Kingdome which the holy shall immediately upon their deaths enter into but what is all this to thee when thou must be without it for ever thou mayst see Abram afar off and Lazarus in his bosome but between him and thee there will be a great gulf As a stranger thou mayst hear the last Will and Testament of Christ read and therein the fair rich and large portions which he hath bequeathed to his children John 17.24 Luke 12.32 but not the least mention made of any good for thee look from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation and see if there be one good word spoken to thee whil'st thou art in thy natural estate Moses like thou mayst by the prospective of Scripture have a Pisgah sight of Palestine of that good Land flowing with milk and hony but as God is true if thou diest in unregeneracy thou shalt never enjoy one foot of it The worst of a Saint is past when he dyeth but thy worst O sinner is to come there are some dregs in the bottome which thou art yet to drink down thou hast thy good things here and he his evil things but at death he is comforted and thou art tormented He hath all his hell upon earth his heaven is to come thou hast all thy heaven on earth and thy hell is to come when thou passest into another world the hell of a Saint is an easie hell But ah how hot is that hel in hel how fiery is that furnace how how terrible those torments I may conceive somewhat the damned feel most but no tongue can expresse them But it may be Friend thou art one that thrivest in this world and therefore dost not trouble thy head much lesse thy heart with the things of another world thou art unwilling to put a spoonful of those thoughts into thy sauce least it should make thy meat unsavory it would mar thy mirth and spoile thy sports As Sigismund the Emperor did not love the pronunciation of the Greek Zeta because it represented the gnashing teeth of a dying man so thou art resolved to banish such enemies as thou thinkest out of thy coasts and like a bear to go down that steep hill of death backward But know thou O man that whether thou wilt consider of thy death before-hand or no it is hastening upon thee though thou puttest it farre from thee whether thou wilt or no it draweth nigh to thee the ship moveth not so fast in the waters nor the Sun in the heavens as thou art hastening towards thy long thine everlasting home and then death will bring thee up a reckoning for all thy sweet morsels merry meetings time and talents whatsoever believe it then thou wilt have sowre sauce for all thy sweet-meats thy presumption will prove but like Hamans banquet before execution What advantage then will thy suni-shiny morning of common mercies bring thee when as on Sodome it will be followed with flakes of fire and brimstone before night Dost thou not know that when the wicked flourish it is that they may be destroyed for ever Psal 92.7 The higher thou ascendest on this ladder the greater thy fall when death turneth thee off thou art but ripening for ruine and fatting on earth to fry in hell all the while thou art flourishing in a course of sinning nay thou mayest be much nearer hell then thou art aware of The mettal when it shineth brightest in the fire is nearest melting thou like a candle mayst give a blaze when thou art going out of the world into blacknesse of darknesse for ever The Hawk flieth high and is as highly prized being set upon a Pearch and set out with the gingling bells of encouragement and carried on his Masters fist but being once dead and pitched over the Pearch is cast upon the dunghill as good for nothing The Hen scrapes in the dust nothing rewarded while she liveth but being dead is brought as a choice dish to her Masters Table Thus wicked men in this life are set in high places godly men lie groveling with their mouths in the dust but being dead the former is cast into hell the latter brought to Heavens Table But that I may awaken thy conscience O secure sinner and make thee look about thee whil'st there is time and hope if the gracious and powerful God please to assist I shall give thee an estimate of the sinners losses by death by which thou mayest see what a difference there is between the death of the titular and the real Christian And here Reader thou must help me with thy conceptions for I shall come infinitely short in my expressions As none can endure it so none can declare it for who knoweth the power of Gods wrath Psa 90.11 The oratour when he would describe the violent death of the Crosse doth it by an Aposiopesis What saith he shall I say of the death of the Crosse Quid dicam in crucem tollere Tull. much more cause have I to speak so of this death What shall I say of this eternal death 1. By death thou shalt lose all thy earthly delights and carnal contentments The table of thy life possibly is richly spread with variety of outward enjoyments riches relations honours pleasures beauty and bravery but death will come in with a voider and take all away It is called an uncloathing 2 Cor. 5.4 and indeed it wil strip thee naked of all such garments and ornaments Thine eye shall no more see good Job 7.7 i. e. the good things of this life they will all die with thee as to