the good Seed so the Godly should suffer did not their Father look to them These are Strangers and 't is no wonder if they meet with hard Usage and that Dogs bark at them Happy therefore is that Person that hath safely past through all these Dangers and is safely arrived at home and got to his Journey 's end The World doubtless is not desirable for our selves or our Relations that are already past through the Pikes of Danger and are out of the reach of the Devil and his Instruments and we our selves are pressing hard after This may satisfie us in this Providence If you apply this to the present â—ase your Daughter is out of the danger and you are a days Journey behind and in a little time will over-take her and seeing the World out of which she is gone and you are hastening is not desirable and seeing after a short space you will enjoy her to Eternity without interruption Then mourn not for her but rather rejoyce that she hath left you so much ground of Comfort behind her that her Life was such that she lived desired and dyed lamented and was not a Corazine to your heart as many Children are to their Parents in this Age when they behold their vicious Lives and Conversations and sometimes their untimely Death But she hath left a good savour behind her yea a good Name more precious than precious Ointment These Cordials may keep up your sinking Spirit from fainting under this sad Providence the Lord grant they may be effectual to this end By these and the like Arguments Madam I have upon the like Occasion oft-times argued my self into content and stilled those boisterous Storms and Tempests which Passion and Discontent had raised in my breast and brought the Controversie between God and me to this Result That God was wise and I was foolish and that it was much fitter for him to dispose of me and my Relations than it was for me and brought me to a Resolution to let him who had ruled the World for so many thousand Years to Rule it still The like Consideration had the like Operation on Job though at first he had a mind to quarrel God yet at last he lays his hand upon his mouth and humbles himself in Dust and Ashes and cries out I am vile what shall I answer These Meditations brought me to know that it was fitter for me to prepare for my own Death than to bewail the Death of another yea made me know that it was of much more concern to take care of my Relations while living to fit them for their Eternal Being than to bewail them especially those I have comfortable hopes of when dead and to be troubled more at my own Neglects than at God's Providence And the Lord grant that these and the like Meditations may have the same or rather a better Effect upon you to quiet your Spirit under this present Providence But Madam though this be necessary to bring us to submit unto God and bring our Wills to God's Will and to acquiesce in what he doth yet 't is not sufficient God doth not lash us only to make us leave crying or to cease our murmuring but in these Visitations he hath a further design upon us his Rod speaks more than this unto us he expects that his Physick should have some other Operation upon us and not only leave us as it finds us but should do us some good also the Father beats one Child that the rest may beware It was good for me saith David that I was afflicted that I might learn thy statutes Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I learn to keep thy commandments Psal 119.67.71 If God preserve us 't is no great matter whether it be in Salt or Sugar Fish prosper as well in salt as fresh Water The Wallnut-tree they say bears best when most beaten and I am sure many times Christians thrive best under Affliction The Wind shaking the Tree makes it take deeper and better Root quae nocent docent bitter Pills may sometimes be as necessary as Sweet-meats a Lesson set on with whipping is best retained and many times Correction doth what Cockering will not and there is no doubt whatever Man intends God in Correcting his Children minds their good Heb. 12.10 These bitter Pills procure sweet Health as sharp Winters kill Weeds and Worms and God's Vines bear the better for bleeding neither are they hurt when superfluous branches are lopt off Camomile the more 't is trod upon the more it spreads and the more the Cypress-tree is bowed down the more it riseth Ephraim found the benefit of Affliction this made him Obedient when before he was as an untamed Heifer unaccustomed to the Yoak Jer. 31.18 c. Manasseh's Prison and Fetters were better to him than his Crown and Scepter 2 Chron. 33.12 c. As 't is said of Queen Elizabeth Mr. Ascham was a good Tutor to her but Affliction did her most good Correction with Instruction is sure and safe Blessed is the man whom thou chastisest O Lord and teachest him in thy Law Psal 94.12 Feri domine feri saith Luther strike me as much as thou wilt if thou wilt instruct me lash me and spare not so thou wilt Lesson me God doth chastise his People that they may not be condemned with the world 1 Cor. 11.32 God hath a double end in your present Visitation and both for good one to set an end to your dear Daughter's Misery and the other to prepare you for Happiness by weaning you from the World and raising up your heart to Heaven whither your Delight is gone And happy are you if you learn this Lesson and wisely improve this Providence if you learn the voice of the rod and of him that holds it Micah 6.9 For the rod of reproof gives wisdom Prov. 29.15 Vexatio dat intellectum A Father Corrects his Child not so much in Revenge for the fault done as for caution for the future Schola crucis Schola lucis The way to the Crown is by the Cross When God's Judgments are abroad in the World the Inhabitants thereof should learn Righteousness Isa 29.9 Under such Providences as these God would not have us be like unto bruit Beasts in a Pasture when one by one goes to the Shambles the other regard it not All Spectacles of Mortality especially those of so near a concern should mind us of our latter end and make us prepare for Death when we see younger and stronger than we go to the Grave before us We should be like ingenious Children when one is beaten the other should not only cry and tremble but also take warning We should not blame our Father's Cruelty but our own Folly and if all work together for our good why not this Nay doubtless a good use may be made of this and if well improved we shall have cause to say with the Psalmist It was good for us that we were afflicted Some
VERA EFFIGIES EDVARDI BURII EVANGELII MINISTRI AN. AETAT SUAE 66 ANo. DOM. 1682 Inventiue art dame-natures curious ape You see can counterfeit the bodyes snape Yet can noe more describe the mind then we Heavens glory by the spangled Canopy This shaddows out the house who there doth dwell Aske in the booke the picture cannot tell DEATH IMPROV'D AND Immoderate Sorrow FOR Deceased Friends and Relations REPROV'D WHEREIN You have many Arguments against Immoderate Sorrow and many Profitable Lessons which we may Learn from such Providences 1 Thess 4.13 14. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope For if we believe that Christ died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him By EDWARD BVRY formerly Minister of Great Belas in Shropshire LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside 1693. TO THE Vertuous and truly Religious The Lady Wilbraham the Pious Consort of the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Wilbraham of Weston under Lizard Barronet one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Stafford E. B. wisheth all Happiness External Internal and Eternal MADAM IT fares with me as 't is fabled of Pan that pretended Rural God who being admitted into Apollo's Presence to shew his skill upon his Oaten Pipe at the first he was bashful and timerous but being uncontrouled he grew bolder and Pip't louder This was my Case when I wrote the ensuing Letter which was in a dark and gloomy Day my Bashfulness and Sense of Vnworthiness when it was finish'd had like to have strangled it in the Womb and to have kept it from your sight fearing what Reception it might meet with but knowing what ever was wanting a good Meaning and an Intention to do good was not wanting and after some conflict in my self I resolved to put it to the venture and send it I did but your â—ind Acceptance beyond my Expectation made me Pipe louder and without your privity I sent it to the Press thinking that having past this Test and you approving of it others also might possibly do the same but had you past it by with a Check or Disrespect you had spoiled my Musick yet durst I not prefix your Name to it as thinking it unworthy of you But your kind Acceptance of it when it was Printed and Approbation doth make me yet bolder to prefix your Name and tell the World to whom it doth of right belong and this will be some excuse for me that you did not manifest your dislike nor forbid me to do it the Reasons why I did this and do now again Publish it were given you then there were many worthy Friends then and since that time that lay under the like Dispensation of Providence that you did viz. That had parted with their near Relations to whom I was willing to give a Word of Advice and Comfort but my Occasions would not permit me to Speak or Write to all neither was I able to do it to all that needed my Advice I therefore imagining what doth one good may benefit another also I made it publick this Letter may speak my Mind when I am absent even to those to whom I cannot come for I see Grace itself will not wipe off immoderate Tears but they sometimes flow like a mighty Torrent without Bank or Bottom and tho' here be some things peculiar to your Condition in the Letter yet in the general 't is of publick concern the Disease is common and the Receipt I hope will not be useless Most People first or last are concerned in parting with Relations here are Considerations to quiet them at least they see the Death of others as well as of their Relations and here are profitable Instructions to improve that for their own good and Direction how to prepare for their own Death These Considerations made me make that publick which at first was intended for private use and I hope this second Edition will give your Ladiship no Offence nor to read your Name in the Front when I sent the Letter to you I did foresee that I must shortly come into the Furnace again and so I did the very Week I received the printed Book I Bâ—ried my eldest Son as you had done your eldest Daughter and how soon I may have another Trial I know not The Lord grant I may learn the Lesson my self I am teaching others some Additions I have made at the Request of several which may be more needful to others then to you I hope they tend towards the perfection not imperfection of the Book But I forget my self the whole being but a Letter and that to your Ladiship I must not make the Gate too wide for the Building I shall cease further to trouble you when I have committed you and your dear Relations into the Hands of him that never leaveth his and subscribed my self MADAM Your much Obliged Servant EDWARD BVRY THE CONTENTS THE Introduction Five Arguments to quiet the Heart at the Death of Relations 1. Consider who did it that great God whose they are 2. Consider Who we are that are discontented Dust and Ashes 3. What wrong is done to us or our Relations 4. What Benefit are we like to have by mourning 5. Our own Condition is mortal and shall suddenly follow Seven Lessons To be learnt by the Death of Friends if all must die 1. Lesson How little we are beholding to Sin 1. It brought Death into the World 2. It is the cause of all the Misseries we suffer in the World 3. 'T is the cause of all Spiritual Judgment we meet with 4. It lays us under the Wrath of God and makes him our Enemy 5. T is the cause of eternal Death and eternal Damnation Second Lesson How little Good the world can do us in our greatest need 1. It cannot prevent Death tho' we had never so much of it 2. It cannot procure us a happy Life or give Content 3. The things of the World are uncertain and momentary 4. It can do us little good in our great Concerns here or hereafter 5. It exposeth us to a great deal of danger Third Lesson Of how great concern Grace and a good Conscience is 1. It helps exceedingly to bring us through the World with Comfort 2. It fits us to leave the World and takes away the Fear of Death 3. Without it we can neither please God nor enjoy him 4. It will procure us a good Name to succeeding Generations 5. It will bear up the Heart at Judgment and usher us into Heaven Fourth Lesson If all must dye then the Godly have nothing to Suffer 1. The Saints at Death shall be freed from all their Sins 2. From all the Causes of Sin Temptations of Satan and the World 3. From all the Devil's Instruments Persecutions and Tryal 4. From all the Effects of Sin Losses
