is the greater must our folly be in the neglect thereof yet this is the folly that the most of men are guilty of they mind not their latter end their dying hour at least not so as to make a timely provision for it God lets them live many years and perhaps they rejoyce in them all but they forget the dayes of darkness which are many They regard not the state of their souls nor how things stand between God and them in reference to another World And O that this were not the folly of too many of us who profess the belief of another life a future state We live and enjoy good but we put far from us the evil day as those are said to do Amos 6.3 God spares us time after time but no provision do we make for a dying hour O how many of us have never yet set any thing right in the matters of our souls any thing in order against the time comes when we are to go hence and be no more that have scarce ever had yet one serious thought of Death Judgment or Eternity nor made the least tittle of provision for them And what shall I say to such I would if God saw good awaken them out of their folly and convince them of it In order to which I would plead a little with them in five or six particulars 1. Must we not all go hence Solomon tells us there is a time to be born and a time to die Eccl. 3.2 And the one is as sure as the other as sure as we have had a time to be born so sure we shall have a time to die and the living know it The living know that they shall die saith Solomon Eccl. 9.5 Indeed they may well know it for not only the experience of between five and six thousand years tells them so but it is what is appointed what is infallibly determined by the unchangeable Law and Degree of Heaven Heb. 9.27 nor can any thing whatever exempt us from the stroak of Death 1. Youthful strength and vigour can't do it For young men die as well as old strong men die as well as weak One dieth in his full strength saith the Holy Ghost being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts are full of milk and his bones are moistned with marrow Job 21.23 24. 2. Worldly pomp and greatness can't do it For great men die as well as mean men rich men die as well as poor men Where is the House of the Prince saith the Holy Ghost Answer is made He shall be brought to the Grave and shall remain in the Tomb the clods of the Valley shall be sweet unto him and every man shall draw after him as there is innumerable before him Job 21.28 32 33. So in the 49 Psalm 16 17 18 19. Be not thou afraid when one is made rìch when the Glory of his House is increased For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away his glory shall not descend after him though while he lived he blessed his soul and the like he shall go to the generation of his Fathers he shall never see light 3. Humane wisdom and policy can't do it for wise men die as well as fools So Psal 49.10 Wise men die likewise the Fool yea in many respects Wise men die as the Fool Eccl. 2.16 Pray what is become of all the wise men and great Politicians that have lived in former Ages Truly the clods of the Valley cover them 4. Spiritual gifts and graces can't do it For good men die as well as bad holy men as well as wicked men The righteous man perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away Isa 57.1 5. Eminency of place and service can't do it Your Fathers where are they And the Prophets do they live for ever Zach. 1.5 What higher place than to be a Prophet to be an Ambassadour for God and yet such die Nothing you see can exempt us from death's strokes Why then should we neglect to prepare for it I will close this Head with a saying I have read in one of the Ancients What among humane affairs saith he is more certain than death What more uncertain than the hour of death Death compassionates not poverty it reverences not either the greatness it spares no Sex no Manners no Age only it seems to come in at the gate upon old men but craftily it steals in upon young ones 2. Does not death hasten upon us all As we must all die so death hastens apace upon us Every step we take is a step towards death and the grave So we find Eccl. 9.10 Our whole life is as one well observes upon that place nothing else but a journey towards Death and the Grave whether we sleep or wake eat or drink trade or travel pray or play we are still hastening to the Grave A dying hour hastens upon us all and how fast pray does it hasten upon us Faster than a Weavers Shuttle does to the end of the Web My dayes saith Job are swifter than a Weavers Shuttle Job 7.6 How fast does it hasten upon us As fast as yea faster than a Post hastens to the end of his Stage or a swift Ship to the Harbour under the advantage of Wind and Tide or the swift flying Eagle to the prey My dayes are swifter than a Post saith Job they flee away they see no good They are passed away as the swift Ships as the Eagle hasteneth to the prey Job 9.25 26. How fast does it hasten upon us So fast as that for ought we know it will be upon us before we see the light of another day Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee Luke 10.20 How fast does it hasten upon us So fast as that for ought we know it may be upon us the next hour yea the next moment They spend their dayes in mirth and in a moment go down to the grave Job 21.13 To be sure it will be upon us speedily and it may be upon us suddenly I pray consider what are we And what is our life Wind Job 7.7 O remember that my life is wind an hands breadth Psalm 39.5 Behold thou hast made my dayes as an hands-breadth mine Age is as nothing before thee a declining shadow Psalm 102.11 My dayes are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like Grass A Flower of the Field which is withered and gone with the Wind As for man his dayes are as Grass as a Flower of the Field the Wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof knoweth it no more Psalm 103.15 16. And again All flesh is Grass and the goodliness thereof as the Flower of the Field the Grass withereth the Flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it Surely the people is grass Isa 40.6 7. Vanity and a shadow Man is like to vanity his dayes are as a shadow that passeth away Psalm 144.4 A
