be fulfilled I heard once a Minister of the Dissenting sort whâ— commonly are more faithful herein then those of thâ— Church Ministry say that several People who had lived Ungodly and Ignorant Lives would send for him wheâ— they lay upon their Death Beds And if they were of thâ— Substantial and Richer sort they would perhaps offer him Money if He would speak a word of Peace and Comforâ— unto them when lying in those sore and last Agonies oâ— Soul But it would have been in him a sinful Corruptionâ— if he should have Perverted the Word of God and took it for that end as he did not but it hath been the manner of some so to do Said he however I would go to them but when I came to them I did not Answer their Expectations for I used to repeat before such what is Written in Isa 3. 10 11. Say ye to the Righteous it shall be well with him for they shall eat the Fruit of their doings Wâ— unto the Wicked it shall be ill with him for thâ— Reward of his hands shall be given him This Scripture is very pertinent and proper to such an occasion Herein this Minister who probably now is a Partaker of the Truth of the former Verse he being at this time gone off from the Stage of the Earth shewed himself a Workman approved of God Dividing the Word of Truth aright and giving to every one his Portion And indeed any one that rightly knows and understands the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God doth also find that the whole Design Order Drift and Tendency of all that is Written in the whole Scripture stands on this wise They that have done Good shall come forth unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5. 29. For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to that he hath done whither it be Good or Bad. So that only a Godly Righteous and Sober Life and Good Deeds will avail and stand in stead in a dying Day For tho' the common deceit which each Man hath in the deep of his heart which also is intimated to them to their own Danger and Loss by those who take upon them the Office of Preaching Repentance and Remission of sins that People may turn from their Iniquities some time hereafter a little before their Death That they may have the Pleasures of sin for a Season the expediency of Transgression the Profit and Wages of unrighteousness in the mean while and then leave them off just soon enough to obtain Pardon But certainly this is quite to leave the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ to go backwards to Imperfection not laying again but utterly overthrowing yea and contradicting the Foundation of Repentance from Dead Works for these should be utterly forsaken and Fruits should be brought forth Meet for Repentance And yet further this would make void both Law and Gospel for they require that We observe to do his Statutes and Judgments all the Days that we live upon the Earth Deut. 12. 1. That we serve God without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life Luke 1. 74 75. And however it shall be distributed unto the other sort as to Acceptation or Pardon yet surely I know it shall be better with them that fear God which fear before him and turned from their Iniquities and kept his Commandments in those Days of their flesh whilst others continued in Sin and Disobedience In the latter Days ye shall consider it perfectly Jer. 23. 20. This Jeremiah said when he immediately speaks thereupon of those Prophets Which Ran and Prophesied when God had not spoken unto nor sent them and they did not turn People from their Evil way and from the Evil of their doings Whereby may be seen that if this effect doth not follow also they are no Ministers of Gods ordaining altho' they do take upon them the office and continue in the Exercise thereof after the Law and Commandment the Ordinances and Institutions of Men. But in the latter Days when their time of Tryal is over they shall consider it perfectly and when they come to see every and each Man have his own reward proportioned and adjusted according to his works and obedience Then that which themselves shall miss and come short off will raise bitter anguish within themselves and make to loath those Shepherds See Zech. 11. 