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
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
him that is able to receive meat Oh Death how acceptable is thy Judgment to the needy and to him whose strength faileth him c. The best and holiest men have dyed for Innocency it self is no Target against it otherwise Christ had not dyed in whose mouth was found no guile The stoutest and strongest cannot resist death Sampson himself must yield him the victory The wisest cannot preserve himself alive Solomon himself that had studied the nature of all Vegetables 1 King 4.33 from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hyssop that grows upon the wall yet found out none that could cure the dint of Death contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis The worst of men also are subjected to his power those that would sell their Souls to save their lives cannot do it there is no power can resist it at one time it prevail'd against almost all the world as in the Flood against populous Cities as Sodom and Gomorrah c. against Potent Princes and great Armies as over Pharaoh and his Host Senacherib's Army where an hundred fourscore and. five thousand were slain in one Night thus good and bad pass through the same Gate but then their way soon turns the Godly to the right and the Wicked to the left hand the one to Heaven and the other to Hell for as death is an outlet to let us out of the World so 't is an inlet to let us in to Eternity to the Godly an inlet to Eternal Bliss and to the wicked into Eternal misery Then will a difference be made between the Good and the Bad as wide as between Heaven and Hell Death is a debt we owe to nature and pay it we must and t is not much matter whether it be sooner or later or whether we dye a natural or violent Death they both signifie the same thing should'st thou turn every stone and use all means direct or indirect thou canst not long preserve thy life possibly if thou deny payment of this debt when God requires it thou maist preserve it a little longer and but a little for God will ere long distrain for the Debt and then cast thee into an Eternal Prison Gods determinate counsel is upon thee and he knows eventually when thy death shall be he hath determined thy bounds that thou canst not pass God commanded Abraham to Sacrifice his Son and it was his Duty so to do and his sin if he refused though God determined eventually it should not be done yet if he had refused it he had miss'd of the Blessing Thy appointed time is with God but unknown to thee 't is his revealed will that is thy duty thou must look after not eventually what shall come to pass secret things belong to God Deu. 29.29 but things revealed unto us if God and his truth his Gospel and his cause call thee to lay down thy life and seal thy doctrine with thy blood thou must carry thy life in thy hand and lay it down at his feet If God command thee to lose thy life 't is thy duty to dye and if by denying Christ life be prolonged 't is a hard bargain and 't is no less thy sin though God eventually determined thy life to be prolonged There are many that hasten their death by their intemperance and sacrifice their lives to Bacchus and Venus to drunkenness and lust and so become a Victim to the Devil himself yet are not Gods decrees altered for though many hasten their death or use unlawful means to preserve their lives and so both the one and the other become Guilty yet Gods decrees are not altered If thou devote thy life to God and fully resolvest to lose it for his sake if he require it though he never call thee forth to suffer thou wilt not lose thy reward and if thou resolvest thou wilt part with Christ and kick up thy profession rather than suffer for him if he never put thee upon the trial God will take the will for the deed whether thou wilt or no dye thou must for death will not be bribed Crowns and Kingdoms will not prolong their owners lives thou maist say of death as Paul of preaching A necessity is laid upon me will I nill I dye I must if willing I have a reward if against my will I cannot help it death will not be corrupted with bribes won with promises nor terrified with threats When the time will be 't is not so much thy concern to know as thy duty to prepare for it thou maist lose thy self but canst not preserve thy life one day beyond the appointed time if thou deny God a temporal life he will deny thee eternal life I have read of one in persecuting times being called to suffer for the truth he had professed cryes out The fire is hot I cannot burn but within a short space he was burnt in his own house and we have cause to fear he finds the fire of Hell incomparably hotter than the flames he was burnt in which yet he could not evade Death triumphs over all ranks and Estates of men from the King upon his Throne to his meanest Subject Mors pauperum tabernas regumque turres aequo pulsat pede Death makes no difference ere long the grizly hand of Death will with a winding sheet cover those naked Breasts and spotted Faces which have been the Looking-glasses of lust And worms will ere long make their nest between those Breasts which are now exposed to sight and sale and eat out those wanton windows of love and messengers of lust death will then cool the courage of the stoutest hot-spur Crowns and Scepters are the spoils taken by this Conqueror as trophies of his victories Job 14.7 man that is born of a woman is of short life and full of trouble Inward corruption disposeth us to Death as well as open violence thy body is an earthen pitcher ready to break at every knock this earthly tabernacle must be repaired with food or Physick or both daily or it will soon fall about thy ears many are the harbingers of death many are the sensible decayes in nature which tell thee thy end is approaching the weakness of thy sight the dulness of thy hearing the rottenness of thy â—eeth the wrinkles in thy face and thy gray hairs mind thee that this crazy Pitcher will not long come home from the water unbroken The contrary Elements whereof thy body is compounded the disagreeing qualities within thee of cold and heat drought and moisture will at length quarrel for the upper hand and work the destruction of the compositum were there no external cause of thy dissolution these will effect what thy greatest enemy can but do though haply not so soon The fruit when 't is once ripe will fall if it be not gathered the Rose will wither if not pluckt the sturdiest Oak or Elm or Cedar will at length yield to time Methusalems glass will run out and these
couldst thou preserve it from the hands of violence and therefore 't is best leave it in his hands where it is or wouldst have God preserve thy life as long as thou pleasest and till thou think 't is fit to dye why dost think thou canst put such a clause into the Covenant or dost think 't is fit it should be put in wouldst thou have God alter his eternal decrees for thy sake Oh the folly of such a conceit the pride of such a desire thou thinkest the life of the bruit beast should be at thy dispose to save or to destroy as thou thinkest fit and yet thou thinkest thou dost them no wrong if thou kill them and why because thou callest them thy own but hath not God a better right to thee than thou hast to them He gave thee thy life but thou gavest them not the life thou takest But 't is a violent death thou fearest and wouldst not fall into thine enemies hands but if God make them his Messengers they are thy Friends though unwillingly and promote thy glory they cannot act without him and therefore look not at the rod but at the hand that holds it The King of Assyria was sent as a scourge by God to do his work Isa 10.7.15 to reform his people Howbeit he meaneth not so neither doth his heart think so but it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations not a few c. Shall the Ax boast it self against him that heweth therewith or shall the Saw magnify it self against him that shaketh it c All are but instruments in the hand of God they do his will and what he appoints as Jehu cut off Ahabs family at his command yet God punisht him for it because he aimed not at Gods glory in the work but at his own greatness wicked men can neither maintain their own lives when God calls for them neither can they take away thine by their own power for they can have no power but what they have from above and if thou see Gods hand and seal to their Commission murmur not at it for 't is not want of love to thee that made God set them on work nor any love to them that made him imploy them but it was to fill up the measure of their sins that they may be ripe for Judgment and to fill up the measure of thy sufferings that thou maist be ripe for glory The same love that sent Christ into the world to dye for