noisom Puddle In short Heaven is filled with eternal Halelujahs for there is no appearance of Sin no shadow of Death there all miseries are vanish'd and all that is desireable is possess'd by the Saints the Circle of their Employment is to enjoy and praise the Divine Goodness for ever Now is not the blessed exchange a Christian makes of the present Life for that which is infinitely better sufficient to make Death not fearful nay desirable to him And this Happiness was purchas'd for us by the everlasting Treasure of our Saviour's Blood The satisfaction of his Sufferings was meritorious as the Merits of his active Obedience was satisfying Before I proceed to the third Head I shall resolve a Question How it comes to pass since Believers are freed from the sting of Death that they die and remain in the state of Death for a time For this there are several Reasons 1. By this means all the sinful Frailties that cleave to the Saints in this Life are abolish'd The Body is dead because of Sin And what is more becoming the wise and holy Providence of God than that as by Sin Man was at first made subject to Death so by Death Sin dies entirely for ever Thus as in Sampson's Riddle Out of the Devourer comes Meat and our worst Enemy is conquer'd by his own Weapons 2. Death is continued to the Saints for the more eminent exercise and illustration of their Graces for the Glory of God and in order to their future reward Faith and Love and Patience are declared in their most powerful Operations in our encounter with Death If every Saint were visibly and entirely translated to Heaven after a short course of holy Obedience if the Wicked did visibly drop down quick into Hell Faith would be resigned to sight here This would confound the Militant state of the Church with the Triumphant Therefore now Death happens to the Good as well as to the Wicked In the next state they shall be separated by a vast Gulph and an amazing Difference Now Faith what-ever the kind of Death be that a Christian suffers sees through the thickest Clouds of Disgrace and Misery the glorious Issue As the illustrious Confessor who was crucified with our Saviour proclaim'd his Eternal Kingdom in the midst of insulting Infidels And our love to God then appears in its radiancy and vigour when we are ready for the testimony of his Truth and advancing his Glory to suffer a violent Death or when it comes in a gentler manner for 't is even then terrible to Nature we are willingly subject to dissolution that we may be united to God in Heaven And our patience has never its perfect work and is truly victorious till this last Enemy be subdued Death is the Seal of our Constancy Perseverance Now the Righteous Rewarder will crown none but those that strive lawfully and are compleat Conquerors And how wise and sweet is the Oeconomy of the Divine Providence in this that the frailty of our Nature should afford us a means of glorifying God and of entitling our selves by his most gracious Promises to a blessed Reward 3. Our Saviour by his unvaluable Obedience and Sufferings has procur'd for Believers a Celestial Divine Life of which the natural Body is not capable The Apostle saith Flesh and Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The exigencies and decays of the sensitive Nature require a continual relief by food and sleep and other material supplies but the Life above is wholly spiritual and equal to that of the Angels Therefore till this earthly animal Body be reformed and purified 't is not capable of the Glory reserv'd in Heaven This is so absolutely requisite that those Believers who are found alive at the last Day shall in the twinckling of an Eye be changed that they may be qualified for it Now herein the Wisdom of God is wonderful that Death which by the Covenant of Works was the deserved penalty of Sin by the Covenant of Grace should be the Instrument of Immortality That as Joseph by a surprising Circuit was brought from the Prison to the Principality so a Believer by the Grave ascends to Heaven This the Apostle in his Divine Disputation against Infidels proves in a most convincing manner Thou Fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die As the rotting of the Corn in the Earth is necessary to the reviving and springing of it up so we must die and the Image of the Earthly Adam be abolish'd that we may be transformed into the Image of the Heavenly One And to the other part of the Question Why the Saints remain in the state of Death for a time there is a clear Answer The Resurrection of the Saints is delayed till Christ's coming to Judgment partly for the Glory of his Appearance For what an admirable sight will it be that the Saints of all Ages shall at once arise glorified and immortalized to attend upon our Saviour in the last act of his Regal Office and then to make a triumphant entry with him into Heaven And partly that the establish'd order of Providence may not be disturbed for the changing of our Nature into Glory in a suddain and inexplicable manner cannot be without miraculous Power and if every Believer presently after Death were in his glorified Body translated to Heaven the World would be always filled with Miracles which were to cease after the sufficient Confirmation of the Gospel by them But how long soever the Interval be to the Resurrection it shall be with them that sleep in Jesus as 't is with those that awake out of a quiet natural sleep to whom the longest night seems but as a moment so when the Saints first awake from Death in the great Morning of the World a thousand Years will seem no more to them than to God himself but as one day I now come to prove the third Thing That our Saviour will abolish the Dominion of Death over the Saints Whilst the Bodies of the Saints remain in the Grave they seem to be absolutely under the power of Death The World is a Golgotha fill'd with the Monuments of its Victories And it may be said to this our last Enemy in the words of the Prophet to the bloody King Hast thou killed and taken possession But we are assur'd by an infallible Word that the power of Death shal be abolish'd and the Bodies of the Saints be reviv'd incorruptible and immortal The Resurrection is a Terra incognita to the wisest Heathens a Doctrine peculiar to the Gospel some glimmerings they had of the Soul's Immortality without which all Vertue had been extinguish'd in the World but no conjecture of the reviving of the Body But reason assists Faith in this point both as to the Will of God and his power for the performing it I will glance upon the natural Reasons that induce the considering Mind to receive this Doctrine and more largely shew how
what he has done to what he is able to do the Consequence is clear The Apostle tells us He will raise our vile bodies and change them like unto his glorious Body by that Power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Our Redemption will then be compleat and all the bitterness of Death past The Redemption of the Soul is accomplish'd from Sin and Misery immediatly after Death but the Redemption of the Body is the last in order and reserved to crown our Felicity at the Great Day Then Death shall be swallowed up in Victory abolish'd for ever And O the joyful reunion of those dear Relatives after such a Divorce when the Body that was so long detained in the loathsome Grave shall be reformed with all glorious Perfections and be a fit Instrument for the Soul and partaker with it in Blessedness and a consummate Immortality 'T is said that those that wear rich Clothing are in Kings Houses but what are all the Robes of costly Folly wherein earthly Courtiers appear to the Brightness and Beauty of the Spiritual Body wherewith the Saints shall be clothed to qualify them for the Presence of the King of Kings and to be in his House for ever But O the miserable Condition of the Wicked in that day Death now breaks their Bodies and Souls into an irreconcilable Enmity and how sad will their Conjunction be the Soul will accuse the Body to have been Sins Solicitor continually tempting to sensualities and the body wil upbraid more than ever it allur'd the soul for its wicked Compliance Then the Sinner shall be an entire Sacrifice burning but never consumed Now from the assurance of a blessed Resurrection by Christ the forementionâ—d fear of Death is conquered in Beleivers If the Doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls into other Bodies the invention of Pythagoras inspired his Disciples with that fiery vigour as to encounter the most present and apparent dangers being fearless to part with the Life that should be restored how much more should a Christian with a holy confidence receive Death knowing that the life of his Body shall not be finally lost but renewed in a blessed Eternity The fourth General to be considered is the Persons that have an interest in this blessed Priviledg This inquiry is of infinite moment both for the awakning of the secure who vainly presume upon their interest in the Salvation of the Gospel and for the confirming and encouraging the Saints And we have an infallible rule of trial declared by St. John He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son hath not Life All the excellent and comfortable Benefits procur'd by our Saviour are communicated only to those who are united to him Particularly with respect to the present subject Justification that great blessing of the Gospel the compleat pardon of Sins that disarms Death of its sting is not common to all that are Christians in title but is a priviledge with a limitation There is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus vitally as their Head from whom are derived spiritual influences and judicially as their Advocate in Judgment and such are described by this infallible Character who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The blessedness after Death that is assured by a Voice from Heaven is with this precise restriction exclusive of all others Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord they rest from their labours and their works follow them The glorious Resurrection at the last Day when the Bodies of the Saints that now rest in Hope shall be incorruptible and immortal is the consequence of union with him Thus the Apostle declares As in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive As all that were naturally in and from Adam the corupt fountain of Mankind are under the sentence of Death so all that are in Christ the Head of the Regenerate shall partake of his blessed Life Others shall be raised by his Power as their Judg but not as their Head rais'd to be more miserable than Death can make them not be transform'd into his glorious Resemblance made capable of suffering an ever-dying Death not revived to eternal Life Now the bond of our union to Christ is the holy Spirit derived from him as the Head of the Church and is the inward powerful and lasting principle of Holiness and new obedience in Believers He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit that is by the Spirit of Holiness has a real participation of his Life is both quickned and united to him When the Prophet Elisha by the outward applying the parts of his Body to the dead Child inspir'd life into him there was no real union between them but Christ is by his Spirit so intimately united to Believers that he lives in them and they in him The sanctifying Spirit renews the directing and commanding faculties the fountains of moral actions enlightens the Understanding with saving Knowledge rectifies the obliquity of the Will purifies the Affections and reforms the Life so that the same mind is in Christians as was in Christ and as his Conversation was such is theirs in the World This divine Change is not wrought by natural Reason tho assisted by the most powerful Arguments The breath of a Man may as easily dispel a Mist or thaw a Frost as humane directions and motives to Vertue can renew the Mind and Heart and produce a holy frame of Soul towards God Renewed Christians are said to be in the Spirit illuminated inclin'd and enabled by the Spirit to do God's Will and the Spirit of God to dwell in them by his peculiar and eminent operations They live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit An Angel may assume a Body and act by it but the humane Soul enlivens it and performs sensible operations by it And such a principle is the holy Spirit to the Soul gives it spiritual life activity and power for good Works By what application of the Spirit 's power this is produc'd is mysterious and inexplicable but as the Apostle speaks of his rapture into the third Heavens that he knew it was real and heard unutterable things tho how it was performed whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell thus when a natural man the current of whose thoughts and affections was to the things of this World becomes spiritual when the carnal appetite is subdued and sanctified Reason has the Throne when he feels such strong and sweet impulsives to holiness as engage the Will when the stream of his desires ascend to the things above and his Life becomes holy and heavenly he feels and knows this wonderful change tho the manner how it was wrought he cannot tell I will shew more fully this sanctifying work of the Spirit that we may the better understand our state The Spirit of God is
