procure us heavier blows 3. Doct. We may learn that Death is a departure Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart When a man dies he removes He doth not then go back again into nothing but into another Place and into another State Christ called his Death a going away Joh. 14. 28. Ye have heard how I sayed vnto you I go away So Joh. 16. 7. It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you Our Death also is a going away Those that make the longest stay here must be gone at last A wicked man when he dies departs out of his warm Climate and pleasant State from his Friends and Riches from his Comforts and Delights into Miseries and Torments which are Intolerable and Eternal And it is no wonder if such a man play loath to depart and Death be unto him a King of Terrors But when an Holy Gracious Person departs he leaves all his sins and enemies all his troubles and sorrows behind him and he goes to a better place and better company and infinitely better delights He enters into peace and into rest and into the joy of his Lord. He gets off from the stormy troublesome Sea of this World where he was so frequently indangered and baths himself in those Rivers of pleasure which are at God's Right-hand for evermore Vse 1. Let the consideration hereof quiet us under those Breaches which Death makes in our Families and Relations Though it be very afflictive to think my dear Husband is gone my tender Father is gone my loving and faithfull Friend is gone Yet this will lighten and sweeten that affliction if we think whether he is gone from Earth to Heaven from Troubles to Joy and Glory from us to God Christ the Spirit Angels and Saints above Oh Blessed and Everlastingly making Exchange Vse 2. Let the consideration hereof quicken us the good Lord grant that we all may frequently and seriously think of this our departure and industriously bestir our selves in order to a full preparation for it Oh let us get our work done before we go Christ did so Joh. 17. 4. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now come I to thee Mind follow finish that for which you came into the World before you are called out of the World Oh! get your evidences full and fair that when Death siezeth upon you you may lay hold upon Eternal Life Make sure of Heaven before you come to leave the Earth How sweet was it for Christ to tell his Disciples I go to my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God Doct. 4. We may from hence learn this Lesson That a departure in peace is exceeding desireable This was the subject matter of Simeon's desire and prayer Lord lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace He would go out in a calm neither in a stink through sin nor in a storm through fear but in an holy peace This promise was made to Abraham the Father of the Faithfull Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace That is with a quiet pacate and comfortable Spirit with joy and satisfaction without any trouble for what he should part with and without fear of any thing he should meet with And you find Psal. 37. 37. The Royal Prophet bids you Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is Peace Whatever troubles he is encountered by in his way he hath Peace at his end A wicked man may dye in Stupidity but not in Peace he may then be secure but he is not safe though he then have no trouble yet he hath cause enough of trouble My God saith there is no Peace to the wicked neither in his Life nor at his Death Such an one dies in sin and therefore he cannot dye in Peace But now a Godly man whose heart is sprinkled from an evil Conscience hath Peace in his Death usually he hath Peace with his own Conscience that befriends him witnesseth for him speaks comfortably to him and is an excellent Cordial at a dying hour Always he hath peace with his God they are Friends he is Reconciled to God and God to him Moses dyed at the mouth of the Lord God kist him home Vse Well my Friends I am confident you all desire such a Death you would willingly go out of the VVorld in peace Oh let it not be only the matter of your desire but likewise of your endeavour use means in order thereunto and follow these directions 1. Make your peace now Cease your enmity against God throw down your weapons of Rebellion and return unto your duty How can those persons rationally hope that God should be a Friend to them when they dye who are enemies to God while they live now now seek peace and ensue it 2. Make hast to Christ make sure of Christ get unto him He and he alone is the peace and the Prince of peace there is no peace to be had out of Christ. Let him saith God lay hold upon my strength that is upon Christ that he may make peace with me and he shall make peace with me Have a care that you be not found in your sins nor in your selves nor in your own Righteousness trusting in that No no saith Paul Phil. 3. 8 9. I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him 3. Look after a sanctifying change in your hearts and natures follow Peace and Holiness Holiness both of inward Disposition and of outward Conversation Grace ushers in peace purity and peace go together the work of Righteousness is peace and the effect of Righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever By the study and practice of Holiness you may lose your peace with some men but you will keep up and maintain your peace with God yea and with good men too Prov. 22. 11. He that loveth pureness of heart for the grace of his lips the King shall be his Friend Doct. 5. VVe may from these words gather this instruction That a truly gracious man may very well be willing and free and forward to dye Thus good Simeon was here he prayed for Death Let me depart let me be gone out of this VVorld Do thou Lord send for me that I may come to thee And not only so but he also prayed for a quick dispatch a speedy dismission as one that was in hast to be gone As you may learn from that particle Now now lettest thou thy Servant depart He did full well know that he must dye one day that was certain and unavoidable the Chambers of the grave are prepared for all the living but he would dye presently now O Lord now without more ado now without any longer tarrying A wicked man doth not care how long Death stays he puts that day far from him because he looks upon it as a very evil day
comfort The Scripture tells us Psal. 16. That in God's presence there will be a fullness of joy and by consequence there can be no scantiness of enjoyments but pleasures for evermore yea a River of Pleasures nay a bottomless and boundless Ocean of them the Infinite and Eternal God must himself be exhausted before the delights and pleasures of Heaven can be spent Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath entred into the heart of man what God in the Mansions above hath prepared and reserved for them that love him There is a feast of Love a Crown of Life and Robes of Glory There is Abraham's Bosom and the joy of their Lord which is too big to enter into them therefore they shall enter into it and be filled encompassed and swallowed up by it as a small Vessel in the Sea When once the gracious Soul hath set foot upon that coelestial Countrey and made its entrance into that stately and magnificent Palace of the great King he shall be not only filled with satisfaction but likewise rapt up into astonishment and highest admiration What am I that God hath brought me hitherto And what were all my services that they should be thus rewarded Oh how light and inconsiderable doth he now think all his former sorrows and sufferings if compared with that far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory What low thoughts will he then have of the Skin-deep beauties and transitory delights here below on which the besotted Children of men do so foolishly dote And with what an holy scorn and indignation will he call to mind that pains men did take for and that eagerness with which they did pursue the trifling vanities of the Earth and how they scrambled for them and