't is but the weakness of thy faith and love or thou wouldst not desire to be absent from Christ upon such poor tearms Oh the hourly danger thou art in by reason of enemies without within and round about thee Oh the dangerous snares they lay for thy feet Oh the fears the cares and manyfold troubles thou daily meetest withall enough to make thee weary of thy life and with Job to wish for death and wilt not indure a little pain when it would set thee out of harms way out of the Devils reach or mans malice The love of Christ in the Martyrs was hotter than the flames they burnt in they could cry out None but Christ none but Christ true love desires union with the party beloved and how canst thou say thou lovest Christ when thy heart is not with him when thou desirest not his company or to enjoy him thou pretendest love to him and yet art willingly desirously absent from him and wilt not come to him at his call but wilt rather deny him and thy interest in him thou cal'st him thy Husband and pretendest thou hast devoted thy self wholly to him and given up not only thy Name but thy Heart to him and promised to forsake all other for him and obey him whoever was disobeyed yet when it comes to the trial with Demas thou choosest the world before him thou wilt not obey him neither forsake the world for him but lovest thy life above him what hypocrisie what dissimulation is this to pretend to follow him and yet really run from him when he calls thee well may he give thee a bill of divorce and put thee away who dost thus wilfully desert him Thou hast preacht for him and spoke for him and suffered for him but all this will not serve thy turn if thou love any thing above him thou must give up all or thou canst not have him he will admit of no Rival he will have the prevailing degree of thy Love or thou shalt have none of him if thou prize thy life above him he will prize himself to be too good for thee 1 Cor. 13.1 2 3. for love is to him more acceptable than any Sacrifice his love to thee made him exchange Heaven for the Earth and glory for misery and will not thy love to him make thee willing to exchange Earth for Heaven and the Creature for God though a wife pretend love to her husband yet if in her husbands absence she desires not his return and refuseth to go to him 't is a sign her love is cold and she hath something else she affects above him that she hath dealt treacherously with him and placed her affections elsewhere Were thy love to thy Lord and Husband but as strong as a covetous mans love is to his Riches or an ambitious mans to his Honour or the unclean persons to his Lust thou wouldst not think a little pains too much to enjoy him for these run through the pikes of danger to obtain their end and bring about their designs and though Damnation lye in the way they will venture one and march up into the Cannons mouth and expose themselves to the everlasting destruction of Body and Soul which is a thousand times worse than death it self before they will fail in their enterprize Did but thy heart pant after God as Davids did Psal 42.1 2. thou wouldst long for the time when thou shouldst appear before God hadst thou but a believing sight of the Heavenly Canaan and its glory thou wouldst then see the worlds emptiness vanity and misery and be more senbsile of thy wilderness troubles and long to pass over this Jordan thou wouldst be more willing to leave the one and go to the other But it may be 't is not thy dispute whether Heaven or Earth be the better choice but thy own Interest that thou questionest some enjoyments thou hast here and loth thou art to leave them till thou art sure of better but hath not this been thy objection many years and hast not yet got over this stile why how hast thou spent thy time what hast thou been doing what is the result of thirty or forty years trial of the estate hadst any greater work lay upon thy hand did not God send thee into the world upon this very business and hast thou spent thy time in hunting Butter-flyes or weaving the Spiders web to catch flyes all this while how canst eat or drink or sleep in quiet without some comfortable assurance when thou knowest not but the next morning thou mayst awake with hell-flames about thy ears thou art sent to run a race to fight a fight to lay hold upon Heaven by violence and hast all this while sate idle Heaven and Earth may stand amazed at thy folly If God allow thee more time what hopes is there that thou wilt make more haste or get clearer Evidence for Heaven think not that to deny Christ thy life when he requires thâ—â—â—o lay it down for him is to gain time for better preparation nay it layes such a barr in thy way to Heaven which it is much to be feared thou wilt never remove the very thoughts of using this unlawful means to save thy life do evidence that grace is either weak or wanting in thy soul Time was thou didst carry thy life in thy hand and hold forth the contempt of the world and mad'st a shew that thou matteredst the world no more than it did thee and that thou didst believe true happiness was not to be had under the Sun and is thy judgment now altered and in thy elder dayes art thou grown more wise and by diligent search hast found out thy mistake and not only thine but the mistake of all the godly and now dost begin to grasp after the world and art loth to leave it why dost not recant in publick why dost not discover to the people thy former errour and bid them look for their happiness here Wisd 2. â— 9. and crown themselves with rose-buds before they wither let us be partakers of our wantonness let us leave some tokens of our pleasure in every place for that is our portion and this is our lot Is this the doctrine thou wouldst have others believe and the counsel thou wouldst have them take if not why dost thou give them an Example to choose thy portion here and let Christ which was thy pretended portion go and grasp after that little which the world calls Portion so greedily and why art thou so loth to go where true Treasure is to be had why dost choose to be tossed to and fro by the billows of this raging Sea and endure the tempest and storms of trouble rather than come into a safe Harbour an Heaven of rest because the mouth of it is straight and the entrance uneasie Dost thou put thy self into the case of the wicked and dost expect their portion that thou lookest upon death as thy enemy also 't is
true it wounds thy body but thy Soul is safe but it destroyes them both in body and soul and it brings more profit to the soul than dammage to the body 't is but as the prick of a pin to a dangerous Ulcer which were it not prickt would prove mortal it will put an end to thy pains and a beginning to thy Joyes for when thy life expires sin also dyes and sin and sorrow are breathed out with thy life and from this day thy Lease in Heaven bears date which shall never expire Rouse up thy self O my Soul be not dejected God minds thee no hurt Death will not cannot hurt thee Kill me they may saith the Martyr hurt me they cannot the worst they can do is but to send me to my Fathers house the sooner Many a warning thou hast had many a Corps thou hast interred many a Funeral Sermon thou hast Preached for shame say not thou hadst not sufficient warning wast thou so mad as to think of going to Heaven another way or that thou wast immortal when thou sawest so many about thee dye daily or that thou shouldst live to old age when thou sawest so many dye young and felt so many sensible Symptoms of thy approaching death thou hast as thou didst suppose some grounded hopes that thou hadst a part in the first Resurrection and that therefore the second death on thee had no power and why then is death so terrible Many have more distempers in their Souls than in their Bodies 't is true this is thy case yet thou hast hoped thine are not mortal the malignity of the disease is over when many others have Plague-Sores running upon them these may expect death and have cause to fear it it will but heal thy distempers but inrage theirs thou hast had many meditations of death and many discourses with death and you did seem pretty well agreed thou hast looked death in the face and is he now become more terrible or art thou more timerous that when he comes to thy Bed-side draws thy Curtains and shakes thee by the hand thou tremblest hath Christ done thee no good by his passion by subduing Death disarming him pulling out the sting and trampling him under foot yea laying him prostrate at thy feet hath all the pains thou hast taken in heavens way workt no more upon thee set thee up no higher where now is thy promised obedience and thy prayers Thy will be done when thou art ready to resist Gods Will when 't is manifested and preferrest thine own before it why dost call thy Father the only wise God when thou thinkest thy own wit best and that thou knowest best when 't is best for thee to dye and wilt not submit to his will and that if thou wouldst speak out thy mind is to indent with Christ this thou wilt do or Suffer but not that this sin thou wilt leave but that thou wilt not thou wouldst pick and choose thy duties and take the easiest part of it and leave the difficult dangerous and costly part undone and wilt not have heaven at so dear a rate Thou pretendest a desire to be happy and who doth not Balaam desires the death of the righteous and that his end may be like his but they will not live the righteous mans life and thou art not willing to dye his death for he is conformable to the will of God both in life and death which is that thou dost dislike O my Soul some great thing is amiss with thee thy corruptions are as strong fetters to hold thee in the Devils Slavery thy grace is weak and cannot procure thy freedom the Devil is too cunning for thee the world subtil and thy own heart deceitful to betray thee into Satans hands Oh my God this is my condition this is the estate of my Soul here lyes my distemper the world lyes too close to my heart and Christ lyes at too great a distance my corrupt deceitful heart is ever and anon puting me on to choose this for my happiness a little Grace I see will not carry me through the temptations that lye before me but Lord speak the word and grace will flourish and corruption will dye thou hast said and I believe it that thou wilt not break the bruised reed Mat. 12.20 nor quench the smoaking flax till thou bring forth Judgment unto victory Lord I believe help my unbelief and let not my little grace be lost in the great heap of the rubbish of my corruptions Lord if thou open mine eyes to see the emptiness of the creature and the fulness of Christ then shall I love the one and despise the other Psal 119.32 and shall run the ways of thy Commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart I see no reason why I should be exempted from obeying thy Will even to the laying down of my life and though flesh and blood will not yield willing obedience to it yet 't is my resolution thus to do Lord strengthen my resolution I know my fears are the result of my Infidelity Lord strengthen my faith that I may overcome them for by thy strength I shall stand and without thy assisting grace I shall Apostatize and fall back Leave me not to my self for then I shall undo my self dishonour my God scandalize Religion bring a reproach upon the Gospel wound my Conscience break my Peace with my God and undo my Soul Luk. 9.62 Let me not O Lord now I have put my hand to the Plow look back again Nor when I have begun in the Spirit Gal. 3.3 end in the flesh Rev. 2.10 Lord make me faithful to the death and then give me a Crown of Life MEDITAT V. The World is not desirable to a Christian OH my Soul why art thou desirous to stay in the World and why so unwilling to go to thy Father The time was when thou wast otherwise minded thou lookedst upon it as Bochim a place of tears a Golgotha an unlovely habitation thou wast not willing to dwell in Meseck and in the tents of Kedar thy affections did like fire mount upward and what Load-stone hast now to draw thee back thou wast at a point with all things under the Sun and didst wear the World about thee as a loose garment ready to cast off upon all occasions and dost now spit upon thy hands and take better hold dost now set up thy Staff and with Peter say 't is good being here Art now beginning to build Tabernacles here and slight that house not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens thou didst conclude with Solomon Eccles 1.14 All is Vanity and vexation of spirit and now at last hast found some solidity 2 Pet. 2.22 art thou now returnining with the dog to his Vomit and the washed Sow to her wallowing in the Mire are the Scales of ignorance now fallen from thine eyes and dost thou see some excellency in the worlds enjoyments that before