8. Which should have Instructed and Guided them otherwise For this is certain on the right and safer side that the sooner any one comes to Repentance and brings forth Fruits Meet for Repentance and abounds in Good Works God is now the better pleased with that Man or Woman and He will give to such a more full reward hereafter Conceive your selves before-hand and whilst in Health let us in serious thought throw our selves upon a Dying Bed just gasping and breathing out our very last and then think what Temper and Disposition of Soul we should be in if we were in this Hour brought to the Gallows or to the Fire for our Life to be taken off from the Earth in a violent manner Here it may be either for the Sins of others as Jesus was hanged on the Cross and so it is of all true Martyrs and Sufferers it is not so much their own Sins as the Sins of their Persecutors which put them to Death But if any one suffers as a Murderer or Robber or an Evil Doer against which there is some Law of God also then he suffers for and dies in his own Sin Or if one is killed by another then it is the Sin of the Murderer which brings him unto Death But however it be a Dying Hour will come upon all one time or another and then if they have any remembrance or understanding Ask now of the Generations that were before thee and did you ever hear of any one that could then say seriously and throughly It is vain to serve God and what Profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts Doth it not then rather seem on the other hand It was vain that we have not served God more The Godly and Righteous make such a Reflexion and looking back and the Wicked find it is vain because they did not serve God at all or not so much as can be properly called serving of God for now they experimentally find all other things to be vain When the end thereof is come we are then throughly sensible of what is written Remember how short my Time is Wherefore hast thou made all Men in vain Psal 89. 47. Therefore only it is that we have no more profit because we have not yet better kept the Ordinances of the Lord for the more we do that the more Profit or future Reward we shall receive whereof we shall
according as thy particular Deeds and not others have been either Good or Evil thou shalt be particularly recompenced Then Judas which had betrayed him when he saw that he was Condemned Repented himself and brought again the Fifty Pieces of Silver to the Chief Priests and Elders saying I have sinned in that I have betrayed the Innocent Blood And they said What is that to us see thou to that This is a fearful consideration against them who commit Sin or omit Duty which is also Sin to please other Men. For though Judas had committed this sin of betraying the Innocent blood to please the Chief Priests and Elders yet we hence see That when he came once to be in Extremity of Conscience and he was drawing near to God to suffer for this his Evil Deed what a short slighting and vexations kind of Answer did he receive from them VVhat is that to us See thou to that And so it will be as to all the sin that we have committed or as to the Good which we have omitted upon the Account of and to please others why this will be the result and consequent thereof as from them when we come to be punished and lose so much for the same in the future distribution of things if we come to ask for Help Comfort or that they should make it up unto us they will in like manner answer VVhat is that to us See thou to that Whereas those who committed Sin or omitted Duty tâ— please others should herein have made the right Infâ—rence They should have seen to that sooner so as noâ— to have done that same thing at the Instigation of and at the Mind or Pleasure of others Said the chief Priestâ— and Elders unto Judas What is that to us When Judâ—â— did it out of regard and respect unto them and to fulfiâ—â— their desire But herein is shewed forth the very Mind 〈…〉 Temper and Disposition of Mankind they would havâ— such a thing done but then they would not have thâ— Guilt and Punishment thereof They would have the Conveniency Expediency or Pleasure of the sin but theâ— they would escape from and avoid the misery which iâ— Consequent and Annexed thereto Judas liked well enough of the Thirty Peices of Silver but that Repentance and Anguish of mind afterwards which occasioned him to hang himself if he could have had the first without the last this he would have liked well enough And so the chief Priests and Elders thought it expedient to puâ— Christ to Death but thereupon to Contract the deep Dyâ— and Guilt of Murther to fall thereupon under the Wrath and Displeasure of Almighty God And what they falsely furnised that if they had not done it the Romans would have came and taken away their Place and Nation but by their doing of it they took the effectual and ready means to bring them in for thro' their grievous sin of putting Christ to Death the Romans did at length come and take away their Place and Nation Which God might have kept and restrained from them had they not thus grievously offended him in killing his Son Whereupon he made good his Word As to slay those Wicked Men and let out his Vineyard unto others Mark 12. 