dyed in Faith According to Faith so the Greek that is these dyed in the Faith of the Person of Christ that was to come but Believers now dye in the Faith of the Person of Christ that did come that had his Veins breathed and his Vitals let out upon the Cross The Blessing pronounced upon these described persons Those that dye in the Faith of Christ are blessed The timing of this pronounced Blessing upon these described persons From henceforth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From this time so the Greek The Soul of a person living and dying in a Christ goeth not to Purgatory but to Glory when Time goes in to Eternity Luk. 23.43 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise and that Paradise the Heaven of Heavens The infallible Testimony concerning the blessedness pronounced upon these described persons From this time yea saith the Spirit The Amplification of it That they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them Now this Amplification falls under a twofold Notion Rest and Reward to these distinctly Rest That they may rest from their labours That they may rest from the labour of their particular Callings from their Afflictions and Persecutions from their Sins and Sorrows from their Temptations and Tribulations from their Distresses and Desertions The Grave is the House and Bed of the Body to all that dye Heaven is the Rest and House of the Soul to all those who dye in the Lord. Psal 19.11 Saints here have a Rest in their labours in the keeping of them there is great reward but Saints hereafter shall have a Rest from their labours that they may rest from their labours Reward And their works do follow them Not in a way of Debt but in a way of Grace not in a way of Merit but in a way of Mercy Their works follow them go with them for the words saith one well weighed sound so Leigh in loc Works here are put metonimically for the wages and reward of their works which reward is not in a way of merit but in a way of mercy Every one shall receive according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 They shall follow their works no more who are followed by their works And their works do follow them Not in kind the very same individual works which they have done here follow them not for they are transient Acts and have no subsistency but the Blessing which lie in the promise for such works when Believers die their works follow them thorough free-grace in glorious rewards when Vnbelievers dye their works follow them thorough divine Justice in everlasting torments Mariners carry Glasses of Spirits along with them in their dangerous and difficult Voyages Art actually in Christ Then the Cross is the way to the Crown and the Wilderness is the way to Canaan thou art for ought I see going back into the Wilderness take therefore these comfortable Cordials along with thee in thy progress to the Holy Land Art astually in Christ Cordial I. Phi. 1.21 Triumph then for thou shalt be no loser but a gainer by Death To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain A Soul in Christ is a great gainer by Death but a Soul out of Christ is a great loser by Death he loseth these lesser and lower things we brought nothing into this world and it is as certain we can carry nothing out this man loseth his company a carnal and a cursed crew a drinking and a damning crew this man takes leave of all his Relations at once Father and Mother Wife and Children yea this man living and dying out of Christ loseth his Soul Matth. 16.26 and that is a considerable loss an universal loss an irreparable loss a kind of an infinite loss for it is the loss of an infinite God and this God a God of infinite love Saul dying lost his Kingdom and I fear his Soul too Hered dying lost his Crown and I fear his Soul too But now a Soul living and dying in Christ is a greater Gainer than Loser by Death for Death will be an Out-let to Sin and an In-let to Glory Art actually in Christ Then Death will be an Out-let to Sin Sin is a fatal Monosyllable As Grace is the best so Sin is the worst Monosyllable as Love is the best so Lust is the worst Monosyllable now will it be any loss but a gain to lose sin where is the Soul that would keep it who knows that every thing less than Hell is less than Sin A Soul living and dying in Christ leaves his Bags Rom. 6.7 and his Barns his Friends and Relations but he leaves his Sins also which is a greater Gain than the other a Loss Death gives a Bill of Divorce to Sin He that is dead is freed from Sin The Body sins not without the Soul Here every Soul in Christ cries out of one Sin or another Oh the pride of my Heart saith one and the passion of my Heart saith another Oh the darkness of my Heart saith one and the deadness of mine saith another Oh the treaâ—hery of my Soul saith one and the tympany of mine saith another Oh the wantonness of my Spirit saith one and the worldliness of mine saith another But there will be no complaining in the Grave when thy Head hath a pillow of Dust As there will be no working in the Grave so there will be no sinning in the Grave when the Soul takes leave of the Body then Sin takes leave of the Soul and of the Body too and that for ever Art actually in Christ Then Death will be an In-let to Glory If Christ be thine and thou beest Christs then Death to thee will be the beginning of life Thou layest down one life to take up another and that which thou takest up is far better than that which thou layest down Phi. 1.23 Lend an ear to the Apostle I am in a straight between two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is far better For I am in a strait the word is very significant and a metaphor not onely from the straitning of the Body by diseases but also of the coangustation or straitning of a City on every side besieged a metaphor taken from the straitness of places where we are intercepted by an enemy Leigh Cri. sac in loc shut up not finding an issue Yea it signifieth also the straitning and perplexity of the mind when one knoweth not what to do and whither to turn him As if the Apostle had said I am drawn divers ways this way with the desire of Christ that way with the
