vitae inopes sed prodigi and yet live as if their lives were too long O methinks there is enough in the death and last end of the righteous to perswade you to the way of the upright Be therefore adding working to your wishing remember that of Paul Gal. 6.7 8. Be not deceived God is not mocked according as a man soweth so shall he also reap He that sowes to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting The meaning of the Apostle is plainly this that there is a consonancy betwixt a mans life and death such as his sowing is such shall his reaping be Lastly to conclude the whole this may be the comfort of such as do live the life as well as desire to dye the death of the upright that choose the former part as well as the latter end of the righteous for as the wicked go from a temporal life to an eternal death Vita ad mortem sic impius vivit mors ad vitam sic pius moritur so the righteous go from a temporal death to an eternal life their death is both precious to God and advantageous to temselves The righteous may welcome death for death to a righteous man though it parts two near friends Soul and Body yet it unites two better friends the Soul and its Saviour to all Eternity The Scripture records concerning Moses in the last Chapter of Deuteronomy Deut. 34.5 that Moses the servant of the Lord dyed according to the word of the Lord the words in the Hebrew are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moses dyed upon the mouth of the Lord The meaning is say the Jews l'Empereur paraph Jach in Dan. p. 258. Moses dyed kissing of God surely so it is with the Saints of God their Father gives them a kiss and so layes them down in the bed of the Grave therefore they that have lived righteously may at death smile themselves into a corpse for the body of a Godly man goes to his Lords bed and his soul to his Lords bosom the Grave is perfumed for his body and Heaven prepared for his soul I may say of righteousness as Solomon in a case not much differing Prov. 6.22 when thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee that is according to the Gloss of the Rabbinical Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when thou goest it shall lead thee viz. in thy passage through this World when thou sleepest it shall keep thee viz. when thou lyest down in the Grave and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee viz. when thou art awakened at the glorious Resurrection Well then all ye that are upright in heart and life I bring you glad tydings of great joy Psal 58.11 Eccles 8.12 Verily there is a reward for the righteous and it shall be well with them that fear God that fear before him it shall be so well that none of you shall desire to have it better while the languid wishes of the wicked betray them to the pit of Perdition your holy and earnest endeavours shall deliver you into the Mansion of Glory 1 Cor. 15 ult your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord God is too good to suffer himself to be overcome in love Dieu est trop bon pour se laisser surmonter en amour it shall never be said there is more love in man to righteousness than there is love in God to the righteous Therefore comfort your selves with these words for you shall in this World certainly obtain a comfortable dissolution and in the other World a joyfull Resurrection You shall dye the death of the righteous and like unto his shall be your last END
coveteous heart his tongue must speak usually out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh but here it was not so but from the irresistible hand of God that was upon him his mouth spake the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam Deut. 23.5 but the Lord they God turned the curse into a blessing because the Lord thy God loved thee God would not hearken to Balaam but made Balaam hearken unto God and so tipp his tongue with blessings though he had a poisoned and envenomed heart Saul went to Damascus to perseeute and God converted him to be a Preacher and Balaam went to curse and God changed his words into a blessing in the former God changed the heart the latter God over-ruled the tongue The latter of these the speeches and parables of Balaam is the context which is the first of his four parables and indeed when we read this parable we may well say who could have expected so sweet a breath from so foul a stomack such heavenly notes from so hellish an instrument surely this is the finger of God And you may learn by the way from Gods over-ruling this Prophet That God can deal with them that deal with the Devil they which are most studyed in the black Arts of Hell must forget the language of that infernal pit and speak the dialect of Heaven Psal 118.23 when God will have them this is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes The text is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last conclusion and winding up the first parable of Balaam shewing the blessed estate of Israel by his desiring no other condition for himself hereafter than that which they were to enjoy but enough for the contexture or weaving together of the text with the other parts of this History In the words themselves observe 1. Something 's generally and secretly implyed 2 Something 's particularly and openly expressed 1 Something 's implyed which are Two First That all those that are pertakers of humanity are subject to mortality the common law of death is of an imperial and impartial nature it layes hold on all without exception all without distinction bad and good righteous and unrighteous this Balaam lays down as a foundation that the righteous shall dye there is a death even to the righteous Even they that are freed from the sting of death are not delivered from the stroak of death they which are freed by it John 20.3.4 are not free from it our life like the race of the two Disciples is towards the sepulcher as soon as we come out of the grave of the womb we hasten to the womb of the grave we leave the place where we received life