thee is exercised in sending thee to dye for him in the one he prepared a King dom for thee in the other he calls thee out of the world to enjoy it By Christs death there is a possession purchased and by thy death thou art put into the possession of it and what hurt is in all this there is thy life yea Eternal Life put into the lease of it Never fear miscarrying iâ— thou wilt be ruled by God for if thou shouldest either it will be want of power want of wisdom or want of love thaâ— shall occasion it not want of power for the Lord is El-shaddai God alsufficient able to remove all the rubs that lye in the way thy enemies they cannot hurt thee without him for they cannot breathe without him nor move a finger but by his assistance Neither can they out-wit him for he is Omniscient the only wise God Isa 9.6 the everlasting counseller the Prince of peace who knows how to deliver his people and to reserve the wicked for the day of wrath they cannot hide their counsels from him for he is every where present if they dig down to Hell he is there also and can countermine them he hath wrought wonderfully for the preservation of his people witness Noah Daniel the three children Jonah Israel in Egypt the Jews in Hamans time Peter Athanasius Luther Calvin England and many others which he hath preserved against numerous enemies And for love never any hath discovered more than Christ hath done for his people and yet canst not trust Him with the dispose of thy life that lost his own for the good of thy soul Thou canst trust thy life in a narrow Ship upon the raging Sea for gain if thou think thou hast a skilful careful Pilot and darest not sail in those narrow seas to the port of Rest and Haven of happiness when God himself is thy Pilot and steers thy Ship when never any miscarried in the voyage Thou canst trust a Lawyer with thy Estate if thou think him honest and able and dost mistrust the everlasting Counseller with thy eternal Estate who neither can deceive or be deceived Thou wouldst trust a skilful Physitian with thy Body and take bitter pills and unsavoury potions if he prescribe them and darest thou not put thy life into the hands of the Physician of Souls in comparison of whom all others are Physicians of no value because he prescribes a little unpleasing Physick though no bitterer than needful If thou mistrust him with thy life either 't is because thou fearest he will deceive thee or may be deceived but this intrenches upon his wisdom or fidelity 't is better for a child be under his Fathers protection than his own much more for thee to be under Gods tuition than at thy own dispose he never yet betrayed his trust neither can any pluck thee out of Gods hands John 10.28 Rom. 8.21 he tells thee all things shall work together for thy good if thou love God and then why not death why not a violent death hath he not told thee Heb. 13.5 Mat. 16.18 he will never leave thee nor forsake thee and that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against thee and darest not take his word was he ever known to falsify it If life be good thou shalt have it if not why wilt desire it But art afraid lest he should deal with thee when he takes thee hence as the Prophet did with the Syrians lead thee to Samaria when thou thinkest thou art going to Dothan lest thou shouldst go to Hell with hopes of Heaven in thy mouth Never fear if thou carry thy Evidences for Heaven with thee he will never disinherit thee Christ will not lose the purchase of his blood and thou shalt not lose what he hath purchased for thee If it be good for thee to dye why wouldst thou live A child cannot choose so well for himself as his Father can and God knows better than thee what is belt Many are loth to open a Vein and yet in some cases 't is best yea to cut off a Limb may be necessary though painful the sensual faculty here must be ruled by the rational that is not alwaies best that is most pleasing to the Appetite If thou leave it to God what death thou shalt dye he will make the best choice for thee he will lay no more upon thee than he gives thee strength to bear and through Christ assisting thee thou
the Sea and Hell must give up their dead and though worms may feed upon thy body yet thou shalt neither feel nor fear them Psal 22.6 and why shouldst thou disdain thy fellow-creatures seeing man in Scripture account is but a Worm Job 25.6 those cannot devour the body so as to hide it from God neither can they make it loathsom to God When a house is pull'd down it seems a ruinous heap but many times 't is in order to rebuilding and then 't is more glorious But if it be the pain of dying that doth affright thee and I know not what else it can be consider there is very little cause for it for we may daily see that many die and depart the world without any shew of sensible pain and depart in peace nay as in a sleep sometimes in a swoun without motion or appearance of pain and art afraid of that which even sucking Children undergoe and which all the world have or must endure and were it painfull wouldst thou grutch to bear an hours pain for Eternal Glory who usually sufferest as much pain for a meaner reward If thy dinner be sharp thy Supper will be sweet Thou wilt take pains for profit and suffer much for ease Oh my God did my dear Redeemer suffer such a shameful death for me to make me happy and shall I lose this happiness rather than go to enjoy it God forbid Lord give me in requisite qualifications and then call for me when and how thou pleasest yet Lord let me not dye unprepared and lose both my Life and Soul together MEDITAT VII Martyrdom not hurtful to a Christian OH my Soul what is it that thou dost boggle at Death thou hearest can do thee no hurt why then dost thou fear it O! but 't is a violent death thou fearest were it but a natural death thou couldst submit to it but to fall into the hands of the uncircumcised into the hand of bloody and deceitful men whose loving kindness is cruelty this thou canst not willingly bear all Death offers violence to nature and to be willing to dye by thy Enemies hand thou art not prest to use all unlawful means to escape but no means but what is lawful thou must be willing to submit to God and when he manifests this to be his will thou must chearfully suffer it but I fear this is but a Fig-leaf to cover a little Faith well let us argue the case To dye thou seemest willing but thou must choose thy death and God must have no hand in the business thou wouldst go to him but he must not send for thee especially by such a messenger thou likest not of This is Childrens play they would do any thing but what they are bid do go any whither but to School learn in any Book but their own But dost really think that thou art fitter to determine the circumstances of thy Death than God the time when the place where and the manner how or will God accept of thee for a Councellor in this case and what difference is there between the one and the other one stops thy breath and so will the other one sets an end to thy temporal being and so doth the other the consequences are the same and the pains of the natural death may be as great or greater than the other wouldst thou choose some violent distemper some raging disease some violent pain to end thy life Nay this thou likest not neither hadst thou the Stone the Strangury the Collick the Gout c. this might make thee live a dying life and make thee weary of thy life and with Job choose strangling rather than life and hadst rather endure this than a few minutes pain from the hands of man I fear this excuse is but to prolong thy time but buy not time at so dear a rate thou seemest careful not to come to Heaven too soon nor honour God too much by thy Death but take heed of wringing thy life out of his hands dye thou wilt thou sayest but it must be when thou caust live no longer and then no thanks to thee patience perforce is a Medicine for a mad Dog doth not Death whether by a Disease by the Sword or at the Stake signifie much the same thing as to the consequents of Death only the latter if it be in the cause of Christ speaks thee more a Christian and entitles thee to a Crown of Martyrdom and will encrease thy happiness Death at which door soever it comes in separates between the Body and the Soul but happily thou maist live a little longer by refusing to dye for Christ but will not a years enjoyment of God in Glory be as delightful to thee as a year longer spent upon the Earth and perhaps if the one be sooner than the other it may be with as little pain But suppose God should give thee thy choice either to dye a natural Death the next year or to dye by an enemies hand seven year after which wouldst thou choose I suppose thou wouldst seal to the longer Lease If so 't is not a violent death thou fearest so much as