Heaven and Hell at a nearer distance encourages good men thereby to persevere and sooner removes those who are bad In a word our Lives are long enough to prepare our selves for Heaven and if we are soon removed thither I hope it is no loss especially to so great a part of mankind who live in pains and sorrows want and drudgery to whom the shortness of Life is a Comfort For so we find Job most passionately expressing himself Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life to the bitter in Soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the Grave Job 3. 20 21 22. My Soul chuseth strangling and death rather than life I loath it I would not live alway let me alone for my days are vanity Job 7. 15 16. Since then it has pleas'd God to bring down the ordinary term of our Life to Seventy years or thereabouts if we could attain unto it as few do 1. We should hence learn some end of our Cares and not have our Hearts and Desires constantly intent and eager after Money and increasing our Estates to the last gasp as if there were no Life but in them For this exceeds the covetousness of that laborious rich man in the Gospel who knew when he had enough and to take his ease But bethink our selves what provision we have made for our Souls against they are turned out of these earthly habitations what Treasures we have laid up in Heaven what good we have done in the World how useful we have been in our Generation how kind to our Neighbours or rather how few naked Backs we have clothed how few empty Bellies we have filled how few languishing Bowels we have refreshed how few good Works we have rewarded And yet how many Rich men may we observe in the World who part with Money to the Poor as it were Blood out of their Veins repining at ordinary expences raging at a loss or mischance tenacious and narrow to those about them What sordid Practices and dishonourable Shifts they 'll take up with to save how tamely they can sit under the lash of Tongues and content under an ill Name In a word What Slaves they can be to worldly things not forbear God's own day nor as Solomon speaks are they suffer'd to take rest in the night And lastly What Glory has God had from all Whereas a little will serve us while we live and such a competent Provision for Children as may encourage their Industry and Vertue tho' not maintain them in Idleness and Vice may be a just reason for our care but to make them Rich and Great is not And yet many Persons are never contented with Earth till they are laid in it neither live belov'd nor dye lamented And this is the more to be pitied when it befalls any of those who for their other Endowments might have been the delight and pride of their Country 2. We should likewise bethink our selves how our Lives shorten every day and how near we may be got to the common Period of Man's Life It may be there are but a few years behind and then at least we must begin to mind what we came hither for and to do it or else we shall soon be in everlasting Torments And when we have past through the remaining Scenes and Stages of Life in Vertue and Honour and have got the taste and rellish of this World out of our Minds have no hankerings after it and can live without it and are approaching into the Confines of Eternity we should not be apt to think of the melancholy State of our Bodies which are left to putrifie in their Graves till the Resurrection but of the glories and pleasures of another Life to which we are a going which will raise our desires after it and take off the natural Aversions to Death We must once dye saith the Text after that we shall dye no more Death hath no more dominion over us Some we read of in the Gospel who were rais'd from the Dead to live here anew and such were fain to dye again But this we must not expect after once we are dead have parted with these Earthly Bodies gone into another Life ever to return into this World again to amend We then pass into an Immortal and Irreversible state of Rewards and Punishments The only time then we have to work out our Salvation is while we are in these Bodies For we must be judg'd according to the things done in them Let wicked Men therefore look to it betimes and get such Habits and Dispositions of Mind as may make their Souls happy when they depart hence For if Mens earthly Natures are to be spiritualiz'd and refin'd before they can be fit to live in the presence of God in Glory it must be only those Graces and Vertues which come from Heaven to adorn our Souls here as must carry us up thither But if with prophane Esau they will for worldly enjoyments sell their Birth-right i. e. their Right and Title to eternal Glory when they come to inherit the Blessing annexed to it they 'll find no place for Repentance i. e. no altering God Almighty no changing or reversing their Case tho' they seek it carefully with tears for so neither could Esau make Isaac reverse his Indeed Men may so far harden themselves in Sin and reject all the means which God uses for their amendment as that at last he may before Death withdraw his Spirit from them give them up