is sad at least for time the Lord carry us above such an Exit Some viz. well ordered souls die fiducially knowing things to be right between God and them and that is comfortable both for time and eternity Well then if hereby we come to have such a glorious Victory over Death and the Grave it must then be a great attainment to have all things in order between God and us and consequently greatly our concern to have things so 2. Hereby we come to have a rich and glorious entrance ministred to us into everlasting life and glory into Heaven and blessedness As hereby we come to be glorious Conquerours over the natural death so hereby we come to have a rich and glorious entrance ministred to us into the eternal life which also carries much sweetness and blessedness in it 2 Pet. 1.5.11 And besides this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge c. that is grow as compleat in Grace as possibly you can make sure of your salvation make all ready in the matters of your souls and what then So an entrance shall be ministred to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And is not this a blessed attainment Take this in three things 1. Hereby the soul comes to enjoy much of Heaven here upon earth much of blessedness and glory whilest on this side blessedness and glory then hath a man an abundant entrance ministred unto him into heaven and glory when he hath much of heaven and glory given out to him here on earth large earnest and first-fruits and this the soul has that hath all things right in the matters of his spiritual state all things ready and in order within Hence we read sometimes of the earnest sometimes of the first-fruits of the Spirit Eph. 1.14 Rom. 8.28 And the soul that is most ready has the greatest earnest and first-fruits that is to say the greatest beginnings of Heaven here upon earth For that which makes us ready for a dying hour is something of heaven dropped into the soul here 2. Hereby he comes to go triumphingly from Earth to Heaven to go to Heaven and Glory with a Crown upon his head and is not this a sweet attainment Then hath a man an abundant entrance into Heaven and Glory when he goes triumphingly thither When a man passes to heaven and glory with visions thereof in his eye and prelibations thereof in his soul with a clear witness and evidence in his Spirit that he is going to possess the fulness thereof with God and Christ for ever when a man enters into life without any rebukes from God or his own Conscience without any stumbling through doubting or unbelief This is the happiness of such as have all things well in their souls before a dying hour comes It is with such in death as it was with John in a Vision Rev. 4.1 They as it were hear a voice from Heaven saying Come up hither and immediately they are in the Spirit Some poor souls croud into Heaven through a throng of doubts and unbelief difficulties and despondencies through many fears and temptations insomuch that it might be truly said of them that they are searcely saved as the Apostle's expression is but others go through none of these they go triumphantly with a Crown upon their Heads as it were So Paul 2. Tim. 4.6 7 8. I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not unto me only but to all them also that love his appearing Methinks I see how this holy soul went triumphingly to the Throne of God and the Lamb. When David and the house of Israel brought up the Arke of the Lord it was with shouting and with the sound of the Trumpet So when such a soul goes to rest 't is with a kind of shouting and triumph among the Saints themselves who all reach the same heaven and glory at last There is a very great deal of difference in their death and in their going to that heaven and glory As you know two Ships may arrive at the same Harbour yet with much difference as to the manner of their coming in The one makes a shift to get in but 't is with her Anchors lost her Sails rent her Flags down her Masts broken and the like but the other comes in bravely riding as 't were in triumph with her Sails spread her Anchors safe her flags flying her Trumpets sounding and her Mariners shouting So great a difference there is in the passing of Saints to Heaven and Blessedness Now what an attainment must it be to go with shouting and triumph 3. Hereby the soul comes to be admitted to and invested with an eminent fulness of Blessedness and Glory with God for ever Then has a man an abundant entrance into heaven and glory when he is admitted to and invested with an eminent fulness of glory and blessedness in heaven for ever and this he hath who has all right and ready in the concerns of his soul when he comes to die Such a one receives a full reward as the expression is 2 Epistle of John 8. and has much fruit abounding to his account Phil. 4.7 And O what a sweet and blessed attainment does this speak it to be to have all in order against a dying hour comes Now if it be such an attainment to have things set right and in