love of the Brethren for whom my life in the flesh is necessary I am in a strait having a desire a vehement earnest and continued desire Having a desire to depart to dye and to be with Christ Death of it self should not be desired because this desire crosseth nature the grand desire to dye should not be to be out of the world but to be with Christ which may confute the error of those who dream that the Soul separated from the Body does sleep Which is far better It is very significant in the Original far much better or much more better Art actually in Christ Cordial II. Triumph then for Death will strip thee of thy Rags of Mortality Queen Esther appears before King Ahasuerus in her Royal Apparel If Joshuah appears before an Angel he must have change of rayment Could not he appear before an Angel in his own Rags How then shall a Soul appear before God without Christ's Robes There is no appearing before God in the Rags of Mortality nor in the Rags of Morality Self-righteousness is a Rag yea a menstruous Cloth Morality is but old Adam in another Dress Phi. 3.7 8 9. What things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod canibus exponitur and do count them but dung Dogs-meat so the Greek that I may win Christ And be found in him in him here and in him hereafter not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is thorough the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith Death is a putting off the Rags of Mortality and Morality that the Soul may be decked and diessed with the Robes of Glory Art actually in Christ Cordial III. Triumph also whether living or dying thou art Christs Blessed are they that live in the Lord and blessed are they that dye in the Lord. There are many that live not in the Lord and dye not in the Lord that living and dying are not the Lords but while thou livest and when thou dyest thou art the Lords for thou art Christs Rom. 14.7 8. None of us liveth to himself and no man dyeth to himself for whether we live we live unto the Lord or whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords Now to have a Christ in Life and a Christ at Death is not this a comfortable Cordial Art the Lords in Life and the Lords at Death Go then from a Reflection of this Truth as Hannah did from Eli and let thy countenance be no more sad at the thoughts of Death Do men say the Nations are angry they are consulting conspiring and confederating against Christ and those that are Christs and thou mayst go bleeding out of the world or burning out of the world true saith the Soul but Christ is mine while I live and will be mine when I dye Does Conscience say Winter is coming a Storm is at Hand we may be near a showre of blood the winds are like to rise and be prodigious the waves are like to roar and be impetuous true saith the Soul but Christ is mine while I live and will be mine when I dye Does Satan say thy Life is uncertain and thy Death is certain Man is mortal and not a match for Death true saith the Soul but whether I live or dye I am the Lords It is said in the Life and Death of a worthy Minister Mr. Jessey That he passed unto Glory triumphing rejoycing under the very stroke of Death Art actually in Christ Cordial IV. Triumph also for Death will arrive and anchor thee in a desirable and delectable Harbor and Haven Ah poor Soul it may be thou hast as it were been at Sea ever since thy new Birth thy second Birth and hast met with winds and waves there with storms and tempests there it may be thou hast been without Sun-light there without Moon-light there yea without Star-light there but when Death arrests thy Body it will arrive thy Soul at a desirable and delectable Harbor and Haven yea at a Harbor and Haven of desire and delight The Navigator meets with hard things at Sea there is often nothing but difficulty in view danger in view yea Death in view but he forgets these when he comes within sight of the Harbor within sight of the Haven But Soul what Harbor like unto Heaven what Haven like unto Heaven when thou art landed at this Port at this Paradise thou wilt then forget thy Tryals and Troubles and Travels thy Sicknesses and Solitudes and Sufferings Luk. 23.43 And Jesus said unto him Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise This Text is like a bundle of myrrh and being so sweetly-sweet I shall touch upon the Meditations flowing from it That unto the worst hath Christ shewed mercy at last Meditat. Thou Thee Verily I say unto Thee Thou This man had been very bad for he had been a Thief and Theft is a great Sin for it is the breach of the great Command of the greatest God This man had sinned and this man was to suffer for his sin yea to suffer death for his sin and yet Christ had mercy upon him Though this man had lived to his last day and possibly to a little part of that day yet