Hell that the Soul is Immortal and the Scripture the Word of God pardon the supposition for some deny the whole and most men live as if they did not believe it but whatever thy present thoughts be if thou art unregenerate thy future thoughts will shew thee thy folly and thou wilt have time enough to wish thou hadst neglected thy Ease Honour Pleasure Grandure yea thy life it self to have made thy peace with thy God and made preparation for Eternity for this preparation would have made thee dye never the sooner nor the neglect of it have made thy life the longer whether thou art prepared or no Death will make a very great change when Eternity is an addition to thy weal or woe If prepared Death cannot hurt thee for it hath lost his sting if not it cannot benefit thee for it terminates thy happiness and dates thy misery the godly shall never have no more Suffering because they have no more sin the wicked as they are never weary of sin so God will never be weary of punishing Haply thou maist live in great misery here and thinkest Death will set thee at liberty but if thou art in an unregenerate condition 't is but leaping out of the Frying-pan into the fire from Temporal Troubles to Eternal Torments which are ten thousand times worse and is it not then time to be serious and haply thou art young and strong and thinkest thou maist live many a fair day yet but what assurance hast when younger and stronger are gone before thee Job 21.23 c. In Job's days such as thee have dyed and so they do still One dyes saith he in his full strength being wholly in peace and quietness his Breasts are full of Milk and his bones are moistned with Marrow And another dyes in the bitteeness of his Soul and never eateth with pleasure Some dye in the Zenith or heighth of their perfection in the highest degree of worldly Prosperity having abundance of good blood and fresh spirits even compassed in their Fat Psal 17.10 as the Psalmist hath it for a full Belly many times makes a foul heart and most weeds grow in the fattest soil and experience teacheth that present health and strength are no assurance of a long life Amos 6.3 think not because thou puttest far from thee the evil day in thy thoughts that therefore 't is really at a great distance It follows not that because thou winkest and wilt not see Death therefore Death is blind and cannot see thee No No he is stealing upon thee at unawares tacito pede with a swift but silent foot and if he arrest thee before thou hast made thy peace with the Creditor Mat. 5.26 thou wilt be cast into Prison till thou hast paid the utmost Farthing Our time-wasting Gallants that spend their time idly or worse than in doing nothing will one day find the Bill of their accounts many fathoms longer than they imagined then they will set a greater estimate upon time than now they do and willingly would they redeem their lost hours which now they know not how to pass away at a high rate but it will not be now they set Death at defiance and meet it half way and hasten it by their Intemperance Drinking Whoring or shorten their lives in a Drunken Fray or Whores Quarrel but when Death comes in good earnest Dan. 5.5 it will seem as terrible as Belshazzers hand-writing upon the wall make their hearts to ake and their joints to tremble especially did they know the consequences of Death they would not be such prodigals of their lives or did they mind their work which they have to do they would not be such Prodigals of their time they should do it in and would think it went away fast enough without driving Oh! how a little time will alter these mens Judgments then their Feathers and Fancies will be laid aside when they stand upon Christs left hand and all their wealth will not purchase one drop of water to cool their tongues 'T is not then a Baalams wish will serve turn nor a Lord have Mercy upon me Mal. 7.22 25.11 will do their work Lord Lord open to us will not prevail those are not like to receive the reward of the Righteous that persecute them for righteousness sake Then they will befool themselves as fast as now they befool others wiser than themselves Then they shall change their minds and sigh for grief and say Wisd 5.3 c. This is he that we sometimes had in derision and in a Parable of Reproach we Fools thought his life Madness and his End without honour now he is reckoned among the Children of God and his Portion is among the Saints c. What hath Pride profited us or what hath Riches with our Vaunting brought us all these things are passed away like a Shadow and as a Post that passeth by c. Then our proudest Gallants willingly would be found in the garb or Fashion now they disdain and deride Now they call those Fools that deny themselves their Ease their Pleasure or Carnal Interest for Conscience sake but then they will befool themselves for choosing Pebbles before Pearls Earth before Heaven and the Creature before God for these things will prove but a pitiful Portion when there is most need Now they think Heaven is held at a dear rate and they will not come up to the price but then they 'l know that it was sold at a cheap rate when they parted with it for a lust and that the World was bought too dear when they gave the Soul for it Mat. 16.26 Now like Damocles they feast themselves without fear and see not the Sword that hangs over their heads ready every moment to pierce into their Brains and end their lives with their dinner Now they prize their honour more than their honesty and consider not that if the foundation of honour be not laid in Vertue the building cannot stand for those that lay the foundation in a shadow the building is but like a Castle built in the air and will soon fall about their Ears but that honour is lasting where God is the top of the Kin and Religion lyes at the bottom But to pass over this I shall give you some account of my present undertaking Some there are that think Books of this nature are unseasonable especially to our youthful Gallants because it spoils their Mirth and they have time enough to think of such things hereafter and they cannot endure to have their Enemy brought upon the Stage for this spoils the Play But to this I answer A young Sheep-skin is brought to the Market as soon as an old and I see not but the Gentry die as well as others yea many by Intemperance hasten their own death and when the Disease is common why should not the Remedy 'T is like enough these will not have time to read this from their necessary
we would but when our work is done and with our Master's leave We must not with our own hands pluck down these earthly Tabernacles neither deny our consent when God will pluck them down we are Tenants at will and must not think to have our Houses at our own dispose whether they shall down or not we came not into the world but at his appointment and must not go out without his leave I know a Godly man though he have some assurance of a better habitation is not so reconciled to death as to choose it for its own sake for Deaths looks are not lovely it being the King of terrors Job 18.19 and the terror of Kings and in it self formidable and hath daunted the courage of the stoutest Souldiers and triumphs over the most triumphant Conquerour and sometimes discomposeth the most composed Christian And therefore as on the one hand it should not be overmuch feared so on the other it should not be overmuch slighted Christ himself had some fearfull apprehensions of it and well he might knowing what he had to suffer the Sting was then in but by his death it was taken out in reference to Believers yet the Serpent is formidable but not poysonful it will strike still though it cannot sting and as 't is an Outlet to Life so 't is an Inlet to Eternity and who can enter into so vast a Gulph and so boundless an Ocean without amazement where he can find neither bank nor bottom 'T is impossible for men to put off Humanity neither doth Christianity teach us to be Stoicks yet it teacheth us to bound and moderate our passions and not overmuch to fear Death When we have a lawful call to it and when 't is our duty to dye when God sends let who will be the Messenger obey we must Lu. 12.5 Fear not them saith Christ that can kill the body and can do no more but fear him that can cast both Soul and Body into Hell yea I say unto you fear him All outward things must be undervalued for Life sake but Life it self must go for Gods sake if thou sell thy life for any worldly advantage thou wilt make a hard bargain For what good will the world do thee when thou art dead Luk. 12.20 Thou fool saith Christ this night will thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these Thou must part with any thing in the world to preserve it but if thou sell thy Soul to save thy life or part with Christ upon that account thou wilt make a bad bargain Mat. 16.26 for what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in Exchange for his soul This is not to prevent death but to Exchange one death for another temporal death for eternal 'T is not a choosing death thou art Press'd to but a submission to the will of God that is required at thy hands and of two evils the least is to be chosen if thou must either choose death or choose sin death is the more eligible for sin will expose thee to the second death and prove the everlasting separation of soul and body from God which is worse a thousand times than death If thou must lose thy life or thy soul let life go if thou must deny life or deny Christ Christ is better than thy life being the very life of thy soul and he that to avoid a little temporal pain incurs eternal torments makes a foolish bargain Now though there be no reason to love death yet is there great reason why thou shouldst love God better than life Psal 63.3 whose loving kindness is better than life though life be dear yet Christ is dearer The Cup of death may be bitter but Hell and Damnation and the eternal Wrath of God are much bitterer which if thou forsake Christ thou must drink up to the bottom which Eternity will be little enough to do God puts Sugar into the former none into the latter Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them But those that miscarry are sent away with a curse Mat. 25.41 Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels c. 'T is true after the Fall death was threatned as a Curse and a Judgment for sin but by the death of Christ the nature of it is changed to Believers Psal 116.15 and the malignity of it abated Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints the sting is taken out and we may put the Serpent into our bosom 't is now to the godly a Sleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and so 't is said of Stephen he fell a sleep and the Grave is but Gods Cabinet to hide his Jewels where they are secured from the evil to come Isa 57.12 26.20 't is but a Chamber to hide them in till the indignation be past And though Deaths chambers be dark they are best to sleep in where thou shalt meet with no disturbance no noise without or terrour within thou shalt neither see nor hear nor feel nor fear evil death is but a sturdy Porter to open the door of thy Fathers house the gates of Heaven to thee to let thee in And though it may expose thee to some pain for the present 't is not much and 't is but momentary and not worthy the glory that shall be revealed for endless Joy presently succeeds it and pain will soon be forgotten If thou canst but stoop a little and croud in at this strait gate and narrow door thou wilt enter into that spacious City the New Jerusalem If thou canst not love death for its own sake yet entertain him for his Masters sake for it is the Embassadour of the great God and for his Message sake for he brings an Answer of peace To submit unto the will of God and to be obedient unto the death is not only thy Duty but thy Wisdom and Interest and to say with Christ Not my will but thine be done and with Samuel 1 Sam. 3.10 Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth If thou deny thy Life when God requires it Christ will deny thee entrance into those Heavenly Mansions and 't is a thousand times better lose thy life than lose his love think not yet that Heaven is had upon hard terms thou maist haply lose something for Christ but shalt never lose by him the way to save thy life is to hide it with God in Christ The hardest terms that Christ propounds are but reasonable 't is thy Interest to go to Heaven though it were even through the flames of Hell much more through the pangs of Death Paul easily concludes to dye for him was gain and to be with Christ was best of all he dyed daily and carried his life in his hand