order in our souls against a dying hour then surely it must needs be highly our concern to have all things so CHAP. IV. Which shews the state of men and women under death as a further evidence of our assertion AS to have all things ready and in order when a dying hour comes is an high and glorious attainment so such is the state and condition of men and women under death that it cannot but be highly their concern to have all things set right all things ready in the matters of their souls when they come to die This I will set before you in three Propositions First Proposition is this That such is the state and condition of men and women under death that there is no return for them into this life any more for ever When once a man's Sun is set it never rises more when once a man has his Exit is gone off the stage of this world he never enters more there is no more any part to be acted here by him this you have in the Text Before I go hence and be no more that is no more in this World So Job 7.7 8 9 10. O remember that my life is wind mine eyes shall no more see good The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more Thine eyes are upon me and
I am not As the Cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the Grave shall come up no more He shall return no more to his House and his place shall know him no more Again Job 10.20 21. Are not my dayes few Cease then and let me alone that I may take comfort a little before I go whence I shall not return even into the Land of darkness and the shadow of death And again Ch. 16.22 When a few dayes are come then shall I go the way whence I shall not return All shewing that when a man is once gone off the Stage of this World there is no return for him any more Second Proposition is this That such is the state of men and women under death that there is nothing to be done for their souls there is nothing to be mended that is amiss nothing to be set in order that shall be found out of order Death my beloved is not the time of working but of receiving the reward of our work Death leaves us under an utter and eternal impossibility of ever doing any thing for another World Therefore whatever thine hand findeth to do saith Solomon do it with al thy might for there is no work nor counsel in the Grave whither thou goest Eccles 9.10 And I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day because the night cometh when no man can work saith Christ John 9.4 Death is a state of darkness and it deprives us of all helps advantages and opportunities of ever doing any thing for the good of our souls There is no repenting no believing no turning to God in the Grave There is no assuring pardon of sin no getting an Interest in Christ no making our Calling and Election sure there O no these things must be done now or they can never be done and if they be never done our souls are for ever undone 'T was an Epicurean saying of him who said Eat drink play for after death there is no pleasure but it would be a Christian saying to say to you and my own soul love God pray to him seek his face repent believe make sure of Christ for after death none of these are to be done They must be done here or never Third Proposition is this That such is the state of men and women under death that the Soul is actually and irreversibly stated and concluded in his eternal condition The Souls eternal state is absolutely fix'd and unchangeably determined without any alteration for ever 'T is an observation among the School-men that look what befel the Angels that sinned that in death befalls wicked men those that are not ready for a dying hour The Angels immediately upon their sinning were stated in an irreversible condition of wo and misery And wicked men unready souls immediately upon death are irreversibly stated in a like eternal condition they are eternally sealed up under damnation And the Devils may as soon get out of those Chains of eternal darkness whereinto they are cast and in which they are locked up being reserved unto Judgment as such persons can change or reverse that condition The truth is death when ever ot where ever it comes is a determining thing it concludes the soul for ever under an unalterable state of life or death of happiness or misery for as the Tree falls so it lies Eccl. 11.3 Hence in death the Spirit the soul is said to return to God Eccl. 12.7 Upon which a learned man has this observation God saith he receives the Soul of Man when he dies to himself and having received it he delivers it either to the Holy Angels that by them it might be carried to Heaven if it hath been holy and good or he delivers it to the evil Angels by them to be dragged into Hell if it hath been ungodly Hence the Apostle tells us after death comes judgment Heb. 9.27 By which is meant the particular Judgment of every man and woman immediately upon death which is nothing else but the stating of the soul in an eternal condition Hence also when Dives is brought in desiring that Lazarus might dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue answer is made that it cannot be for as much as there is no going for any either from Hell to Heaven or from Heaven to Hell because there is a Gulph fixed Luke 16.26 Noting the unalterableness of that state which Death sets men down in whether of happiness or misery Well then if such be the state of men and women under death as we have heard then surely 't is highly our concernment to have all ready all in order against a dying hour comes Having given you thus briefly the demonstration of the point I shall make some practical improvement