Christ said unto him To day It is very emphatical Mat. 20.9 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The Saviour promiseth more than the Sinner asketh He that came into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour had his penny had his pay That Christ was God manifested in the flesh Shalt Thou shalt This Text and Truth prove the Deity and Divinity of Christ Thou shalt Had not Christ been God he would not have spoken thus and had not Christ been God he could not have thus spoken 1 Tim. 3.16 Thou shalt Great is the mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the flesh That words of Assurance are Christ's words No Soul hath a word of Assurance for Heaven until Christ speaks it John 6.63 68. The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life To day shalt thou be If Christ be a Mute the Soul is in doubt I that speak unto thee am he If Christ be a Mute the Soul is in a maze If Christ be silent the Soul is sad A word of Assurance is from Christ Whither should we ge but unto thee thou hast the words of eternal life No voice but the voice of Christ will still the voice of Desperation If the Soul be comforted Isa 51.12 and assured Christ must be the Text and the Preacher too I even I am he that comforteth thee Not I with another not I or
was a time of great Debauchery when it is said Will ye steal murder commit Adultery Jer. 7.9 10. swear falsly burn incense unto Baal and walk after other gods whom ye knew not And come and stand before me in this house whereupon my Name is called and say We are delivered to do these abominations Was it so then it is so now Is it not then a time of need and do not those who are Christs stand in need of fresh and full supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God The reason is evident for as these are to be good at all times in all places and among all persons so they are to be best in the worst of times in the worst of places and with the worst of persons A time of Tribulation is a time of Need. Christ was not without the Cross and shall the Church be the Christian be The Messiah was not without the Cross and shall the Minister be the Member be Ought not Christ to have suffered these things Luke 24.26 and to enter into his Glory Shall not the Soldier go where the Captain goes but this way the Captain went Heb. 2.10 The Captain of their salvation made perfect thorough suffering Did Christ suffer and not sin Shall we sin and not suffer Acts 14.22 We must thorough much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God The wilderness is the way to Canaan the Cross is the way to the Crown I John Rev. 1.9 who also am your Brother and Companion in Tribulation Is not this also a time of Need and do not those who are Christs stand in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Temptation is a time of Need. God had one and but one Son without sin and yet this Son was not without Temptation Mat. 4.1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil Christ was made like unto man that he might be tempted and man is tempted that he may be made like unto Christ Our whole Life saith One is but a Temptation Augustine There is no Christian without Temptation Saul gave Michal to David but to what end That she might be a snare unto him and that the hands of the Philistines might be upon him Now Temptations are from without or within From without Thus sometimes from Satan they are Eve was not long in the Garden before she was laid under Temptation Gen. 3.13 The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat And sometimes from Fellow-Creatures Thus Joseph's Mistress tempted him unto whom he said How can I do this great wickedness Gen. 39.9 and sin against God From within A man is then tempted when he is drawn away of his own hearts lust Jam. 1.14 and enticed Temptations could never hurt us if Corruptions did not join issue Were there not in us tinder as there is in Satan fire were not the heart the Mother of Corruption as Satan is the Father of Temptation how insignificant would his sollicitations and suggestions be But where is the Garden without weeds where is the Gold without dross where is the House that is without rubbish where is the Heart that is without leaven where is the Man or the Woman that is without sin Is not a time of Temptation then a time of need and do not those who are Christs stand in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Declension is a time of Need. The Prophet saith Mic. 3.6 Night shall be unto you from a vision and it shall be dark unto you from divining and the Sun shall go down over the Prophets and the day shall be dark over them Was it so and is it not so Is not the Sun greatly gone down over the People and the Prophets too Over Members and Ministers too Where is that zeal for God and his Glory that formerly was in thee and in me Is there that affection Jer. 2.2 and action that care and conscience now in thee and in me as was in the day of our first espousals Is there now that desire and delight that frequency and fervency in duty that was in thee Rev. 2.4 and in me under our first conversions But I against thee so the Greek because thou hast left thy first Love Where is that curious and critical observance of the Lord's Day and of the Lords Commands that formerly was in thee and in me Oh that it were with thee and with me as it formerly was when that discourse was a lost discourse if we did not speak of a Christ and that Duty a lost Duty if we did not speak