to enter into that where we shall find death there will be a morning in which we shall not live till evening or an evening in which we shall not live till morning this is true of all in generall so as to except none in particular the righteous not exempted nay we read the first man that ever dyed was righteous Abel the best at that time that lived was the first that dyed 2ly This is implyed that there is a great difference between the nature and consequents of death to the righteous and to the sinner there is not only a holy difference before death but a happy difference after death Therefore saith he let my last end be like his And indeed this is a very notable testimony of the immortality the soul and of future recompences from the mouth of a false Prophet these words shew that he held there was a reward after death to the just 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 R. Schelomoh Hammelâ—ch in Michlal Yophi in loc else why should he here desire to be in their state Man ceaseth not to be at death but his soul survives the body so that he insinuates thus much that though the righteous dye as well as the wicked yet the wicked dye not so well as the righteous the righteous are taken away from sinne the wicked in their sinne as to death it self there is no differenee but in their death there is a difference therefore as the Apostle in a like case They doe it to obteyn a corruptible Crown but we an incorruptible so they dye to be damned 1 Cor. 9.25 we to be saved Secondly here is something expressed and so the words are a passionate wish consisting of 2 parts the concomitant security and the consequent felicity of a righteous mans death First he wisheth the concomitant security in death Let me dye the death of the righteous or as it is in the primitive language Let my soul dye the Death of the upright 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let my soul dye the meaning of the dying of the soul is the parting of the soul from the body the phrase doth not import the dying of the rational soul which is incorruptible but the removing of it out of the mansion of the body when it is translated by death The death of the righteous the word Yashar is used in opposition to that which is warp'd bent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rectus or crooked Let my soul dye the Death of them that are upright and straight in their principles and practices and from this root it is you read that Israel is called Jesurun because of the sincerity and uprightness that should be in them Joh. 1.47 an Israelite indeed is one in whom is no guile such whose Lives are straight their Death is safe though they are tossed upon the waves yet they are brought into a good and safe harbour by death Death is the end of all humane misery and the beginning of all divine good to the upright the Sepulchre is a sanctuary and death it self a city of refuge to them therefore Let me dye the Death of the righteous for that death which to others is the King of Terrors to the upright is the King of Salem that is of peace the same red sea which was a grave to the Egyptians was a place through which the Israelites passed with safety and the same death which conveys the wicked to the belly of hell carries the godly into the bosom of Abraham Secondly he wisheth consequent felicity after death Let my last end be like his last end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word used in the Hebrew denotes sometimes posterity Dan. 11.4 and let my posterity be like unto his and to this the Septuagint had an eye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuag when they render the words let my seed become as the seed of these so Balaam in the former part of the wish desires happyness for himself in the latter for his Children this exposition is not contrary to the Hebrew nor to be contemned yet above seven times seventy translators may be produced who here leave the seventy interpreters and turn the word as we Extremum the last end the Arrears or after Payment
bosom there is a sweet calm from the storms of the world a blessed silence from the clamous of the world an absence of all evil Sorrow shall depart and sighing flee away Esay 35.10 saith the Prophet and tears shall be wiped away God my friends cannot so much as afflict a godly man in the other world I will speak a great word that God that can do all things cannot do this thing as he cannot destroy his People in this life so he cannot so much as aflict them in the other It is much with Gods people as with the stones that built the Temple they were hewed and squared at the Quarry-side before they were brought to it and there was no noise of Axes and Hammers in the Temple So there is no disturbance in the Kingdom of God but a perfect rest after our painful walking Now this being upon the hearts of all men to know there is such a rest the wickedest of men cannot but desire it Secondly at the death of a righteous man he obtaynes a perfect degree of sanctity a consummation of holiness you know the greatest perfection we can here attaine unto is this an humble acknowledgment of the imperfections we have and endeavouring after the perfection we want but now though there be never so much imperfection in our state of grace here yet the death of the body is the death of the body of death the funeral of all our corruptions This exprerience teacheth that whilst the soul dwels in the body sinne will dwell in the soul the Saints may cast it down but they cannot cast it out Dejicere possunt non ejicere they may hinder it from having a throne in their hearts but they cannot hinder it from having a room there doe what they can there is no full seperation between sinne and the soul before a Seperation between the body and the soul there it is that that which is imperfect shall be done away as it is with a man that hath been under a long fit of sicknesse though he be truly recovered from his disease yet he is a long while before he can come to his full strength