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
true it wounds thy body but thy Soul is safe but it destroyes them both in body and soul and it brings more profit to the soul than dammage to the body 't is but as the prick of a pin to a dangerous Ulcer which were it not prickt would prove mortal it will put an end to thy pains and a beginning to thy Joyes for when thy life expires sin also dyes and sin and sorrow are breathed out with thy life and from this day thy Lease in Heaven bears date which shall never expire Rouse up thy self O my Soul be not dejected God minds thee no hurt Death will not cannot hurt thee Kill me they may saith the Martyr hurt me they cannot the worst they can do is but to send me to my Fathers house the sooner Many a warning thou hast had many a Corps thou hast interred many a Funeral Sermon thou hast Preached for shame say not thou hadst not sufficient warning wast thou so mad as to think of going to Heaven another way or that thou wast immortal when thou sawest so many about thee dye daily or that thou shouldst live to old age when thou sawest so many dye young and felt so many sensible Symptoms of thy approaching death thou hast as thou didst suppose some grounded hopes that thou hadst a part in the first Resurrection and that therefore the second death on thee had no power and why then is death so terrible Many have more distempers in their Souls than in their Bodies 't is true this is thy case yet thou hast hoped thine are not mortal the malignity of the disease is over when many others have Plague-Sores running upon them these may expect death and have cause to fear it it will but heal thy distempers but inrage theirs thou hast had many meditations of death and many discourses with death and you did seem pretty well agreed thou hast looked death in the face and is he now become more terrible or art thou more timerous that when he comes to thy Bed-side draws thy Curtains and shakes thee by the hand thou tremblest hath Christ done thee no good by his passion by subduing Death disarming him pulling out the sting and trampling him under foot yea laying him prostrate at thy feet hath all the pains thou hast taken in heavens way workt no more upon thee set thee up no higher where now is thy promised obedience and thy prayers Thy will be done when thou art ready to resist Gods Will when 't is manifested and preferrest thine own before it why dost call thy Father the only wise God when thou thinkest thy own wit best and that thou knowest best when 't is best for thee to dye and wilt not submit to his will and that if thou wouldst speak out thy mind is to indent with Christ this thou wilt do or Suffer but not that this sin thou wilt leave but that thou wilt not thou wouldst pick and choose thy duties and take the easiest part of it and leave the difficult dangerous and costly part undone and wilt not have heaven at so dear a rate Thou pretendest a desire to be happy and who doth not Balaam desires the death of the righteous and that his end may be like his but they will not live the righteous mans life and thou art not willing to dye his death for he is conformable to the will of God both in life and death which is that thou dost dislike O my Soul some great thing is amiss with thee thy corruptions are as strong fetters to hold thee in the Devils Slavery thy grace is weak and cannot procure thy freedom the Devil is too cunning for thee the world subtil and thy own heart deceitful to betray thee into Satans hands Oh my God this is my condition this is the estate of my Soul here lyes my distemper the world lyes too close to my heart and Christ lyes at too great a distance my corrupt deceitful heart is ever and anon puting me on to choose this for my happiness a little Grace I see will not carry me through the temptations that lye before me but Lord speak the word and grace will flourish and corruption will dye thou hast said and I believe it that thou wilt not break the bruised reed Mat. 12.20 nor quench the smoaking flax till thou bring forth Judgment unto victory Lord I believe help my unbelief and let not my little grace be lost in the great heap of the rubbish of my corruptions Lord if thou open mine eyes to see the emptiness of the creature and the fulness of Christ then shall I love the one and despise the other Psal 119.32 and shall run the ways of thy Commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart I see no reason why I should be exempted from obeying thy Will even to the laying down of my life and though flesh and blood will not yield willing obedience to it yet 't is my resolution thus to do Lord strengthen my resolution I know my fears are the result of my Infidelity Lord strengthen my faith that I may overcome them for by thy strength I shall stand and without thy assisting grace I shall Apostatize and fall back Leave me not to my self for then I shall undo my self dishonour my God scandalize Religion bring a reproach upon the Gospel wound my Conscience break my Peace with my God and undo my Soul Luk. 9.62 Let me not O Lord now I have put my hand to the Plow look back again Nor when I have begun in the Spirit Gal. 3.3 end in the flesh Rev. 2.10 Lord make me faithful to the death and then give me a Crown of Life MEDITAT V. The World is not desirable to a Christian OH my Soul why art thou desirous to stay in the World and why so unwilling to go to thy Father The time was when thou wast otherwise minded thou lookedst upon it as Bochim a place of tears a Golgotha an unlovely habitation thou wast not willing to dwell in Meseck and in the tents of Kedar thy affections did like fire mount upward and what Load-stone hast now to draw thee back thou wast at a point with all things under the Sun and didst wear the World about thee as a loose garment ready to cast off upon all occasions and dost now spit upon thy hands and take better hold dost now set up thy Staff and with Peter say 't is good being here Art now beginning to build Tabernacles here and slight that house not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens thou didst conclude with Solomon Eccles 1.14 All is Vanity and vexation of spirit and now at last hast found some solidity 2 Pet. 2.22 art thou now returnining with the dog to his Vomit and the washed Sow to her wallowing in the Mire are the Scales of ignorance now fallen from thine eyes and dost thou see some excellency in the worlds enjoyments that before