with a Christ Is there a decaying and declining in Grace and Gifts Certainly then it is a time of need and those who are Christs stand now in need of fresh and full supplies from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Death is a time of Need. All things make to their center Man Gen. 3.19 makes to his center every moment Dust thou art and unto Dust shalt thou return Death is the way of all men the way of all flesh the way of all the world Your Fathers Zech. 1.5 where are they and the Prophets do they live for ever we know not what it is to shoot this Gulf when many come in sight of it they cry out Lord we cannot dye Lord we will not dye Lord we dare not dye Is not then a time of Death a time of Need and do not those who are Christs then stand in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Danger is a time of Need. Are there not wrought as it were so many miracles as we are preserved moments Ah! how obnoxious to contagion of Soul and Body and how obnoxious to casuaity of Body and Basket hath Sin left us 1 Cor. 15.30 Why stand we in jeopardy every hour These days look like the last days and in the last days perilous times shall come The Apostle gives us a Narrative of his dangers In perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils of mine own countrey-men 2 Cor. 11.26 in perils of the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren Now Soul art in danger at Sea in danger at Land in danger of Soul and Substance in danger of Body and Basket then this time of Danger is a time of Need and those who are Christs stand now in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Dissertion is a time of Need. Dissertion is the lowest dreg of a Christians cup. To lose sight of Christ who is so taking a Beauty is a loss indeed For we are in the wilderness and have at most but a pisgah-sight of the Holy-land It was not enough to
good Seholars We know not God nor our selves any further than God teacheth us The Sun is not more necessary to the World the Eye to the Body the Pilot to the Ship the Admiral to the Army c. than the knowledge of Christ to a self-destroying creature The knowledge of God now is rather negative than positive we know not so well what God is as what God is not now it is observed to our hands that from pure Negatives there can be no certain Conclusion made Is not this all we know that we know nothing that we know not that neither that it is nothing we yet know as we ought to know But though knowledge here be imperfect yet knowledge hereafter shall be perfect Now we know but in part but then shall we know even as we are known 1 Cor. 13.12 This As is a Note of Quality not of Equality as God knows according to his infinite excellency so we shall know according to our capacity Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter perfect Vnity Here Ephraim envy Judah and Judah vex Ephraim but it shall not be so hereafter Luther and Calvin did not agree upon Earth but they do not disagree in Heaven they are of one mind in Heaven though their Disciples are not of one mind upon Earth Hooper Ridley Those two blessed Martyrs in time of peace and liberty could not agree about black and white but as their expression is in time of Persecution could agree about Red when laid under passion they could forget all differences of judgment The first rent that ever was in Gods Family was the Pride of the Angels and ever since it hath born the like fruit Seneca What one said of Philosophers That the Clocks would sooner agree than the Philosophers may be said of some Prefessors It was a good saying of one Baxter 's True Catholick 128. Though we must not unite with any in their Sin yet we must unite with all that are Christians in their Christianity Our Chronicles tell us that the Saxons and Danes had never conquered us had it not been for our own Divisions Division is a cursed weed and it grows apace but is it not pity that Abraham and Lot should fall out by the way for they are Brethren united force Vis unita sortior is most forcible and a threefold Cord is not easily broken Saintship must not be confined within one Party The new Creature is found in Circumcision as well as in Vncircumcision and as eminent in the one as the other It were the highest Sacriledge in the world to make a Monopoly of Christianity to monopolize that Title of Saints and Godly Party to any one Party Why should we gratifie the Turks who pray That seeing the Christians cannot love them they may therefore hate one another One writing to another saith Though we should never see one another more in this World yet we shall meet in that place Grynaeus to Chytraeus where Luther and Zuinglius agree very well together The Combination of Sinners have not so much prejudiced the Power of Godliness as the Contention of Saints Division of Tongues obstructed the building of Babel and if I mistake not Division of Hearts Heads and Hands obstruct the building of Jerusalem The Romists improve their utmost endeavor to break the Vnity of Christians and what would they not give to effect it Quarrel not the Moon out of her Orb and think her unworthy of the Skies because she wears a spot for she is a glorious Ball of light Whoever is right or â—rong in point of Judgment I am sure he is wrong that is not right in point of Affection I cannot but approve what God is now reducing unto Protestant and Papist Why is Mahomet set like Dagon where the Ark once stood And Paga asm hath thrust Christianism out of doors