full everlasting freedom from evil or any imperfection 2. It consists in a compleat perfect and eternal enjoyment of all the good that our natures are capable of First It consists in a full and everlasting freedom from evil or any imperfection And here I shall insist upon some of those evils and imperfections which a Child of God shall be freed from as soon as ever Death hath let the Soul out of the Body First The Saint is free from all sin The Bolts shall be knockt off the Prison walls broke down and the poor Captive set at liberty O blessed Jubilee How glad would Paul have been if when he cryed out in such an agony O wretched Man who shall deliver me if he had heard a voice from Heaven saying thy groans have pierced the Clouds thy Prayer hath reached the Heavens thy Petitions shall be granted immediately would not this have been grateful news When before a few days be at an end this shall be the condition of every one of God's People Now indeed if you lissen to their Closets you should hear how dolefully they bemoan their condition if you follow them into their Families what is it that they would most desire of God is it not freedom from sin what complaints do they make of themselves that there should be so great an unsutableness in them to God that their hearts are unsensible of the worth of divine things that they should have so little love to the Lord Christ and be so little taken with the kindness of the Redeemer How weak and faint how cold and dull in duty how ready to betray their Lord how cowardly in the cause of God But death will for ever silence these complaints death tares off Joshua's rags and presents him before the Lord without spot or wrinckle or any such thing sin indeed accompanyeth the ungodly into another World he rests from his pleasures and his wicked works follow him but it is far otherwise with the godly sin was his burden and Death shall unload â—im sin shall be confined to Hell Heaven enterâ—ains no such deformity This Tyrant shall no more inslave any of Christ's subjects The house of Saul and the house of David shall no longer â—ontend that bloody conflict between the flesh and spirit shall then be determined by a final Victory then the Soul will say farewell my hard heart farewell unbelief farewell ingratitude then thou shalt never entertain an unkind thought of God more the lame and the blinde and the Jâ—busites shall be smitten when King David comes to make his Palace in Zion thy sins must dye when the Lord cometh to take the full possession of this Fort Royal confession of sin shall shortly be needless no darkness shall cloud the understanding no perversness the will no disorderliness in the affections no treachery in the memory the Eyes shall be better employed than in beholding of vanity the Eares shall not be locked against truth the Hands far from violence the Tongue from deceit and the Feet from walking in ways of wickedness And seems this a light matter to you who have gone bowed all your dayes under the pressure of sin is it nothing to you to have all your iniquities done away as a Cloud and your transgressions as a thick Cloud Thus see what a kindness that formidable enemy doth to all the subjects of Christ's Kingdom what prayers teares and groans did gradually it doth at one blow Thus the oppressed is delivered the mourner made to rejoyce and the great make-bate between God and the Soul for ever discarded and turned out of Doors Eph. 5.27 Es 44.22 2. When a Christian ayâ—th he shall be freed from all the temptations of Sathan Death sets the Soul out of the Devils reach this Angel hath nothing to do in Heaven this Serpent shall not come into the higher Paradise nor Sathan creep into this Eden Now indeed he goes up and down like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour novv he sets his Ginnes every vvhere to catch the unvvary Christian he useth his stratagems to surprize them but then this adversary shall be trod under Foot his Fiery Darts shall be quenched and his designes broken O happy Day vvhen will it come vvhen the Devil shall be as unlikely to tempt as our hearts to close vvhen vve are got once safe to rest the Devil shall as easily shake God's Throne as our happiness Death turns the Key Bolts and Bars this Enemy out then O then thou shalt see this Pharaoh cast dead on the shore and for ever disabled from making any resistance against thee or in the least disturbing thy peace Rev. 20.10 3. The blessedness of the People of God consisteth in their being freed from the frownes and flatteries of the World In life time thou art fain to fight thy way to peace to dispute every step thou goest and canst never have a quiet Hour vvhile thou hast such ill Neighbours There is an old quarrel between the Seed of the Woman and the Serpent and the enmity is radicated and the â—end can be cooled with nothing but Death Christian expect not as long as any of that Cainisâ— Generation breath that thou shouldest be long â—â—cure In the World you shall have tribulation â—ut be of good cheer Christ hath overcome the World Joh. 16.33 What though they speak â—â—eat words Prison Halters Faggot Thou shalt â—e long ride in state to glory and then let them 〈◊〉 their worst When thou art in Heaven they â—ay curse and increase their own misery but â—â—ey shall not in the least diminish thy tranquillity â—â—d as for their flatteries