before he pick up his crummes so it s with the Saints here though they are delivered from sicknesse of sin that it shall not be to death yet not from sins of weaknesse until death Or as it is with one that hath layn a long time in prison though he be now really set at large yet he may go limping all his dayes by the hurt he received from thelrons when he was in prison so Gods people have so many corruptions as to make them go halting to their very graves in the new man there is enough of the old man to make them continually greive and mourne whilst they are here and God suffers this that his people may depend more upon justifying grace and be quickned to look more after sanctifying grace and be longing after consummating grace Thirdly there is this in the death of a righteous man that it is to him an immediate passage to heaven 1 It is a passage it is that which brings us to a happy journeys end death is the ship that waft's us over to the shoar of a blessed eternity 't is that boat that is sent to bring us to the landing stairs of our fathers house Gen. 24.57 Much like Abrahams servant that went to fetch Rebecca to be married to the son of the promise when they enquired at the mouth of the damsel shee willingly and presently gives her consent to go with him So when death comes with his pale horse for a Saint of God Gen. 45.27.28 he willingly gets up behind him or as one death is like the waggons Joseph sent to his father Jacob out of Egypt when he saw the waggons t' is said the good Old-mans heart revived within him and he cryed out Is Joseph my son yet alive I will go down and see him before I dye so when the Saints see the waggons of death their hearts revive Jesus is alive I will go to Jesus 2 And as it is a passage so an immediate passage that is there is no such thing as a Purgatory any place between Earth and Heaven where they are lodged Luk. 16.22 as soon as Lazarus was dead he was directly carried from dives his gate to Abrahams bosom as soon as the penitent thief was dead he was carried from the crosse on which he was crucifyed to the Kingdom where he is glorified This day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Luk. 23.23 As soon as the soul is breathed out of the body it is with God there is no temporal punishment held forth in the Scripture after this life and therefore there is no Purgatory Purgatory derogates from the blood of Christ which purgeth us from all iniquity 1 John 1.7 If there be any such thing as Purgatory as the Papists dream you must say one of these two things Either Christs blood doth not cleanse from all sins or not perfectly from some sins but both these are false therefore it follows there is no such thing Yea what would become of those that shall be alive at the day of Judgement surely they will have as much need of Purgatory as others before they get to Heaven Purgatorii dolores cum nec subiisse nec tolerasse legatur Christus qui tamen omne genus dolorum pro nobis pertulit cos fictitios esse consequitur nulli credentium pertimescendos sequeretur enim aliquos dolores Christum non tulisse nostra causa quod absurdum Bucan loc com Besides our Lord Christ bare all that misery and punishment which the Elect were else to have suffered but he never bore the dolours of Purgatory therefore its evident they are but feigned sorrows and not to be dreaded by Believers 3. It s an immediate passage to HEAVEN it lets the Godly into the Kingdom of glorious bliss it is janitor coelorum the Porter that opens Heavens gate to the Saints that they may enter into the joy of their Lord a joy so great that it cannot all enter into them therefore they are said to enter into it a joy so great that nothing shall be found in it but what is desirable and nothing can be desired in it but is shall be found I may say of Heaven the portion of the Godly what was said by the Queen of the South when she arrived at Solomons Court when she saw the magnificence of his Palace the Liveries of his Servants the state of his Attendance there was no more Spirit left in her but she breaks forth the one half was not told me in my own Country thus when the righteous come to Heaven when they behold the Palace of Eternity bespangled with Sun-beams of light and glory when they view the Robes of Immortality when they see ten thousands that stand at Gods Throne and ten thousand times ten thousands that Minister
Apostle Rom. 2.5 According to thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath What is the meaning of the phrase 'T is just like a covetous Miser that is making of a hoard he is every day adding something to it till it come to a great sum So thou treasurest up wrath the longer God continues thee the greater the wrath will be at last which thou must suffer Or as a man that every day is carrying a stick to a pile of wood with which at last he is to be burned the longer he lives the greater the pile and the more formidable the fire will be the longer God forbears thee the more interest thou must pay he will be thy sorer enemy because he was no sooner thine enemy If thou livest to be an Old man and not a Babe in Christ thy case is most dreadfull Old age in it self is not desirable an Old man is an animated grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sepulchre with a little life in it it is the refuge and anvil for diseases to meet in and beat upon and therefore they are called evil dayes in which there is no pleasure Eccles 12.1 'T is true the hoary head when nature has snowed Gray hairs upon a man is a Crown of Glory Prov. 16.31 but it is no Crown to thee unless found in the way of righteousness Therefore the Text is thus read in the Holy tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in fut niphal The hoary head is a Crown of Glory of ornament or comeliness in the way of righteousness let it be found or it shall be found it is either to be understood as a promise thus in the way of righteousness the Crown of Glory shall be found by the hoary head or as a command thus