to their own Counsels and the Government of Evil Spirits And the hardness of the Israelties was such that God cast them out of the care of his good Providence left them to wander and at last to dye in the Wilderness and sware in his wrath that they should never enter into his rest Of like Persons did our Saviour speak †That the Kingdom of God should be taken from them and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof We are likewise told of Apostates from the Christian Religion to Paganism that 't is impossible to renew their Baptismal Grace and receive them again to repentance that there remaineth no more sacrifice for their sin but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation and S. John discourages Christians from praying for those who were fallen into it calling it a sin unto death and thereupon disswades us from the Pagan Idolatry but otherwise God does not deny his Grace and Mercy to any one in this Life who will accept of it Nay if a Man believes God's Mercy in Christ to penitent Sinners and upon such a Belief repents and lives a Holy Life if the Man should dye desponding his own Case and hope for no Salvation by Jesus Christ we have no reason to think that God will condemn him
us how we can be able to discern and distinguish Spirits or converse with 'em whither it is we are to go since no Place as such can affect a Soul wherein the happiness of that State consists The knowledge of which things while all our Intelligence is to come by Sense cannot be conveyed to us Hence then were it wise in us to comply with all our Saviour's Directions for the fashioning of our Minds and to practise all those Graces and Vertues he requires of us as easily supposing that such Habits and Dispositions of Mind are necessary for us to rellish the Happiness of that state For there are many degrees and instances of Vertue required from us which are not necessary to nay scarce consistent with the happy and prosperous Condition of this World or our living in it For we are not to love it we are to live above it to stifle and suppress not only the extravagant and irregular but even the natural Appetites of the Body and to despise the Pleasures of it subduing the Flesh to the Spirit to enjoy this World with that great indifferency as if we enjoy'd it not to have our conversation in Heaven all our joys and affections our treasure and hearts there to love our Enemies and those who hate us and despitefully use us to forgive Injuries not to retaliate Evil for Evil but the contrary Which things we cannot think why our Saviour should require from us were it not that that Temper of Mind which these Vertues form in us is necessary to prepare us for the happiness of the other Life and so far as we abate of them so far shall we fall short of our Felicity in that State As for the Miseries of it we may well believe that they also are more than any thing we have seen or felt or can conceive They are represented by Lakes of fire and brimstone and though Fire cannot hurt a Soul yet if such Expressions be Metaphorical what will those sufferings be that are real Thus to dye is to enter into the strange Regions and new state of the other Life 3. 'T is our leaving these earthly Tabernacles behind us to return to dust our Bodies to sleep in the Earth tho' our Souls have taken their flight from it With reference to these was it said Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return Yet 't is but for a time and though it be sown a natural Body it shall be rais'd a Spiritual for Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God neither can corruption inherit incorruption These earthly Bodies which we live in cannot subsist in that pure Light and glorious Region where God dwells and therefore to be fit to inherit Glory they must at the last day be spiritualiz'd free from all sublunary Passions to rellish none of the Pleasures of Flesh and Blood and the more they are refin'd here from Fleshly Appetites and Earthly Inclinations the more glorious will they rise again 1. This again should wean our Minds from all sensual Pleasures and worldly Affections For if we can like nothing but these things what shall we do when we come to leave 'em when they cannot be had For whatever clothing our Souls may have yet Flesh and Blood they shall not And altho' when our Bodies fall from us into Dust the particular Desires and slighter Inclinations of 'em may possibly depart from us as we see in long and tedious sicknesses and austerities Men care not much for bodily Pleasures Yet when the Soul is sensualiz'd as it is in old Sinners tho' the Body be decay'd and can esteem no other 't is uncapable of any happiness among Spirits or in a Body that is Spiritualiz'd and Glorified By how much therefore our Inclinations are sunk into Flesh and Sense by so much are we indispos'd for the happiness of the next Life which doth not consist in 'em and the more Spiritual our Nature is the more is it prepared for the Glories that shall be revealed 2. We should not hence pride our selves too much about our Bodies Either as to their Descent