ready to offer it up when God required it Acts 21.13 and was willing not only to be bound but to dye for Christ at Jerusalem the recompence of reward was in his eye the Crown of glory was in his sight which Christ the righteous Judge should give him at the last day Phil. 1.21 and his desire was that Christ might be magnified by him both by his life and by his death Thou canst contentedly endure pain for health and wilt thou not endure it for Christ and everlasting Happiness Wilt thou not endure some few gripes for glory Thou hadst thy life given thee upon this condition to part with it when God requires it thou art a Tenant at will and so at anothers dispose and if thou wilt surrender God will build thee up a more sumptuous house if thou wilt not he will distrain upon thee pluck down thy house shortly and cast thee into Prison Life it self was given on no other terms but to be at Gods dispose and think not that thou hast wrong Death is the common road wherein all men walk Kings and Emperours leave their Crowns and Scepters at his gate rich and poor great and small bond and free croud in at this door and travail this road if thou willingly resign thou maist make an advantage if not ere long thou wilt be constrained to do it upon harder terms and seeing a death thou must dye what matter is it what Messenger 't is that Death sends to distrain for this Rent whether an ordinary disease or an extraordinary Pursivant whether thou dye in thy bed or go to Heaven in a fiery Chariot and if so the Crown of Martyrdom will be thy Reward Death to the wicked is but an entrance into Hell the beginning of sorrowes yea of eternal death Rev. 20.6 but those that have a part in the first resurrection the second death of them shall have no power Oh my foul why art thou afraid of death seeing the sting is taken out and the nature of it changed let us view it a little better and see what the godly have thought of it and what the Scripture saith of it Isaiah tells thee Isa 57.1 2. The righteous are taken away from the evil to come to enter into peace and to rest in their beds and is Rest so terrible to the weary man Paul calls it a departing Phi. 1.23 and to be with Christ and is this so dangerous to lye in Christs bosom in eternal bliss Job makes no more of it than the cutting down of a flower Job 14.1 2. and is this a matter of such moment Simeon calls it a departing in peace Luk. 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Joshua calls it The way of all the earth Joshua 32.14 Behold saith he I am this day going the way of all the earth and wilt thou be afraid of going in this beaten road In Christs account 't is but a falling asleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth the like was said of Stephen And when he had said this Act. 7.60 he fell asleep and who is afraid of falling asleep 'T is called also a finishing our course 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good fight saith Paul I have finished my course And who would be afraid of his journeys end 'T is called a going hence O spare me Psal 39.13 saith David that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more a going home Man goeth to his long home Eccle. 12.5 saith Solomon and what danger is in going home 't is but a resting from our labour saith the Spirit Rev. 14.13 There the wicked saith Job cease from troubling and the weary are at rest Job 3.17.18.12 there the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor the small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master And how sweet is rest to a weary man and doubtless death to the godly is the end of all misery and the beginning of Happiness O my God I am fully convinc'd and I see great reason why I should submit to thee and lay down my life at thy feet and I resolve through thine assisting grace so to do and to submit my self to the stroak of death when and how it shall please thee Lord assist me in these resolutions lest my enemy surprize me and my deceitful heart betray me and my frail flesh insnare me and make me dishonour my God deny my Redeemer break my Peace with thee wound my Conscience and lose my soul by any sinâ—â—l complyance or denying my Life when thou cal'st for it MEDITAT II. Death is common to Good and Bad. O My Soul why art thou yet afraid at the apprehension of death why dost thou draw back why dost thou frame excuses is death any strange or unwonted thing that thou hast not seen nor heard of before then there were some cause but is it not as common as 't is for a man to be born is it not the end of all flesh the way of all the world Omnibus una manet nox et calcanda semel via lethi is it not the common road that all men tread when they go out of the world young and old great and small rich and poor good and bad all throng in at this Gate and art thou loath to stoop so low Death sometimes strikes the child in the womb and sometimes the man that stoops for Age and art thou afraid of that which unborn Babes and crooked old age undergo Heb. 9 27. and that which is as sure as the coat upon thy back It is appointed unto all men once to dye and after Death the Judgement All men dye once and most men twice but the second Death is far more formidable Job 14.1 2 5. Man that is born of a woman is of a few dayes and full of trouble He cometh up like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not His dayes are determined the number of his Months are with God he hath appointed his Bounds that he cannot pass Job 14.14 and 10.9 'T is therefore thy Duty all the dayes of thy appointed time to wait till thy change come for he hath made thee as the Clay and will bring thee to Dust again 1 Tim. 6.7 Wis 7.16 Thou broughtest nothing into the world and 't is certain thou shalt carry nothing out all have one entrance into Life and a like going out Death makes a very great change so that wicked men have cause to fear it the Godly to desire it and all to expect it Life flies away suddenly and cannot be retained Death comes speedily and cannot be resisted O death Ecclus. 41.1.2 how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at rest in his possessions unto the man that hath nothing to vex him and hath prosperity in all things yea unto
the hands of the cruel into the hand of thy blood-thirsty Enemies but consider who 't is that appoints Death is it not the great God that gives life and is there any but he that can take it away can any act without him when they cannot breathe without him is it not he that kills and makes alive and brings to the Gates of Death and back again is it not he without whose Providence a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground by whom all the hairs of thy head are numbred As thy life is not put into thy own hands to live while thou listest and to dye when thou pleasest no more is it into thy enemies hands to take it away when their pleasure is but in the hand of thy mercifull Father who best knows when thy work is done and when thou art ripe for glory 'T is true he useth Instruments sometimes one and sometimes another but these instruments cannot go one link beyond their commission and these are of his own chooseing sometimes inanimate creatures must do his Will and prove his Executioners thus the waters must drown the old world thus the Red Sea must overwhelm proud Pharaoh and his Host thus the fire must burn up Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities adjacent thus the Earth must swallow up Corah Dathan and Abiram and their company sometimes bruit Beasts 2 King 2.24 thus the two she-Bears that killed forty two Children that mocked the Prophet 2 King 17.25 26. thus he destroyed those that feared him not with Lions yea sometimes very Insects are his Executioners thus he plagued Pharaoh and his people and many others Herod was devoured of Worms and many of Lice and the least of creatures if animated by him can stop the breath of the proudest Tyrant and the strongest and most potent Prince without him can do nothing The Devil himself cannot touch one of Jobs Cattel without his leave the fire cannot burn the three children nor the Lyons devour Daniel having no Commission from him A world of Arians could not destroy Athanasius nor a world of Papists Luther and Calvin God as he hath appointed all men to dye so he hath determined by what death the time when and the manner how and the instruments by whom and every circumstance belonging to it If he pleased he can make five of his people put a hundred to flight Lev. 26.8 and a hundred chase ten thousand Isa 69.1 his hand is not shortned that he cannot save neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear I know in our Creation we were by our composition made subject to death but by his blessing had we not sinn'd we had not dyed for sin brought death into the world but when the Fall came man had not only an aptitude to a dissolution but an irrevocable decree past upon him and dye he must and ever since nature of it self tends to ruine and our bodies like an old house must yield to time and fall in pieces God I know hath power in his hand to maintain life longer or take it away sooner and he acteth accordingly he sets one a longer Lease than another as he thinks fit The Fathers of the first ages lived long some of them near to a thousand years in our age few reach a hundred and there are but few that live so long as Nature might spin out their lives but either by some disease some accident some violence or other offered to Nature their lives are cut off Mans body being compounded of the four elements and of contrary qualities heat and cold drought and moisture except God by his special blessing keep these in peace they will strive for the predominancy and indanger the compositum When sin entred into the world Rom. 5.12 death entred by sin and so death passed over all for as much as all have sinned and Christ in the work of Redemption hath not freed us from the first but the second death not from the stroak but the sting of death Christ died not to deliver us from hunger and thirst cold and nakedness sickness and diseases but so far forth as is for our good and God himself and not we our selves must be Judge in the case Christ himself suffered these miseries and dyed by the hand of cruelty and greater than the Master is the Servant cannot be and man is as liable to this as before Christs suffering Nature thou seest disposeth thee to death and God hath determined the time when for God is the God of Nature and disposeth it as he sees good Well maist thou expect death as the wages of sin and every day doth expose thee to some danger or other which may take away thy life Death comes irresistible like an armed man thou hast no time certain no time promised no breath but what God puts into thee and therefore thou shouldest daily expect death let it come in what shape it will or let God send by what messenger he pleaseth thou shouldst bid him welcome thou shouldst stoop willingly under the stroke for 't is but death still thou canst not avoid it therefore make a vertue of necessity Seeing thy Lamp must out 't is not much whether it be put out or burn out whether the tree rot down or be cut down whether the Rose wither or be gathered if the later 't is like to be put into the bosom all is but death and a death thou owest and a death thou must pay thy natural constitution adapts thee to it and God by his decree designs thee to it and 't is thy duty to submit and no reason to the contrary for it is thy interest The potion thou art to drink is prescribed and mixt by the wise Physician the Cup thou art to drink comes out of thy Fathers hand and no more nay not so bitter as he gave his only Son and he drank up the very dregs of it for thy sake yea and there is Sugar put into thine to sweeten it All the circumstances of thy death are determined by him and none can add one dram to the potion he hath mixed for thee and yet dost thou grumble that it is too much or too bitter dost thou think thy self wise enough to alter Gods Eternal Decrees who hath determined thy daies the number of thy months are with him Job 14.5 he hath appointed thy bounds that thou canst not pass Or wilt thou quarrel the messenger he sends and like the foolish dog bite the stone and let the passenger that threw it go free is there evil in the city 〈◊〉 3.6 and the Lord hath not done it without his leave a dog cannot move his tongue against thee nor an enemy his finger whoever be the Instrument God is the Author Isa 10.5 if the King of Assyria be the rod God is he that holds the rod and when the Child is reformed the rod will be burnt David could see God even in Shimei's cursing 2 Sam. 16.10
were hid from thee take heed lest thou see through the Devils Spectacles for these may deceive thee Is the world now become a Pearle in thine eye that thou despisest that Pearl of great price be not deceived it will not prove a true Diamond but a Bristow Stone Art thou now ready with Cardinal Burbon to say thou wilt not leave thy part in Paris for a part in Paradice consider well what thou dost before thou strike up the bargain and take the world for thy portion take a view of it again and see it in its own dress and not in the Devils paint and colours or in his Glass hadst thou indeed rather be absent from the Lord than from the World and doth it yield thee better delight and satisfaction Well and will it do so at death also where will thy portion be 2 Pet. 3.10 when the earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up give not Christ a bill of divorce till thou art sure of a better match will the World content thee here and hereafter what provision can it make for thee for hereafter if this be all thou takest for thy portion then no wonder thou art loth to leave it for where the treasure is there will the heart be also Hadst thou a great Estate in the World there might be some temptation but who will grieve to leave an empty Cell heretofore when thou hadst a greater Estate in the World thou wast crucified to the World and the World to thee and now dost fall in love with Poverty and Want thou didst look upon it as upon a dead Carkass and now dost perceive some life in it But stay a while and consider well what the World hath and whether her portion can pay thy debts and make provision for thee to Eternity thou canst expect no more portion than it hath consider whether it will serve thy turn the Soul is an immortal piece and must run parallel with the longest line of Eternity will the world do so also if not what will the Soul do when the portion is spent thou art in debt ten thousand Talents and canst not pay one farthing and it must be paid to the utmost mite or thou wilt be cast into a Furnace of fire for ever can the World if thou