quarrel'd about them And oh how doth he wish and long for that blessed day in which the Church militant shall be made triumphant and all his gracious Friends all his Brethren and Sisters in Christ all the chosen and beloved of God shall be taken up to the same place that they may see what he sees and be possest of that which he enjoys That so they may altogether contemplate the glory of God and be satisfied with the fruition of him and endear admire and extol Father Son and Spirit unto all Eternity Lay all these things together and you will easily see that there is great yea abundant reason why those that have seen Gods Salvation should be willing yea desirous to depart in peace and to take their flight into the other world And now I come to shut up this discourse with some application And in the first place this serves to shew us what it is that above all things should engage and draw out the vigour and strength of our desires namely the sight of Gods Salvation My Brethren I beseech you frequently to consider that we must all die there is no shift for it Death will not be bribed and it cannot be avoided It is appointed for all men once to die by a Statute-Law enacted in Heaven which admits of no repeal The aged Father of this Family is now gone and the youngest Child here must follow him sooner or later And is it not good for us to prepare for Death Will it not be our Wisdom Will your Wisdom more eminently discover it self in any thing than in this That so this King of Terrours may not be terrible unto you that you may not fear him but rejoyce in him you will die uncomfortably this is past all dispute you will die unhappily if you die unpreparedly Oh the horrour that will sieze an awakened sinner upon a Death-Bed When he shall think thus my glass is run my time is spent I must die but alas I am not fit to die I must now appear before my Judges but I have not made my peace Now then go on and consider what is to be done by you in order to this preparation A Life of vanity and folly will not fit you the more you sin the more you sharpen the sting of Death An eager minding the World and pursuing the delights of that will not fit you the more you have indulged your self in a course of prophaneness the more afraid you will be to die and the more you have set your hearts upon the Creatures the more loath and unwilling you wil be to die when you come to die the love of the World will make you unwilling to leave it and Conscience of sin and guilt will make you tremble at the thoughts of appearing before God Turn away your Eyes then from beholding vanity and pray that they may be opened to see Gods Salvation Oh study Christ get an intimate acquaintance with him Beg of God to reveal him to you and in you that you may know him whom to know is life eternal and never rest quiet nor contented till you have seen him by an Eye of Faith and laid hold upon him by an hand of Faith as one that loved you and gave himself for you and have a care that there be not a deceptio visus mistake in the case but look to this that your sight be saving and the Faith you pretend to the Faith of Gods Elect that you may upon good grounds such as the Scriptures will warrant appropriate him to your selves as your Lords and Gods and Saviour Rest not in any thing till you find and feel Christ living and commanding in you his Image drawn upon you his Law written in your hearts and his Spirit poured out Take not up with a verbal profession formal duties and unblameable Conversation common convictions and some stirrings and flushes of affection All this may be and all come to nothing Hypocrites may go so far and yet they do not go far enough but after all fall short of Heaven It is not the form of Godliness that will avail you but the power not a name to live but the life it self God is not taken with empty shews and appearances he is for reality and truth in the inward parts You can take but little comfort from Christ dying without you unless you find Christ formed and living in you notwithstanding the Death of Christ you may be for ever lost and damned unless you be made partakers of his Life Remember and consider that expression Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of glory When Christ dwells in you by Faith when he is in you by his Spirit and by his Graces then and not till then is there a firm Foundation laid on which you may build the hope of glory For hope so grounded is good hope such as shall never make ashamed Vse 2. The second use will be of Reprehension Those are blame-worthy and deserve reproof whose eyes have seen Gods Salvation Men and Women that do know the Jesus in whom they have believed and are made partakers of sanctifying saving grace and have had the manifestations of God's favour and Covenant love made to them and are verily
perswaded that it shall be well with them when they dye and that they shall go to Heaven when they go from Earth and yet they are loath to dye and thoughts of their departure from hence are afflictive to them When the message of Death was brought by the Prophet to good Hezckiah he turned his face to the wall and prayed and wept sore And good David himself though he knew that God had made with him an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure yet he cryed O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and he seen no more He would fain live a little longer and see a few more days past over his head I do not wonder that wicked men are loath to dye for they get nothing by it nay they lose all by it they are utterly ruined and undone by it Death takes them from all their good things jovial companions and pleasant enjoyments and carries them into that Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone Therefore who would think it strange that they should put from them the day of their Death which will be to them such a day of evil They have reason to desire Life yea to say I would live always because it is better for them to live than to dye if you kill them you spoil all Such men may well say to Death as Ahab did to Elijah hast thou found me O mine enemy But here is the wonder that a Godly man should firmly assent unto this truth that there is another life after this and that that life is unspeakably better than this There is no compare between the comforts of this and the glory of that and they are also confident that when once they are absent from the body they shall be present with the Lord and when once this frail uncertain troublesome life shall come to an end they shall live that better life when once they are got off this stormy tempestuous Sea they shall bath themselves Eternally in those Rivers of Pleasures which are at God's Right-hand And yet Death is a word that sounds harsh in their ears they care not to hear of it when they think of it they are troubled A Deaths head upon the board spoils the Mirth and marrs the Feast it doth not only make them serious that it should do but it also makes them sad and dumpish and still they have desires that they may and some hope that they shall have a longer continuance in the World and draw out some more years yet before they come to the end of their line I must and do most readily grant that long life is a blessing a great blessing as such it is the matter of the promise but withall know Eternal Life is a greater blessing and he is no loser that lives but a little while here and then goes to live for ever with God For gracious persons that have seen God's Salvation and know they have seen it I say for such to be unwilling to dye carryes two evils in the Bowels of it 1. It is too great a magnifying of this present evil World an over-valuing of it and a setting too high a rate indeed an unreasonable price upon the enjoyments and delights of it Your esteem of them are far above their intrinsic worth what will carnal men say who stand by and see how you are wedded to the World and unwilling to be divorced from it What have they reason to say but that you find a great deal in it You tast the fatness