a short life but if this be thy fear to dye too soon God may send thee a languishing life and make thee long for death Job 3.21 22. and dig for it as for Silver and rejoyce exceedingly when thou canst find the grave But then 't is no thanks to thee to dye when thou canst live no longer or only desire death to be rid of thy pain and sometimes God punisheth an immoderate desire of life by imbittering their life to them and so makes them say as Job Troublesome nights are appointed to me If thou wilt willingly resign thy Life to God and leave it to his dispose thou wilt not make a losers bargain haply he may rescue it out of the Enemies hand however he will not be long in thy debt but for a temporal Life will give thee that which is Eternal which will be a thousand fold better Ignatius knew it when he said Burning hanging tearing my flesh in pieces with wild horses tantummodo ut Jesum nanciscar only let me enjoy Christ and was afraid left his friends should prevent his Martyrdom by their Prayers Seeing thy body must be reduced to dust 't is no matter whether it rot above ground or in it no matter whether thou be burnt to ashes or moulder to dust God will not lose one grain of thy dust 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 The love of Christ in the Martyrs was hotter than the Flames they burnt in and much allayed the heat of the Fire that some of them felt little or no pain O ye Papists saith one ye look for a miracle behold a miracle for in this fire I feel no pain it is to me as a bed of Roses They went as readily to
God that I clearly saw death was â—o stranger to you and that you had learnt â—he Apostles lesson 1 Thess 4.13 Not to mourn as men â—ithout hope for those that sleep in the â—ord you imitated David who when his â—â—n was living fasted and prayed but â—hen dead 2 Sam. 12.18 held his tongue and said noâ—â—ing because God did it Or said as â—â—b at the death of all his children Job 1.21 â—he Lord gave and the Lord hath taâ—en away Blessed be the Name of the â—ord To mourn for our Relations is doubtâ—ss our duty to mourn immoderately as â—achel and will not be comforted is doubtles s a sin and implyes we think God hath â—onged us in taking away our Relations without our leave or serves to bespeak us 〈◊〉 have more wisdom than God hath and 〈◊〉 know better than he when 't is best for â—hem to dye and when their work is done these considerations made me think these Meditations would not startle you nay your own Death would not affright you and yet considering that death is an enemy to Nature and that you were Flesh as well as Spirit and though the Spirit were willing yet the Flesh â—s weak I thought it would not be unsuitable to put this weapon into your hand in this conflict between the Flesh and the Spirit for death sometimes comes with a grisly look and terrible aspect for as a Heathen saith of all Terribles Death is most terrible and therefore the Scripture calls him the King of terrors Job 18.14 and experience shews that he is a terror to Kings Psal 55.4 David complains the terrors of death compassed him about and the apprehensions of death struck a greater than David into an agony Christianum agere non est hominem exuere when we become Christians we cease not to be men Now though we cannot quite root out the fear of death yet Christians may and many doe much abate it yea and chuse it rather than life upon any sinful terms those under great sufferings refused deliverance Heb. 11.36 that is upon any unlawful terms The love of Christ in the Martyrs was hotter than the fire they burnt in yea this made Paul willing not only to be bound but to dye for Christ yea desire to be dissolved and to be with him so that although I think you have not so much need of a work of this nature as many have yet I cannot think 't is altogether useless for you lye under greater temptations than many others and have stronger gusts of wind to grapple with than low Shrubs and haply Christ may cost you more than others haveing more to lose and the world breaks many a match between Christ and the Soul those that are rich fall into temptation 1 Tim. 6.9 Luk. 18.23 remember the young man that parted with Christ upon this ground and Demas that chose the world before him 'T is easier to steer a small Vessel in a storm than a great Ship this may be thrust into any Creek or Harbour where a tall Ship cannot ride Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator Oh Death Ecclus. 41.1 how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at ease in his Possessions and hath prosperity in all things We may say of you as the people did of David 2 Sam. 18.3 If many of us fall it signifies little the Enemyes great design lyes against such as you those that fall high their fall will be the greater and a great deal of Grace is necessary to support a great man Till a man can see an emptiness in the Creature and a fulness in Christ and enough in Heaven to make amends for all his losses upon Earth he will not be brought to lose all for Christ It was no small measure of Grace that made Galeacius teave the Marquesdom of Vico and come to Geneva for the Gospel sake I know we live in such times as Salvian did when Religion and Godliness are accounted a shame to Gentility and a blemish to Nobility and those very Ingredients let their other qualifications be what they will will render the worlds greatest Favourites unlovely in their eyes 1 Sam. 2.30 But those that honour God God will honour and those that despise him shall be lightly esteemed St. Bernard tells Sophia That it was a greater honour that God made her one of a few than that she descended from Noble Parents the one was Gods distinguishing Badge the other a common favour Solomon tells us A vertuous Woman herâ— price is above Rubies and no doubt a vertuous Man is as precious but 't is a good conjunction where Grace and Greatness meet for although a Diamond hath the same vertue oâ— the Dunghill as in a Gold Ring or the richest Cabinet yet not so seemly Grace loseth not it Vertue in a Country Clown yet is it moâ—splendid in a great man and such a one thuâ— qualified is capable of bringing more Glorâ— to God and doing more good in his Generation than a poor man can Religion in greaâ— persons as 't is most Rare so 't is most Conspicuous 't is like a Beacon upon an hill eveâ— eye is upon it and the Country imitates thâ— Court Qualis Rex talis Grex. Greatneâ— makes men capable of doing God more work or the Devil more service The great 〈◊〉 need not be ashamed of going in thâ— Fashion for Grace is the fairest Flower 〈◊〉 their Garland for none wear those Jewel but the Spouse of Christ It was more honour to David to be Gods Servant than Israels King 't is more honour to be in Covenant with God than to have Royal blood run in our Veins to be an Heir of Heaven than to be Heir to a Kingdom to be the Children of God than to be the Children of Nobles Isai 43.4 since thou wast precious in my sight saith God thou wast honourable For Nobility it self is mortal and many Noble Houses and Families dye and come to nothing but Grace is longer liv'd My desire is that seeing God hath written Vanity upon the Creatures that you may be able to read it and so may hang loose to the World and so use it as not to abuse it And seeing Death is certain and the time of Death uncertain that you will learn to dye daily that when Death comes you may look upon it without Horror or Distraction In the mean time Heb. 12.1 2. that you may run the Race that is set before you yea so run that you may obtain and with Christ endure the Cross and despise the Shame 1 Cor. 9.24 that you may sit down with him in his Kingdom of Glory that you may keep your Garments unspotted in the World and have your Loyns girded your Lamps alwayes Burning and you your selves in a Centinel posture that at what hour soever your Lord and Master comes you may be found Watching my desire is that while you live you may