bestowed upon wicked men will off also If thy Name be written in the Book of Life it matters not much if it be blotted out of the world if God remember thee it matters not much though the world forget thee What though the Habitation wherein thou livest know thee no more if thou art acquainted in Heaven it matters not much though haply the place may be recorded for thy sake Psal 87.4 5 6. For of Zion it shall be said this or that man was born in her and the Highest himself shall establish her the Lord shall count when he writeth up his people that this man was born there What matter is it to thee where thou wast born if now thou hast a better habitation thou hast never had any abiding place since thou wast born but posted from one place to another by an over-ruling Providence and never in any long settled Habitation having above twenty times changed thy dwelling many times against thy will and most times by an unexpected Providence And sometimes when thou hast pitcht thy Tent and said Surely I shall dye here Numb 10.12 the Cloud hath removed and thou hast been forced to march some Providence or other gave a check to thy conceits and if thou live longer thy future condition is not like to be more settled thou hast been a wayfaring man all thy dayes even from the Morning of thy Life and so thou art like to be till thy Sun be set And for some season thy own house would not own thee thy own doors were shut against thee and thy nearest Relations durst not entertain thee though no flagitious crime was charged upon thee Many a place that did know thee is now strange to thee and thou art a stranger to it and if this become strange also 't is no great matter If thou art of a Peasant made a Prince and from a Countrey Cottage brought into the possession of a Kingdom never complain what wrong death hath done thee Or is it thy work thou art so unwilling to leave or art thou ready to say Alas what will become of these poor Sheep in the Wilderness 1 Sam. 17.28 if the Shepherd be smitten they will be scattered 't is well if there be so much care of them Paul indeed having the care of all the Churches upon him was driven into a streight whether to choose Life or Death yet to dye he knew was best for him but to live for them but I fear there are few like-minded that naturally care for the Church for all seek their own not one anothers welfare but the argument may be retorted If thou which hast been a Shepherd fly when thou seest the Wolf coming how shall the Sheep stand if thou turn thy back upon Christ and rather deny him than suffer for him what woful work will this make among the Sheep if thou refuse to seal thy Doctrine with thy blood what encouragement shall they have to own their profession to the Death when the Captains run what havock will the enemy make among the Souldiers but what will thy Life add to any mans happiness or thy Death diminish from thy own If the chief Husbandman take thee out of the Vineyard 't is but to make room for other Labourers for his work shall not stand if he stop thy mouth he will open the mouths of others his work shall be done whether thou live or dye Thou art almost laid aside as a broken Vessel and if he break thee quite the matter is not much there will be little loss And if thou live thou art in a capacity of doing little good but if thy Sun set at Noon God will not diminish thy wages Luk. 9.62 if he take the Plough out of thy hand he will not blame thee for looking back those that workt but one hour in the Vineyard had their penny but thy Sun is almost set the shadows of the Evening are stretched out Jer. 6.4 and Nature it self will shortly end thy dayes and cut off the thred of thy life if thou shouldst spin it to the utmost extent and yet art so loth to have it broke off a little before the time if thou hast imployed thy Talent well God will not chide thee that thou hadst it no longer he doth not require so much use for the half-year as for the whole nor so much work to be done in the half as in the whole day in the Vineyard If he call thee hence to serve him elsewhere he expects thou shouldst obey for thy praises in Heaven are as pleasant to him as thy Preaching upon Earth and for the Church of God take no care he that hath made provision for it this five thousand years he will not leave it now and can do his work without thee and if God take away thy life he will take away thy work and lay thy burden upon others shoulders The same stroak that lets out thy life le ts out thy sin and sin being gone the consequents fruits and effects of it cease also which are labour and sorrow Job 3.17 18. and in the grave the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary are at rest Death may be sweet to those to whom Life hath been bitter and though death may destroy thy Body yet shall it have no dominion over thy Soul Eccles 12.7 the Spirit returns to God that gave it The body is but a crazie Pitcher and no wonder if it break nay 't is a wonder it hath run through so many dangers and is not yet broken and when it is broken 't is but of the same Clay to make a better by the same Potter Thy life is precious indeed and should not be sold but not so precious as to be bought at such a rate as the loss of the Soul What wise man will sell the Jewel to redeem the Box Christ lost his life for thy Souls redemption and wilt thou not lose thine for its preservation Temporal death is the only in-let to Eternal Life but to seek to save thy Life when Christ and his Cause require it is the ready way to eternal death to lose it in this case is to save it and the way to get the greatest gain and to prevent the everlasting separation of soul and body from God which is the second Death But Death of it self cannot seperate from God Rom. 8.28 29. and however it may make the body loathsom in the eyes of men and undesirable to near Relations yet it cannot make it unlovely in Gods eyes or move him to forsake it and though it do fall into the earth and rot there 't is but as seed sown into the ground to spring up with more advantage it is a part of Christs Purchase and shall not be lost 1 Cor. 6.19 't is the Temple of the Holy Ghost and though it be ruined 't is but to be rebuilt and not one pin of it shall be wanting for the Grave
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
bring thee to glory but them to shame and everlasting contempt well may they fear Death but thou hast more cause to desire it Heaviness to thee may continue for a night but joy comes in the morning and by the eye of faith thou maist with Stephen see beyond Death even Heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God yea the Tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradice of God the Crown of glory the purchased Inheritance the Prize for which thou didst run the Crown for which thou didst fight If thou hast a mark in thy forehead for a Mourner in Sion there thou shalt have a Crown upon thy head in token of Victory Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Thou art almost come to the top of the hill draw not back now nor let thy heart go down hold out now Faith and Patience your work will not be now long hold fast what thou hast let no man take thy crown let no temptation draw thee away from Christ consider well the hand that holds it and the design Satan drives on to captivate thy soul for ever Thy life as it is not in thy own hand and should not be at thy own dispose so 't is not in thine enemies hand to take it away at their pleasure but as God makes wicked men his Skullions to scour off the rust of his people so also his Executioners to fulfill his Decrees all is in the hands of God both the Time when the Manner how and the Instruments by whom it shall be done he knows best when his work is done and when to gather his Roses and lodge them in his bosom and the Devil and his instruments are but his drudges and when the measure of their sins are