Israel is not true to Judah the renting of the Ten Tribes from the Two hath made both the Two and the Ten miserable Oh that Jerusalem were at Vnity within her self Oh that Zion may not dye like Antiochus or Jehoram of a disease in her own bowels All that I can say or will say is Love Love Love The God of Love and love of God constrain beloved ones to love one another that it may be said at last as at first Behold how they love one another In all the loud Cryes about Differences this touâ—heth my heart that some can trample a poor Saint into the dust and if they might into the Grave for a Peccadillo a little distance in an Opinion Now though Christians of Christs making disagree upon Earth they shall agree in Heaveâ— When pale Death arrests those actually Christs for an Eternity and they be Graciously passed thorough the Gates into the City they shall not find Faith there for that is gone into Vision nor Hope there for that is gone into Fruition but they shall find Love there yea there they shall find nothing but Love There abideth Faith Hope 1 Cor. 13.13 and Love these three but the greatest of these is Love The greatest because the longest lived Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter perfect Grace Is not perfection of Grace the great thing looked for and longed for by those who are actually Christs Every Grace is imperfect here but every Grace shall be perfect hereafter Christ beholds in all that are actually his a constant striving after plenary Perfection in the midst of all their Imperfections Perfection is the Aim of the Saints on Earth and the Reward of the Saints in Heaven They who now pretend to Personal Perfection are perfect Strangers to their own hearts Who can say I have made my heart clean Prov. 20.9 Faldo 's Key c. p. 77. I am pure from my sin There is a Generation of a late Edition that pretend unto a Personal Perfection they say Perfection is not that which is sincere or a Perfection of Parts or a Sanctification throughout in part but a being without sin in the least Remains and Stains of it But uprightness of Heart and sincerity of Soul goes for Perfection with God Mark the perfect man and behold the upright Psal 37.37 for the end of that man is peace As God accepteth the Will for the Deed so he expresseth the Deed by the Will interpreting one to be perfect who would be perfect There is no plenary Perfection on this side Heaven but sin that dwelleth in me unless we reflect the first Resurrection Rom. 7.20 1 Cor. 15.42 Beza which will be a state of Incorruption These were some of the words of One a little before Death sealed up his lips Lord Perfect that which thou hast begun that I suffer not shipwrack in the Haven Here the complaint is a little Faith and great Vnbelief a little Humility and great Pride a little Patience and great Passion but there shall be no such cry hereafter When Time goes into
Eternity then Grace shall go into Glory There is a twofold Perfection a Perfection of the Truth of Grace and a Perfection of the Growth of Grace but suffer a distinct discussion of these There is a Perfection of the Truth of Grace The wise Virgins Mat. 25.4 took oil in their vessels with their lamps Oil onely in the Lamp is onely aâ— blaze of Profession Oil in the Vessel is Truth oâ— Grace in the Heart This is a Perfection of parts Since the day ye heard it and knew the Grace of God in truth Col. 1.6 Thus a Child is a perfect Child having all the parts of a man The Soul which hath the Truth of Grace hath something of every Grace There is a Perfection of the Growth of Grace Till we all come into the unity of the faith Eph. 4.13 and knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. This is a Perfection of degrees when Grace is swailowed up in Glory Heb. 12.23 To the spirits of just men made perfect Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter perfect Peace Pax Bello potior Nomen Pacis desiderabile Esto bellando pacisicus Aug. Greg. Nyssen Peace is better than War yea the very name of Peace is desirable Peace is a confluence of all good things the Jews therefore when they wish a man well salute him thus Peace be unto thee The effect of War is waste It is said of the Turkish-War that where the Grand Seigniors Horse sets his foot no more Grass will grow he makes havock of all Every Seat of War becomes a Seat of Wrath an Ire-land In War saith One seek Peace Another saith Both the name and nature of Peace is sweet Outward Peace is the chiefest of outward Blessings inward Peace is the chiefest of inward Blessings Peace upon Earth is imperfect but Peace in Heaven shall be perfect Heaven is called the Joy of the Lord Mat. 25.21 23. because there is Joy and nothing but Joy is there Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter perfect Vision Potter 's Compendious View p. 54. Vision on Earth is imperfect but Vision in Heaven is perfect In the most Northern part of Tartaria they have Day for six months together and Night also for the other six months together It is thus with some Souls if they have Day the shines of God for a considerable time they also have Night the Frowns 〈◊〉 God for a considerable time A Christian is â—â—ke the Marigold that opens with the shining and â—â—uts with the setting of the Sun God often leaves â—â—e brightest men in an Eclipse to shew That they â—rrow their light from his Reflection It is said Clark's Mirror p. 190. â—hat over the top of the mountain of Potosi there â—ways hangs a Cloud even in the clearest