in our eye Death looks more lovely If ever therefore you would dye Happily and Comfortably beware of letting out your affections upon the World for you will never be willing to leave what you love nor to pay so dear for Christ and Heaven till you affect them better 3 Direct If you would dye happily then redeeem your Time carefully make preparation for a dying time and take heed of losing time and spending it in vain he that would win the Race will set out with the first and hold on to the last and take all the advantages that are offered in the way he that hath much work to do and that of great concern must not lose the Morning or if he do must ply it hard the rest of the day You will find all your time that is allotted you little enough for the work you have to do and not an hour to spare to spend in idleness for delays and Idleness are the two Gulphs wherein many Souls are drown'd Many when they are young depending upon and trusting to their Youth their health and strength send Repentance thirty years before and 't is odds they never overtake it many young men go to Hell that thought to repent when they were old and many old men that thought they might have lived a little longer Many are resolved to spend their youthful dayes in the Devils service and then stop Gods mouth with the Blind and the Lame but he seldom takes up with a death-bed Repentance from those that purposely put him off to the last he usually reckons with such mispenders of time for the Talents he hath lent them and payes them off not with a Penny but a Prison for he expects what he hath given us to glorifie him should be that way improved upon this little inch of time Eternity doth depend our Everlasting well or ill being and therefore 't is too precious to be spent in vanity and folly and how then dare you spend a day an hour vainly in an Ale-house or other Vanity and not know whether you have another hour or day to live I have read of a Gentlewoman that usually spent her time in Cards and Dice and other unnecessary Recreations and coming from her Sport late in the night found her Maid reading for she was godly and casting her eye upon the Book reproved her thus Thou poor melancholy Soul what alwayes reading and spending thy time thus wilt thou take no comfort in thy life And so passing into her Chamber went to bed but could not sleep but sigh and groan her Maid lying in the room with her demanded the reason of it and whether she was well Fox Time and the End of Time p. 70. She replyed She had read the word Eternity in her Book which had so pierced her heart that she believed she should never sleep more till she had some better assurance of her Eternal condition And if this word Eternity were but well considered it might send our time-wasting Gallants trembling home from their Sports but God hath hid these things from their eyes There are more than those guilty though few more guilty there is many a man that is a good Husband for the World and careless in nothing but in matters relating to his Soul he can observe Times and Seasons for Plowing and Manuring of his ground Seed-time and Harvest shall not be neglected not the meanest Beast but shall be heeded his Garden Orchard c. shall be fenced pruned manured weeded and preserved his House well furnished and Provision prepared and yet his Soul altogether neglected and neither Food nor Raiment prepared for it for this life he is carefull that neither he nor his Posterity shall want and yet hath no care for the Life to come he can go from Fair to Market to prepare for the Body and matters not the Harvest Season or Market-day for the Soul The Mariners that observe the Wind and Tide yet neglect the sweet gales of the Spirit of God when they blow upon the Soul and would waft them Heavenward and help them forward to their Journeys end to the desired Port. The Devil by his diligence condemns us for where his work is Latimer 1 Pet. 5.8 there is he he is no Non-resident but alwayes in his Diocess He goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour And shall we not be as vigilant to save our Souls as he to destroy them if he find us idle he will soon imploy us The heart of man is a Mill that will be alwayes grinding if not Gods Wheat then the Devils Tares If the Devil spend all his time to deceive us we should spend all our time to prevent him All the time we have is little enough and there is none to spare and what is past is irrecoverably gone though we could give a world of Treasure for an inch of time Now if you would redeem time beware of those great devourers of Time which usually steal away a great part such as vain and idle Thoughts how much of our time is this way consumed many an hour which might have been better spent viz. in the Contemplation of God of Christ of Heaven of Glory is spent in roving vain imaginations which bring no profit do no good and tend to no benefit Yea worldly thoughts and cares take up also a great part of our time 't is true the World must have some of our thoughts and time but most men make a bad division between God and it they let the World run away with his part as well as their own yea much of that Sacred time set a part for a better use yea many times amidst our Religious duties the heart is stole away by the World Idleness also consumes much many enter not into the Vineyard till the eleventh hour and then mind not their work but their Wages vain and unprofitable Discourse also is a Thief and steals away much of our time and many idle and unnecessary Visits also and when all this is deducted 't is no wonder there is but little left for our grand business to these may be added immoderate lying in Bed vain and time spending Dressings and Attirings the whole Mornings work to our Female Gallants immoderate and unnecessary Recreations which some make all the Calling they follow Drinking Tipling and what not but if these in this their idle expence of time should ask themselves this question Which of the Eternities lye before them and to which of them they are going it might spoil their sport for when Death hath struck his stroak the Soul is in a stated condition which Eternity it self cannot alter and seriously 't is one of the saddest sights in the World to a man apprehensive of the danger to see an unconverted man fetch his last breath and lanching forth into an infinite Ocean of boiling Lead and burning Brimstone for the avoiding of that take time while time serves and lose not that Prodigally
The Lord saith he hath bid him curse David God can yea he will if it be good for thee preserve thee from a violent death and he will preserve thee till the appointed time come they cannot antedate his Decree thou shalt not be cut down sooner neither canst thou stay longer than he hath appointed and dost call God thy God and thy Father and yet resist his will dost pray Thy will be done and yet when he makes known his will dost thou oppose it but haply thou maist say How shall I know it is his will that I shall lay down my life why when thou canst not save it without denying Christ or his Truth or committing sin for he that commiteth sin is of the Devil and in such a case think not to wrestle out of the hands of God sin will find thee out and never any man set himself against God and prospered There is no resisting of God when thou canst not breathe without him all diseases are his Executioners and wicked men can do no more to the one or the other of them thou must submit and not much matter to which to neither of them thou should submit willingly but to God in both thou shouldst seek all lawful means against the one and the other but nothing but what is lawful when God denies help go not to the Devil for a medicine to submit to death when thou canst not help it is no praise-worthy thing when thou canst save thy life by unlawful means and wilt not this shall not be unrewarded a Crown of glory will be given thee He deserves death that in time of danger deserteth his Captain and falls off to the enemy Keep thy life thou canst not without his leave and if thou lay it down for his sake 't is not the way to lose it but to save it to hide it with God in Christ and doth not Reason tell thee he is fittest to dispose of thy life that gave it he is too righteous to do thee wrong and too gracious to do thee hurt never was indulgent Father or tender-hearted Mother more carefull of their only Child than God will be of thee thou shalt not lye longer in the furnace than need is he afflicts not willingly nor grieves the children of men thou art but like a sleepy child that wrests and wrings and cries and will not be undrest and thy Father must carry thee to bed against thy will and what harm hath he done then when thou awakest thou wilt thank him for it When Corn is ripe it should be cut and who is fitter to know when 't is ripe than the great Husbandman when thy work is done thou maist go to thy rest and who better knows than the Lord of the Vineyard if that he take thee off in the midst of thy day and give thee the wages for the whole day what cause is there of complaint Nay should he give thee the whole wages for one hours work if God call thee off 't is not to stop thy wages or to blame thee for working no longer Thou must submit to the stroak of death and do it willingly whether it be natural or violent for consider God hath most right to thy life and is the fittest person to determine of the Manner of thy death He gives men Laws to live by and yet many will take their own wills and waies to their own destruction he gives men Laws to dye by look that thou follow not thy own will to perdition thou art but a Tenant at will if thou resign