and the Son of God ready to receive him with what Courage and Constancy did he encounter the bloody Rage of his Murderers Faith supplies the want of Vision it pierces the Clouds opens a Window in Heaven sees the Crowns of Righteousness prepared for the Saints and sweetens the bitterest Passage to it But if our Faith be weak and wavering our Courage will decline in the needful Hour 'T is with Christians in their last Passage from Earth to Heaven as with Saint Peter walking upon the Waters to Christ whilst his Faith was firm in Christ he went upon the Waves as on the firm Land but upon the rising of a Storm his Faith sunk into Fear and he sunk in the Waters till our Saviour upon his earnest Prayer Lord save me took hold of him and rais'd him with that compassionate Reproof O thou of little Faith wherefore didst thou doubt The last Use is to excite the Saints to die with that Courage and Chearfulness as becomes the Gospel of Christ. The Encouragement of Joshua to the Israelites against the Giants that terrified them from entring into the Land of Canaan the Type of Heaven Be not afraid of them they are Bread for us we shall obtain an easy Conquest over them is applicable to this purpose Do not fear Death the Enemy that interposes between us and the true Canaan for our Conflict shall be the means of our Victory and triumphant Possession of the holy and blessed Land above This is very honourable to our Redeemer and recommends Godliness to the Judgment Affections and Practice of others St. Basil tells of a Custom to annoint the tops of Doves Wings with some fragrant Liquor that mixing in company with other Doves they might by the Sent allure them to follow to the Dove-houses Thus when holy Persons live and die with peaceful Joy those that converse with them are drawn by that Fragrance of Paradise to apply themselves to serious Religion 'T is the Apostle's consolatory Advice to Believers Not to be sorrowful for those that sleep in JESVS as those that are without hope When Jacob saw his beloved Son's Coat rent and stain'd with Blood he abandoned himself to desperate Sorrow and continued mourning for his Death when Joseph was advanc'd in Authority and Dignity next to Pharaoh in the Kingdom of Egypt Thus when we see the Garment of Mortality rent by Diseases we mourn for departed Saints as if Death had absolutely destroyed them when their Souls are reigning in Glory This immoderate Sorrow is an Heathenish Passion suitable to their ignorance of the future happy State but very unbecoming the plenary Assurance the Gospel affords us of it Indeed for the Wicked to die with fears and palpitations of heart to be surrounded with impendent horrours when such a precipice and depth of Misery is before them is very just and reasonable but for the Saints to die uncomfortably under inordinate Fears is a disparagement to the Blessed Hope establish'd upon the Revelation of Life and Immortality by the Gospel Now in three things I shall propound the Duty of dying Christians 1. To submit to the Divine Pleasure with resigned Spirits as to the Means the Manner and Time of Death God has a Sovereign Right and Dominion over us The present Life is his most free Favour and he may justly resume it when he pleases His Will should be the first and last Rule of ours Whether he gently untwines the Band of Life or violently breaks it we must placidly without reluctation yield up our selves By what Means soever Death comes all second Causes are moved by an impression from above in what Age of Life soever all our Times are appointed by the divine Counsel and a Saint ought with that readiness and meek submission receive it as if he heard an express Voice from Heaven calling him to God and say in his heart with Samuel Here I am thou didst call me This is the last act of our Obedience and very pleasing to God We read of the marvellous Consent of Abraham and his Son Isaac the Father to offer up his Son and the Son his Life that were both the Gifts of God in compliance with the divine Command and from Heaven he declared his high approbation of it This is to make a Vertue of Necessity and turn Nature into Grace But discontent and reluctancy as if our Lives were our own and taken from us unjustly or unseasonably is Rebellious Unthankfulness unbecoming a Creature much more a true Christian who exchanges a perishing Life for that which is eternal 2. To receive Death not only with Patience but earnest desires to be with Christ. I know Death is naturally unwelcome Our Saviour tells St. Peter When thou art old another shall bind thee and lead thee where thou wouldest not signifying his Martyrdom The Circumstance when thou art old is remarkable and intimates the natural unwillingness to die when there was little time to live But his rational sanctified Will was superiour and prevalent The universal desire of the Saints is to be happy in the Presence of God for the divine Nature communicated to them is intelligent and inclining towards its chief Good and if the obtaining it were not by being