Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	bring_v	sin_n	soul_n	9,566	5	5.3331	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88578	A Christians duty and safety in evill times Delivered in severall sermons, upon four texts of scripture, viz. Christ's prayer the saints support, on Iohn 17 15[.] A divine ballance to weigh all doctrines by, on 1 Thes.5. 21[.] A Christians great enquiry, on Acts 16.30, 31[.] A description of true blessedness, on Luke 11. 28[.] By that faithfull messenger of Jesus Christ, Mr Christopher Love, late minister of Laurence-jury, London. Whereunto is annexed The saints rest, or Their happy sleep in death. As it was delivered in a sermon at Aldermanbury, London. Aug. 24. 1651. By Edmund Calalmy. B. D.	Love, Christopher, 1618-1651.; Calamy, Edumnd, 1600-1666. Saints rest.	1653 (1653)	Wing L3147; Thomason E1434_3-4; ESTC R209589	82,542	242

asleep while they were stoning of him When he died he prayed and while he prayed he died But what made Stephen die thus quietly Read the 55 verse and you shall see the reason of it Being full of the Holy Ghost he looked stedfastly into Heaven and saw the glory of God and Iesus standing at the right hand of God Behold saith he I see the Heavens opened and the Son of man slanding at the right hand of God This made him die with such a sweet quiet and calm temper he saw Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God ready to receive his Soul and that made him die with such an extraordinary quietnesse of minde Death in Scripture especially the death of Gods children is often compared to a sleep It is said of David that he slept with his fathers And it is said 1 Thes 4.13 I would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep that is concerning them which are dead And 1 Cor. 11.30 For this cause many are weakly and sickly among you and many sleep that is many die This expression is a metaphorical expression and will afford us many rare and precious instructions about Death And therfore the grace of God assisting me I desire to spend the rest of the time in the opening of this Metaphor Doctrin The Observation is this viz. That when a child of God dies though his death be never so unnaturall and violent yet it is nothing else but a falling asleep Or The death of a child of God though stoned to death though burnt to ashes though it be never so violent unnaturall is nothing else but a falling asleep When he had said this he fell asleep Somnus est mortis imago Sleep is the image of Death There are many notable resemblances betwixt Sleep and Death some of which I shall speak to at this time 1 Sleep is common to all men there is no man that can live without sleep a man may live long without meat but no man can live long without sleep So it is true of death death is common to all it is appointed for all men once to die and therfore David said he was to go the way of all flesh Statutum est omnibus semel mort Omnibus est calcanda semel lethi via All men must sleep the sleep of death or else be changed which is a metaphoricall death 2 As sleep ariseth from the vapors that ascend from the stomack to the head tie the sences hinder their operations so death came into the world by Adams eating the forbidden Fruit and by the poisonfull vapor of sin that brought death upon him and all his posterity By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 Had Adam never sinned Adam should never have died but in illo die said God in that day thou eatest the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death Sinne brings omnimodam mortem all kindes of death it brings death temporall death spirituall and death eternall Now because all men are poisoned with the poison of sin therfore all men must sleep the sleep of death it is sin that hath poisoned all mankinde 3 As a man when he goeth to sleep puts off his clothes and goeth naked into bed so it is with us when wee come to die We came naked into the world and we must go naked out of the world As we brought nothing with us into the world so we must carry nothing with us out of the world And therefore Death in Scripture is called nothing else but an uncloathing of our selves 2 Cor. 5.4 Death to a childe of God is nothing else but the putting off of his cloaths The body of man is animae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vestimentum it is the souls cloathing and death is nothing else but the unclothing of the soul it is just like a man going to bed putting off his cloaths St Peter cals it The putting off our earthly tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.14 Our bodies are the souls tabernacle and death is the putting off of this tabernacle Beloved when we come to die we shall be stript naked of three things 1. We shall be stript naked of all our worldly honour riches and greatnesse 2. We shall be stript naked of our bodies And 3. Which is above all we shall be stript naked of our sins And that is the happinesse of a childe of God he shall put off not only his mortal body but the body of sin 4. In the fourth place observe As no man knoweth the time when hee fals asleep a man fals asleep before he is aware So no man can tell the certain time when he must die There is nothing so certain as that wee must die nothing so uncertain as the time when we shall die Death comes suddenly even as sleep comes upon a man before he is aware 5. Observe As children and infants because they do not know the benefit of sleep are