day Unâ—er the greatest Calm thou may'st be near a Storm â—nder the greatest Vision be near Desertion Aug. It was â—â—e desire of One to see three things 1. Rome in â—s Flower 2. Paul in the Pulpit 3. Christ in â—he Flesh Did Alexander lay up Homers Iliads in 〈◊〉 Cabinet embroidered with Gold and Pearls Certainly then a deserted Soul will lay up reciâ—us Promises in the Cabinet of his heart as choice Treasure The Saints on Earth cry out of Deâ—artures Eclipses c. but in Heaven there shall â—e Vision without Amission and Intermission In Heaven there shall be Vision without Amission There will be no loss of Vision in Heaven Here â—he Cry is Saw ye him whom my Soul loveth Can. 3.3 Do you â—ee him for my part I have lost sight of him but â—o such Cry in Heaven as the loss of Vision In Heaven there shall be Vision without Intermission As it is the felicity of a Person upon Earth that God always beholds him so it is the felicity of this Person in Heaven that he always beholds God Upon Earth the Sun goes down upon thee and it is often Night to thy Soni but in Heaven it shall never go down upon thee but shall be always Day to thy Soul If once arrived at Heaven thou shalt never more lose sight of the Tree of Life when once there no Cloud will at any time interpose beeween thy Soul and thy Saviour Blessed Mat. 5.8 are the pure in heart for they shall see God The pure in heart here see God and then lose sight of him but the pure in heart hereafter shall so see God as never more to lose sight of him Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter perfect Freedom A threefold Freedom shall these have Those actually Christs shall be indulged here after a perfect Freedom from Satanical Suggestion Now Satan rages ranges roars for his time is short Who is able to enumerate now the temptations of those who are Christs Satan always goes about like a Lyon to devour or like a Serpent to deceive and delude Are not the best tempted most But Satan being once cast out of Heaven shall never come there more he is confined to the Aireal part Eph. 2.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is the Prince of the Power of the Air. He tempted in the terrestial but he cannot tempt in the celestial Paradise yea under the Personality of Christs Reign upon Earth the thousand years Rev. 20.3 according to the Greek Satan shall be chained up Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter a perfect Freedom from sinful Communion The Cry of a Christian here is Wo to me that I live in Mesech Ps 120.5 with a barbarous People and dwell in the tents of Kedar with the Sons of Ishmael The Cry of Christians in this world may be like the complaint of the Prophet The Princes of the Nations are like the Princes of Sodom and the People of the Nations like the People of Gomorrah but there are no Nero's and Nebuchadnezzars in Heaven no Pharachs and Pilates in Heaven no Cains and Caligula's in Heaven no person living 1 Cor. 6.9 Heb. 12.22 23 24. and dying in his sin shall inherit the kingdom of God There is in Heaven a holy God and a holy Christ there are in Heaven holy Angels and holy Saints but not an unholy Soul there Those actually Christs shall be indulged hereafter a perfect Freedom from sinful Corruption I know none save those that are perfect strangers to their own hearts but complain of Sin some of one Sin some of another Oh how fain would the Soul which is actually Christs lay down this body of Sin and Death Oh says the Soul when shall I go home when shall I go to my Fathers house where I shall never sin more He that is dead is freed from sin Rom. 5.12 Death came in by Sin and Sin goeth out by Death the Death of the Body freeth us from the Body of Death Art actually in Christ Cordial VII
Heaven and must be the way for his also By his own blood Heb. 9.12 he once entered into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us The spurious spawn of the Papists are under a prodigious mistake who say That Heaven is not that place where the Man Christ is above or beyond the visible Skies but the happiness they have within them If Israel according to the flesh passed thorough the Red Sea unto Canaan as Type so Israel according to the Spirit must pass thorough the Red Sea of Christs blood Heb. 10.19 unto Heaven the Antitype Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest but how by the blood of Jesus Our Sins did shut Heaven but Christs blood is the Key that opens the Gate of Paradise for us Christ's blood is pacifying blood Christs bleeding was Gods pacifying Christ's blood Col. 1.21 22. is the blood of Atonement You hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh thorough death Christ's blood is not onely a Sacrifice but also a Propitiation denoting a bringing us into favour with God It is one thing for a Traytor to be pardoned and another thing for this Traytor to be brought into favour Mans sin rent him from God but Christ's blood Rom. 5.10 cements him to God Reconciled to God but how by the death of his Son Had we as much Grace as the Angels had we offered up millions of Sacrifices had we wept Rivers of Tears we could never have appeased an angry Deity It is the blood of a Christ that ingratiates us into the favour of God and causeth him to look upon us with a smiling Aspect When Christ dyed the vail of the Temple was rent This was not without a mystery shewing that thorough Christ's blood the vail of our sins is rent which did interpose between God and us One Theodoret. calls the