unclothed but clothed upon by an immediate Translation to Heaven how willingly would they leave this World But there is a bitterness in Death that makes it unpleasant and many holy Souls that desire the Glorious Liberty in Heaven yet are loth to leave their Prison Now there are so many Arguments to make the Saints desirous of dying that methinks since Life is chiefly valued and dear to them as it is the way to Heaven when they are come to that blessed end it should not be longer desirable What is this lower World that chains us so fast 'T is the Devil's Circuit wherein he ranges seeking whom he may devour 'T is the Theater of Contentions The Low aspire to rise the Exalted fear to fall The Poor envy the Rich and the Rich despise the Poor 'T is a foreign Country to the Saints and as Pilgrims and Strangers they are liable to Reproaches Injuries and hard Dealings from the Wicked the Natives of the Earth What is the present momentany Life that so enamours us 'T is surrounded with Temptations oppress'd with Fears ardent with irregular Desires and continually spent in Vanity or Vexation In Adversity 't is depress'd and melancholy in Prosperity foolish and proud 'T is a real Infelicity under the deceitful appearance of Felicity But above all other Motives the evil of Sin from which we cannot be clearly exempted here should render Death desirable The best suffer internal Divisions between the Law of the Flesh and the Law of the Mind as Rebecca felt the Twins Esau and Jacob repugnant in her Womb. How hard is it to be continually watching the Heart that Corruptions do not break out and the Senses that Temptations do not break in How difficult to order
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 by consuming Diseases But though 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 express'd 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 Evil. 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 Death reigns in the World On every side Death is in our view and the shadow of it darkens our brightest Days 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 sudden Evil surprizes not forethought 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 Though Men are distinguish'd in the condition of Living yet all are equal in the necessity of Dying Humane Greatness in every kind Nobility Riches Empire cannot protect from the sudden and Sovereign Hand of Death that overthrows all The most conspicuous difference in this World is between the Victorious and the Vanquish'd prostrate at their Feet but Death makes them equal Then the wretched Captive shall upbraid the proud Conqueror Art thou become weak as we Art thou become like us The Expressions of Scripture concerning the frailty of Man are often literally and precisely verified He is like the Grass in the morning it flourishes and groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth Death is a prevalent insuperable Evil 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 Vltimum 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 tost 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 weakned by the violence of a Disease that the Senses the animal and vital Operations decline and at last are extinguish'd in Death
neglect their Duty and defer their Happiness They think it too soon to live for Heaven before the evil Days come wherein they shall have no pleasure when they cannot sin and vainly presume they can repent The danger of this I have consider'd in the Discourse of Death and shall therefore proceed to the next Head Thirdly Our Choice of Heaven must be constant and lasting The two principal Rules of the Spiritual Life are to begin and end well to fix and establish the main Design for everlasting Happiness and from a determinate Resolution and ratified Purpose of Heart to pursue it with firmness and constancy to live for Heaven and with readiness and courage to die for it if the Glory of God so require Perseverance is indispensably necessary in all that will obtain the Eternal Reward For the clearing this most important Point I will First Represent from Scripture the Idea of Perseverance that is attended with Salvation Secondly Consider why 't is so strictly required First Saving Perseverance includes the permanent residence of Grace in the Soul 'T is composed of the whole Chain of Graces the union of holy Habits that are at first infused into a Christian by the sanctifying Spirit When Eternal Life is promised to Faith or Love or Hope 't is upon supposal that those Graces being planted in the Heart shall finally prosper He that is faithful to the Death shall inherit the Crown of Life 'T is Love that never fails that shall enter into Heaven 'T is Hope firm unto the End that shall be accomplished in a glorious Fruition If Grace be disseised by a usurping Lust Apostacy will follow and the forfeiture of our right in the Kingdom of Heaven 2. Grace must be continually drawn forth into exercise according to our several states and duties and the various occasions that happen in our