very loth to go to sleep many times the mother is fain to whip the child to bed even so it is with most of Gods people because they do not study the benefit of death that death puts an end to all our miseries and sins and opens a door to let us in unto everlasting happinesse and that we shall never see God or Christ before we die I say because Gods people do not study the benefit of death therefore they are like to little children loth to die loth to go to bed And therefore death is called The King of terrors Death is terrible to many of Gods children because they are but infants in grace and because they do not know the benefit of death 6 Observe As when a man is fast asleep he is free from cares and free from troubles Let it thunder as it thundred not long since as you know yet a man that is fast asleep while hee is asleep hee hears it not Let the house bee on fire while the man is asleep he sees it not neither is be troubled at it So it is with the death of Gods children when Gods children sleep the sleep of death they are free from the thunders of this world they are free from all cares from all troubles they goe to their graves as to their beds and rest in quietness and are not sensible of any troubles that are in the world For Abraham knew us not Isa 63.16 So 2 King 22.20 Thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place When a childe of God sleeps the sleep of death hee doth not feel nor is he sensible of any of the calamities or sad providences of God upon the Earth 7. When a man goeth to sleep he goeth to sleep but for a certain time in the morning he awakes out of sleep So it is with the sleep of death

death and that say with dying Stephen Lord Iesus receive my spirit But if ever you would have Christ to receive your souls when you die you must be sure to receive him into your souls whilst you live if ever you would have him to receive you into Heaven you must receive him into your hearts No man makes a will but he saith Imprimis I bequeath my soul unto Jesus Christ my Redeemer But how dost thou know that Jesus Christ will accept of this Legacy If thy soul hath not Christs Image upon it if it be not regenerated and renewed Jesus Christ will never own it Thou maist bequeath it unto Christ but the Devil will claim it if thy soul hath the Devils image upon it if it be a swinish polluted unbeleiving unregenerate soul thou maist bestow it upon God but the Devil will recover it out of Gods hands pardon this expression it is not mine but St Austins Beloved if ever you would reign with Christ when you die he must reign in you whilst you live and if ever you would sleep an happy sleep you must live in Jesus that you may sleep in Jesus Secondly In the second place If ever you would sleep an happy sleep at death then you must take heed of overcharging your selves with worldly cares A man that is full of cares cannot sleep therefore when men would sleep they lay as the Proverb is all their cares under their pillow they labour to shut all cares out of their minde O take heed that you do not murder your souls by the cares of the world Beloved a man that eats out his heart with worldly cares will never sleep an happy sleep the cares of the world will choak all the good seed of the Word of God and therefore as men when they sleep lay aside all worldly thoughts so if ever you would sleep an happy sleep take heed of overmuch carking and careing for the things of this world and remember what you have heard this day and that will regulate and moderate all cares Naked you came into the world and naked you must goe out of the world Why should we take care for that wee know not who shall enjoy after us Thirdly If ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die you must take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life A man that eats a full supper will sleep very disquietly therefore they that would sleep quietly use to eat but light suppers for when a mans stomack is over-charged it takes away his sweet sleep from him So if ever you would sleep a happy sleep when you come to die O take heed of sucking too much of the plesures of this Life take heed of eating too large a meal of worldly delights and of creature comforts these worldly pleasures will make the sleep of death unquiet unto you Oh let not Dalilah's lap deprive you of Abraham's bosom remember that David by Bathsheba's embraces lost the embraces of God I mean the sence of the embraces of God the joy and comfort of them Fourthly if ever you would sleep a happy sleep in death then labor to work hard for Heaven while you live O how delightful is sleep to a weary man when a man hath taken paines all the day as the Traveller that hath travelled all the day or the Ploughman that hath been at work all the day how quietly how soundly doth he sleep in the night O beloved if if ever you would sleep a happy sleep at death then labor to work out your Salvation with fear and trembling and give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure the more you labor for Heaven the better the sweeter will your sleep be when you come to die And remember this that as much sleeping in the day time wil hinder a mans sleep at night so you that idle away the time of your providing for Heaven in this your day you that sleep away the minute upon which Eternity doth depend oh you will have a sad sleep when Death seizeth upon you Take heed therfore of sleeping while you live that so your sleep in