Cross the Tree of Salvation because the blood which trickled down the Cross distilleth Salvation It is the blood of Christ that pacifies Christ's blood is conquering blood After the Combat and the Conflict is the Conquest Nay in all these things Rom. 8.37 we are more than Conquerors thorough Christ that loved us These things but what things were these There were seven Dishes and each Dish enough for the strongest Palate Tribulation Distress Rom. 8.35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Persecution Famine Nakedness Peril Sword yet in all these things we are more than Conquerors We over-overcome so the Greek We are more than Conquerors in them because we are Conquerors by them But how is this thorough Christ. Though Christians may be killed yet they cannot be conquered for though they die in the Combat yet like Sampson they shall have the Conquest The Conquest that the Christian hath is thorough Christ's blood They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb Rev. 12.11 and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death Conquest is thorough Christ Christ's blood is crucifying blood A Christ bleeding to death will bleed sin to death They that are Christs Gal. 5.24 have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts As that Physick saves a mans life which removes his sickness so that which is life to the soul is death to the sin We must look upon our sin as that which was the death of our Lord and we must look upon the death of our Lord as that which will be the death of our sin Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6.6 that the body of sin might be destroyed Sin drew out the life-blood of Christ and faith in Christ's blood will draw out the life-blood of sin Christ's blood is softening blood Though the heart of man be the hardest thing in the world yet the blood of Christ God-man can soften the heart of man Oh says one my heart is like the nether milstone and what can soften that Oh says another my heart is like an Adamant and what can soften an Adamant Is there any thing in the world that can soften an Adamant Yea Soul blood will soften an Adamant The blood of Christ if applied will soften the most Adamantine heart The blood of Christ if applied can dissolve the most stony heart and break the hardest sinner The Jews who are hardened to a Proverb for one saith Dost thou think that I am a hard-hearted Jew these Jews shall have the Rock of their Hearts turned into a Fountain of Tears Zech. 12.10 They shall look upon him whom they have pierced and mourn as one for his onely Son and be in bitterness as one for his first-born God himself hath laid himself under Promise to take away the stony heart and to give an heart of flesh Ezek. 11.19 There is nothing so hard but it may be softened if it lay a steeping in this blood Water will soften the earth but it will not soften a stone the blood of Christ if applied will soften a stone yea an heart of stone This blood turns a flint into a spring The Jaylors heart was dissolved Christ's blood is quickning blood The life of a thing is in the blood The life of the flesh Lev. 17.11 is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the Altar to make an atonement for your sins for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul The blood is called life because the seat of life is in the blood and this was a figure of Christ a Type of Christ's life whose flesh is meat indeed and whose blood is drink indeed The life of our soul Sanguis Christi Clavis Coeli Luther is in the blood of Christ Christ's blood is Heaven's Key One little drop saith One of Christ's blood is more worth than Heaven and Earth What is the blood of a Grape yea what is the blood of a Son though an onely Son to the blood of a Saviour Can we give our first-born for our iniquity the seed of our body for the sin of our soul It is the blood of Christ that quickeneth John 6.53 54. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood ye have no life in you whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day Christ's blood puts vivacity into us Christ's blood is justifying blood Justification â—s a great thing to be acquitted from sin and death the wages thereof and to be accounted righteous unto life and Glory the Reward thereof is not this a great thing and yet this is by Christs blood The moving cause of Justification is the free Grace of God but the meritorious cause of Justification is the blood of Christ Being justified freely by his Grace Rom. 3.24 thorough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus The justification of one sinner is more than the creation of all the world There are many not onely in Italy but also in England who