espouse thy self to it pay this debt No nor all the Angels in Heaven to help it and what a case wilt thou then be in to Eternity 'T is best for thee to return to thy former Husband for it 's much better with thee then Here is enough in him to pay thy debts and provide for the future But is thy forsaking Christ and choosing the World the result of all thy profession and the fruit of all thy Mortification Repentance Self-denial Preaching Praying Hearing Reading Meditating and of all thy other duties and is the World a sufficient recompense for all the pains thou hast taken in Gods Service and dost expect no more at his hands and art thou willing to let go all thy right in the Promises and all thy hopes of a future reward and doth the World make thee amends for all thy losses and crosses thou hast met with upon Religious accounts hast thou reduced thy self to pinching wants hard labour how foolishly then hast thou behaved thy self if the world be thy portion how foolishly hast thou denyed thy self in thy portion why hast thou not run down the current of the times as others have done when it was the way to preferment why hast thou swam against the stream why didst not take thy pleasure as others did in thy sins and sinful company then mightst thou have enjoyed the World as they do for their Portion in Externals is better than thine they take their pleasures they satisfie their lusts and why dost then live a mortified life for the like portion why didst thou take upon thee the profession of Religion when thou knewest it would run counter with the times why dost not swear with the Swearer drink with the Drunkard and be as debaucht as any other if the reward be alike but if thou look for another reward why art thou afraid of the time when thou art to receive it if Religion will not pay thee thy charges why didst profess it if it will why dost forsake it haft thou had a hard Master of Christ hath he failed of his Word or broke his promise to thee is his work or Wages worse than Covenant if not why dost leave thy Master look about thee within and without consider while thou art here what thy wants are what thy miseries and whether the world is like to free thee from the one or the other if it can how happens it in all this time it is not done thou hast spiritual wants can the World relieve those thou hast but a little knowledge of God and dost thou desire no more if thou do in what School wilt thou learn it death will bring thee where all these clouds of ignorance shall be dispell'd and thy knowledge shall be perfected 1 Cor. 13.9 10. Here thou knowest but in part and understandest but in part But when that which is perfect is come that which is in part shall be done away Thou hast now but a little enjoyment of him a few glimpses of him in a duty and dost desire no more what means then all thy Prayers and Duties tending this way but thou art never like to have much more till thou come to Heaven doubtless if thou now take up with the World for thy portion thou art of all men the most foolish why dost thou run from it when thou seekest to enjoy it and why dost forsake thy desired happiness If the world will content thee why dost seek after other things and deny thy self that content the world offers thee Art thou as holy as thou desirest to be and as good as thou wouldst be and hast thou as much satisfaction as thou desirest what is the meaning then of all thy Prayers Studies and other duties why dost bewail thy sins and implore Heaven for power against them and if thou wouldst be better why dost fear Heaven where thou wilt be holy as God is holy if thou be as good as thou desirest to be why dost play the Hypocrite with God and man and like a man in a Boat look one way and row another wouldst thou have no more power against thy sins why then dost rail upon it and revile it and profess that it is thy greatest trouble why dost wrestle and fight and pray against it and bring under thy body and if thou wouldst have power why dost thou fear Death which will free thee from this as well as other Enemies art content to live in thy Pride and Passion and Ignorance and Hypocrisie why dost not then speak plain art thou like some Beggars that have sores to shew to move compassion but are not willing to have them cured lest it marr their Trade
Jonah out of the Whales Belly or Joseph or Jeremy or Paul or Silas or Peter to come out of Prison when the time of deliverance came was ever fick man afraid of Health or Lame man of being restored to his Limbs or a Blind man of being recovered to his sight was ever Hungry man afraid of his meat or thirsty man unwilling to drink or weary man unwilling to rest or was ever Turkish Slave unwilling to leave his Oars or enjoy his freedom yet have none of these so much cause to rejoyce in their freedom as the poor Soul hath in the freedom purchased by Christ and to be enjoyed at death Doth not the Husbandman long for the Harvest when he shall receive the fruits of the Field the reward of his labour doth not the Souldier long for the Victory when he shall receive the Crown doth not the Traveller desire his Journeys end and the Mariner his wished Port and the Labourer for the Sun-setting when his work is done and his wages is due and wilt thou only be afraid of the time when thy misery shall end and thy Joyes commence and all because there is a little dirty though not dangerous way to pass though there be an eternal reward for a temporal yea momentany Pain yea a thousand weight of pleasure for an ounce of grief Oh foolish Soul hast thou fought the fight and won the day and is it but stooping down and take up the Crown and wilt not be at so much pains Is there but one stile more to thy Fathers house and wilt thou sit down here and go no further but one hour between thee and Glory and hast thou spent so many years in reference to it and now wilt not add that hour to the rest hast thou almost run the race and shall one Lake in the way make thee to retire when the end is in sight hast subdued all the Enemies but one and is he disarmed also and lyes prostrate at thy feet and yet faintest and forsakest the Field dost thou fly from the Serpent when the sting is out hast thou vanquished the Flesh the World and the Devil and yet fearest Death which is a reconciled Friend hast thou overcome him that hath the power of Death and fearest thou Death it self Hast thou overcome the substance and dost quake at the shadow many thousand lose their Lives upon lower ends and venture them for a lower reward than here is propounded some for vain glory others for a corruptible Crown and wilt not venture thy life for Eternal glory and to secure thy Soul some venture Life and Soul and all in a Whores Quarrel or a Drunkards fray and wilt thou not in the cause of God and vindication of the truth and that when thy Captain stands by thee are the Gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem open and wilt not enter wilt lose all rather than strike one stroak more O my God let not the Flesh the World nor the Devil deceive me let me not faint under the burden nor ever turn my back upon thee Lord strengthen me and I will suffer for thee MEDITAT VI. What hurt can Death do a Believer OH my Soul what makes thee yet draw back are not all these foregoing considerations enough to satisfie thee but yet the thoughts of Death do appale thee and the thoughts of the Grave make thee to shiver heretofore thou hast even courted Death and solaced thy self with the Meditation of the Grave and the forethought of the time when Sin and Sorrow should be no more and now dost quake at the apprehension of it and art frighted at his grim countenance Consider a little what he is whence he comes and what message he brings and then see if he be so formidable as he seems he is but a Messenger and comes not upon his own errand neither runs he before he be sent he comes not from an Enemy but a friend yea from one that loves thee yea from that friend that sent Jesus Christ to dye for thee and the same love is exercised in the one as in the other he sent first to purchase an Inheritance for thee and now sends to thee to receive it He comes to tell thee the Great King of Heaven and Earth Greets thee and invites thee to the Marriage Feast to the Wedding Supper to drink Wine with Christ in his Fathers Court he comes to tell thee thou hast fought the good fight thou hast finisht thy course and from henceforth is laid up for thee a Crown of righteousness which Christ the Righteous Judge shall give thee at the last day that thou hast been faithfull over a few things and shalt be Ruler over many things and shalt enter into thy Masters Joy He comes to tell thee thou art at Age and must receive thine Inheritance that thou hast been long enough tossed to and fro upon the Waves of trouble and now must enter into the desired Port that thou hast long enough fed upon husks and now must come to thy Fathers house where there is bread enough and to spare he comes to tell thee thy Warfare is accomplished the race is run the prize is won and from henceforth the Crown of Glory is thine own and what hurt is in all this or why is such a Messenger to be feared he comes not as haply thou mayst suppose to break thy peace with thy God no but to make an everlasting peace which shall never be broken to assure thee God and thy departing Soul are at peace and all controversies are ended and that thou shalt never more see one frown in the face of God nor one wrinkle in his forehead he comes not for thy hurt but thy good not to hinder thy promotion but to promote it not to destroy thy body but only sow it in the Earth that it may spring forth a glorious body that corruption may put on incorruption 1 Cor. 15.55 and the mortal may put on immortality that Death may be swallowed up of Victory He comes not to make thee miserable Rev. 14.13 but happy Blâ—ssed are the Dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them He comes not to separate thee from God this he cannot do For neither Death Rom. 8.28.29 nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No Death brings us into a nearer Union and more close Communion 'T is not come to make void the Covenant with God but to make it good for God hath promised in the Covenant to give Christ and Heaven and Glory to thee and how can this be made good till Death and though the body lye for a season in the Grave as Israel did in Egypt after Gods Covenant with Abraham yet shortly Death like
Moses shall come and bring it into the Heavenly Canaan and though Death in it self be a Punishment yea a curse threatned upon the fall and remains so still to wicked men to whom it is an inlet into eternal misery yet to the godly the curse is taken away by the death of Christ who for us was made a Curse and dyed that cursed death upon the Cross to take away the Malignity of it who by his death disarmed Death and took away his weapons wherein he trusted yea took away his sting that now thou maist put the Serpent into thy bosom and now Death is so far from putting an end to Believers happiness that it puts an end to their sorrows and is the very Gate to eternal Life and at the very stroak of Death in that moment of time their Joyes commence and their sorrows end death to the Wicked is a Pursivant sent from Hell to fetch them thither to the Godly a Messenger sent from their Father to bring them home 't is to the body but a quiet sleep free from hurtful dreams or fearful Visions The Grave is but a Bed of Roses perfumed by the Body of Christ a resting Chamber a Repository where God lays up his Jewels wherein thy dust will be kept as in a Cabinet and not one grain of it shall be lost Rev. 20.13 but the Earth the Sea the Grave and Hell shall then give up their dead and then both Body and Soul shall be received into the City of Pearl where no dirty Dog shall trample upon the Pavement when that Death hath done his Office the Angels shall do theirs and carry the Soul into Abrahams bosom and lodge it for ever in the arms of Christ and at the Resurrection when the Soul and Body shall be reunited they shall both be glorified for ever and freed from all mutation and change and all things else that may be called Evil when Death hath broken the Cage the Bird will be at liberty and sing sweetly when the prison Walls are pull'd down the prisoner will be free and is this that which thou fearest how many thousand deaths would a miscarrying Soul endure for Heaven at last yea if Eternity were spent in the continual feeling the very pangs of Death it would be much easier for a damned Soul if it felt no more than now it is and art thou so nice that thou canst not endure it for one Hour for one moment upon the promise of Eternal life Death brings in the Harvest of thy hopes the fruit of thy Prayers the reward of thy pains and of all the losses and sufferings thou hast had for Christ God is now sending for thee to make thee a King and wilt thou now withdraw thy self like Saul and hide thy self as he did when they sought him to make him King here lyes the perfection and end of thy Faith and of thy Hope the Salvation of thy Soul for these Graces as well as others are imperfect here here is the only place where happiness is to be had the only soil where hearts-ease grows and yet must God needs whip thee home or thou wilt not matter it well if now thou refuse to come at his call when thou call'st he may give