the night of death may be comfortable unto you Fiftly and lastly if ever you would sleep a happie sleep when you die then take heed of the sleep of sin Sin in Scripture is compared to a sleep awake thou that sleepest that is thou that sinnest Sinne is such a sleep as brings the sleep of death sin brings the first death and sin brings the second death all miseries whatsoever are the daughters of sin If you would sleep a happy sleep and have a happie awakening at the Resurrection then take heed of the sleep of sin Awake thou that sleepest arise from the dead and Iesus Christ shall give thee life Ephes 5.14 So Rom. 13.11 12 13. with which I will conclude and I pray you mark it well for it was a Text that converted Saint Augustin Knowing the time Beloved that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer then when we believed The night is far spent the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darknesse and let us put on the armour of light Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonnesse not in strife and envying but put you on the Lord Iesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof FINIS

But saith he God hath given thee but one Soul and if thou losest that thou losest all O that the consideration hereof would cause you to make this Enquiry what must I doe to save my Soul I now come to make some Usefull Application If it be so 1 Vse for rebuke of 3 sorts of men that above all things in the world you should make this your great Enquirie what must I doe to bee saved Then this is for Rebuke to those that make assiduous Enquirie about matters of lesser moment First those that enquire only after Notionall Questions but never make Enquirie a bout matters of Salvation There are a multitude of men in this age that puzzle themselves and trouble their mindes with Notions and Criticall Questions but never put this Question to their Soules Lord what must I doe to be saved O how justly blame-worthy are they that study curious and nice Questions about Christianity which serve only to obscure the clear Truth of the Gospell and in the mean time minde not this great and necessary Question What I must doe to get to Heaven Truly we live in an age full of criticall Questions wherein all the Dogmaticall Points of Religion are called into Question But if God prevent it not these triviall Questions will joustle out this necessary Question What must I doe to be saved Of all Questions there are two Questions most necessary for a people to aske and most comfortable for a Minister to resolve them in The one is What shall I doe to bee saved The other How shall I know that I shall obtain Salvation Of all Questions these are the greatest and as Christ said speaking of our Love to God and our Love to our Neighbours This is the first and greatest Commandement And the next is like to this So say I This is the first and great Question What shall I do to be saved And the next is like to this How shall I know that I shall bee saved The first is the foundation of all our happinesse and the second of all our comfort 2. Those that Enquire after earthly things only It is for Rebuke to those that make Enquiry after the body and things pertaining to its welfare but never make Enquirie after Salvation There bee many men in the World who in the language of those sensual men Psal 4.6 cry out Lord Psal 4.6 who will shew us any good but they never make Enquirie how they themselves may become good These men are like him that came to the Physician enquiring how he might cure the whitlaw on his finger but never asked how he might cure the Consumption of his lungs Many men make Enquirie after trivial things of the World but they Enquire not how they may get an intrest in Jesus Christ how they may escape Hell Quae siultitia de iis solicitum esse quae habebis nonsolicitus de iis non quae non nisi solicitus and get to Heaven Now what folly and madnesse is it for a man to bee solicitously careful for those things which hee shall have without this carking care and to be negligent and carelesse about those things which he hath no promise to obtain without assiduous carefullnesse for grace and glory are not to bee expected without seeking Mat. 6.33 dilligent seeking Math. 6.33 But outward things shall be cast in upon seeking heavenly things 3. 3 Those that Enquire how to damne themselvs It is for rebuke to those that make Enquirie how to damn themselves but Enquire not how to save themselves The Drunkard enquires where Wine and strong Beare is to be had The Adulterer as Solomon saith enquires where the house of the Harlot is Thus many men Enquire how they may undo their souls but oh how few are there that cry out with this poor Jaylor Sirs What must I doe to be saved The next Use shall be by way of tryal 2. Vse For examination whether you are in an estate of Salvation to put you upon search whether ye have put this Question out of question whether yee have resolved this Question to your soules that God indeed hath brought you into an estate of Salvation Now that you may know this consider these particulars First Hath God taken those Methods with your souls This may be known first by the Methods God takes with such souls that he takes with those whom hee intends to save But you will say what are those Methods that God takes with a sinner whom hee intends to save I Answer First God enlightens that mans mind 1 Method that God takes so as that he makes him see his sins to be