of it CHAP. V. Wherein sinners are convinced of their sin and folly in their neglect of this concern with six weighty Pleas or Arguments to set home this Conviction and awaken them to their work ANd is this indeed a concern of so much weight and moment to us Then how great is their folly and what enemies are they to their own souls who live in the neglect of this great business and concern which the most of men do God is pleased to spare yeâ— wonderfully to spare them for dayes for weeks for months for years together and that for this very end that they should make themselves ready and set all right in the matters of their souls against a dying hour comes but woe and alas for them This they mind not this they concern not themselves about but do live in a total neglect thereof than which what greater folly can they be guilty of Pray mind what God himself speaks in this case Deut. 32.28 29. Where he saith concerning Israel they were a Nation void of counsel nor was there any understanding in them And what then O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Observe here two things attested and verified by God himself First that 't is a point of the highest wisdom the Sons of men are capable of seriously to consider their latter end that is to prepare for death to set all things right in the matters of their souls so as that things may issue well with them at last and they may go off the Stage of this World with comfort Secondly that not to do this is a point of the greatest folly It doth evidently argue men to be void of counsel and all true understanding It would have been their wisdom to have considered their latter end and their not doing of it argued them to be guilty of notorious folly These things you may see God himself attests and verifies here And my Beloved what greater folly can there be than for a man to live in the neglect of that which is of so much weight and importance for him to mind as this is Surely the greater the concern
vapour which appeareth for a little season and is gone James 4.14 O how soon may one or another or all of us be among the dead How soon may death approach us 3. What infinite mercy is it that God has spared us thus long and still does spare us to set all things right to make all ready for a dying hour O my Beloved how great is the sparing mercy of God towards us We have had some forty some fifty some sixty years in the World and still God spares us still he lets us live and enjoy good and why all this think you smely to set things right in our souls to make ready for a dying hour and shall we yet neglect it God forbid O Sirs think a little I beseech you with your selves how long since the Grave might have swallowed us up and the Bottomless Pit have shut its mouth upon us How long since might time and dayes have been at an end with us and our souls stated in a miserable Eternity But still God spares us and we are yet in the Land of the Living with a door of mercy and grace yet open unto us at least a possibility left us of knowing the things of our peace in our day of making provision for Death and Eternity And O what mercy is this I would fain a little quicken both you and my self by this consideration And in order thereunto let me plead a little particularly with you 1. Consider how long God hath spared and does spare you beyond what he does and has thousands and ten thousands of others God does not spare all at that rate which he has spared and does still spare us Alas How many thousands are there now free among the dead who came into being long since we did Their Glass is run their Sun is set their day is over their hopes and expectations are all at an end their souls are stated in an eternal condition a condition that will admit of neither change nor period for ever and yet we are spared still They came into the World long after us and are gone into Eternity long before us Yea how many are there that never arrived to the one half of those years that we have arrived unto their Sun has set in the morning How many of us have out-lived our yoke-fellows our children our servants our friends and acquaintance And yet we stand our ground and all this that we might prepare for a dying hour This patience of God should lead us to repentance Rom. 2.5 And O that it might so do 2. Consider how much we have provoked God and what advantage we have given him in Justice against us I would fay here as Christ speaks in another case Luke 13. begin Suppose ye that those Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Or those eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloah fell and slew them think ye they were sinners above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish So say I here suppose ye that those that are gone down to the gates of the grave and the bars of death before us were greater sinners than we I tell you nay but except we repent we must all likewise perish We have sinned as well as they and possibly in many regards more than they To be sure we have all over and over deserved long since to have been covered with the shadow of the Night of eternal darkness O how has the patience of God been tried and his long-sufferings put to it by us What a burden have we been to his Soul Some of us have cause to think that we have been as great a burden to God as most that ever lived How justly may the blessed God complain of many of us That we have made him to serve with our sins and wearied him with our iniquities as he did of them of old Isa 43.24 that we have broke his heart with our whorish heart whereby we have departed from him