thy use and comfort It is a doleful expression of Abram to Dives Thou hadst or thou receivedst thy good things in thy life-time Luk. 16.25 O what a cutting word was that to his heart when he was passed into another world Remember there was a time when thou and they were joyned together but now ye are parted for ever to have been happy Miserum est fuisse felicem was no small aggravation of his misery It is with thee while in this world as it was with the Jews in the Vineyards and fields of their Neighbours pluck and eat they might while there but pocket up and carry away they might not Deut. 23.24 25. Death is the great thief which will rob thee of all thy riches The wealthiest Emperor the next moment after death hath no more than the poorest beggar As thou camest forth of thy mothers wombe naked thou shalt return to go as thou camest and shalt take nothing in thy hand of all thy labour Eccles 5.15 That gold which thou lovest and trustest more than God these pebbles which thou valuest above the pearl of price that treasure on earth which thy heart is set upon more than on the true treasure in heaven will all leave thee when death findeth thee In his Treatise of love Mr. Rogers telleth us of one that being nigh death clapt a twenty shilling piece in his mouth saying Some
there are some diseases which are called opprobria medici because they cannot cure them but none are opprobria Christi he healeth all whom he undertaketh If the higher an house standeth on earth it be esteemed the healthier surely then the highest heavens must be a pure air and all health Revel 20.4 there shall be no more death nor any more pain for the former things are past away So that every christian that dieth in the faith how diseased soever he were before shall then immediately as in the Gospel be made every whit whole John 7.23 Thirdly As death will free the believer from diseases in his body so also from sorrows in his soul The christian liveth upon earth as in a valley of tears and often mingleth his drink with weeping As he is a man he is born to sorrows as the sparks fly upward he cometh into the world crying and goeth out groaning and his whole life from the womb to the tomb is in some regard a living death or a dying life But as he is a christian he drinketh deepest of this cup of sorrows the world is a tender mother to her children but a step-mother to strangers Sometimes the afflictions of the good cause high-water in the Saints heart by the rivers of Babylon he sits down and weepeth when he remembreth Zion Psal 137.1 He cannot but sympathize with the miseries of his fellow-members as being himself in the body Sometimes the transgressions of the bad cloath him with mourning like Croessus son though dumb before yet he cryeth out when his father is wounded As with a sword they pierce his bones when they blasphemously say unto him Psal 42.10 Where is thy God rivers of tears run down his eyes because the wicked forsake Gods Law Psal 119.136 Sometimes his own corruptions like so many daggers stab him to the heart that he should abuse such an Ocean of unspeakable love by so unsuitable a heart and so unanswerable a life He confesseth his iniquities and is sorry for his sins Psal 38.18 Sometimes divine desertions darken and cloud all his comforts When God hides his face he is troubled Psal 30.7 As there are no joyes like to those joyes wherewith God reviveth him in the day of his favour so there is no sorrow like to those sorrows wherewith God depresseth him in the day of his anger Thus his life is a circle of sorrows but death will be the Funeral of his sorrows and resurrection of his joyes now he soweth in tears but then he shalâ— reap in joy The day of death is a Saints Marriage-day Sampsons wife indeed wepâ— on her wedding-day Judg. 14.16 but when the soul which in this life is contracted shall at death be solemnly espoused and more neerly conjoyned unto Jesus Christ all tears shall be wiped from its eyes there shall be no more sorrow Revel 21.4 At that Marriage-day Christ will turn all water into wine all mourning into mirth all sighing into singing and cause the bones which he hath broken to rejoyce Now the Saints sorrows are not perfect sorrows non dantur purae tenebrae to the believer it shineth and showreth at the same time he sorroweth not as they which have no hope but his joy at death shall be perfect joy fulness of joy Psal 16. ult and permanent joy when they shall see Christ at death their hearts shall rejoyce and their joy shall no man take from them John 16.22 then the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isa 35. ult So much for the privative gain of a christian by death or his freedome from evil There is a second thing which is positive Adeâ—pt â—o omnium bonoruâ— and that is the fruition of all good which a believer shall gain by death and in this Head I shall observe these three gradations First a believer by death shall gain the company of perfect Christians Death wil exempt him from all commerce with sinners and teach him fully the meaning of that article The communion of Saints In the field of this world the tares and the wheat grow together but in that heavenly Garner they are parted