shall desire The Mother therefore and the Sons joined together in this work But what follows Grant that these my two Sons may sit the one at thy right hand and the other at thy left in thy Kingdom She might mean his kingdom on Earth To sit on the King 's right hand signifies the next place to the King and to sit on his left hand signifieth the third place in the Kingdom for the greater any one is in a Kingdom the nearer doth he sit to the King But Jesus answered and said Ye know not what ye ask The like Check he gives to James and John Luke 9.54 55. Shal we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them as Elias did But Christ rebuked them saying Ye know not of what spirits ye are Ye know not what Spirit acts you Ye think ye are acted by such a Spirit as Elias of old but ye erre Ye have a zeal but not according to knowledge This is not a divine motion 't is at most and at best but a humane Affection Our desires are unlawful if we do not desire things that are lawful In order therefore to the constituting of Desire that it may be right we must desire things that are lawful Cordial desires are working desires Endeavour is added unto Desire There must be Works as well as Words and doing as well as desiring True Endeavour is ever a Concomitant of true Desire The man that had been infirm thirty and eight years John 5.5 6 7 8. could not goe into the Pool but he could lay at the Pool yea did lay at the Pool Though he could not cure himself yet he could wait there to be cured and was cured in waiting there He that is nothing but Desires shall have nothing that he desires but he that addeth good Endeavours unto good Desires can ask nothing that is good if for his good but he may have it There must not onely be desiring but also doing or they are not desires from the heart and will not be granted Psal 27.4 Lend an ear unto what the Psalmist speaketh One thing have I desired of the Lord One thing among many things one thing above many things One thing have I desired of the Lord Here is desiring but is here all No here is doing as well as desiring here is seeking as well as desiring One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after But what is it That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life It seems that a great Estimate was set upon Church-communion then though there be too little Veneration for this now Here he would dwell 'till he died here he would dwell 'till he had upon earth no longer to dwell But what was in his Eye Were not Loaves No was it not a Name amongst Men No Two things were in his eye and should be in thine too in mine too greater sight and greater light Greater sight to behold the beauty of Jehovah i. e. to behold the face of Jehovah for Beauty sits in the face and the face is the Seat of Beauty And as greater sight so greater light to enquire in his Temple Cordial desires are constant desires Jehu was soon out of Breath Ye did run well who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth Gal. 5.7 The desires of an Hypocrite are not desires from the heart for he looks one way and rows another pretends one thing and intends another he hath Jacobs voice and Esau's hands You must do by an Hypocrite as we do by Hebrew read it backward An Hypocrite must be read backward The Desires of an Hypocrite are by Fits and Starts therefore not cordial desires but now cordial desires are constant desires they will captivate denyal The Begger at the gate knocks and continues knocking he takes no denyal Thus the Woman of Canaan cryed unto Christ Mat. 25.22 23. but Christ answered her not a word Christ was a Mute and yet she cryed For the Disciples said send her away she cryeth after us Christ answered I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel He seemed before to neglect her but here he seemeth to deny her She cries still Lord help me As her Daughter was her own so her Daughters case was as her own Lord help me She meets now with another repulse It is not meet to take the Childrens bread and to cast it to Dogs Was not here enough to seal up her lips As Christ was a Mute at first is not She a Mute at last No but she answers by an ingenious inversion Truth Lord yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters Table If I be a Dog I am thy Dog Crumbs belong to Dogs give me therefore the portion of a Dog She had indeed this property of a dog to hold fast If I be a Dog indulge me the place and portion of a Dog let me have the Room of a Dog and the Fare of a Dog Christ now if I may write it with a holy reverence is as it were in a holy captivity to her cordial and constant desire This appears by what follows Oh Wonan great is thy Faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt And her daughter was made whole from that very hour Cordial desires are holy desires If the Heart be at work then Holiness is in the Eye Though perfection be not in a Christians hand yet 't is in a Christians eye the beat bent and byass of his Soul is after perfection That is a desire from the heart 2 Cor. 7.1 which is a desire to be perfecting holiness 'till the Soul be perfectly holy and perfect in heliness When desires are from the heart they are desires after more holiness after more grace The Disciples said unto the Lord Luk. 17.5 Increase our faith Those who had most grace desired more grace When the Desire is from the Heart 't is a Desire more for Grace than for Peace more for Conformity than for Communion more for Holiness than for Happiness more for Purity and Perfection than for Pleasure and for Pardon Phil. 1.23 May the Apostle speak I am in a strait between two having a desire to depart to die and to be with Christ which is far far better or which is best of all I cannot think that this holy and happy Man desired only to be perfectly happy but also to be perfectly holy I cannot think that he only desired Death for full Communion with Christ but also for full Conformity unto Christ I cannot think that he only desired a death to come upon the life of his Body but also a death to come upon the Sin of his Soul Cordial desires are hard desires Desires from the Heart and the Desires of the Heart are not weak and feeble but hard and strong desires As the Cry of a Christ was so the cry of a Christian is but the