course through the World Those who are light in the Lord are commanded to walk as Children of the Light to signify the excellency and purity of the Christian Life Those who live in the Spirit must walk in the Spirit that is by a conspicuous course of Holiness declare the vigour and efficacy of the divine Principle that is communicated to them Paulum septultae distat inertiae celata virtus Vertue that breaks not forth into visible Actions is not worthy of the Name The meer abstaining from evil is not sufficient but all the positive acts of the holy Life are to be constantly done In discharging both these parts of our Duty compleat Religion is exprest and the power of Grace consists 3. Perseverance includes not only continuance in well-doing but fervour and progress towards Perfection There are two fix'd States the one in Heaven the other in Hell The blessed Spirits above are arrived to the height of Holiness The Devil and damned Spirits are sunk to the lowest extremity of Sin But in the middle state here Grace in the Saints is a rising growing Light and Sin in the Wicked improves every day like Poison in a Serpent that becomes more deadly by his Age. We are injoined not to remain in our first Imperfections but to follow Holiness to the utmost issue of our Lives to its intire consummation For this end all the dispensations of Providence must be improved whether prosperous or afflicting And the Ordinances of the Gospel were appointed that in the use of them we may be changed into the divine Image from Glory to Glory 4. Preseverance is required notwithstanding all Temptations that may allure or terrify us from our Duties what ever affects us one way or other while we are clothed with frail Flesh. 'T is the fundamental Principle of Christianity declared by our Saviour If any Man will come after me that is be my Disciple and Servant let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me even to be crucified with him rather than wilfully forfeit his Integrity and Loyalty to Christ. He must by a sacred sixt resolution devest himself of all things even the most valued and desirable in the present World and actually forsake them nay entertain what is most distasteful and resist unto Blood rather than desert his Duty 1. He must with unfainting Patience continue in doing his Duty notwithstanding all Miseries and Calamities Losses Disgraces Torments or Death it self which wicked Men and greater Enemies the Powers of Darkness can inflict upon him To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality Eternal Life is promised He that endures to the End notwithstanding the most terrible Sufferings to which he is exposed for Christ's sake shall be saved In this a Christian must be the express image of his Saviour who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of God Disgrace and Pain are Evils that humane Nature has a most tender sense of yet the Son of God with a divine generosity and constancy endured them in the highest degrees He was scorn'd as a feigned King and a false Prophet He suffered a bloody Death and by the Cross ascended to Glory And we must follow him if we desire to be where he is 2. But this is not the only trial of a Christian. Prosperity is a more dangerous Enemy to the Soul though Adversity be more rigorous Saevior armis Incumbit luxuria For the Spirit is excited by Perils and Difficulties to seek to God for Strength and with vigilant resolute Thoughts unites all its Powers to oppose them but 't is made weak and careless by what is grateful to the sensual Inclinations It keeps close the Spiritual Armour in the open encounter of Dangers that threaten its ruin but is inticed to put it off by the caresses and blandishments of the World It does not see its Enemies under the disguise of a pleasant Temptation Thus Sin insinuates its self and by stealing steps gets into the Throne without observation A Man is wounded with a pleasant Temptation as with the Plague that flies in the dark and Grace is insensibly weaken'd From hence it is that Adversity often reforms the Vicious and Prosperity corrupts the Vertuous Now Perseverance must be of proof against Fire and Water against what ever may terrify or allure us from our duty 5. Saving Perseverance excludes not all Sins but total Apostacy and final impenitency which are fatal and deadly under the New Covenant If the Righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth Iniquity and doth according to all the Abominations that the wicked Man doth shall he live all his Righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his Trespass that he has trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned he shall die If any Man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him saith the Lord. These Threatnings imply there is a possibility of the Saints falling away considered in themselves but not that