Death reigns in the World 2. 'T is certainly future All the wretched Accidents of this Life such as concern us in our Persons Relations Estates and Interests a thousand Disasters that a jealous Fear and active Fancy will extend and amplify as they may so they may not happen to us And from this mixture of contrary possibilities from the uncertainty of event Hope that is an insinuating passion mixes with Fear and derives Comfort For as sometimes a suddain Evil surprises not fore-thought of so often the Evil that was sadly expected never comes to pass But what Man is he that lives and shall not see Death Who is so vain as to please himself with an imagination of Immortality here 3. 'T is a prevalent Evil from hence the proverbial Expression Strong as Death that subdues all cruel as the Grave that spares none 'T is in vain to struggle with the pangs of Death No Simples in Nature no Compositions of Art no Influence of the Stars no Power of Angels can support the dying Body or retain the flitting Soul There is no Man hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of Death and there is no discharge in that War The Body sinks in the Conflict and Death feeds on its prostrate prey in the Grave 2. I shall consider more particularly the Causes that render Death so fearful to Men. 1. In the apprehension of Nature 2. In the apprehension of Conscience 1. In the apprehension of Nature Death hath this Name engraven in its forehead Ultimum terribilium the supreme of terrible things upon several accounts 1. Because usually sickness and pains languishing or tormenting make the first changes in the Body and the natural Death is violent This Hezekiah complained of with a mournful accent He will cut me off with pining sickness from day even to night thou wilt make an end of me I reckoned till morning that as a Lion so will he break all my Bones A Troop of Diseases are the forerunners of this King of Terrors There is a preceding encounter and sometimes very fierce that Nature feels the cruel Victory before it yields to this Enemy As a Ship that is lost by a mighty tempest and by the concussion of the Winds and Waves loses its Rudder and Masts takes in water in every part and gradually sinks into the Ocean So in the shipwrack of Nature the Body is so shaken and weakened by the violence of a Disease that the senses the animal and vital Operations decline and at last are exstinguish'd in death 2. Death considered in the strictest propriety as destructive of the natural being that is our first and most valuable good in the order of Nature is the just object of Fear The union between Soul and Body is very intimate and dear and like David and Jonathan they part unwillingly Nature has a share in the best Men and works as Nature St. Paul declares we would not be uncloathed not finally put off the Body but have it glorified in conjunction with the Soul Our blessed Saviour without the least impeachment of the Rectitude and perfection of his Nature exprest an aversness from Death and with submission to the divine Will desired a freedom from it His Affections were holy and humane and moved according to the quality of their Objects 3. The natural consequents of Death render it fearful Life is the foundation of all natural enjoyments and the loss of it induces the loss of all for ever 'T is from hence that such Evils that are consistent with Life and deprive us only of some particular content and pleasure are willingly chosen rather than Death The forfeiture of Estate the degrading from honour the confinement to a perpetual Prison the banishing from our native Country are less Penalties than Death There is a natural love of Society in Man and Death removes from all The Grave is a frightful solitude There is no conversation in the territories of darkness This also Hezekiah in his apprehensions of death speaks of with tears I shall see Man no more in the Land of the Living As in the Night the World is an universal Grave all things are in a dead silence Palaces Courts of Justice Temples Theaters Schools and all places of publick Conversation are shut up the noise and rumour that keeps Men in continual observation and action ceases Thus when the Sun of this present Life is set all the Affairs and Business all the vain joys of Company Feasting Dancing Musick Gaming ceases Every one among the Dead is confined to his sealed obscure Cell and is alone an entertainment for the Worms The Psalmist saith of Princes Their breath goeth forth they return to the Earth in that very day their thoughts their glorious compassing thoughts perish This the Historian observes was verified in Julius Caesar After his assuming the Imperial Dignity he thought to reduce the numerous Laws of the Romans into a few Volumes comprising the substance and reason of all to enrich and adorn the City of Rome as was becoming the Regent of the World to epitomise the Works of the most learned Grecians and Romans for the publick Benefit And whilst he was designing and pursuing these and other vast and noble things Death surprised him and broke off all his Enterprises At the terrible Gate that opens into Eternity Men are stript of all their Honours and Treasures and as naked as they come into the World go out of it Be not thou afraid when one is made rich when the glory of his House is encreased For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away his glory shall not descend after him Death equally vilifies makes loathsom and ghastly the Bodies of Men and reduces them to sordid Dust. In the Grave the dust is as precious and powerful of one as of another Civil distinctions are limited to the present time The prodigious Statue in Nebuchadnezzar's Vision Dan. 2. 32 33 34 35. While it was upright the parts were really and visibly distinct The head was of fine gold the breast and arms of silver the belly and thighs of brass the legs of iron the feet part of iron and part of clay but when the stone cut out without hands smote the Image upon the feet then was the iron the clay the brass the silver and the gold broken to pieces together and became like the Chaff the wind carries away Who can distinguish between Royal Dust taken out of magnificent Tombs and Plebean Dust from common Graves Who can know who were Rich and who were Poor who had power and command who were Vassals who were remarkable by Fame who by Infamy They shall not say this is Jezebel not know this was the Daughter and Wife of King The King of Babylon stiled Lucifer the bright Star of the Morning that possest the first Empire in the World was degraded by Death humbled to the
having extinguish'd the fear of eternal future Evils which is the proper passion of reason The Apostle declares That knowing the terror of the Lord we perswade Men to be reconciled to him before the season of Mercy be expir'd But those who have supprest the natural Notions of Eternal Judgment as they think it beneath their wisdom to be perswaded by the Promises of Heaven so beneath their courage to be terrified with the threatnings of Hell and triumph over the ruins of Conscience But tho' wicked Infidels slite the Threatnings they shall not escape the Vengeance of God We read of Noah that being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear he prepared an Ark for the saving of his House His Fear was the native issue of his Faith But the profane World in whom sence was predominant that despised the Oracle and trembled at no Judgments but what were acting on the visible Stage they eat and drank married and were given in marriage till swept away by the unfeared Inundation We read that Lot being certified by an embassy of Angels that a Deluge of Fire would in a few hours pour down from Heaven upon Sodom he most earnestly solicited his Sons-in-Law Arise depart out of this place for the Lord will destroy this City but they entertained his compassionate advice with derision he seemed to them as one that mocked and were surprised by those fearful Flames that dispatch'd them from a temporal Hell to that which is Eternal Thus 't was prophesied That in the last days there shall come Scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the Promise of his coming But let them blaspheme and scorn the most sacred and terrible Truths let them perpetuate their excess of riot and wild Mirth while they live Death will come and Judgment as sure as Death III. I now come to shew how the Death of Christ frees us from the tormenting fear of Death For the clearing this we are to consider that Sin Satan and Death are Enemies in combination against Man in his mortal state and the destructive Power of Satan and Death is from Sin When Man renounc'd his Creatour and natural Lord he was judicially given up to Satan as the Executioner of Vengeance and to the Power of Death Such is the order rather the confusion in the World by Sin The Empire of Satan and Death is built on the Ruins of our Innocence Now the Son of God came from his Throne in Heaven to deliver us And whereas there are two ways of obtaining freedom from captivity either by Ransom or by Power and Rescue in both respects our deliverance from Bondage to these Capital Enemies is ascribed to the Death of Christ. 'T is called our Ransom and that in its strict Notion has a respect to Captivity There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all His Life was the full price of our Liberty and Salvation God does not pardon sin and release from punishment by a pure absolute act of his Will and Authority as a Creditor forgives a Debtor but in such a way as to preserve the Rights of Justice inviolate Therefore when Man was devoted to Death our Redeemer exchang'd conditions with him and offer'd up his precious Blood as our Ransom to God in the quality of the King and Judg of all Such was the dignity of his Person that the entire World the Heavens and the Earth with all their Inhabitants are of less value to him than the basest Dross to refined Gold Such was the greatness of his Sufferings in which the highest degree of Obedience and the lowest degree of Humility were conspicuous as to be a valuable Compensation to obtain eternal Redemption for us Now when God the supreme Judg is satisfied Satan forfeits the right he had to torment us and is devested of his dominion over our Wills which tho' justly permitted was an usurpation upon God's Right in Man that can never be extinguish'd 'T is said by the Apostle that our Saviour blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross He abolish'd the use of the Ceremonial Law that was an Evidence and Enditement of their Guilt who performed it and the Curse of the Moral Law it follows and having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it Our Saviour died victoriously the Tree of Infamy on which he suffered was the Trophy of his Conquest His Death disarm'd Satan of his Weaponswhere by he subdued us Sin the Law and Death for tho' his actual Triumph was in his Resurrection and Ascension to Glory yet it is justly ascribed to his Death for that meritoriously open'd the Grave at his Resurrection and Heaven at his Ascension And here by the way 't is most worthy of observation that our deliverance from our spiritual and most deadly Enemies is equally righteous as admirable and glorious for our suffering Saviour appeas'd the Wrath of God and broke the Powers of Darkness The Wisdom and Love of God had their designs in his Death as well as the malice and rage of Satan as Lines that are opposite in the circumference meet in the Centre And as from the Tyranny of Satan so the Death of our Redeemer is our redemption from Death as to the curse and final dominion of it nay has made it a blessed advantage to us 1. The Curse is removed Death considered as the Wages of Sin is all sting and poison the consequent of the spiritual Death and the introduction to eternal Death The sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law Death hath its wounding Power from Sin and Sin from the Law that forbids it the discovers its Nature and enhanses the measure of its Guilt and denounces condemnation for it Now our Saviour having in our stead subjected himself to Death the penalty of the Law for Sin There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Death inflicted on the Saints has not that relation to the guilt of Sin as to be properly satisfaction to revenging Justice There are no petty payments to be made by our Sufferings after his compleat satisfaction to God The Lord laid on him the Iniquities of us all 'T is indeed still a declaration of God's holy displeasure against Sin for that originally open'd the way of its coming into the World and sometimes by the immaturity or manner of it 't is a chastisment upon good Men for sin that is to make them renew their Repentance and mortify their carnal Affections that fasten them to the World For tho' after the last act of expiration there is no place for Repentance yet in the approaches of