9. To commit sin and then to be willing to avoid the Punishment is to endeavour to put a sunder what God hath joyned together which is impossible for our Gracious God in that he might the more deâ—er and keep People from it hath ordered that misery should be linked on to Iniquity So that if People commit the one they must of unavoidable consequent have the other although in thought and desire they would fain let alone and escape it The Creature can never be too hard for God and where he hath committed sin or done things worthy of Punishment he cannot by any Trick or Artifice avoid the severity of his Vengeance Like as Amnon hated his Sister Thamar after he had committed Incest and Folly with her And as the Ten Horns which thou sawest shall hate the Whore So it is usual for sinners upon their Death Beds to hate their Whores their Drunken Companions and such like with whom they have been Partakers in any Sin or Iniquity For the Guilt thereof doth then more appear forth and they are going away to receive for their Evil Deeds The foreknowledge whereof doth raise this Evil Affection of Hatred Dislike and Antipathy So that even upon that Account there is an Actual Inclination upon our Death Bed to turn away our Face from our Fellow Creatures who are to survive a little longer Moreover a full and through knowledge doth then arise in us that they are not able then to give us any Actual help or relief now our Breath is a going forth Put not your trust in Princes nor in the Son of Man in whom there is no help Psal 146. 3. In the Margent it is salvation which signifies safety or preservation Upon a through Knowledge and Consideration hereof it appears that there is little or no help in them even in the midst of our Life and yet there is much less in that moment wherein we come to dye If we have done never so much to please Men it signifies nothing in the Hour of Death They are under the same Law and Liableness to Death and they cannot deliver themselves So that besides the Evil and Guilt and Sins of Omisâ—â—on which they have been Instrumental unto us to Contract Out of the knowledge how insufficient and unable they be to Administer any Actual help we readily and naturally turn away from them for we must stand or fall wholly to our selves This and such like may be one reason of Hezekiah turning his Face unto the Wall Besides that thereby he might the more abstract from Men and be more intent and fixed on the unseen God For that mind which would pray unto him should cast off and be clear from the thoughts of all other things the more to engage his heart to approach unto the Lord which the more it is done it is 〈◊〉 much a greater obligation unto the Lord for to Heâ— and Answer such an ones Prayer The Prayer of Hezekiah unto the Lord which is heâ— Recorded doth begin after this manner Remember noâ— O Lord I beseech thee As it is Written He that teacâ—eth Man Knowledge shall not He know So He that giveth to Man Memory or Remembrance shall not He Remember And as it is there again Written The Lorâ— knoweth the Thoughts of Man that they are Vanity 〈◊〉 the Lord Remembers all the Thoughts Words and Actions of Man in order to render unto every one accordingly Great in Counsel and Mighty in Work for thiâ— Eyes are open upon all the ways of the Sons of Men 〈◊〉 give to every one according to his ways and according to thâ— Fruit of his doings Jer. 32. 19. The Lord looketh froâ— Heaven He beholdeth all the Sons of Men from the placâ— of his Habitation He
cry out O wretched Man that I am Who shall deliver me from this Body of Death So this or the like Exclamation may be taken up O the exceeding Evil and Guilt of Sin Who shall deliver the Sinner from all the Evils that are due unto him for it 〈◊〉 None but Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come And that also He will do no other way Then in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities Acts 3. 26. So that if the sinner will not turn away from his Iniquities He shall feel all the Evil consequents that follow upon it We may see somewhat thereof in the Glass 〈◊〉 the word But we shall not fully know the utmost Evil and Sinfullness of Sin until in the future State we come to see the wrath of God and what kind of Punishment He will inflict for the same Which indeed will be a Judgment worthy of God and an Horrible Vengeance shalâ— overtake the ungodly The Righteous shall rejoyce wheâ—â— He seeth the Vengeance He shall wash his Feet in the Blooâ— of the Wicked So it will be the return and saying noâ— of David only but of the other Saints saved by thâ— Lord which shall stand by when He shall Judge thâ— World and make distribution of Good or Evil to every one according as their deeds have been then it will be returned and said Horrour hath taken hold of me because 〈◊〉 the wicked which forsake thy Law Psal 119. 