perfectly happy and pleased As the strings of an Instrument differ in the size and sound some are sharp and high some grave and deep others a mean and from that variety results the Harmony and Musick so that if every string had Judgment and Election it would chuse to be what it is so from the different degrees of Glory in Heaven the most amiable and equal Order of the Divine Wisdom appears that satisfies every one We shall be in the glorious Presence of God and Christ where is fulness of Joy and infinite Pleasures for ever 'T is said of Abraham he rejoic'd to see the Day of Christ two thousand Years before his coming When by Faith he saw the Incarnation of the Son of God in order to the redemption of Men it put him into an exstasy Yet then our Saviour was born to Sorrows and Miseries But how ravishing is the sight of our Redeemer set down on the right Hand of the Majesty on high having purged our Sins by himself and accomplish'd our Salvation Now we are absent from God yet in believing his infallible Promises we rejoice with a Joy unspeakable and glorious But how much more joyful is the fruition of them Here the Divine Goodness is derived to us through secondary means that weaken its efficacy but in Heaven the Consolations of the Creator are most purely dispensed and his immediate Excellencies are made known This Blessedness exceeds all our Thoughts and explicite Desires and requires the eloquence and experience of an Angel to set it forth The bright Sum of it is this We shall see God in his Glory face to face in the most perfect manner the sight of his Glory shall transform us into his Likeness we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is This shall produce in us the most pure and ardent Love and Love shall be attended with inexpressible joy and that with the highest Praises of the blessed God whose influxive Presence is the Heaven of Heaven And that which crowns all is that the Life above is Eternal This satisfies all our Desires and excludes all our Fears for Unchangeableness is an inseparable Attribute of perfect Felicity The Blessed are in full Communion with God the Fountain of Life and Christ the Prince of Life Because I live saith our Saviour ye shall live also What can interrupt much less put an end to the Happiness of the Saints The Love of God is immutably fix'd upon them and their Love upon him Here their Love is subject to decays and gradual alienations as the Needle in the Compass though it always has a tendency to the North-Pole yet sometimes it declines and has its variations But in Heaven the Love of the Saints is directly and constantly set upon God The Light of his Countenance governs all their Affections 'T is as impossible to divert their Desires from him as to cause one that is inflam'd with Thirst to leave a clear flowing Spring for a noisom Puddle In short Heaven is filled with eternal Hallelujahs for there is no appearance of Sin no shadow of Death there all Miseries are vanish'd and all that is desirable 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 The regular well-grounded hope of this will compose the Thoughts in the nearest Approach and Apprehension of Death No other Principles or Resolutions are able to vanquish the Terrors of our last Enemy 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 Sains 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 whatever 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 and 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 sound alive at the last Day shall in the
is an happy means to render Death comfortable to us Sins of Ignorance and Infirmity of sudden Surreption and Surprize the best Men are not freed from in the present State and being the daily motive of our Grief and serious circumspection to prevent them are consistent with the regular Peace of Conscience and the Friendship and Favour of God But great Sins in their matter being so contrary to natural Conscience and supernatural Grace or Sins presumptuous in the manner of their commission such as proceed from the choice of the perverse Will against the inlightned Mind whatever the matter or kind of them be are direct Rebellion against God a despising of his Command and provoke his pure Eyes and make the aspect of Death fearful The Spirit seals our Pardon and Title to Heaven as the holy Spirit his Testimony that we are the Children of God and Heirs of Glory is concurrent with the renewed Conscience and distinguish'd from the ignorant Presumptions blind Conjectures and carnal Security of the Unholy As the sanctifying Spirit he distinguishes true Christians from the lost World appropriates them to God confirms their present Interest in the Promises of the Gospel and their future Hopes Briefly Grace is the most sensible effect and sign of God's special Favour the fruit of Election and the earnest of Glory and the Truth of Grace is most clearly and certainly made evident by the continual Efficacy of it in the Conversation The observation of our Hearts to suppress unholy Affections and of our Senses to prevent them a constant course of Holiness in our Lives though many Frailties will cleave to the best is usually rewarded with great Peace here God