since our Pedigree is all alike Antient and no one knows what sort of Persons his Ancestors may have been however we know what we all in a short time must be Or as to their Beauty which if it be not overvalued but real soon whithereth away like Grass whereas Grace and Goodness gives the most pleasing Air to our very Aspect such as no Beauty Natural or Artificial can come near However 't is but a little while till we shall not know the difference betwixt the Dust of one Person and another Or as to their Apparel which besides that it often but indifferently sets off the Person the plainest Dress according to Peoples Quality being most becoming can be of no use in the other Life to cover a Man's Soul Or that we have an Estate to provide more largely for them than others have or can pamper them more Yet for all this they will fall into Dust and the sooner ordinarily for our too much Indulging Lastly we should believe according to the Scriptures that our Bodies shall spring up again more glorious at the Resurrection and in the mean time they are said in Scripture to be asleep The Soul must all the while be in an imperfect State without the Body and is not compleatly happy till they meet each other again to live in perpetual Harmony and Pleasures to which glorified Bodies will be highly Instrumental But if we make our Bodies the Servants of Sin and they carry to their Graves fleshly Lusts and sensual Affections they will rise to shame and everlasting contempt Thus we have heard what it is to dye In what sense we are to understand Death that we do not then cease to be And methinks when we see the Body of a worthy Friend or Relation lie before us pale and without Sense or Motion who but few Hours since may be was our Support and Comfort we cannot conceive that this must be all of the Person but that the Soul is alive somewhere tho' we did not see it go nor what Company did attend it nor what a State or Place it pass'd into 2. I proceed to the next thing The assuredness of Death to us all It is appointed for us Of this all Mankind is a Proof by the succession of Generations And our selves see that those who live the oldest yet Death follows them close at the Heels and at last gives them the fatal stroke There have been two indeed excepted since the beginning of the World but no more will till the end of it and then saith St. Paul We that are alive shall be changed Sin is the Cause of this for Death came into the world by it and in Adam all dye Had we been made Spirits at first we had had no Principles of Mortality in us and it had been hard to have depriv'd us of our
Natures and to have made us mortal for one Man's Sin without our fault But we were made of Flesh and Blood of the Dust of the Earth and subject therefore by Nature to Dissolution and Corruption for that which is made of Dust may sure be resolv'd into it again And since it pleas'd God to deprive our first Parents because of their Sin of that Supernatural Priviledge of the Tree of Life which was granted them alone for a Sacrament or an Assurance of Immortality we have no wrong done us For human Nature is and always was in its Frame Mortal Adam's Body even in Paradise was in it self as vulnerable as capable of a violent Death or being prejudic'd by infectious Airs as ours are tho' it was more secured from them But now since Sin is come forth into the World and Men have corrupted their Nature by it and are left to their own Counsels to injure themselves and one another by violence and excess and to the Contingencies of things there must needs be Death tho' we could get a Preservative against all the decays of Nature So true is it that Sin brought Death into the world And 't is as true that he will now never leave coming to our Doors till he has fetcht us one after another all away And indeed considering this fallen and Apostate state of the World an Immortal Life were not desireable in it tho' our Bodies might be preserv'd by a Miracle and Mankind did not too much encrease For short as it is a little while gives wise Men enough of it but then it would be intolerable and it has pleas'd God to provide a better Place for us Now the assuredness that we must all dye that the pale Messenger must shortly close our Eyes and fill us full with Dust and Clay should cool our desires after this World teach us when we have enough shew us that these are not the Riches of a Soul which must shortly change this Life and put us upon an early Preparation for Death lest we render our Lives uncomfortable for fear of it and be affrighted and in Agonies when it comes within view and we see it approach us 3. The time when Death will befal us We are once at a certain time to dye It is appointed for men once to dye When and where and how each of us shall depart this World the All-knowing God foresees and has certainly determined For we cannot suppose it to be unknown or unresolv'd with him how he will proportion our Lives and what our Death shall be And if the very hairs of our Head then assuredly all our days are numbred Therefore with reference to the Period of Human Life we are told Job 14. 