asunder There is no treacherous Judas among the Apostles no covetous Demas among the Disciples no Amorites to be prickes in the eyes and thorns in the sides of the Israelite no bestial Sodomite to vex righteous Lot with their unclean conversation no flattering Doeg sets his foot in that heavenly Sanctuary David doth not there complain Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace Psal 120.4 5. nor Isaiah that he dwelleth among a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 nor Elijah that he is left alone Hell holdeth none but sinners heaven hath onely Saints He that dieth in the Lord goeth to the congregation of the first-born to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And questionlesse the sweet company will be part of our felicity If Platinus the Philosopher could say Let us make haste to our Countrey there are our parents there are all our friends and if Cicero the Orator could say O praeclaruÌ„ diem cùm ad illud animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar Cic de Senect O what a brave day will that be when I shall go to the councel and company of happy souls to my Cato and other Roman Worthies How much better will it be with the Christian when he wall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven when he shall leave the rout and rabble of wicked ones and be admitted into the society of all that died in the faith and be joyfully welcomed by the melodious quire of Angels and be heartily embraced by the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles yea all the Saints Surely if ever thar Proverb were true it is here The more the merrier The fair streams there will never be drawn dry though it be divided into many channels the musick there is not the lesse harmonious because many hear it nor the light of the Sun of righteousness the lesse pleasant because many see it and O what a gain will this be to enjoy the company of them that are holy If Aaron when he met Moses on earth was glad at his heart certainly there was greater joy at their meeting in heaven If David placed all his delight in the Saints here below when they shined a little with the light of purity like the Moon and had their spots in them what delight doth he take in them above now they have perfect purity and shine like the Sun in the firmament of their father Matth. 13.43 If it were so lovely a sight to see Solomon in his rags of mortality that the Queen of Sheba came so far to behold it what will it be to see him in his
yet he doth not see the wealth the infinite riches that lye buried in them So wicked men see the waters the afflictions the conflicts but not the wealth the comforts the inward joy of the children of God Thirdly as this spiritual life is the most honorable and comfortable so it is the most profitable life no calling bringeth in such advantage as Christianity godliness is profitable unto all things 1 Tim. 4.8 There is an universal gainfulness in real godliness Plutarch telleth us that the Babylonians make above three hundred several commodities of the Palme-tree but there are many thousand benefits which godliness bringeth no Merchant ever had his vessels returned so richly laden as he that tradeth heaven-ward Observe Reader after the Apostles affirmation his full confirmation of it Godliness saith he is profitable unto all things It hath the promise of this life and that to come i. e. It hath heaven and earth entailed on it and therefore it must needs be profitable It giveth the Christian much in possession the promise of this life but infinitely more in reversion the life that is to come The promises of God are exceeding great for their quantity and precious for their quality promises and they all belong to a godly man he is called an heir of the promises Heb. 6.17 Whensoever the tree of the Scripture is shaken whatsoever fruit of those precious promises falleth down it falleth into the lap of a godly man If at any time that box of costly ointment be broken and sendeth forth its fragrant sent and vertue it is to the refreshment only of the Saints Godliness is profitable to thy self If thou art wise thou art wise for thy self and if a scorner thou alone shalt bear it Prov. 9.12 The sinner is no bodies foe so much as his own the murdering peices of sin which he dischargeth against God miss their mark but do constantly recoyle and wound himself The Saint is no bodies friend so much as his own others fare the better for his great stock of grace but the propriety in all the comfort of all and the profit by all is his own It enables him to give away the more at his door but how rich a table doth he thereby keep for himself Godliness is profitable for thy children the just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him Prov. 20.7 personal piety is profitable to posterity yet not of merit but mercy Though grace come not by generation but donation and though God hath mercy on whom he will yet the seed of the Saints are visibly nearer the quickning influences of the spirit then the children of others When God saith he will be a â—od to the godly man and his children I believe he intendeth more in that promise for the comfort of godly parents then most