the Offence and the degrees of the Punishment Justice takes the Scales into its hand before it takes the Sword Now sin against God is of such an immense Guilt that an eternal Punishment is but equivalent to it This will appear by considering 1. The Perfections of the Law-giver who is infinitely above us One Act of Sin is rebellion against God and includes in it the contempt of his Majesty before whom the highest Angels cover their Faces with reverence and adoration as unworthy to behold his Glory and cover their Feet as unworthy that he should behold them the contradiction of his Holiness that is his peculiar Glory the denial of his Omniscience and Omnipresence as if he were confin'd to the superior World and busy in regulating the harmonious order of the Stars and did not discern and observe what is done below the defiance of his Eternal Power and provoking him to jealousy as if we were stronger than he 2. If we consider the Obligations of the reasonable Creatures to obey his Commands the guilt of Sin rises prodigiously They were made by his Power with this special character of Excellency according to his Image they were happy in his Love they were endowed with intellectual Faculties capable to understand and consider their Obligations to their bountiful Lord. From hence it appears that Sin is the most unnatural Rebellion against God and in it there is a concurrence of Impiety Ingratitude Perfidiousness and whatever may inhance a Crime to an excess of Wickedness 3. The meanness of the Motives that induce Men to prefer the pleasing their depraved Appetites before Obedience to his Sacred Will extreamly aggravates the Offence Of this we have a convincing Instance in the first Sin committed upon Earth Deceitful Curiosity flattering Pride a secret pleasure of acting according to his own Will join'd with the low attractives of sence blinded and transported Adam to eat the Mortal Fruit against the express Command of God And ever since the vanishing shadows of Honour or Gain or Pleasure are the only perswasives to Sin And what can be more provoking than for a Trifle to transgress the Law of God and equally despise his Favour and Displeasure Can any punishment less than Eternal expiate such Impieties The Rules of Humane Justice may discover to us the Equity of the Divine Justice 'T is ordained by the wisest States that many Crimes which may be done in a few minutes shall be punish'd with Death and the Offender be deprived of his natural Life for ever And is it not most just that Treason against the Great and Immortal King should be revenged with Everlasting Death 4. That which farther clears the Divine Justice in punishing Sin with Hell is this That God by his infallible Promise assures us that all who sincerely and uniformly obey him shall be rewarded with Heaven for ever a Blessedness most worthy the greatness and love of the Eternal God to bestow upon his Servants a Blessedness that surpasses our most comprehensive Thoughts Now if Everlasting Glory be despised what remains but endless Misery to be the Sinner's Portion The Consequence is remediless If Sin with an eternal Hell in its Retinue be chosen and embrac'd is it not equal that the rational Creature should inherit his own choice How just is it that those who are the Slaves of the Devil and maintain his Party here should have their recompence with him for ever That those who now say to the Almighty depart from us we desire not the knowledg of thy Ways should hear the Dreadful Depart from me into everlasting Fire As there will be no vain-boasting in Heaven where the Reward is the Gift of pure Bounty so there will be no righteous Complaint against God in Hell where the Punishment is inflicted by powerful Justice He that voluntarily sins by consequence chuses the Punishment due to it 5. The estimation of an Offence is taken from the disposition of him that does it When 't is done with pleasure and obstinacy there is no place for Favour Now final impenitence alone makes Sin actually and eternally damning to the Sinner Those that notwithstanding all gracious Means live continually in rebellion against God those that impenitently die in their Sins those that desire to live here for ever that they might enjoy their sweet Sins those that are so hardned and naturaliz'd in their Vices that if they were revived and brought again into this World of Temptations would certainly return to the pleasures of Sin is it not righteous that their incorrigible obstinacy should be punish'd for ever Is it not just that those who would continue under the dominion of Sin should forfeit all their claim to the Divine Mercy For if we consider them as unrepentant and irreclaimable from their Wickedness there are in them the just provocations and true causes of God's final rejection and hatred and if we consider God as revealed in his Word and Works his essential Properties Wisdom Purity Justice necessarily work upon such Objects in such a manner How zealous an indignation did the Son of God express against the obdurate Pharisees You Serpents you Generation of Vipers how should you escape the damnation of Hell They in despite of all his Miracles the equal Expressions of his Goodness and Power resisted his Authority blasphemed his Person and slighted his Salvation Now tho' other Sins are of an inferior Nature and weaker Evidence yet Obstinacy added to them makes a Person unworthy and uncapable of Mercy From hence the misery of the Damned is without Redemption without Hope without Allay for ever 2. I shall now proceed to consider the Evidence of the Facts that is produc'd as the Reason of that Judgment The temper of Divine Justice is very observable in the particular Judgments recorded in Scripture In the first process of Justice on Earth we read that God made the enquiry of Adam Hast thou eaten of the Tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat and by palpable Evidence convinc'd him before he condemn'd him Thus before the fiery Vengeance upon the wicked Cities the Memory of which will never be extinguish'd The Lord said to Abraham Because the Cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their Sin is grievous I will go down now and see whether they have done according to the Cry of it that is come up unto me viz. whether they were so numerously and excessively wicked if not I will know God is pleased to incarnate himself in Man's Expression to declare more sensibly to us that he never punishes with precipitation but after an equal trial of the Cause Thus we read of that prophane King of Babylon Belshazzer That he was weighed in the Ballance and found wanting before he was sentenc'd to be deprived of his Kingdom and Life And the destruction of the Antichristian State is attended with solemn Halelujahs for the righteousness of that Judgment And in
in outward offices yet our Saviour most congruously produces in Judgment the conspicuous effects of Love to them the supplying their wants allaying their sorrows owning them when obscured and deprest by afflictions and injuriously treated by others This love of service that is directed and exercised towards the Saints for the Image of God shining in them because they are the Children of God and Members of Christ and therefore extended to all in whom the reason of that Love appears shall be gloriously rewarded For he interprets what is done upon his Account to those who are his own by so many dear titles as done to himself And what is more becoming his excellent Goodness than to reward his works of Mercy with saving Mercy But those who when Christ presents himself to them in his poor distressed Members and solicits their assistance to protect them from injuries to refresh their sorrows to support them in their exigencies those that have ability but want affection to do them good and incompassionately neglect the suffering Saints shall be sentenc'd to be tormented with the Apostate Angels for ever What indignity is it to the Son of God that those for whom he shed his Divine Blood should be in less value and regard with many than the Dogs and Horses maintained for their pleasure And if those on the left hand shall be condemned to eternal Fire for the coldness of their Love how terrible will the Judgment bet of those that from the heat of their enmity outragiously persecute the Servants of Christ for his sake in their Persons Estates Reputations that with a worse than barbarous inhumanity seek their ruine Is there any Sin of a more mortal guilt The infernal Furnace is seven-fold heated for the punishing such wickedness To conclude this Argument let us observe the Command of our Saviour To watch and pray always that we may be counted worthy to stand before the Son of Man These are Duties of universal influence into our Lives the one prevents carelesness the other vain confidence in our selves and the consideration of Judgment to come is the greatest motive to them and the first principle of Holiness This should work more powerfully in us considering the Day of Death is equivalent to the Day of Judgment to every person for then a particular Sentence decisive and irrevocable passes that shall be publish'd at the last Day Methinks the terrors of the Lord should engage our Souls and Senses to a continual preparation for his Coming 'T is represented so as to affect the Eye and keep it vigilant Behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all Behold he comes in the Clouds and every Eye shall see him And to call the Ear and make it attentive The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trump of God How circumspect should we be in all our ways since every action shall be reviewed by our Judg. St. Peter strongly infers from the dissolution of the World as a most cogent Argument that we should be exactly and universally holy seeing then all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness But the consideration of the eternal Judgment immediately succeeding the destruction of the World O how powerful should it be upon Conscience and the Affections to regulate the whole course of our Lives with a final respect to God's Tribunal In short That which we read of the success of the Apostle's preaching to the Athenians upon the present subject the Immortality of the Soul comprised in the Resurrection of the Body and the future Judgment is the same in all times and places And when they heard of the Resurrection of the Dead some mocked and others said We will hear thee again of this matter and others believed There are three differences of the Hearers of this Doctrine of so great importance some deride it as an extravagant fancy some believe it and yield up themselves entirely in obedience to it others do not absolutely reject it as the first nor accept it as the second but have a Conjecture or slight superficial Opinion of it or a speculative Assent as to a history of things that do not concern them and defer the serious consideration and applying of it to themselves And of this third sort O Grief are the most of those who are Christians in name They delay till Death the solemn reflecting upon the final Judgment and the inevitable Consequence of it a blessed or miserable estate for ever And whereas the Apostle who had infallible assurance of God's Love did with an holy severity and self-denial abstain from all Carnal Complacencies that might hazard the never-fading Crown I keep under my Body and bring it into subjection lest by any means when I have preached to others I should be a Cast-away Yet the most live and die in a secure state without preparation to appear before the Presence of his Glory FINIS Some Books printed for Brabazon Aylmer in Cornhill THe Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the Contrivance and Accomplishment of Man's Redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. Or Discourses wherein is shewed how the Wisdom Mercy Justice Holiness Power and Truth of God are glorified in that Great and Blessed Work By William Bates D. D. in Quarto Considerations of the Existence of God And of the Immortality of the Soul with the Recompences of the Future state To which is now added The Divinity of the Christian Religion proved by the evidence of Reason and Divine Revelation for the Cure of Infidelity the Hectick Evil of the Times By William Bates D. D. in Octavo The Soveraign and final Happiness of Man with the effectual means to obtain it Also the Joys of Heaven and Torments of Hell are discoursed of By William Bates D. D. in Octavo Several Sermons upon Death and Eternal Judgment By William Bates D. D. in Octavo A Funeral Sermon preached upon the Death of the Reverend and Excellent Divine Dr. Thomas Manton who deceased October 18. 1677. By William Bates D. D. To which is now added the last Publick Sermon Dr. Manton preached in Octavo One hundred and ninety Sermons on the whole 119th Psalm By the late Reverend and Learned Divine Thomas Manton D. D. in Folio Twenty select Sermons upon choice Subjects preached by Thomas Manton D. D. in Quarto Eighteen Sermons on the 2d Chapter of the 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians containing the Description Rise Growth and Fall of Antichrist With divers Cautions and Arguments to establish Christians against the Apostacy of the Chnrch of Rome By Tho. Manton D. D. in Octavo The Gospel-Method of God's saving Sinners by Jesus Christ practically explained in XII Propositions Or a Discourse of the New Covenant By the late Learned Dr. Abraham Clifford To which is prefixed a Preface by Dr. Manton and Mr. Richard Baxter in