Crosses Pains Sickness c. 5. They shall enjâ—y God Heaven and Happiness for ever Fifth Lesson If all must dye how little Certainty wicked men have of their Happiness 1. At Death they must leâ—ve behiâ—d all their Riches 2. They must bid 〈…〉 to all their Pleasures 3. They must lose all their Pomp Glory and Honour 4. After Death they â—hall lose their God their Soules their Heaven and Happiness 5. They shalâ— be thrown into endless â—aseless Torments Sixth Lesson If all must dye then we should prepare for our own Death 1. Consider seriously we muâ—t die 2 â—e have a great deal of Work to do ere we die 3. Many men as worldly-wise as we do miscarry 4. The dangâ—rous condition we are in while unprepared 5. Preparation for Death and our Evidences for Heaven can do us no harm Directions to Die well 1. Get an Interest in Christ and a title to Glory 2. Be sure to see Sin dead before you or your Souls will die 3. Mortifie and Crucifie the World and subdue it 4. Be sure to live well if you would die well 5. Learn to die daily have death always before your Eyes Seventh Lesson If all must die bring your minds to be willing to die 1. Consider Our Life is not at your own dispose but God's 2. The many miseries Death frees us from 3. 'T is unbeseeming a Christian to be unwilling to die when God calls 4. If we resign our selves to God we shall die to the best Advantage 5. The Joys of Heaven may sweeten Death itself The Conclusion DEATH Improved AND Immoderate Sorrow for Deceased RELATIONS And FRIENDS Reproved In a LETTER Consolatory to the Vertuous and truly Religious Lady Wilbraham of Weston in the County of Stafford at the Death of her Daughter the Lady Middleton of Chirk Castle MADAM LET it not be thought Presumption in me though the meanest of a Thousand if I make bold to give my Advice in the midst of so many much abler Counsellors and to prescribe you Physick when you have so many Learned Physicians at hand for haply I have more experienced that Distemper under which you labour than many of them and can write a Probatum est upon my Receipts Others may speak more of the Disease than I can yet few have felt the working of it in their own Bowels more than I even from my Youth up and I am at present making up a Dose for my self who am in daily expectation of paâ—ting with my Eldest Son as you have done with your Eldest Daughter he being one in whom I took no small content and from whom I expected much Comfort in my Age the Lord grant I may take the same Counsel I give to others When first I heard of your great and as I think unexpected Loss and how soon your Joy that a Man-Child was born into the World was turned into Sorrow that a Woman was taken out of the World I confess I was suddenly surprized with Amazement and cryed out How vain a thing is Man whose breath is in his Nostrils and how vain are all these transitory things we so much dote upon And how little can they do for us when we have most need And how foolish are we to spend our time and money for that which is not bread and our labour for that which satisfieth not When I saw so fair a Flower so lately budded and not fully blown so soon withered and dead and what need we had especially that were much older to stand upon our Guard not knowing the day nor hour wherein our Lord and Master comes When I had spent some time in these Considerations and bewailed the Publick Loss I began to consider your Condition who by reason of your tender and haply too tender Love and Care of your Children especially as I imagined of her who was your First-born and the beginning of your Strength and one who by reason of her Age and Maturity more fit for your more intimate Society I was afraid your Burden would not be easily born for I conceive you are better qualified to bear a heavy Burden of another Nature than this strong Affections many times breed strong Afflictions but God will have us hate Father and Mother Wife and Children and our own Lives for his sake These things considered I could not but sympathize with you in your Suffering and put my Soul as it were in your Soul's stead and so bewailed and condoled your Condition having many times my self felt the weight of your Burden I thought then with Job That to those that are afflicted pity is to be shewn by his friend Job 6.14 But barely to pity and not to endeavour to help is but a poor kind of Charity but it was out of my reach any other way to help than by Counsel and Advice and this I knew you needed not yet not willing to be altogether silent I resolved to communicate to you my own Experience and what it was that hath once and again calmed those tumultuous Thoughts that raged in my Breast But could I but imagine that your Sorrows were over your Griefs supprest your Trouble buried and your Burden eased I should not be so uncharitable as to take them again out of the Ashes or blow the fire that is too apt of it self to kindle but I fear the Flame is too great to be so soon extinguished and your Distemper too deeply rooted to be so easily removed and the Wound too great to be so easily healed Or that I could but imagine your Sorrows were moderate and no more than your Duty I should not put you to the trouble of Reading nor my self of Writing these following lines But I not only fear but also hear that you are a Woman of a sorrowful Spirit drench'd in Sorrow over-power'd with Grief and like Rachel weeping for your Daughter and will not be comforted because she is not And fearing as others of your Friends do what the event will be in parting with this dear Pledge or rather Piece of your self especially when I read Godly Persons have sometimes been strangely transported with Passion upon such Occasions as Jacob at the supposed Death of Joseph Gen. 37.33 when he refused Comfort and resolâ—â—d to go down to the Grave with him but he should have learned to bury his Children and Friends when alive by acting their Death to himself afore-hand He shewed his Fatherly Love to his Son but not his own Obedience to his Father The next that offers himself to our consideration is David a man after God's own heart yet not without his Faults and Failings we find him excessively mourning for the Death of rebellious Absalom that had kill'd his Brother Amnon forc'd his Concubines rebell'd against him and sought his Life yet when he was cut off by a deserved Death partly by the hand of God he mourns and over-mourns till he was soundly chidden and threatned by Joab and wish'd he had dyed for him 2 Sam. 18.33
nations are as the drop of a bucket and are accounted as the small dust of the balance that taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And all nations are before him as nothing and are accounted to him less than nothing and vanity Isa 40.12.15.17 Fear ye not me saith the Lord do ye not tremble at my presence which have placed the sâ—nd for â—he bound of the sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it and though the waves toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it Jeâ— 5.22 He setteth bounds to the sea and saith Hitherto shalt thou go and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed Job 38.11 He numbreth the stars and calleth them by their names Psal 147.4 He removeth the mountains and they know not he overthroweth them in his anger He shaketh the earth out of her place and maketh the pillars thereof tremble He commandeth the Sun and it ariseth not and sealeth up the Stars He alone spreadeth forth the heavens and treadeth upon the waves of the sea Which maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the chambers of the south Which doth great things past finding out and wonders without number Job 9.5 c. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters and the clouds are his chariot he walketh upon the wings of the wind He maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming fire That layeth the foundations of the earth that they shall not be removed for ever Psal 104.3 c. Is it not he that made the World of nothing and can as easily reduce it into nothing He hangs the Earth upon nothing and that in the midst of the open Air and gave a Being to all his Creatures when they were nothing and nothing comes to pass without his Providence Nay is it not he that keeps the Keys of Life and Death at his Girdle I kill saith he and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand I lift up my hand and say I live for ever Deut. 32.39 He brings to the gates of death and back again and doth what pleaseth him in heaven and in earth and none can resist him neither dare any say What dost thou And is this he that hath done you this wrong and with him is it that you contend But consider Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10.22 Shall we provoke him to a Duel as sometime Caligula did their Heathenish Jupiter Was there ever any that hardened himself against God and prospered Job 9.4 Who ever could boast of the last word or glory in the last blow The Walls of Aphek did Execution on the Blasphemous Syrians and the Angel of God upon the Assyrians If we harden our heart against God he will harden his hand against us for he will lay us upon our back ere he leave But haply though we do acknowledge God doth excel us in Power yet we imagine we have the better Cause and therefore with Jonab we think we do well to be Angry or at least with Job we would dispute the Point with him Job 13.3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God Why what hath God done Why he hath taken away your Daughter in the midst of her days Well but hath he no Interest in her Is it not he whose we are and whom we serve Was it not he that gave her her Being and breathed into her the breath of Life and she became a living Soul Did he not give her her Being 'T is not long since there was nothing heard of her and did he not continue her in her Being till her death Was it not he that fed and cloathed her at his own Cost and Charges And was she not engaged to him for every bit of Bread she did eat and every drop of Drink she drank and for the Cloathes she did wear Was it not his wool and his flax that cloathed her his corn and his wine that fed her his silver and his gold that enriched her Hos 2.8 Let us take heed then of paying our Rent to a wrong Landlord her Limbs and Senses her Peace and Plenty her Wit and Reason yea her Life and Breath were given or rather lent her by God It was he that covered her in your Womb and through him she was born Psal 139.13 It was he that put bowels of Compassion into your Heart to make Provision for her when she could make none for her self and to him she was indebted for every breath she breathed and for every Mercy that rendred her Life more comfortable to her and doth it become Christians thus to quarrel with our great Benefactor Or is it meet that we should require of him an Account of his doings Or expect that he should bring his Will to ours Whose is the Pot but the Pot-makers and may not he if he please dash it in pieces with his foot And who can say why dost thou thus Now if this great God this Omnipotent Being this God that hath such an Interest in us and such Authority over us yea greater than any Man upon Earth hath over any thing he doth enjoy hath taken away one of his own Creatures and glorified himself with her that he had made for his own Glory shall we take Offence at it That it was his Hand I doubt not but you acknowledge for nothing comes to pass without his Providence Affliction springs not out of the dust neither doth trouble arise out of the ground yet man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward Job 5.6 These things come not to pass by Fate or blind Fortune as the Heathens imaginee or by Chance as the Philistines supposed 1 Sam. 6.9 but the hand of God is in all this and therefore the lamenting Church concludes That she will bear the indignation of the Lord because she had sinned against him Why should a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Lam. 3.39 Is there evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it Amos. 3.6 That is the Evil of Punishment for the Evil of Sin He is not guilty of sin He is of purer eye than to behold iniquity with approbation Shall not the judge of all the earth do right Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass if the Lord commandeth it not Lam. 3.37 I form the light and I create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do these things Isa 45.7 Yea we may find that the Evil that came upon Jerusalem came from God Micah 1.12 For God sits at the Stern and guides the great Affairs of the World and when we sin what can we expect from a Righteous Judge but Sufferings Where sin goes before sorrow follows as the shadow follows the substance But now you have found out the Person and the Fact