that the Gray head may be a becoming ornament to the antient let it be found in the way of righteousness it is necessary it should be found in that way What do Old men that are not good so long in the World What is the advantage they get Surely only this They live to see more evil and to do more evil and to deserve more evil than others do that is all the happiness of an Old man that is not gracious for it is not the venerable face that will commend to God nor the snowy head of the Antient that will make way for him before the Ancient of dayes but to dye the death of the righteous To name one more Eightly compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Martyrs all that dye for such are not saved but all that dye righteous they are saved there are many persons that may give their bodies to be burned 1 Cor. 13.3 and yet their souls shall burn in Hell many persons that may be Martyrs in our account who are but Malefactors in the account of God If we dye the death of a Martyr and not of a Godly one it will be no profit for it is not the death nor the cause only but the heart that makes a Martyr Three things make a Martyr there must not only be suffering but a good cause to suffer in and a good conscience to suffer with some Martyrs that seemed nothing else to us may really be nothing less when as no righteous persons but they are happy There are some persons that may seem to us to dye for the Lord and yet do not dye in the Lord but all upright men dye in the Lord and therefore you see if we make the comparison here the death of the righteous is much to be preferred And thus you have the first thing the reasons why wicked men when they come to dye desire to dye the death and have the last end of the righteous The second thing is How it comes to pass that though they desire it yet they do not obtain it I would not speak now concerning the sins of wicked men by which they forfeit this desired happiness if a man should never so much desire health and yet go immediately and drink off a cup of poison death would be his portion before health if a Water-man should never so much desire to be at Westminster and yet row towards London-bridge his desires would be but in vain Thus it is with sinfull men they contradict their desires in their pratices therefore their desires further them nothing in the way to happiness their practices carry them faster to Hell than their desires can to Heaven But if you ask me Why do those that desire it not obtain it My answer is Because they do but desire it they have nothing but faint velleities which is too sloathfull full a way to get these great things by there are many means conscientiously to be used that this last end of the upright may be enjoyed the Lepers in the Gospel were cured not sitting still but walking Luke 17◠14 as they went they were cleansed we must be up and doing we must be at the charges and expences not only of many an earnest wish but of many a salt tear and many a bitter sigh and many a deep groan and many a hard pull before we can obtain this blessing an happy estate in death and a glorious life after it are commodities not to be had at so cheap a rate as for a wish we can gain but a little of the Earth though we take a great deal of pains for it and do we think to obtain Heaven with no pains It was the saying of an antient Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabb If thou canst obtain but a little of this World which thou pursuest so much how canst thou look for any thing of the other World which thou followest not at all We must then be working as well as wishing Lam. 3. 41. Oratione operatio operatione fulciatur oratio Hieron therefore 't is said Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the Heavens our hearts in praying and wishing our hands in acting and doing We ought to support our praying with our working and our working with our praying both these should go together we must be as well in the operative way as in the optative mood I remember the Fable of the Country man whose Cart stuck fast in the mire he falls a praying to Jupiter to help it out but doth nothing else and Jupiter bids him set his shoulder to the wheel and then cry to Jupiter so we must set our hands to the work and then desire to dye the death of the righteous Solomons advice is good Prov. 2.3 4. if thou shalt cry after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding if thou shall seek for her as for silver and search for her as for hid treasure c. not only cry and lift up the voice but seek and search so the Apostle counsels Col. 3.1 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to seek the things
and the meaning is the Saints of God have not their portion in this world they have only a pension there 's a great deal of Arrears the people of God shall receive at their death So the same Hebrew word is used the end of that man is peace Psal 37.37 Prov. 24.20 Prov. 23.18.24.14 the last end the Arrears of that man So there is no Reward to the evill man he hath nothing to come in the other world but what he hath he hath here Vtinam post hujus vitae exitum felicitatem consequar his rectis repositam Jun. in loc but to the righteous there is an End the best is behind So Junius upon this place O that after my passage out of this life I might obteyn the happines that is laid up for these upright ones so that of Solomon Pro. 14.32 the wicked is driven away in his wickednes but the righteous hath hope in his death the meaning of the place may be either the righteous hath hope in the wicked mans death that is that things will be better when the wicked dye or else he hath hope in his own death because there is a reward to the righteous Psal 92.