fulfilled they shall have their reward The Devil himself was not able to kill one of Jobs Sheep nor to raise one boyl upon his body without Gods leave Job 1.10 for God had set a hedge about him as he was fore't to confess And God will seal no commission to the dammage of his people for all things shall work together for their good Rom. 8.28 And why dost fear man whose breath is in his nostrils or the son of man that is vanity if the fear of God be planted in the heart the fear of men and Devils will vanish for God hath them in a chain and they cannot go a link beyond it Dan. 3.19 6.16 Nebuchadnezzar had power to cast the three children into the fiery furnace but not to burn them Darius had power to cast Daniel into the Lions den yet not to cause him to be devoured the Sodomites compassed Lots house but could not enter and Haman procured a decree to cut off all the Jewes but lived not to effect it Those that are faithful to the death Rev. 2.10 shall receive at God hands a Crown of life and shall be made pillars in the house of God if they overcome But if thou revolt and deny thy God thou art from under his protecting hand and canst not claim one promise of his assistance then thou standest upon thy own legs and must shift for thy self and a miserable shift it will be Dost contend with him about thy life that hath the keyes of life and death at his girdle he that gave thee thy life and being and thou hast no breath but what he gives thee See the grievous judgments that God brings upon Apostates which both the Scripture and Church Histories will furnish thee with the fallen Angels Adam and Eve in paradise Judas Achitophel Ananias and Saphira and many more and in after ages not a few and what think'st to get by Apostacy by denying thy God or thy Religion perhaps thou thinkest to save thy life a little longer a miserable bargain and yet the Devil cannot assure thee of that It is to be feared that many in Ireland in the late Rebellion had they been brought to the trial whether they would have forsaken their Religion or their Lives would not have chosen Death yet they suffered in the name of Protestants when 't is to be feared they had little more than the Name the question not being who were godly and who wicked but who were Protestants and who Papists and so it will be in England if ever a Massacre be there made by the Papists which God forbid good and bad are there like to drink of the same cup how much better then is it to devote thy life to God leave it at his dispose if he save it bless him for it if he take it away let his will be done if thou thus carry it in thy hand to lay down at his pleasure if he require it not thou shalt not lose thy reward as Abraham did not though Isaac was not sacrificed If thou resolvedly deny it though he require it not thou shalt not be innocent as Abraham had he denied his son though God eventually determined he should not dye yet had been a transgressour and had miss'd of the blessing yet 't is not required of thee by God to lay down thy head upon the block but use all good means for to save thy life and as Christ bids his disciples Mat. 10.23 when they are persecuted in one city to fly to another for if thou suffer without a call thou losest thy reward all lawful means for self-preservation must be used or we are guilty of our own blood but when thou must sin or suffer dye or deny the truth thou must not deny the truth for lifes sake nor do evil that good may come of it then trust God if he will he can preserve thee if not his will be done for then he sees it besâ— to take thee away from the evil to come of two evils the least is to be chosen losing thy life is not so bad as losing Gods love Psal 63.3 for his loving kindness is better than life a violent death upon this account hath been the lot of many thousand Saints that have deliberately made this choice whose souls are now attending upon the Lamb whithersoever he goes from the beginning of the world to this day no age was free from innocent blood which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted the Apostles the primitive Fathers and many thousand Christians were baptized with Christs baptism and went to Heaven in a Sea of blood The Jewes made havock of the Church in the Primitive times and when they were destroyed and their power taken from them the Roman Emperours in the Ten bloody persecutions destroyed hundreds of thousands of them and after that succeeded the Arian persecution and when that was ended and the Pope got his foot into the stirrop and sat as he pretends in the infallible Chair he exceeded in cruelty the Heathens themselves witness the Spanish Inquisition the bloody butchering of the Waldenses and Albigenses the Massacres in Paris and other Cities
it and there is no redemption for such the redemption of the soul is precious Psal 49.8 and it ceaseth for ever Luk. 16.26 Mat. 16.26 no one can get over that great gulph that lies between heaven and hell neither can any price be found out to redeem a lost soul here is no Writ of Error can be had for the prisoner is laid in by an unerring Judge that cannot be deceived there is no Appeal to be made to any other Court for this iâ— the Supream where the Causes tried in all other Courts are called over again and fully determined and the Judge of all the earth will there do justice here can no force hinder the execution and free thee out of prison for thou hast an omnipotent God to grapple with see now what a rock of ruine thou hast run thy self upon what a remediless condition thou art plunged into for if thou deny the Lord that bought thee thou wilt run upon swift destruction and all the friends thou hast cannot help it Well but though the pains be sharp yet if they be but short here is some comfort there is some hope that an end will come though it be long first but alas this comfort here is dasht These torments are eternal as is already proved and shall never end in the pangs of death 'T is true there is hopes for though they are sharp they are momentany yet some Tyrants have kept men many daies in a dying life or living death Tiberius Caesar being petitioned by one to hasten his punishment and give him a speedy dispatch made him this answer Nondum tecum in gratiam redii Stay Sir you and I are not yet friends Such an answer will God give to a damned soul if it desire God to put an end to his torments by death those lingring deaths either inflicted by God or man though they seem long to sence yet what are they to eternity the word for ever will be a Hell in the midst of Hell for when the soul cryes out in anguish and bitterness of spirit How long Lord how long the conscience answers again Ever ever while God is God and Heaven is Heaven and Hell is Hell the miscarrying soul must remain fuel to maintain this fire that shall never go out To this second death the first is but a flea-biting this is Mors sine morte finis sine fine this is that which is call'd Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord where the poor soul must be tormented sine intervallo without ease or end for when the years of a thousand Generations are whirl'd about thy torments will be as fresh as the first