Dust by our Defection and to Dust we shall return at our Dissolution Our father was an Amorite and our mother an Hittite This may make us sprinkle the Dust of Humility upon our Heads 'T is said some Creatures are bred in Sugar we cannot boast of so sweet an Original but may look back to the slimy Clay and may say to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister The greatest Persons are but a little Air and Dust tempered together but Soul and Soil Breach and Body a Pile of Dust and a puff of Wind. God need not to Muster an Army against us if he tread upon us we are left dead behind him if he with-hold our breath we dye and our thoughts perish he can with a frown turn us into Hell yea turn Heaven and Hell and all into nothing And are we able to grapple with him Nay this is not all we have not this our poor Being of our selves he it was that made the Clay of nothing and he it was that gave us our Shape and Being he was the Potter and we were the Clay in his hands he gave us a Being and 't is he that gives us a comfortable Being We are his Creatures and he made us the works of his hands and fashioned us And shall we thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is not be our father that bought us Hath not be made us and establish'd us Deut. 32.6 Shall the pot say to him that made it Why hast thou made me thus Shall the ax exalt it self against him that heweth with it God hath more Propriety in us than we have in our selves or in any thing we enjoy yea in our Children these were given or rather lent us for a time and the Soul is but a Tenant at will in the Body Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are God's 1 Cor. 6.19.20 He gave us our Being and can if he please quickly render us a non entity for when he lost his Property in us we find not nay yet more had we continued in our Integrity in which we were created we might have had more to say for our selves than now we have God made us in his own Image Holy and Happy but by our sin we brought not only Death but all Miseries attending it The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Rom. 6.23 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 We are the sinful Off-spring of Adam and we have inherited our Fathers Corruptions Infants are no Innocents the first sheet wherewith they are covered is woven of sin and shame blood and filth Ezek. 16.46 The Image of God is lost and the Image of Satan set in the room Original Righteousness gone and Original Sin in the stead and by this means we have debased our selves below other Creatures and next to the faln Angels are become the most vile we became indebted unto God Ten Thousand Talents and cannot pay a Farthing and therefore we were sold Bond-slaves to Satan under the wrath of God the curse of the Law and liable to eternal Damnation and may justly expect every day to be cast into Prison till we have paid the utmost farthing And yet shall we contend with our Maker and complain of wrong when all that we have on this side Hell is free Mercy and Hell it self is no wrong Nay let us further consider that we our selves are guilty of this we accuse God for our Posterity received their contamination from us which occasioneth Death and other Miseries for had your Daughter not had sin she had not dyed and this God which we now quarrel is our greatest Benefactor and freely gives us all that we do enjoy We live and move and have our being from him we receive every good and perfect gift from him We cannot live a moment without him and yet shall we quarrel him He gives us our Being yea a comfortable Being and maintains us at his own Cost and Charges ever since we had a Being We have Meat nor Drink nor Cloathes to cover us neither Corn nor Wine Wool nor Flax Silver nor Gold but what is his Hos 2.8 9. Neither Wit nor Reason Limbs nor Senses Peace nor Plenty Health nor Strength Life nor Liberty but by his Gift and when he pleaseth can call for all or any of these from us for we have not a breath to breath but what he puts into us and are we fit to Challenge this great God to a single Duel when we cannot move a Tongue or Finger without his immediate Assistance for we are so far below him that if we do well we cannot benefit him if ill we cannot hurt him Job 35.7 The Sun would shine in its own brightness though all the World were blind so God will not cease to be Glorious though all the World were wicked What can we give him that is not his own And our offered Incense would have a bad savour if it did not smell strong of the hand that offereth it The Sun runs his course though the Atlanters curse him at his rising being scorched with his heat and also the Moon notwithstanding the barking of snarling Curs So God disposeth the Affairs of the World He ruleth let the earth be never so unquiet But to our business The Contention lies between God and us the Maker and Governour of all the World and poor Dust and Ashes Who shall have his Will and dispose of God's own Creatures the work of his own hands and you see on what disadvantageous ground we stand and may easily judge of the issue The Question in Controversie is Whether God can Lawfully and Justly take away any of those which we call our Relations though they are his Creatures and bring them out of this Vale of Misery unto these Mansions of Glory which he hath provided for those that love him without our leave and liberty and free consent without doing us wrong This we seem to deny when we mourn and over-mourn and grudge and repine when God makes his Will known in such Dispensations of Providence for if this be not it what is it He gave you your Daughter or rather lent her to you for a time and now requires but his own and that to consummate the Marriage between Christ and her Soul and you seem to forbid the Banes and deny your Consent to the Marriage Abraham was of another mind when he was commanded to Sacrifice his only Son which was a far greater Tryal this was his only Child but yours is not he must be the Instrument to take away his Life this is not required at your hands he did actively submit you only passively when you cannot resist what in this case we should do were we able
the ground of your Grief The more Gracious the more Glorious the more Holy the more Happy the better she was the fitter for Heaven There are two things which may trouble us at the death of Relations the one is when we can see no Evidence of Grace the other when we have neglected our Duty to them especially to their Souls in their life-time The reason why David did so wofully bewail the Death of Absalom is imagined to be one or both of these When our Relations are fitted for Glory I think 't is no uncharitable wish to wish them out of a troublesome World in those Coelestial Enjoyments Paul did desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which was best of all But to wish those out of Glory that are in were both an unprofitable and uncharitable desire and argues more Passion and Self-love than well grounded Charity Now there is no going to Heaven but through the Gaâ—es of Death and 't is through Death's Portal that we must enter She hath paid the Debt we all owe and would you have her endure these Pangs and Pains over again You came not into the World together and it was unlikely that you would go together out and when ever a parting was it was like to be with grief She hath changed her Husband but 't is for the better an Earthly for an Heavenly she had a large Joynture before but 't is much amended 't is now advanc'd to a Crown and Kingdom She hath left her Relations behind but she hath better there Saints and Angels the Souls of Just Men made perfect There she can serve the Lord without distraction and sing Hallelujahs to Eternity without weariness here Corruption attended her best Duties there sin and sorrow shall be no more here she was troubled with Satan's Temptations there he cannot come to throw one Dart or shoot one Arrow at her here she was liable to Pains Aches Griefs and Troubles all these are there removed here she could scarcely open an Eye or an Ear but it let in sin or sorrow there all tears shall be wiped away and a sad or sorrowful thought shall never enter And what cause hath she to complain of wrong And if neither of you be wronged why is this wast Why so many sighs so many sobs so many sorrowful tears which might better run in another Channel Had she liberty â—o speak for her self it might probably be in such words as these which Christ upon the Cross spake â—o the Women that bewailed him Luke 23.28 Weep not for me but weep for your selves and for â—our children c. those that are yet in the Vale of Tears 't is the Church-Militant that deserves â—ity not the Church-Triumphant Lament raâ—her the condition of those that survive for you know not what their Sufferings may be the other are out of harms-way and safely landed in the Port of Heaven Now is there such a wrong done you or her that God takes her to himself before you were willing to part with her though he had a better Interest in her than you could pretend and made her fit for Glory and translated her thither You agree both in the thing but the Quarrel is about the time and the Controversie is whose Will must be obeyed or whose Judgment must be preferred which is the best time Many of the wiser Heathens have submitted with less contradiction Anaxarchus when told of the death of his two Sons answered I knew that they were Mortal Et stultus est qui mortem mortalium deflet Now in the present Controversie may not God say to you as sometimes he did to his People What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone from me What wrong have I done that you thus complain One of us must submit and must it be me Must I alter my Eternal Decrees for your sake or will there be no Peace to be had The Lord may say as Jacob did to Laban when he so fiercely pursued him Gen. 31.36 What is my trespass What is my sin Declare it before the world that they may be our judges Nay hath not God in this very Affliction sugared your Pill which might have been much bittered she might have been taken away in her younger years before you had such hopes of her Integrity or at least denyed you such Evidence of her Conversion then might you have feared she had been lost indeed or instead of one he might have taken all your Children when as yet two survive oâ— by the same stroke he might have taken away your dear Husband better to you than ten Sons as Elkanah said to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 Or he might have suffered your Children to be a heart-breaking to you as too many in these days are by their vicious Lives and Conversations who bring their gray hairs with sorrow to the grave which makes them with with Augustiâ—â— that they had never married or had dyed childless These are not such rare Examples in our days but too frequent She dyed a Natural Death many now adays as well as Job Eli Aaron David and others in former times were not so happy as to say so of theirs Neither is there any guilt upon you as upon some that have cause to mourn for neglecting any means for the preservation of her Life when some be wickedly Accessory to their Childrens Death If there were any fault which yet I cannot accuse you of it was in the excess of your Love which I the more fear when I see the excess of your Sorrow and this is a fault which Indulgent Mothers are apt to run into But you 'll say you could more easily have born any other Burden or suffered any other Cross Why then it seems God hath let you Blood in the right Vein as he did the Young Man in the Gospel that was willing to do any thing Christ commanded but part with his Riches but Christ will have a full resignation of our selves and all that is ours or he will not own us No beloved Delilah must be retained the Cross that Christ appoints we must bear and must not pick and choose our own Burden Luke 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother wife and children brethren and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple That is if he prize any of those before him or will rather part with Christ than with any or all of these he deserves not the name of a Christian for all we have in the World is given to us as Love-Tokens from God to signifie his Love to us and to oblige our Love to him and sometimes God calls back some of these Gifts to see whether we love him or his Tokens better God gave you liberty before she dyed to let her and you see the Fruit of her Womb a Son which though he soon called off the Stage yet at the Resurrection be shall stand in his lot But 't is