they shall signifie nothing thing the beauty of this inseriour World will be darkned by the brightness of that Light which Death leads thee into its excellencies will be quite eclipsed its allurements will lose their power Who can choose but contemn the Earth that knows what Heaven meaneth O how low an esteem have the most experienced Men here oâ— the World Honours and riches are accounted very inconsiderable things to them which understand the difference between finite and infinite the disproportion between time and Eternity Death bloweth the dust out of our eyes it pluckâ— off the Vail and shews one quickly the glory oâ— both Worlds and so it is not lest long to determine which is to be preferred dross or silver brass or gold a dunghil or a Palace there wiâ—â— be no thought of returning to Egypt or Gosheâ— either in them which know the fruitfulness of thâ— spiritual Canaan the accommodations of the neâ— Jerusalem the pleasure of the holy Court 4. At Death he shall rest from all his pains there is no fear of sickness sorrowes and achâ—â—â— The Stone Gout and Plague are Distempers thâ—â— none labour with there that Aire is clear anâ— sin which infecteth other places never got footing there they that scarce know what a Dayâ—â— ease now means shall then forget their sorrow their constitutions shall be mended their
Touchstone and not to be satisfied till he findes that he hath got more than ever any Hypocrite yet had or can have The best of God's Children are most suspicious of themselves and afraid of their own deceitful hearts Do but see how David carrieth it in Psal 139. What is his great request that he must have granted or he can't be satisfied Is it not that God would deliver him from mistakes in matters of everlasting consequence so Psal 119.80 Pardon this tediousness upon these things if most of the Professors of the World did not split upon these Rocks I should pass these things over with silence Fourthly All that dye quietly are not happy after Death It 's no unusual thing for the wicked to carry their false peace with them to the Grave I have heard indeed many poor People boasting of their deceased Friends and pleasing themselves to think how happy they were Because they dyed like Lambs to use their own expression Alas alas how many thousands are there that dye like Lambs that are but Swine and have the Devil 's Brand upon their Foreheads It 's dangerous arguing from peoples carriage upon a Death-bed what their state is in another World such is the hardness of Mens hearts so dreadful the searedness of their Consciences and so great the subtilty of Satan that many are carried very quietly to Hell and fear nothing till they feel and are not brought to their senses till unspeakable horror and anguish doth it And on the other side how many of the precious Sons of Zion have seat in a Cloud how many of the dear Children of God may go out of the World thorow a painful Death are not their intellectuals sometimes impaired their reason Clouded and their Bodyes upon the Rack and yet in a moment they feel themselves swallowed up of that Glory and the doleful antecedents of their happiness did but make their rest more sweet and welcome and put an accent upon their bliss The truth of it is it hath not a little puzled some as well as David to construe God's dispensations to see the wicked dye quietly Psal 73.4 and the godly to have a strange Death but God will shortly resolve this Riddle and I think it were no very difficult thing for a serious understanding Man to give himself considerable satisfaction in this business May not the wicked dye quietly because his Conscience is quite seared and he may perswade himself that he hath made an agreement with Death and Hell may he not hope that there is no such place as Hell or if there is that it is tolerable may he not make himself believe that the Word of God is not true and invisibles are all but fansies or that God is so merciful as that he will not damn him and many such things the Devil helps his Servants with that so his service may not be disparaged and that he may have the better advantage to tempt others There is much also in the nature of the Disease and it may be God may try his own Children with acute pains and let Sathan buffer them to manifest the excellency of his Power and their Grace to try others of his Children whether for all this they will serve him and some Persons of admirable attainments and great experiences while in health may have some considerable Tryals upon a Death-bed that poor Christians which were ready to fear because they had not their enjoyments that therefore they had nothing at all might see that great Saints have their Tryals as well as they but I shall be far briefer in other things I come now to shew you who they are that are blessed at their Death and to give them a brief Description of those which dye in the Lord. First They are such who are made thorowly to understand that they were sometimes quite dead in sins and trespasses that they were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and strangers to the Covenant of Grace Secondly They are Persons which are convinced of that misery of such a state and made to know that if they dye in their sins they must be buried in Flames Thirdly Vpon this they are out of love with their most beloved sins and count that which