exceeding sinful and himselfe to be exceeding miserable Iob 33.27 28 29.30 you have an admirable Text for this Job 33.27 29 30. He looketh upon men and if any man say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not Hee will deliver his soul from going into the Pit and his life shall see the light Loe all these things worketh God oftentimes with man to bring back his soul from the Pit to bee Enlightned with the light of the liveing It is Gods usual way in bringing a sinner from Hell to represent his sins unto him in the glasse of the Law so as to cause him to see them to be exceeding sinful to cause him to confesse his sinfulnesse how that hee hath perverted that which was right Paul said he was alive without the Law but when the Law came then he saw his sin to be exceeding sinful Rom. 7.13 Rom. 7.13 Was that which is good made death unto me God forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good that sin by the Commandement might become exceeding sinful Sin in its own nature is so exceeding evil that it cannot have a worse name given unto it then it s own sinful sin Beloved if the Lord hath dealt thus with you so as to make you see your sins to be exceeding sinfull and your selves to bee exceeding miscrable know this is the method that he takes with that soul which hee intends to bring to Heaven A second Method that God takes with a sinner to save his soule is this 2 method that God takes God puts him into a condition of Spiritual astonishment so as to see himselfe an undone creature altogether unable to save himselfe neither doth hee know who will undertake that work for him this is plain in the Text Sirs What must I doe to be saved a Question full of astonishment and perplexity of mind When God once casts a man out of selfe-sufficiency selfe-righteousnesse and selfe-ability this is a good step towards Heaven A third Method that God takes with a sinner is this 3 method that God takes God doth present Jesus Christ to his soule as the most desirable object in all the world He sees sin to be exceeding

is not warrantable for any to wish for Death because of persecutions and afflictions which they do feele or feare Ionah 4.3 This you finde was the fault of Ionah ch 4. v. 3. Now therefore O Lord I beseech thes take away my life from me for it is better for me to die then to live This he said in a pettish humour being displeased and angry that the Ninevits were spared thinking that therein he should be accounted a false prophet Because of affliction or reproach in the world to desire death is a thing that the Scripture doth not warrant 1. Reason why we should not with for dea●h And the Reasons thereof are three 1 Because your lives are great blessings and you doe vallue them at too low a rate when you thus rashly wish for death It is true there are some men that doe vallue their lives at too high a rate and they are such as will not lay down their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ his truth and peeple when they are called thereunto Others there are that doe vallue their lives at too low a rate and they are such as wish to be taken out of the world because of troubles and afflictions that they meet withal in the world Now this is a sin this is an undervaluing of your life which is the greatest of all temporal blessings A second Reason is this 2 Reason Because it is a more commendable thing to pray that God would in his due time remove trouble from us then to cry out Lord remove us from trouble to pray that God would sanctify our hearts paciently and thankefully to beare those crosses that he shall be pleased to exercise us withal rather than deliver us from trouble by taking us out of the world for God hath ten thousand wayes to free us from trouble besides laying us in the grave he can put an end to our troubles and yet lengthen out our lives 3. There is more honour to be gained by a patient bearing of our burden then by being delivered from it 3 Reason The Souldier never growes famous for his vallour until he comes to bear the brunt of the Battel in the Field And the Christian never shines in grace untill he comes into the fire of afflictions especially if he suffer in bearing witnesse unto the truth of Christ Therefore we should be content yea rejoyce in our sufferings and not desire death to be rid of the troubles of this life If it be so Vse of Reprehension that it is not warrantable for any man to desire death because of any Affliction he feares or feeles Then hence I draw a Use of Reprehension to many sorts of men in the world But cheifly to you that are of such passionate and peevish spirits froward and distempered soules that if God doth but lay upon you any affliction if he doth but mingle any crosses with your comforts any gall and wormwood with your pleasant things so that it may be your estates are taken away your persons imprisoned and your worldly comforts taken from you oh then in a peevish mood with Ieremy you curse the day of your birth And with Ionah you wish for the day of your death Now this is sinful It is true Good men have failed herein as Job chap. 6. v. 8.9 Iob 6 8 9. O that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing I long for even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off Here you see Iob wisheth for death yea even longs for death wooes as it were destruction and is an importunate and earnest suiter for the grave and all this was because Gods afflicting hand was sore upon