day thou wast cast into them and not one farthing of the ten thousand Talents paid off nor one moment of eternity taken off Oh Eternity eternity how amazing art thou how shall we conceive of thee how shall we cast thee up Oh my soul if thou substract from eternity an hundred thousand millions of years the remainder will not be the less 't is infinite still for two finites cannot make an infinite for what is infinite is indivisible it cannot be made less should a poor creature upon the rack under exquisite tortures have his life prolonged for twenty years together without any intermission of pain we might well account him the most miserable man alive and whose heart would not ake for him but what is this to eternal torments and yet who pities them that are like to endure them nay who pities himself that lies under the danger if a man under some raging pain as of the Cholick Stone or Gout lie upon a Featherbed for many years in tormenting pain though he have friends to visit him meat and drink to support him and what comfort Nature or Art could help him to yet we look upon him as a spectacle of misery and one that deserves pity Job 9.14 to him saith Job that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friends But what is this to hell or what is a few years to eternity for in hell is no comfort no ease no refreshment neither any friend to pity nay if all the torments that ever poor creatures indured upon earth whether inflicted by God himself by man or by the Devil could all light upon one man and should lye under them for hunderds of years yet would it fall short for this would neither reach the pain nor reach the duration for when the miscarrying soul hath lain in hell as many years as there are grass piles upon the earth drops of water in the Ocean sands upon the sea shoar hairs on all the mens heads in the world and Stars in Heaven yet the hundred thousandth part of Eternity is not over Oh eternity how shall finite apprehensions conceive of thee how shall we number thee or find out what thou art we that live in time and have but a little time given us here cannot conceive of thee but by a long space of time as we cannot of Infinity of Essence but by a vast quantity we know God doth not number Eternity as we do Time one day is with him as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day For in eternity we need not trouble our selves to count the fleeting hours neither daies nor years for there is no Sun Moon or Stars to be set for times and seasons or for daies or for years but in hell is horrid darkness blackness of darkness for ever And whose heart may not tremble at the apprehension of it should all the Arithmeticians in the world joyn heart and hand and head and all to cast up the greatest summe possible that each one severally could reach and when this is done should add all these together into one summe yet it would fall short nay should the circumference of Heaven be written about with Arithmetical figures from east to west from north to south and all brought into one summe it would yet fall short for what is infinite cannot be diminished or increased such a summe added to it would not increase it such a summe substracted from it would not diminish it Oh my soul what think'st thou of it wilt thou venture upon the pikes of danger wilt thou deny the Lord that bought thee and the God that made thee to preserve a miserable life a little longer Thou seest thy wages and knowest thy reward hadst rather chuse everlasting damnation than a little temporal pain and rather thrust soul and body into eternal flames and suffer the vengeance of eternal fire rather then the pangs of a temporal death Oh what madness hath bewitched thee what folly haunts thee how doth the Devil and the world delude thee Thou that wouldst cut off a limb or joint to preserve the body from greater torture wilt not be willing to endure a little to preserve both body and soul from eternal ruine Heaven and Earth and all wise men may stand amazed at thy folly If thou turn
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
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
that cannot be redeemed with the whole World 4 Direction The next thing I would advise you to which indeed is the chief of all is to get an Interest in Christ that so you may have a title to Glory for till this be had you cannot dye safely and till it be cleared up you cannot dye comfortably for who would leave a present Possession that hath no assurance of a future and when this is done Death will not be terrible But what can bear up the Soul against the pangs of Death if this be wanting Now the way to get an Interest in Christ is to espouse the Soul to him now there is nothing but Ignorance can stave off our affections from him ignotus nulla cupido The blind World can see no Excellency in him no need of him nor any use of him and therefore they have no love nor desire for him but all that know him will love him who prizeth a Physician that is not convinc'd of his skill and finds he hath a real need of him for who will take Physick before he be sick or minds a Plaister before he have a Sore But when the poor soul is convinced of her undone condition by Nature and that there is nothing in her or that can be done by her will serve turn for Salvation yea that help is not to be had in any Creature no not in the Angels themselves could she be Espoused to them for they cannot pay her debts nor secure the Soul in this desparing condition no wonder the Soul dreads death but when it knows withall that though there be an Emptiness in the Creature there is a Fulness in Christ and that he is fully able to make her eternally happy and that Christ doth make love to her and sends many Suitors in his behalf to woe for her affection and that he is the only suitable object in the world for her Affections and that he can make her happy when all the rest would leave her miserable I say under these convictions she begins to hearken to Christs proposals when she sees he is more useful than any other and will stand her in more stead both in Prosperity and Adversity in Health Sickness in Life and at Death when all other helps fail her While the world is lookt upon to be the best match Christ will not be valued till the cheat be found out for who will forsake the better to choose the worse but when they see Christ really better than the world they will then part with the world for him for who will stick at such a bargain when a man considers that the world can do him no good at Death or Judgment But Godliness hath the promise of this life 1 Tim. 4.8 and that to come and that it is profitable to all things Rom. 8.32 and that having Christ all shall be ours for if he spared not his own Son but freely delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things When the match is made up between Christ and the Soul all her Debts are made over to her Husband and he is touched also with the feeling of her Infirmities bears the heavier end of the Cross and in all her afflictions he is afflicted Isa 63.9 and he makes over all his riches to her his Merits his Righteousness his Spirit his Graces and his Glory Plal. 