was their life joy and pleasure to be a very Death misery and Hell whereupon they set themselves in good earnest against sin as the greatest evil in the World they believe now That if they live after the Flesh they shall dye but if through the Spirit they mortifie the deeds of the Flesh they shall live Upon this account they use all the means that they can to get their corruptions weakned an inward principle Divine Life Now he begins to act them which is as contrary to Sin as Heaven to Hell a Spirit of ingenuity restrains them How shall they do this and sin against God They now see sin in its colours as it is contrary to the best good God they can see its killing and damning Nature in the Agonies and Sufferings of Christ and they feel the doleful effects of sin in their Soul and body both and upon this account they can say what have I to do with Vanity any more Shall I still hug this Serpent shall I still Sail with this Jonah in my Vessel and shall I after all this keep this Dalilah in my Bosom No but O that I could hate it Ten Thousand times more than I do There is an enmity raised in the Soul against sin which can't be satisfied till it see the Death of Sin now this is a Person that is fit for Death and Death it will as you shall hear afterwards do him a World of kindness in shewing him the Heads of all his Enemies 4. An other quality of this Person which is like to make such a blessed end is this he is one that is dead to the World Faith hath discovered a better Country to him it hath spyed that new Jerusalem and those blessed Regions and now the Soul thinks the World scarce worthy of a serious thought or look he takes himself to be a kind of Prisoner here and the whole World but a Dungeon if compared with that state of liberty and glory he now joyns with David and says Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I can desire beside thee This is the Man that is like to be a gainer by Death he who contemns Earth and makes Heaven his choice shall never finde himself a loser 5. Another property of the Man which shall be blessed at Death is this he is one that takes Christ for life and happiness Time was indeed he was of an other mind sin was his delight and none so despicable in his Eye as Christ but God in free and rich grace hath taken away the Scales from his Eyes and healed him of his miserable blindness and let him see such a loveliness in the Lord Christ as that now he is able to say
crazâ— Bodies that needed to be propped up by Aâ—â— have now no need of such helps the lame shaâ—â— leap the blinde see the weak shall be strong thâ— crooked strait they which were in deaths oft shaâ—â— be never in danger O happy alteration thâ— Grave will refine and alter our Bodies and theâ— shall there bury all imperfections and this mortâ— shall put on immortality and this corruptible incorruption There the weary shall be at rest Esa 61.3 33.24 60.18 Job 3.17 5. The blessedness of the deceased Saints consisteâ—h in their perfect freedome from all wants and fear of want Here they have their daily want and in the sweat of their brows they must eat their Bread The World in its best estate is made up of vanities and troubles How much need have we of the help of our fellow-creatures we can't live without the use of their bodies and lives we want their service to till our Grounds and to carry our weak Bodyes that can sometimes scarce go under their own burden What shift could we make if the influences of the Sun Moon and Stars were suspended what lamentable complaint should we make if God should seal up the Fountains of Water how soon should we faint if he should make the Heavens as Iron and the Earth as brass What Element can we want what Creature could we well spare But the time is coming that Day will shortly begin whose brightness will make the Sun dark and the Moon to disappear and all the Stars to leave their Spheres as useless O unbelief how miserably dost thou rob us of the comforts which the very fore-thoughts of that hour might bring in Dwell O my trembling Soul upon the Meditation of these things Is there no truth nor weight in â—hose Scriptures Es 60.19 Es 21.29 Give in thy Answer Why then art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Wait upon the Lord and be of good courage wait I say upon the Lord. 6. This happy Man shall be quite freed of whatsoever may argue an imperfect state Some of those very graces that are now so useful and necessary when their work is done shall be laid aside as useless I mean Faith Hope Patience desire all which speak something of imperfection shall then be swallowed up of love They now help to lead the Soul out of Egypt conduct thorow the red Sea and Wilderness and send Spices into Canaan and bring good tidings out of that Land they see Sihon Og and Amaleck discomfitted and their Power broken they go to the Borders of the promised Land nay they get up to Pisga and upon Mount Nebo there they bid the Soul farewell Faith like a skilful Pilot keeps close to the Ship till it see it out of danger Faith like loyal Barzillai brings in abundant provisions for the Soul in all its streights and comes with it to the banks of Jordan to the brink oâ— eternity but there there it takes its final leave and sends over young Chimham to wait upon the King at Jerusalem it sends love over into Heaven tâ— dwell there with the Lord for