Octavo Vers. 4 5. Vers. 6. Deut. 6. 13. 10. 20. Vers. 7. Vers. 8. Vers. 10. Vers. 13. Vers. 14. Psal. 97. 9. Chap. 2. 11. Psal. 78. 49. Rom. 5. 12. Anima volens perdidit vivere nolens ergo perdat vivificare Rom. 6. 23. Hac lege intraverant ut exirent Senec. Heb. 9. 27. Eccles. 1. 4. Gen. 2. 17. 1 Sam. 26. 10. Psal. 89. 4. Cant. 8. 8. Ecclesiast 8. 8. Isa. 38. Isa. 38. 11. Dies moritur in noctem tenebris usquequaque sepelitur funestatur mundi honor omnis substantia denigratur sordent silent stupent cuncta ubique justitium est Tertul de Resurrec Car. Talia agentem atque meditantem mors praevenit Sueton. Psal. 49. 16 17. * As our Divine Poet expresses it The brags of Life are but a nine days wonder And after Death the fumes that spring From private Bodies make as big a thunder As those that rise from a huge King Herbert 2 Kings 9. 37. Isa. 14. 11. Heb. 9. 27. Acts 24. 25. Heb. 10. 31. Praestat semel mori quam semper timere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 1. 7. Eccles. 11. 7. Prov. 29. Job 36. 21. Rev. 21. Senec. Nullum malum sine eifugio Timor fugam perdidit 1 Sam. 28. Dan. 5. 1 2 3 4. Amos 6. 3 4. Aelian 2 Cor. 5. 11. Heb. 11. 1 Tim 2. 6. 1 Pet. 1. 18. Phil. 2. 8. Col. 2. 1 Cor. 15. Gal. 3. Isa. 53. Heb. 12. 1 Cor. 10. 33. Rev. 2. 1 Thess. 4. 14 Annon longe gloriosius fuit quandoquidem totum pro nobis agebatur ut non modo passio corporis sed etiam cordis affectio pro nobis faceret Et quos vivificabat mors nihilominus trepidatio robustos maestitia laetos taedium alacres turbatio quietos sacecet desolatio consolatos Bern. Serm. 1. de St. Andr. Isa. 57. 1 2. Luk. 2. John 6. 48. ‖ Dies iste quem tu tanquam supremum reformidas aeterni natalis est Senec. Col 9 Job 14. 1. Tempus angustatur ad vitam dilatatur ad miseriam ‖ Omnes homines aut sunt penitus caro nihil habent spiritus ii sunt insidele sine regeneratione Aut sunt tantum spiritus sine carne li sunt sancti qui jam in Coelo aeterna fruuntur pace sine pugna Aut sunt partim spiritus partim caro li sunt omnes renati per spiritum sanctum in Christo. Aug. cont Jul. 1 Cor. 13. 1 John 3. Rom. 8. ‖ Poterat autem Christus etiam hoc donare credentibus ut nec istius experirentur corporis mortem sed si hoc fecisset carni quaedam faelicitas adderetur minueretur fidei fortitudo Quid enim magnum erat vivendo eos non mori qui crederent credere se non moriturum Quanto est majus quanto fortius quanto laudabilius ita credere ut se speret moriturus sine fine victurum Aug. de pecc Mort. Lib. 2. Exercitia nobis sunt non funera dant animo fortitudinis gloriam Contemptu mortis praeparant ad coronam Cypr. de Mortal ‖ Nomen terrae in igni reliquit Tertul. Rom. 1. 11. Acts. 2. 24. Rom. 4. Heb. 13. ‖ Qui sibi ipse pulcherimum medicamentum Celsus Ephes. 2. 6. Exod. 10. 26 Matth. 27. 52 53. Phil. 3. 1. Rom. 8. 23. 1 Cor. 15. 1 Cor. 15. Mark 9. ‖ Felices errore suo quos ille timorum Maximus haud urget leti metus inde ruendi In ferrum mens prona viris animaeque capaces Mortis ignavum rediturae parcere vitae Lucan 1 Joh. 5. 12. Rom. 8. 1. Revel 1 Cor. 15. 22 1 Cor. 6. 17. Joh. 6. 36. 2 Kin. 4. 34. Gal. 2. 20. Joh. 15. 26. Rom. 1. 4. Rom. 8. 9. Rom. 8. 11. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Revel 1. Macti ingenio este Coeli interpretes rerumque naturae capaces Argumenti repertores quo Deos hominesque vinxistis Plin. lib. 2. ‖ Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Atque metus mortis inexorabile fatum Subjecit pedibus Virgil. Act. 20. 21. Heb. 6. 1. 2 Cor. 5. 14. Heb. 2 7 8. Quis enim satis explicet verbis quantum mali sit non obedire tanto potestatis imperio et tanto terrenti supplicio 1 Sam. 26. 21. 2 King 1. Joh. 17. Haec enim est infaelicitas hominum propter quae peccant Morientes his dimittunt et ipsa pellata secum portant Aug. Stemus expeditae ad omnem vius nihil habentes quod relinquere timeamus Retinacule ista sunt spei nostrae De cult Foem Josh. 3. 16. Ad instar Montis intumescentis apparebant procul 1 John 3. Heb. 11. 1. 2 Cor. 5. 1. Epist. Jul. 1 Thess. 4. * Ille excrit gladium ille cervicem uno voto una devotione sub tanto non dicâ—m humanitatis sed potius naturae ipsius â—etu laeti sunt John 21. 41. Secutus a corpore volebat esse cum Christo sed si sicri posset prater mortis molestiam Nolens ad câ—m venit sed volens câ—m vicit Aug. Tract 123 in Joan. Phil. 1. John 17. Cant. 1. ‖ Quamdiu in Salo isto tamdiu inter naufragia Accitus sum ad id miraculi videri exultantem in morâ—â— hominem 〈◊〉 insultanâ—â—â— morti Bern. 26 Serm. in Cant. Gen. 4. Vers. 29. Vers. 26. Psal. 100. Isa. 33. 22. Rom. 3. 5 6. Joh. 5. 22. Vers. 26 27. Rev. 5. John 5. 23 Luk. 9. 26 Mat. 26. 64 65. Heb. 1. Esa. 11. 2 3 4. Rev. 20. 11. Rom. 7. 12. Psal. 119. 128. Rom. 2. 18. Jer. 6. 10. Joh. 5. 44. James 2. 12. 〈…〉 Mal 3. 17. 2 Tim. 1. 7. 1 Pet. 1. 12. Luk. 11. 13. Rom. 1. 26 27. Rom. 1. 32. Rom. 2. Rom. 2. 4. Acts 14. 17. Adsit Regula peccatis quae poenas irroget aequas Horat. Isa. 6. 2 3. Job 22. 14. Paenae aequalitas non nude spectanda ut in ponderibus mensuris sed expenso proposito voto ejus qui deliquit Grot. Mat. 23. 33. Gen. 3. 11. Gen. 18. 20 21. Dan. 5. 27. Rev. 19. 2 3. Rom. 2. 5. Eccl. 12. last 2 Cor. 5. 10. Rom. 2. 16. 1 Pet. 4. 5. Col. 3. 25. Mat. 12. 36. Jud. 14 15. Luk. 21. 3 4. Mat. 10. 42. Rev. 20. 12. John 5. 45. John 12. 48. Psal. 19. Heb. 4. 13. Psal. 139. 1 Tim. 6. 16. Rev. 1. 14. Psal. 90. 8. 1 Sam. 15. 21. 2 Sam. 11. 25 Mat. 23. 14. Mat. 6. 2. Mat. 23. 14. Prov. 24. 12. Jer. 17. 10. Isa. 65. 6. * O si nobis animam boni viri liceret inspicere quam pulchram faciem quam sanctam quam ex magnifico placidoque fulgentem videremus Senec. Mal. 3. 16 17. Rom. 2. 15 16. Psal. 40. 12. Jer. 17. 1. Rev. Zech. 3. 1 2 3. Ps. 109. 6 7 Prov. 7. 18. Isa. 56. 12. Prov. â— Hab. 2. 11. Jam. 5. 3 4. ‖ Ipse timendus est in publico ipse in secreto Lucerna ardet videt te Lucerna extincta est videt te In cubile intras videt te in corde versaris videt te Ipsum time 1 Pet. 1. 17. Mat. 7. 22. Col. 3. last Col. 3. 11. Gal. 6. 7 8. Rom. 2. 7. Rom. 6. last Jude 21. Rev. 7. 14. 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. Rev. 20. 12. Mat. 15. 34 35. * Plus amant illud Regnum in quo â—on timent habere confortes Aug. de Civit. Dei 2 Cor. 8. 12. Luke 12. 47. 48. Jer. 17. 10. Luke 16. 28. ‖ Non orat pro fratrum salute qua non tangitur reprobus sed pro se ne ipsius tormenta ex consortio fratrum aâ—geantur Brugen Testimonium animae naturaliter Christiana Tert. Jude 14 15. Eccles. 12. Isa. 45. 23. Rom. 14. 10 11. Mat. 13. 42 43. 23. 30 31. An verè extribuit nobis omnia quae promisit de solo die judicii nos fefellit Aug. Psal. 14. 1. Psal. 50. Eccl. 8. 2. Acts 17. 30. 2 Pet. 2. 4. Deut. 32. 34 ‖ Amos 8. 7. Psal. 50. 21. * Cum habeat in potestate vindictam mavult diu tenere patientiam Cyprian de bon Patient 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Cum hi novissimi versus in Tragoedia Euripidis pronuntiati essent totus populus ad ejiciendum Actorem Carmen consurrexit uno impetu donec Euripides in medium prosiluit petens ut expectarent viderentque quem admirator auri exitum faceret Senec. Epist. 115. Psal. 44. 2 Thess. 6 7â— Rom. 2. 7. 1 Cor. 4. 5. Inter Judicem justum conscientiam tuam noli timere nisi causam tuam Aug. 1 Pet. 1. 7. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Psal. 94. 5. 6. 1 Pet. 4. 3 4. Eccles. 11. Tit. 12. 13. Phil. 1. Mat. 25. Acts 2. Videtis vulnera quae inflixistis agnoscitis latus quod pupugistis quoniam per vos et propter vos apertum est nec intrare voluistis Aug. Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 9. 2 Cor. 5. 9. Rev. 8. 3. 1 John 3. 20 21. 2 Cor. 1. 12. ‖ â—ui praecepâ—or ista inquit omnibus eadem sunt aeque difficilia Senec. Epist. 91. Psal. 19. 12. ‖ Nullis vitiis desunt pretiosa nomina Plin. lib. 73. Matth. 10. 33 34. Rom. 10. 1 Joh. 4. 18. Matth. 10. 31 32 33. Jam. 2. Mark 8. 35. Jer. 38. 19. 1 Cor. 4. 17. Acts 5. 41. John 5. 33 36 37 39. Mark 8. 38. Matth. 25. 34 35 36. Jude 15. Rev. 1. 9. 1 Thess. 4. 16. 2 Pet. 3. 11 12. Act. 17. 32 34. 1 Cor. 9. 27. ‖ Vae miseris nobis qui de electione nostra nullam aedhuc Dei vocem cognovimus et jam in otio quasi de securitate torpemus Greg. lib. 29. Moral
SERMONS UPON DEATH AND Eternal Judgment BY WILLIAM BATES D. D. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1683. To the Right Honourable RACHEL Lady RUSSEL MADAM OF all Affairs for the compassing whereof Men are so diligent and sollicitous there is none of that absolute necessity and high importance as the Preparation for Death and Judgment This requires the whole Man in his best vigour and should be the Work of the Day but 't is usually delayed till the melancholy Evening of Age or the twilight of Death The Trifles of this World divert them from that main business to which all other things should be subordinate It equally deserves Wonder and Compassion that Death which is so constantly in Mens view should be so seldom the matter of their application when all are of the same Glass made of the same frail natural Principles and no Argument is more frequently and pathetically urged upon them 'T is not strange that deep Truths that by the strength and exercise of the mind are drawn like Gold out of the Mines have no efficacy upon those that are not capable of understanding them but the Doctrins of Death and Judgment after it are plain Truths by Natural Moral and Divine Evidence known to all yet no more affect Men than a Paradox of incredible Novelty If the Doctrine of Eternal Judgment were but a probable Opinion controverted with equal Arguments yet 't is a matter of such vast concernment that Reason requires all our possible diligence to avoid an eternal evil that may be the loss of coelestial Glory and the Torments of Hell But since 't is an infallible Truth as certain as the Word of God 't is a Miracle to astonish Heaven and Earth that Men live as carelesly as if they should never die and die as securely as if they should not live in the next state to receive the just punishment of their Sins They are fearless whilst Death is far off in their thoughts and when Age has snowed upon their heads that no Marks of decaying Nature should appear make their own Winter to flourish with another Spring But 't is in vain for Death knows them under their disguise and will not stay beyond the appointed time And in that decisive hour Infidelity or Presumption hardens Men to pass as quietly and boldly in appearance into another world as unfeigned Faith and a regular lively Hope in the Promises of the Gospel But as deceitful Physick stops the Fit for the present that will return more violently and fatally afterwards So a counterfeit short Peace transmits them to everlasting Sorrows The design of the following SERMONS is to awaken Men that they may be wise and consider their latter end to secure an interest in our Redeemer who has disarmed Death of its Sting and made that Enemy our