34.10 he hath promised she shall want nothing that is good and that he will never leave her nor forsake her Rom. 8.28 and that all things shall work together for her good Now whatever he hath promised he can make it good for he is both Omnipotent and Omniscient and he will make it good for he is Faithfull and the Experience of five thousand years prove it in all which time no man could stand forth and say This Promise God hath failed in the world yields us some little comfort if God give it a Commission but Christ is all and in all all the excellency that is in the Creature is but as a Vein to lead us to this Mine as a drop of this Ocean and as a ray of this Sun whatever our condition be he can help us if the Soul be sick he is her Physician and all others are Physicians of no value if wounded he hath a Plaister of his own Blood to cure her if she hunger here is food the Bread of life and the Water of life his flesh is meat indeed and his blood drink indeed If she be Poor and Blind and Miserable and Naked he can make supplies here is a Treasure to enrich her a Pearl of great price and spiritual Eye-salve to make her see if she have Enemies he is her Champion that can overcome the Devil and all his Instruments and none can hurt her but through his sides In a word she can want nothing when her Lord and Husband possesses all things the Cattle of a thousand hills are his yea all the beasts of the Forrest with his own Robes he arrayes her and with the Jewels of his Grace he adorns her with his Spirit he directs her and if heavy laden bears her burden if she be weary he is her resting place and hath promised never to leave her nor forsake her Heb. 13.5 and then no matter what others do These promises the Soul may press home by Prayer as Jacob did in a great danger Gen. 32.9 Lord thou saidst thou wouldst do me good and this was as good as present pay for God loves to be bound by his word and to be sued upon his own bond Prayer is a putting the Promises in Suit God can no more deny such Prayers than he can deny himself what need the Soul to fear when Gods Word is out upon it That all things shall work together for her good and if all things then Afflictions nay Sin it self Seneca Venenum aliquando pro remedio fuit saith a Heathen 'T is said that to drink of the Wine wherein a Viper hath been drowned cureth the Leprosie and the Scorpion healeth his own wound the flesh of the Viper cureth the biting of the Viper and so God sometimes cureth us by the wound Sin gives us we usually say The act increaseth the habit but 't is not so here for the believer is like a Sheep that by his fall into the mire is warned to take better heed Now look over all the World and see if you can find such a match for the Soul whether any Creature in Heaven or Earth hath deserved thy Affections better than he or hath done more or will do more than Jesus Christ that is a greater Benefactor than he and hath bestowed better Gifts whether any other can pay thy Debts or make preparation for the Eternal well-being of the Soul and if he prove the fittest Match stand not upon Terms with him think not to alter his Conditions or make him abate of his Price he expects
we would but when our work is done and with our Master's leave We must not with our own hands pluck down these earthly Tabernacles neither deny our consent when God will pluck them down we are Tenants at will and must not think to have our Houses at our own dispose whether they shall down or not we came not into the world but at his appointment and must not go out without his leave I know a Godly man though he have some assurance of a better habitation is not so reconciled to death as to choose it for its own sake for Deaths looks are not lovely it being the King of terrors Job 18.19 and the terror of Kings and in it self formidable and hath daunted the courage of the stoutest Souldiers and triumphs over the most triumphant Conquerour and sometimes discomposeth the most composed Christian And therefore as on the one hand it should not be overmuch feared so on the other it should not be overmuch slighted Christ himself had some fearfull apprehensions of it and well he might knowing what he had to suffer the Sting was then in but by his death it was taken out in reference to Believers yet the Serpent is formidable but not poysonful it will strike still though it cannot sting and as 't is an Outlet to Life so 't is an Inlet to Eternity and who can enter into so vast a Gulph and so boundless an Ocean without amazement where he can find neither bank nor bottom 'T is impossible for men to put off Humanity neither doth Christianity teach us to be Stoicks yet it teacheth us to bound and moderate our passions and not overmuch to fear Death When we have a lawful call to it and when 't is our duty to dye when God sends let who will be the Messenger obey we must Lu. 12.5 Fear not them saith Christ that can kill the body and can do no more but fear him that can cast both Soul and Body into Hell yea I say unto you fear him All outward things must be undervalued for Life sake but Life it self must go for Gods sake if thou sell thy life for any worldly advantage thou wilt make a hard bargain For what good will the world do thee when thou art dead Luk. 12.20 Thou fool saith Christ this night will thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these Thou must part with any thing in the world to preserve it but if thou sell thy Soul to save thy life or part with Christ upon that account thou wilt make a bad bargain Mat. 16.26 for what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in Exchange for his soul This is not to prevent death but to Exchange one death for another temporal death for eternal 'T is not a choosing death thou art Press'd to but a submission to the will of God that is required at thy hands and of two evils the least is to be chosen if thou must either choose death or choose sin death is the more eligible for sin will expose thee to the second death and prove the everlasting separation of soul and body from God which is worse a thousand times than death If thou must lose thy life or thy soul let life go if thou must deny life or deny Christ Christ is better than thy life being the very life of thy soul and he that to avoid a little temporal pain incurs eternal torments makes a foolish bargain Now though there be no reason to love death yet is there great reason why thou shouldst love God better than life Psal 63.3 whose loving kindness is better than life though life be dear yet Christ is dearer The Cup of death may be bitter but Hell and Damnation and the eternal Wrath of God are much bitterer which if thou forsake Christ thou must drink up to the bottom which Eternity will be little enough to do God puts Sugar into the former none into the latter Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them But those that miscarry are sent away with a curse Mat. 25.41 Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels c. 