Cross or any thing to molest us had it not been for sin yet are we apt to over-look it and yet have our finger always upon the Sore we cry out Oh my Back my Belly my Bones my Heart but seldom Oh my Sin we are like hâ—m that complains of the pain in his Foot but not of the Shooe that pincheth him of the Gout Stone Strangury Surfeit but not of the Intemperance that is the cause Pharaoh cries out Take away the Frogs the Lice the Darkness let there be no more Hail but not take away the Sin the hardness of Heart that brought them God when he threatens Death for sin threatens also all the Causes and Fore-runners of Death and all the Evils which accompany a sinful Life for these are the Natural Productions of sin and much worse Fruit it bears if Repentance prevent it not and like a mighty Wind blows it not down before it come to Maturity otherwise it will be bitter Fruit We have far greater cause to cry out Oh my filthy Sins Oh my Pride my Passion my Covetousness my Deadness Dulness Formality Hypocrisie c. than Oh my dead Father my Husband my Son my Daughter We should cease quarrelling God and turn the edge of our Anger Sorrow and Indignation against Sin and against our selves for our sin and so our Quarrel will be much more just 'T is a stubborn Child that when corrected for a known fault will rather quarrel his Father than acknowledge his own Guilt We are apt to cry out Oh my Loss Oh my Cross than Oh my Sin my Infidelity my inordinate Affections which forces God thus to Correct me Let us remove the Cause and the Effect will cease Thus you see whether we consider sin in it self in its pestiferous infectious Nature or whether we consider it in its direful Effects the Miseries that attend it we have more cause to bewail it than any Loss or Cross that can befal us for sins sake as the Cause is worse than the Effect 3. But this is not all for sin procures Spiritual Judgments as well as Temporal and these are far more deadly and dangerous for these Distempers reach the Soul when the other touch only the Body or Estate Sin defiles and deforms all the Powers and Faculties of Soul and Body Sin is so Infectious and Contagious and the Effects thereof so Malignant that the greatest and most dangerous Plague-sore even that which rendeth the Soul from the Body is not so dangerous 'T is sin that hardens the Heart and turns it into the Nature of a stone We read of a stony heart and of all the Plagues that fell upon Pharaoh this was the worst and a greater than this cannot befal a Mortal Man in this Life God complains of this That the house of Israel were impudent and hard-hearted Ezek. 3.7 c. And the great Gospel-promise is To take away thâ— stony heart and give them hearts of flesh And as it hardens the Heart so it blinds the Mind which by reason of sin is Naturally Judicially and Wilfully blind the Image of God consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness these by the Fall were lost and Ignorance Wickedness and Profaness the very Image of the Devil were engraven in their stead 1 Cor. 3.14 And Men walk in Darkness till the Scales of Ignorance are wiped from their Eyes and Christ's Spiritual Eye-salve applyed Rev. 3.18 A natural maâ— cannot perceive the things of the spirit for they aâ—â— spiritually discerned Many also are Judicially blind God in his just Judgment giving them up to strong delusion to believe lies Mat. 13.13 c. They are Wilfully blind and God will not Cure them like Hagar they cannot see the Well of Water that is before them They are wilfully Ignorant that they may sin the more freely The God of this world hath blinded their eyes 2 Cor. 4.4 He draws a Curtain between them and the Light and holds his black hand before their faces and were they anatomized his Image would be found â—ngraven upon their hearts Light is come into â—â—e world and men love darkness rather than light â—ecause their works are evil They are willingly â—gnorant of what they are not willing to know â—hey have also cauterized Consciences seared with 〈◊〉 hot Iron and reprobate minds Rom. 1.28 And â—istempered and disordered Affections set upon â—rong Objects loving what they should hate â—nd hating what they should love fearing Men â—nd their threatnings and despising God and his â—hreatnings being given up to vile affections Rom. â— 26 1 Tim. 4.2 Yea they are given up to â—tubbornness of Will Judges 2.19 And of this â—e have Pharaoh for an Example that was beâ—ome Cannon-proof that all the Judgments â—rought upon Egypt could not work upon him â—uch are mentioned Jer. 44.19 that would bake â—akes to the Queen of Heaven let God himself say what he would to the contrary they will set up â—heir Post by God's Post and prefer their Dagon â—efore the Ark therefore God gives up such to â—trong delusions to believe lies Rom. 1.24 The Memory also though strong enough to retain what is bad yet 't is like a leaking Vessel that cannot retain any thing that is good In a word â—ll the Powers and Faculties of the Soul are polâ—uted and the Members of the Body are the unhappy Instruments to act the wickedness the Soul contrives So that a Toad or Serpent is not fuller of Poison than Man's heart is naturally of Sin and Wickedness and of noxious Qualities the Fruits and Effects of which if timely Repentance prevent not will be the loss of God's Favour which is better than life in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasureâ— for evermore Psal 16.11 The loss also of an Interest in the Blood of Christ will follow which is of more value than the World it self for such trample upon the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 Yea they do despight unto the Spirit of God and put themselves from under the favourable Protection of God and thaâ— Guard of Angels that God sends forth as ministring Spirits for the good of those that love him and makes Men uncapable of the sweet Communion of Saints which David made his chiefesâ— Delight on Earth Psal 16.2 It deprives them of the Peace of Conscience a Jewel of inestimable worth and brings many times such a Storm there that all the World cannot allay aâ— in Cain Judas Spira and many more that Bird in the Bosom when it sings sweetly makes better Melody than all the World can do Sin also deprives Men of all true Interest and Spirituaâ— Right to all our outward Enjoyments a Civiâ—â— Right we may have but a Covenant-Right we cannot have in a Natural condition for these things are not given but lent to a wicked Man and an Account will be required to the utmost Farthing In a word unrepented sin deprives Men of an Interest in God in
Heaven and Glory and of the Beatifical Vision for withouâ— holiness we shall never see God Let us therefore leave off sorrowing for petty Losses and Crosses and turn the whole Torrent of our Sorrow into this Channel even against our sins 4. Nay the mischief of Sin ends not here it also exposeth us to the wrath of God and makes him our Enemy that otherwise would be our closest surest and fastest Friend and did we â—now what it is to have God for our Enemy it â—ould send us trembling to our Grave for when â—is Fury is kindled it sets on fire the foundation of â—he mountains Deut. 32.22 'T is better have all â—he World to grapple with than with God if â—e frown upon us no Creature dare smile If â—e be for us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 â—f God have a Controversie with us who dare â—ake our part or move a Hand or Tongue in our Defence We cannot grapple with him he is â—oo strong for us we cannot flye from him as â—onah thought to do he will over-take us neiâ—her can we hide our selves from him Psal 136 â— c. We cannot struggle out of his hand â—or he is the Almighty and we but despicable Worms if he tread upon us he leaves us dead â—ehind him Before him the Holy Angels cover â—heir faces and all the Infernal Spirits tremble â—n his hand is the soul of every living thing and the â—reath of all mankind Job 12.10 If he with-hold â—ur breath we return to our Dust for we have â—o more than what he puts into us how then â—hall we contend with our Maker Can Chaff â—nd Stubble grapple with a devouring Flame One blast of his Displeasure can blow us into Hell yea Heaven and Hell and All into nothing â—nd how are we like to make our Party good â—gainst him when we cannot move a Finger â—wag a Tongue or fetch a Breath without his â—ssistance Well but let us well consider whether our Cause be good What cause hath God given us to take up Arms against him Hath he â—een a hard Master to us Or with-held our Wages Jonah thought he did well to be angry but was soon convinc'd Job had a mind to quarrel him and seems of any other to have the best Cause but when the Contest began hâ— soon threw down the Cudgels and lays his hand upon his Mouth Hath not God been our greateâ—â— Benefactor and done more for us than all the World ever did or can do Is not he our beâ—â— Friend and shall we become his profest Enemies Many good works have I done among you saith Christ for which of those do you stone me John 10.32 God gave us our Being when we had none and shall we hate him for it We were tâ—â— Clay and he was the Potter and might have dash'd us into pieces with his foot He gave us Reason when he might have made us bruit Beasts as Dogs or Swine or more contemptible Creatures He hath given us Limbs and Senses when otherâ— want them Peace and Plenty yea Life and Liberty and hath made our Lives comfortable to us when we deserve not the Ground we tread upon or the Air we breath in and shall we flye at the Face of God and thus requite the Lord our Maker Nay hath not Christ suffered more for us than any other hath or can do We had sold our selves Bond-slaves to Satan and neither Man nor Angel could have redeemed us out of our Slavery or have paid a Ransom sufficient for us but Christ laid down his Life to free us from the guilt of sin from the filth of sin from the Punishment due for sin from the Curse of the Law the Wrath of God the Slavery of Satan and from Everlasting Damnation And hath he for all this deserved our Malice and Hatred He hath bestowed more upon us than the World hath to bestow 't is he that sends us so many Ambassages for Peace and rains Heavenly Manna so plentifully about our Tents he gives us Promises such as the greatest Kings upon Earth cannot make and make good to their greatest Favourites as of his Spirit his Graces his Son and his Glory And is all this nothing Shall we foster sin in our Bosom that hinders us in the Enjoyment of those promised Blessings and expose us to the wrath of God and the everlasting Destruction of Soul and Body and expose us also to all Miserie 's Temporal Spiritual and Eternal God forbid Well we cannot make our Peace with God till we break our League with Sin and if God be our Enemy and our Enemy he will be if we are at Peace with Sin then we may expect he will treat us as Enemies Well may we fear that every bit of Bread we eat will choak us and every drop of Drink we drink may be our bane and that every Creature may wait for a Commission to end our days that the Floods may drown us as they did the Old World or the Fire consume us as Sodom or the Earth swallow us up as Korah and his Complices or the greatest Judgments that ever we read fell upon Mortal Man may be our Portion Oh what need had we then to leave sorrowing for other things and turn all our Tears into the right Channel that it may drown our sins that expose us to these Miseries and Mischiefs 5. Nay but this is not all for Eternal Death as well as Spiritual and Temporal is the Reward of Sin the everlasting separation of Soul and Body from God which is called The second Death and this is far greater than all the Miseries before mentioned for if the sinner be not reconciled to God which cannot be before sin be mortified he shall be cast into the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 This is the Natural Fruit and Effect of every beloved sin even the everlasting Damnation of Body and Soul a thousand thousand rentings of the Soul from the Body is not comparable to one renting of the Soul from Christ Sin doth that for us that all the Men on Earth and Devils in Hell could never do even pull us out of the Arms of God This threw Angels out of Heaven Adam out of Paradice and Millions of Souls into Hell This brought Death into the World and is the very Sting of Death and if this Sting be not taken out it will sting the Soul to Eternity This imbitters our Lives as you have heard while we are in the World and opens the Door to let us out of the World and will open Hell it self to let us in and is the only bar to keep us from coming out But if Sin were mortified we might with Old Simeon depart in Peace and with Ambrose say I am not ashamed to live nor afraid to dye And with Paul I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Death without his Sting is like Samson without his Hair or like the Drone-Bee without a Sting not