Friend and to practise dying every day by withdrawing their hearts from the vanities of this transient World that have such a pernicious influence to excite the carnal appetites and stupify the Conscience which are the true causes of their sin and misery And what can be more powerful to render them temperate and sober in the use of present things vigilant and serious in their preparations for their great and final Change than the remembrance that Death is immediately attended with Judgment and Judgment with Blessedness or Misery for ever I know this Argument is naturally displeasing but the usefulness should recommend it to our most solemn and composed thoughts before all the vain entertainments of the Fancy and sensual Affections As Herbs of Medicinal virtue that are not pleasing to the sight or smell yet are valued by the Skilful as treasures of Health and preferr'd before the fairest Flowers that are perfum'd and painted by Nature so as to excel the richest lustre of Solomon's Glory The Body is in a continual Consumption and no Art can long preserve it but whilst the outward Man is irrecoverably declining and wasting if the Inward Man be ascending and renewing to perfection the advantage is incomparable O how comfortable is it to a holy Believer in the parting hour to commit his Spirit into the hands of his Heavenly Father for thus he is authorized and encouraged by our Saviour's Example and lay down the Flesh to rest in Hope for Christ is the Guardian of the Grave has the Keys of Death and will revive the Bodies of his Saints incorruptible and immortal the Copies of his own glorious Body Madam I shall not attempt the celebrating your Ladiships Vertues that render you a bright Ornament of your Sex and more truly Honourable than your Noble Descent and Alliance but direct my best Desires to God that your Family may be a singular and eminent Example of the Divine Favour that the fading Gloss of this World may not deceive you but your Heart may be above where your Treasure is that you may live to God and your Soul for Heaven and Eternity I am Madam Your Honours very humble and faithful Servant WILLIAM BATES SERMONS UPON DEATH HEB. 2. 15. And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their life-time subject to Bondage IN the first Chapter of this Epistle the Proofs of the Eternal Deity of Christ are produced with that evidence of Scripture-Light that only a vailed Heart obstinate Infidelity can resist The Medium which the inspired Pen-man makes use of is the comparing him with the Angels the most noble Flower of the Creation and shewing that he is infinitely dignified above them This he does by a strong connexion of Arguments First By his Title that is divinely high and peculiar to himself He is declared by the Testimony of the Eternal Father to be his Son in the most proper and sublime sence begotten of him and therefore having the same essential Perfections of the God-head in their uncreated Glory But the Angels are not dignified with this Name in any places of Scripture where the Excellency of the Angels is in the fullest terms expressed And that this Name is taken from his Nature is clearly proved because Adoration is due to him upon this account even from the Angels of the highest Order When he bringeth in the first-begotten into the World he saith And let all the Angels of God worship him Divine Worship is a Prerogative inseparably annext to the Deity both upon the account of the supream Excellencies of the Nature of God and his Relation to Angels and Men as Creator and Preserver the Fountain of their Being and Happiness This without the most open defiance of his Authority cannot be given to a mere Creature and by the Command of God himself is to be performed as a respect due to the filial God-head The Argument proceeds from the Name to the Offices Of the Angels he saith Who maketh the Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flame of Fire They are the prime Instruments of his Providence
ordained Means and sacramental Pledg For God unchangably loves his own Image and tho' by his Sovereignty and absolute Power he may resume the Being he gives yet his Goodness and Covenant were a sacred assurance that Man's happy Life should run parallel with his perseverance in his Duty This Immortality was not the singular privilege of Adam's Person but had been the Inheritance of all his Progeny But he soon revolting from his just Obedience of Immortal became Mortal and according to the original establishment of Propagation transmitted his Nature with the guilt and poison of Sin to all his Posterity Thus by one Man Sin entered into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned As his Obedience had been rewarded so his Rebellion is punisht in all that naturally descend from him From hence it is that so numerous a part of Man-kind are cut off before the commission of actual Sin Death enters into the Forge of Life and destroys the Conception that newly began to live And what is more righteous than that Man when he disobeyed the Author of Life should forfeit his Life and Blessedness The Soul voluntarily lost the spiritual Life by forsaking God therefore unwillingly loses the natural Life by expulsion from the Body The Apostle declares the Wages of Sin is Death not only that of the Body but the Death of the Soul which is a dreadful Concomitant of it And from hence we may discover the false Philosophy of the wisest Heathens in their Opinion of Death They judged it to be the primary necessity and condition of Nature fixt by irresistible Fate and not understanding the true and just reason of its coming into the World they could not apply a sufficient Remedy against its Evil. 2. As the Effect of the divine Decree respecting Sin This is discovered by revelation in the Word of God and by the real execution of it It is appointed to Men once to die This Decree is universal and unrepealable One Generation passeth away and another Generation cometh like the ebbing and flowing of the Sea in its stated Periods Nothing can interrupt or frustrate this appointment There are divers Conditions of Men and various ways of living in the World some are high in Dignity others are level with the Earth some walk in a Carpet-way smooth and easy others in a thorny and troublesom some walk on the golden Sands others on the Mire but the same uncontroulable necessity of dying involves all And what-ever the way be whether pleasant or doleful yet every one passes in it with equal steps measured by the same invariable spaces of Hours and Days and arrive at the same common end of Life Those who are regarded as visible Deities amongst Men that can by their Breath raise the Low and depress the Lofty that have the Lives of millions in their Power yet when the ordained time is come as they cannot bribe the accusing Conscience for a minutes silence so neither delay Death I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like Men. 3. Death is to be considered as the Sentence of the Law The reasonable Creature was made under a Law the Rule of his Actions The moral Law directed him how to continue in his holy and blessed State To which was annext the Precept of not eating of the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil only as a mark of his Subjection and for the trial of his Obedience This Precept had an infallible sanction by the most high Law-giver In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Man did not keep this Command of so easy observation and justly incurr'd its doom As Sin is the violation of the Law so Death is the violation of the Sinner in his Nature and Felicity retorted from the Law The deaths of Men are very different in their kinds and are comprised in the words of David concerning Saul The Lord shall smite him or his Day shall come to die or he shall descend into the Battel and perish Sometimes they are cut off by the immediate flaming hand of God for the more exemplary revenge of Sin sometimes by surprising Accidents sometimes by bloody Contentions sometimes consuming Diseases But tho' Death be not uniform yet 't is always the execution of the Law upon Offenders As of those who are condemned by Humane Justice some suffer a more easy and honourable Death others a more disgraceful and torturing some are Beheaded others are Crucified yet all die as Malefactors Thus some die a natural Death others a violent some by a gentle preparing sickness without reluctation others die upon the Rack by sharp pains some die attended with their Friends and all supplies to sweeten their Passage others forsaken of all Comforters yet Death is the same Sentence of the Law upon all Men. And this if duly considered makes it terrible in whatever shape it appears II. The next thing to be considered is What the fear of Death includes and the bondage that is consequent to it This I shall explain and amplify by considering four things 1. The nature of Fear in general as applicable to the present Subject 2. The particular Causes that render Death so fearful 3. The degree of this Fear exprest by Bondage 4. How it comes to pass that men are not always under the actual fear of Death but subject to the Revolutions of it all their lives 1. I will consider the nature of Fear in general as applicable to the present Subject Fear is a passion implanted in Nature that causes a flight from an approaching Eye Three things are requisite to qualify the Object and make it fearful 1. The Evil must be apprehended Knowledg or at least suspicion excites Fear by representing an Evil that is likely to seize upon us Till the mind discern the danger the passions are unmoved and imaginary Evils by the mere apprehension are as strongly fear'd as real 2. The Evil must be future For the naked theory of the most pernicious Evil does not wound the Soul but the apprehension of falling under it If reason can open an expedient to prevent an Evil this Passion is quiet And Fear precisely regards its Object as to come Present Evils induce grief and sorrow past Evils by reflection affect with joy and give a quicker relish to present felicity Approaching Evils alarm us with fear 3. The Evil must be apprehended as prevalent to make it fearful For if by comparison we find our strength superior we either neglect the Evil for its levity or determine to encounter it and resistance is the proper effect of Anger not of Fear But when an impendent Evil is too hard for us the Soul shrinks and recoils from it Now all these Qualifications that make an Object fearful concur in Death 1. 'T is an Evil universally known The frequent Funerals are a real demonstration that speaks sensibly to our Eyes that
Grave and exchanged all his glorious State for Worms and Putrefaction The Worm is spread under thee and the Worms cover thee In short Death separates Men from all their admired charming Vanities 2. Death is fearful in the apprehension of Conscience as 't is the most sensible mark of God's Wrath that is heavier than Death and a summons to give an account of all things done in this Life to the righteous Judg of the World 'T is appointed to all Men once to die and afterward the Judgment The Penal Fear is more wounding to the Spirit than the Natural When the awakened Sinner quietly expects the Citation to appear before the Tribunal above where no excuses no supplications no privileges avail where his cause of Eternal Life or Death must be decided and the awards of Justice be immediately executed O the Convulsions and Agonies of Conscience in that hour when the diseased Body cannot live and the disconsolate Soul dare not die what Anxieties surround it This redoubles the terrors of Death that the first transmits to the second that was figured by it O the dismal aspect of Death riding on a pale Horse with Hell the black Attendant following This Fear surprised the Sinners in Sion Who among us can dwell with devouring Fire who among us can remain with everlasting burnings This made a Heathen the Governor of a Province to tremble before a poor Prisoner While Paul discoursed of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come Foelix trembled 'T is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever None is so powerful as God nothing so fearful as the guilty Conscience 3. The degrees of this Fear is exprest by Bondage This Passion when regular in its Object and Degree is excellently useful 't is a wise Counsellor and faithful Guardian that plucks off the Mask from our Enemies and keeps Reason vigilant and active to prevent a threatning Evil or to sustain it in the best manner 'T is observable in the brute Creatures that the weak and fearful are most subtile and ingenious to secure themselves and supply the want of strength with artifice But when Fear is inordinate 't is a tyrannous Master that vexes the weary Soul and hinders its free and noble Operations Caesar chose rather to be expos'd to suddain death than to be continually harrast with fears how to avoid it The Greek word implies the binding of the Spirit that causes an inward slavery And in the Apostles Writings the Spirit of Fear and the Spirit of Bondage are equivalent Ishbosheth when Abner provok'd by the Charge about Saul's Concubine imperiously threatned to translate the Kingdom to David was struck with such a fear that he could not answer Abner a word 2 Sam. 3. 