not at thy Landlords will it will be the worse for thee he will never provide a better house but a Prison for thee he is the fittest to determine when to pull down these houses of clay and who shall do it and if thou willingly submit he will raise thee up a Spiritual building an house not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens Is it not unreasonble for thee to think to keep the keyes of life and death at thy girdle why shouldst thou think to dispose of thy death any more than of thy birth or of thy latter end more than thou didst of thy beginning it was through him that thou wast born and at his dispose shall be thy death if thou wouldst wring this key out of Gods hand into whose hands wouldst thou commit it is any in the world fitter for it than he is nay can any other in the world preserve thy life thou art the clay and he is the Potter and whose is the Pot but the pot-makers and who may better dash it with his foot than he may he not dispose of his own as he pleaseth he is best able to maintain life and best able to take it away for if he tread upon thee he leaves thee dead behind him if he with-hold thy breath thou returnest to thy dust and all thy thoughts perish Doth not he rule in Heaven and in the Earth doth not he direct the Sun the Moon and the Stars in their courses doth not he cause Summer and Winter Cold and Heat Seed-time and Harvest Day and Night and thou letst him alone with these and why because thou canst not take this work out of his hand he makes the Grass to grow for the Cattel and Corn for the service of Man he waters the earth with his Clouds and causeth the Springs to run among the Hills why dost not take these out of his hand or must he rule all the rest and only thee must be excepted hath he more wisdom than thou hast in all other things only in the disposing of thy life thou outwittest him why art thou not his creature as well as others and how cam'st thou from under his dominion doth it beseem a rational man much less a gracious man to argue at this rate and except himself from Gods dispose and argue himself from under his tuition and think himself to be an independent creature fit to stand upon his own legs Doth not he know best when his work is done and when his Roses are ripe and when his Children are fit for glory or is any other fitter to determine these controversies or wouldst thou dispose of thy own life if so wouldst have all men have the same priviledge then Heaven especially Hell would be long empty for what wicked man would leave the Earth to go thither and God must be beholding to his people to come to him how should Judgment and Justice then be executed the sword of Justice would rust in the Scabbard for what offender would lay down his head upon the block willingly How would the Earth then be filled with violence and all flagitious crimes if thou wouldst not have others have the like priviledge then thou art partial if thou wouldst thou art foolish but if it were at thy own dispose how couldst maintain it Thou couldst neither provide thy self food neither could thy life be preserved by food without Gods blessing neither
it be by the very Gates of Hell I can do all all things through Christ that strengthens me MEDITAT IV. The Fear of Death is unsuitable to a Believer O My Soul why art thou yet disquieted within me why art thou cast down why dost thou meditate terror and all this when thou lookest Death in the face Is this amazement suitable for a Christian Souldier is this the fruit of all thy Preaching Praying Reading Meditating and thy other duties is this the result of all the pains thou hast taken in Heavens way Nay hath God set thee to strengthen others against the fear of Death to support the feeble hands and drooping hearts and art thou thy self ready to faint under the burden why man rouse up thy self a little didst never see death before that thou tremblest at the apprehension art thou fit to be a Captain of the Lords Host that art ready to fly at a shadow If the Shepherd be terrified well may the Sheep be affrighted if the apprehension of Death be so amazing what will the feeling of it be well mayest thou say with Nehemiah Shall such a man as I flee Neh. 6.11 Is not death bitter enough but thou must make it bitterer and dost faint before thou feel the burden where is thy wonted courage where are now thy arguments where with thou wast wont to blunt the Dart of Death and to uphold sinking Souls under the stroak of Death Death hath been often in thy eye in thy thoughts in thy Meditations and then it was not so terrible and now with Agag thou thoughtest the bitterness of Death was past and upon a new Apprehension oâ— it doth it seem so formidable Call to mind thy former resolutions to suffer for Christ yea thy Covenant engagement to him wherein thou devotedst thy sell and that thine was to him and at his dispose and dost now repent of thy repentings death is not so great an Enemy as thoâ— supposest nor so terrible as he seems plucâ— off his vizor and look him in the face and he will appear both thy Friend and thy Physician to cure thee of all thy maladies thou hast not now a day free from sin and sorrow for where the onâ— is the other will be also as the shadow will follow the substance or rather as the effect follows the cause neither art thou like to have till death sets thee at liberty thou art now a slave or servant but the year of Jubilee is coming when thou wilt be free Job 3.17 18 19. There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest there the Prisoners rest together and they hear not the voice of the Oppressor the small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master Death is sent by God as Moses into Egypt to bring thee out of Egyptian bondage to the promised Land and what if thy bondage like theirs be a little encreased at the present wilt thou murmur like them when thy deliverance is in sight though thou must through the red Sea the way is safe if God go before thee and if the way be dark he will be a Pillar of fire to give thee light thou needest not fear losing thy way that hast such a guide Here thou canst not serve God but the Egyptians are ready to stone thee but get but over this bridge of Death over this Jordan and thou maist serve him without distraction or disturbance here thou canst hardly have a sight of God but Death will bring thee to speak with him face to face to know him as he is and to enjoy him as thy own In this Wilderness thou meetest with many troubles many wants sometimes of meat sometimes of drink sometimes of cloaths and other necessaries but in Heaven there is no want no need of creature-comforts for what need the Pipe when we are at the Fountain-head here are many troubles many enemies fiery Serpents but when over this Jordan these troubles vanish all thy fears husht and thy self out of the reach of danger the Devil nor his instruments cannot pursue thee beyond Death here is thy promised Land thy purchased Inheritance thy Mansion-house and can Death that puts thee in possession be lookt upon as thy Enemy The thoughts of Death are many times worse than Death it self as the Picture of the Lyon seems fiercer than the Lyon himself Heb. 2.15 but Christ died to free those that through the fear of Death were all their life time subject to bondage Oh the precious hours that should be spent in solacing thy self with the thoughts of God and the forethoughts of Glory and taking a Pisgah sight of the Heavenly Canaan which now are fruitlesly spent between hopes and fears of our Journey thither not but that preparation should be made but no desponding fears should discompose thee for the Journey The thoughts of Eternal bliss and the weight of Glory that is before thee should divert thy mind from all the pains and sorrows thou meetest with in thy journey thither as the hopes of the prize makes him that runs the race overlook the foulness or roughness of the way and the hopes of a reward makes the Souldier hew his way through the thickest of his enemies That time which now is spent in sorrowful thoughts how thou shouldest part with the world and endure the pangs of death would be better spent in trimming up thy Lamp getting Oyl in thy Vessel and adorning thy self with thy Wedding garment and in praising God that thinks thee worthy to suffer for him and in consideration that after a little pain thou shalt enter into thy masters Joy where there shall be no more pain and that this light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for thee a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 Is this thy living by faith that thou talkest of What can a coveteous worlding do more that hath his portion in this life than fear the time that he shall lose it what can the voluptuous Epicure do more that at death shall see an end of all his pleasure Is this thy living by Faith is this the fruit of thy hope and the evidences of thy love to God and the other graces of the Spirit Doth vain glory steel the Spirit of our Hectors that look death in the face undauntedly only in hopes of Honour and a surviveing Name do the Mahometans venture their lives upon conceipt that those that dye in the wars shall undoubtedly go to Heaven and there for ever have their will with beautiful women and all other sensual delights and will not the Enjoyment of God in glory work thee to a willingness to suffer what he would have thee suffer Is this thy professed obedience when thou startest at hard and difficult dutyes and only scummest off the fat and sweet of duty and leavest self-denying dutyes undone what dost thou in this more than an Hypocrite or a carnal man