Ezek. 6.9 that our sins have pressed him down as a Cart is pressed that is full of Sheaves Amos 2.13 Alas Alas How have we wallowed in our pollutions and acted out the enmity and rebellion of our natures against him How have we rejected his Word resisted his Spirit despised his Grace trampled upon his Son refused many and many an offer of love and many a sweet Call and blessed invitation to come to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb And yet that he should still spare us O what mercy is this In the 1 Pet. 3.20 we read that the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah And truly my Beloved it waits as much in our dayes our provocations being as many and as high against him as theirs of that Generation were O Sirs why are we not in Hell Why are we not sealed and shut up among the damned Why have we one Call more one offer more one season of Grace more Verily 't is all rich Mercy O that it might lead us to Repentance 3. Consider how sad it had been with us had the Lord taken that advantage against us which we have over and over given him Suppose my Beloved God had not spared us but had cut us off as he might long since what now had been become of us And where now had we been Had you died of such and such a sickness you have been in when possibly a sentence of Death was passed upon you both by your selves and others and there was really but a step between death and you where and how miserable had you now been Had you not been now in the flames eternally separated from God and Christ Being Godless and Christless Have you not now cause to fear you had been in as irrecoverable a condition as the Devils themselves are in sealed up under wrath and condemnation past all hopes and possibility of mercy for ever Whither had I gone saith Austin if then speaking of the time that he was in his sins I had gone hence Whither had I gone but into the flames and into eternal torments answerable to my sins May not we say the like But blessed be God it is yet time and season with me and you we are spared to this hour that we might provide for death and Eternity O Sirs suppose you or I were now among the damned suppose we were as they are sealed up under wrath and separated from God left under an utter impossibility of ever seeing his face how sad then would our condition be Why thus it might have been with us O what mercy then is it that God has spared us and doth-spare us as he does And how should it awaken us to our work 4. Consider how much more sad it may and will yet be with us in case we provide not for
in the day of visitation and whither will you flee for help When death comes what will you do which way will you look will there be any hope any help any refuge for your souls to flee unto Alas there will be none Wilt thou then run to the mercies of God and cry Lord Lord Alas it will be in vain he will then say unto you Depart from me I know you not Mat. 25.11 12. Wilt thou then labour to get grace and pardon Alas it will be too late then the door will be shut against thee Mat. 25.10 Wilt thou then desire others to spare thee some of their Oyl Alas that will be a vain thing they will tell thee they have but enough for themselves Mat. 25.9 Wilt thou then plead thy gifts parts and services for Christ Alas it will be to no purpose unless thou hast done the main work notwithstanding all thy gifts and services he will send thee away with the workers of iniquity Mat. 7.22.23 Wilt thou call upon the Rocks and Mountains to cover thee and hide thee from the wrath of him that sits upon the Throne Alas it wil be in vain Rev. 6. latter end O sinner when thou shalt see thy self launching out into the great Ocean of Eternity and God shall as it were say to thee by the Mouth of thy own Conscience Well now time and days are at an end with you and will never dawn more what hast thou done for thy Soul What provision hast thou made for another world Is Christ thine hast thou gotten thy sins pardoned and the like When it shall be thus I say what wilt thou then do and whither wilt thou then look how wilt thou then cry out Undone undone I am lost for ever my day is ended and my work is still to do woe is me what a God a Christ a Heaven a Blessedness a Glory have I wilfully and foolishly lost truly thou and such as thou are the only persons whose death will be truly lamentable I remember a saying I have read in one of the Ancients They saith he are to be bewailed in their death whom the Devils drag away to the torments of the Infernal Pit not they whom the holy Angels do conduct to the joys of Paradise they are to be bewailed who after death are by the Devils turned into Hell and not they who by the Angels are placed or set down in Heaven O that these things might convince you of your folly and awaken your souls and that so as yet to know the things of your peace in your day and the time of your visitation CHAP. VI. Being a Call to all Good and Bad Saints and Sinners to address themselves to the great work of making all ready for a dying hour WHat is the language of all this Verily it calls aloud upon us all Good and Bad Saints and Sinners to make it our great business to set all things right in the matters of our souls and make all ready for a dying hour And O that we would make this improvement of this great truth and of God's sparing goodness to us he spares us and why does he spare us but that we should set all things right and make all things ready Oh that we would now fall in with the end and design of God herein making it our great care and business in time to provide for Eternity in life to