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And indeed the happines of the upright is not a flower that grows in the garden of this world the gold which enriches them is not fetched from natures mine it is at their last end they have their recompence so the Iews note from that of the Psalmist the Iust shall flourrish like the palm tree Il savio Salomone chiama nell ' Ecclesiaste prositto vant aggio d'uno parolache significa romanenteo varanzo percioche inquello che non rimane od advanza ma scorre ese consuma non c ' eguadagno hor le cose transitorâ—epasâ—ano sono beni che corrono e fuggono come se fossero alati per andarsene a volo the palm tree being a tall strait tree cast's its shade a great way off from the body of the tree so say they the giving of reward to the just is a great way off even in the world to come whatever is on this side eternity is fleeting and perishing it cannot be of any great moment because it is but for a moment that is of no great value that is but of a smal continuance therefore such a reward will not content a righteous man the Preacher when he speaks of profit or gain uses a word in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that imports something which remains or abides to teach that that which abides not is no true gain or profit now because the upright find not this here they stay for reward till their last end Turretin Homil. 3 Supra Luc. 12.5 6. c. But enough for the unfoulding the text Now considering together the Wish the Person wishing and the successe of his wishing we may gather this proposition worthy our observation To dye the Death and have the last end of the upright may be the Wish and desire of such as for their wickednes shall never obteyn it You see Balaam a false Prophet a Conjurer one that dealt with the Divel a reprobate one that is now fewel for unquentchable flames to burn upon to all eternity wished he might dye the Death of the upright Such being guilty of damnable hypocrisy may go loaden with all their wishes to hell Infernus plenus est bonis affectibus desideriis Paradisus antem bonis effectibus operibus Bosq Consol Desper t' is an expression of a learned in this no Papist that hell is full of good wishers but all the good workers they go to heaven The Scripture is full to this purpose such were they that said Lord Lord open to us yet depart from me ye workers of Iniquity such are all they whose works and wishes contradict one another or whose works run not paralel with their wishes Now such persons though they never so earnestly desire yet shall never obtein the death of the righteous and truly as the great God doth not judge acding to our wishes but our works so neither wise men our endeavours are the pulse by which we may learn the state and constitution of our wishes though there be but one pulse that runs through the whole body yet the Physitian feels it at the hand and so at the hand in our works we are chiefly to try wither our wishes are true and effectual Now to explain this there are 2 things would be looked into First why is the death and last end of the righteous desired by the wicked Secondly how comes it to passe that they do not obteyn it though they do desire it For the first of these why is the death and last end of the righteous desired by the wicked To answer this it proceedeth from the conviction of the happines that the godly enjoy in and after death that death finds and leaveth them in a good estate and lets them in to a better This is that that is rivited in the natures of all men they believe it is a great deal better with the godly at their death then it is with the ungodly there is in the worst of men a spark of conscience by the light of which they may read that its more safe to be in the estate of good men when death comes then in that of the wicked Conscience is a practical Preacher in the bosomes of men that much presses and applyes this doctrine if men did hearken to its instructions We need go no further to school than into our own hearts where this lesson is abundantly taught conscience being the school Mistriss which made that Atheist when he was asked which he liked best the licentious loose lives of the profane or the strict holy lives of the godly to answer cum illis mallem vivere cum his mori I had rather live with those and dye with these he had sayd better I would chose to live with them which I would be willing to dye with The godly then are in and by death made happy in the very apprehensions of the wicked In the following of which truth let us consider First the happy condition of the Saints in and by death positively 2ly relatively First positively now there are three things wicked men are convinced of that makes a godly mans death so much to be preferred and desired First a total cessation from suffering and therefore it is called a rest there remaineth a rest to the people of God Heb. 49. a Sabbatisme a keeping of a Sabbath death unto the Godly is a full stop and period to all the miseries of the present world after their painful walk there is a perfect rest in this world we labour for rest in that we rest from all our labours We were made by God and can never be happy till we are with God we came out of his hands and can neuer rest till wee are in his
before him they shall burst out into admiration and come to us Ministers saying in the other life you did not tell us the half of the glory now revealed in and to us indeed if every word we speak were a tongue and every thought we think an heart yet we should not be able to speak or think how great that glory shall be I shall therefore spend no more time on this but only put you in mind of the good old saying Let others study how great the glory is but let us study how we may best obtain and be fittest to enjoy it But then Secondly as we may consider the death of a righteous man absolutety so comparatively compare the death of the righteous with the death of any sort of person you can name and you shall see the death of a righteous man is to be preferr'd and that by the light of a wicked mans own reason To instance in particulars First compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Infant there are some persons that having considered the sin misery and vanity of this present life have said That the best thing in the