of the Olive and the sweetness of the Vine and so think it is good to be here Certainly this speaks your setting your hearts too much upon the Creatures And hereby you do justifie and encourage them in their Worldliness they are strengthened in their love of the World and devotedness to it And also you do hereby cross and thwart God and run counter to him in one of his grand designs which is to wean his People from the World and to take their hearts off from creature delights which do ingross so much of their time and cares and do so much distract their thoughts and embase their Spirits and hinder them both as to their service of God and Communion with him And indeed how indecorous and unbecoming is it for Heaven born Souls to embrace Dunghills and for those that profess themselves risen with Christ to set their affections upon those things that are here upon Earth And for you who are the children of God and heirs of Heaven to mind carnal things It is far more unseemly than to see the heir of a Crown stopping Ovens or raking Kennels After these things saith our Saviour do the Gentiles seek that is those who know no better who are without God in the World who are drowned in the flesh and understand not the worth of an immortal Soul and upon these things let them dote still alass their portion is in this life being Aliens from the Covenants of promise and having no hope But as for you who have been taught of God who have heard of a blessed immortality who have seen those invisible glories that are within the vail you should be disingaged from all inferiour delights and carry towards them with a Spirit of indifference You should use the world but do not love it make it serve your occasions but suffer it not to command your affections While you have it in your hands and in your chests keep it out of your hearts The world is as we use to say of fire a very good servant but a very bad master Things are usefull and beautifull in their places so is the world but when it is in the heart it is out of its place and then it is stark nought and doth much hurt 2. For those who are the people of God and do know they are so who have seen God's Salvation I say for them to be unwilling to dye is a great reproach and disparagement to those glories which are above Christians you do hereby bring up an ill report upon the Land of promise as if the Honey and Milk of Canaan were not so good desireable as the Garlick Onions of Egypt what is the interpretation meaning of such a Spirit but that you fear it will be to your loss to exchange Earth for Heaven to leave delights Temporal for those that are Eternal What shall I say this averseness from Death and loathnesses to depart from hence is a piece of practical blasphemy as if these sorry cottages were better to inhabit than those stately Pallaces that these puddle delights and muddy streams were more delicious and desireable than that pure River of water of life which is clear as Chrystal and proceeds out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb as if these childish and trifling vanities did out-weigh and out-worth the glories which are above And these pitifull contemptible glow-worms did out-shine and obscure the Eternal Sun of
But good Simeon did not care how soon Death came he lookt for it yea and he long'd for it he thought it was too slow pac'd and its motions towards him not quick enough He knew Death would do him a good turn and therefore he was a voluntier in dying And I must say this supposing that a Godly man have no cloud upon his Spirit and no flaw nor blurr in his Evidence supposing that God shines upon his Soul with the bright and comfortable Beams of his love and favour and that his own Conscience doth speak comfort to him plainly I know no reason no solid substantial reason why he should be backward and unwilling to dye unless it be serviceableness and usefulness in the World If once a Christians work be done what should he stay here for If once he be full ripe for Glory why should he stand any longer It is not worth his while to continue here were it not that he may do good in his place and be helpfull to others and yet farther serve the interest of Gods name and glory and upon that account he ought to deny himself and be willing to wait yet longer for his Rest and Crown Thus it was with Holy Paul Phil 1. 23. I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better It was better for him he knew he should mend himself But saith he ver 24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you They would need his company and his labours his counsels and his comforts and upon that account he submitted Ver. 25. Having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of Faith And he was content so to abide Indeed there is not any reason at all why a wicked man should be willing to dye he can promise himself no good by it It doth not come Peaceably to him it brings it's sting along with it He dyes to dye his Natural Death is a passage to Eternal He loseth all by Death and gets nothing Therefore I say there is no reason at all why he should desire to dye And there is but one reason I mean which is worth any thing and which is not easily answered why a truly Godly man should be willing to live And that is serving his Generation according to the will of God But I am sure there are a great many weighty and cogent reasons why such an one should be willing to dye and not only submit to Death but also welcome it and long for it of which I shall speak more by and by Doct. 6. A Sixth Instruction which these words do most freely afford us is this That though a Godly man be never so desirous to dye yet it is his duty and will be his business to stoop and submit his will to the will of God Thus it was with this holy man he was willing and desireous to dye he even longed to be gone Lord lettest thou thy servant depart but he would not go without license he would stay Gods time Though Heaven be never so desireable and this World never so troublesome though the Country be never so pleasant and the way thither never so tedious Be our sicknesses pains and crosses never so great and heavy Be our enemies never so furious and violent our dangers never so eminent our persecutions never so sharp and bitter our temptations never so fierce and fiery we must in patience possess our Souls and be content to bear them till God shall please in his own time to command for us a deliverance out of them Let our conditions be never so dark and dismal we must not escape by opening the door with the Devils Key nor break out of Prison by offering violence to our own lives Job had very dreadfull exercises his State was sad and deplorable He was stript of all his outward enjoyments bereaved of his beloved Children smitten in his body with sores and inflammations his Wife was a cross to him and his Friends cruel God himself carried as his enemy and set him up for a mark to shoot at He had but one comfort left him that was the Testimony of a good Conscience Yet he was resolved to wait all the days of his appointed time untill his change should come He would not make more hast than good speed As long as God was pleased to tarry holy Job was well pleas'd to wait VVe should write after so fair a Copy so to do is both our wisdom and our interest For God is wiser than we his VVisdom is infinite and his time is always best He that goeth to his grave in Gods time goes as a shock of Corn in its season God always plucks his fruit vvhen it is ripe and fit to be gathered He vvill not pluck it sooner and it shall not hang any longer Doct. 7. The seventh Doctrine vvhich these vvords afford us is this Gods promises are to be pleaded by us Thus in the Text Novv lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word There is the argument that he useth for the enforcing his Petition He had received a Revelation from God that he should not see Death i. e. that he should not die he should not taste of Death though he saw the Death of others yet he should not see his own Death