53. The Godly and Ungodly are of two different mindâ— as indeed they must be so for otherwise the one woulâ— not have been Godly and the other Ungodly A Godly Hezekiah of Old Time did weep because He thoughâ— that by Death He should be for ever deprived and hiâ— dred from the Praise and Worship of God and from enjoying sweet Communion with him again Wherein 〈◊〉 was Ignorant for Death doth only make way to enjoâ— Ten Thousand times more and longer Communion wiâ—â— God But the Ungodly of our Days do weep and hoâ— near the time of their Death because they think anâ— dread that they shall meet with God in the other World What makes them to weep and howl is because thâ—â— they expect no Good but Evil from him as so indeeâ— they will have if they receive the due Reward of theâ— Deeds Luk. 23. 41. As the Ungodly now count it a Prâ—viledge to willingly absent themselves from and negleâ—â— the Worship of God for they Account that an Irksomâ— Dull and Tedious thing so they could be contented to sleep for evermore and not Praise God throughout all Eternity They have no miss of that because they take no delight therein as indeed Praise is not seemly in the Mouth of a Sinner An unholy Creature cannot Praise an Holy God And in this sense it is true when understood of such as are Dead in Trespasses and Sins for the Grave cannot Praise thee Death cannot Celebrate thee But whoso offereth Praise Glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his Conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God Psal 50. 23. And it is He only who ordereth his Conversation aright doth aright offer Praise and whoso aright offereth Praise Glorifieth God Tho' Peradventure Hezekiah might have a little apprehension thereof yet He had not a through and full knowledge of future Life and Immortality and it was this which caused him to weep sore For any one would be apt to weep at a Message how they are to be bereaved off and taken from all Good Things here and not to know where to have others in their stead As to all this the VVord of Consolation speaketh on this wise to such as lived under the Old Testament Dispensation Thus saith the Lord a Voice was heard in Ramah Lamentation and bitter Weeping Rachel Weeping for her Children refused to be Comforted for her Children because they were not So it is all the VVorld over People are Irrecoverably deprived of Persons and Things and as there was some comfort in the having of them so it is inward Anguish and Grief Lamentation and Bitter VVeeping when People consider throughly that they once had such good things as Children Friends and Relations and such like and they are not Neither can they possibly be again when Dead unless they should come forth and appear again to us as they will in the future State and Resurrection Now comes in the VVord of Answer and Comfort to the foregoing Complaint and VVeeping Thus saith the Lord Reâ—rain thy Voice from weeping and thine Eyes from Tears for thy work shall be rewarded saith the Lord and they shall come again from the Land of the Enemy Jer. 31. 15 16. As in the Verses following our Text The Word of the Lord saith unto Hezekiah I have heard thy Prayer I have seen thy Tears So in this Place of Jeremiah The Lord saith unto Hezekiah and to all his Servants together under the Old Testament Dispensation Thus saith the Lord unto Hezekiah under whom may be understood all the Faithful Refrain thy Voice from Weeping and Thine Eyes from Tears for thy True Perfect and Good Life shall be rewarded saith the Lord. And so the Lord saith unto all the Inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem who did obey and serve him and who lived before the Time his Son Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh Refrain your Voices from Weeping and your Eyes from Tears for your works shall be rewarded saith the Lord and they shall come again from the Land of the Enemy To have faithfully and diligently served God all our Life time and it may be for that to have sustained several VVorldly Losses and Inconveniencies and after all to have no future Good or Reward thereof would be apt to raise Anguish in the Heart and Tears in the Eyes But then here to have assurance from the VVord and Promise of God whom it is impossible for to lie that it shall be made up and considered this again will effect it so That they shall refrain their Voice from Weeping and their Eyes from Tears And they shall come again from the Land of the Enemy This Scripture was in Part fulfilled as the Evangelisâ— doth shew When Herod sent forth and slew all the Children that were in Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof from two Years Old and Vnder according to the Time that He had diligently enquired of the Wise Men Mat. 2. 16. Now when these Infants were Murdered they were there by sent into the Land of the Enemy which is Death for the last Enemy is Death Now as Lamentation and Bitter VVeeping was occasioned by Reason of that by consequence there must be comfort when they shall come 〈◊〉 again from the Land of the Enemy This may be understood of all the Children of Rachel and not only those Murdered by Herod for He slew more then whâ—â— were the Children of Rachel even some of the Childreâ— of Leah also who was Mother of Six Tribes Gen. 30. 20. And Rachel was