him And we finde him expressing the same distemper in the name of others Iob. 3.2 Job 3 21. Which long for death but it cometh not and digg for it more then for hid treasure There is a sharpnesse and bitternesse in bodily death yet some are so afflicted in body and so oppressed in spirit that they account the very bitternesse of death to be sweetnesse the gall and wormwood of Affliction makes death to such as sweet as honey and as much longed for as the honey comb And they doe not onely long for it but they dig for it and that not in an ordinary way but they dig as for treasure yea as for hidden treasure which shewes the earnestnesse of this desire after death This distemper also seised upon the spirit of the Prophet Elijah ● Kings 19 ● 1. Kings 19.4 He himselfe went a dayes journy into the wilderness and came and sa●e down under a Iumper Tree and he requested for himselfe that he might die and sayd it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am not better then my fathers The reason of this pettish desire in Elijah was because Iezebel who had slain many of the Lords prophets did threaten also to take away his life It may bee many of you to whom I speak have lost your estates your tradeing now are in poverty and lie under disgrace and therefore you are apt and ready to wish that God would take you out of the world but know that this is a very sinful frame of spirit to long for death only to be freed from the troubles of this life to desire to lie down in the bed of the grave only to ease our bodies and rest our outward man If we think life not worth the continuing in this world unlesse we enjoy our outward comforts ease plenty and prosperitie honor wealth and friends we do hereby much undervalue the great blessing of life This at the best is an infirmity and this Christ here rebuked in his Disciples Again because Christ would not pray for his Disciples to be taken out of the world they desiring death fearing persecution 2d Doct. When it is lawfull to with for death Here it may be intimated That in some cases it is lawfull for a man to desire to die as First when he desires it not because of sufferings but because of sins when a man doth desire to shake off a body of flesh that he might be rid of and freed from a body of sin this is commendable This was Pauls prayer 2. Cor. 5.8 We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2. Cor. 56. To desire death not because it doth kill thy person and ease thy paine but because it doth kill thy corruption and put an end to thy sining not as a postern gate to let out thy temporal but as a street door to let in eternal life in this case it is lawful 2. It is lawful to desire death that thou maist thereby have a more full enjoyment of Jesus Christ This the Apostle sets down Phil. 1.23 Phil. 1.23 I am in a streight betwixt two having a desire to depart

heare for the manner but also what you heare for the matter so the Evangelist expresseth it Mark 4.24 Take heed what you heare Mark 4.24 The Physician may be authorized to practise and yet may prescribe dangerous potions the Minister may be true as to his Office and yet a false Teacher as to his Doctrine and so to be rejected we must not only look to the messenger but to the message And if any man whatever hee bee preach any other Gospel than this Gal. ●al 2 ● 1.8 let him be accursed These erronious and seducing Doctrines are the Devils tares and the preaching of them is the Devils seed time and if wee would not have these tares to grow in our field wee must not bee present where the Devil soweth them for we must know that a Christian may be poisoned to death as well as starved therefore it is the duty of Christians to take heed what they heare lest they swallow down poison instead of wholsom food soul damning opinions instead of the sincere milk of God's Word 1 Pet. 2.2 1 Pet. 2.2 As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word not the fantasticall Notions and Opinions of vain minded men Will yee look to the food of your bodies and will yee not minde the food of your soules will yee bee carefull that that be bread and bread indeed that yee feed upon for bodily strength and will ye be so carelesse as to feed upon husks and poison for your soules Therefore take heed what ye heare and whom ye heare for sin first entereth in by the eare and the Apostle saith 1 Cor 15.33 1 Cor. 15.33 Evill words corrupt good manners So this is the first Caution when ye are bid to prove all things you have not thereby a liberty given you to hear all sorts of Preachers Secondly when the Apostle saith 2 Caution wee must not bee scepticks in Religion prove all things hee never intended that men should be unstable in Christianity scepticks in Religion wandering stars never fixed in the truths of the Gospel like Seekers for so they may very well be called who settle no where but are alwaies finding out new Truths with their new Lights which usually in the End prove to be nothing but old Errors The Colossians were called upon to seek rooting and establishment in the faith Col. 2.7 Col. 2.7 Thirdly 3 caution wee musi not bring the Scripture to ●u● opinion but our opinion to the Scripture In proveing all Doctrines that you heare be sure you doe not bring the Scripture to your opinion but bring your opinion to the Scripture for the Scripture teacheth nothing but truth and commandeth nothing but goodnesse Many force the Scriptures to speak that which was never intended by