world is not to be born and the next best thing is to dye as soon as we are born and truly the World is like a stormy Ocean or flame of Fire now if you were to go over a tempestuous Sea you would not say your passage was too short Non puo esser troppo presto quello che e il migliore anzi e sempre tardo il lasciar la vita misera per la felice so if a man was to run through a flame he would not stand lingring but make what hast he could and the sooner through the better it is never too soon to dye but rather alwayes late to leave a miserable sinfull for a happy sinless life Besides the shorter our lives the easier our account we are to give to God so that if some were to dye they would choose to dye the death of the Infant But alas though our Infancy be the best time to dye in because the Soul is not stained with actual sin yet our Infancy is a state of Death we were born Enemies to God Children of Hell Eph. 2.3 Children of wrath by nature and so obnoxious to Gods displeasure and to be Children under his wrath which to endure is intollerable and to avoid is impossible The best of us all was born with a poysoned and infected nature we brought enough with us into the World to ruine us if we should dye in our most innocent estate yet we are depraved by evil and destitute of good there is enough of the Old man in the youngest babe to damn it when you behold the prophaness of the World and see the profligate Impieties Drunkeness Adultery Murders and other sins that are committed when you hear the cursed and damned Oathes those dreadfull imprecations of flagitious men the nature of an harmless Infant is the seed-plot of all this so that a poor innocent babes death is more dangerous than the death of the righteous we may hope well of such babes but we may believe better of the righteous Secondly compare the death of the righteous with the death of a Patient some persons you know they are often choosing in their discourses what kind of death to dye whether a sudden and violent death or a death by the hand of a long sickness many persons would choose this latter because say they they have time to repent time for others to pray for them and have warning by the languishing condition they are in But alas consider God may take this latter time to judge thee in because thou tookest not thy former time to seek him in he that has promised life to the penitent has not promised repentance to every one that is under a long sickness 'T is true thy warnings are a mercy but better it is to dye the death of the righteous though thou shouldest dye suddenly If thou art righteous thou art habitually prepared but if thou hadst never so long sickness it would be very uncertain whether that would contribute to thy preparation or not I have often thought a Minister could not have a better time to speak to and work upon a people then when they are sick but I find the quite contrary and that they that have neglected the things of their peace in the time of their health though they have had a great deal of time to prepare themselves when exercised with a lingring sickness yet they have not improv'd it Therefore trust not too much to that Christians If a man have many strong and able Beasts and he should take the burthen off from these and should have but one pittifull creature that was lame and scarce able to go and should lay it upon this would you not think this a strange man Thus it is with many men O! the many strong and lusty dayes men have and yet lay the whole burthen of their repenting and turning unto God upon the few languishing dayes of sickness but this I may say those that forget holiness till sickness seldom remember it in sickness we see in such sicknesses usually when the Physicians have done Vbi desinit Medicus incipit Theologus the Divine begins a most dreadfull delusion Men desire a lingring sickness but the Devil knows there is not one of ten thousand lets his sin live long with him but his repentance dyeth with him remember as God did not love a blind Sacrifice so not a sick Sacrifice Thirdly compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Honourable If many a man were to choose what death he would dye he would dye the death of a King or some Great Person that he might be magnificently entombed and make posterity to know his renown But alas Gods Tribunal and the Grave are no respecters of persons there is no difference between the Peasant and the Prince the Leather and the Velvet Coat the Canvass Suit and the Tunick and Vest the Presbyter and the Prelate even then the Kings of the Earth are but Kings of Earth you know when Trees grow in a Wood all together we can say there stands an Oak and there an Elme and there a Cedar and there a Shrub but when these Trees are burnt and turned into ashes which of you can say this is the ashes of such a Tree or such a Tree Death is that great Leveller that maketh all persons equal In the mowing of a Field though some grass be higher and some flowers bigger than others yet when they are mowed they lye all flat upon the ground an Earthen Pot though never so great is as subject to be broken as a little one 'T is a very remarkable observation the Jews have of David 1 Kings 1. per totum compared with 1 Kings 2.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his life time he is seldom mentioned in Scripture