but of two Viz. Joseph and Benjâ—min Now Herod slew all the Children that were in Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof So it must take in all the descendants from Jacob or Israel But because that Rachel was the most true and proper VVife of Jacob the VVife of his Covenant and Labour and because she was most concerned and affected for her Children therefore the Holy Ghost makes use of her Name for indeed she was somewhat a Type and Signification of the Church of God And Answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in Bondage with her Children Gal. 4. 25. The Enemy meant and spoken of in Scripture is Sin Death and the Devil And He shall thrust out the Enemy from before thee and shall say Destroy them Deu. 33. 27. O thou Enemy Destructions are come to a perpetual End Psal 9. 6. This Enemy in both these places spoken of is the Devil who makes use of those two his Instruments Sin and Death for to Destroy So that conceive and put all this together seeing that Sin Satan and Death are the Enemies of Mankind And the Devil would fain yea He doth by the means of Sin and Death bring them at last into his Land which is a Land of Darkness of Dragons and Scorpions where the shadow of Death and no Light is And when He hath them there He would keep them there unless here again Almighty God who is Greater in Power and Might should cause them to return from this Land of the Enemy VVhich He will do in the Resurrection and only to such who shall be Accounted worthy to obtain that Resurrection That will be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth to Poor Mankind But here again as for them as Hezekiah will be one of them who shall be Accounted worthy to obtain this Resurrection and to return again from this Land of the Enemy The Lord God will wipe away Tears from off all their Faces How so By doing what is there aforesaid He will swallow up Death in Victory Isa 25. 8. And as they have in the mean while the well grounded hope thereof They may well refrain their Voice from Weeping and their Eyes from Tears It is observed that some constitutions are more subject and inclinable to weeping then others as Children Young People and VVomen are more apt and ready to it then Men of full Age and again some are more inclinable to it then others for in some Men it is evidently seen that their heart is become like the nether Milstone which nothing in the VVorld can make to shed Tears oâ— to really weep But there is no Person living who doth not sometimes Lye and Labour under the thing signified thereby that is Vexation Grief Pain and Sorrow or iâ— somewhat which is a Feeling and Resentment of Misery And Tears of VVeeping are but outward signs of expressing these forth As VVaters when they are deep are most silent and make the least noise in running So that sorrow of mind is then greatest like as fire when Pent in is most raging and violent when it is kept in and not expressed forth in Tears and Weeping for it 〈◊〉 felt and experienced That an Ease and Mitigation thereof is had by sending forth of Tears and by the Voice oâ— VVeeping But when any one is under a Great deep anâ— remediless Misery and He is throughly knowing and sensible thereof it is hard to refrain from Tears VVe shalâ— experience it so When the Rain shall descend and the Floodâ— come and the winds blow and beat upon our Earthly House 〈…〉 In order to make it fall When dangerous Diseases and Death it self shall be upon us Or when we shall be undeâ— deep Poverty with the miserable train thereof Hungeâ— and Thirst Cold and Nakedness or in Imprisonmentâ— when one lies in a low deep and dark Dungeon Saitâ— Jeremiah I called upon thy Name O Lord out of the loâ—â— Dungeon Altho' People make now a Laughter or Jesting 〈◊〉 VVeeping and Tears and some are so Puffed up th 〈…〉 they think themselves above it and as unbecoming them Yet if they did know and consider throughly on the other side That Fear Pit and the Snare are upon them ye Inhabitants of the Earth And how it stands in the Nature of Things and their Establishment And then 〈◊〉 Man look throughly upon his own Frame and Constitution his own Vileness for we are here in Vile Bodies VVeakness and Mortality how he is Dust and Ash 〈…〉 walking up and down like a shadow a little dependaâ—â— Being and much more there is to bring us into a Loâ—â— Trembling and VVeeping condition for lay all this 〈◊〉 heart and it will appear that VVeeping is much more becoming Man then Laughter Nay properly and in Truth Laughter is as unbecoming Men and Women whatever Fashion it be in amongst the Company of the VVorld in this weak imperfect mortal and miserable condition here on Earth who are liable to Death here and Damnation hereafter As Laughter is not becoming any one in Bedlam who is under Shackles and Fetters and lies upon a Bed of Straw For as the Poor Lunatick or Mad