of the Stone in his Kidneys that forceth from him at every moment most grievous sighs and groans If any should offer to paint before him his looks and grimness or that should counterfeit them ingeniously in his presence he would bring him little ease to his torments rather an increase to his vexation and trouble The most beautiful Flower also can give no delight to such as are rackt in the Executioners hands or tied to four Horses that are ready to tear him in pieces Thus it is with the most eloquent and florid Discourse it can bring no comfort to a soul that is departing Davids Harp alone can drive away the evil spirits and appease the troubles of a wounded Conscience But some may imagine in this general survey of the wise Follies and Vanity of the Heathen Philosophers I should except the Stoicks I confess that in this particular they express more gravity but they proceeded no better nay when I have well considered them I find them to be far more unsufferable and more impertinent than the rest for besides that they treat of the immortality of the soul in a very doubtful and unconstant manneâ— the pretended comforts that they offer do render Death more dreadful They tell us that Death is the end and center where all humane Afflictions and Miseries cease therefore it is rather to be desired than avoided or feared They might have some colourable reason for this conclusion if they did but discover beyond the Grave an happiness which they might here expect and hope for Death assures them of no other comfort but only to put a period to all the miseries of this wretched life Therefore such kind of Discourses are not properly Comforts and the resolution that they beget in us is but a silly Passion much like unto a Criminal upon the Rack who impatiently longs for Death that he might be delivered from the cruel hands of the Executioners or who bears the inferior torments with joy to get on the top of the Scaffold where he is to be broken upon the Wheel Oh miserable wretch the change of Tortures will bring no ease to thy Pains if thou canst not endure patiently the Ropes that unjoynt thy Members how wilt thou suffer the bar of Iron that shall crack all thy bones in pieces O blind Philosopher If thou canst not bear the miseries of this life how wilt thou endure the pains and tortures of Death Moreover they tell us That the most cruel and painful Death is a noble occasion to exercise our vertue and to cause our constancy and resolution to appear with admiration This discourse seems to be plausible but in reality it is nothing but wind for what availeth this apparent vertue because it doth not stop us from falling into the deepest Abyss of Torments and Misery but it perisheth and dies with its Idolaters Therefore such as have most admired it have at last acknowledged its vanity witness that famous and worthy General who fancied that his vertue would procure unto him the Victory over all the Enemies of the Roman Common-wealth for whose sake he took up Arms when the Battle was lost and all his ambitious hopes had deceived him being ready to stab himself with his own sword he cryed out Oh miserable Vertue what art thou but a vain and an unprofitable word a name without a body He did thus exclaim against his Vertue that he had formerly adored because it could yield him no comfort in the day of his distress nor free him from falling into utter dispair The most ordinary and usual comforts that they commonly bring are these That Death is inevitable that we all enter into the world upon condition to go out that we have as much cause to be afflicted with the day of our Birth as with the day of our Death That Humanity and Immortality are not consistant That Death is a Tribute we all owe to Nature That the Kings and greatest Monarchs are forced to pay it as well as the meanest Subjects and that this is such an universal Law that it admits of no exception But these kind of Comforts do but increase our trouble and add to our affliction I have therefore good reason to speak unto these grave Philosophers Job's language to his troublesome friends Miserable Comforters are ye all For in truth they don't only search the wound to the quick without any application of an healing Plaister but they also tear and widen it enflame and render it far more grievous when we are in hopes of seeing an end to our calamities our soul is comforted and armes it self with constancy and a patient resolution but when we see our selves cast into an Abysse of Evil and that no hopes appear of getting out we are then overwhelmed with grief and despair It is a lamentable thing to be born to dye but it is far more lamentable and grievous to know that Death is not to be avoided that all the Treasures of the world cannot free us from it for his affliction is the greatest whose misery can never be cur'd This also is a false and deceitful maxime That the comfort of the miserable is to have companions in misery although many thousand drink together of the waters of Marah they seem no less bitter and although thou shouldest be burnt in a fire where many are consumed thou shalt not find there a milder and a more easy abode Thy neighbors grief doth not lessen thy Affliction their Sickness cannot restore to thee Health and their Death comfort thee against the approaches of thine own On the contrary if thou hast any sence of Humanity thou wilt weep for their Misery and thine together It is that which great Xerxes King of Persia did practice for when he took a view of his numerous Army in which there were 1100000 Men and considered that within one hundred years so many brave Captains and Soldiers would be rotting in their Graves he was moved with compassion and wept I do not mention here the brutish and foolish opinion of such as imagine that Mans Soul is mortal and dies with our Bodies This consideration brings no comfort but casts us into an irrecoverable despair for after the torments of Hell fire there is nothing that can be imagined more dreadful than a reducement to nothing It is needless also to mention the Philosophers that are Disciples of Plato who have discoursed of the Souls Immutability and of its Blessedness after this life they imagine themselves very acute and subtle but their discourses of this matter are so gross and extravagant that instead of perswading the Truth they express it to scorn and contempt Let their fond and imaginary descriptions of the Elysian Fields be witnesses for whatsoever they have invented of this kind hath been placed amongst the Fables and poetical Fictions Those Chymerical Gardens under ground contain nothing like to the Divine Excellencies and unspeakable pleasures of the Paradise of God In one word
more That if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remains no more sacrifice for sin but a terrible expectation of judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries for our God is a consuming fire Chap. 10. And in the Revelations it is not only said that in the Holy Jerusalem there shall no unclean thing enter or that committeth Abomination or a Lye and that God will shut out the Dogs the Witches the Fornicators the Murderers the Idolaters and whosoever doth love or do a lye Chap. 2.22 But the Spirit of God assures that the timerous that is such as are more afraid of Man than of God the Unbelieving the Execrable and Murderers the Fornicators and Witches the Idolaters and Lyers shall have their portion in the Lake that burnes with Fire and Brimstone which is the second death Chap. 13. 