10 11. The suddain passion stifled his replie and reduc'd him to a defenceless silence Now the fear of Death as 't is remiss or vehement such are the degrees of bondage from it 1. It embitters the enjoyments of the present Life and makes the most prosperous in the World even in the fulness of their sufficiency to be in straits Tho' the senses are pleased with the quick sweetness of Change from one Object to another yet the Soul cannot have a delightful undisturbed fruition foreseeing that the stream of Pleasure will issue into the dead Sea Truly Light is sweet and 't is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun But how short is this Life with all its pleasures in comparison of the days of darkness that follow Now tho' 't is our best wisdom and truest liberty to rejoice in this World as if we rejoiced not and frequently to meditate on the cooling Doctrines of Death and Judgment to repress the transports of the voluptuous appetite yet since the Comforts of this Life are liberally indulged to us by the Love of God to be the motives of our grateful and affectionate Obedience to sweeten our passage to Heaven we may with tranquillity of Spirit make a pure and chearful use of them in his service and 't is an oppressing bondage when the disquieting anxious fears of Death hinders our temperate enjoyment of his Favours and Blessings 2. The fear of Death oppresses the Souls of Men under a miserable Bondage to the Devil for his Dominion is maintain'd by the Allurements and Terrors of the World Tho Men do not explicitly acknowledg his Soveraignty yet by voluntary yielding to his pleasing temptations they are really his Slaves And the apprehension of temporal Evils especially of Death drest up in a frightful representation with its bloody pomp is the strongest snare to the Soul The faint-hearted prove false-hearted in the time of trial For the timerous Spirit being wholly intent how to avoid the incursion of a present Evil forgets or neglects what is indispensibly to be done and thinks to find an excuse in the pretended necessity How many have been terrified from their clearest Duty and resolved Constancy To escape Death they have been guilty of the most insufferable impieties by renouncing God their Maker and Saviour and worshipping the Devils for Deities Every Age presents sad spectacles of many that chuse iniquity rather than affliction that relinquish their duty and by wicked compliances save their Lives and lose their Souls Carnal Desires and Carnal Fears are the Chains of Hell that retain Men Satan's Captives But what folly what madness is it for the avoiding the impotent fury of the Creature to venture on the powerful wrath of God that exceeds all the terrors that can be conceived by fear This renders them more bruitish than the Horse that starting at his Shadow springs over a desperate Precipice The fearful are excluded from Heaven and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever 3. The extream fear of Death and Judgment dejects and discourages the Soul from the use of means to prevent eternal misery and induces a most woful Bondage Fear anticipates and exasperates future Evils for as knowledg excites fear so fear encreases knowledg by the uncessant working of the thoughts upon terrible Objects The fearful mind aggravates the foreseen Evil and distils the Poison from all the circumstances and consequences of it And when the Evil is apprehended as insuperable and indeclinable all endeavours to escape are cut off What a Philosopher observes of an Earthquake compared with other destructive Evils is true in this case There may be a safe retreat from Fire from Inundations from Storms from War from Pestilence but an Earthquake astonishes with so violent a perturbation that stops our flight from the imminent danger So the vehement impressions of fear from the approaches of death and the severe executions upon the Sinner after it distracts the mind and disables from flying from the Wrath to come These Fears are more heavy by the suggestions of Satan who represents God so terrible in his Majesty
inexorable in his Justice and dreadful to Death that all hopes of obtaining his favour are lost As the Egyptian Darkness was not meerly from the absence of the Sun but from feculent Vapours condensing the Air that it might be felt So these dark and fearful expectations of the Divine Wrath are not only from the withdrawing the Light of God's Countenance but from the Prince of Darkness that foul Spirit And as we read of the Egyptians that no Man arose from his place for three days as if they had been buried in that darkness and deprived of all active power and motion so the despairing Soul sits down mourning at the Gates of Death totally disabled from prosecuting the Things that belong to its peace 'T is Hope inspires and warms us with alacrity encourages our Endeavours Despair is without edg and industry The Soul suffers the hardest Bondage and the condition is inexpressibly sad under the tyranny of this Fear O how enthralled how desolately miserable for despair doth meritoriously and effectually ruin the Soul For whereas there is no Attribute more Divine no clearer Notion of the Deity than Love and Mercy this Passion disparages his Mercy as if Sin were more omnipotent than his Power to pardon and all the Tears that flow from it are so far from expiating that they encrease Guilt and whereas the believing view of Christ would as compleatly and presently recover the Soul-wounded Sinner as the Israelites were by looking to the ordained visible Sign of their Salvation Despair turns away the Eye from our Deliverer and fixes it upon misery as remediless and final 4. How comes it to pass that Men are not always under the actual fear of Death but subject to the revolutions of it all their Lives The Seeds of this Fear are hid in the guilty Breasts of Men and at times especially in their Calamities break forth and kindle upon them In their leisure and Retirement intercurrent thoughts of Death and Judgment sting them by fits and make them uneasy The flashes of Conscience like moments of Lightning startle them but they relapse into their habitual stupidity And the account of it will be clear by considering the following Particulars 1. Men are apt to flatter themselves with the hopes of long Life and look upon Death at a great distance Tho' there be a dying disposition in the youngest and strongest Persons tho' we live in a world of Casualties and Death lie in ambush to surprize us every day yet we are secure because Evils affect us according to their apprehended nearness A Petty Constable that is troublesom and vexatious is more fear'd by his Neighbours than the Grand Signior with all his Executioners As remote Objects though of vast bigness are lessen'd to our sight so through the supposed interval of many years Death is lookt on with a diminution of its Terror But when Death presents it self before Men ready to dispatch them how formidable is its appearance Saul tho renouned for his Valour yet when he understood by Revelation that to morrow he and his Sons should be in the state of the dead there was no strength in him but he fell straight-way all along on the Earth struck through with fear before he was wounded by the Arrows of the Philistins Belshazzar in the midst of his luxury and jolity attended with a thousand Lords and his herd of Concubines inflam'd with Wine and therefore less capable of fear yet upon the sight of the fatal Hand writing on the Wall a few unknown Characters which his guilty Conscience before the Prophet Daniel came interpreted to be the sentence of present Death How fearfully was his Countenance changed pale as a Carcass How suddainly did his Blood congeal and his warmest quickest Spirits die in his Heart His whole Body was seized by such a vehement trembling that his joints were loosed and his knees smote one against another This is a representation of those who bid defiance to Death at a distance but when the fatal Hour is come and they hear the Sentence decreed against them God has numbred thy days and finish'd them thou art weighed in the ballance all thy words and Actions thy Thoughts and Affections and art found wanting and thy Soul shall be divided from thy Body the one sent to Hell to suffer the undying Worm of Conscience the other to the Grave to be a prey to the Worms of Corruption how are they overcome with horror 2. The continual succession of the Pleasures and Business of the World divert the mind from the attentive strong contemplation of Death and the consequences of it Pensive thoughts are unwelcome and we studiously endeavour to cancel the memory of such things as afflict us 'T is said of the Wicked that God is not in all their thoughts The consideration of the Holy Inspector and Judg of their Actions is tormenting therefore they fill their minds with earthly Imaginations to exclude the Divine Presence We read of those who to put far away the evil day chaunted to the sound of the Viol and drank Wine in Bowls They are rock'd asleep with the motion of phantastick Vanities And sleep takes away Fear but gives no safety 'T is recorded of Marius that after his overthrow by Scylla he was always in consternation as if he heard the sound of the Trumpets and the noise of the victorious Army pursuing him And his Fears were no longer quiet than whilst charm'd with Wine and Sleep He therefore was continually drunk that he might forget Himself his Enemy and his Danger Thus Men make a pittiful shift to forget their latter End and whilst they are following either secular Affairs or sensual Pleasures are unconcerned for what is to be hereafter But this diversion will shortly be at an end for in their languishing hours when the wasted Body fails the carnal Mind and sensual Desires fail the Man then Conscience that spoke with a low Voice before is loud and terrible and like the rigid Exactor in the Parable that took his Debtor by the throat requires them to pay what they owe. 3. Some are so hardned in Infidelity that the Powers of the World to come make no impression on their hearts They mind but little and are less affected with invisible things They fortify themselves with gross thoughts that the Spirit of Man vanishes with his Breath that Death is the end of this Life and not the beginning of another and feed without fear Place one in the midst of destructive Evils but unseen or not believed and he is as fearless as a blind Person walking on the brink of a deep Pit Indeed there are none less disturbed with the terrors of Death than the eminently good or the extremely bad for the one sort have a blessed hope that Death will be to them an entrance into Life and live like the Angels with a joy unspeakable and glorious The others are as sensual and secure as the Beasts that perish