ever O blessed state when faith shall be swallowed up of sight Here we live by faith and not by sense or sight in glory we shall live by sense and sight and not by faith The shaddow shall vanish when the substance is come hope patience desire and fear shall all pass away and be swallowed up with an eternal fruition possession and security Happy are the People that are in such a case their clouds are quite blown over they need neither Wind or Sails now they are safe landed What think you now of a Child of God is it worth the while to be religious is holiness a folly now and yet this is not all come a little further and I will shew you greater things still All this is buâ— the privative part of their happiness I come now to touch a little upon the positive part but what an Ocean am I now lanching into who can tell all the priviledges of a Citizen of Zion what Pen can describe the honour and dignities of the Sons of God But that I may heighten your spirits and a little antedate your comforts I shall in the next place shew something of the positive part 2. The blessedness of those which dye in the Lord consists positively First in this that they shall enter into the Society of the Angels they shall leave any longer conversing with mortals and instead of weeping friends see themselves compassed with singing Angels How do you think that Lazarus was affected who instead of Beggars Crippels and Dogs had a Guard of Angels waiting upon him What an extasy of joy was he surprized vvith Luk. 16.22 This honour have all the Saints We think the sight of a King the look of a Prince the company of a Lord a great matter what are they it compared with the least of the Captains of the Lord's Host How vast is the difference between Flesh and Spirit and yet this favour the Lord is pleased to confer upon the least of his Children And how glad are the Angels themselves of the society of the poorest Saint they are glad even here to be doing offices of love for them many a danger they delivered them from many a mercy they conveyed from their Father to them but these earthly Bodyes were scarce capable of communications with such noble and spiritual Creatures but at Death they shall know their old friends and fellow-servants and bless God with them and for them for ever Heb. 12.22 And these Chariots and Horsemen of Israel shall carry up Joseph to his Fathers House and there the Sons of God shall shout for joy Time was the sight of an Angel would make a Saint tremble but then it shall make them to Triumph and what stories will they tell them of the providences of God toward them and joyn with them in the high praises of his goodness and love But all this is but little to what follows 2. At Death the souls of believers are made perfect in holiness How will they in a moment see themselves as white as Snow how glorious shall the Kings Daughter be when her beauty is perfect how lovelily will she look when she 's clad with innocent purity how excellent when her royal Husband the Lord Christ shall be infinitely taken with her Will he not then say thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee Come with me from Lebanon my Spouse with me from Lebanon from the top of Amana from the top of Shenir and Hermon from the Lyons Dens from the Mountains of Leopards Thou hast ravished my heart my Sister my Spouse thou with one Chain of thy Neck How fair is thy love my Sister my Spouse c. Cant. 4.7 8 9 10. If the Lord see so much beauty here in his Church what will he do hereafter when he shall have wash'd away all her
keep any guard over your self will you wrestle for this blessing O what courage and comfort should you be endowed with with what a chearful countenance may you meet death and how quietly lie down in your grave being supported with the hopes of a blessed Eternity and a glorious Resurrection But I shall a little alter my discourse and turn my self to the careless ones of the world which think little of death and less of eternity I had occasion before to bewail your condition and now I might renew my lamentations as fearing that what I have spoke or may speak will have very little operation upon you but however I cannot leave you thus but I must try once more how a plain compassionate exhortation will prevail O hat I could tell what words to speak that might each your heart O that I could express my self in such melting words that might break the very stones O that you may feel this exhortation Men Brethren and Fathers give me leave to lâ—t you understand how dearly I love you and to shew my affections in the most real demonstrations that may be Sirs I am come to bâ—g of you for Gods sake to be willing to live I beseech you despise not the blessing but accept Christ and salvation while they are offered Were it a thing possible to be happy any other way but by Christ and a holy life I should spare my labour If Glory could be obtained upon easier terms than the Gospel speaks of I should ease my self and you of this trouble And if any were like to be blessed after death but such as die in the Lord I should be the more indifferent in this matter but since that cannot be methinks those three weighty words Life death eternity should have a mighty influence upon you O let not a day pass without a few serious thoughts of this I need hot perswade you to love your lives nature teacheth you