5. That the days of man are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass And Job 7. 1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth are not his days like the days of an hireling And if we will allow God who governs the World to order and dispose all Events in it according to his Will and Counsel and by his disappointing or giving success to things to be the Author of all the Good or Evil which happens to Mankind as the Scripture makes him If a Sparrow does not fall to the Ground without him much less shall Man who as our Saviour teacheth is of more value than many of ' em My times saith David are in thy hands No Man can depart from this World no more than he can be born into it without his particular Providence No one can be guilty of his own murder but by God's forsaking him and giving the Man up to himself no sickness or distemper shall prove mortal but when God pleases it shall no Wrath or Malice of Men can destroy us but when God permits them and then he is said to deliver up a Man into the Hands of his Enemy no Wars Pestilence and Famine but are sent by God and directed by him where to strike Since then the Providence of God does peculiarly over-rule and determine all Events and especially the end of Man's days here on Earth and withal foreknows whatever shall come to pass we are then to believe that all things shall move on in that certain Track which God foresees and has appointed and that no one shall dye sooner nor live longer than that Period which God in his wise Predestination has determined for us Not but that God often prolongs the Life of the Righteous and cuts off the wicked Doers as the Scriptures frequently assure us But then they assure us too that God hath ordain'd the Righteous to be such and to leave the Wicked to their own Devices as the means of that their longer or shorter time which accordingly God hath fore-determined So that our using or neglecting those of Religion and a Holy Life as well as other ways of Self-preservation are neither in vain for the lengthening or lessening our Race here nor yet alter but pursue and compass the Goal which God hath prefix'd us Thus is that Matter resolv'd which Beverovicius the Learned Physician was so much concern'd about But then it is a thing which some would be glad to know viz. The number of their days and the time we have for yet to live and could we tell them they were to hold out yet fifty or sixty years it might be glad Tydings and then they would let loose all the Reins to Sin But if all that must dye betimes knew so how would it damp and chill their Spirits fill the rest of the World with mourning cast a Veil over all the Comforts of Life and put a stop to all their Industry in it For what would become of all Arts and Sciences Trades and Education if Persons knew they were to dye by that time they had made any Improvement or Progress And so a great part of Mankind would lay aside the necessary business of Life which I believe no dying Persons would much concern themselves for and Religion be little minded but against the time of Death As to the Bounds which God has set to human Life in general Moses tells us that in his time the days of man's age were seventy years And in the ordinary course of Nature our Bodies cannot hold out much more all beyond is labour and sorrow When Mankind were few they liv'd longer but now the World is stockt with Inhabitants should our Ancestors who liv'd Seven or eight hunder'd years ago and their immediate Children and Grand-children down to our times be alive now to enjoy their Estates the present Generation must needs be Beggars would not know where nor how to live and wickedness might come to the same pass as it did in the Old World when there was but one righteous Family left the most probable Cause whereof was the length of their Lives Whereas the shortning of them has made Men more governable sets
because he upon a mistake will condemn himself no more than he will save that wicked Person who dyes believing all shall go well with him But now Death puts a stop to all our Opportunities and cuts off the hopes of wicked Men they must then abide under the wrath and vengeance of God for ever and are reserved in a miserable Estate for the Judgment of the Great Day when there will be the final Consummation of Rewards and Punishments for evermore This should therefore put us upon doing all the good we can while the day of Salvation lasteth before the dismal Night comes upon us which for ought we know may be within this Week and after that no more trial for we must dye but once Be ye therefore ready saith our Saviour for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not We may be cut off on a sudden seiz'd with distraction or dulness so as not to be able so much as to set our House in order And tho' Men by a strange partiality are apt to fancy to themselves that they shall live as long as any body uses to do yet we see they are often mistaken When and where and in what manner we shall dye God has conceal'd from us to engage us to constant Watchfulness and