the Holy-Ghost that so they may seeme to countenance those erronious opinions which are divulged Quicquid in Scriptura docetur ●eritas quicquid praecipitur bonitas they set the Scriptures as it were upon the wrack to make them confess that which they never intended thus it was with Hereticks of old and this also is their practice in our daies they deal with the Scripture as he did with the Oracle of Delphos to make it speak what he meant But this is the Caution that I would give Doe not bring your sence to the Scripture but labour to carry away the Holy-ghosts sence from the Scripture 4 Caution Be not over consident of your own opinion Fourthly In proving the Doctrins that you hear Lean not too much to your own understanding think not your selves infallible bee not over confident of your own opinion in matters controversial especially if contrary to the judgment of those who are eminent both for guifts and grace Ponder the Scriptures throughly and seek unto God by prayer before ye resolve in matters that are ambiguous Pro. 4.26 Ponder the path of thy feet Having dispatched the Cautions I shall give the Reasons why men must try the Doctrines that they hear First 1 Reason There is a neare resemblance betwixt er tonions and true Teachers Because erronious and corrupt Teachers may carry a very near resemblance to them that preach the truth I have read of two Painters Parrhasius and Zeuxis who contending for the mastery in that Art the one painted Grapes so exactly that the birds came to pick them thinking they had been very Grapes And the other painted a Curtain so exactly that his fellow Painter came to draw it supposing that it had bin a real Curtain There is such a near affinitie betwixt sound Teachers and seducing Teachers that it is no easie matter for a man to discern betwixt them But all is not gold that glisters 2 Cor. 11.13 14. A notable Text you have for this 2 Cor. 11.13 14. For such are false Apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ and no marvel for Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel of light False Apostles may transforme themselves so as to be like the Apostles of Christ and Ministers of the Devil factors for hell may transforme themselves so as to be like the Ministers of Jesus Christ Therefore there is good reason that you should try all Doctrines that you hear whether they bee agreable to the Word of God or no. Secondly 2 Reason the Scripture foretels that there shall be many false Teachers Because the Word of God doth foretell that there shall be as many if not more false Teachers under the new Testament then under the old and more in the later daies then were in the former ages of the world this is plain from that Text of Scripture 2 Pet. 2.1 2 Pet. 2.1 But there were false Prophets also among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction They were of old under the Law they shall be with you under the Gospel Although the Pharisees are dead who corrupted the Law yet the same Spirit still lives in men and will doe to the End of the World The Apostle gives this as a reason why we should try such Doctrines as we hear because in the times of the new Testament many false Teachers will appear 1 John 4.1 1 John 4.1 Beleive not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World Believe not every man that saith he hath the Spirit and that the Spirit doth teach him that Doctrine that he preacheth but try whether it be agreable to the Word of God or no and the reason he gives is because there are many not few false Prophets and those not gone into a corner or bound up in one part of the World indeed in former time the nest of them was enclosed in one part of the World in Germany and especially in Amsterdam But now

and therefore death is called a sleep because we must all awake in the morning of the resurrection We are in the grave as in our bed and when the trumpet of God and the voice of the Archangel shall sound wee shall all rise out of our grave as out of our beds Death is but a sleep for a certain time 8. Sleep is a great refreshing to those that are weary sick and when the sick man awakes he is more lively chearful then he was before he fell asleep and therefore sleep is called Medicus laborum redintegratio virium recreator corporum The great Physician of the sick body the redintegration of mans spirits the reviver of the weary body And so it is with death when Gods people awake out of the sleep of death they shall bee more active for God then ever they were before when you lie down in the grave you lie down with mortal bodies It is sown a mortal body 1 Cor. 15.42 43. but ●t shall rise up an immortal body it is sown in dishonour but it shall rise up in honour it is sown a natural body but it shall rise up a spiritual body 9. As in the morning when wee arise out of our beds we then put on our clothes So in the morning of the resurrection wee shall put on a glorious body like to the glorious body of Iesus Christ we shall put on Stolam immortalitatis the garment of immortality 10. As no man when he layeth him down to sleep knoweth the direct time when he shall awake So no man can tell when the resurrection shall be They do but cozen you who say that the general resurrection shall bee such or such a year for as no man can know the minute when he shall awake out of his natural sleep no more can any man know when we shall arise from the sleep of death 11. As it is a very easie thing to awake a man