'T is true after the Fall death was threatned as a Curse and a Judgment for sin but by the death of Christ the nature of it is changed to Believers Psal 116.15 and the malignity of it abated Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints the sting is taken out and we may put the Serpent into our bosom 't is now to the godly a Sleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and so 't is said of Stephen he fell a sleep and the Grave is but Gods Cabinet to hide his Jewels where they are secured from the evil to come Isa 57.12 26.20 't is but a Chamber to hide them in till the indignation be past And though Deaths chambers be dark they are best to sleep in where thou shalt meet with no disturbance no noise without or terrour within thou shalt neither see nor hear nor feel nor fear evil death is but a sturdy Porter to open the door of thy Fathers house the gates of Heaven to thee to let thee in And though it may expose thee to some pain for the present 't is not much and 't is but momentary and not worthy the glory that shall be revealed for endless Joy presently succeeds it and pain will soon be forgotten If thou canst but stoop a little and croud in at this strait gate and narrow door thou wilt enter into that spacious City the New Jerusalem If thou canst not love death for its own sake yet entertain him for his Masters sake for it is the Embassadour of the great God and for his Message sake for he brings an Answer of peace To submit unto the will of God and to be obedient unto the death is not only thy Duty but thy Wisdom and Interest and to say with Christ Not my will but thine be done and with Samuel 1 Sam. 3.10 Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth If thou deny thy Life when God requires it Christ will deny thee entrance into those Heavenly Mansions and 't is a thousand times better lose thy life than lose his love think not yet that Heaven is had upon hard terms thou maist haply lose something for Christ but shalt never lose by him the way to save thy life is to hide it with God in Christ The hardest terms that Christ propounds are but reasonable 't is thy Interest to go to Heaven though it were even through the flames of Hell much more through the pangs of Death Paul easily concludes to dye for him was gain and to be with Christ was best of all he dyed daily and carried his life in his hand
ready and what hopes is there of thee if God spare thee another year that thou wilt bring forth better fruit is old age the best and fittest for repentance and preparation to dye when thou wilt find enough to do to wrastle with pains and bodily distempers would a Captain take it for a sufficient excuse if a Souldier that is by ingagement to be ready at an hours warning and should give him a week a month a years time to make ready and at the end of that time he should plead his Arms are not fixed nor other necessaries provided and if the Captain give him another year and at the end thereof he should plead the same excuse would this be taken for a good excuse yet this excuse hath been in thy mouth many years together and 't is doubt if God yet lengthen thy daies and give thee more years it will be the same Hath not death entred into thy habitation hath it not taken away thy parents thy loving wife thy dear children and other of thy near relations and didst not yet lay it to heart wa st thou no wiser than fatted beasts that are taken away one after another to the Shambles and those that remain are senseless of the danger neither consider their turn is coming yea hath not death thrown many a dart at thee and sometimes wounded thee in the head sometimes in thy bowels and yet dost not consider that he hath a dart will reach thy heart Yea sometimes thou hast thought thou hast had thy deaths wound and yet wilt take no warning to get on thy Armour doth not the pains the aches the distempers of thy body under which thou daily groanest bid thee prepare for thy winding-sheet doth not news ring dayly in thy ear this and that friend relation or neighbour is dead and ere long others will say of thee he is dead also hast thou not interred many a dead corpse and preacht may a Funeral Sermon and given many an exhortation to the living to prepare for death and comforted many that have lost their friends by death and wast never yet satisfied that thou wast mortal and must dye also didst thou think thy self only exempted from the common lot of all men or that God would bring thee to Heaven another way or couldst thou wish thou wert immortal and shouldst live on earth to Eternity art thou willing to take the Earth for Heaven and the creature for God and the happiness thou meetst with here for Heavens glory hast enough to satisfy thee here below and desirest no more if not why wouldst not dye and come to happiness if the earth be more desireable to thee one year why not twenty and why not to eternity if God should bid thee choose thy time and appoint it thy self what time wouldst thou require haply Methusalems daies well but these would expire and death at the end would be as bitter as now it is If death were the road to Hell as 't is to the wicked thou mightest well startle at it And I have wondred at those of them that have been so prodigal of their lives when Life is the only preservative out of Hell Or if thy case were that of the beasts and thou were to be reduced unto the horrid estate of nothing death might make thee shrug but when thou believest that death to thee will be an entrance into glory an outlet to misery and an inlet to happiness and the same road that Christ and all the glorified Saints have gone to Heaven in how can this be reconciled with thy fears Hast thou had so many discourses of death and with death and dost believe that the sting is taken out by Christ and dost yet run from this Serpent and take him for an enemy that is but thy Fathers Messenger sent for thy good This must needs be thy sin and thy folly and doth too evidently bespeak thy Infidelity or the weakness of thy Faith Thou hast comforted others at the last gasp and prayed with them and for them thou hast strengthened the weak hands and feeble knees and now dost faint under the same burden But hadst thou had more mortifying Meditations of death and with the Apostle hadst learned to dye daily death would not have been so terrible a Bugbear to thee as now it seems didst thou once a day look him in the face by a serious meditation and by a believing expectation he would not look so grim and terrible Bears and Tigers are not so terrible to those that are their keepers and acquainted with them as to others The Lion in the Fable was at first sight a terror to the Fox but time much allayed his fear the more thou beholdest death the less deformed yea the more lovely he doth appear death will be no excepter of persons the rich and poor high and low whether they will or no must dance in this Ring when God commands he must and will strike death is written upon thy cradle and thou wast rockt upon the mouth of the grave and ever since no day hath been sure to thee but it might have been thy dying day 't is not long since thou didst bewail the death of thy Parents and 't is not long before thy children will bewail thine one generation comes and another goes and the latter treads out the steps of the former we trod out the steps of our predecessors and