Person Laughs because He knows not throughly his own miserable Imprisoned condition devoid of Reason The same also is the very Reason of that Laughter now in use in the VVorld amongst Sinners who are Children of the Devil He who committeth sin is of the Devil and the Servants of sin for they are subject to Death here and endless misery hereafter but this last they know not or do not throughly consider of and therefore it is That they spend their Days in Mirth and in a moment go down to the Grave and from thence to Hell VVe may now hear one speaking from Heaven unto all the Inhabitants of the Earth what He did once to the Daughters of Jerusalem Weep not for me but for your selves who are in the VVilderness which may be properly called Bochim A place of VVeeping because of that manifold kind of Tribulation and Trouble ye meet with all in the VVorld and yet ye will have more before ye come to my Kingdom VVe should VVeep yet more especially for those sins which caused the Death of our Lord Christ so as to turn all our VVeeping into Mourning for Sin for this is to lay the Ax to the Root of the Tree For Sin or Ignorance which Ignorance is also a sin is the Root and Antecedent cause of all Sorrow Trouble Affliction and Misery And I will pour upon the House of David and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplication and they shall look upon me whom they have â—ierced and they shall Mourn for him as one Mourneth for his only Son and shall be in Bitterness for him as one that is in Bitterness for his first Born Zech. 12. 10. Here we should turn all our Mourning and Bitterness into Mourning and Bitterness for those very Sins Iniquities and Transgressions which Pierced the Lord of Life
Israel And the Eyes of all Israel as of one Man shall be towards the Lord As God Eyeth us even so we should Eye God But how can this be seeing that God is invisible It must be done by Faith Which being the evidence of things not seen makes them as if they were seen After the Fruits and Effects thereof are reckoned up in Heb. 11. It is said in an observable manner of Moses By faith He forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for He endured as seeing him that is Invisible This is a constant Lesson of Instruction and Admonition to us upon whom the ends of the World are come that by faith we should in like manner forsake and not give way unto the Pleasures of sin for a season nor yet the Titillations of Lust nor yet fear the Terrours of Men nor yet to be perverted and turned aside by their favours but to endure all things in Uprightness and Innocency and according to the Dictates of a Good Conscience as seeing him that is invisible With our Souls which are Invisible we may see or at least understand the Invisible God All one as the outward Eye doth see things visible As all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom wâ— have to do Hell and Destruction are before the Lord 〈◊〉 how much more then the Hearts of the Children of Menâ— Prov. 15. 11. So all People both Godly and Ungodly Righteous and Wicked Saint and Sinner they do alâ— walk in the sight and presence of the Invisible God With this difference The Godly Righteous and Saints do walk as in the sight and presence of the Invisible God That is they have a knowledge and sense thereof and they do thus and thus with an Intention and Thought at the very time that God seeth them and iâ— present But the Ungody and Wicked and Sinners do walk only leaving out the Particle as in the sight and presence of the Invisible God For Hell is Naked before him and Destruction hath no covering God seeth all things He filleth Heaven and Earth all things and all places with his presence So that of necessity they must be in his sight and presence if they are any where but these do not walk as in his presence and in his sight So it is in that sense also All People of both sorts Good and Bad walk before God that is they are in his sight and knowledge But only the good so walk before him as in his obedience and well-pleasing to get his favour and acceptation The Generality of People do not walk before God as Hezekiah did but they â—â—ve at Random and all one as if there was no God to see their doings and as if He would not Judge them and they were to give no future Account for the same God both Sees and Remembers where the least Portion of our Precious Time is not spent in his Service and Obedience but it is Consumed and done away in Loytering or Idleness in Sinful or Vain Things I my self have too much to Answer for in this Nature And my self have too much to Answer for in this Nature And so God sees and Remembers where we do not live up to that Grace â—nd Knowledge He had Given and Intrusted us wâ—thall And so he Remembers also where we are not so Good and Holy as we might have been And also where we have not Improved our Christian Graces and Talents as we might have done When God comes to enter into Judgment He will shew himself to be a Remembring God These things hast thou done and I kept silence Thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thy self as if such and such things were over and forgotten In no wise but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine Eyes Psal 50. 