out of sleep it is but jogging of him you wil quickly awake him So it is with the sleep of death it is as easie for Jesus Christ to awake us out of the sleep of death as it is for me or you to awake a man out of sleep in bed Nemo nostrûm tam facilè excitat dormientem de lecto quàm Christus jacentem in sepulchro 12 As when a man ariseth in the morning though he hath slept many houres nay suppose he could sleep twenty yeares together yet notwithstanding when hee awaketh these twenty yeares will seem to bee but as one houre unto him So it will be at the day of judgment all those that are in their graves when they awake it will be tanquam somnus unius horae but as the sleep of one houre unto them 13 Lastly and most especially As sleep seizeth only upon the body and outward senses but doth not seize upon the soul the foul of man is many times most busie when the man is asleep and God hath heretofore revealed most glorious things to his children in Dreams when they have been asleep God appeared unto Abraham and many others in Dreams the body sleeps but the soul wakes So it is with the sleep of Death the body that dies but the soul doth not die There are some men that are not afraid to teach you That the soul sleeps as well as the body and that when the body dies and fals asleep the soul likewise continues in a dull Lethargy veternoso somno correptus neither capable of joy nor sorrow untill the resurrection Beloved This is a very uncomfortable and a very false Doctrine They endeavour to prove it from my Text they say That Stephen when he died fell asleep It is true in regard of his body he fell asleep but his soul did not fall a sleep that which was stoned fell asleep which was his body only for when he was stoning he saw Jesus Christ standing ready to receive his soul into Heaven Lord Jesus saith he receive my spirit Stephens soul could not be stoned though his body was stoned So when Jesus Christ was crucified his soul was not crucified I mean when his body was killed his soul was not killed indeed he did endure torments in his soul which made him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me But yet his soul did not die So when Stephen died his soul went to Christ It is true when a childe of God dies the soul goes to sleep How is that The soul goes to sleep in a Scripture sense that is it goes to rest in Abrahams bosom O blessed sleep it goes to rest in the embraces of God it goes into the armes of its Redeemer it goes into the heavenly Paradise it goes to be alwayes present with the Lord. But take heed of that wicked opinion to say that the soul sleeps in an Anabaptistical sense that is That itlies in a strange kinde of Lethargy neither dead nor alive neither capable of joy nor forrow untill the resurrection Though Stephens body fell asleep yet his soul did not fall asleep but immediatly went unto Jesus Christ in heaven Thus I have given the Explication of the words Now give me leave to make some Application of all unto our selves Vse 1 If the death of Gods children bee nothing else but a falling asleep then let this comfort us against the deaths of our godly friends though they die unnatural and violent deaths though they be stoned to death though they be burnt to ashes though they bee sawn asunder c. Here is a message of rich consolation which as a Minister of Christ I hold out unto you this day viz. That the death of a child of God let it bee after what manner soever it will it is nothing else but a falling a sleep he goes to his grave as to his bed and therefore our burying places are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dormitoria our sleeping houses A childe of God when hee dies hee lies down in peace and enters into his rest And as a man when he is asleep is free from all the cares and troubles that he hath in the day time So the people of God when they are fallen asleep they are free from all the miseries crosses losses and afflictions that we are troubled withall There fore give me leave to say to you as Christ did to the women that followed him to the Crosse bewailing and lamenting of him O daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your children So say I O weep not for those that are dead in the Lord that are fallen asleep in Jesus Christ they are at their rests they do not know the troubles that wee are troubled withall Abraham remembers us not they are not sensible of our miseries and afflictions let us weep for our selves and for the miseries that are coming upon us and let us know that when Gods children die they doe but lie in their beds untill the morning of

the resurrection and then they shall put on Stolam immortalitatis the garment of immortality and their bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of Jesus Christ And know one thing more which is all in all viz. That when the body of a childe of God fals asleep his soul immediatly goes into the arms of Christ and there lives for ever in the embraces of Jesus Christ though the body falls asleep yet the soul is received into Abrahams bosom I beseech you comfort one another with these words Vse 2 Let me beseech the people of God that they would look upon death not as it is presented unto us in Nature's Looking-Glasse but as it is set down in a Scripture-dresse Nature presents death in a very terrible manner and it is true death is very terrible to a man out of Christ but to you that are in Christ the sting of death is taken away death