terrible he may hum but not hurt strike but not sting kill a Believer yet not hurt him the worst is to send him to his Father's House the sooner But what is this to those in whom sin not only lives but raigns It will bring sad tidings to such 't is indeed the cause of all the Crosses and cross Providences they meet with here in this World but brings forth far bitterer Fruit which will not be ripe in this World which Reprobate Wretches must feed upon to Eternity Whatever we suffer here we may thank Sin for it haply we have laid some Creature-Comforts too near our hearts Well the Achan must be removed or God will not be pacified But if we dye while â—in is alive our present Suffering though to the â—oss of our Relations Wealth Honours Pleaâ—ures yea and Life it self is but a Flea-biting â—o our future Torments Then sin how pleaâ—ant soever it look now will be found our greatest Enemy All Men in the World and the Devil â—o help them can but kill the Body 't is Sin onâ—y that kills the Soul and God casts both Soul â—nd Body into Hell for sin the loss of which is more than the loss of the World Matth. 16.26 The loss of it is incomparable and irreparable â—he Rich Glutton could not with all his Wealth Purchase one drop of Water to cool his tongue Luke â—6 24 c. The Soul it self is a Precious Piece next the Angels the most precious that ever God made being made in his own Image and the greatest and richest Purchase that ever was made â—nd cost the greatest Price the Precious Blood of the Son of God 'T is that which is most like â—nto God himself and fitted for Communion with him and of Enjoying him for ever 'T is â—ndued with excellent Faculties the Understandâ—ng Will Affections Conscience Memory and many more which make a Man differ from a Beast and resemble an Angel And for duraâ—ion it runs parallel with the days of Heaven with the longest times of Eternity neither is â—here any thing in the World to be compared to 〈◊〉 and there is nothing but sin can hurt or wound it and this alone makes it subject to Eternal Torments and rents it out of the hands of God and the arms of Christ when nothing else can do it Sin makes Men in a worse condition than the Beasts that perish which were in the Creation little lower than the Angels the one is thrown into the Ditch and so ends their Misery the other into Hell with the Devil and his Angels where they are ever dying and never able to dye ever suffering those insufferable Pains out of which is no hope of Redemption for when they have been there as many thousands of Years as there are Grass-piles upon the Earth Stars in Heaven Sands upon the Sea-shore and Hairs upon their Heads they are never the nearer going forth than they were the first day they were cast into it for a thousand thousand Millions substracted from Eternity doth not lessen the Account Oh the horrible Nature of Sin which plucks the Soul from the Eternal Embraces of her dear Redeemer and from those Rivers of pleasures at God's right hand for evermore and lodges it among the Devils and the Damned in those Eternal Flames to all Eternity in those Rivers of Brimstone kindled by the Wrath of God Isa 30.33 Here we may behold the deadly Fruits of Sin and shall we bewail the Death of Relations which indeed is the Fruit of Sin and shall we not bewail and prevent its more deadly and dangerous Effects when without Repentance our Souls as well as our Bodies are like Eternally to perish Lesson 2. From this Lecture of Mortality before us is this It may plainly shew us how little good the World will do us when we have most need and by this we may take a true estimate of its Worth or rather of its Vanity We use to say that is good that will do us good and 't is a Friend that will help in time of need I am sure the World will not cannot do it 't is true if we look upon it through the Devil's Spectacles it will look fair and so will an Old Hag in her Paint and Plaister but this is the way to be egregiously deceived but that there is really little worth in it observe with me these following Considerations 1. Consid Riches Honours Pleasures or whatever else the World can brag of cannot prevent Death though sometimes it doth hasten it The truth of this is evidently seen in this Providence for had it been a vast Estate sumptuous Buildings costly Apparel Men or Means Food or Physick that could have preserved her Life doubtless she had not dyed but this could neither prevent the Disease remove it or take away the Malignity of it For when Death comes and come it will it will neither be bribed nor baffled Diseases are God's Servants when he bids them go they go and when he bids them come they come and what he bids them do they do it like the Centurion's Servant Mat. 8.9 Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis If God strike the Creature cannot heal God hath the Keys of Life and Death at his Girdle and our way is to go to him and neither trust to Physicians as Asa or to Witches as Saul 'T is he that kills and makes alive and brings to the gates of death and back again Deut. 32.39 'T is he that passed that Decree more firm than the Laws of the Medes and Persians That all men should once dye and after death come to Judgment Heb. 9.27 By force of this your Daughter dyed and so will you ere long All that the Rich Man had Luke 12.19 20. could not bribe Death one Night neither can any Man Ransom his Brother from Death The Rich Cardinal Beuford found it true to his sorrow Though Money be the greatest Commander in the World it will be out of Commission in the World to come Death is a perfect Leveller it will Lodge the Poor and the Rich the Fair and the Foul the Young and the Old the King and the Beggar in the same Bed without Respect of Persons let the World say what it will to the contrary and Happy be those that are prepared or otherwise it will prove but a Trap-door to Hell Death regards not any however dignified or distinguished the King then must leave his Robes and the Beggar his Rags behind him the Scull of the one retains no impression of a Crown nor of the other of his Slavery Now great Men are like Capital Letters they take up more room and be more gorgeously adorned and clad commonly go before others but signifie the same thing So the greatest signifies no more than a Man and the meanest signifies no less Or like unto Counters some in the Account signifie Pounds some Shillings some Pence and some less but when they are in the Box they
are all of a value So here some pass for Kings and some for Peasants but when Death hath gotten them into his Box the Grave they are all alike Yet how much need have great Men of Philip's Monitor for they are apt to forget their Mortality See Job 3.17 c. Some of the wiser Heathens have accounted Mortality a great Mercy that poor Creatures may be freed from their Misery And so doubtless 't is for those that are prepared for Death for they rest from their Labours The Hebrew Proverb is That in Calvary there are Sculls of all sorts and sizes Kings and Captains Lords and Lozels one takes no more out of the World than the other Naked they come and naked they shall go Great Saladine had but his Shirt Now though Riches cannot prevent Death yet it may hasten it Rich Men many times are as Oxen in a fat Pasture fitted for the Slaughter sometimes they are butcher'd by others for their Wealth and many times they prove their own Butchers and kill themselves by Intemperance The Sun-shine of Prosperity quickly ripens the Fruit of Sin and when Sin is ripe Ruine is ready Bachus or Venus opens the Door for Death to enter Now what good will it do to have a fair Suit of Cloathes and a Plague-sore under it Or a dainty Dinner with a Surfeit How often is Intemperance which ends in Gouts Surfeits Dropsies and such-like Diseases the Fruits of a Plentiful Table These open the Door of Eternity and light them a Candle to find the way to Death Now these are Diseases Riches cannot cure Seeing therefore the World is of so little use when we have most need why should we so greedily grasp after and spend so much time about it as to neglect our greater Concerns and despond so much when we meet with disappointments And why should we suffer those Vultures carking Cares to breed in and feed upon our Hearts and eat out all the Comfort of our Lives What Recompence can the World make us for all our pains and broken sleeps we have had upon its Account It cannot warrant us a Comfortable Life nor a Happy Death nay not one day free from pain Let such as over-greedily grasp after it remember Solomon's words H◠〈◊〉 maketh hast to be rich cannot be innocent And at leisure read James 5.1 2 c. Luke 6.24 Yet consider 't is not the having Riches â—ut the over-loving of them that is dangerous for they are not evil of themselves but great Blessings if not abused and some of those Talents put into our hands to be improved by us but prove dangerous when abused over-loved or over-trusted in But seeing they can neither prevent Death nor Diseases the cause of Death we should not put too high a value upon them nor take them for our Portion 2. As the World cannot prevent Death no more can it procure a happy Life And why Because it cannot give Content and Satisfaction to the Enjoyer of it and how then can our Lives be Happy when we are not content with our Condition and satisfied with our present Enjoyments Content never did nor never will grow in the World's Garden neither can Satisfaction be found in any thing under the Sun If we seek it here Riches will say 't is not in me Honours 't is not in me Pleasure 't is not in me c. Can we expect the Sun in a Pail of Water Indeed if the Sun shine upon the Water we may see the reflexion of it but if the Sun be clouded all the Water in the World cannot shew it When God shines upon us he may be seen in every Creature if not the World cannot shew him Our Earthly Enjoyments caâ— do us no good bring us no Comfort without a Commission from God and could they satisfie us for the present it would be but a miserable Portion yea a great Judgment for what should we do at Death when they leave us God did never give us these for our Portion but only aâ— a Viaticum in our Journey Our deceitful Hearts haply may promise Content had we an Hundred Pounds per Annum but they will deceive us for our desires would be enlarged from an Hundred to a Thousand and so in infinitum till Kingdoms yea the World would be too little for us as it was to Alexander Covetous Men have a dry Dropsie the more they have the more they thirst Theocritus brings in the Cove-Man wishing he had a Thousand Sheep when this wish was obtained he cries out Pauperis est numerare pecus 'T is but a Poor Man that is able to number his Cattel And 't is no wonder He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver The World is of too base a Birth and Breeding to give the Soul content for two things are requisite to Satisfaction and both of those are wanting there must be Proportion and Propriety but what proportion is there between a Piece of Gold and an Immortal Soul It can neither feed it nor cloath it nor make it better And for Propriety this also is lost by the Fall that which we call our own is but lent us and we must be Accountable for it And 't is vain also for what Satisfaction can an Hungry Man take in a Pebble or a Thirsty Man in a dry Pumice-stone What Satisfaction had Haman in his Riches Honours or Preferments without Mordecai's bow or Ahab's Kingdom without Nabath's Vineyard Something is still out of Order some string or other out of Tune that marâ—s the Musick And no wonder Content is not to be found here for God himself could not find Adam a help meet for him If we could turn a heap of Diamonds into a Spiritual substance then it might bear some proportion to the Soul which is a Spirit but except we could change it into God the work would not be done for none but God can make the Soul happy These Earthly things are far worse than the Body how then can they be a fit Match for the Soul Gold and Silver Gemms and Jewels are but the Garbadge of the Earth they seldom make bad Men good or good Men better but oft-times they make both worse they seldom procure Content for the desire enlarges with the Estate as the Israelites Shooes did in the Wilderness with their Feet Solomon could had nothing in them but Vanity and vexation of spirit Eccles 1.14 They are like Smoak they wring Tears from the Eyes but draw not Sorrow from the Heart or like Thorns the faster they are grasped the deeper they wound If God smile upon us they may bring us some Comfort if not all the Gold in the Indies will do us no good for this Coin is not currant in another World we may as well satisfie an empty Stomack with Air as a Covetous Man with Gold for the more Wood we lay upon the Fire the more furiously it burns a Ship may sink under its Burden before it be half full