should not dispose of thee as well as he doth of all the world Shall the pot say to him that made it Why hast thou made me thus Art thou wiser than he to know who is fit to be cal'd forth to suffer and knowest thou better than he how to guide the affairs of the world But thou art afraid thou shalt not hold out but dost thou stand by thy own strength and dost not think that God hath power enough to uphold thee or wisdom enough to know what thou canst do a wise Captain will not put a fresh-water Souldier upon the hardest assaults put experienced Souldiers God will not put new Wine into old Bettles if thy heart be rotten no wonder if thou miscarry if it be right God will not suffer thee to faint having so many cordials by him In Queen Maryes daies we read of poor simple men and women that never had the Learning the means the time the help that thou hast had nor never made the profession that thou hast made yet were wonderfully supported by God under all their sufferings and became glorious Martyrs and cannot God uphold thee also and why then shouldst thou be so desirous of life and fearful of death and rather live a miserable life than dye a happy death why wouldst thou still live in Meseck and in the tents of Kedar rather than in Gods own House and in his presence in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore why dost desire to be present in the Flesh and absent from the Lord and preferrest misery before glory it self and a vain empty nothing before eternal treasures sure something is amiss with thee that with Adam thou hidest thy self from God and wilt not go when he calls thee Heb. 10.22 couldst thou draw neer to him with a pure heart in assurance of faith with a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and thy body washed with pure water thou maist find more delight in his presence than the world can yield and in sincerity will enable thee to delight in him much more perfection when all imperfections will be done away then thou wilt find with David that 't is better be a door-keeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness that a day in his courts much more in Heaven is better than a thousand elsewhere But Oh my soul hast not thou plaid the Truant and now darest not come into thy Masters sight hast thou not with the slothful servant hid thy talent or like the unjust Steward wasted thy masters goods and now fearest what account thou shalt give of thy Stewardship or what answer thou shalt make about thy talent Or hast thou not played the Coward and runst away from thy Colours or turned thy back upon the enemy and now darest not look thy Captain in the face Paul when he had fought the fight and kept the Faith and expected the crown he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ to be absent from the body and present with the Lord well may thy Lord and Saviour entertain thee with a check Why art thou fearful Oh thou of little faith Art thou listed to fight against thy enemies and now when the last enemy is to be destroyed dost thou turn thy back throw down thy weapons and quit the field doth thy faith fail thee and dost thou question whether there be a reward for the righteous and a God that judgeth the earth and whether there be an eternal happiness to be had or whither those that dye in the Lord are blessed and do rest from their labours dost now question whether death doth put an end to all the Saints miseries and enter then into eternal joy if so why hast thou preacht and owned and pleaded for these things yea why hast thou suffered so much in hope of a joyful resurrection but if thou believe there is a God and that the Scripture is the Word of God and that God will do as he saith and will make good all his promises and all his threats and that it shall go well with the righteous and that he shall eat the fruit of his labour Isa 3.10 and that it shall go ill with the wicked for the reward of his hands shall be given him If thou do believe death is to the godly the Out-let to misery and the Inlet to glory and puts them into possession of all that is good that it will cure all diseases and heal all maladies how can this stand with thy fear and dread the very thoughts of eternal Joy draws up the heart to Heaven and makes thee wish and long for the time of thy dissolution and much imbitters all earthly enjoyments and makes the soul impatient of delayes and to cry out Come Lord Jesus come quickly when shall the time be that I shall Solace my Soul in the enjoyment of my Husband when shall I lye in his bosom when will my beloved send for me in his triumphant Chariot O cursed sin when shall I be rid of thee thou art the Make-bate between my God and me thou hidest his face from me thou spoilest all my duties thou art the cause of all my misery when shall I be rid of thee when shall I give thee a bill of divorce when shall it once be Oh my soul were but thy love as it should be to Christ these would be thy breathings and thy pantings after him thou wouldst be like a love-sick woman never well till thou wert in the arms of thy beloved thy thoughts would be upon him ubi amor ibi animus where the treasure is there will the heart be also where love is the heart will be and love makes labour light the wife that loveth her husband will rather venture his displeasure in coming to him without his consent than in staying from him when she is sent for and thy unwilllingness to dyeand come to Christ when he calls thee doubtless proceeds from want of love to him let them fear death that have Plague-sores running upon them the marks and tokens of the second death whose passing out of the world is but the direct road to Hell whose life time is all the respite they have out of Hell and the only breathing-time they are ever like to have free from torments but to the godly it is not so but their only Hell and time of their misery If a man were sore sick and could certainly know that after one night he should be perfectly well and never be sick more or if a man in pinching penury and want should know that after one Sleep he should awake a Prince and all his wants should be supplyed who would fear that Night or be afraid of that Sleep but such a Night such a Sleep death is to the godly it is but a sleep and they shall wake in glory 'T is but to wink saith the Martyr and we shall be in Heaven presently
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
of good Christians have suffered death under this pretence For a good work said the Jewes we stone thee not but for blasphemy This sect is every where spoken against And after the way which men call heresie saith the Apostle so worship I the God of my Fathers There 's none that persecute the Saints as Saints but as Offenders no man will put an innocent man to death under that notion the Devil hath taught them their lesson better than so Job is not punisht as a righteous man but a hypocrite that served God for gain and if God restrained his wages he would curse God to his face Daniel must be cast into the Lions den and the three children into the fiery furnace for breaking the Kings Laws and the Jews put all to death in Hamans time being against the Kings profit He that would kill a dog saith the proverb must say he was mad But these aspersions are not inconsistent with eternal salvation 'T is true thou art a great offender against God and so deservest death but thou art not like to suffer upon this account greater offenders escape safe but thy fault is that thou wilt not betray the Truth thou wilt not worship God according to mens Inventions thou wilt not bow down to their Idols who set up their Dagon by the Ark these things are most like to lay thee open to sufferings rather than Atheism debauchery or open prophaness But if it be thus thou art not the first innocent person that hath been oppressed in judgment neither art thou like to be the last Eccle. 