21. Things will then appear vastly different over what they do now For now Fools make a mock at sin They follow it with Greediness and Merriment and account it as a thing of naught as to the doing them any harm But then they will find that this which was formerly so light in their Opinion will sink them down to the lowermost Hell That it will be as a Talent of lead which is Wickedness Which will press down the Souls of those that are Loaded and Encompassed therewith into the lowermost parts of the Earth the Land of Darkness and of the shadow of Death where no Light is of Comfort or Freedom from misery Happy is He that hath the God of Jacob for his help and whose hope is in the Lord his God Happy is He that can make his appeal and sweet Recollection with our Saint in the Text Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth Such a review will be comfortable but it will not be altogether so to have it then said unto them Son Remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy Good things Luke 16. 15. For this will be but so much the more Torment when they are slipped and passed away finally and eternally and they are in that place where they want a drop of Water to Cool their Tongue Even we know Experimentally by our selves that when we are now in any Pain or Misery the Remembrance of what Pleasures of Life we have formerly had or what good things we have heretofore enjoyed will not administer one Drachm of present comfort Nay contrariwise It is an Enhancement of the present misery How much she hath Glorified her self and lived Deliciously so much Torment and Sorrow give her Rev. 18. 7. So it will be meted out Adjusted and Proportioned in the future State of the Restitution and Distribution of all things How much Pleasure any one hath had hereon Earth the less He will have after he is removed and gone off from it yea There will be so much Torment and Sorrow given to the Person that had it This is an unanswerable Argument and Terrible consideration against Living in Pleasure on the Earth or being wanton therein or Nourishing their Hearts as in the Day of Slaughter And it should make us to equally fear to enjoy Pleasure however Agreeable or Grateful it may now seem to Flesh and Blood as we would be to take a Snake or Adder into our Bosom for altho it may seem smooth or tickle yet at the last it may sting us unto Death Or as we would be to suck in the Cruel Venim of Asps For so stands the Case with Poor Mankind that their Wine is mingled with Gall and the Clusters out of which it is made are bitter For so it stands in the Order and Connexion of things as they are decreed and appointed by God That for faring sumptuously every Day they must come to the place after these Days of their Flesh are ended where they shall be Tormented for so much Pleasures of Life and Delicacies they have had here after Death they must have so much Torment and
Sorrow This again is a most clear and convincing Demonstration That the living in the Pleasures of sin for a Season or the Catching after and enjoying the Delicacies and Recreations of the World is not a walking before God in Truth for the end of any ones living in Pleasure or Delicacy is in order to be an Happy Men. But now it is impossible from the order of the things of God that either the Pleasures of sin for a Season or the transitory delights of the World should give unto any Man the true Happiness because they have such bitter and miserable consequents no more then a Cup of sweet Poyson can tend to the well Being and Health of the Body So that it must follow by necessary consequence that whosoever follows after the Pleasures of sin for a Season or the delights of the World altho he now Bless himself in his heart saying I shall have Peace tho' I walk in the Imagination of mine Heart to add Drunkenness to Thirst Deut. 29. 19. Altho' they hug themselves in their own Conceit I shall have Happiness because that I enjoy so many Pleasures and Delights in Order to it Yet still herein they do not walk before God in Truth For they do not go in the right Road to Happiness but they are mistaken and deceived in heart and they are in a false Path as the end will prove for it will at last let them down into the Chambers of Death the place of Punishment and Misery We may thus know and conclude that as God gave us a Being at first so it is Natural and Reasonable to expect only from him an happy Being My Soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from him Psal 62. 