than our Idle Gallants that fare deliciously every day and are cloathed in Purple and fine Linnen in whom the Effects of Drinking and Drabbing do daily appear and if such like Debaucheries set an end to their Happiness and to their Lives also what wonder now if the World can do so little for the Body then much less can it do for the Soul for few bad Men are made good by it and few good Men better Men are never the better for Riches or Honour in God's Esteem many times the worse if they abuse their Talents Indeed the Papists Doctrine of Purgatory Pardons and Indulgences if true which they can never prove give the Rich a very great advantage over the Poor for though they dance with the Devil all Day yet for a little Money they may sup with Christ at Night or do the Devil's Work and receive Christ's Wages but a wonder then that so many Woes are denounced against the Rich and so many Blessings to the Poor And sure the Rich Glutton did not understand this Doctrine nay not in Hell for then he would have sent Lazarus to have told his Brethren which way to have prevented Hell and Purgatory also by Pardons Indulgences Masses c. But this Doctrine was brewed and broached long after this or else Christ would not have let his Apostles want Money to bring them out of Purgatory for doubtless they had some Venial Sins as well as others Besides this Men want many things to make them happy which are not sold in the World's Shop Gold tryed in the fire white Rayment spiritual Eye-salve Rev. 3.18 The World deals not in such Merchandize they must be bought of Christ for whoever thinks they are to be had elsewhere will find his mistake The Image of God we have lost in the Fall the World cannot restore it we are by Nature Enemies to God the World cannot reconcile us 't is not thousands of Rams nor ten thousand rivers of Oyl will do it Micah 6.7 The World is too thin a Garment to keep off the showers of Divine Vengeance we have sins to Pardon and none can forgive sins but God let the Pope say what he will to the contrary The Question at last will not be What Gold we have but what Grace we have 'T is not a Purple Robe but the Robes of Christ's Righteousness 't is not every Spot but the Spot of God's People not a spotted Face but Christ's Sheep-mark will procure us a station on the right hand of Christ We have many Spiritual Maladies and Christ alone must be our Physician and his Blood the only Potion none but he can bind up the broken Heart and speak Peace to the troubled Conscience We are by Nature Slaves to Satan and the World were it sold to the worth of it cannot Redeem one Soul out of his Bondage the World indeed are the Fetters that fasten us to him but cannot loose us and these are the Toys he allures us with as Children are with Rattles to be content in our Slavery We are by Nature strangers to God and 't is by the Blood of Christ not the World's Wealth we are brought home Ephes 2.13 We want Comfort and 't is the Spirit that is the Comforter In our Spiritual wants we can have no supply in our Distempers of Soul no help at our Death no comfort from the World it never did us much good but at Death and Judgment can do us none as many have too sadly experienced When we are lanching forth into the infinite Ocean of Eternity and look back upon the World which we have loved and trusted in for help we shall find our selves miserably cheated the thoughts then of former Enjoyments will bring us little Delight especially if we think of the after-reckoning and that our eaten Bread is not forgotten and our Silks and Sattins unpaid for When the Bridegroom comes the World cannot supply us with Oyl 't is not to be Sold in this Market neither with a Wedding-garment It must be the Oyl of Grace and the Robes of Christ's Righteousness and the Jewels of his Graces must do our work and this is our Misery all our Riches then will not pay the Debts it hath contracted nor undo the Bonds it hath tyed The World always shews most love where there is least need and yields us no help at the greatest necessity This may suppress our over-eager desire after it for if we would moil and toil let it be in a more Fruitful Soil Do not the Poor pass through this Life as comfortably as the Rich and sometimes with more content And think with Galeacius All the Wealth in the World is not worth one day's Communion with God and that may be had in the Cottage as well as in the Court Many Treasure up Riches and it proves like Snow-drifts the Sun shines upon it and it melts away and reaches not to Eternity But there are durable Riches other Riches before the cold Grave have their Bodies hot Tophet hath their Souls and their Wealth cannot save them and those that could never have enough have there Fire enough 'T is a sad mistake to think Riches Honours and Carnal Delights are the only Happiness for then Christ and his Apostles and followers had been most unhappy for Silver and Gold they had none no not to pay Tribute The Scripture measures not a Man's Happiness by the multitude of his Riches for such may be destitute of Grace and so is still Poor in the midst of Plenty Who is it that would have a filthy Itch upon him for the pleasure he takes in scratching Such is an immoderate desire after the World Yet consider 't is not the having an Estate but the over-greedy desire of it and the over-loving it makes it dangerous for a Man may make friends with the Mammon of unrighteousness for his own advantage if he improve it well and lay it not too near his Heart 'T is bad putting the Poor's part into a Child's Portion 't is better leave a Child a Bag to beg with than ill-gotten Goods to make up his Portion 5. As the Benefit the World affords here or hereafter is not great so the Danger it exposeth us to here and hereafter is not small which did our greedy Misers well consider they would not so greedily grasp after it For Riches are like Thorns the faster they are hug'd the deeper they wound yea many times pierce to the very Heart Of these Worldly things the Devil makes his choicest Baits when he fishes for Souls and most Men will be nibling at them He is like a cunning Fowler he stands behind the Bush when he exposeth his Baits to our view but 't is hard sometimes to see the Hand that holds it he suits his Baits to the inclination of every Person he hath a Companion for the Drunkard a Delilah for Samson a wedge of Gold for Achan Honour for Haman the World for Demas and Money for Judas yea so
her nor forsake her that she shall want nothing that is good and all things shall work together for her good Sometimes indeed Physick is as necessary as Food and Affliction is the best Tutor David found it so if they bear scars for his sake he will change them into Beauty-spots if he frown upon them 't is but for a moment but with everlasting kindness will he remember them weeping may continue for a night but joy cometh in the morning Grace makes both the Person and Performances pleasing to God 't is the Incense he loves 'T is only the Gracious Soul that hath Adoption Justification Sanctification Pardon of Sin Communion with God and that shall enjoy him for ever This is such a Chain of Pearl that the World were it sold at the worth cannot Purchase Afflictions cause us to seek Promises they send us to seek Faith it sends us to Prayer Prayer goes to God for help Grace it is that differences between God's Children and the Devil's Brats and will difference between the Sheep and the Goats and makes a man more excellent than his neighbour and therefore we cannot buy this Gold too dear 4. Consider Grace will not only bring us to Death but will do us good after Death and here nothing else can do it among other things it will qualifie us to leave a Good Name behind us which will yield a sweet-smelling savour in the succeeding Generation When the Name of the Wicked shall stink the memory of the Just shall be blessed Prov. 10.7 If we be good and do good we need not fear but our Name will survive us Now A good Name is better than precious Oyntment Eccles 7.1 The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance when the Name of the Wicked shall rot his Lamp shall be put out in obscurity and shall leave a stinking Snuff behind The Names of Abraham Isaac Jacob David Daniel and Job and such like how sweet do they smell in the Church of God When Cain and Judas Nero Caligula Domitian and other such Persecuting Tyrants are mentioned with detestation as the Burden of the Earth and the Plague-sore of the World but with what Reverence do we mention the Martyrs that suffered under them The Scribes and Pharisees which were bad enough themselves yet adorned the Sepulchers of the Prophets and Righteous Men and however the Godly are slighted at present in the Generation to come they will be honoured when the Name of all their bloody Persecutors shall stink But this is not all that Grace will do for us after Death for it will accompany us to Judgment also which the World will not cannot do for it shall be burnt up and if it could would do us little good 't is Grace alone that can make the Judge our Friend When Death hath left us and we are rushing into the infinite Ocean of Eternity Grace is our Pilot to steer our Course and land us in the Haven of Bliss and when we appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ this is his Sheep-mark whoever bears it shall stand upon his right hand when all other wears the Devil's Brand his Image and Portraiture unmortified Sin and there shall be thrust and croâ—ded together with the Devil and his Angels upon the left Grace is the Image of God renewed in the Soul which he will own where-ever he sees it and he that confesseth Christ before Men him will he confess before his Father and he that suffers with him shall also raign with him There is a difference in this Life between the Righteous and the Wicked the one are called the Seed of the Woman the other the Seed of the Serpent the Just and the Unjust Believers and Unbelievers Righteous and Wicked the Children of God and the Children of the Devil the Wheat and the Tares the good Fish and the bad the foolish Virgins and the wise c. Now 't is Grace that maketh this difference for by Nature we are all the children of wrath digged out of the same hole of the Pit and hewen out of the same Rock God differenceth Men by these gracious Qualifications and would have Ministers difference them also in their Doctrine and not give Holy things to dogs And as they are distinguished by God's Electing Love and by the Operation of his Spirit so have they a different Portion both in this World and that to come The one feeds upon Heavenly Allowance upon the sincere milk of the Word and the bread which came down from Heaven the other finds no relish in it and in the World to come the one will have a Portion in Heaven the other in Hell but there are many will not believe there is a Heaven or a Hell but ere long Experience will convince them Now the difference that there is is God's own work for there was nothing in us or that could be done by us that could deserve any thing at the hands of God his Electing Love is the Spring and Foundation of it He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hâ—rdeneth He sent his Son to Redeem them out of the World to pay their Debts to qualifie their Souls with Grace and after to bring them to Glory when others remain still under the Devil's Bondage When Faith hath knit that Gordion-knot between Christ and the Soul and she can say My beloved is mine and I am his when the Marriage is consummate between them all that the Husband hath is hers and what she hath is his then may she lay claim to his Merits his Righteousness his Graces and his Glory and he partakes with her in her Sins and in her Sorrows all her Debts are made over to him and he helps to bear her Sorrows and upon this the Soul though not Legally yet is Angelically Righteous God changeth both the Relation and also the Disposition By Grace Persecuting Saul becomes a Preaching Paul and of Lions Men are made Lambs Now God Adopts such for his Sons and for his Daughters and gives them the Priviledge of Children calls them by his own Name sets them about his own Work lists them under his own Banner maintains them at his own Charges and at last will lodge them in his own Bosom when all the rest of the World fight under the Devil's Banner and do his Drudgery God hath a Reward for the Righteous though haply they have little in hand they have the more in Reversion they shall have Eternal Life when the other shall have Everlasting Torments Hypocrites haply may counterfeit Christ's Sheep-mark as some have done the Broad Seal but though they may deceive others haply themselves yet can they not deceive God the Lord knoweth who are his The Inscription of his Seal is Holiness to the Lord and they cannot put off their Bristow Stone for a true Diamond But as I told you Grace will not leave a Man till it bring him to Judgment and speak for him to the Judge who shall