make ready for death Some of you I verily believe are about this work and the Lord prosper you in it You know you were born for Eternity and you do endeavour to live for Eternity your great work in time is to make provision for a blessed Eternity O happy souls that you are Others of us and those by far the most I fear are utterly negligent in this business Death and Eternity are little minded by us but we are in a sleepy drowsie secure spirit and to such methinks this truth speaks in a language much like to that of the Ship Master to Jonaâ— Jon. 1.6 What meanest thou O sleeper Arise and call upon thy God if so be he will think on us that we perish not So what mean you O you sleepy drowsie secure souls arise make ready for a dying hour set all things right all things in order in your spiritual concernments lest death come upon you at unawares and you be lost for ever And to such of us I would say as sometimes God did by the Prophet to Hezekiah Isa 38.1 Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live So say I to you set your hearts in order your spiritual concerns in order make all even between God and you for you shall shortly die and not live you shall shortly go hence and be no more and why should we not all do so if you be to change your condition in the world how careful and solicitous are you to have all things ready and in order for that change Why my Beloved you are shortly to pass under that great and last Change a Change from Time to Eternity and will you have no care no solicitude to make ready for that Change if you are to take a journey though but a few miles or to make a Voyage into a strange Land O how are you concerned to have all things ready all things in a prepared posture in order therreunto And my Beloved should not you be more concerned to make ready for your great journey your last and great Voyage you are making a journey a voyage out of Time into Eternity you are just launching sorth into the great Ocean And what nothing in order nothing ready nothing set right in order thereunto That is strange If you have some great business a business of more than ordinary importance to be done or a Suit at Law to be tryed and determined O how close do you follow it and how careful are you to have all things ready in order thereunto And my Beloved should you not be as careful and diligent to prepare and set all things right for the great business of your souls in another world Have you any business any concern of greater importance to you than the concern of your Souls and Eternity if you are to appear before some Earthly Judge especially if it be about a matter that concerns your life O how thoughtful are you to have all things ready and in order in reference thereunto And my Beloved should not you be as thoughtfull and solicitous to make all ready and to set all right in order to your appearing before the Judg of all the Earth and that about a matter which concerns the life of your souls about a matter of eternal life or death Well what shall I say will you set about this great business this great concern or is it all one with you whether you live or die are saved or damned to Eternity God yet spares you blessed be his Name Will you now set all right before you go
and expectation whereof has the directest tender 〈◊〉 in it to wean and loosen the heart from all things here below And indeed as St. Bernard hath it he easily contemns all things here who looks upon himself as dying daily 3. It will conduce much to the engaging the heart to Heaven and the things of Heaven to a serious pursuit of a blessed Eternity So we find Heb. 11.13 c. Those all dyed in the Faith saith the Apostle not having received the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were Strangers and Pilgrims on the earth that is they were apprehensive they had but a little time to stay here And what then They desire a better Countrey that is an Heavenly the apprehension they had of their departure hence quickned them unto earnest desires and pursuits after the better Countrey the Heavenly Land And indeed one great reason why we breath no more and press no more after Heaven and a blessed Eternity is because we so seldom remember these dayes of darkness 4. It will conduce much to the quickning of the Heart to Duty and to diligence and faithfulness therein Christ himself made use of it for this end I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work Jo. 9.4 Peter also that holy Apostle made use of it to that end I will not be negligent saith he to do so and so in the way of my Duty as knowing that shortly I shall put off this Tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.12 13 14. The consideration of the near approach of his death quickned him to his Work and Duty And the Scripture propounds it as that which has a tendency to this thing Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might saith Solomon for there is no work nor counsel in the grave whither thou art going Eccl. 9.10 He propounds the consideration of our going to the Grave as a means to quicken us to our present Work By all which we see how much the serious remembrance of the dayes of darkness must needs contribute to our readiness and preparedness for these dayes Therefore be much in this work For my own part I have hardly found any one thing more quickning and engaging upon my Spirit than this And Souls I would beg you as you would live for ever think often of death 2. Would you indeed set all things right in your souls and make all ready for a dying hour Then be not fond of long life here in this World but rather