is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep a putting off of our clothes and a going to bed till we awake in the morning of the resurrection Death to a childe of God is nothing else but a putting off his earthly tabernacle a going from an earthly prison into an heavenly palace a hoising up sail for Heaven the letting of the soul out of prison as a bird out of the cage that it may flee to Heaven a change from a temporary hell to an eternal heaven a going out of Egypt into Canaan and therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 1.15 It is not mors hominis but mors peccati not the death of the man but the death of his sins It is Sepultura vitiorum It is the pilgrims journeys end the sea-mans haven an absence from the body and a presence with the Lord. Let all Gods people look upon death through Scripture-spectacles and consider it as it is sweetly represented in this Text Remember blessed Stephen stoned to death and yet falling asleep And remember also that excellent saying of Austin That a childe of God should be as willing to die as to put off his cloaths because death is nothing else to him but a sleep and a departure from misery to everlasting happinesse Vse 3 To beseech you all every night when ye go to bed to remember this Text and especially to remember these four things First When you are putting off your cloaths remember that you must shortly put off your bodies And Secondly When you go into your beds remember that it will not bee long before you must go down into your graves And Thirdly When you close your eyes to sleep remember that it will not be long before death must close your eyes And Fourthly When you awake in the morning remember that at the resurrection you must all arise out of the grave and that the just shall arise to everlasting happiness but the wicked to everlasting misery It is a saying of an Heathen man That the whole Life of a man should be nothing else but meditatio Mortis but a meditation of Death And it is the saying of Moses Deut. 32.29 O that men were wise that they understood this that they would consider their later end Beloved it is the greatest part of wisdom every day to remember our later end That man is the only wise man and happy man in Life and Death that is ever mindfull of his Death Quest But before I make an end I must answer one Question v z. Whether the death of the wicked be not in Scripture compared to a sleep as well as the death of the godly Answ I answer That in Scripture wicked men are said to fall asleep when they die 1 Kings 1●● 28. It is said of idolatrous Ieroboam that he slept with his fathers of Baasha and Omri those wicked Kings that they slept with their fathers But then the Question will be In what respect is the death of the wicked compared to a sleep Even as a man which is asleep sometimes hath no benefit rest nor ease thereby when the sick man awakes he is many times more sick then hee was before hee went to sleep Some men are much disquieted in their sleeps by hideous and fearful dreams Nebuchadnezzar when he was asleep had a most scaring dream and when he awoke he was amazed therewith So it is with a wicked man Death to a wicked man is a sleep but it is a terrifying sleep the soul that goes immediatly to hell where it is burned with fire that never shall be quenched and where the worm that never dies is alwayes gnawing upon it The body that indeed lies in the grave asleep but how even as a malefactour that sleeps in prison the night before he is executed but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution so the wicked man fals asleep in death but when he awakes he awakes to everlasting damnation But a childe of God when he sleeps the sleep of death he sleeps in his Fathers house when he awakes he awakes to everlasting happines Vse 4 And this makes way for the fourth and last Use which is a Use of very great consequence And it is to beseech you all that you would labour so to live that when you fall asleep you may sleep an happy sleep There is the sleep that the wicked man sleeps when hee dies and there is the sleep that the godly man sleeps when he dies Now I beseech you labour so to live that when you fall asleep your sleep may be an happy sleep unto you that when you awake in the morning of the resurrection it may bee an happy awakeing unto you Quest But then the great Question will bee How shall I doe this I shall give you five helps for this Answ First If you would sleep an happy sleep at death then you must labour to sleep in lesus Christ It is said 1 Cor. 15.18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ And 1 Thes 4 14. If we beleive that Iesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him What is it to sleep in Jesus To sleep in Jesus is to die in the faith of Jesus Christ 2. To sleep in Jesus is to die with an interest in Jesus Christ to die as a member of Christ united to him as our head For you must know that the dust of a Saint is part of that man who is a member of Jesus Christ and every believer when he sleeps in the dust he sleeps in Jesus Christ that is he lies in the grave and his dust is part of Christ mystical and Christ as an head will raise it up and cannot bee compleat without it Now then if ever you would sleep an happy sleep labour to get a real interest in Christ labour to live in Christ while you live And then when you fall asleep you shall be sure to sleep in Jesus There are many would have Christ to receive their souls at