until he had seen the Lord's Christ the Messiah or the Lord 's anointed one namely Jesus the Saviour And now saith He Lord now that I have seen him do thou graciously grant me my dismission Be it unto me according to thy word Have you a word O Christians a word of promise blessed be God you are rich in them God hath abounded in promises to his people You have words of inestimable value words better than Gold better than mans bonds words that are suitable to and cordial in every condition into which providence can cast you Now then what is your duty with reference to these words but to make use of them It is pity they should lie by neglected as useless Fetch them out as you have occasion and live upon them that when you are rich in promifes you may not be poor in comforts You do deal disingeniously with God and unworthily with promises unless you use them Q. If any one should propound this question What is that right and proper use which we should make of promises A. I Answer Turn them into Faith and Prayer make use of the promises as food for your Faith and matter for your Prayers Promises are the Life of Faith by these things men live said good Hezekiah and they are the strength of Prayer So then 1. You must believe the promises Set to your Seal that God is true and faithful that his Word is setled in Heaven that all his promises are in Christ yea and in him Amen i. e. of a most sure and certain accomplishment and accordingly do you hope in them and
rejoyce in them and rely upon them as security enough cast your selves upon the word do not question it's truth do not doubt of its accomplishment but firmly expect the making of it good whatever the Devil and Carnal Reason and Flesh and Blood suggest to the contrary As long as you have the assurance of a promise fear not Enemies nor Difficulties nor Dangers but keep your way and go on though there be Lions in it and other Ravenous Beasts worse than they 2. Your business is to plead the Word and urge it and beg of God that he would be pleased to fulfil it We never improve promises as we ought until we turn them into Prayer and press God with them Thus David did 2 Sam. 7. 27. Thou O Lord of Hosts God of Israel hast revealed to thy Servant saying I will build thee an house therefore hath thy Servant found in his heart to pray this Prayer unto thee Thus Simeon did here let me depart according to thy word and you frequently meet with these expressions in Psalm 119. Remember thy Word unto thy Servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope As long as that word was remembred David knew he himself should not be forgotten My Soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken thou me according to thy word My Soul melteth for heaviness strengthen thou me according to thy Word Oh let thy mercies come unto me even thy Salvation according to thy word I entreated thy Salvation with my whole heart be merciful unto me according to thy word You see how good David was at it He had a mind to be answered He could not indure to meet with a denying God A gracious Soul had rather lose his Comforts upon Earth than his Prayers in Heaven One of the saddest groans that ever such an one did utter is Lam 3. 8. When I cry and shout he shutteth cut my Prayer Now David to prevent that he strengthned his cause as much as he could and so did bottom his Prayer upon and back it with a promise then he knew himself sure of acceptance and answer for God could not deny Davids Prayer but he must in so doing deny himself too and falsifie his own word and therefore observe how he gets hold and keeps it and wrestles Psal. 143. 1. Here my Prayer O Lord give ear to my supplications in thy faithfulness answer me The good man had the Covenant and Promises at that time in his Heart and Eye and thought he now I may be bold for I am sure enough whom ever he doth send away with a repulse he can't me he is a faithful God and therefore he will answer me and that according to the desert of my heart in thy faithfulness answer me And truly Christians thus we all should do if we would act wisely and advantagiously for our selves Search the Scriptures and see what promises speak appositely to your case and take them and carry them by Faith in Prayer unto God and there put them in suit Lord I want Faith Patience and meekness I am in such a difficultie called out to such works assaulted with such temptations environed with such and such and such dangers and thus and thus hast thou spoken Lord make good thy word unto me thy Servant This this is the way to obtain and as Princes to prevail with God Doct. 8. The Eighth Doctrine which these words afford us is this That Christ is God's Salvation Good Simeon had been delighted with the sight of Jesus and now saith he mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation He is the Saviour whom God hath chosen in his Wisdom raised up in his Love and sent with Authority He is not only willing to save and mighty to save but he is also authorized and commissioned for it All our Salvation comes from Christ both our Salvation from Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Evils Our primative Salvation from Sin and from Wrath comes from Christ. He delivers us from the guilt of Sin by his Righteousness imputed to us and from the dominion of Sin by the power of his Spirit and Grace and from the damnation which was due to sin by the sacrifice of himself which he offered unto the Justice of his Father He rescued us out of the hands of Satan as a tempter so that his fiery darts shall not mortally wound us and as an Accuser so that his charges shall not take place nor prevail to our condemnation He doth redeem his people from all their Iniquities and from Death and Hell and he will never leave working until he hath redeemed them from all their distresses And all our positive Salvation doth likewise come from Christ. It is he that reconciles us to God that doth make and keep the peace between God and us He doth give us our title to Heaven and our fitness for Heaven and our possession of Heaven He giveth both Grace and Glory He doth first infuse the principle of Grace and then adds the Crown of Glory He it is that by his Spirit first breaths into them the breath of a Spiritual Life and then imparts to them that Life more abnndantly and then at last advanceth them to and rewards them with Eternal Life The Scripture calls him the Captain of our Salvation and the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Vse 1. Oh how should we admire the goodness of God in giving Christ to us and for us and how should our Mouths be filled with his praises all the day Thus it was with good Zacharias in Luk. 1. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up an horn of Salvation for us in the house of his Servant David Specially you that have found and experienced his Salvation begun upon you that whereas he is a Stone of stumbling to others he is a Stone of support a Foundation-Stone to you And whereas he is a Rock of Offence to Thousands He is a Rock of Salvation to you Surely upon this score most inlarged places are due to God and comely for you That man that cannot be thankful for Christ can be truly thankful for nothing That heart is cold indeed which this exceeding Riches of Grace will not warm melt and inflame Vse 2. Look carefully to it that you do not fail of this grace of God that you do not neglect this great Salvation Do not slight Christ do not stand at a distance from him for there is not Salvation in any other There is no name under Heaven which is a strong Tower in which you may be safe but only his No Wings under which you can find healing and security but only the Wings of this Eternal Son of Righteousness therefore be willing to accept of his help and that upon his own terms which are most just and reasonable If ever he save you he will not save you in your sins but from your sins He will be sin's Death if he be your Life He