of them think of Acts 2.36 Gen. 17.7 The children of believers are heirs apparent to the covenant of grace in their parents right Godliness is profitable in prosperity it giveth a spiritual right to temporal good things a gracious man holdeth his mercies in capite in Christ that is his tenure as Christ is a co-heir of all things he being married to him by this spiritual life is a co-heir with him he enjoyeth earthly things by an heavenly title and one peny enjoyed by special promise is far more worth than millions which ungodly men enjoy by a general providence as the beasts of the field do their provender It is godliness that causeth a sanctified improvement of mercies Grace alone like Christ turneth water into wine corporal mercies into spiritual advantages The more God oiles the wheels the more chearfully and swiftly he moveth in the way to heaven the more showers of heaven fall down upon him the more fruitful and abundant he is in the work of the Lord as we see in that gracious King Iehosophat 2 Chron. 17.5 6. The Lord established the Kingdom in his hand and all Iudah brought presents unto him and he had riches and honor in abundance and his heart was lift up in the wayes of God Mark the more Gods hand was enlarged in bounty the more his heart was enlarged in duty The more highly God thinks of David the more lowly he thought of himself 2 Sam. 7.18 Outward mercies to a believer are a ladder by which he mounteth up nearer to heaven Thus godliness like the Philosophers stone turneth iron and every thing into gold but the want of this spiritual life causeth a cursed hellish use of mercies ungodly men like the spider suck poison out of those flowers out of which the Bees the Saints suck honey Their mercies are like cordials to a foul stomach which do but increase the peccant humor He feedeth on such plenty that he surfeits himself because of their abundance Job 21.7 8 9 to 14. Therefore they say unto the Almighty Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes like the Israelites they make of the jewels which God giveth a golden Calf and worship that in stead of God Godliness is profitable in adversity it maketh a Christian like a Rabbit to thrive the better in frosty weather The child of God learneth the better for the rod Before he was afflicted he went astray but now he keepeth Gods word Psal 119.67 Well may grace be called the divine nature for it can bring not onely light out of light spiritual comfort and good out of outward good things but also light out of darkness good out of evil gain out of losses life out of death It will like Sampson fetch meat out of the eater like the Ostrich digest stones like Mithridates fetch nourishment out of poison When wicked men like Ahaz in their distress sin more against the Lord as fire the more it is kept in in an Oven the more it rageth so doth corruption but godly men far otherwise are by the fire of affliction the more refined and purified for their masters use Godliness is profitable to thee while thou livest In doubts it will direct thee as a light to thy feet and a lanthorn to thy paths In dangers it will protect thee by setting thee on high and giving thee for a place of defence the munition of rocks in wants it will supply thee by affording thee bread in the word when thou hast none on the boord and money in the promise 1 Tim. 4.8 which is by thousands the better when thou hast none in thy purse in thy pain it will ease thee in disgrace It will honor thee in sorrows it will comfort thee in sickness it will strengthen by causing thee to count the crosses of this life as nothing and unworthy to be compared to the pleasures and glory which shall revealed in all distresses it will support thee and make thee more then a conqueror over all through him that loveth us Rom. 8.37 Lastly godliness will be profitable to thee when thou diest death which is the terrible of terribles to
of Jesus Christ at death will quite dry up that issue of corruption Death will give thee a Writ of ease from all those weights and sins which do so easily beset thee Thou shalt be without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.5 Will it not indeed be a brave world with thee in the other world when thou shalt have as much holiness as thy heart can wish or hold If God should grant thee such a request upon earth that thou shouldst have as much of his Image and of his Spirit as thou couldst desire wouldst thou not think thy self the happiest man alive I am confident thou wouldst and also that nothing lesse than perfect purity would be thy prayer Well death will help thee to this When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likenesse Psal 17. ult Now thou hast enough to stay thy stomack but then thou shalt have a full meal When the Israelites went out of Egypt towards Canaan there was not one feeble person among them When the Christian entereth into the true Canaan he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David nay as the Angel of the Lord before him When thy frame of nature shall be ruined thy frame of grace shall be perfected and raised to the height of glory 4. It is comfortable against thy dissolution To thee to die is gain death