strength we are enabled to mortify the deeds of the Body to crucify the Flesh with the affections and lust thereof And to perform holy Duties with freedom alacrity and zeal in such a manner as is acceptable to God In short saving Grace is distinguisht from that which is common to the unregenerate by its prevalency and constancy There may be a declination in the Saints tending to a downfal but the Seed of God that supernatural Grace that remains in them will by the power of the holy Spirit recover the supremacy Others may be enlightned and feel some good motions and transient touches as Saul had his rapture among the Prophets but they are not truly entirely and perseveringly converted to God They are not proof against the allurements or terrors of the World They make a fair profession till they are try'd by temptations Congealed drops of water appear like solid Chrystal till the warm beams of the Sun dissolve them and discover the hypocrisie of the Chrystal False Jewels may seem to have the luster of Diamonds till they are broke by a fall and discovered to be Glass Thus the Riches the Honours and Pleasures of the Flesh melt some and temporal Evils break the resolutions of others and make it evident they were not sincere Converts But where the holy Spirit savingly works he is said to dwell he is not like a Passenger or a Tenant at will that neglects the House and suffers it to fall into ruine but as the Proprietary and Owner he keeps perpetual residence in true Christians and by his continual influence preserves them from final Apostacy Now from hence we may judg whether we have an interest in Christ and his Benefits For the Apostle clearly tells us that if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his By this sacred Signature we are appropriated to Christ and visibly distinguish'd from the World For tho the secret and pure influences of the Spirit in the soul are only known to the person that feels them yet his active inspirations are declarative of his presence and power in the outward conversation As the Wind that is of so thin and subtil a nature that 't is invisible in it self but we certainly know from what point it blows by the course and way that the Ship makes thus the Spirit of God who is compared to the Wind is discovered by an infallible Indication his fruits and effects in a holy Life And those who have communion with Christ by his Spirit have a share in his Victories and may with confidence meet the last enemy Death For we are assured If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal Bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in us A preparative conformity to Christ in Grace will be followed with a consummate in Glory But those who never felt the sanctifying efficacy of the Spirit in their hearts and lives tho they are Christians in profession yet they have no other union with Christ than a dead Branch with a Tree that receives no sap and virtue from it or an artificial Member joyned to the Body that may have the outward clothing and ornaments proper to that part but derives no life and sense from it Whoever is in Christ is a new Creature And only those who partake in the first resurrection from Sin shall be exempted from the power of the second Death and upon just grounds are freed from the terrors of the first To apply this point let us 1. Consider our dear Obligations to our blessed Saviour who to free us from the sting and enslaving fear of Death submitted to it with all its terrors from God and wicked Men. He felt a sadness to an Agony in his Soul and suffered the equal extreamities of Ignominy and Torment in his Body The Favour of God was intercepted from him that it may shine upon us in that gloomy hour And all his terrible Sufferings tho foreknown by his enlightened mind could not weaken his determined Will to undergo them for us But when Peter regarded with a more tender eye his Life than our Salvation he was repell'd with indignation Unparallell'd Love no less than divine transcending all the instances of humane affection The highest kind and excess of Love amongst Men is to die for another and the highest degree in that kind is to die to save an Enemy and of this our Saviour is the singular Example Love incomprehensible it passes knowledge and all understanding but his who exprest it His Love was equal to the heighth of his Glory from whence he descended and the depth of his sufferings that he sustained in our stead By washing us from our sins in his Blood he makes us Kings dignifies us with spiritual Soveraignty over not only defiling but disturbing passions The freest and most confident Sinner in the World that rebels against the Divine Laws without restraint is a slave not only under the chains of his imperious Lusts but in that he is liable to the scourgings of Conscience when ever awaken'd and to the servile fear of Death every day But the sincere Christian has a clear and sweet peace a blessed tranquillity from the tormenting apprehensions and fears of Death that are the just consequents of guilt One of the ancient Romans highly celebrates the Astronomers who discover'd the true Causes of the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon and freed the World from the double darkness of Ignorance and Fear which believed the obscuring of those great Lights were the fainting fits of Nature and mortal symptoms threatning an universal Calamity But what Praise and Blessing is due to our Saviour who hath given us infallible assurance that the death of the Righteous is not as the heathen World imagin'd an irreparable loss of Life but a short eclipsing of this low and mean Light that is common to sensitive creatures to be restored more excellent and permanent in Heaven where those Stars shine in the Divine Presence for ever Thanks be to God which gives us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This should render him infinitely precious to us and inflame our Hearts with desires equal to our Obligations to serve him 2. Let us make it the main business of our lives to remove from our Souls the just fears of Death 'T is one of the solemn follies of the World to fear where there is no cause As if a Sentinel should mistake Gloworms in the Night for lighted Matches and give a false Alarm but 't is a worse folly tho pleasing not to fear when there is the greatest reason to excite it And 't is so in the present Case for the most are without the fear of Death that should make them serious in preparing for it nay to maintain their security are as unwilling to hear Conscience declare the wretchedness of their condition with
our Labours Our Saviour when he was to leave the World addrest himself to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish't the work thou gavest me to do And now Father glorify me with thy self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was A Christian that imitates and honours Christ and with diligence perseveres in weldoing may with an humble confidence in the Divine Mercy expect the promised reward The reflection upon a wel-spent life is joyn'd with a joyful prospect of God's Favour and acceptance above But the careless and remiss those who are wilfully negligent of their Duty how fearful is Death that summons them to give an account of their Talents to the Righteous Lord 4. A holy indifference of affection to present things makes it easie to part with them and Death less fearful to us David tho a King declares he was a stranger on Earth not only with respect to his transient condition but his inward disposition and that he was as a weaned Child from the admir'd Vanities of the World Chrysostom in a Letter to Ciriacus who was tenderly sensible of his Banishment wrote to him You now begin to lament my Banishment but I have done so for a long time for since I knew that Heaven was my Country I have esteemed the whole Earth a place of exilement Constantinople from whence I am expell'd is as distant from Paradise as the Desert to which they send me But when our affections are set upon external things and we are irregular in our aims intemperate in our use and immoderate in our delights how sensible cutting is the division from them How bitter is Death that deprives a carnal Wretch of all the materials of his frail Felicity What a storm of passions is rais'd to lose all his good things at once for 't is a Rule in Nature What is possest with transporting Joy is lost with excessive Sorrow As the Ivy that twines so closely about the Tree and is intimately fastned by so many roots as there are branches cannot be pluck'd away without rending the Bark with it so when the World that was as it were incarnated with the Heart is taken away the Heart it self is grievously rent by the violent separation And the infelicity of carnal and worldly persons is heavily aggravated in that the guilt in procuring or abusing those treasures and delights that they leave here with so great sorrow will cleave to them and give Testimony against them before their Judg. But when the Affections are loose to the World and set upon Heaven the separating with the Earth is no loss but gain and with that alacrity as the putting off a vile garment to be clothed with a Royal Robe 'T was the wise Counsel of Tertullian to the Women of the first Ages of the Church not to value and love the Jewels and Ornaments of Gold that they might be more ready and resolved to obtain by Death Martyrdom and by Martyrdom Eternal Glory And that we may disentangle our Souls from those voluntary bands that fasten us to present things we must have a sincere uncorrupted judgment of their meanness The Apostle exhorts Christians to moderation in their temper and conversation with respect to the business and enjoyments here that they who have Wives be as tho they had none that those that rejoice be as tho they rejoiced not and they that buy as tho they possessed not and they that use the World as not abusing it for the fashion of the World passeth away To a wise and pondering Observer what comparison is there between Shadows and Dreams and substantial everlasting Blessedness If Men had the same opinion of this World whilst they live as they will have when they are to die they would not set over it They who have magnified temporal Honours and Riches and lived in Pleasures without remorse yet in their dying hours when Men speak with most feeling and least affectation how have they vilified those empty appearances of happiness with what moving expressions declared the vanity and brevity of worldly things As when the Israelites were to go through the River Jordan that opened it self to make a free and dry passage for them the lower part of its Waters ran into the Dead Sea and utterly fail'd but the Waters that came from above rose up and appear'd like a Mountain thus when Men come to the universal passage from this to the next life inferiour things absolutely fail and are lost in the dead Sea but the things above that are eternal then appear in their true greatness exceeding all humane comprehension from hence is the change of mind and language concerning the one and other 5. Solemn affectionate and frequent Converse with God in Religious Duties will render Death not fearful to us The whole life of a Christian as such is a continual Communion with the Father and with Jesus Christ. For he performs all good works by divine Grace communicated from above and refers all to the Divine Honour As in a pair of Compasses one foot is fixt in the Center whiles the other moves in the Circumference so the Heart of a Christian is in Heaven his aims are for God whilst he is active here in the World His Natural and Civil Actions are heightened to a supernatural end And thus his Conversation is in Heaven But this was spoken of before and that which is now specified is the more immediate Service of God in holy Meditation Prayer and the Ordinances of the Gospel which is the noblest part of the spiritual Life Our blessed Saviour who was a Comprehensor upon Earth always saw the Face of God and invariably sought his Glory in all things yet had his special times of Prayer and Heavenly-Communion with God and the most glorious testimonies of his Favour in those times Our Communion with God here is as true as in Heaven but the influence and fruition is different according to our capacity When the Soul feels the vigorous exerâ—ise of the thoughts affections upon God and the raised operations of Grace in holy Duties 't is as certain a sign of God's Favour and Acceptance as when Fire descended from Heaven to consume the Sacrifice And often our affeâ—tionate Duties are rewarded with sensible Consolations and holy Souls are dismist from the Throne of Grace as they shall be received at the Throne of Glory with the reviving testimonies of God's approbation Now the assurance of God's Love conquers the fear of Death This Communion must be frequent As love and respects between Friends are maintained by constant Visits and Letters and mutual Confidence arises from Acquaintance so by the interchange of holy Duties and divine favours we preserve a lively sense of God's Love and an humble familiarity with his Majesty that his Presence is not a terror to us A Christian that walks with God here when he leaves the World to use the