7.15 't is no strange thing to see a righteous man perish in his righteousness but thy innocent blood if shed will like the blood of Abel cry from the earth for revenge and do them more hurâ— thau the stroak of death can do to thee and thy cause will be cal'd over again and tryed at another Barr and if maintaining the Truth and keeping a good conscience and standing close to thâ— cause of Christ be the cause of thâ— sufferings fear not thou shalt hereater be acquitted when thine enemies shall be condemned and Heresie then will be otherwise defined than now they do Oh my God I see death cannot hurt me my enemies cannot hinder my happiness if my own deceitful heart do not deceive me Lord leave me not to my self for then I shall miscarry Lord through thy strength I shall be strong and if thou leave I can do nothing Lord qualifie me fit for suffering and death and then command what thou wilt MEDITAT VIII The Miseries Death frees us from OH my Soul what saist thou yet wilt thou submit to God even to the death and leave it to Gods dispose what death thou shalt dye whether a natural death or a violent thou seest neither can hurt thee if thou be prepared either will undo thee if thou be not and therefore thou needst not to fear it nay it will do thee much good and therefore thou maist desire it with submission to thy Makers will thou maist sing with Paul that Swan-like song Cupio dissolvi I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all There are three things especially which make thy life uncomfortable to thee and that is Sin Sorrow and Temptations and from those or either of those thou canst never be freed by any but death sin is the cause of misery and temptations the cause of sin while thou art in the world thou art under the tyranny of sin and while sin lives sorrow never dies for afflictions follow sin as the shadow doth the substance or the effect the cause and while there is a Devil in hell and thou be on earth thou canst never be free from his assaults 'T is true in the Creation the soul was made innocent and the body spotless but by the Devils instigations Man lost his integrity sinned against God and so lost his Image and in the room of Original righteousness stamped upon his soul he hath Original sin so that thy whole man soul and body is polluted and that in all the powers and faculties of the soul and the body is become the instrument to act the sâ—â—s the soul conceives thou broughtest a poysonful Nature with thee into the world which thou canst not be stript of while thou art in the world yea before thou couldst sin thou wast sinful and before thou couldst act reason thou wast guilty of Treason against thy God thou broughtest the spawn of all sin with thee as a Wolf brings his wolvish nature into the world or a Toad or Serpent a noxious quality though when young they cannot reduce it into act Corruption hath naturally a seat in the soul from within come murders adulteries c. It possesseth the noblest powers and faculties of it Now a Swine in the Garden is not seemly much less in the Parlour or the Bed-chamber it takes up its residence in the heart which is the room wherein Christ himself should lodge This original corruption with which thou art tainted is virtually every sin for it is the Spawn of it there is no sin acted but the seed of it lyes here and hence it is thou art so disposed to evil and so averse from good there is no sin so bad but thou hast an inclination to it if this seed be watered with a temptation if the restraining or Sanctifying grace of God prevent not and no duty so good but this sets thy heart against it the very Praising of God that Angelical duty is opposed by this original sin This sin of Nature this original corruption is universal and that makes it much worse universal in respect of Time even from the fall to the end of the world no day free from this sin some sin reigns most in some Ages this in every Age. Also in respect of Persons no meer man was ever free since the fall no son of Adam or daughter of Eve other sins some persons may be and are little infected with but this all stand infected with And in respect of Parts 't is universal also no power of the soul no member of the body free from it and 't is continual and perpetual without any Intermission thou canst not leave it behind in one duty 'T is said that some Serpents when they go to drink lay by their poyson as also when they go to generate This I know not but this I am sure of thou canst not lay aside thy sinful nature yea when thou makest thy Addresses to God himself thou mayst haply lay aside the acting of sin but not being sinful for couldst thou leave thy sin behind thee thou mightest have more sweet communion with thy God in one Duty than now thou canst have in all thy duties for 't is sin that stains all thy duties and makes them signifie little to thee and wert thou not in Christ God would hate them and throw them back into thy face with disdain 't is
thy sin that makes thee take so much pains in duty to keep thy heart to God this hides his face from thee that thou canst scarce have a glimpse of him in an Ordinance this is the Root upon which all other sins grow the Spring that feeds all the streams of vice and hence they issue and this is it upon which the Devil fastens all his temptations the want of this made the Devil successeless in his tempting of Christ his fire fell upon wet Tinder and this is the misery of it this sin never dyes for age but the longer we live the stronger it grows some sins are in a decaying condition as to the Act when age disables an Adulterer and some others but this decayes not yea and we propagate it also to our Posterity our children receive it from us and so it will be propagated from one generation to another to the worlds end Oh the horrid nature of this sin 't is the Image of Satan which he stampt upon us when the image of God was lost and this cannot be rased out but by death here thou art troubled with a hard heart a stubborn will disordered affections unruly passions vain thoughts idle imaginations which thou canst not shake off more than thy very Nature this makes thee so unlike to God so like to Satan whose Image thou bearest and whose work thou doest this makes thy duties stink in the nostrils of God and thy whole man Soul and Body out of order this hinders thy communion with thy God and makes him a stranger to thee it makes thee act as an enemy to him and him to thee and thy iniquity hides his face from thee These are the Anakims that terrifie thee these are the sons of Zerviah that are too hard for thee these are the Caananites which are thorns in thine eyes and pricks in thy sides these sins of thine are the cause of all thy trouble thou hadst never had aking head or aking heart or loss or cross or any thing to trouble thee had it not been for sin but from these thou canst not be freed one moment no Prayer no Duty no Action but savours of them this thou art sensible of this burden thou groanest under and lookst upon sin as thy greatest enemy and well thou maist for nothing could hurt thee but for this this it is that makes the soul vulnerable which otherwise man nor Devil could not hurt this thou hast preached against spoke against prayed against thou hast railed upon it and called it all that naught is well now let us see whether thou wast in Earnest or in Jest whether all this was in sincerity or hypocrisie death comes now to free thee from this bondage ease thee of this burden and brings a potion to cure thee when all other Doctors have left thee and can do no good he will bring thee where sin and sorrow shall be no more for into heaven they shall never enter art thou willing of the seperation to give sin a bill of divorce and put it away wilt thou shake hands with it and bid it adieu for ever this potion will purge the soul from all the reliques of this distemper and cleanse the heart which is the fountain of all thy actions and make all the streams thence proceeding run clear and fetch away all those gross humours of sin that filthy lump that lyes upon thy heart and presseth it down and lyes as a clog upon it it will cast out all those unclean Spirits and cleanse those Augean Stables from all pollution this is the only Physitian in the world that can do it and God the great Physician of Souls hath approved of his Recipts and sent him to thee upon this errant to heal thee of the wounds of sin and to restore thee to thy primitive purity wherein thou wast created what saist thou wil't give him entertainment or no The Devil and the damned would take a potion a thousand times bitterer upon the like condition help thou canst not have till thou art purged nor to Heaven thou canst not go for no unclean thing shall ever enter there purged thou canst not be without death for then Christ will wash thee clean with his own blood and sprinkle thee with clean