thee no answer and when thou knockest he may not open but sure some root of bitterness lyes at the bottom either thou dost not believe there is such a happiness or that it is not thine or hast placed thine affections elsewhere and canst not remove them and made some other choice which thou wilt not leave Didst thou stedfastly believe that there was a reward for the Righteous and that thou art one of those that shall receive it how can this be reconciled with thy fears would any wise man take a great deal of pains for an Inheritance and then lose it all for want of taking possession thou hast in thy life-time 't is very like suffered a hundred times as much pain as thou art like to do at thy death and shall this dismay thee more than all the rest the day of Death is not so gloomy as 't is thought to be Solomon when he was upon his Throne in the midst of his Jollity commends his Cosfin Better saith he is the day of Death than the day wherein a man is born Eccles 7.1 Many of the wiser Heathens were of the same mind they wept and mourned at the birth of their Children to consider the troubles they were like to meet with in this troublesome World when they feasted and rejoyced at the death of their friends because their troubles were over and their rest was come and surely Believers have better ground of rejoycing than they had a more sure foundation for Faith and Hope to build upon Oh Death how pleasant is thy face to those acquainted with thee thou art black but comely to those that know thee thou art indeed attended with a little pain but with endless bliss the one makes makes thee feared the other beloved Oh my Soul let us draw a little nearer and take a more exact view of Death and see what is the worst hurt he can do us the best good he will bring us and compare the one with the other and compute the odds and see whether we can make a savers bargain of it and if so how little cause of fear we have It may be thou thinkest thou must part with all thy carnal Joys and worldly delights thy sensual pleasures thy merry Company and bid farewell to all thy merry meetings and pleasant Jokes with all thy Recreations Pastimes and pleasant Sports and be Buried in silence and laid in the dust and must bid thy pleasures adieu and poor Soul is this thy trouble and the cause of thy fear hast thou not better in exchange for them are there not more and more lasting Joyes in the presence of God Psal 16.11 Rivers of pleasures without bank or bottom at the right hand of God for evermore unknown Pleasures unseen Delights which no eye hath seen nor ear hath heard of neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive of such as no stranger shall ever meddle with Pro. 5.14 and will not those make thee amends Let the Epicures of the Age that choose pleasures for their portion plead this argument let the Drunkard howl when the new Wine faileth Joel 1.5 or when the Cup is snatched from his mouth Alas thou hast met with little Joyes and those mixed and the greatest part Wormwood and Gall a litttle Honey and many Stings a little bitter-sweet pleasure that ends in pain yea short and transitory in the midst of laughter the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is Heaviness but what are those to the Joyes unspeakable and full of Glory that is in Heaven 'T is true there are some that are the Sons and Daughters of pleasure Psal 73.5 That are not in trouble as other men neither are
bestowed upon wicked men will off also If thy Name be written in the Book of Life it matters not much if it be blotted out of the world if God remember thee it matters not much though the world forget thee What though the Habitation wherein thou livest know thee no more if thou art acquainted in Heaven it matters not much though haply the place may be recorded for thy sake Psal 87.4 5 6. For of Zion it shall be said this or that man was born in her and the Highest himself shall establish her the Lord shall count when he writeth up his people that this man was born there What matter is it to thee where thou wast born if now thou hast a better habitation thou hast never had any abiding place since thou wast born but posted from one place to another by an over-ruling Providence and never in any long settled Habitation having above twenty times changed thy dwelling many times against thy will and most times by an unexpected Providence And sometimes when thou hast pitcht thy Tent and said Surely I shall dye here Numb 10.12 the Cloud hath removed and thou hast been forced to march some Providence or other gave a check to thy conceits and if thou live longer thy future condition is not like to be more settled thou hast been a wayfaring man all thy dayes even from the Morning of thy Life and so thou art like to be till thy Sun be set And for some season thy own house would not own thee thy own doors were shut against thee and thy nearest Relations durst not entertain thee though no flagitious crime was charged upon thee Many a place that did know thee is now strange to thee and thou art a stranger to it and if this become strange also 't is no great matter If thou art of a Peasant made a Prince and from a Countrey Cottage brought into the possession of a Kingdom never complain what wrong death hath done thee Or is it thy work thou art so unwilling to leave or art thou ready to say Alas what will become of these poor Sheep in the Wilderness 1 Sam. 17.28 if the Shepherd be smitten they will be scattered 't is well if there be so much care of them Paul indeed having the care of all the Churches upon him was driven into a streight whether to choose Life or Death yet to dye he knew was best for him but to live for them but I fear there are few like-minded that naturally care for the Church for all seek their own not one anothers welfare but the argument may be retorted If thou which hast been a Shepherd fly when thou seest the Wolf coming how shall the Sheep stand if thou turn thy back upon Christ and rather deny him than suffer for him what woful work will this make among the Sheep if thou refuse to seal thy Doctrine with thy blood what encouragement shall they have to own their profession to the Death when the Captains run what havock will the enemy make among the Souldiers but what will thy Life add to any mans happiness or thy Death diminish from thy own If the chief Husbandman take thee out of the Vineyard 't is but to make room for other Labourers for his work shall not stand if he stop thy mouth he will open the mouths of others his work shall be done whether thou live or dye Thou art almost laid aside as a broken Vessel and if he break thee quite the matter is not much there will be little loss And if thou live thou art in a capacity of doing little good but if thy Sun set at Noon God will not diminish thy wages Luk. 9.62 if he take the Plough out of thy hand he will not blame thee for looking back those that workt but one hour in the Vineyard had their penny but thy Sun is almost set the shadows of the Evening are stretched out Jer. 6.4 and Nature it self will shortly end thy dayes and cut off the thred of thy life if thou shouldst spin it to the utmost extent and yet art so loth to have it broke off a little before the time if thou hast imployed thy Talent well God will not chide thee that thou hadst it no longer he doth not require so much use for the half-year as for the whole nor so much work to be done in the half as in the whole day in the Vineyard If he call thee hence to serve him elsewhere he expects thou shouldst obey for thy praises in Heaven are as pleasant to him as thy Preaching upon Earth and for the Church of God take no care he that hath made provision for it this five thousand years he will not leave it now and can do his work without thee and if God take away thy life he will take away thy work and lay thy burden upon others shoulders The same stroak that lets out thy life le ts out thy sin and sin being gone the consequents fruits and effects of it cease also which are labour and sorrow Job 3.17 18. and in the grave the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary are at rest Death may be sweet to those to whom Life hath been bitter and though death may destroy thy Body yet shall it have no dominion over thy Soul Eccles 12.7 the Spirit returns to God that gave it The body is but a crazie Pitcher and no wonder if it break nay 't is a wonder it hath run through so many dangers and is not yet broken and when it is broken 't is but of the same Clay to make a better by the same Potter Thy life is precious indeed and should not be sold but not so precious as to be bought at such a rate as the loss of the Soul What wise man will sell the Jewel to redeem the Box Christ lost his life for thy Souls redemption and wilt thou not lose thine for its preservation Temporal death is the only in-let to Eternal Life but to seek to save thy Life when Christ and his Cause require it is the ready way to eternal death to lose it in this case is to save it and the way to get the greatest gain and to prevent the everlasting separation of soul and body from God which is the second Death But Death of it self cannot seperate from God Rom. 8.28 29. and however it may make the body loathsom in the eyes of men and undesirable to near Relations yet it cannot make it unlovely in Gods eyes or move him to forsake it and though it do fall into the earth and rot there 't is but as seed sown into the ground to spring up with more advantage it is a part of Christs Purchase and shall not be lost 1 Cor. 6.19 't is the Temple of the Holy Ghost and though it be ruined 't is but to be rebuilt and not one pin of it shall be wanting for the Grave
dye as to dine and accounted the day of their Death their Wedding day Paul was ready not only to be bound but to dye for Christ Many were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection they had Trial of cruel mocking scourging yea bonds and imprisonments they were stoned sawn asunder tempted slain with the Sword they wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins Heb. 11.36 c. being destitute afflicted and tormented of whom the World was not worthy they wandred in deserts and in mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth c. The more thou sufferest for Christ the more weighty will thy Crown of Glory be those that loved not their lives to the death but were killed for the Testimony of Jesus are placed under the Altar nay follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes and are cloathed with long white Robes and have Palms in their hands But if thou deny thy life to Christ he will deny thee entrance into this Heavenly Canaan and thou shalt not only lose thy reward but thy Soul also and expose thy self to Death Eternall If thou suffer with him thou shalt reign with him and if thou art ashamed of him he will also be ashamed of thee Those that honour him he will honour and those that despise him shall be lightly esteemed If thou come to suffer for him as many eyes will be upon thee so many Prayers will be put up for thee and doubtless much comfort will be dropt into thy Soul by the Spirit of God who is the Comforter sent by God upon this business and God will stand by thee in suffering times and give in Cordials to refresh thy heart I have read of a Christian that under his Rack and Tortures as he after told his friends apprehended a young man with a handkerchief wiping the sweat off his face and comforting him The holy Angels will stand by thee and God will not be at a distance from his suffering Saints and who then need fear to dye that hath learnt to live if thou be prepared thou needst not fear what Messenger God sends for thee nor at what hour of the night thy master comes for Death cannot be sudden to the prepared Soul that is alwaies upon his watch and thou needst not fear what thy sufferings be if thou canst but say Propter te propter te Domine 'T is for thee and for thy sake we are killed all the day long and accounted as Sheep for the slaughter The more thou sufferest then the more deeply thou engagest God to thee and he will pay thee an hundred fold this is the best usury and the best way thou canst dispose of thy life for every year on Earth that thou hast lost thou shalt receive a thousand in Heaven and for one friend thou forsakest here thou shalt receive a thousand there and for every thing thou losest for his sake thou shalt be recompensed a thousand fold and as thou shalt have no loss so thy Enemies shall be no gainers by thy death they heap up coals of fire upon their own heads and without repentance prevent it augment their own damnation for Christ will take it as done to himself and their torments are like to be as durable as thy Joyes which will be for ever and ever Consider not so much what thou sufferest as for what and for whom if it be for the Truth it will prevail and if it be for Christ thou shalt not lose by it Truth is more precious than life it self and fit to be sealed with thy blood thou must deny thy self rather than deny thy God for he that gave thee thy life is fittest to dispose of it and whosoever parts with his life upon this account makes a good bargain he cannot buy this Gold too dear Many are the encouragements given in Scripture to persecuted Saints Mat. 5.10 11 12. Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets that were before you And as great will be thy reward so great also are the company of thy fellow-sufferers even from righteous Abel to this day Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers Persecuted Yea Christ and his Apostles followed after for almost all of them dyed a violent death and greater than the Master is the Servant cannot be the world that hated Christ will hate his Servants also and persecute all that bear his Image If they hated him for righteousness sake they will hate all that are righteous Christ suffered for thee the wrath of God and wilt not thou suffer for him the wrath of man he was stung by Death and dost think it much to be strucken by it now the sting is out he suffered for thee the pains of Hell and think'st it too much to suffer the pangs of death for him when many times it is not so much as some have endured from an aking tooth and what is this to the recompense of reward he gave thee thy life and can take it if he please and yet desires thy consent and if thou refuse he will distrain of thee for this debt The worst of Enemies can but stop thy breath and the least of Creatures can do as much if animated by God The least Fly or Hair or Crumb of Bread will choak thee if God give it a commission and well maist thou fear it if thou hast denyed God to lay down thy life for his sake sickness or age will as surely end thy life as thy Enemies can though haply not so suddenly thou hast no assurance of it a day to an end neither canst thou have only put it into his hand and he will dispose of it for thy good how can the seed spring up if it be not sown or how can the body rise if not fallen if God suffer any to take away thy life 't is not out of any love to them or hatred to thee he loves his Child better than his Rod though sometimes the rod may be set on high when the Child is turned out of door yet when the child is reformed the rod shall be burnt they cannot preserve their own lives nor take away thine 't is God doth both and ere long they must tread the same steps and down to the same pit and travail the same road and enter Deaths dark Vault as well as others only here is the difference death which will bring thee as Joseph out of Prison will bring them in and as it knocks off the bolts from thy heels he will fasten shackles and chains upon theirs and shall bring them like Haman from his glory to his execution that death which will set an end to thy misery will terminate their felicity it will
bring thee to glory but them to shame and everlasting contempt well may they fear Death but thou hast more cause to desire it Heaviness to thee may continue for a night but joy comes in the morning and by the eye of faith thou maist with Stephen see beyond Death even Heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God yea the Tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradice of God the Crown of glory the purchased Inheritance the Prize for which thou didst run the Crown for which thou didst fight If thou hast a mark in thy forehead for a Mourner in Sion there thou shalt have a Crown upon thy head in token of Victory Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Thou art almost come to the top of the hill draw not back now nor let thy heart go down hold out now Faith and Patience your work will not be now long hold fast what thou hast let no man take thy crown let no temptation draw thee away from Christ consider well the hand that holds it and the design Satan drives on to captivate thy soul for ever Thy life as it is not in thy own hand and should not be at thy own dispose so 't is not in thine enemies hand to take it away at their pleasure but as God makes wicked men his Skullions to scour off the rust of his people so also his Executioners to fulfill his Decrees all is in the hands of God both the Time when the Manner how and the Instruments by whom it shall be done he knows best when his work is done and when to gather his Roses and lodge them in his bosom and the Devil and his instruments are but his drudges and when the measure of their sins are fulfilled they shall have their reward The Devil himself was not able to kill one of Jobs Sheep nor to raise one boyl upon his body without Gods leave Job 1.10 for God had set a hedge about him as he was fore't to confess And God will seal no commission to the dammage of his people for all things shall work together for their good Rom. 8.28 And why dost fear man whose breath is in his nostrils or the son of man that is vanity if the fear of God be planted in the heart the fear of men and Devils will vanish for God hath them in a chain and they cannot go a link beyond it Dan. 3.19 6.16 Nebuchadnezzar had power to cast the three children into the fiery furnace but not to burn them Darius had power to cast Daniel into the Lions den yet not to cause him to be devoured the Sodomites compassed Lots house but could not enter and Haman procured a decree to cut off all the Jewes but lived not to effect it Those that are faithful to the death Rev. 2.10 shall receive at God hands a Crown of life and shall be made pillars in the house of God if they overcome But if thou revolt and deny thy God thou art from under his protecting hand and canst not claim one promise of his assistance then thou standest upon thy own legs and must shift for thy self and a miserable shift it will be Dost contend with him about thy life that hath the keyes of life and death at his girdle he that gave thee thy life and being and thou hast no breath but what he gives thee See the grievous judgments that God brings upon Apostates which both the Scripture and Church Histories will furnish thee with the fallen Angels Adam and Eve in paradise Judas Achitophel Ananias and Saphira and many more and in after ages not a few and what think'st to get by Apostacy by denying thy God or thy Religion perhaps thou thinkest to save thy life a little longer a miserable bargain and yet the Devil cannot assure thee of that It is to be feared that many in Ireland in the late Rebellion had they been brought to the trial whether they would have forsaken their Religion or their Lives would not have chosen Death yet they suffered in the name of Protestants when 't is to be feared they had little more than the Name the question not being who were godly and who wicked but who were Protestants and who Papists and so it will be in England if ever a Massacre be there made by the Papists which God forbid good and bad are there like to drink of the same cup how much better then is it to devote thy life to God leave it at his dispose if he save it bless him for it if he take it away let his will be done if thou thus carry it in thy hand to lay down at his pleasure if he require it not thou shalt not lose thy reward as Abraham did not though Isaac was not sacrificed If thou resolvedly deny it though he require it not thou shalt not be innocent as Abraham had he denied his son though God eventually determined he should not dye yet had been a transgressour and had miss'd of the blessing yet 't is not required of thee by God to lay down thy head upon the block but use all good means for to save thy life and as Christ bids his disciples Mat. 10.23 when they are persecuted in one city to fly to another for if thou suffer without a call thou losest thy reward all lawful means for self-preservation must be used or we are guilty of our own blood but when thou must sin or suffer dye or deny the truth thou must not deny the truth for lifes sake nor do evil that good may come of it then trust God if he will he can preserve thee if not his will be done for then he sees it besâ— to take thee away from the evil to come of two evils the least is to be chosen losing thy life is not so bad as losing Gods love Psal 63.3 for his loving kindness is better than life a violent death upon this account hath been the lot of many thousand Saints that have deliberately made this choice whose souls are now attending upon the Lamb whithersoever he goes from the beginning of the world to this day no age was free from innocent blood which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted the Apostles the primitive Fathers and many thousand Christians were baptized with Christs baptism and went to Heaven in a Sea of blood The Jewes made havock of the Church in the Primitive times and when they were destroyed and their power taken from them the Roman Emperours in the Ten bloody persecutions destroyed hundreds of thousands of them and after that succeeded the Arian persecution and when that was ended and the Pope got his foot into the stirrop and sat as he pretends in the infallible Chair he exceeded in cruelty the Heathens themselves witness the Spanish Inquisition the bloody butchering of the Waldenses and Albigenses the Massacres in Paris and other Cities
thee home and now art fallen in love with it that thou wilt not leave it and rid of it thou canst not be till death let out thy life 't is only in the Grave thou wilt be at rest and hid from sin which then cannot find thee nor any miseries which now are the effects of sin nor from the temptations which are the inducements to sin and dost thou yet tremble to part with such an Enemy thou hast pretended Enmity to sin and been at Daggers drawing with it and art now reconciled to it it hath been thy trouble to have it and is it now thy trouble to leave it many a poysoned Arrow the Devil hath shot at thee and wouldst still be his Butt to receive his Arrows and venomous Shafts These Hell-hounds haunt thee and will hunt thee till thou art in thy Grave there they will lose the scent and can follow thee no longer here is thy Borough thy hiding place where thou art shut in by God and secure Here the weary are at rest here the Prisoners are secure and hear not the voice of the Oppressour here thou shalt be freed from all that is called misery Sin is an imperious Tenant or Inmate it will not out till the house be pull'd down yea will turn the Landlord out of doors Oh what hard hap had man to admit of such a Guest but this is thy comfort sin is but a Tenant at will not at thy will but the Will of God who will shortly pull down the House and set thee at liberty and Oh! thy madness that though thou canst no other way be rid of it yet art unwilling to dye and be happy In Heaven Paul shall never cry out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Here the unclean conversations of the wicked shall never vex the Soul of righteous Lot David here shall never water his Couch with his tears nor Jeremy wish his heart full of water and his eyes a fountain of tears to weep day and night for the destruction of his people There is nothing here that can procure misery for here sin shall be shut out for no unclean thing shall ever enter But it is not sin only but sorrow also as well as sin shall be done away for when the cause is removed the effect shall cease It was sin that brought Death into the World and all the forerunners of it yea all the concomitants and consequents of it here thou art troubled with a sickly body subject to many infirmities many pains aches griefs and troubles scarce a waking hour free from pain and from head to foot scarce a free part but one pain or other doth molest it some pain ache or grief attends it every sense as 't is an inlet to sin so 't is to pain and misery to let in one trouble or other into the Soul and help to affect the heart with some fear or care or grief or trouble and these consume it as the scorching Sun the tender Flowers Oh how tender a piece is this dust-heap thy Body more brittle than glass it self a little cold or heat soon molests it how many tender Membranes Sinews Arteries Veins Muscles c. are therein contained and every one subject to obstructions extentions contractions dislocations c. and upon this distempers necessarily follow well maist thou say with Job Job 3 4.13 14 15. I am made to possess moneths of vanity and wearisom nights are appointed to me When I lye down I say When shall I arise and the night be gone and I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day When I say my Bed shall comfort me and my Couch shall ease my complaint then thou scarest me with Dreams and terrifiest me through Visions So that my Soul chooseth strangling and Death rather than Life What bitter pills what nauseous potions dost thou take when sugered with the hopes of health what crying out Oh my Back Oh my Head Oh my Heart Oh my Bones Oh what would I give for a little ease a little rest a little sleep for a Stomach my Stomach nauseates my meat when others want meat for their craving Appetite and how hard a thing is it to keep up this poor old decaying ruinous Cottage in repair one Wall or other is continually ready to fall to ruine and at which door Death will enter is not yet known and when it comes it will but destroy thy body which for the Materials of it are no better than the body of a Beast which ere long will fall for Death is all this while undermining it and the rational Soul doth only keep it from putrefaction and Death is but a departing of the Soul from it to Glory and why shouldst be troubled to have the Prison-walls pull'd down and the Prisoner set at liberty why art unwilling to lay aside this flesh which hath taken part with Satan against thy God and is at present a temptation to thee with Peter to deny thy Master why choosest thou to live in a darksome nasty Prison where thy Wings are pinioned that thou canst not mount up to thy God where thou hadst thy Original this body is but a clog at thy heels and never was intended for thy dwelling place but only as a Tent or Pavilion an Inne or resting place for a night where like a wayfaring man thou maist rest for a while and away but here thou hast no continuing City thou art passing on to another place Phil. 3.21 to a Mansion a House not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens which Christ at his departing provided for thee when this Tabernacle shall be built into a Temple for God shall change this thy Vile body that it may be like unto his Glorious body and why then dost content thy self in this dirty Cell when thou maist have such a glorious habitation doth thy heart ake to think that the time is coming it shall never ake more or dost thou weep to think all tears shall be wiped from thine eyes and thou shalt never weep more or is it a matter of grief think'st that thou shalt never grieve more and art afflicted to think thy afflictions are at an end what unnatural sorrow is this art thou sick to think that in Heaven thou shalt never more know what sickness means or that thou shalt never more have an aking Head or an aking Heart here thou wilt be freed from whatsoever may be properly called Evil and shalt want nothing that is really good Here Christians themselves prove stumbling-block's in each others way which causeth tears from the eyes and sorrow from the heart but there the fire of love will consume the thorns of contention here corruptions like thorns serve to keep the fire of contention alive and those flames are more like to burn up their graces than their dross for the divisions of Reuben there are great thoughts of heart Judg. 5.15 but