5. And thereupon we should walk before him in expectation and seeking after it And here if we go the right way And He led them forth by the right way Psal 107. 7. There is a great deal in that which is Chalked and Pointed out Butted and Bounded in his written word as long as we make that our Guide and Rule then indeed we walk before God in Truth But as sure as that word is Truth Thy Word is Truth the Pleasures of sin for a Season however eagerly they are sought after and followed by the People of the world for Satan who deceiveth the whole world makes use of this as the great Bait to beguile and catch Souls unto himself are not the true way to Happiness and Blessedness in the End Because that which may be known of God is manifested in them for God hath shewed it unto them Rom. 1. 19. So in like manner it may be truly reasoned that which may be known of God touching his future distribution of things is already manifest in Men for God hath shewed it unto them And accordingly may be observed that Melancholly and Heaviness of heart in the midst of Laughter the heart is sorrowful which is immediately at or after having the Pleasures of this Life That Regret of Mind and Vexation of Spirit immediately ensuing upon the Pleasures of sin for a Season All this and the like is but a manifestation before handâ— or as a Pledge Earnest and Fâ—reruâ—ner whereby God hath shewn unto them that Tribulation and Anguish Indignation and Wrath which shall be upon every Soul that doth Evil. This and the like is a fore-shewing of Pain Punishment and Misery to come And so again it is on the other good hand Where is Approbation of Mind the satisfaction of a good Conscience a Joyful Hope and Comfortable Expectation as all these and the like are annexed to our having our Evil things here to our enduring labour and taking Pains in the Obedience and Service of God this is an earnest of the Spirit and a Manifestation in Men whereby God hath shewn unto them that Glory Honour and Peace which shall be to every Man that worketh good Rom. 2. 10. And that assured future blessedness which shall be to every one that hath lived and done according to the Will of God Thou therefore endure Hardship as a Good Souldier of Jesus Christ saith Paul to Timothy VVhich is a Lesson of Instruction to be put in Practice by all faithful Christians for as we are in the way of Duty and Service of God the more denial of our selves we have used as to present ease and safety the greater satisfaction and enjoyment we shall have hereafter whereof now we have a little glimpse earnest assurance and foretast by that Complacency of mind and lively hope we may sometimes perceive after such and such Acts of Duty Notwithstanding the same do expose us to present worldly Inconveniencies Loss and Trouble However we are contented and satisfied and Joyful for it is something for God And so the more Labour we have been at the more Rest we shall have hereafter and this same Rest will be found yet so much the more pleasant And He saw the Land that it was good and Rest that it was Pleasant Gen. 49. 15. Which will be yet more so as we may perceive by the Irksomness of its contrary that is Restlessness And so the more Tribulation we have gone through in the world the Greater will be our Recompence and Crown The more loss hath been sustained in his Service the greater gain will be hereafter as Lazarus was comforted for the Evil things he had in his life time Yea in whatever seems Evil Harsh Uncouth and Irksome it will be made up double yea more then an hundred fold in the time of the Restitution of all things When the times of Refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. So that in each thing we take in hand we should not so much regard whither the same be Pleasant or aukward but whither it be Duty or Sin whither it be Good or Evil whither it will tend to our Benefit or Loss our Reward or Punishment in the last Day And so we should either do or not do the same either abstain from or give way unto it Hereby also we may somewhat conceive of the exceeding Evil Mischief and Danger of Loytering or Idleness For only Just to Rest or Breath a little and so to Labour or Business again Otherwise there can no Good come possibly of it Nay it tends to so much Loss to be sustained throughout all Eternity And it is a Losing so much of the Things which we have wrought that they receive not a full Reward according as may be apprehended from 2. John 8. Which though there is not much Account made of through Ignorance or Unbelief at present yet in the latter Dayes ye shall consider it perfectly And when we come to see every Mans Reward Proportioned and adjusted according as his Labour and Work hath been then what themselves shall miss and be disappointed of through Idleness and Sloth in the Dayes of their Flesh will raise bitter Anguish and Indignation within themselves for not having been stedfast Unmoveable