6. When we should speak the language of Angels when we should give all our Goods to nourish the Poor and when we should give our Body to be burn'd if we have not charity we are but like the sounding Brass and like the thinkling Cymbal When we should be able to perform Signes and Wonders if we be not cloathed with Innocency and Holiness if we be not adorned with Meekness and Love Christ will at last treat us as the foolish Virgins with a Depart from me I know you not When we should be able to cast the Devil out of other Men it will avail us nothing unless we can cast him out also of our own hearts with all the wicked Lusts that he nourisheth there To what purpose shall such cry out at the great day Lord Lord have not we prophesied in thy name have not we cast out Devils in thy name have not we done many miracles in thy name Jesus will return them this sad answer Depart from me ye workers of iniquity 7. Consider that whatsoever be your share of the advantages of this life when you shall come to dye you shall not carry away with you your Riches your Honors nor your Pleasures but if you be rich in Faith and good Works if you be cloathed with Holiness and crowned with Righteousness If Piety and the service of God be your delight you shall carry away out of the World this Spiritual Treasure this Celestial Glory and this Angelical Satisfaction It is what the Holy Spirit teacheth when it tells us Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their Labours and their Works follow them 8. Let us always have before our eyes the blessed examples of so many Saints who have traced us the way to Heaven by their Piety and good Works they are enter'd into the Paradise of God and the Glory of his Kingdom It is reported of a Painter that when he had a designe to represent an accomplished Beauty he borrowed from divers Objects the Excellencies and Perfections with which he was to adorn his Picture from the Lillies he took their whiteness from the Roses their red tincture from another Object the wonder of the Eye from another the coral of the Lips and so of the other parts Likewise to restore in our Souls the Image of God defaced by sin we must borrow the Vertues and Excellencies of former Men for example Represent always to your selves Abel's Innocency Henoch's Holy life Noah's Justice Abraham's Faith Lot's Hospitality Isaack's Obedience the Faithfulness of Jacob the Chastity of Joseph the Patience of Job the Meckness of Moses the Zeal of Phineas the Constancy of David the Wisdom of Solomon the Piety of Josias the Prayers of Daniel the Tears of Jeremiah the Fastings of Hester the Holy Earnestness of the Woman of Canaan the Devotion of Cornelius the Charity of the Samaritan the Alms of Dorcas and of the poor Widow the Publicans Humility the good Thiefs Repentance the Tears of Mary Magdalen the Weepings of Peter the undaunted Courage of St. Paul and his indefatigable disposition and the glorious Martyrdom of St Stephen and of so many noble Souls of all Ages and Sexes who have gone to the torments with as much joy as to Feasts and to Triumphs and who have sealed with their Blood the truth of the Gospel with an undaunted resolution Seeing therefore that we are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us pursue with constancy the Race that is set before us 9. Chiefly Let us look to Jesus the Author and finisher of our Faith for he hath left us an example that we might follow his footsteps All the Vertues that we admire in these faithful Souls are but like so many little beams of the Sun of Righteousness and a weak Image of his Glory There is no Fire so perfect but it sends up a Smoak nor Righteousness so accomplish'd but hath its Imperfections whiles we are cloathed with this weak flesh The behaviour of the most Holy and Perfect is defiled by many infirmities but our Lord and Saviour is the Lamb without spot or blemish in whose Mouth there is no guile for it was necessary that we should have such an High Priest who is Holy Blameless separated from Sinners The perfect image of all Vertues was never found in any mortal Man on Earth but Jesus Christ is the fairest amongst the Sons of Men his Lips are full of Grace in him alone we have a perfect model of all Vertues and of all Perfections that we can imagine Therefore when the Apostle had perswaded the Romans to renounce the Lusts of the Flesh Drunkenness Anger Envy and such like sins instead of making an enumeratiun of the Vertues opposite to these Vices he thinks it sufficient to propose Christ's Holy example Put on the Lord Jesus Christ saith he to teach us that all the Vertues and Graces do enter and meet in the Sacred Person of our Saviour Jesus Christ in the highest degree of perfection 10. We are so much the more obliged to imitate Jesus Christ and to imprint in our hearts his Holy Image because that he is not only our Father our Lord and our King but he is also the blessed Head of that Body whereof we are Members It is not just to unite defiled and profane Members to an Head so Glorious and so Holy Whosoever gives himself over to his Lust and Delights in the corruption of sin maimes as much in him lies the Sacred Body of the Son of God This consideration drew from St. Paul this expression Shall I take the Members of Christ for to make them the Members of an whore 11. The Divine Spirits dwelling in our Hearts is a great obligation to Holiness of life know you not that you are the Temple of God and the Holy Ghost dwelleth in you Ezek. 8. Shall we be so base as to uncover our filthy and dirty thoughts before so Holy and Divine a Guest Shall we be so bold as to erect upon his Altar Idols that may provoke him to jealousie His eyes are so
they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the Flame kindle upon thee and say with David When I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thou art with me thy Staff and thy Rod shall comfort me Psal 23. It seems the Primitive Christians had adesigne to shew us this Truth by the Picture of a Giant-like man wading through the Sea with a Staff in his hand and a Child upon his Shoulder for this Giant is the Emblem of a Christian who lifts up his mind as high as Heaven The Sea signifies the dangers of this World and the fears of Death The Staff represents Faith that keeps us up in our passage through Life and Death upon which when we lean we worship the living God of Heaven and Earth and the Child is an Image of Christ therefore he that bears him is called Christophorus that is He that bears Christ Cesar could not endure to see his Pilot tremble in a furious Storm at Sea because he was in his Boat we have far less reason to be afraid seeing that we carry in our Hearts the great Emperor and Monarch of the World the Hope and Comfort of Israel Cesar was as much in danger as his Pilot to make Shipwrack but our Lord Jesus Christ hath all the Winds at his Command He can still the most disturbed Sea and through the most grievous death he can cause us to pass and arrive to the safe Haven of an Eternal Rest and of a most happy and glorious life When David shewed himself with a purpose to fight with Goliah he spoke to this prodigious Philistines in this manner I come unto thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel But you Christian Souls when you are to encounter with Death you may say to it not only I come to thee in the name of him who Commands legions of Angels and all the Armies of immortal Spirits but I come to thee cloathed with his Armor strengthened by his Holy Spirit and assisted by him in person for Jesus Christ who hath overcome death for us intends to overcome it by us We are the living Stones which he hath chosen of his disinteressed Mercy to bring down that proud insulting Enemy that causeth all Worldlings to tremble and cover their faces with Shame and Confusion Judg. 6. We have already seen a Sampson breaking in pieces with a wonderful strength the Cords with which he had been bound by the Philistians and tearing also the Body of a young Lion in which he found some few days after Honey most pleasant to his taste It will be much easier for us when we shall be strengthened with the Divine Vertue of the Lord Jesus of whom Sampson was but a Type to tear in pieces all the Cords and Chains of Death We shall rent in pieces the Body of this old Lion and when we shall search into his Bowels with a serious and repeated meditation we shall find the sweetest and most ravishing Comforts As when the Prophet Elias was carried up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot he let fall his Cloak with which Elisha separated the Waters of Jordan so that he passed through the