to do that but there is another life which is hid from the world which most forget O think of that that 's a life indeed a life of joy happiness and pleasure Death sounds oft in the ears every passing bell tells you that your breath is going and that your turn is coming and all the Coslins that are carried by your doors say prepare do your work quickly 〈◊〉 will shortly be too late But who understands the meaning of this Preacher who takes any thought of another life makes ready for death and looks into eternity O Eternity Eternity how rarely do men think of Eternity O that now some would begin to be wise Do you think your Sun will never set will your sands be never ran out and do you know what dying is then the keepers of the house will tremble the windows shall be â—hut and instead of the Daughters of Musick the voice of groaning lamentation and weeping It may be death will lay his cold hand first upon thy feet and bind them and they are as cold as the earth and what a damp doth this put upon thy spirit and then you cry once more send for the Doctor and he comes in haste O Sir a world for breath half my estate to preserve my life a day or two longer and what answer doth he make Sir 't is but a folly to flatter you all the art in the world will not keep you alive two hours longer what did you send for me for to a dead man and so he flings away in a rage and how doth the fainting Patient hear such tidings O what shall I do what will all forsake me can no body help me well send for a Minister and what saith he Sir how have you lived did you pray in your family do you know experimentally what Regeneration is what do you say Sir I do not understand that word What did you never hear a Sermon in your life were you born in England To be regenerated is to be born again do you know what that is O no that 's impossible Why then Sir you are in a lamentable condition indeed you cannot live an hour longer and if you die in this state you must go to Hell as sure as God is in Heaven O how doth that word strike the man to the heart and what a flame hath he within and what horrour is his soul filled with It cannot be imagined what Agonies the soul as well as the body now labours under O that I might die the death of the Righteous and are all my hopes come to this woe woe woe to me poor wretch whither am I now going where shall I now dwell who shall be my companions for ever O that I had but now a little of that grace which I despised in others but it 's now too late O my heart I am pained at my heart O my breath it is going it is just a going O what shall I do O 't is too late O what shall And thus his breath goes and his friends come round about him and one lifts up his hand and that falls down again like a log and others feel upon his nose and there 's no breath and then they say he is gone and so one closeth his eyes and others strip him and lay him out and two daies after he is put into the grave but where where is the soul And thus one goes after another and shortly all this generation will be served thus And thou O careless soul as little as thou mindest all this it may be thou mayest be the next and what will become of thee if death take thee unprovided Now Sirs what will you do will you go on just as you did will you put far from you the thoughts of the evil day will you shake off the sense of this as soon as you can I believe that this is none of the pleasantest discourses to some of you But I would have you to know that my business is not to please your fancy but to save your souls and to wake you out of your dead sleep and if I do but this I have enough Once more therefore I must ask you what you intend to do will you indeavour to live to Christ that you may die in the Lord or will you do as others do put off the thoughts of these things till it be too late Is this a question so hard to be answered Well methinks the very looks of some of you speak you to be persons resolved and by this time you are ready to ask how you shall do to be of this number that shall die in the Lord and be blessed how you may trade so as to get the most durable riches and how you may live so as to gain by death In general I answer If you would have death gain you must live to Christ make it your work and business to secure an interest in Christ let Religion run thorow all you do but for your fuller information in this matter I shall refer you to
a book which the Lord at that time opened my heart to ask for which was Drex d. Eternit and truly upon the perusal of that Treatise I think nay I am sure the burden of my sins seemed to be renewed and I cannot express that unspeakable sorrow which I then had in my poor soul by reason of all its mighty sins and truly I hope the mercy of God was not a little cause of my trouble to think that I should have none to offend and kick against but those bowels yea those tender bowels of pitty and compassion which had so long yearned over my poor soul and had so long shielded off the stroak of Justice which was so long hanging over my provoking head and then oh then I did unspeakably desire the pardon of my sins and then did feel the burden of them so unsupportable that I did earnestly beg of the Lord that they might be laid upon the Lord Jesus who was able to bear them and did endeavour by earnest Prayers to obtain a smile from God in and through Jesus