without some preface of Honour as King David my Lord the King c. and so he is about forty times called King David and my Lord the King David in one Chapter but now see what an alteration there is in the first verse of the next Chapter When the dayes of David drew nigh that he should dye He that was my Lord the King so often a little before now he comes to dye is plain David so that you see death maketh all equal Do you then desire to dye the death of a Great man Surely it is not so good as to dye in the fear of the great God and therefore Hezekiah a potent and noble Prince when he had a message of death pleads not Remember Lord that I have been a King that I have worn the Crown and swayed the Scepter Isa 38.3 but Remember Lord that I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and have done that which is right in thy sight it s a poor thing in death to have been saluted Your Lordship and Your Ladyship Your Honour and Your Grace Your Highness and Your Majesty at every word if we cannot see our selves to be the persons whom the King of Heaven delights to honour Fourthly another had rather dye the death of the Wealthy many persons we see in the World they toyle and labour and sweat and if you ask them the reason it must needs be this that they might leave something behind them when they dye Christians that is not our own which we cannot carry with us into another World the rich man in this respect is like a poor man that is invited to a great mans Table whilst he is there he makes use of the Plate and Silver Spoons and other things but he must pocket up none of these but leave them behind him when he goes thence so God gives him a great many things here to use but he must leave them all at death Or just as it is with Travellers who make use of the movables of an Inne for that night they lodge there but the next morning they leave them and go onward in their journey Job 21.13 They spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment they go down to the grave Who would not choose to dye the death of the righteous rather than of Nabal or the rich man in the Gospel What a vain thing is man to desire to dye rich To leave a portion of Goods behind him and not to have a good portion in Heaven Surely the wealth and accommodations of the World do not make any person the more fit or willing to dye I remember a story that when the Duke of Venice shewed Charles the 5th at Venice his Earthly Paradice stately Palace Haec sunt quae faciunt invitos mori 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabb Gardens Riches Furniture Plate and Jewels and asked the Emperor what he thought of them he doth in a most Christian manner make no other answer but this These are the things that make men unwilling to dye Another shewing a private Christian the like sight expecting to be admired for it drew this speech from the Christian Sir you had need make sure of heaven or else you will be a great loser when you dye He that has set his heart on these things while he possesses them they will go to his heart when he is torn from them he will be unwilling to dye Fifthly let us compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Valiant some would choose this what large renown have many that have dyed upon the place in an engagement against the Enemies of their Country How doth their fame shine in History and the Chronicles of Nations embalm their Names to posterity Such as that glorious King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus Killed but not Conquered and that noble Captain Consalvo who being counselled to retire a little backwards from the Enemy made this answer Essendo egli consigliato a voler retirarsi alquanto indietro rispose desiderare d'haver piu tosto al presente la sua sepoltura un palmo di terrerro piu avanti che col ' retirarsi indietro poche braccia allungar la vita cento anni Guicciard That he had rather at that time get a span of ground forwards though he were sure to find his grave there then retreat a few yards to lengthen out his life a hundred years But though this may seem to be a brave and noble thing to dye so yet how poor comfort is it to their souls if they be not Souldiers of the Lamb called chosen and faithfull What does it avail them to be praised where they are not and be tormented where they are All their courage and resolution all their valour and magnanimity what is it to their Salvation without grace and piety They are laudable Virtues but not saving Graces 'T is true it is very honourable for a man to dye for his Country but let me dye the death of the righteous Sixthly let us compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Learned if some men were to choose what death they would dye they would choose to dye the death of a Philosopher when they have read of Seneca Plato Socrates and others with how much constancy and courage they looked death in the face they think it brave to dye like one of these but one spark of Grace is a better Lanthorn to lead you to happiness than all the reason and wisdom those men had they were wise to admiration and yet not wise to salvation It was the speech of St. Austin in his time Surgunt indocti rapiunt coelum c. Vnlearned men arise and snatch Heaven away whilst we with all our Learning go loaden to Hell Therefore what will it profit to dye the death of the Learned I tell you Solomons repentance was better to dye with than all Solomons wisdom Learning is a poor cordial to a dying man Scholarship is a rare Ornament but a miserable Comforter when you come to dye a good Handmaid to Godliness but a bad supplyer of the place of it when Godliness is wanting Therefore what will it profit a man to dye the death of the greatest Philosopher that ever was if that be all Seventhly another it may be would choose to dye the death of the Antient some say if they might choose what death they would dye they would wish to dye in a good old age to spin out the thread of their lives to a great length and to go away at last like a Lamp for want of oyl gradually to spend the radical moisture of the body and then without pain to yield unto nature But unless you dye the death of the righteous the longer your death is deferred the greater will be the misery that will be inflicted the longer a sinner lives the more wrath he layes up for himself and therefore excellent is that expression of the