River on foot Likewise our Saviour Jesus Christ being ascended up above the Clouds to the Throne of his Glory he hath left us the precious Cloak of his Righteousness he hath granted us his Holy Spirit that we might pass through the turbulent Waves of this tempestuous Sea of the World by its Divine Vertue and that through death we might enter into immortal Life And as the death of our Lord Jesus Christ separated his Soul from his Body although both his innocent Soul and Holy Body remained always united personally to his Divinity In the same manner the Believers death disunites for a time his Soul from his Body but it can never separate it from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus that is the Soul of our Souls and such an Holy Flame that it can never be extinguished When the High Priest of the Jews put off his Priestly Garments he cast off at the same time his Breast-plate where the names of the twelve Tribes were engraven Exod. 20. Not only our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life not only our Pictures are printed upon the Palms of his hands with the Bloud of the Covenant but we be as a Signet upon his Heart Cant. 8. so that we cannot be separated from him no more than his heart can be taken from him his Love is stronger than Death and his embraces are embraces of Love Ruth promised to Naomi that Death alone should be able to separate them Ruth 1. But on the contrary we may tell our Lord and Saviour who is as our Father Brother and Husband not only death shall never be able to separate us but it shall rather bring us nearer unto thee and cause us to rest in thy bosome where we shall be for ever satisfied with thine Heavenly delights Christians you need not fear Death for you are not to be wounded by all its Darts for you have been dipt in the River that springs to Eternal Life The Spirit of the Lord Jesus that is in you is the Spirit of Life the beginning of immortality and the only Spring of Eternal Glory and Happiness Seeing that the breath of the Prophet Elias raised a dead Body to life the Spirit and the Breath of the Father and of the Son will be able to keep your Spiritual life from decaying unless it be in Death's power to stop the breath of the Almighty unless it be able to limit the beams of Light and Glory that came from his Divine countenance unless it can cause the Rivers of living Water that spring out of his Throne to cease and dry up It is not possible that it should cause us to perish and render us miserable Therefore you are certain of your Eternal Happiness while Jesus Christ shall be the Author and Well-Spring of Light Life Glory and Immortality and that his Holy Spirit shall be victorious over Death and Hell and you may sing with David I shall not dy but live and declare the Works of the Lord Ps 118. You be not only sure of this Glory and Eternal Happiness and you be not only enter'd into possession of it by your Faith and Hope but you begin already to enjoy it and its First-Fruits for he that believes in Jesus Christ is past from Death to Life and whosoever hath the Son of God hath Eternal Life As the Prophet Moses when he was in the Wilderness did not only see afar off the Land of Promise but he tasted of its delicious Fruits Thus we don 't only behold afar off with the Eye of Faith our Celestial Inheritance but we taste at present and relish some of its blessed Delights And as the Fruits brought by the Spies were the same
imagine that this Sign of the Son of Man is the Sign of the Cross which shall appear in the air This opinion in it self is harmless but in regard that it hath no foundation in holy Scripture I am not to insist upon it Others believe that it shall be the Fire with which Jesus Christ shall burn the Earth dissolve the Elements and punish unbelievers This conceit is grounded upon St. Pauls words to the Thessal 2. Thes 1. It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Others conceive that this Sign of the Son of Man is nothing else but the Body of Jesus Christ bearing and discovering the print of the nails in his hands and feet and the wound of the Spear in his side This they gather from these words of the first of the Revel Behold he cometh with Clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him There be others yet that take it in another sence and that believe that there shall be no particular Sign but that we must understand by this Sign of the Son of Man all those things which shall declare the end of the World and the coming of Jesus Christ to judge the quick and the dead If we take the words in this manner there will be an excellent allusion to that which is commonly practised when Kings and Princes make their publick entrance into great Cities for their coming in is proclaimed by the sound of a Trumpet and by the attendants of Majesty a Train and Pomp that usually accompanies it In the same manner the glorious coming of Jesus Christ shall be known by the sound of the Archangels Trumpet and by all the Signs and wonderful alterations which shall suddenly happen in the Heavens This last opinion is very likely and the former advanceth nothing contrary to the analogy of Faith Therefore in harmless matters which are controverted and not plainly decided by the Word of God we leave to every pious Soul a liberty to chuse that which it likes best Some inquire further If it be true that the Souls of the Damned go down into Hell immediately after their egress out of the Body and if they are tormented in a Fire that goeth not out whereof the heat never lessens as the Christian Religion teacheth and as we may see in the Parable of the rich Glutton doth it not follow that these wretches are already judged How is it therefore that the Son of God will judge them again at the last day and send them to an everlasting burning prepared for the Devil and his Angels I answer First That it is no absurdity to say that one Sentence shall be pronounced twice for Men are wont to read the Sentence of Doom to the Prisoner before he is taken out of Prison afterwards the same Sentence is published before all the people at the time of execution Likewise when the Souls of the Wicked go out of their wretched Bodies God pronounces to them the Sentence of his Death But when Jesus Christ shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory he shall publish the same Sentence before all the Men of the World and all the Angels of Heaven Besides that Sentence was never pronounced but to the Soul but then it shall be declared both to the Soul and Body and both together shall be sent to the everlasting burning from whence they shall never be reprieved From hence therefore Christians you may gather that there are three degrees of Punishments or Torments to the Wicked for in this Life they have a Worm that knaws their Bowels and Heart and a kind of Hell that Torments their Consciences At the going of their Souls out of the World they are cast headlong into the Eternal flames of Hell where they suffer unspeakable Torments at that time their Bodies are senseless in their Graves as the Bodies of the righteous But at this last and dreadful day of Judgement as the Grave shall restore all the Dead Bodies Hell which is the place designed for the Torment of the Damn'd shall give up all the Souls that are tormented in its flames and these cursed Souls shall be remitted to their miserable Bodies to suffer the pangs of an eternal Death Revel 20. Thus they shall be cast in Body and Soul into the bottomless pit where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth At that time the Beast the false Prophet and all the Enemies of God and of his Church shall be cast alive into the Lake burning with fire and brimstone which is the second Death Revel 19.10 11. And when all these Offenders shall be executed the Executioners themselves shall be punished for their Crimes when the Damned shall be cast into eternal Tortures the Devils and infernal furies shall be sent after them as it is said The Devil who seduced the Nations shall be cast into the lake of fire and