covet to live as much as possible in a little time I would speak of each distinctly 1. Be not fond of long life here in this World A fond hope and desire of long life here is one of the greatest Enemies to a true preparation of Soul for our departure hence For pray observe take a man that is fond of long life here and all his thoughts and projects are for this World He is wholly taken up about and carried out after the concerns of Time scarce allowing himself one serious thought for Death and Eternity A sad instance you have hereof in the rich man Luke 12.19 he reckoned upon many years upon a long life here and what are the things he is taken up about verily the things of this world only the increase of his Goods and where to store his Treasures Fond hopes and desires of long life here will certainly produce great delays if not utter neglects in the great work and concern of your Souls and Eternity As ever therefore you would have all right and well in the concerns of your souls when you come to die be not fond of long life here but sit as loose in your thoughts hopes and desires both of this life and all the enjoyments of it as possibly you can And indeed my Beloved to reason it a little with you why should you be fond of long life here why should you covet a long stay in this world I would only plead with you in two things as to this 1. What is this world and what have we here that we should here covet a long stay is this world such a sweet such an amiable such a desirable thing it is an angry world a frowning world a dirty world a bewitching ensnaring world 'T is a waste howling Wilderness a strange Land an house of Bondage a troublesome tempestuous Sea an Aceldama a Field of Blood such I am sure 't is oftentimes to the poor Saints and people of God And what have we here Why here we have fears within and fightings without troubles on every side and from all hands from friends from enemies from men from devils here we have sorrows snares losses wounds deaths dangers temptations seductions disappointments vexation of spirit and truly little else is to be expected by us here except that which is worse than all this viz. dayly risings and ebolitions of lust violent eruptions of corruption great aboundings of sin and iniquity both in our selves and others continual breakings with God and departings from him renewing and increasing sin and guilt dayly Indeed this world is full of sin and temptation to sin 'T is as Augustin speaks of it tota tentatio all temptation and as it is all temptation so 't is little else but sin and why should we covet a long stay here Why saith one of the Ancients should we so much desire that life in which by how much the longer we live by so much the more we sin and the more numerous our days are the more numerous will our sins be who would desire to stay long in a Prison or a Dungeon in a state and place of sin and sorrow and such is this world 2. Is there not a better life a better place a better state for our souls to long and aspire after what do you think of the life above a whole Eternity spent in the Divine Presence in the bosom of Divine Love a life of love a life of pleasure a life of joy a life or admiration a life of holiness perfect and unspotted holiness a life every way correspondent to the Divine Life and the Divine Will is not this a better life to be with Christ is best of all Phil. 1.23 To possess a mansion in our Father's House prepared by our Lord and Head Jesus Christ for us to live for ever in the vision and fruition of Father Son and Spirit to dwell in the Heavenly City where no unclean thing can enter to joyn in with the glorious Host of Saints and Angels above and with them to spend a whole Eternity in Songs of Praise and Hallelujahs to God and the Lamb to take up all our waters at the Fountain head and indeed to dive and bathe unchangeably in the Fountain of all delights at the Father's right hand Oh how sweet is this life and how much to be desired by us
not get union with Christ and an interest in Christ This is what lies at the bottom and foundation of all of all our hopes of all our mercies of all our comforts of all our acceptation and communion with God of all Grace on Earth and of all Glory in Heaven and without it whatsoever our attainments in Religion are whatever our Profession may be whatever place or esteem we may have to the Church of God though never so raised and eminent yet we have nothing that will avail us in a dying hour I remember a saying of a learned man That thou maist live in death saith he get into Christ implant thy self into Christ by believing Faith joyns and unites us to Christ and they that are in Christ cannot die for Christ is their life And indeed if we have union with Christ he will be life in death it self to us Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord that is die having union with Christ being implanted into Christ Rev. 14.13 If we have union with Christ he will not be only life in death to us but he will even turn death it self into life the King of Terrors into a King of Comforts insomuch that the soul shall be able to triumph over it as the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. whereas without this without union with Christ and an interest in Christ we shall never be able to look death in the face with comfort but shall when we come to die be some of the miserablest spectacles in the world It is the speech of a worthy Divine who is long since gone hence A Christless dying man or woman says he is one of the saddest spectacles in the world For a man to be dying and