will sanctifie you as well as well as save you He will Rule you and Govern you as well as save you He will bring you to his Foot if ever he bring you to his Throne God the Father hath exalted him to be a Prince as well as a Saviour and he will be both or neither Vse 3. Be sure to flie to this Jesus in all your dangers and distresses When your Enemies without you are furious and fears within you are high so that your hearts are almost overwhelmed then run to this Rock that is higher than you When you find Corruptions are stirring within you and you know not how to master them and when you find Temptations are violent upon you and you are not in your own strength able to resist them then go to Christ and beg ye of him that he would be your Salvation Thus Paul did when he had a Thorn in the Flesh and a Messenger from Satan buffetting him then he besought the Lord thrice and had this assurance that Christ's grace was sufficient for him and Christ's power should be made known in his weakness And that gracious answer which was given to Paul may be an incouragement to you and all the people of God to take the same course in the time of their need and as this is a most proper course so it is most prevailing for the Lord is good to them that wait upon him and to the Souls that seek him And if you will consult your own experiences they will tell you that you get most of your comforts and most of your victories upon your knees And our Lord Jesus himself by his own example directs you to this means For when Peter was to be Tempted then Christ prayed But there remains one thing more very observable in the words upon which I shall more largely insist than I have done upon all the foregoing points The sight which this good man old Simeon had of Gods Salvation was the reason why he was so willing and ready and desirous to depart and take his last farewell of this World From hence I offer to your consideration this truth Doct. 9. Those that have had a sight of Gods Salvation may very well be desirous of Dissolution and think long till that happy day comes which will convey them into the other World Some men wish for Death meerly in a fret or discontented fit They meet with disappointments and crosses and troubles their estates fail them their trading grows dead their friends unkind A Ship at Sea is cast away or taken by Pirates they are vexed at this and the other and hereupon they are weary of Life and now whether they be fit or no they would fain dye thus it was with passionate Jonah when that a Worm had smote his Gourd that it withered and the Sun darted his scorching beams upon his head that he fainted he wished in himself to dye and said in his hast that it was better for him to dye than to live Poor man he had been put out of sorts and did then quite forget himself But this is very ordinary among people as if every trouble of life should make life it self a burden And as if though our comforts be consumed it were not still of the Lords mercies that we our selves are not consumed And certainly as ordinary as it is it is exceeding sinfull It speaks a wofull impotency and weakness of Spirit yea and there is in it a Spirit of rebellion against God when men would live no longer than God useth them as they themselves please and orders all things concerning them according to their own mind and humour If we did but seriously consider the Sovereignty of God and that as we are his creatures we must be at his dispose we should see reason enough to submit to him and be silent under all his providences How great and how heavy soever our Cross is we should carry it patiently and be content to bear it so long as our God will have us But now a sight of Christ and of Gods Salvation by Christ is a just and justifiable ground of such a desire so that still it be with submission to the vvill and good pleasure of that God in vvhose hand our lives are In the handling of this point I shall do these three things 1. I shall shevv hovv or in vvhat vvays a Soul may see God's Salvation 2. That one vvho hath had the sight of Gods Salvation may very vvell be vvilling and desireous to dye 3. And then improve it by vvay of use and application First What is it to see God's Salvation or in vvhat vvays doth a man or woman see this blessed sight Unto that I shall return this fourfold answer 1. There is an ocular vision or a sight of God's Salvation with the eyes of the body This sight those Saints had vvho savv Christ vvhen he vvas here upon Earth and Tabernacled among men and vvho beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father This sight Simeon had vvhen his Parents brought him into the Temple then Simeon took him up in his arms and said mine eyes have seen thy Salvation And upon that sight he was raised and his heart so ravished that he vvas vvilling immediately to set sail for the other World His Soul vvas ready to take its flight he thought he had lived long enough and had seen enough of these inferiour objects he cared not for beholding the vanities of the World any more Jesus in his svvathering bands did outshine Princes in their Robes and Thrones And having once got a sight of him he thought there was nothing else upon the face of the Earth worth seeing Having seen Christ upon Earth he had a mind to go see God in Heaven Now this sight we cannot have and we need not have it now In this respect the Lord Jesus is gone out of our sight The Heavens do contain him and so they must until the time come wherein there shall be the restitution of all things And there is not any necessity of our seeing him in this manner we are no losers by his absence It was expedient for us that he went away for it was upon his going that the Comforter came who is to abide with us for ever All the work which Christ had to do upon Earth was finisht before he went away what remains further to be done he can do it in Heaven as he sits upon his his Throne at the right hand of his Father And his bodily presence would contribute nothing at all to our advantage and comfort We have a great deal more cause to please our selves with the thoughts of his being in Heaven by which we see that justice is satisfied yea that he entred there as our Fore-runner to make way for us and to take a place up for us and that he doth there ever live to make intercession for us And upon these accounts though now we see him
Cor. 3. 14. We all with open Face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 3. There is a sight of Gods Salvation by the vertue or help of inward experience The gracious Soul sees the Harvest in the seed the Topstone in the Foundation that is laid the greatness of the design in the greatness of the preparation In short he sees that which God intends for him by that which God hath been already pleased to work in him He doth both see and feel Salvation begun in the Soul For my Brethren we are to know this and seriously consider it that Salvation is not a thing wholly future it is not only after Death and in the other world but it is a thing present Heaven is to be had here as well as hereafter and he that is not saved here shall never be saved He that doth live an utter stranger to Heaven in this world shall never enter into Heaven The perfecting and completion of the work is reserved for the next life but the inchoation and beginning of it is here even here the Saints Conversation is in Heaven there be their thoughts and affections they walk with God and have fellowship with Christ. As soon as ever a man is sanctified he is saved When Grace is first planted in the heart Salvation is begun When Christ went home with Zacheus he told him Salvation is come to thine house to day When Christ comes to any heart Salvation comes along with him Grace is glory in the Infancie and Bud and as Grace doth thrive and grow and improve in the heart so the work of Salvation is carried on therefore gracious renewings are in Scripture called glorious changes We beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory i. e. from Grace to Grace from lower to higher degrees The Apostle Paul saith Eph. 2. 