Brimstone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever Revel 20. What a dreadful sight is it to behold all those Roaring Lions those furious Dragons in their rage vomiting forth fire and flames What a joyful spectacle shall this be to the Children of God to look upon these infernal Devils bound fast with those Chains which they shall never be able to break and shut up in this bottomless pit out of which they shall never be released Our Lord shall cast into this Lake of fire and brimstone and shut up in this bottomless pit not only the Devil and his Angels the Beast and the false Prophet and generally all wicked Souls and unbelievers but he shall cast therein also Death and the Grave or rather he shall abolish them for ever As Josuah when he conquered the Kings of the Amorites he never killed them until such time as he had overcome all his Enemies Likewise our Lord Jesus Christ our true Joshua hath encountered with Death upon the Cross and overcome it by his Resurrection but he will not destroy it altogether until the last day when he shall come to judge the World Then to perfect all his glorious victories he shall destroy this last Enemy this destroyer of his Brethren and of his Members so that Death shall be no more It shall be no more for the wicked they shall seek it in vain to be freed from their Torments It shall flie away from them as a shadow that departs and is no more to be found Death shall be no more for Gods Children for it shall never disturb their Rest and Happiness If the old Serpent could enter into Paradise we should fear his temptations and inflamed Darts and if Death did continue in its Empire and Command
death of other men but hath not the deadly and pernicious consequences for it is not only a sign and a testimony of Gods Grace and Favour but the beginning of our deliverance and the cure of all our Diseases As Moses when he had cast wood into the waters of Marah they had the same colour but not the same bitterness and unpleasant taste Thus the death of Gods dearest Children hath the same tincture and appearance as before but Christs Cross hath taken away the danger the trouble and extracted out of it its unsufferable bitterness and changed it into unspeakable sweetness As Pharaoh was drowned with all his Army in the waters of the Red Sea but the Children of Israel found a secure and a pleasant passage into the promised Land When they were arrived upon the other shoar of that dreadful Sea they sung unto God Songs of Triumph and Thanksgiving Thus Death opens its Throat to devour the Reprobates It is an Abysse where they can find no bottom but unto the Children of God it is a favourable passage into an eternal Bliss assoon as they are gone through they are arrived to a place of Assurance Joy and Rest where God furnisheth them with Songs of Triumph and Thansgiving to the Lamb 1 Rev. 15. Moses's Rod was turned into a Serpent but Aaron's being laid up in the Tabernacle began to flourish and bear Almonds Exod. 4. and 7. Thus while we are in the hands of the Law Death is dreadful and terrible but when we draw near to Christ the true Ark of the Covenant it blossoms and brings Fruits forth of Joy and Eternal Comfort Balaam the Prophet was called to curse the People of God but he blessed it contrary to the vain expectation of Balak King of Moab Thus Death hath been brought into the world by the Devil to destroy and utterly abolish the Holy Seed but God by his infinite Goodness and Wisdom hath changed it into Salvation and Blessing Let us not therefore be any longer puzled to find out the meaning of Sampsons Riddle Out of the eater came forth Meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness Judg. 14. For the Church of God unto whom Christ hath discover'd the most excellent Secrets of his Kingdom teacheth us to seek the Hony the sweetest comforts out of the Belly of this old Lion It is not possible to Judge of Musick by a Tone or of an Oration by a Period nor of a Comedy by a Scene So we must not judge of a Battel by the first Assault nor of a wrestling by the first embraces and effects of the wrestlers for some in the beginning of the Battel turn their backs who nevertheless at the last doe sometimes win the day and the victory and some in wrestling are foiled at the beginning who nevertheless at last supplant their Enemy and cast him upon the back Therefore that we may better understand the great and notable advantages that we have over death we must examine it all along until the end of the encounter we must take notice of every Assault that we do give unto this unreconcileable Enemy Assoon as the Taper of our Life begins to burn Satan sends forth his blasts to extinguish it Death labours to undermine ' this poor Dwelling from the first moment that it was built it besieges it on all sides it makes its approaches in time it saps the foundation it batters us with several diseases and unexpected accidents every day it opens a breach and pulls out of this building some stones But if Death labours to demolish on her part we on ours labour to repair And as those who built the Walls of Jerusalem held with one hand the Trowel and with the other a Sword to sight so we defend our selves as well as we are able against the assaults of Death Therefore we do not only endeavour to preserve this earthly Lodge that God hath Lett and Sett to us for a term and to mend up the continual Dilapidations that happen in it but at the very sight of death when it gives us the Assault we do then also advance our Spiritual building and labour to bring it to perfection so that we may say as the Apostle St. Paul If our outward man decays the inward man is renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4. To speak true Death meddles with nothing but with the exterior part of Man for our principal Fort and chief Bulwark doth neither fear to be undermined nor sapt nor to be won by Assault for it is rais'd above the Heavens and built upon the Rock of Eternity it cannot be batter'd for as the Thunderbolts the storms of Hail and ill weather cannot prejudice the Sunbeams because they are of a Spiritual nature so all the Fury of the World all the Powers of Hell and the Rage of Death can never wrong the Soul that is of a Spiritual and Immortal Nature This Castle can never be famished for God furnisheth it with Manna from Heaven and from the Rock upon which it is built there runs a source of living waters that riseth to everlasting life In one word as the Serpents do crawl only upon the Dust Death hath no power but upon the earthly part of Man therefore our Lord Jesus Christ adviseth his Apostles To not fear them that kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul At the very instant of our Souls separation from the Body Death seeâ—s to have a great advantage upon us but when I consider all I find that it hath no cause to glory and that it is without reason that it chalenges the victory When a valiant Captain marches out of a Town almost destroyed to another more secure and better fortified with his weapons in his hand we say that he hath quitted his station and not that he is overcome Thus when this wretched Body decays and that our Souls depart well armed with Faith and Hope to lodge in a more secure place in the highest Heavens no body can say to speak properly that we have been overcome And as it happens with such as sail on the wide Sea when a violent storm threatens them with Shipwrack they think themselves very happy if they can quit then Vessel leave it to the mercy of the Winds and Waves and escape to Land with their Riches and Lives safe Thus it is with us who sail upon this tempestuous Sea of the world for when Death raiseth its most cruel storms we think our selves happy if we can leave this miscrable Body which seems as a ship to our Souls and if we can secure our Spiritual Life and our Heavenly Riches Therefore we may justly say to the faithful Souls that are frighted when they see Death threatening to drown them in its depths as St. Paul to his Ship-company who did tremble for fear at the sight of a roaring and furious Sea Take good courage my brethren for I do assure you in the name of the living God that your lives are