has establish'd a connexion between our Obedience and his Comforts Those that keep themselves pure from the Defilements of the World have the white Stone promised the bright Jewel of assurance of God's pardoning and rewarding Mercy We read of Enoch that he walk'd with God was a Star shining in a corrupt Age the tenour of his Life was holy and he was translated to Heaven without seeing Death Though this was an extraordinary Dispensation yet there is a peculiar Reward analogical to it for those who walk circumspectly they shall not see Death with its Terrors but usually have a holy Chearfulness a peaceful Joy in their passage through the dark Valley to Heaven But presumptuous Sins against external and internal Restraints the convincing Law of God and the Directions of Conscience to which even the Saints of God are liable here as appears by David's earnest Prayer to be preserved from them such Sins grieve the holy Spirit and wound our Spirits and if continued sequester us from the comfortable Priviledges of the Gospel and render us unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven And when they are retracted by Repentance yet there often remains a bitter Remembrance of them as deep Wounds though cur'd yet are felt in change of Weather And sometimes a Spring-tide of Doubts and Fears breaks into humble penitent Souls in the last Hours though Death brings them safely yet not comfortably to Heaven 3. The zealous Discharge of the Duties of our Place and Calling the Conjunction of our Resolutions and Endeavours to glorify God and do good according to our Abilities and Opportunities of Service sweetens the Thoughts of Death to us For the true End and Perfection of Life is the Glory of God and when with Fidelity it is employed in order to it Death brings us to the blessed Rest from our Labours Our Saviour when he was to leave the World address'd himself to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish'd 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 well-doing may with an humble Confidence in the Divine Mercy expect the promised Reward The Reflection upon a well-spent Life is joyn'd with a joyful Prospect of God's Favour and Acceptance above But to the careless and remiss to 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 easy to part with them and Death less fearful to us David though 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 admired 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 and 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 raised to lose all his good things at once for 't is a Rule in Nature What is possess'd 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 our leaving the Earth is no Loss but Gain and our Separation from the Body of Flesh is 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 though they had none that those that rejoice be as though they rejoiced not and they
that buy as though 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 inordinately seek 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 fix'd in the Center while 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 Exercise of the Thoughts and 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 affectionate Duties are rewarded with sensible Consolations and holy Souls are dismiss'd 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 Words of a dying Saint changes his Room but not his Company God was always with him on Earth and he shall be ever with God in Heaven But cold and seldom Converse begets Strangeness and that makes us shy of God When religious Duties are performed as a complemental Visit without zealous Affections or used only in times of Affliction and Exigency as Cordial Waters in swooning Fits the Divine Presence is uncomfortable to us They who prefer carnal Sweets before Acquaintance with God cannot with Peace and Joy think of appearing before him O how unwelcome is Death to such for then the Spirit returns to God that gave it 6. Let us strengthen our Belief of the blessed State after Death Divine Truths lose their Influence and Efficacy when they are not stedfastly believed Faith is the substance of things not seen and the Evidence or Conviction of things hoped for The Spirit confirms our Faith not by a pure Physical Act but by convincing Reasons of the Truth of the Gospel The Life of Christ so glorious in Holiness his Doctrine so becoming the Wisdom and other excellent Attributes of the Deity his Miracles so great numerous open and beneficial not meerly to surprize the Spectators with Astonishment but to touch their Hearts his Death foretold by the Prophets and exactly agreeing in all the Circumstances of the Predictions his Resurrection the most noble Operation of the Divine Power are the strongest Proofs that what he has reveal'd as the Counsel of God for our Redemption and the Preparations of Glory for the Saints in Heaven are divine Truths And the Efficacy of the Spirit of Christ in sanctifying his Disciples in all Ages is a continual and as satisfying an Argument that