will be thy passage into eternal life Thou needst not fear death as a foe it will be one of thy best friends How did this hope of happinesse at death hold up the Martyrs heads above water and carry them through those boistrous waves of violent and cruel deaths with the greatest serenity and alacrity of spirit Xenophon Agesilaus King of Sparta used to say that they which live vertuously are not yet blessed persons but they had attained true felicity who died vertuously What is there in death that thou art so afraid of it Wilt thou fear a Bee without a sting Dost thou not know it had but one sting for Christ and Christians and that was left in Christ the head whereby now though it may buz and make a noise about their ears yet it can never sting or hurt the members The waters of Jordan though tempestuous before yet were calm and stood still when the Ark was to passe over If thou hadst been banished many years from thy dear Relations whom thou lovedst as thy own soul and from thy rich possessions and comforts which might have made thy life pleasant and delightful into a place of bondage a valley of tears a prison where thy feet were fettered with irons and thy face furrowed with weeping Mors non vitamrapit sed reformat Prudentius wouldst thou be afraid of a messenger that came to knock off thy shackles and fetch thee out of prison and carry thee to those friends and comforts And why art thou afraid of death which cometh to free thee from thy bondage to Satan sin and sorrow and to give thee present possession of the glorious liberty of the sons of God Art thou afraid to be rid of thy corruptions of Satans temptations of the worlds persecutions Art thou afraid to go to â—aints where are no sinners to Christ without his cross to the full immediate eternal fruition of the blessed God then why art thou afraid to dye and dost not rather desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ knowing that while thou art present in the body thou art absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Calvin in loc Jâ—el was offended at one that in h s sickness prayed for his life Well the best of it is thou art more afraid then hurt It is well observed by a judicious expositor that the Periphrasis of death mentioned John 13.1 where it is called a departing out of the world and a going to the father doth belong to all the children of God it is to them but a going out of the world to their dear and loving father And questionless this was that which made the Saints so desirous of death Basil when the Emperors Lieutenant threatned to kill him said I would he would for then he would quickly send me to my father to whom I now live and to whom I desire to hasten Calvin in his painful sickness was never heard to complain but often lifting up his eyes to heaven to cry out How long Lord How long Lord Plutarch in vit It is reported of an heathen Epaminondas that when he was wounded with a dart at Mantinea in a battel against the Lacedaemonians and told by the Chirurgions that when the dart was drawn out of his body Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo c. he must needs dye he called for his Squire and asked him Whether he had not lost his shield Non est timendum quod nos liberat ab omni timendo Tertull. he told him no whereupon he bade them pull out the dart and so died Surely Christian thou hast more cause to dye with courage when thou hast not lost thy God nor thy soul nor any thing that was worth the keeping 5. It is comfortable against the death of thy friends and relations which dye in the Lord. To dye is gain if it be their gain why should it be thy grief nature will teach thee to mourn but grace must moderate that mourning We may water our plants but must not drown them We may sorrow but not as they which have no hope least we sin When Anaxagoras was told that both his sons were dead he boldly answered the messenger I knew that I begat mortal creatures The people were enraged and perplexed at the death of Romulus but were afterwards quieted and comforted with the news which Proculus brought That he saw him in glory riding up to heaven So when thou art sorrowing for the death of thy child or husband or father or mother or brother or sister that sleep in Jesus thou shouldst hearken to the news which faith brings that it saw them filled with joy mounting up to heaven and there enjoying rivers of pleasures and a weight of glory and surely if after such news thou shouldst continue weeping it should be for joy Friend this text containeth choice sweet meats for thee to feed on at the funeral of thy dearest godly friend Lugeatur mortuus sed ille quem gehenna suscipit quem Tartarus devorat Hier. I suppose if thy relation died out of Christ thou hast not a little cause of sorrow and probably that was the sharp edge of the sword which wounded the soul of David for the death of Absolom that he died in his sins his fear was that his son died not only in rebellion against the father of his flesh but also against the father of spirits But when thy relation dyeth in the Lord thou hast surely more cause to rejoyce that thou ever hadst such a friend or relation who shall to eternity be employed in the chearful