and with our Daughters with our Flocks and with our Heards there shall not an Hoof be left behind Exod. 10. Thus we in an Holy Confidence may talk with Death maugre thy Rage and Fury we will go up to Heaven to sacrifice unto our God immortal praises we shall get out of thy slavery We our Wives our Children our Brothers and Sisters our Parents and Friends all the People of God whom thou dost at present keep in a close restraint notwithstanding the infernal attempts of thine inhumane power there shall not remain so much as an handful no not so much as the least grain of our Ashes behind us When the Son of God shall appear in his Glory from Heaven he shall consume all Death's Trophies and Monuments with irresistable Flames so that it shall happen to this imperious Enemy of Mankind as it happened to the Kings of the Amorites mentioned in the Israelitish History Josh 10. for as Joshua suffered them to live until he was returned from his victory and then when he had perfectly overcome all his Enemies he Commanded them to be brought forth and gave order to his Captains to tread upon their necks and then with his own sword he dispatcht them cast them into a Cave and caused great stones to be rowled at the entrance of it Thus shall our true and Celestial Joshua deal with Death he suffers it to reign while he is gone to pursue his Enemies for the last Enemy that shall be destroyed by him is Death when he shall have perfectly subdued all other Enemies he will then conclude all his victories with a glorious end and accomplish the Churches Triumph by causing us to trample upon Death that shall be cast into the bottomless pit whereof the entrance shall be shut up for ever Rev. 10. then shall be accomplisht this glorious Prophesie Death is swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15. for the Spirit of God assures us in express words That Death shall be no more By what we have said it may easily appear what is become of the Rope thrice twisted by the Devil with an intent to strangle therewith all Mankind for the Son of God hath cut in pieces the first of these unhappy ties by his Almighty power by the Spirit of Sanctification he loosens the second by degrees and by the last he draws us to himself and then he burns and consumes it altogether therefore we have no reason to fear an Eternal Death nor to tremble when Hell opens wide its mouth If we resist the Devil he flies away from us Jam. 4. at last we shall trample him under our feet Rom. 16. It is true that the sad and doleful effects of the Spiritual death do commonly draw out of us many a sad Groan and Tear whilst our Soul remains in this sinful Flesh we are already got out of the Tombs of Corruption and Sin but yet bear about us as it were our Winding-sheet and some odd Reliques of our natural Misery But we have this consideration to comfort our drooping spirits That Christ will shortly give the same order from Heaven for us as he did for Lazarus Loose him and let him go Joh. 11. So that instead of the corruption of our Nature that is so incommodious to us he will invest us in Estate of Glory Incorruption Immortality and perfect Happiness for the Corporal Death we may justly say That our Lord and Saviour hath freed us from all the fears that it might beget in us so that it is my judgement that we may not only affirm that we have not the least apprehension of it but expect it with assurance for if we be truly of the number of the faithful and Gods adopted Sons we hope desire and hasten Deaths arrival by our most carnest and most passionate wishes What I have already declared in this Chapter might satisfy any Christian Soul and furnish it with sufficient considerations to strengthen it against all apprehensions of Death But as one that is wont to buy Stuffs in a Shop when he cheapens such as are slight and of a small value he casts his eye only upon a piece or a pattern and by that judges of the rest but when he intends to purchase a rich Tapestry of great value he desires to visit and consider every part one after another and make an estimation of the value and beauty of every corner So I judge that the Wise and Religious Reader will desire now that I have discover'd to him in gross the Body of Consolations against the fears of Death that I should in the next place unfold these hidden Excellencies produce every part of them by degrees to his contemplation and with my Pen make him take notice of all the Rarities CHAP. 6. From whence proceed the fears of Death AS a wise and discreet Physitian usually examines with care the causes of the Disease before he prescribes a Remedy and as an experienced Chirurgion searcheth the wound before he claps the Plaister to it Thus I judge it necessary to seek with diligence from whence the fears of death proceed before we shall appoint the Remedies to the faithful Souls for when we shall have perfectly understood the nature of the Disease and its principal Causes we shall without difficulty be better able to assign a convenient Remedy when we shall have searcht the wound and washt it clean we will with Gods assistance pour into it the true Balm of Gilead First we have just reason to accuse our selves of too much unmindfulness of Death we don't meditate so often as we should upon the misery and frailty of our poor and despicable nature we acknowledge it I confess with our tongues that our life is but a breath in our Nostrils a vapor that soon disappears a shadow that quickly vanishes away but in the mean time we flatter our selves in our hearts with more pleasant thoughts and desire as Herod that Men should look upon us as so many little Gods Acts 12. We suffer our selves to be deceived by the flattering insinuations of our corrupted Flesh and by the artificious suggestions of the old Serpent that whispers to us as to our first Parents You shall not dye Gen. 3. 2. We commonly affirm that Death is inexorable without Ears nevertheless we live as if we had concluded an agreement with Death and had secret intelligence with the Grave Is 22. Death approaches with Feet of Wooll without noise we imagine therefore that it will never come near us as that wicked servant of the Gospel Matth. 24. that gathered from his Masters delays of coming that he would not come at all We hate and abominate the sight of all those things that represent to us any appearance of Death or that calls into our minds its remembrance if at any time its Image comes in our way we turn from it our Eyes and banish out of our fancy all imaginations of it as of a most odious and deceitful illusion Death seizeth upon us
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom A Prayer and Meditation upon the Consideration of Death O my God and Heavenly Father seeing that it hath been thy good pleasure that I should be born of a mortal Nature and that this wretched Body that comes out of the Dust should return to Dust again Give me Grace to be continually mindful of my frail and dying condition and seriously to meditate upon the changes of Time that consumes all things the variety of the seasons the unconstancy of the World and the strange disturbances of the Earth as remembrancers of the last Change that shall happen to our Persons Give me Grace to look upon my bodily infirmities and the Diseases which commonly afflict me as so many Bailiffs and Messengers that call upon me that the time of my departure out of this earthly Tabernacle draws near Let the Bed where I sleep mind me that when I have ended my great days work my Body must repose it self in a bed of Dust O that I might consider as often as I cast off my Cloaths that within a few days I must cast off this mortal and corruptible Body that the sleep that benums my Sences is an image before me of Death that shall destroy all the functions of this animal life Let the Graves and Sepulchres of my Friends and Parents represent to me my future abode O merciful Lord give me Grace and Courage to look so often upon Death and the Grave that they may never