the Gospel is derived from God the Fountain of Truth as extraordinary Miracles For Holiness is as inseparable a property of the Divine Nature as Omnipotence and the Sanctification of the Soul as divine an Effect as the Resurrection of the Body Now in the Gospel God enters into Covenant with obedient Believers to be their God a Title and Relation that supposing them the most happy here all the Enjoyments of this World cannot fulfil This Covenant is not dissolv'd by Death for he uses this Stile after the Death of his faithful Servants and from hence it follows they are Partakers of his Glory and Joys in the next Life For the Honour of his Veracity is most dear to him The Psalmist declares that he has magnified his Word above all his Name No Perfections of his Nature are more sacred and inviolable than his Truth The Foundations of Nature shall be overturn'd and the most solid parts of the Creation destroyed but his Promises shall be compleatly accomplish'd We are assured by his infallible Authority that there remains a Rest for the People of God And he that receives this Testimony sets to his Seal that God is true honours the Truth of God's Word and binds himself more firmly to his Service and is encouraged to leave this sensible World for that which is infinitely better Our Confidence and Patience in well-doing and in suffering the utmost Evil to Nature is from the pregnant Apprehensions of the Reality of eternal things We know saith the Apostle if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved we have a Building not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens This fortified him against the Terrors of Death When Stephen saw the Heavens open
the glorious Creatour As if one from the Region of the Stars should look down upon the Earth the Mountains and Hills with the Vallies would appear one flat Surface an equal Plain the height and the lowness of the several parts being indiscernible at that immense distance Now in Heaven the Divine Majesty is most visible and most awful and adorable The sublimest Spirits cover their Faces before his glorious Brightness The Prophet Isaiah had a representation of Heaven I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple Above it stood the Seraphims each one had six Wings With twain he cover'd his Face with twain he cover'd his Feet with twain he did fly And one cried to another and said Holy holy holy Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory They highly honour him by the reflection of his separate and peerless Excellencies his Almighty Power his Infinite Supremacy and Eternal Empire in their consert of Praises This is the principal Duty of Angels and Men to the blessed Creator for his admirable Perfections and his excellent Benefits The Evidence of it is so entire that the reasonable Mind cannot suspend its Assent for Goodness and Beauty the Fruit and the Flower of amiable Things do so recommend them to the Understanding and Will that they powerfully allure and engage the Affections Now these are in God in unspeakable degrees of Eminence The Prophet breaks out in a rapture How great is his Goodness how great is his Beauty 'T was a Precept of the Ceremonial Law that the Firstlings of the Flock and the first and best Fruits of the Earth should be offer'd to God not as if the first that open'd the Belly was more valuable in his Account than the last or the most early Fruits in the Spring more pleasing to him than the later in the Autumn but 't was instructive that our Love the first born of the Soul and the beginning of its strength should be consecrated to God 2. In Heaven the Saints as perfectly love God as they know him The Love of God is the Essential Character of a Saint that distinguishes him from the Unregenerate Indeed it is strange that God who is infinitely lovely and infinitely liberal and benificent should not prevail on the Hearts of all Men but if we consider the degeneracy of Mankind how their Minds are depraved and deceived and their Affections are vitiated the Wonder will cease Carnal Men have not due Conceptions of God and will not attentively observe his amiable Perfections St. John tells us He that loveth not doth not know God Knowledg is the leading Principle in the Operations of the Soul There must be a heavenly Eye to discover the heavenly Beauty before there can be love of it Now Men are in ignorant darkness and are defiled in Flesh and Spirit and therefore cannot love God who is glorious in Holiness Without resemblance there can be no affectionate Union which is the Essence of Love The contrariety of Dispositions infers a contrariety of Affections The Scripture expresses this in dreadful Colours The carnal Mind is enmity against God the Friendship of the World is enmity with God that is Pride and Covetousness and Sensuality which are the Lusts of the Carnal Mind and are terminated upon worldly Things are inconsistent with the Love of God The Justice of God is terrible to the Consciences and his Holiness odious to the Affections of the Unrenewed 