our posterity will do as much for us The world is but a Tent to abide in for a time an Inne to tarry in a night a Lodging place for a wayfaring man a baiting-place in a Journey Oh the folly of most men that take it for their Inheritance and look for no more but to the Godly 't is no continuing city no abiding place neither indeed worthy our love Were the world as the garden of Eden full of delights and pleasures thou hadst something to say for it and yet the worm of time would eat out the very heart of it the shortness of the continuance would spoyl the sport Many doat on beauty but none but the blind will fall in love with deformity it self The world is a Bochim a place of Lamentation and who falls in love with sorrow 't is a Golgotha a place of dead mens skuls and who but mad men converse among the Tombs 'T is a pest-house an infected and an infecting place where most we converse with are infectious 't is a prison a place of hardship where the soul hath not liberty to act according to its nature 't is a place of Egyptian bondage and slavery where there is little but moiling toyling working caring from morning till night for a poor living wherein we are so chained to our Oars that we have scarce time to eat our meat and what madness is it over eagerly to desire such a life and to quarrel those that ease us of our burden and put an end to our labours Here thou livest under continual pains aches griefs
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
thee home and now art fallen in love with it that thou wilt not leave it and rid of it thou canst not be till death let out thy life 't is only in the Grave thou wilt be at rest and hid from sin which then cannot find thee nor any miseries which now are the effects of sin nor from the temptations which are the inducements to sin and dost thou yet tremble to part with such an Enemy thou hast pretended Enmity to sin and been at Daggers drawing with it and art now reconciled to it it hath been thy trouble to have it and is it now thy trouble to leave it many a poysoned Arrow the Devil hath shot at thee and wouldst still be his Butt to receive his Arrows and venomous Shafts These Hell-hounds haunt thee and will hunt thee till thou art in thy Grave there they will lose the scent and can follow thee no longer here is thy Borough thy hiding place where thou art shut in by God and secure Here the weary are at rest here the Prisoners are secure and hear not the voice of the Oppressour here thou shalt be freed from all that is called misery Sin is an imperious Tenant or Inmate it will not out till the house be pull'd down yea will turn the Landlord out of doors Oh what hard hap had man to admit of such a Guest but this is thy comfort sin is but a Tenant at will not at thy will but the Will of God who will shortly pull down the House and set thee at liberty and Oh! thy madness that though thou canst no other way be rid of it yet art unwilling to dye and be happy In Heaven Paul shall never cry out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Here the unclean conversations of the wicked shall never vex the Soul of righteous Lot David here shall never water his Couch with his tears nor Jeremy wish his heart full of water and his eyes a fountain of tears to weep day and night for the destruction of his people There is nothing here that can procure misery for here sin shall be shut out for no unclean thing shall ever enter But it is not sin only but sorrow also as well as sin shall be done away for when the cause is removed the effect shall cease It was sin that brought Death into the World and all the forerunners of it yea all the concomitants and consequents of it here thou art troubled with a sickly body subject to many infirmities many pains aches griefs and troubles scarce a waking hour free from pain and from head to foot scarce a free part but one pain or other doth molest it some pain ache or grief attends it every sense as 't is an inlet to sin so 't is to pain and misery to let in one trouble or other into the Soul and help to affect the heart with some fear or care or grief or trouble and these consume it as the scorching Sun the tender Flowers Oh how tender a piece is this dust-heap thy Body more brittle than glass it self a little cold or heat soon molests it how many tender Membranes Sinews Arteries Veins Muscles c. are therein contained and every one subject to obstructions extentions contractions dislocations c. and upon this distempers necessarily follow well maist thou say with Job Job 3 4.13 14 15. I am made to possess moneths of vanity and wearisom nights are appointed to me When I lye down I say When shall I arise and the night be gone and I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day When I say my Bed shall comfort me and my Couch shall ease my complaint then thou scarest me with Dreams and terrifiest me through Visions So that my Soul chooseth strangling and Death rather than Life What bitter pills what nauseous potions dost thou take when sugered with the hopes of health what crying out Oh my Back Oh my Head Oh my Heart Oh my Bones Oh what would I give for a little ease a little rest a little sleep for a Stomach my Stomach nauseates my meat when others want meat for their craving Appetite and how hard a thing is it to keep up this poor old decaying ruinous Cottage in repair one Wall or other is continually ready to fall to ruine and at which door Death will enter is not yet known and when it comes it will but destroy thy body which for the Materials of it are no better than the body of a Beast which ere long will fall for Death is all this while undermining it and the rational Soul doth only keep it from putrefaction and Death is but a departing of the Soul from it to Glory and why shouldst be troubled to have the Prison-walls pull'd down and the Prisoner set at liberty why art unwilling to lay aside this flesh which hath taken part with Satan against thy God and is at present a temptation to thee with Peter to deny thy Master why choosest thou to live in a darksome nasty Prison where thy Wings are pinioned that thou canst not mount up to thy God where thou hadst thy Original this body is but a clog at thy heels and never was intended for thy dwelling place but only as a Tent or Pavilion an Inne or resting place for a night where like a wayfaring man thou maist rest for a while and away but here thou hast no continuing City thou art passing on to another place Phil. 3.21 to a Mansion a House not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens which Christ at his departing provided for thee when this Tabernacle shall be built into a Temple for God shall change this thy Vile body that it may be like unto his Glorious body and why then dost content thy self in this dirty Cell when thou maist have such a glorious habitation doth thy heart ake to think that the time is coming it shall never ake more or dost thou weep to think all tears shall be wiped from thine eyes and thou shalt never weep more or is it a matter of grief think'st that thou shalt never grieve more and art afflicted to think thy afflictions are at an end what unnatural sorrow is this art thou sick to think that in Heaven thou shalt never more know what sickness means or that thou shalt never more have an aking Head or an aking Heart here thou wilt be freed from whatsoever may be properly called Evil and shalt want nothing that is really good Here Christians themselves prove stumbling-block's in each others way which causeth tears from the eyes and sorrow from the heart but there the fire of love will consume the thorns of contention here corruptions like thorns serve to keep the fire of contention alive and those flames are more like to burn up their graces than their dross for the divisions of Reuben there are great thoughts of heart Judg. 5.15 but