fright nor terrify me That this consideration be so natural to me and so pleasant by custom that it may fill my Soul rather with joy that with grief and displeasure It is true I am born to dye but I am satisfied that I shall dye to live for ever with my God the Author of my Life and the Fountain of Blessedness Amen CHAP. 8. The second Remedy against the fears of Death is to expect it at every hour IT is not sufficient to think often upon Death and to discourse of it in an excellent manner for there be some that mention death very frequently and with many pious reflexions yet nevertheless they cannot boast of being free from all apprehensions of Death their Tongue is always ready to speak of Death but their Heart cannot yield to expect it they know that Death will seize upon them but they entertain this dangerous opinion that the time is not yet come they acknowledge that they are indebted to God and Nature but they delay the payment of the Debt from day to day as if they were able to corrupt the Serjeants of Death and obtain a Reprieve at their pleasure There is no man so old and decrepid but flatters himself with the fancy of having yet at least a year to live in the world In short we imagine always that we perceive Death at a vast distance from us and that we shall soon enough fit our selves to receive it as we ought therefore when ever or where ever it comes to drag us out of the World it surpriseth and astonisheth us If we will prevent this mischief we must not only consider that we are mortal but that our life is short and of no long continuance we must continually say with Job Are not my days few Job 10. and imprint in our minds this Sentence of David The Lord hath made my days as an hand-breath mine age is as nothing before him Psal 39. or that of Moses The best of our days are but labor and sorrow for they are sâ—â— cut off and we fly away Psal 90. The Antients painted Time with Wings to express its inevitable swiftness The Holy Spirit compares our Life to a Weavers Shuttle to an hired Servant to a Post that runs apace to a Packet-Boat or to an Eagle that flies after its Prey The Sacred Writers speak of our Life as of a Torrent of Waters of a Cloud a Vapor a Wind or a Breath They tell us that our days are gone as a Dream they fly away as a Shadow they vanish as a Word in the Air and that they perish as a thought In a word all the Lightness and the most unconstant things of the World whereof the motion is very suddain and quick are employed in Holy Scripture to express the vanity of our Life and the shortness of our days Besides that our Life is of a short continuance it slides away insensibly like to a Clock the Wheels move without ceasing although the Hand appears to us to be steady or to a Plant that grows continually although the increase and growth is not to be discerned by our Eye-sight or like to a Man who stands in a Ship under Sail he goes forward whither he will or no Thus whether we Sleep or Wake whether we Go of Lye down whether we Eat or Fast whether we Work or Rest we proceed on continually forward towards our Grave our Body is like a Tree eaten continually by Worms for the day and the night feed upon it without intermission in vain do ye banish out of your minds the thoughts of Death if ye will not call it to your remembrance it will not fail to mind and remember you the more ye fly from it the more it follows and pursues you at the heels and when ye imagine Death to be farthest off from you it is nearest to you As the Canker when it infects and enters into the Breast it devours the Flesh without interruption so Time consumes and devours us continually The Meat that we swallow and that nourisheth us brings us by degrees into the embraces of Death as the Oil that causeth a Lamp to burn leads it to its end or as when a Torch is lighted it begins to dye assoon as it begins to burn thus I may say without excess that the very first moment of this Animal Life is the first moment of our Death As we say of all sublunary Bodies that the Generation of the one is the Corruption the other so is it with Time The birth of an hour of a day of a week of a moneth or of a year is the death of that which precedes It is like a wheel that mounts to no other end but to fall down again Seeing therefore that our Life is nothing else but a continued Death in proper terms we are mistaken to name only the moment of the separation of the Soul and Body the hour of death for as when many Canon shot are discharg'd against a Castle to open a breach we don't say that the last hath done the work or as when an hard stone is cut with Chiswel and Hammer or insensibly cav'd or undermin'd with Water the last blow or drop don't carry away alone the glory of the performance Thus when our Bodies decay and crumble away to dust we must not only consider the last struglings against Death or the last attempt of this Enemy Of a Ladder by which we ascend and descend we
O Heavenly Father not my Will but thy Will be done Pluck this Thorn out of my Flesh or vouchsafe unto me sufficient strength to endure its deadly wounds with patience O good God thou knowest that my Spirit is willing but my Flesh is weak and that my misery is heavier than the Sand of the Sea-shore but thou that quickenest the dead wilt accomplish thy Vertue in mine Infirmities Therefore instead of speaking in Cain's Language My punishment is greater than I can bear I will say with St. Paul I can do all things in Christ that strengthens me O Lord punish me not in thy wrath nor correct me in thy heavy displeasure but chastise me in reason that I may not be reduced to nothing When thou didst wrestle with Jacob thou tookest upon thee an Humane Body and didst strengthen thy Servant by the vertue of thy Divine Spirit O Merciful and Graciouus God let thy punishments be proportionable to my great weaknesses suffer not any temptation to seize upon me but only Humane and give me with the temptation an happy issue that I may support it that neither Death nor Life nor Pain nor Torment may ever separate me from thy Love or pluck me out of thine Hand Good Lord forsake me not that I may never forsake thee but enable me with Strength Patience and Constancy to bear my burden and make me more than Conqueror by Jesus Christ our Lord. Merciful God pity thy servant or rather thine adopted Child Awaken thy jealousie and let thy Bowels that are hardened against me move thee to compassion Strengthen me in this encounter with the assistance of the good Angels that comforted thine only Son in the night of his most bitter affliction cause this black night of my Sorrows to pass speedily away or rather in the midst of these dark shadows cause me to see the ravishing beams of thy Mercy Heal my grievous wounds or else pour into them the refreshing Balm of thy most tender and Divine Consolations my Heart and my Flesh fail and faint away but look upon me with a Gracious Eye and receive me into the embraces of thine Eternal Mercy Declare I beseech thee how sensible thou art of my affliction by a present relief receive my Sweat and Tears and put them into thy Bottles O good God thou seest that I am fainting and that my Soul is weary within me comfort me therefore with thy Cordials and with thy most Divine refreshments Give me to drink of the Wine of thy most effectual Consolations that may restore unto me my spirits apply the right hand of thy Mercy that it may strengthen my Soul and drive from thence all poison and infection Let thine Holy Spirit the Spiritual Dove light upon me to bring joy unto me O living God thou seest that I dye but give me some of that living Water whereof if a man drink he shall live Eternally my Friends are grieved with me and weep for my bitter affliction but can give me no assistance but thine only look would be able to deliver me O my God either pull me out of this Sea of Trouble into which thou hast cast me or cause me to pass through these waves to the Inheritance prepared for me from the foundation of the World Quench these violent Flames that burn and consume me or let them serve as fiery