water and present thee to his Father without spot or wrinkle or any such defiling or deforming thing and cure thee of all thy soul distempers and bodily infirmities which shall never more seize upon thee he will say to sin and sorrow as unto the unclean spirit Go out of him Mar. 9.25 and enter no more into him These sins be they that keep thee under the hatches that thou canst not serve God without distractions but death will unpinion thy wings and let thy soul at liberty and then thou shalt never be troubled with vain thoughts or imaginations more thou shalt never speak vain word more or do any sinful action more what wouldst thou give for thy freedom from sin for one month or one year and what now wilt thou give for a perpetual freedom what dost thou yet hang back and art not willing to suffer one hours pain for it is this thy Love to God which thou hast professed that when thou art put to thy choice thou choosest sin before him is this thy hatred of sin that now thou art loth to leave it when it comes to the trial is this the fruits of thy prayer preaching and profession Art thou now at a stand whether to deny thy God or thy Sin and art inclined to choose sin rather than God and hadst rather be present with sin and absent from God and hadst rather live in the suburbs of Hell than dye and come to Heaven and hadst rather enjoy sin for ever than God for ever for till death hath passed over thee thou canst not be free from sin neither canst thou enjoy Happiness for Sin was born with thee and will dye with thee it hath an indwelling in the soul Psal 51.5 thou wast shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin 'T is as natural to thee as to live 't is thy very nature 't is thy very self thou maist as well shake off Nature yea shake off self as shake off sin it sticks closer than the skin to thy back or the flesh to thy bones these may be separated but sin cannot till the great separation between the body and soul and then the same stroak that lets out thy life will let out thy sin and all thy misery which is the consequents of sin this hath caused thee many a sigh and sob and sorrowful hour and many a prayer many an affliction and many a lash of his rod and hindred thee many an hours Communion with thy God it hath spoiled thee many a duty and made thy life a very burthen it hath broke thy peace many a time with God and wounded thy conscience and made God hide his face from thee and many a time he hath whipt
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
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
maist do all things Trust not in thy own strength lest with Pembleton thou failest in the performance Mat. 9.17 God will not put new wine into old bottles nor the heaviest burden upon the weakest Horse the strongest if he leave them are weak and the weakest in his strength are strong if thy heart be upright God will either free thee from thy suffering or support thee under it he will fit the back before he lay on the burden if thou dye by a violent death so do those many thousands that are slain with the Sword and yet those that are slain by the sword are better than they that dye of famine Lam. 4.9 many a wounded man that yet escapeth with his life suffers more pains of his wounds than if he had been slain outright If thou refuse a few pangs for Heaven thou art not worthy of it yea a natural death may be as painful many times is more painful than a violent death but the reward of the latter if it be for God may clearly turn the scales and make it more eligible Thy enemies as before was said are not Masters of thy life neither is it in their power to take it away for they have no power but what they receive from Heaven 't is he that disposes of Angels and Men of Crowns and Kingdoms of Heaven and Earth that must dispose of thy life and is not he the fittest for the work is there any in the world can do it better is there any in the world thou hadst rather trust with thy life is not he the fittest to send for thee out of the world that sent Christ into the world for thy sake and wilt thou think thy life too dear for him that thought not the pangs of death nor the pains of Hell too much to suffer for thee hath he suffered so much to purchase glory and wilt thou suffer nothing to enjoy it his suffering was a thousand times more for thee than thine is like to be for him or rather for thy self for thou hadst the benefit of his death but he will have none by thine hath he provided a Mansion and wilt not leave thy Cottage to go to it Death 't is true is surly and grim but 't is thy Fathers Messenger and must do the message he gives in charge and 't is an Ambassador from the great King and Ambassadors are entertained not for their own but their Masters sake and death may be welcomed for the message sake he brings He comes to tell thee that thy work is done and thy wages is ready thy Warfare is accomplished the Field is won and the Crown is thine Mat. 25.21 that thou hast been faithful over a little and now must be Ruler over much and must enter into thy Masters joy That the Bridegroom is come and thou must go in with him to the wedding that thou hast been faithful to the death Rev. 2.10 and now shalt have a crown of life And is not such a message welcome and the Messenger that brings it will any wise man rather stay in Egypt than go through the red Sea at Gods command or endure a few Wilderness troubles to come to Canaan yea through a sea of blood to a Haven of rest If the way be troublesome the Journeys end is pleasant if thou art stung with fiery Serpents there is a brazen Serpent to heaâ— thee of thy wounds and to draw ouâ— the venom If the sea be rough the Piloâ— is skilful If thy disease be dangerous this Physician is skilful if thy wounds be deep this Surgeon will cure thee yea by Killing will cure thee of all distempers Were Death a pursevant from Hell as to many he is well mightest thou fear but being sent from Heaven and coming in thy Fathers Livery and his ugly Vizor taken off he is more amiable If thou have part in the first resurrection the second death on thee shall have no power Death 't is true Rev. 20.6 puts a cup of trembling into the hands of unrepentant sinners even a cup of the Lords indignation filled to the brim which they must drink up to the very dregs and Eternity will be little enough to see the bottom but what is this to thee thy part is sugered and 't is but one sup swallowed in a few moments of time to them it proves the first and second death to thee but a Sleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth Those sparks which wicked men now on earth kindle by their lusts will there be blown up into an everlasting flame Mar. 9.44 the worm dyeth not and the fire never goeth out That death that puffs out the candle of the wicked only snuffs the other that it may burn brighter The godly while they are in the world act a Comedy which begins bad but ends well the wicked act a Tragedy which alwaies ends in blood and confusion death sets an end to both to the godliess miseries and the wickeds happiness Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them And if this be the only way to blessedness why art thou afraid to walk in it death will be the Funeral of thy Vices and the Resurrection of thy Graces here Josephs feet shall no longer be hurt in the stocks the iron shall no longer enter into his soul neither shall Jeremy lye here in the miry dungeon nor Daniel in the den of Lions nor Jonah in the Whales belly why wilt thou not be uncloathed that thou maist be cloathed upon and surrender this house of clay that thou maist have a better Thou art like an ill debtor that bortowest with prayers keepest with thanks and partest with it with repining Thy body is but lent thee yet art thou loth to restore what was borrowed Well dye thou must and whether it be fit that God or thee should determine of the Time and the Manner of thy death is the question in hand and is this become a controversie and wilt dispute thy right Heaven and Earth may stand amazed at thy folly if thou wilt not yield him his due he will ere long distrain for it and try the Title at Judgment where thou art like to be cast and thrown into Prison till thou hast paid the utmost farthing for if thou deny to glorifie God by thy death he will glorifie himself by thy destruction Oh my God I yield I surrender I submit I put my life into thy hands send for me when and by whomsoever thou wilt My spirit is willing though my flesh is weak I dare not trust my own deceitfull heart lest it betray me but thee I dare trust Lord strengthen my Faith confirm my Assurance clear up my Evidences for Heaven stand by me in all my Sufferings and lay no more upon me than thou givest me strength to bear then call me and I will run after thee though