pass and the Rocks we must avoid Faith is the Compass that directs the Course we must steer Love is the Rudder that governs the Motion of the Ship Hope fills the Sails Now what Passenger does not rejoice at the discovery of his Country where his Estate and Heart is and more at the near approach to the Port where he is to land Is not Heaven the Countrey of the Saints is not their Birth from above and their tendency to their Original and is not the blessed Bosom of Christ their Port Oh what joyful thanksgivings are due to God when by his Spirit and Providence they have happily finish'd their Voyage through such dangerous Seas and are coming into the Land of the Living How joyful was to Noah the coming of the Dove with an Olive Branch to shew him the Deluge was asswaged and the time was come of his freedom from the troublesom company of Animals and from the straitness and darkness of the Ark to go forth and possess the World How joyful should Death be to a Saint that comes like the Dove in the evening to assure him the Deluge of Misery is ceas'd and the time is come of his enlargement from the Body his deliverance from the wretched sinful society here and his possessing the Divine World Holy Souls are immediately transported by the Angels to Christ and by him presented to his Father without spot or wrinkle compleat in Holiness and prepared for Communion with him in Glory How joyfully are they received into Heaven by our Saviour and the blessed Spirits they are the reward of his Sufferings the precious and dear purchase of his Blood The Angels that rejoice at the Conversion of a Sinner much more at the Glorification of a Saint and the Church of the First-born who have before us enter'd into Glory have a new accession of Joy when their younger Brethren arrive to the undefiled immortal Inheritance And is it not very becoming Believers joyfully to ascend to the Seat of Blessedness to the happy Society that inspires mutual Joys for ever For our encouragement there are numerous instances of Believers that have with peace and joy tho in various degrees past through the dark Valley to the Inheritance of Light Some have died with more Joy than they lived and triumph'd over the last Enemy with the vocal Praises of God others with silent affections have quietly commended their Spirits into his hand Some have inward Refreshings and support others exuberant Joys and Ravishments as if the Light of Glory shined into them or the Veil of Flesh were drawn and their Spirits were present with the invisible World Some of the Martyrs in their cruellest Sufferings felt such impressions of Confidence and Alacrity that as in the House of Lamech there was accorded at the same time two discordant Callings by the two Brothers Jubal the Inventer of the Harp and Organ and Tubal-Cain the first Artificer in Brass and Iron the one practised on Instruments of Musick breathing harmonious sounds and melodies the other used Hammers Anvils making noise and tumult So in some persons whilst the heaviest strokes fell on their Bodies their Souls were ravish'd with the sweetest Joy and Exultation Indeed 't is not thus always with the Saints for tho Sin be pardoned yet the apprehensions of Guilt may remain When a Stream is disturbed it does not truly represent the Object When the Affections are disordered the Mind does not judge aright of a Christian's state A Serpent may hiss when it has lost its sting Death may terrify when it cannot hurt us I doubt not but some excellent Saints have been in anxieties to the last till their Fears were dispell'd by the actual fruition of Blessedness As the Sun sometimes sets in dark Clouds and rises in a glorious Horizon We reade our Evidences for Heaven by the Light of God's Countenance his Image is made visible in our Souls by the illustration of his Spirit and he exercises Prerogative in the dispensation of his Comforts 'T is his pleasure to bestow extraordinary Favours on some and deny them to others that are as holy But every Penitent Believer has just cause of Joy in Death for Jesus Christ has reconciled God destroyed Satan and conquered Death and the last day of his Life is the first of his Glory FINIS Errata of the Sermons on Death PAge 8. line 19. for should r. might P. 25. l. 18. f. lost r. tost P. 32. l. 19. f. quietly r. guiltily P. 92. l. 12. f. impassibility r. impossibility The Sermons on Judgment P. 11. l. 21. dele only l. 22. r. not only the Angels P. 19. l. 23. f. attaque r. attach SERMONS UPON Eternal Judgment BY WILLIAM BATES D. D. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazen Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1683. SERMONS UPON Eternal Judgment Acts 17. 31. Because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he raised him from the dead SAint Paul had this Title of Honour eminently conferred upon him the Apostle of the Gentiles This Office he performed with persevering diligence diffusing the Light of Life to those that sate in darkness and in the shadow of Death In this Chapter we have recorded the substance of his Sermon to the Athenians wherein his admirable Zeal and Prudence are remarkable in the Matter and Order of his Discourse to convince and perswade them to receive the saving Truth of the Gospel He first lays down the Principles of Natural Religion to prepare them for the more easy belief of supernatural revealed Religion The depravation of the Minds of Men was in no instance more prodigious than in their vilifying Conceits of the Deity They attributed his Name and Honour to various Idols and ascribed to him their own Figure and which was infinitely more unworthy and dishonourable their own Passions and Vices They adored their own vain Imaginations The Idols of their Hearts were erected on their Altars Venus was a Goddess because impure Love reigned in their Brests Bacchus had Religious Rites because sensual Pleasures as sweet as Wine intoxicated their Spirits These Errors as gross as impious were universal the Philosophers themselves were not exempted from the Contagion The Apostle therefore makes use of the clearest Arguments to give Authority to the plain conspiring Voice of Nature that had so long in vain recall'd them from Idolatry to the Worship of the only true God He therefore declares that the Divine Maker of all things the Father of Spirits could not be represented by corporeal and corruptible things but was to be acknowledg'd and ador'd in a manner becoming his spiritual and infinite Perfections That he made all Nations of one Blood tho' distinguish'd in their Habitations and Times that they might seek and serve the one universal Creator And though
to it and may have Regal power over our wills and affections that our lives may be ordered according to its Rules 2. The Consideration of Eternal Judgment will vindicate the Proceedings of Divine Providence and the honour of God's governing this World from the imputations of Unrighteousness God is provoked every day yet spares the Wicked and heaps an abundance of Favours on them His Patience and Goodness they prophanely abuse and become more obdurate and inflexible They are apt to blaspheme the Excellency of his Nature in their Hearts thinking that he is ignorant or careless impotent or unjust They implicitly deny his Providence and Judgment that he does not observe their Sins and will not require an account for them Or else they interpret his Permission to be an Approbation of their Sins These things hast thou done and I kept silence thou thoughtest I was such an one as thy self Thus the Heathens transplanted the Vices of Earth to Heaven and represented their Gods to be sensual jealous furious as Men and accordingly expected an easy Absolution for their Sins Or else the distance of Judgment to come so hardens them that they hear God's Thunder with less fear than Boys do their Squibs and Crackers Because Sentence against an evil Work is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of the Sons of Men are fully set in them to do evil But how desperate is the madness of Sinners God now seems to wink at their Sins but hath appointed a day of Accounts He suffers them to live in prosperity but they are reserved to the day of Judgment to be punish'd and possibly sooner for sometimes they are cut off by visible vengeance to convince the World that the supream Judg does not bear the Sword in vain But tho 't is delayed for a time yet he declares that their Sins are laid up in store with him and sealed up among his Treasures To him belongs Vengeance and Recompence He is a mild Judge now and his Clemency suspends their Punishment but Justice will not forget it He threatens the secure Sinner I will reprove thee and set thy Sins in order before thine eyes How will the scornful obstinate Sinner change complexion tremble when an Army of Sins more terrible than so many Furies shall be ranged in Battel and with fiery Darts wound his naked Soul How will the stubborn Atheist that pleases himself with vain imaginations of the Eternity of the World and the Mortality of the Soul be confounded when he feels the truth of Scripture-threatnings to his eternal sorrow then all their Ralleries will be turn'd into Lamentations 'T is not for want of power that God spares the Wicked but because they are alwayes in his hands and he can make them as miserable as they are sinful when he pleases 'T is not through the neglect of Justice but for most wise and holy Reasons as shall appear in the last day when a decisive irreversible Judgment shall be propronounc'd and immediately ininflicted upon them before the World When an Actor at Athens spoke with Admiration of Riches as the most valuable Acquisition and of the Felicity of Rich Men the People were in an Uproar at the immorality of the Speech and were ready to chase him from the Stage But the Poet himself appeared and desired them to stop their Fury till they saw the Catastrophe the wretched end of that sordid Miser Thus we are apt to accuse the ways of God when the Wicked flourish but we should stop our tumultuous thoughts for their end will absolve Divine Providence from all undue reflections upon the account of their temporal happiness And the sound belief of this will rectify all mistaking apprehensions and clear all perplexing appearances about the Sufferings of the Righteous here Indeed if we consider the holiest Men as they are Sinners their Afflictions are so far from blemishing the Justice of God that they are the signs of his Mercy for all is a Favour on this side Hell to those that deserve it David an excellent Saint acknowledges the righteousness of God's Judgments with respect to himself But when the Saints suffer for a righteous Cause and as the Psalmist expresses it for thy sake are we killed all the day long and are counted as Sheep for the slaughter there is not a visible correspondency between the Providence of God in his governing the World and the unchangeable Rules of Justice that those who do evil should suffer evil and those who do well should be happy As the Apostle speaks to the persecuted Christians It is a righteous thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us Now there is a day coming when the Persecutors shall be punish'd and the Saints be rewarded for all their Sufferings and the distribution of Recompences shall be in the presence of the World for the glory of Divine Justice For the distinction that is made between Men at Death is private and particular and not sufficient for the honour of God's Government But at the last Day all Men that have lived in several successions of Ages shall appear and Justice have a solemn Process and Triumph before Angels and Men. As some excellent Piece that is to be expos'd to publick view is covered with a Traverse to prevent the disturbance in the working and the discovery of the Work till brought to such perfection as will surprise with wonder those that see it So God is pleased to cover his proceedings for a time but in the last day there will be such a Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God that those who now doubt or complain of his Justice shall admire and adore it 3. The belief of this Doctrine as it vindicates Divine Providence so 't is powerful to comfort the Saints under Persecutions for Righteousness sake especially when Innocence is wounded with slanderous Darts and Calumnies are joyned with Cruelties representing them as worthy of publick hatred It was one of the Subtile Artifices of Julian the Apostate to mingle the Images of the Heathen Gods with those of the Emperours that the doing reverence as the Christians were commanded to all together might imply a dereliction and renouncing of their Religion and their Simplicity seem Impiety or if jealous of slipping from their profession they refused to do it they might seem to deny the expressions of honour due to their Emperours and be reputed to suffer not as Christian Martyrs but as Rebels But the believing Consideration of God's righteous Judgment will make them despise the Censures Reproaches of malicious Adversaries With me saith the Apostle it is a very small thing that I should be judged by Man's Judgment he that judgeth me is the Lord. The severest Censure was of no more weight compar'd with the approbation of God than the lightest Feather that flies in the Air put in