Christ for out of Christ he was a terrible God and a consuming fire and so I forthwith resolved to take up with all outward duties as Prayer Reading Hearing Conferring with good Christians and I cannot but let you know that the first Sermon I heard in this condition was out of 1 Tim. 1.15 where it is said that Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I not Paul only but I even I am chief and so I went on through fear and trembling and not without some joy and hopes that the Lord who had begun a good work in me would finish it in his good time which God grant for Christ his sake Min. And is this which you have spoken from your own experience is it indeed as I hope it is then I can no longer for bear but say with good Zacharias Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath visited and redeemed his people and amongst them thy poor soul and now I say again take heed of spiritual pride think very lowly of thy self and give glory to God And now Dear Heart give me leave for the good of thy eternal welfare to examine thee of some things which thou hast touched upon in the last Discourse that so I may be assured that that work which the Lord hath begun in thee may prove as a Tree planted and rooted in thy renewed heart by the Spirit of God and not of thine own seting And for the accomplishing of which weighty work it will be convenient to enquire what fruit it hath since born for the tree may be known by its fruit Therefore in brief what hast thou found in thy heart concerning sin Conv. Sin Truly I am not able now to express that unspeakable bitterness I then found in it oh how did I hate it and pursue it with the greatest zeal and detestation possible oh how did my heart rise at the very appearance of it and truly if it did not very greatly deceive me I think I hated it more than death it self and should have chosen death rather than wilfully committed the least known sin and if there had been no hell yet as I have often said sin should have been my hell and holiness my Heaven Min. I am glad to hear what thou hast said but what sins were they thou so hatedst it may be they were great and dreadful fins as Blasphemy and Murder c. but what didst thou think of heart sins and evil motions which I am sure would much beset thee Conv. Oh of I knew my own heart these were the greatest enemies that I had to encounter these were they that like unto so many Goliahs bid defiance to what Christ had wrought in my poor soul and did endeavour to retake the Fort-Royal of my heart which the Lord was about to make a Temple for his glorious Image to dwell in and oh Blessed be Free Grace and let all that hear of this stand and admire and give glory to God Min. The Lord preserve this blessed enmity still more and more in thy heart and now tell me which way thou wentest about to engage against and so to overcome these great Goliahs though commonly known by the name of peccadilloes Conv. Oh now now you come very neer me and this even pierces between the bone and marrow and the Lord who is the searcher of hearts and knoweth the thoughts and actings of every soul give me understanding in this point that I may say nothing but what I really found in my own soul Oh then I did presume too much upon my own strength and did not lay them at the feet of Christ whom then I hoped I took for my Lord and King and did not as I fear wholly depend upon his Kingly power which is to overcome and subdue all those enemies which rise up in the hearts of his Children and make war against him and would not that he should rule over them for surely had I thus done he would not have suffered them so often to assault me and even sometimes overcome me as I shall God willing make clear to you by and by Min. Still I have great cause to admire the goodness of God to thy poor soul in that he hath been pleased now to open thy eyes to see this thy great mistake which doubtless had not the Lord in time revealed it to thee it would have proved a sore evil and it may be thou mightest not have seen it before it had been too late and now tell me which way thou wentest about to destroy thy sins seeing thou wast ignorant in great measure in applying the death of Christ to kill them Conv. The chiefest instruments that I used in this work was Prayer and sometimes Fasting which I found very powerfull to batter down the strong holds of Satan in my poor soul for which doubtless I was not to be blamed if so be that I had used them only as a means to have raised up my heart to Christ and so as they were appointed of God to be the way and means whereby I might have recourse to him who alone is able for so great a work but woe to my ignorant and proud heart that would not totally submit to God but idolized Prayer and Repentance and Fasting as if these had been the Captains of the souls Salvation whereas they are but empty in themselves and nothing worth no more than as they lead me to Christ who alone is the Captain and horn of my Salvation Min. And now I think it will not be amiss to let me hear how you carryed your self in the great duty of Prayer and how soon you entred upon the duty Conv. The Lord was pleased within two or three dayes after my first trouble to incline my heart to seek him by Prayer which I used constantly twice a day besides some private ejaculations and sighes between whiles and I will now tell