Chariots to carry me in triumph to Heaven O how mad and senseless should I be if I did fear Death seeing that it will put an end to my torments it will break in pieces my grievous Chains it will wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes and banish all grief from my Heart O my God when shall all my Cries my Sighs and Groans be changed into Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving when shall I see my self in the Glorious company of the Blessed who are come out of the great tribulation and who have wash'd and cleansed their Garments in the Bloud of the Lamb. Draw me and I shall run after thee and Glorify thee for ever in thine Heavenly Temple Amen CHAP. 14. The second Consolation against the fears of Death is to look upon God as a merciful Father and to trust upon his infinite Goodness THere is no Child well descended but desires earnestly to see his Fathers Face and especially the Face of a Good and Gracious Father A great Princes Son who hath been brought up in a Forreign Countrey rejoyceth at his own Happiness when his Father sends for him to make him partaker of the Glory and Dignity of his Empire he is not then grieved nor troubled he seeks not to delay his going but rather he embraceth with transports of joy the Messenger of such good news he thinks of nothing but of hasting his departure if he could borrow wings he would fly with an unspeakable swiftness to his Fathers Palace Now we are the Children of the Great God whose Throne is Heaven and whose Footstool is the Earth for our Faith that looks upon Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer considers God as our God and Father for to them who have received this only Son of the Father hath been granted the priviledge of being the Sons of God to them who believe in his name 1 Job 1. So that we have just cause to be transported in an Holy Excess of Joy with the Apostle St. John Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3. We were by nature Children of Wrath as others but God who is rich in Mercy hath predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his Will Eph. 2. He gives us the Gracious assurances of this free adoption in this life for as we are Children he hath sent the Spirit of his Son in our Hearts to cry Abba Father Eph. 1. This Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be Children then Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ Gal. 4. Yea if we suffer with him that we may be also Glorified with him Rom. 8. That we might be the Children of God he hath not only adopted us by Jesus Christ but also regenerated us by uncorruptible Seed We are not born of Flesh and of Bloud but we are born of God His infinite Goodness perswaded him first to grant us a Being and his incomprehensible love hath moved him to reform our Beings and reprint his Divine Image in our Hearts John 1. 1 Pet. 1. He hath begotten us by his pure Grace by the word of his Truth that we might be the First Fruits of his Creatures Jam. 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 1.
It is most certain that this death is not to be feared as an evil and an enemy but it is rather to be desired as a good Friend and a Blessing It is reported of the Thracians that they buried their dead with expressions of joy and the Inhabitants of the fortunate Islands did Sing and Dance at the Funerals of their dearest Friends I don't recommend these foolish examples of these extravagant and barbarous People who were without Hope and without God in the World such cannot fear death too much for if it frees them from some present and light evils it casts them into an Abysse of excessive torments Death is an Happiness it brings with it solid Comfort and Joy but it is when we dye in God's Favour and in the Faith of our Lord Jesus God hath sufficiently declared the Happiness and Pleasure of his Childrens death for he doth often abridge the days of those whom he favours and esteems Because he had seen some good things in the person of Abijah the eldest Son of Jeroboam King of Israel he took him away in the flower of his Age 1 Kings 14. He granted the same favour to Josias King of Judea one of the most Religious Princes of the World for he had declared to him by Hulda the Prophetess Behold I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy Grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place 2 Kings 22. It is not to be doubted but that such are most happy as die in the Lord and rest from their Labours but I judge such happy in a twofold manner as Dye or rather cease from Dying in such miserable times so full of confusion and disorder Would not you laugh at a Workman that should grieve when his Task is ended and his Labour finished or at a Wayfaring Man that should lament to see the end of his painful journey through Prickles and Thorns and the scorching heat of the Sun or the unsufferable cold of the Winter Or would you not wonder at one that should vex himself when he is safely arrived in the Haven escaped the Waves of a tempestuous Sea and in a shelter from the Storms Wretched Man thou art far more foolish and extravagant than those of whom we speak for the most painful Labours of a Workman the most grievous weariness of a tedious journey and the swelling Waves of a troubled Sea are nothing in comparison of the Labours Misery and Troubles of this languishing Life You would doubtless esteem it a very great folly and madness in a prisoner to be sorry of being delivered out of his noisome Dungeon or in a Gally-Slave to be angry when he is to be loos'd from his Chains or in an offender to vex when he is freed from his Torments What think ye is there less madness and extravagancy in you when ye are grieved to see death freeing your Souls from this miserable Body where it is imprison'd withdrawing it from the painful employments of this unhappy Age more grievous and intolerable than that of the Gally-slaves and discharging you from the troubles of the Soul far more painful than the most unsufferable tortures of the Body no no death that thou dreadest so much is not the death of the faithful but the end of his miseries and the last period of all his torments Gen. 8. Noah when he went out of the Ark that stopt upon Mount Ararat had never so much cause to praise God and to offer unto him the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving as we have when he is pleased to cause us to see the end of the Inundation of so many evils and calamities and to make this floating Life or this living Death to stop upon Mount Sion The Children of Israel sung Songs of Thanksgiving when they came out of Egypt and saw themselves deliver'd out of a bitter and painful Bondage where they had been employed in gathering up Stubble and burning Brick but we have much more cause to rejoyce and to sing Songs of Praise when Death takes us out of the World where we suffer a kind of bondage laboring in vain employments and enduring the scorching heat of many afflictions that consume us Thou findest fault with some of the unconstant people that murmured to return again into Egypt when they were upon the borders of the promised Land but rather find fault with thine own filthy flesh if it offers to murmure and revolt when thou art at the entrance of thy Celestial Canaan Joseph rejoyced when the King of Aegypt sent for him out of prison Gen. 41. and have we not cause to be joyful when God sends for our Souls out of the World and causeth them to go out of their Bodies which to them is a kind of a Dungeon If therefore we can speak without impatient murmuring I conceive we have as good reason as Jonas to say O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye than to live Jonas 4. Or as the Prophet Elias It is enough Lord take away my life 1 Kings 19. Such a Soul may in an Holy transport safely speak in the language of David the Man after God's own Heart Bring my Soul out of prison that I may praise thy name the righteous shall compass me about for thou shalt deal bountifully with me Psal 141. A Prayer and Meditation for a Christian who comforts himself with the