5 When we were dead in sins we were quickned together with Christ by grace ye are saved If quickened and made partakers of Spiritual Life the life of grace and holyness then saved There is Heaven and Salvation in the smallest quickenings as there is the total sum or bargain in the earnest and the crop or harvest in the first fruits Observe also that place in the 2 Tim. 1. 9. Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling If you be effectually called then you are actually saved not only in spe but in re not only saved in hope but in deed That person who is turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God is passed from Death to Life he is out of reach of eternal dangers The same calling is to virtue and glory and fo far as that call doth carry a man on in virtue so high full so high doth it advance and raise him up in glory So that when once you do experimentally find this change wrought in you sin Crucified and Mortified in you and Holiness Communicated to you If you find that you are taken off from the old stock and ingrafted into the Lord Jesus Christ that you are in any measure though never so small made partakers of the Spirit Life and Grace of Christ then you may sit down in peace and heartily rejoyce for your eyes have seen God's Salvation A renewing change is a saving change and my brethren consider how much this should commend Grace to us Oh how should they desire it and beg it and use means for it who have it not and you that have it how thankfull should you be and how should you admire and bless God for it since there is Salvation in it there is a blessing in a cluster fullness in Spiritual hungerings Heaven and Glory in brokenness of heart Fourthly and Lastly There are the sights of Heaven in a way of assurance and this is the sight of or the looking to the perfecting and completion of this most great and blessed work of Salvation By assurance the believing Soul sees the matter brought to an issue and the top stone laid in the building which reaches as high as Heaven The poor Christian in the midst of enemies and dangers and from his low condition from his Dunghill or Cottage can look upon all the glory and happiness above and as great as it is lay hold upon it and claim it all this is mine This God is my God for ever and ever Heaven will be my Everlasting home and the Kingdom there my portion even as the Proto-Martyr Stephen in a shower of stones which fell about his ears could see Heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and could comfort himself with such thoughts Thus Jesus stands yonder as my Friend my Advocate and shortly I shall be there with him To the producing of this Assurance in the heart of a Christian especially in an high degree in its fulness there is required not only the work but also the witness of the Spirit The work of the Spirit in Sanctification drawing the divine image upon the Soul breathing into it Spiritual Life and implanting in it a gracious and holly nature and then irradiating and shining upon those graces that the Soul may see them and see them to be what they are the true grace of God he doth bear witness to his own work so that the Soul can say the Finger of God was here This is not Flesh and Blood this is more than nature this is grace indeed This you read of in Rom. 8. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God There is the Testimony of our Spirits our Consciences and the Holy Ghost doth super-add his And in the mouth of these two witnesses the thing is Established and the Believer is satisfied and cryeth Abba Father Take notice of that Prayer which Paul put up Rom. 15. 13. That they might abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost So that good hope through grace and the abounding of that hope the fullness of Assurance is no other than a divine work brought about by the powerfull operation of the Spirit of God The Resurrection of Christ from the Dead is the ground and reason of our hope And the Holy Spirit of Christ is the Author of our hope Now then lay these things together that person who seeth Christ by Faith who doth experience an inward change and who hath the assured hope of Heaven and Glory may very well say that his eyes have seen God's Salvation And the man that hath been blessed with such a sight may very well be free and willing to depart out of this World to bid farewell to present comforts and enjoyments and welcome Death in its nearest approaches And this is the second thing unto which I am now to speak and he that considers what hath been spoken concerning this
sight will easily see there is enough in it alone to produce such an effect But besides that there are four other sights which will contribute exceedingly towards such a willingness in such a person 1. This man seeth enough in the World to render that bitter to him There is Wormwood enough laid upon the breast of the Creatures and he tasts it Here I shall not take notice of those outward troubles and afflictions in which he finds great exercises for his Faith and Patience though these are the principal and only things about which the carnal unregenerate heart is concerned If there be no cloud upon his Tabernacle no thorn in his side nor gall in his cup he sings a lullaby to his Soul and concludes all well But sin sin is that which sowrs and imbitters all to a Godly man both other mens sins and his own sins without doors and within First Other mens sins that wickedness which the World lyeth in Oh it goeth to his very heart to see the profaneness and abominations of those among whom he is constrained to converse and how that blessed and most holy God whom he so dearly loves is neglected abused dishonoured and affronted by them Upon this account it was that good Jeremiah's Soul wept in secret and Rivers of Tears ran down David's eyes and just Lot was vexed from day to day with the filthy Conversation of the wicked Such men cannot take their rest here because the place is so shamefully polluted and the villanies of others are such a stink in his Nostrils Secondly That which doth yet much more pain him is his own sin a foul World without and a wretched heart within the plague of that which is not perfectly cured the sin that dwelleth in him the pravity and corruption of his nature the old man that he cannot possibly shake off that troublesome old man together with many and great Transgressions of his Life Hence such complaints and grounds as these Oh what a wretch am I should be so unmindfull of God so unthankfull to God so unfruitfull before him That I should walk so unworthy of him that hath laid such Obligations upon me Oh! that I should offend him so much and glorifie him no more and serve him no better Oh! this goeth near indeed this is a sword in his bones a burden to heavy for him to bear this extorted from holy Paul that bitter cry O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death This is my plague but whence or by whom cometh my deliverance And when he considers that deliverance is wrought by Christ he blesseth God for him and since a perfect deliverance is to be brought to him by death he thanks God for it and this is one thing that makes this grim Messenger so lovely and acceptable to him because he knows by that all the shackles of corruption shall be knocked off and he shall be troubled with sin no more When he shall once lay down the body of flesh he shall also lay down the body of sin and death 2. The Godly man sees enough to render all the comforts of this present life cheap to him So that he doth not love them too much nor value them at too high a rate They are not so cheap as that he doth slight and despise them or is not thankfull to God for them He admires the goodness of God in all his mercies even the very least the coursest garments he wears and the brownest bread he eats and the meanest lodging the hardest bed he hath I am less said good Jacob then the least of all thy mercies But they are so cheap as that he is not unwilling to part with them or to go from them Whensoever God pleaseth he can part with