rate The misery of a miscarrying soul is such that the consideration of it may send thee trembling to thy grave Here thou trucklest under a little pain and groanest out thy complaints Oh my Head Oh my Heart Oh my Bones Oh my Bowels But all this while thou hast some part free no distemper seizeth universally upon all parts at once or if it did it reaches only to the body the soul which is the noblest part is free this is not toucht Those that kill the body can do no more they cannot reach the soul but only as it sympathizes with the body but in hell there is no part free either of Soul or Body but all under hellish torments Here if thy back ake thy head may be well or if thy bones ake the heart may not be toucht but in hell all parts are affected not a finger free the rich Glutton had not his tongue excepted Luk. 16.25 neither could he get one drop of water to cool it but he was wholly tormented in this flame And not the body only but the soul also must suffer torments and that in every part power and faculty of it no part of the soul or body free and these hellish pains are not only universal but intolerable also and yet must be endured for the mighty God will preserve the soul and body in being inable them to live under these hellish sufferings Here the poor creature falls under the infinite wrath of the Great God which like a river of brimstone kindles this flame which shall never go out Isa 30.25 which while God is God shall never cease and this hellish fire seiseth upon the soul and body as the fire doth upon the lump of pitch or brimstone which being once kindled never shall expire Now though some few sparks of this wrath have faln upon the world yet the whole torrent of it is reserved for hell but we may judge of the Lion by his paw one drop of this Ocean drowned the whole world except eight persons and another drowned Pharaoh and his army in the red Sea one spark of it burnt up Sodom and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim a little of it swallowed up Corah and his complices into the earth slew twenty four thousand Israelites at one time and one hundred fourscore and five thousand of Senacheribs Army in one night and many times ruines Kingdoms depopulates Countries and layes a fruitful land waste for the wickedness of the inhabitants Hundreds of examples may be given of this nature but all this is but a flea-biting to Hell torments which damned souls must undergo all this reaches but the body yet sometimes some flashes light upon the soul as fire into the the conscience as upon Cain Judas Spira Satomias a Louvain Divine which have made them weary of their lives yea to chuse strangling rather than life a wounded Spirit who can bear But all this is short of the torments of Hell which make up a compleat misery but what they are we are at a loss to know and because we cannot reach them let us yet reach a little towards them Thou hast heard of and in some measure felt tormenting diseases such as the Stone the Gout the Strangury the raging pain of aking teeth c. these make mens lives uneasy yea sometimes death desirable those thus tormented deserve pity yea and are pitied by those that see them but alas this doth but darkly shaddow out these torments but we have read of some that have suffered greater than those inflicted by men haply instigated by the Devil some have had their joints crackt upon the wheel tortured upon the rack others fleyed alive some have had their flesh pull'd off their bones with red hot pincers some have been pull'd in pieces with Wild Horses or the Arms of trees drawn together for that purpose some have been burnt at the stake some boiled in lead some rosted alive upon Gridirons iron chairs or in frying pans some hang'd up by the hand till they were dead some sawn asunder some famisnt some starved to death some put to one torture some to another whatever the wit of man or the policy of hell prompted the persecutors to to make their lives miserable and their deaths painful and this moved pity in some of the spectators but shall we chuse out the most exquisite of all those and compare it with the torments of hell alas it bears no proportion for though they were sharp yet short I have indeed read of some by the great Tyrant commanded to be fleyed alive and that they might be sensible of death as he said it was done by degrees that they were fourteen daies in dying this was savage cruelty but as the pains were short of hell torments for it only reacht the body so fourteen dayes was far short of eternity but if all those forementioned pains and tortures had been inflicted upon one man and all the rest that ever poor wretch suffered and if this mans life had been preserved under these torments one whole year what heart if not made of Adamant but would lament him most men would think him miserable yet this comes short of the case in hand Those pains that reach the body only and touch not the soul come short of hell torments that reach both body and soul and what is one year to eternity these are invented by men haply not without the advice of the Devil but hell torments are devised by God as a sufficient recompence for the breaking of his laws by men and Devils where the soul the nobler part of man as well as the body shall be tormented which neither man nor Devil but only God alone could do the soul which should have done God the greatest service shall no doubt have the greatest punishment because it should have ruled the body and yet did God the greatest dishonour and the Devil the most work The never dying worm like Titius's Vulture will alwaies feed upon them and yet they shall never be consumed It cannot be a hard bargain to part with a temporal life for an eternal Nay it is not at thy dispose whether thou wilt dye or no then it were not so much though yet too egregious folly for dye thou must but the business is whether thou canst prolong thy life with the loss of thy soul a little longer and but a little In all other sufferings thou mayst have some respite some ease but in hell there is none now thou graplest with a disease or at worst with a man but in this with the Almighty Here thou hast some friends to comfort thee to pity thee at least but there is neither comfort nor pity The Devil and his Angels will rejoice in thy torments for being tormented themselves they have no greater solace than in tormenting thee here thou wilt be for ever helpless and comfortless and shalt not have so much as one drop of water to cool thy tongue Lu. 16.24 Oh