'Till by Divine Grace the Understanding is enlightned and purified to have right apprehensions of God till the Will and Affections are cleansed and changed till there be a resemblance of God's holy Nature and a conformity to his holy Laws they are not capable of delightful adhering to him which is the internal essential Property of Love But those who are partakers of the Divine Nature the holy and heavenly taste and see how good the Lord is and according to the Illustrations of the Mind such are the Impressions upon the Heart the Love of God in their Breasts here is like smoaking Flax but in Heaven 't is a triumphant Flame God is the first Fair the Original of all amiable Excellencies in whom they shine in their unstained Lustre and Perfection when he fully reveals himself and displays the richest Beams of his Love and Glory how transporting and endearing is that Sight Our Affections that are now scatter'd on many things wherein some faint Reflections of his Goodness appear shall then be united in one full Current to him who is all in all In Heaven the immense Treasures of his Grace are reveal'd That when Man for his rebellious Sin was justly expell'd from Paradise and under the Sentence of Eternal Death God should not only pardon but prefer us to the dignity of his Children and prepare such a Glory for us and us for such a Glory This will inspire the Saints with such ardent Affections that will make them equal to the Angels those pure and everlasting Flames of Love to God In Heaven we shall be with Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant who is seated at the right Hand of God And how admirable will he appear to the Sense and Soul of every glorified Saint for we shall see the King in his Beauty When our Saviour was upon the Holy Mount and one vanishing Beam of Glory appear'd in his Transfiguration Peter was so transported at the sight that he forgot the World and himself How ravishing then will the sight of him in his Triumphant Majesty be when we shall be transfigur'd our selves Now while Believers are in the shadows of the earthly State they love their unseen Saviour with such intense degrees of affection as deface all the washy Colours all the vain loves of things in this World but when they are admitted into his shining Presence and see him in the day of Celestial Glory with what an extasy of Affection will they be transported We shall then feel the endearing Obligations our Saviour has laid upon us who ransom'd us with so rich a Price and purchas'd for us such an unvaluable Inheritance For in proportion as we shall understand his Greatness in himself we shall his Goodness to us The Eternal Son of God descended from the Heaven of Heavens to our lowly Earth and which is more from the Majesty wherein he there reign'd and was visible to the Angels he became Man that he might die to redeem us from the most woful Captivity from Death and the sting of Death Sin and the strength of Sin the Law and obtain a blessed Life and Immortality for us O unexampled Love Greater Love hath no Man than this to lay down his Life for his Friend And what is the Life of a sinful Man a vanishing Vapour a Life mix'd with Troubles and Vexation and to lay down this for a Friend deservedly dear is the highest expression of humane Love But for the Son of God to lay down his Life
rejoice and triumph in the Happiness of one another With what an unimaginable tenderness do they embrace What Reciprocations of Endearments are between them O their ravishing Conversation and sweet Entercourse for their Presence together in Heaven is not a silent Show In the Transfiguration Moses and Elias talk'd with Christ We may understand a little of it by the sensible complacence that is among sincere Friends here In pure Amity there is a threefold Union a Union of Resemblance that is the principle of it likeness causes Love a Union of Affection that is its Essence 't is said of Jonathan that incomparable Friend his Soul was knit with the Soul of David and he loved him as his own Soul the Union of Conversation that is requisite to the satisfaction of Love What an entertainment of Love and Joy is there in the presence and discourses of dear Friends their mutual Aspects like a Chain compos'd of Spirits luminous and active draw and fasten their Souls to one another The Felicity of Love consists in their Conversation Now in Heaven whatever is pleasant in Friendship is in Perfection and whatever is distastful by Mens Folly and Weakness is abolish'd With what excellent Discourses do they entertain one another If David felt such inward Pleasure from the sense of God's Favours that he could not restrain the expression of it but invites the Saints Come and hear all ye that fear the Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Certainly in Heaven the Blessed with overflowing Affections recount the Divine Benefits the admirable Methods whereby the Life of Grace was begun preserv'd and carried on in the midst of Temptations the continual Succession of Mercies in the time