light and darkness dry and moist if a man had seen this he would have wondered what will the wise God make of this piece of confusion but if this man had staid till the end of the sixth day he would have said with God Behold all is very good Thus he that looks upon the troubled estate of the righteous may wonder what God intends with them but stay to the end and you will see their condition blessed wicked men look no further then just before them to receive their good things in this life but you know there are many persons that may be coached to Hell when others may be whipped to Heaven nay many if they were not kept short of the things of the Earth would come short of the joyes of Heaven Doth any person think the Malefactor happy because he may ride in a gilded Coach to the Gallows Or the Child to be unhappy because the Father takes the rod and corrects him I remember one of the Popish Writers compareth the righteous and the wicked to the Hens and Hawks that are kept in Great mens houses you know whilst the Hen is alive she is not suffered to come into the house but to scrape upon the Dunghill and get her living there but when the Hen is killed she is served in to the Masters table whereas the Hawk whilst alive is kept in the house with great attendance but when 't is dead 't is good for nothing but thrown out upon the Dunghill So here the wicked have it may be a great deal of provision but when they dye there is no more use of them when as the Godly are preferred Now I appeal to you which of these is the happiest estate surely that is the best that is the best at last none would be so mad as to desire first his happiness and then his misery which would you choose of these two either to go through a pleasant Gallery where are all sorts of Pictures variety of sweet smells and all manner of delights to run through this into a flaming fire or to run through a flaming fire to come into a place of liberty peace and comfort See then the wisdom and happiness of those that make choice of a righteous life Secondly we learn hence the necessity of looking about us whether our endeavours are suitable to our wishes or else as you see for all your wishes to dye the death of the righteous you may dye the death of the reprobate Pray think of it the time will certainly come and may suddenly come when nothing but the life of the righteous will yield you comfort the Physicians they have left thee the Minister he is to come but alas it is too late to send for him for thou art not capable of receiving any instruction thy reasonable soul thy precious soul thy immortal soul sits trembling upon the threshold of thy lips to take its flight into another World go backward into this life you cannot stay here you may not go forward into another World you dare not Now this is the time and if have not lived the life of the righteous what a dreadfull estate are you in then The soul of a man at death is like a Prince beaten from one strong Hold into another the soul is first made to fly out of the lower parts of the body the legs and thighs and then comes into the upper parts of the body but the disease besiegeth it there and then it flyes to the heart its last refuge and cannot hold out long there Upon this account it concerns us greatly to ask every one himself How have I lead my life Where are my Graces What have I been doing nothing but wishing for Heaven and not labouring for it O consider how much you should be awakened and allarum'd by this you ought to deal honestly with your selves it is high time to bestir your selves you are upon the borders of Eternity none of you but desire to dye the death of the righteous O labour that your endeavours may be answerable If there was but one of you that had been wishing and not endeavouring and so like to be excluded out of bliss it might greatly startle you all who this might be When Christ told his Disciples one of them should betray him they come and say every one Lord is it I and when we tell you there are a great many in the World that do not endeavour but only wish to be saved and for this are in danger to be damned methinks you should every one say Lord is it not I If there was but one man in the whole World that was to be damned it might awaken us all lest any of us should be that one man As if an Army was drawn into a Field and a voice should come from Heaven that a Dart should strike one man of that Company dead and not tell the man would not every one have cause to be afraid So have we cause to entertain an holy fear and jealousie lest we should be of the number of such as shall fall short of the Glory of God Thirdly we learn hence the duty of adding working to our wishing in order to our arrival at the death of the righteous and this we are to endeavour both seriously and seasonably 2 Pet. 1.10 1. seriously Give diligence to make your calling and election sure 1 Cor. 15. ult Eccles 9.10 Abound in the work of the Lord Whatever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might Be in good earnest for thy precious and immortal soul And then 2ly do it seasonably because thou art so uncertain of the continuance of a natural life therefore be speedy in respect of a spiritual life Psa 119. ◠We should make hast and not delay to keep Gods Commandments there may be cases wherein it s not only lawfull but laudable for him that believeth to make hast such a case is this of our souls in which expedition is highly commendable 'T is observed of Solomon that he was but seven years in building the House of God 1 Kings 6. ult 7.1 and thirteen in building his own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Miclal Yophi in loc R. Shelomoh Yarchi writes of it that the Scripture speaks it to his praise that he was so quick in Gods and so slow in his own work It is much with us in respect of our lives as with men that are sailing in a Ship before the wind whether they sit or lye work or be idle walk or stand still whatsoever they do yet the Ship is going forward towards the Port it is bound for So it is here whether we repent or do not repent pray or neglect to pray believe or do not believe be holy or remain unholy our lives wear away apace Therefore we had need look about us and to quicken our pace in the path of Godliness Men complain of the shortness of their lives Non sumus