Blood and much ado to get with hard Labour Cloaths to their backs or Meat to their bellies or to redeem a little Time for their Souls good this must needs be an uneasie Life and many times all their pains cannot keep them out of Prisons or their Children from Beggery These Poor Men many times have when they go to Bed a bundle of Cares to lay under their Heads not much easier than a bush of Thorns and this is the Portion of many Godly Men. But Death will take this Burden from them for in Heaven there will be no racking of Rents no grinding of the faces of the Poor there will be Rest without Labour and Pleasure without Pain there is no domineering Tyrant no oppressing Neighbour these are gone another Road if Repentance prevent not to pay back those Tears with Interest they have drunk here so greedily Here is no Bond-slave or Servant to live in subjection no naked back nor hungry bellies to feed or cloath here is Nectar and Ambrosia God himself to feed upon Here in this World Fears and Cares keep Men working by Day and waking by Night but 't is not so in Heaven there neither Pains nor Cares are necessary they praise God for their Enjoyments not beg for a supply to their Wants Here the care of all the Churches are upon us as upon Paul and we sympathize with others that are in Misery as Nehemiah did and hence we can scarce open our Eyes or Ears but we let some Grief into our Hearts some Persecution or other we hear of in one part of the World or other some suffering Saints some Massacre some Oppression or Persecution which adds still to our Trouble some Friend or other in Prison their Goods seized or they ruined or those that have yet escap'd are in continual fears and expectations that it will be their condition Wars and Rumours of Wars fill us with Distractions But there are no such Disturbances in Heaven Here sometimes we fear God is removing our Candlestick and taking away his Gospel from us and leaving us up to Egyptian Darkness but this fear never troubles the glorified Saints they matter not the Pipe that can go to the Fountain The consideration also of the Divisions Rents and Schisms that are among Christians yea the holiest Men cause many sad thoughts of Heart when Ephraim is against Manasseh and Manasseh against Ephraim and both against Judah when one Godly Man Speaks Disputes and Writes so bitterly against another and are ready to dis-robe each other of their Graces But in Heaven Luther and Calvin the like we may say of other Dissenting Parties will agree one Heaven will hold that that now one Church cannot There will be perfect Love and Unity and no disagreeing Person or Party Here likewise loss in our Estates and disappointment in our Expectations or in our Affairs whether by the immediate Hand of God want of Fore-sight the carelesness of Servants or the malice of Enemies may disturb our Peace Hardship and Trouble also in our several Callings and Employments This makes us think that Part we Act upon the Theatre of the World is the hardest and most uneasie The faithful Magistrate that sets himself against the sins of the Times finds sad disappointments and the desired Reformation not attained he is ready to despond under his Burden The faithful Minister after all his hard Labour and Study to bring Souls to Christ finds not the wished Effect is ready with the Prophet Isa 49.4 to despond The like we may say of Parents Masters of Families and other Governours that do what they can to bring those under their Charge to Christ and cannot do it are ready to faint under their Burden But in Heaven all these Troubles will be over there will be no Contention in the State nor Trouble in the Church no disorder in the Family and nothing amiss in the Soul These things and many more cause our Trouble here and will do while we live but Death will prove the Funeral of our Troubles and the Resurrection of our Joys It was the rejoycing of a good Woman that was a Martyr that her Stake was put into the same hole that holy Mr. Philpot's was before her and it may be some comfort to us that we are going the same way to Heaven that our betters have gone in before us and we hope shortly to overtake them But that which makes our Lives uneasie is when God hides his Face from the Soul as sometimes he doth but in Heaven we shall never fear losing him we shall never look into the Casket and miss the Jewel we shall never see a frown in his forehead nor a wrinkle in his brow Now we find it a hard matter to wind up our Affections to God then it will be impossible to draw them off him then we shall leave all these Clogs behind us as Elijah did his Mantle when he ascended into Heaven And this is the Lesson this Providence teacheth us That our Troubles here may be sharp they will be but short the Righteous Man hath not long to suffer 5. But the Saints Happiness at Death consists not only in freedom from Evil but in the enjoyment of Good also What they are freed from you have heard what they shall meet with at Death rests to be spoken to but who can sing the Songs of Sion in a strange Land Who can describe that which eye never saw ear never heard tell of neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive of viz. the Joys that are prepared for those that love God Yet this I should speak to but seeing I have treated of this in another Book I shall be the briefer Were their Happiness only in their freedom from Misery it were no other than what bruit Beasts shall have whose Misery ends with their Life but Christ hath promised the pure in heart shall see God Mat. 5.8 which cannot be in this Life for no man can see his face and live Moses indeed by faith saw him that is invisible and some Glimpse of him a Believer may have but a clear Vision is only reserved for Heaven and by seeing God is meant enjoying him for without that the sight will bring little comfort for ought we know the Devils and the Damned may see him as Dives did Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom to their greater Torment But to see him as he is 1 John 3.2 is to enjoy him and this is the Beatifical Vision as Divines call it Yea we shall have as much knowledge of him as finite Creatures are capable of we shall apprehend him though not comprehend him for we may as well think to comprehend all the Water in the Sea in a Cockle-shell for what is finite to infinite Yet shall our knowledge of him be much enlarged for here the Apostle saith we see but in a glass but then face to face But how God will communicate himself to us we know not yet will he let
a Title to Glory cleared up to us can do us no hurt but will do us good and is worth all the Pains and Cost we can be at about it but the neglect of it is as you have heard dangerous and deadly Our Pains and Cost which we are at about it will not be lost but well recompensed and never any one was made miserable by it when Ten thousand times ten thousand have been undone by the neglect Death comes never the sooner when 't is expected or to those that with the Apostle dye daily 1 Cor. 15 31. neither will it spare men the more because they put it out of their sight And they put far off the evil day Amos 6.3 no no the Lord of such servants shall come in a day they know not of and in an hour they are not aware of Death is not blind though we wink he that is fit to dye is fit to live and truly no other for the same Qualifications serve for the one and for the other He that is prepared for Death needs not to fear it and he that fears not Death needs fear no Enemy no though the whole Creation were turned into Lyons and Bears yea incarnate Devils about him kill him they may hurt him they cannot the worst they can do is to send him to his Father's House the sooner If we are prepared Death may strike us but cannot sting us for the sting is taken out 1 Cor. 15.55 and if it take us away by the Hand of Violence Twenty years in Heaven will make amends for Twenty years upon Earth which we might possibly have lived and if we receive as much Wages for half a day as other for the whole what cause is there of Complaint When our Debt to Nature is paid our Work is done and our Rest follows when we have been threshed fifted and winnowed and the Chaff blown away we shall be laid up as good Corn in our Father's Grainary when the Tares shall be bundl'd up Swearers with Swearers Drunkards with Drunkards and one Adulterer with another and cast into unquenchable fire when we have Oyl in our Vessels as well as Lamps in our Hands then we shall enter in with the Bridegroom when the rest shall be shut out Mat. 25.10 c. but he that comes in without a Wedding-Garment on his Back shall not go out without Bolts on his Heels Mat. 22.12 Take him bind him hand and foot and cast him into outward darkness He must go from the Table to the Tormentor But many other are the Benefits that flow from a right Preparation for Death yea more than can be numbred for our Evidences cleared up will be a Heaven upon Earth and will sweeten every Condition how bitter soever in it self and hold up the Head above Water and the Heart from fainting under the saddest Providences that can befal us and makes a Christian see Light in the darkest Cloud and read Love in God's Face in his saddest Frowns for Grace in the Heart and unblurred Evidences thereof without which we cannot be prepared to dye will be such an Antidote to keep the Heart from sinking that the World it self cannot make up such a Cordial nothing can come amiss to such a Soul for he knows the same Love that elected him and sent Christ into the World to redeem him is now on work for his good If he meet with Afflictions he can suck Sweetness thence and gather Arguments of God's Love from it and conclude thence that he is not a Bastard but a Son for God correcteth those he loves and scourgeth every son that he receiveth and those that are without correction are bastards and not sons Heb. 12.7 8. Afflictions are the Gemms and Jewels that God adorneth his best Friends with He had one Son without Sin but none without Sorrow and it be those that suffer with him that must reign with him If a prepared Christian meet with Prosperity he can read Love in this also and take every Mercy as a Love-token and admire the Goodness of God to such a poor Wretch If he read or hear the Word of God he can suck Sweetness from every Passage whether Precepts Promises or Threats his Meditation of God of Christ of Heaven of Glory will be sweet his Morning Thoughts and Evening Meditations also many a Cordial can he fetch from the meditation of those invisible things which others have no Converse with no Desire after and this bears up the Heart from sinking in the worst of Times as it did the Martyrs Hearts in Prisons Losses yea at the Stake it self for how can it be but a serious thought of God and Christ and Heaven and Glory and a firm believing that he hath an Interest in them but it must cheer up the Heart And will not the reading the precious Promises of God and knowing also that they are their Father's Legacy to them chose but warm the Heart Yea the thoughts of Death as 't is a Messenger sent from God to bring us to Glory and set an end to all our Miseries will hardly be much sweetned for many dismal Apprehensions may an unprepared Soul well have of Death but to the other the Sting is taken out 1 Cor. 15.55 In a word happy is the condition of a prepared Soul and therefore 't is our Interest to prepare for it Thus Madam having shewn what improvement we may and ought to make of such sad Providences as are now under our consideration the last I mention'd was preparing for our own Death And oh that my self were effectually perswaded so to do by the convincing Motive I have laid down I shall add some Directions in reference to Preparation 1 Direct If we design and desire to dye happily and comfortably let us get an Interest in Christ and a Title to Glory clear'd up to the Soul for those that must cheerfully and willingly leave all their Earthly Enjoyments Comforts and Relations had need of assurance of something better than the World is for who would leave a certain Good for an uncertainty one Bird in the Hand they say is worth two in the Bush 'T is true a man may have a Title to Glory when Assurance is wanting and this man may dye happily though not comfortably for Death to him must needs look ghastly Till a man can look upon Christ the Rich Pearl as his own how can he part with all for him But when he hath Christ and Heaven and Glory in his Eyes he matters not what he parts with for them he knows 't is a good Bargain who will not part with Pebbles for Pearls with Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God such and such alone can look Death undauntedly in the Face Till a man find the Condition of the Covenant within him what Comfort can he have in the Covenant it self Though the King grant Pardon to a thousand Malefactors if I be a Malefactor and cannot prove that I am of this number what