them The primitive Christians took joyfully the spoiling of their goods and he can go from them Paul desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ he could without any regret or reluctancy leave the World behind him so long as he did see his God and Saviour before him Those comforts which God is pleased to afford unto his people while they are here are of two kinds Spiritual and Temporal 1. God is pleased to afford unto his People outward Themporal comsorts These he hath in the creature from the hand of common providence which feeds and cloaths him and provides for him and sometimes wrings out to him waters of a full cup But be his portion here never so fat his outward enjoyments never so large yet they are but low enjoyments they are but for a vile body we do consume and wast and will shortly moulder away and crumble into dust Be they never so delicious and pleasant yet still they are perishing bread it perisheth in the using And besides there is a snare in these things so that we must use them with caution and fear there is a snare in Relations and in possessions a snare in Riches and Pleasures a snare in Worldly Honours and Dignities Oh how often do these things divert the mind from God and distract the thoughts and deaden the heart and embase the affections and clog the heels and hinder holy motions these are weights that press down so that the Christian moves Heavily in the way of God and cannot do those things that the would nor any thing as he would and it doth speak a great deal of wisdom and calls for no less care so to enjoy the world and take the comfort of it as to avoid the snare in it and to keep our selves unspotted by it Secondly God is pleased to give unto his people here inward and spiritual comforts from the hand of his Spirit in the way of the Gospel and Gospel-Ordinances and Duties He gives them some clusters from Canaan some Pisgah-sights of the Land of promise some praelibamens and foretasts of those Pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore there are the kisses of his Lips the manifestations of his Love the witnessings of his Spirit the unspeakable joys of Faith and these are sweet indeed and inestimably precious to the gracious Soul One day in thy Courts said David are better than a Thousand elsewhere What a day of gladness doth a smile of God make and what melody is there in the sofest whisper of Divine Love No such day in the week as that of a Sabbath and no such meeting in the World as that with God at an Ordnance it affords sweetness beyond expression But alas Here is something to allay that sweetness the good man doth too too often find himself unfitted for these things his Soul is out of tune he cannot hear nor can he pray nor meditate as he would nor keep up so warm and intimate a communion with God as he would Wandering and dulness and deadness do adhere to his duties and he blushes and mourns to see and consider the iniquities of his holy things And then again he doth too frequently miss of that
good and comfort which he expects and waits for he goeth out full of hopes and returns home blank He looks for much but gets little he cannot see his Fathers face that is covered with a Cloud nor can he hear his Saviours voice for he hath withdrawn himself and is gone he cannot find those kindly meltings and warmings and quickenings and enlargings that he desires but he goeth with a pittifully cold hard straitned dead heart so that he begins to question Gods Love and his own Faith If he doth at any time meet with his gracious God and is sensible of his doing so If he can say God was with me of a truth I have this day sate under the shadow of my dearest Saviour with great delight and his Fruit hath been sweet to my taste Alas it is but short Rara hora brevis mora it comes but seldom and it lasts not long It is but a little visit and no sooner it may be hath the gracious Soul done blessing himself in his enjoyments but he sees cause to bemoan himself for his loss But however it be with some particular Saints upon whom the Sun of Righteousness stands and shines with constant beams yet this is most certain as to all the Saints that the most sweet and full enjoyment which they have of God while they are here the most pleasant and comfortable communion they have with him is but mediate Christ looks upon him through the Lattice and they see him but as in a glass darkly All their refreshings are conveyed by Pipes they do not lie at the Fountain-head When they are most present with the Lord they are even then absent from the Lord and upon this account it is no matter of wonder to see or hear that they are willing to exchange a dark vision for a clear one seeing in a glass for a seeing face to face to exchange interrupt pleasures for permanent and abiding ones and mediate fellowship for that which is immediate Love is an uniting affection and is set for the strictest and closest embraces of it's indeared object And so a Soul that truly loves God cannot but desire to be as near to him as it can be and ready to exchange the comforts of the way for the joys and pleasures of the Countrey 3. He that hath seen God's Salvation hath seen enough to deliver him from the dread and terrour of Death for this is evident and obvious that if Christ be any mans Salvation it is utterly impossible that Death should be his destruction A man that is in Christ is not out of the reach of Death but he is secured from the hurt of Death Take an unregenerate man one that is a stranger unto Christ and he cannot see any thing in Death that should commend it to him It hath a dreadful aspect and a worse issue he hath cause to fear both Death and its Followers He is stript at Death and lasht in Hell Death to him is a dark passage to outer and endless darkness But now as grim as Death looks a Believer can easily discover a great deal that will make it lovely even Death it self hath its beauty as thus It is a conquered Enemy Christ went into the Grave it 's strongest hold and there he baffled it broke its Chains and carried away its Gates he disarmed and unstung it so that Holy Paul did and every true Believer may play with it and triumph over it 1 Cor. 15. O Death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory the sting of Death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but thanks be to God who hath given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Though Death kill the Believer yet it doth not dammage him and though it separate between his Soul and Body yet not between him and God who shall separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord Shall Death saith Paul no saith he in that as well as in other things we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us Nay through Christ death is not only conquered but also reconciled to all the Saints it is now become your Friend and Servant and doth you a real kindness So that as Solomon tells us The day of your Death is better than the day of your Birth You came into the World crying but you may go out of it Triumphing and with the voice of melodie The Primitive Christians did not array themselves in Sables at the Funerals of their Friends but in White looking upon their Dying Day as the Day of their Nuptials It was most terrible to Nature to be torn in pieces by Wild Beasts to die at a Stake to breathe their last in Flames yet in such a Death did they glory counting Martyrdom their Crown What though Death carry you from all your present comforts it doth at the same time set you out of the reach of all troubles and as it carries you from comforts so it carries you to comforts yea to such comforts as are far better than those you part with It pulls down this decaying and tottering Tabernacle that a more beautiful and stately Fabrick may be erected It takes you out of your sorry Cottages and carries you to those Blissful Mansions which are in your Fathers House The Grave it self though it be darksome and lonely yet it is a good resting place ever since our Lord lay there He hath perfum'd