of their Hopes and the Consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment How joyfully do they concur in their Thanksgivings to God for the Goodness of Creation in making them reasonable Creatures capable to know love and enjoy him when they might have been of the lowest Order in the whole Sphere of Beings for his compassionate Care and Providence over them in this World but especially for his sovereign and singular Mercy in electing them to be Vessels of Honour for his powerful Grace in rescuing them from the cruel and ignominious Bondage of Sin for his most free Love that justified them from all their Guilt by the Death of his only Son and glorified them with himself They are never weary in this delightful Exercise but continually bless him for his Mercy that endures for ever We may judg by the Saints here when they are in a fit disposition to praise God what Fervors they feel in their united Praises of him in Heaven The Psalmist in an Extasy calls to all the parts of the World to join with him The Lord reigns let the Heavens rejoice and the Earth be glad let the Sea roar let the Fields be joyful and all that dwell therein He desires that Nature should be elevated above it self that the dead parts be inspired with Life the insensible feel motions of Joy and those that want a Voice break forth in Praises to adorn the Divine Triumph With what Life and Alacrity will the Saints in their blessed Communion celebrate the Object of their Love and Praises The Seraphims about the Throne cried to one another to express their Zeal and Joy in celebrating his Eternal Purity and Power and the Glory of his Goodness O the unspeakable Pleasure of this Concert when every Soul is harmonious and contributes his part to the full Musick of Heaven O could we hear but some Eccho of those Songs wherewith the Heaven of Heavens resounds some remains of those Voices wherewith the Saints above triumph in the Praises in the solemn Adoration of the King of Spirits how would it inflame our Desires to be join'd with them Blessed are those that are in thy House they always praise thee 3. The fulness of Joy in Heaven is everlasting without defect and without end 1. 'T is undecaying the productive Causes are conservative of it being always equal Those are the beatifick Object and the continual fruition of it Whilst we are here below the Sun of Righteousness as to our perception and sense has Ascensions and Declinations Accesses and Recesses And our Earth is not so purified but some Vapours arise that intercept his chearful refreshing Light From hence there are alternate successions of Spiritual Comforts and Sorrows of Doubts and filial Confidence in the Saints 'T is a rare Favour of Heaven when an humble Believer in his whole course is so circumspect as not to provoke God to appear displeased against him When a Christian as those tutelar Angels spoken of in the Gospel always beholds the Face of his Heavenly Father and converses with him with an holy Liberty And what a torment the hiding of God's Face is to a deserted Soul only they know who feel it External troubles are many times attended with more Consolations to the Spirit than Afflictions to Sense but to love God with a transcendent Affection and to fear he is our Enemy no Punishment exceeds or is equal to it As his Loving-kindness in their esteem is better than Life so his Displeasure is worse than Death How do they wrestle with God by Prayers and Tears and offer as it were a holy Violence to the King of Heaven to recover their first serenity of Mind the lost Peace of Heart How passionately do they cry out with Job in the Book of his Patience O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me when his Candle shin'd upon my head and when by his Light I walk'd through darkness As I was in the days of my youth when the Secret of God was upon my Tabernacle And sometimes God delays the revealing himself even to his dearest Children not that he does not see their Necessities and hears their Prayers or is so hard that till their Extremities he is not moved with Compassion but for wise and holy Reasons Either that they may not return to folly if by any presumptuous Sin they forfeited their Peace or if they have been careful to please him yet he may deprive them of Spiritual Comforts for a time to keep them humble and that with an obedient resignation to his Sovereign Pleasure they may wait for his reviving Presence And then Joy returns greater than before For thus God usually renders with interest what he suspended only for trial But the Saints above are for ever enlightned with the vital splendor and dear regards of his Countenance always enjoy his beamy smiles A continual effusion of Glory illustrates Heaven and all its blessed Inhabitants And their Contemplation of God is fixed If the Object though extraordinary glorious were transient or the Eye so weak that it could only see it but by glances the height of Joy would not be perpetual But the mind is prepar'd with supernatural vigour to see the brightness