Consideration that Death delivers us from all evils which are so numerous in the World and which so often assault us O Glorious Prince of my Salvation thou hast hitherto strengthened me against all fears of Death but now I beseech thee with all mine Heart to give me Grace that death may not terrify and afflict me but also fill me full of Joy and Comfort Suffer me not to be like thy People Israel when they had forgotten their hard and cruell Bondage when they thought upon the Pleasures and Plenty of Egypt they did mutiny to return thither again when they were upon the borders of Canaan Give me Grace O my God to blot out of my Soul the fancy for the vain delights of the World and for the deceitsul Pleasures of this wretched Flesh Let me have always in my mind the Labours the Pains and Troubles of this miserable Life that I may continually look upon Death in the same manner as the Workman looks upon the end of his days work As the Wayfaring man looks upon the end of his Journey and as the Traveller looks upon the Haven of his last Rest Let me often meditate upon these horrible confusions that are this day in the World the Deluge of all manner of Evils that cover the face of the Earth the Rivers and Streams of Bloud that is shed the Fires and the Swords that devour so many Let me never forget the sad and lamentable state of thy poor Church that is like a small Boat upon
of that uncorruptible Inheritance which God keeps for thee in Heaven and hath prepared since the Creation of the World Hast thou a pleasant Garden or a rich Field But what are all the Gardens of the World in respect of the Heavenly Paradise where the Tree of Life grows that brings forth its Fruits every moneth of the year and where the River of living Water as transparent as Chrystal runs continually What reason hast thou Christian Soul to grieve when thou forsakest the pleasures of the World that thou enjoyest with the Children of the Earth or the Delights of the Body which are common to thee with the bruit Beasts Seeing that God will satisfy thee with his most precious Delights for in the blessed Vision of his Face thou shalt meet with fulness of joy Hast thou any friends on Earth Let it not trouble thee to leave them for instead of one friend here below whom thou fanciest to be real and sincere thou hast thousands in Heaven who will receive thee into the Eternal Mansions and embrace thee as their companion and the partaker of the same Glory and Happiness Hast thou any Parents or Relations I suppose that they are not burdensome to thee and that thou receivest much more Pleasure and Assistance from them than Grief and Ingratitude yet thou hast a spiritual Parentage in Heaven and Eternal Relations Thou hast in the Mansion-House of thy Heavenly Father a great number of Brothers and Sisters with whom thou shalt live in a blessed Unity as Members of one Body governed by the same Spirit and enflamed with the same Zeal Thou Husband whom Death snatcheth away from thy beloved Wife seriously consider that God will unite thee to himself by an unscparable Union and that he purposeth to take up to him some part of thy self that thy expectations thy hopes and affections might be now in Heaven And thou also O Woman whom Death plucks out of the embraces of thy dear and loving Husband remember that thou hast a Husband also in Heaven who hath espoused thee to himself for ever in Righteousness in Mercy and Compassion a Husband always Living and Glorious a Husband who loves thee with an Eternal Love that is stronger than Death whose affections are enflamed for thee in such a manner that the Water of all the Seas and Rivers are not able to extinguish a Husband who bears with all thine infirmities and hath redeemed thee from all thy sins a Husband who hath not spared for thee his precious Bloud that he might procure for thee the Glory and Happiness of his Kingdom who invites thee to his Heavenly Nuptials having prepared and appointed for thee a Room in the Banqueting-Chamber where thousands of glorified Saints shall sit and where the meledious Tunes of Angels shall be heard a Husband who calls to thee reacheth out unto thee his Hand and opens his Bosom to receive thee If thou hast found any satisfaction and pleasure in the company of that Person whom God had given thee for an Assistant and Mate judge from thence what Angelical Delights thou shalt meet with in the ravishing embraces of thy Heavenly Spouse The most pleasant Marriage days are gone as a shadow but the day which shall bring thee to thy Celestial Bridegroom shall never depart nor darken so that the Heavenly Contentments shall abide and continue with thee for ever without the least distaste You beloved and loving Children who are yet in the bosom of a good Father or of a tender-hearted Mother suffer Death patiently to remove you far from them and depart with joy to that good God that will receive you as his Children satisfy your Souls with the Milk of his most Blessed Consolations and will make you his Heirs and Co-Heirs with his Son Jesus Christ Say to him as the Holy Prophet When my Father and my Mother should forsake me yet the Lord will receive me Isai 66. Rom. 8. Psal 27. And you Fathers and Mothers that have a tender affection for your Children if Death takes them out of your sight and deprives you of the comfort of their company grieve not as those who have no hope for when they should be never so accomplish'd when they should have never given you but pleasure and divertisement What are all these pitiful Delights that pass away in a moment and that change oft-times into bitterness and sorrow if compared with the Eternal Pleasures which we shall enjoy in the contemplation of God's Glorious Face and in a familiar acquaintance with his Divine Wisdom You shall not return to them but they shall in their time go to you so that you shall shortly see one another in the Dwelling of the Father of Spirits Matth. 27. Death separates you for a while but the Author of your Life will bring you together for ever Finally of what age and condition soever you be if you perceive the breath of your Life to stop never grieve nor murmure at it for if Death separates you from your Selves it brings you nearer to God your chief Good and instead of a wretched and perishing life it will promote you to the fruition of an Eternal and ever happy one If we had lived in the days when our Saviour was on Earth there is none of us but would have looked upon it as a singular Happiness and Honor to have been admitted with Peter James and John when they went up to Mount Tabor to be Eye-witnesses of our Saviour's transfiguration A far greater Honor and Happiness Death is endeavouring to procure you it will usher you up to Mount Sion it will transport you above all the Heavens where you shall behold more excellent wonders than ever the Apostles beheld upon Mount Tabor for you shall not only see this Glorious Saviour whiter than the Snow and brighter than the Sun but you your selves shall be transfigured with him and cloathed with an exceeding great Glory The Holy Apostles saw but two Prophets but you shall see all the Prophets all the Patriarchs Apostles Confessors Martyrs the Holy and Blessed Virgin and generally all the Saints that Reign and Triumph in Heaven The Apostles had a sight of this Glory of our Saviour as of a flash of Lightning it continued with them but for a moment for soon after they came down from the Holy Mountain and were again in danger of the same temptations as before and besieged by the same Calamities It will be otherwise with thee O Christian Soul thou art flying up to Heaven from whence thou shalt never descend till the great day of the Glorious Resurrection of our Bodies Thou shalt not be assaulted any more by any temptationâ— thou shalt have no more Enemies to overcome nor Bitterness to digest Thou art going to reap and enjoy the Blessed Fruits of thy Saviours Victories and to be Eternally satisfied with the Celestial Pleasures that are at the right hand of the God of Mercies We esteem St. John highly priviledged because the Lord gave him