it and made it both soft and safe That Bed of Dust is now better than a Bed of Down or Roses It is true in the Grave though Christ's Body did not yet ours must see Corruption they must putrifie and at last be Converted into Dust but that Dust is more precious than Gold Oar and shall accordingly be most curiously preserved not an Atome of it shall be lost And that Body which is sown in weakness shall be raised in power and cloathed with immortality and made like unto Christ's own most glorious Body 4. And Lastly That man who hath seen Gods Salvation hath also seen all things amiable and desireable in the other World whither Death will carry him He hath looked within the Vail and had a prospect of that better Countrey There hath he by the Eye of Faith seen incomparable beauties to enamour him an excellent Glory to adorn him unspeakable comforts to delight him the best of Friends to invite him and an innumerable Company of Angels and Saints to bid him welcome There shall be nothing at all that may offend nothing in him to offend God nothing without to offend him nothing of sin and nothing of sorrow no temptation no affliction no danger no loss no frown no fear no sickness no pain no want no angry withdrawings not one pricking Briar nor one vexing Thorn But there shall be all things that you can desire and are suitable to that glorious State unto which you shall be advanced all things that will contribute to your happiness and
Righteousness As if God would take you from hence to your loss and you should be better in a strange Land than in your Fathers house And the preparations that God hath made for Eternity are not so good as those that he hath made for a short time and so Abraham Isaac Jacob David Peter Paul and the rest of the Saints departed had better have staid here and now they are with God do wish themselves with us again In a word it is as if the immediate and full enjoyment of God would not be sufficient for you you could not find room enough nor goodness and delights enough in a God but you must go begging to the door of creatures and patch up to your selves an happiness with these small and sorry shreds of being and you have found more to live upon and to delight your selves in the drop of a bucket than you can or do find in the Ocean of goodness I beseech you seriously consider of these things all these things lye uppermost any one may see them in such a persons unwillingness and loathness to dye whensoever God would have him But to proceed Vse 3. In the third and last place this may prove a very comfortable consideration and staff of support in the hands of those who labour under sorrow and continual heaviness of heart because of their departure of their gracious and holy Relations they are dead and you carry as if all your comforts were dead with them This is certain that when God gives such blows those that have any thing of tenderness do feel the smart of them Breaches in the Family do make breaches upon the Spirit When Lazarus was dead Jesus wept Mourning at Funerals is no Soloecism but a lovely sight so the sorrow be kept within those bounds that reason Religion have set it And where there are such breaches they call for binding up We should all be as so many good Samaritans pouring Oyl into the wounds of the Spirit for the suppleing and healing of them God hath been pleased to come into this Family and break the head of it and cut it off in taking him away he took away a tender Husband a loving Father a good Master a dear Friend one that in these evil days owned God his Waies and People and kept a Church in his House and his doors open that hungry Souls might feed upon and be refreshed with the bread of life which was there from Sabbath to Sabbath delivered out unto them The death of such a person is a common loss not only to the Familie but to the Country too and because thereof you are in Heaviness and afflicted in your Spirits Neither is this your case alone but of many others Death rides in Circuit and according to the Commission which it hath received so it makes it seizures here in an Husband deprived of the delight of his Eyes there is a woman made a Widow and her Children Fatherless Many a faithful fruitful useful Christian is cut down under whose shadow and in whose sellowship his Relations and Acquaintance did greatly rejoyce Unto such I have something to say that should prevail to the silencing of them and that is this it is the will of God the great God will have it so Thou wouldest have had thy Husband thy Wife thy Father thy Child lived longer but God would have him die now and this should knock all quarrelings and murmurrings and discontents down for there is all the reason in the world why God's will should take place and he should fullfil all his pleasure and why our will should submit and give place to God's And then I have something to say that may quiet satisfie you under such a providence for it is not enough for us that we be silent under it unless we be also reconciled to it at peace with it now in order thereunto take these 2 particulars consider them 1. They did see Gods Salvation before they did depart and so they dyed not under terrour nor in doubt nor at any uncertainty but in peace before Death closed the Eyes of their Bodies God had opened the Eyes of their Faith and shewn Christ to them and his love in Christ and you have reason to be perswaded good things concerning them even such as do accompany Salvation nay to be now perswaded of their Salvation it self This was the reason of my choosing these words of Simeon for the Subject of my discourse at this time because they were the Swan-like Song of our deceased Brother the very last words he spake save some short and holy Counsels which he gave to his beloved and most hopeful Son and shall not this satisfie you But then add 2. Now that those Holy ones are dead they see those things which they never saw things that are most richly worth their seeing and which as the case now stands with mankind they could not see without dying They have those sights which make the seer blessed they are taken up to the beatifical Vision They do not see an end of all their sins and sorrows nothing shall defile nor afflict them more all filth and all tears are wiped away they see the accomplishment of all their hopes the fullfilling of all their prayers the reward of all their services the Crown of all their sufferings They see the excellent Majesty and Glory of that God whom they had chosen and do now behold his face in righteousness Neither is that sight terrible to them as it was to Moses in the Mount so that he did exceedingly fear and quake No those Holy Souls do see God and live and rejoyce that sight is their satisfaction and delight They see that Blessed Jesus who loved them and gave himself for them and washed them in his own blood and made them Kings and Priests unto God yea they shall be like him for they shall see him as he is They do see that Holy Spirit which convinced them and sanctified them who directed them in their difficulties strengthned them in their weaknesses assisted them in their duties and most sweetly supported and comforted them in all their distresses They see an innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of Just men made perfect In short they see that which Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive namely that Glory Kingdom Inheritance those Robes Crowns and Thrones which God hath prepared for them that love him And the day is coming in which they shall again see those Bodies that at their flight to Heaven they left behind in a better State than ever And you O Saints shall see them too and Christ with them and then your hearts shall rejoyce and your joy no man shall take from you Only in the mean time do you live believingly walk humbly holily and circumspectly get your Vessels filled with Oil your Lamps burning and your Loins girt make haste to the Kingdom of God and be ye followers of them that through Faith and Patience do inherit the Promises