thy back upon Christ he will turn his back upon thee and be ashamed of thee If thou make light of his Supper thou shalt not tast of his daintes The question thou seest is not whether death be desirable or no Nature it self answers the contrary but whether the first or second death be the greater evil and so whether is to be chosen when both cannot be avoided The question is not whether pain be eligible but whether the pains of death or hell be the greater Not whether life be desirable but whether life or Christ be the better Whatever thy senses may say rectifyed Reason which should govern the sensitive faculties will tell thee the second death is far more formidable and that 't is better to deny thy self than deny thy Redeemer Oh my God is this the reward of Apostacy is this the wages the Devil gives his best servants Through thine assisting grace I will be thine Lord I resolve I will never forsake thee Lord do thou never leave me to my self nor forsake me MEDITAT X. Of Heavens Glory the reward of dying for Christ OH my soul thou hast seen the danger of revolting and denying Christ thou hast had a view of hell which is the reward of this sin thou hast looked into it and had a glimpse of it though it was but a little representation a true map of it the Devil himself cannot make nor give a full discription but here is enough to stay thy stomach how thinkst of it if thou trade for it canst thou make a savers bargain if thou lose thy soul to save thy life For this is the trade thou drivest if thou deny Christ here is the Devils offered wages 't is true he sugers this bitter pill with a promise of a longer miserable life in a cheating world but he cannot make good his bargain though he will not be behind hand with his wages Mat. 25.41 if thou depart from Christ now he will bid thee depart from him for ever what is thy resolution Halt not between two opinions if God be God serve him 1 Kin. 18.27 if Baal be God serve him thou canst not serve two masters God and Mammon If thou pretend to both thou art like to be cast off by both by God and the world as many hypocrites are the world hates them because they look like the godly and God hates them because they are really wicked consider therefore who is like to be the best master and who will give the best wages and if the ballances are yet equally poized I shall put in one weight more even an eternal weight of glory into Gods end which may haply turn the scales though the whole world were in the other end for if thou be faithful to the death thou shalt receive a crown of life and this crown will really over-ballance all that the Devil can put into the other end Thou hast seen there is but a little in the world worth the losing and a great deal in hell worth the fearing let us see if there be any thing in heaven worth the enjoying in the world is nothing but vanity in hell nothing but misery and in Heaven nothing but felicity now what wise man would lose this felicity and endure this misery for a little while to enjoy this vanity Thou hast seen the Devils wages that is the best of it for the worst the Devil himself cannot make thee understand for it is inexpressible and no word in humane language can set it forth to the life yet thou hast had a tast of it and a tast is better than a whole draught Now if thou would'st see what wages God will give thee thou must make a journey also into Heaven and see if there be any thing that may win upon thy affections thou seest already what the Devil and the world have bidden thee see also what wages God offers thee and then choose as thou seest cause see if there be any thing in Heaven to make up all thy losses crosses sufferings and pains which thou must be at for Christs sake and if there be not take thy course and make another choice view those celestial habitations those mansions of glory prepared for those that confess Christ before men and lose any thing for his sake view this purchased Inheritance this Crown of glory and those eternal pleasures that are at Gods right hand and see if God do not outbid the Devil and the World and so best deserves thy affections and consider whether this may not a little allay thy overmuch desire of life and fear of death and make thee willing to be at thy Redeemers will and Makers pleasure one view of this celestial Paradice may make thee disrelish all temporal felicity But how shall we sing the songs of Sion in a strange land or what conceptions can we have of these Heavenly Mansions while we abide in houses of clay Water can ascend no higher than the Fountain-head and Nature cannot transcend Nature what conceptions can a beast have of a rational being much lower must we have of a celestial being for the disproportion is greater how canst thou view those gloryes surpassing a thousand Suns when thou canst not view one Sun when it shines in its splendour but thy weak eyes are offended how canst utter those things which the Apostle that saw them calls inutterable how canst discourse of the Father of Spirits and knowest so little of the nature of a Spirit nay art so ignorant of thy own soul or tell what it is to enjoy God in glory when those little glimpses of him here are inexpressible or how canst thou discourse of that which eye never saw ear never heard of neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive of viz. What God is and what he hath prepared for those that love him for as those hellish flames which the wicked suffer cannot be fully described by those that endure them no more can those celestial joyes by those that enjoy them much less by a frail creature that hath had very little tast of those honey-dews that fall upon the heirs of glory In this wilderness of troubles we see few of those Canaans grapes and foretasts of Glory the full fruition no man living can discover Yet let us get a Pisgah sight of Canaan a remote view of glory and judge a little of the worth of the Jewel by the richness of the Cabinet that holds it and haply thou maist by the report as the Queen of Sheba of Solomons wisdom get some conceptions of it that may make thee like her be willing to take the journey though thou hearest not the one half of what there really is to be seen and though thy conceptions reach not the matter in hand yet may they reach thy affections and serve to dazle thine eyes that all earthly glory shall seem little to it To this purpose let us view the bespangled Spheres adorned with those beauty
full of trouble Yet many wish their dayes were three times double The Captive Slaves that in the Gallies lye To end their Bondage yet are loth to dye They flee from death although he be their friend For when he stops their Breath their Sorrows end Life is a warfare Death doth stint the strife We leave not fighting till we leave our life We fight against our sins the world and Devils At death we fully Vanquish all those evils To heavenly Joyes Death opens us the door Where sin and sorrow they shall be no more There 's no Corruption shall molest us there There 's no Temptation that we need to fear Why fear we Death then he this Boon will give Our Enemies shall dye but we shall live Life is the day wherein we labour hard Death is the night and then comes our reward Now we with Tempests on the Seas are driven Death is the Wind that blows us to our Haven Is he less happy that a brisker Gale Drives to the Shore or he that 's under Sail Whom fierce tempestuous winds as yet are driving Who with a thousand dangers yet are striving In life we in the raging Surges be Death comes and lands us in Eternity In life the Saints are Heirs but under age When death comes they receive their Heritage Heaven is our Kingdom but to come thereat There is no other way but through this Gate Life is our Journey Death our Journeys end Life is our Enemy and Death our Friend Death like a Pilot guides us to the Shoar He is the Porter that must ope ' the door We cannot serve our God or Christ enjoy Without distraction till our dying day Death 's but a quiet sleep when wearied 'T is but put off our Cloaths and go to bed Death is Gods pursivant and will compell Gods Friends to go to Heaven his Foes to Hell He is his Messenger none can prevent him None can resist him or the Lord that sent him Both Prince and Peasant drink of the same cup When he invites them home with him to Sup. All men must pledge the health Abel began There 's none exempt the Master nor the man The greatest Potentate cannot escape The way to Heaven and Hell lye through this Gate The high the low the rich and eke the poor When he doth knock must open him the door Nor fear nor favour makes him turn aside He will not be perverted with a Bribe What though some have their lives drawn out at length And we cut down by Death in our full strength What Hurt to us if we receive our pay For one Hours work as much as for a day What dammage to us if Commandment come When others work till night to leave at Noon The weary labourer pants and longs for rest And when he 's in his bed he thinks he 's best The Bed of Death to th' weary will give ease Our sleep's not broken there by worms nor fleas No fearfull Dreams nor Visions of the night Disturb our Fancies there or minds affright Within Death's Sheets the Grave we rest secure Free from oppression and tyrannick Power Our Souls like Captive Birds in Cages sing Death breaks the Cage and then the Birds take wing The world 's a Pest-house sin doth us infect Death 's our Physitian shall we him reject The Soul 's infected with sins foul disease And naught but Death can give us our release The world 's a Prison and we Captives be And only Death our Champion sets us free We mortal are when Death of life bereaves us We dye no more Death doth immortal leave us A thousand Maladies do each day attend us We 're sick to Death and none but Death can mend us In life we languish Death can make us well He 's like Achilles Spear can wound and heal Poor and in want we up and down do wander Death makes us all as rich as Alexander Death levels all both rich and poor do stand On equal ground none serve nor none command When Death hath done his work there 's no man can Discern between the Master and the man The Princes Skull no more than other men Bears the impression of a Diadem 'T is true of terrors Death is call'd the King And well he may while he retains his Sting But to Believers he no hurt can do For he hath lost his Sting and Poyson too In Stinging Christ this Serpent lost his Sting He that brought terror then doth comfort bring Christ conquer'd him and shall we fear to meet A Vanquisht Foe lying prostrate at our Feet For since that he was overcome and foil'd He is no Enemy but reconcil'd To good and bad he shews not the same face He 's Foe to Nature but a Friend to Grace We are poor mortals life is our disease Death our Physitian that can give us ease We groan for pain yet would not be set free We love our Bondage hate our Liberty Rather than over Jordans streams we 'l venture We 'l dye i' th' Wilderness or Egypt enter This Son of Anak Death more terror brings Than all the fiery Serpents with their Stings And though Egyptian Bondage doth torment us Flesh Pots and Leeks and Onions here content us At Death 't is true we must to Ashes turn But God will keep those Ashes in his Urn. And when the all-awakening trump shall sound The smallest Atoms of it shall be found And then by vertue of a new Indenture The Soul into her new-built house shall enter God shall with robes of honour then invest her And sin and sorrow shall no more molest her She shall by Christ her Judge be then acquitted And all her sins and trespasses remitted She shall in glory Halelujah's sing Unto the mighty God the worlds great King And wedded be to Christ in endless Joy And in her Husbands Bosom lye for aye Sorrow and Sighing then shall fly away And Tears shall swallowed be in endless Joy Then set thy House in order for thou must Within a little time return to Dust Lord make me then to know my later end How long the number of my dayes extend That I may know how frail I am before I go from hence and shall be seen no more When will this Joyfull Marriage be oh when Oh come Lord Jesus quickly come Amen Edward Bury FINIS The Author hath in the Press a. Book on the Subject these Poems are of Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside
flame Now those that are constant and faithful in these and the rest of the Ordinances and means God hath appointed to this end are likelyest to have the qualifications before mentioned and those thus qualified need not fear death those that walk evenly with God in Prosperity are most like to hold out in Adversity Heb. 2.14 and need not fear death nor him that hath the power of death the Devil The more faithful and constant any one is in the Trade of Godliness the more Assurance he may have of a happy death and joyful Resurrection and what hinders then but a chearful resigning our selves to death when God calls a man will not willingly resign up his old Lease till he have assurance of a better but who will not leave a Cottage for a Palace or exchange an old Suit for a new Rags for Robes when assurance of Heaven is got no wonder if earth be contemned for who will not change a Temporal Life for Life Eternal And thus Courteous Reader if thou art prepared I have spoken to thee in the Book if not in the Epistle wherein I have given thee some direction how thou maist be prepared and how thou maist come to be fit to live and fit to dye and fit to lye in the Arms of Christ for ever What effect the Book will have upon the one or the Directions on the other I know not but my desire is and my Prayer shall be that it may be beneficial both to the one and to the other This will be your own advantage but the comfort of him who subscribes himself Yours for your Souls good Edward Bury Eaton Octob. 23. 1680. Books printed for and sold by Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheap-side near Mercers Chappel SErmons on the whole Epistle of Saint Paul to the Collossians by Mr. J. Daille translated into English by F. S. An Exposition of Christs Temptation on Matth. 4. and Peters Sermons to Cornelius and circumspect walking by Tho. Taylor D. D. A practical Exposition on the third Chapter of the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians with the Godly mans choice on Psal 4. vers 6 7. by Anthony Bargess Christianographia or a description of the multitudes and sundry sorts of Christians in the world not subject to the Pope by Eph. Pagit Dr. Donns 40 Sermons being his 3 Volumes Forty six Sermons upon the whole Eighth Chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans by Tho. Horton D. D. late Minister of St. Hellens An Analytical Exposition of Genesis and of 23 Chapters of Exodus by George Hughes D. D. The Door of Salvation opened by the Key of Regeneration by George Swinnock M. A. An Exposition on the five first Chapters of Ezekiel with useful Observations thereupon by William Greenhill Gods holy Mind touching matters Moral which he uttered in ten Commandments Also an Exposition on the Lords Prayer by Edward Eston B. D. The Fiery Jesuit or an Historical Collection of the rise encrease doctrines and deeds of the Jesuits Horologiographia optica Dyaling universal and particular speculative and practical together with a description of the Court of Arts by a new Method by Sylvanus Morgan A seasonable Apology for Religion by Matthew Pool Separation no Schism in Answer to a Sermon preached before the Lord Maior by J. S. An Exercitation on a question in Divinity and Case of Conscience viz. Whether it be lawful for any person to act contrary to the opinion of his own conscience formed from arguments that to him appear very probable though not necessary or demonstrative The Creatures goodness as they came out of Gods hand and the good mans mercy to the bruit-Creatures in two Sermons by Tho. Hodges B. D. Certain considerations tending to promote Peace and Unity amongst Protestants Mediocria or the most plain and natural apprehensions which the Scripture offers concerning the great Doctrines of the Christian Religion of Election Redemption the Covenant the Law and Gospel and Perfection A Soveraign Antidote AGAINST THE FEAR of DEATH OR A Cordial for a Dying Christian being Ten Meditations suited to that End MEDITAT I. What Death is to a Believer and to an Vnbeliever WHY art thou cast down Psal 42.11 O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God What is it that thus amazeth and terrifieth thee Why art thou so distracted in thy duties and so full of anxious fears and doubts is it the apprehension of death that so disquiets thee Why man didst thou never look Death in the face till now didst never behold his grisly looks and grim face yea thou hast many a time and art thou yet afraid is this the fruit of all thy prayers and thy mortifying Meditations hast not thou instructed many Job 13.4 c. and strengthned the weak hands thy words have upholden him that was falling and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees but now it is come upon thee dost thou faint and when it toucheth thee art thou troubled Is a disease now more terrible than formerly Or the apprehensions of death than in times past or is it bad News that terrifies thee and makes thee afraid Some Papist plotting to take away thy life Psal 112.7 among others the Psalmist tells thee he shall not be afraid of evil tidings whose heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. Suppose they seek thy life and thirst after thy blood hast thou no hiding place no City of refuge to fly to till the storm be over Hast thou no interest in God no Friend in the Court to make thy complaint to Prov. 14.32 No comfort in time of need But dye thou must well yet the righteous hath hope in his death and doth thy hope and thy happiness then expire with thy life Come let us reason the case and see if there be so much cause of desponding as thou pretendest Art thou from under the protecting hand of God Ps 59.1 Or is his hand shortned that he cannot save Isa 50. or his ear heavy that he cannot hear Where is the bill of divorce that he hath given thee Or hath the Lord put thy life into thine own hands and dost thou think it will be wrested out by violence Art thou thine own keeper and dost mistrust thy strength Or is thy life put into thy Enemies hand and by whom Or can they take it away without a Commission God usually keeps the Keyes of Life and Death at his own girdle Or if thy Life be gone is thy Happiness at an end if not what need all this consternation this is more than thy Enemies can do without leave and if they could what a great matter is it for a man an Old man to dye but 't is him whom thou callest thy Father Numb 16.22 that can kill and make alive and brings to the
gates of death and back again 't is he that is the God of the Spirits of all flesh are not thy Enemies also at his dispose and their lives are they not in his hands Who was it that turned the counsel of Achitophel into foolishness Exod. 14.28 Esth 7.10 and drowned Pharaoh and his Army in the Sea and caused Haman to be hanged upon the Gallows he had made for another and can take his Enemies in their own snares and the crafty in their own devices And is not this God in Heaven yet and doth he not rule among the children of men and dispose the Kingdoms of the world to whom he pleaseth and wilt thou fear man whose breath is in his nostrils and the son of man that is vanity and cannot he deliver thee out of their hands if he see it good and will do if he have more work for thee to do and if not why shouldst thou desire to live longer and if they must be the messengers which thy Father sends to fetch thee home what hurt is in that what wrong is done thee Heb. 9.27 If thy trouble be that thou must dye it may be as well that thou wast made a man for it is appointed unto man once to dye and after death the Judgment And if thou wouldst not have God to have the dispose of thy life why dost thou not speak out and renounce thy Christianity Lu. 14.26 Was it not one of the first Conditions Christ required of thee when he first admitted thee into his service If any man saith he come unto me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters Mat. 16.25 yea and his own Life also he cannot be my disciple And doth he not plainly tell thee he that will save his life shall lose it and he that will lose his life for his sake shall find it Is not this the lowest degree of true grace and a necessary qualification without which thou canst not be his Disciple he told thee this at the beginning he doth not impose upon thee and put new Conditions into the Covenant that were not agreed upon Joh. 16.33 Heaven was never offered upon lower tearms he always told thee that through many tribulations thou must enter into it and if the World hate thee and the seed of the Serpent persecute thee 't is no new thing thou knewest it before and if thou tookest up the profession of Religion and not reckon the Charges 't is not Gods fault but thy folly Christ never indented with thee to leave it at thy dispose when and how thou shouldst dye if thou refuse to dye in the Cause of God if he require it the Heathens will condemn thee who would venture their Lives for their Countrys good and many times upon lower accounts as to end their Miseries to prevent a worse death or to get themselves a Name and hast not thou a better call than any of those when Christ and his Cause require it Many of the Gallants of our time that 't is feared are not very well provided for Death yet will venture their Lives in a drunken Fray in a Whores quarrel or to prevent the name of Coward but if they well understood the consequents of their death they would be more timerous and wilt thou shrink back in the cause of Christ when his Truth and thy own Soul ly at the stake when thou canst not deny to dye but thou must deny Christ and his Truth and hazard the Salvation of thy Soul Dye thou must whether thou wilt or no and there is no thanks to thee Heb. 9.27 there is a Decree pass'd in Heaven which cannot be reversed more firm than the Laws of the Medes and Persians and wilt thou lose thy God thy Christ thy Soul thy Heaven and Happiness and all to prolong thy life a little longer which yet thou knowest not whether thou canst do it or not If thou dye for Christ thou puttest off thy life at the greatest advantage imaginable and if thou refuse when he requires it thou runnest thy self upon the most desperate danger conceivable Thou think'st perhaps the condition is hard and so it is if thou only consult Flesh and Blood and the Sensitive faculty but if thou consult with Grace and rectified Reason thou wilt find it much easier than at first it seems There is greater reason God should dispose of thy Life who gave it thee than that thou shouldst dispose of the lives of Bruits that thou didst not canst not give them and yet thou thinkest thou dost them no wrong but God hath a better interest in thee and a clearer title to thy life than thou hast to them Life indeed is a precious Jewel and to be valued above all earthly enjoyments but Christ and the Soul are more precious than Life it self and when Life cannot be had but Christ must be denyed and the Soul lost 't is easie to determine what is to be preferred for he that will preserve his Life at these rates makes a bad bargain 'T is thy duty 't is true to part with any earthly enjoyments for lifes sake Job 2.7 Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life but Life and all must go to secure the Soul Death 't is true is an enemy to Nature yet in some cases it must be chosen and we must deny our selves Hunger and Thirst are natural to us and the Appetite requires Meat and Drink and yet did we know there was Poyson put into our Cup or Dish reason would restrain the Appetite and rather choose Hunger or Thirst than a worser evil Physick is not pleasing neither to be chosen for its own sake yet for healths sake we take bitter Pills and unsavoury potions Pain is not pleasant to the flesh but an enemy to Sense yet Reason perswades us sometimes to open a Vein to prevent greater pain and to cut off a Joynt a Member a Limb to prevent greater mischief Some discontented persons weary of a miserable life not only wish for death but lay violent hands upon themselves choosing Death as the lesser evil these leap out of the Frying-pan into the fire and consider not what the Event of such a death is these have low ends and drive on a bad bargain and seeking to avoid Scylla they fall into Charybdis Job 3.21 22. these obey not Gods Call but the Devils Whistle There are some that long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasure they rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave This is unnatural joy for as 't is our duty to yield up our breath when he that gave it calls for it so 't is our duty to preserve our Lives and our sin to hasten our death before he requires it We must not leave our station till our Captain commands it we must not leave the Vineyard when