an early Piety And who then would have his Heart set upon this World who knows not how soon his Head may be laid low how soon he may be turn'd out of his Earthly Tenement it may be to morrow for ought he knows yea This night his Soul may be taken from him and then with our Life the day of Grace ends Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith to day if ye will hear his voyce harden not your hearts And since our Blessed Lord will reward all the good Offices we do for him so that a Cup of cold water given for his name sake shall not lofei its reward We may get to be rich in good works for the more we do the more we shall be rewarded and God will proportion our Glories according as we have improv'd our Talents and Opportunities to do good here and have laid up our treasures with him Now this shews Men besides the hazard they run what they lose by not beginning the Service of God early Nor can they rationally think that they who begin to live well at the latter end of their time should have an equal reward with those who have as the Gospel says to another purpose born all the heat of the day have served God all their Life Nor that they who do but little should be as well rewarded as they who have done a thousand times more good Which is also contrary to what our Lord delivers in those Parables concerning a Nobleman travelling into a far Country who delivered to his Servants his Goods to each according to his several ability to improve for him and at his return rewarded every one proportionably according to his works But tho' some Men are contented to be least in the Kingdom of Heaven and care not how late they prepare for it nor how little a share they have in the Glories there so they can have any and it is well if such indifferent Persons ever can Yet there are others who do not mind it so much and scarce ever in good earnest think of another Life till their Souls are pasting into it and then it may be they sadly lament their Folly in that they prefer'd the deiuding Scenes of this World before the compleat and endless Glories of the other and this they are apt to call Repentance but is too often only a Conscience distracted with a sense of its own Guilt and the fearful expectations of the Divine Vengeance These Men part with their Sins as many do with their Charity not while they live and can keep it themselves but when it cannot be reckoned among the Actions of their Lives Lord what Horrors and Agonies are they many times in What Vows and Promises of better Obedience and no doubt sometimes sincere and hearty as is plain in some few who have recover'd Now in this Case there is certainly very great hazard and therefore no less madness for any of us to leave our Salvation to it as the World of Christian Writers do generally I suppose conclude and divers of them and those of the first Magnitude that it is at least next to desperate And I confess Justification by Faith only seems principally to respect our entring the Baptismal Covenant yet sure Charity will not determine that it does so absolutely and solely but rather find reason to hope that the All-wise God who foreseeth all future Contingencies and the Effects of things in their Causes while he discerneth in a penitent sick Person a true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or change of mind such as if the Man liv'd would be productive of a good Life will mercifully accept according to what a Man hath and not according to what he hath not as he graciously does of the Faith and Repentance of those who fall into Sin after Baptism but through an unexpected Death do not live to pursue their good Purposes and Resolutions And why should that be such a difference in the State of a Man's Soul where the Principle of a new Life is arriv'd to a like degree in both that their deaths are alike near but in the one not thought so We read of the Sick whose sins shall be forgiven before recovery And our own Church obligeth us to absolve the sick Person after Confession if he humbly and heartily desire it though his Conscience be troubled with weighty Matters And this we do not only for those who may recover though if they do the Absolution is past but in the Case of such Malefactors who we are sure will not And there are many Promises in the Gospel to encourage us in so doing If any man sin saith St. John we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have everlasting Life And all those Places of Scripture which represent Jesus Christ to come into the world to save Sinners And if this be meant of Penitent Sinners believing on him who renounce every Evil way and will effectually serve him in a good Life if they live why such are those suppos'd to be we speak of And yet their end must needs be very tragical since no Man can be sure tho' God is at that time whether he is one of them 4. We proceed to the last thing What may comfort us against the fear of Death Now this may be resolv'd according to those several Notions wherein Men fear it 1. If we consider Death as 't is a leaving these earthly Tabernacles behind us to dissolution Men