Those are most like to neglect their Work that cast it out of sight and out of mind and those are likest to be surprized by an Enemy that neglect their Watch When the evil servant said in his heart my Lord deferreth his coming c. he was soon surprized and paid for his Folly Mat. 24.48 c. In the Psalmist's days there were many of whom he saith God is not in all their thoughts Psal 10.4 And are there not many in our days of whom it may be said Death is not in all their thoughts Do not the shew of their countenance the course of their lives testifie against them and they declare their sin 〈◊〉 Sodom and hide it not The course of their Lives cannot consist with a believing Meditation of God of Heaven and Hell Death and Judgment no no they put far from them the evil day Amos 6.3 This cursed Security is the source of all manner of sin and wickedness for God is neither in their Head nor Heart and therefore they sin boldly I have heard of some foolish Creatures that will thrust their Heads into a Bush and then because they see no body they think no body sees them such apprehension many Men seem to have of Death they think themselves secure because they have got Death out of their minds but misreckoning proves no Payment Many like the Rich Man Luke 12.16 c. promised himself a longer Lease than God had sealed him but Christ calls him Fool for his labour Many mens Glasses are almost run out when they thought they were but new turned but those that reckon without their Host must reckon twice 'T is folly in a Tenant to forget his Rent-day and then imagine his Land-lord forgets it also or for a Malefactor to forget the day of his Execution and think others forget it as well as he This was Jerusalem's fault and it proved her ruine Lam. 1.9 She remembred not her last end therefore she came down wonderfully and this proves many a man's ruine It was not in vain therefore that Moses prays Psal 90.12 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom We are apt to make some Preparation for the Body what to eat and what to drink and wherewithal we shall be cloathed and neglect not Fairs nor Markets where wanted Necessaries may be had many prepare in the Day for the Night in the Summer for Winter in Health for Sickness in Youth for Age yea and for their Posterity after them And what stupid Madness is it not to provide in time for Eternity and remember not the days of darkness for they are many Eccles 11.8 'T is the greatest folly to mind trifles and neglect the main The thoughts of Death will not hasten it the sooner but it may hasten our Preparation for it it can do us no harm but much good Let no day therefore pass without some serious thoughts and meditation of it this will make it less formidable 'T is fabled of the Fox that when he first saw a Lion he trembled but in process of time he grew bolder Thus by better Acquaintance we should do with Death that is most amazing that comes unexpectedly Let us put the Question to our selves Did I know I should dye the next Week or Month how should I spend this time And let 's live so seeing for ought we know we may not live so long Sure our Time-wasting Gallants would then find something else to do than to divide their Time as many do between Swearing Roaring Drinking and Whoring Death will make a wonderful change both in the good and in the bad In the good 't is an outlet to all their Misery and an inlet to Heaven and Glory In the bad 't is an end of all their Felicity and the date of their Misery and can this on either side be such a contemptible change as not worth thinking of Should a poor Woman upon a fixed day be to be married to some Mighty Prince could she forget the day or neglect to prepare for it Can a Maid forget her ornaments or a Bride her attire c. Or were a Man upon an appointed day to go to Prison to Banishment or to Execution would it signifie nothing to him Were our Houses on fiâ—e over our Heads or were we pursued by a Lion or Bear or other ravenous Beast or some deadly Enemy that sought our Lives should we be so unconcerned And is not the Soul in a thousand times greater danger of Eternal Death than the Body can be of Temporal and yet shall this be slighted Is it not high time for us when the Sergeant waits to Arrest us to take Christ's Counsel and agree with our Adversary before we are cast into Prison Mat. 5.25 And not as ill Husbands do stay till we are arrested and cast into Prison I know there are too many that think God and Devil Heaven and Hell are but Fables these will know to their sorrow they are Realities and deserve our serious thoughts And 't is not enough to think of Death for many do so against their wills but they must prepare for it also let us consider every Evening what we have done in reference to Preparation the day past and whether we are a days Journey nearer Heaven as we are nearer our Graves This course is likely to fit us for Death and Judgment Lesson 7. The Seventh Lesson we may learn from this sad and unexpected Providence is Seeing all are under a necessity of dying to bring our minds to be willing to dye how and when God in his Providence shall think fit It is appointed unto all men once to dye and after death the Judgment Heb. 9.27 Now 't is our Duty to subscribe our consent to this Law He that hateth not his father mother wife and children brethren and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Luke 14.26 These are Love-Tokens God hath given us to win our Love and when he requires them again 't is to try whether we love Him or his Gifts better 'T is as I shew'd before our Duty to submit as Aaron patiently to the death of our Relations and sometimes the Lesson proves hard enough but here is a further tryal we shall be put upon to submit to our own Death When Job bore the loss of his Estate and Relations so well the Devil would try him by afflicting him in his Body and Mind Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life Job 2.4 As if he should say Any thing for his own Life Cattle Servants Children all shall go so he may sleep in a whole Skin I know the Lesson to be willing to dye seems hard to Flesh and Blood but we must have something more or we cannot dye well the same Reason that makes us submit to another's Death is good here I know there are greater Temptations lying at some mens doors than others 't is
is won the Enemies are fled the Victory is ours and the Crown is ready it tells us our Work is done in the Vineyard and we must come to receive our Wages It tells us all our Pains Aches Miseries and Sufferings are at an end and God hath sent for us in his Triumphant Chariot to the Marriage of the Lamb and to lye for ever in his Bosom and inhabit those Mansions of Glory provided for us that for a Cottage we shall have a Crown and Robes instead of Rags and that a period is put to all that we call Trouble and will such a Messenger displease us This is the time that all tears shall be wip'd away and sin and sorrow shall be no more Rev. 7.17 and 21.4 God shall wipe all their tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain See also Isa 53.10 Their Bacha shall be turned into Barachah their Misery into Melody the Sighing into Singing and the Misery into Majesty and Mortality shall be swallowed up of Life whatever 't is that makes our Life uneasie shall be done away all that is called Trouble shall then vanish for sin and sorrow shall be no more Who would not bear one Fit of Sickness for Everlasting Health a little Pain for Eternal Ease a little Trouble for Eternal Freedom In this Life we are always under the Hatches sometimes pester'd with a sickly weakly Body subject to a thousand Infirmities languishing under Pains and Aches and Distempers hardly a day free but Death is the Physician that will Cure us of all this At other times we are full of â—â—â—rs and doubts concerning our Spiritual Estate questioning whether we have any Interest in Christ or Title to Glory whether the Soul be regenerate whether the Match were ever made up between Christ and us and whether all we have done be not in Hypocrisie and so lost labour whether God love us or not seeing he oft-times hides his Face from us Holy Men even David himself have sometimes such desponding thoughts upon God's with-drawings but Death will put all this out of question they need not then fear their Evidences when they are put into actual Possession nor God's Love when they enjoy the Beatifical Vision where they shall never see one wrinkle more in the Face of God Here they are pestered with the Devil's Temptations and 't is their trouble and grief that he foists in such foul Suggestions he lays Snares in their ways to entrap them Snares in all their Enjoyments in all their Duties in all their Actions in all their Relations in all they see or hear or come to know but then he shall never throw Dart more at us Here his Instruments do molest us some by cruel mocks and taunts scoffs and scorns some by Wrongs Persecutions and Tryals there we shall be out of their reach We can hardly open any Sense but we let in either sin or sorrow Our own Corruptions bring us no little trouble this makes us such strangers to God spoils our Duties and makes us scarce to have a glimpse of God in an Ordinance These and a thousand more troubles Death frees us from and yet shall we run from him as an Enemy and rather endure all this than feel his Dart We may stand amazed at our own Folly 3. Let us Consider how unbeseeming and uncomely a thing it is for a Christian to be unwilling to dye when God and his Cause requires it yea not to carry his Life in his hand and resign it up to him that gave it whenever he shall require it of him for he that laid down his life for us shall we deny our lives for him if he require it We have listed our selves Souldiers under him our General and when danger is near shall we run from our Colours We have made a Profession of our Faith and Trust and Confidence in him boasted of his Love to us of Power and Ability to save us and of the Reward we expected for oâ—r Faithful Service and now shall we let the World know there is no such matter that we dare not trust him with our Lives or Estates We find this was an Argument with those that returned out of Babylon Ezra 8.22 I was ashamed to require of the King a band of Souldiers and Horsemen to help us against the Enemy in the way because we had spokâ—n to the King saying The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him He durst not do it lest the Name of God should have been dishonoured by it and how dare we proclaim our fears and diffidence in the like case to God's dishonour 'T is a discredit to a Master when his own Servants dare not trust him Shall we that have had more Experiences of God's Power Mercy Goodness and Truth now forsake him or distrust him God hath communicated himself more to his People than to others and done more for them than for others and so laid a greater Obligation upon them than on the rest of the World and after all shall they prove treacherous It was a great aggravation to Solomon's sin that it was after God had appeared twice to him 1 Kin. 11.9 God may say to his revolting People as Christ did to the Jews Many good works have I done among you for which of these do you stone me John 10.32 'T is not so much for others to be afraid of the Journey that are strangers in the Country but we that have had so many to direct us in the way we that pretend there our Father keeps his Court that Jerusalem that is above is the Mother of us all that Christ is our Head our Husband and our elder Brother and shall be our Judge that the Saints departed are our Brethren and Sisters in Christ that Heaven is our Inheritance and those Mansions of Glory provided for us and shall we be afraid or unwilling of the Journey 'T is no wonder that others hang back that have their Portion in their hands at present for who will willingly lose what they have and are assured of no more 'T is no wonder that a Malefactor that hath deserved Death and is in expectation of it is loath to go before the Judge but 't is wonder an Innocent Man is not willing to be freed out of Prison The Grave it self is but a resting place in Job's account Job 3.13 Now should I have been still and have been quiet I should have slept then had I been at rest Ver. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest there the Prisoners rest together thâ—y hear not the voice of the Oppressor the small and the great are there and the servant is free from his master c. Yea some of the Heathen upon the consideration of the troubles of Man's Life thought Mortality a