not Christless that is comfortable for such an one dies but to live for ever he dies the death of Nature to live the life of Glory for a man to be Christless and not dying is something tolerable for who knows but that the next meeting at an Ordinance may be the time of God's love to him of drawing him into Christ but for a man to be dying and Christless Christless and dying too that is intolerable that is terrible indeed for such an one dies to be damned and he is going off from all hopes and possibilities of mercy for ever Oh therefore above all press after union with Christ and an interest in Christ this was Pauls great care and solicitude to the very last that so he might go off the Stage with comfort and that for which he accounted all things but dung as most base and vile Phil. 3.8 9. O Soul didst thou indeed know and consider of how much weight and importance an interest in Christ is to thee with reference to thine eternal happiness thou would cry out as eagerly for Christ as ever Rachel did for children saying Give me Christ or else I die give me union with Christ and an interest in Christ or I am undone eternally Oh look to the great uniting act of Faith make a right choice of Christ chuse him as your Lord and Head your King and Saviour and renew your choice of him every day resigning up your selves entirely to him to be saved and governed by him in his own way Secondly Would you indeed have all set right and made ready in the matters of your souls for a dying hour then press after a firm and unshaken assurance of an interest in God and his love and of your right and title to eternal life of another and a better life than this is here without some good evidence for Heaven and some well-grounded assurance of an interest in God and Eternal Life things are not ready with us nor are we in such a preparedness for a dying hour as we ought to be though a man hath an interest in God and his love though he hath a right and title to eternal life and happiness yet as long as he is in the dark and at an uncertainty in his own soul about it things are out of order with him and he is greatly unready for a dying hour For pray mark as our interest in this is requisite to our dying happily so the sight and assurance of that interest is requisite to our dying comfortably Indeed when a man hath attained to some good evidence for heaven to some well-grounded assurance of his interest in God and Christ then are things in a good posture with him in reference to a dying hour then he can play with Death and triumph over it as Job did when he could say I know that my Redeemer liveth Job 19.25 26. And as the Apostle seems to speak of it 2 Cor. 5.12 We know that when our earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven None of you do comfortably leave your house unless you have another to go unto much less can you comfortably quit this world unless you have some well-grounded assurance of another and a better life Take a man that is in the dark and at a loss as to his interest in God and Christ and he knows not what Death will do to him nor where it will lodge him whether in heaven or in hell whether upon the Throne of Glory or in the Prison of eternal Darkness in the Bosom of Christs love or under the Revelations of his infinite and eternal wrath and is such a one ready for a dying hour Surely no As ever therefore you would have things right and ready within indeed for a dying hour you must press after an assurance of your interest in God and Christ you must do as the Apostle exhorts give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 You must every day prest after a fuller and firmer assurance as to your eternal interest you must be much in faith much in prayer much in examining your evidences much in proving your state much in looking after the seal and evidence of the blessed Spirit which is indeed all in all and never rest till you can say My Lord and my God my Heaven my Glory God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever O then all will be sweet and well with you this is that which the Saints of old have laboured after with their whole might Say unto my soul saith David to God I am thy salvation Psal 35 3â— set me as a seal upon thy heart and as a seal upon thine arm Cant. 8.6 This Austin pressed much after Lord saith he tell me what thou art to me say unto my Soul I am thy salvation so say it that I may hear it behold the ears of my heart are before thee open them O Lord and say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation O my Beloved this is worth pressing after for this is the
one Question Dost thou indeed see thy particular concern in this business so see it as really to make it thy great work and solicitude while living to set all things right and make all things ready for a dying hour Some there are that are so happy as so to do and art thou one of them then why shouldest thou fear death yea why shouldest thou not exult and thy heart leap within thee in the sight and thoughts of its approach true it is a dark Entry but it leads to a fair and stately Palace even the Fathers house 't is a rough and difficult passage but it sets thee safe on shore in a large and fat land true it carries with it some what a black lowring and ghastly aspect to nature and nature may at first possibly be startled and recoil at the sight of it but open the eye of thy faith and behold it in the glass of the Gospel view it in the death of thy Lord and Head and it vvill not appear half so terrible yea thou vvilt find it to be not so much an enemy as a Friend not as a King of Terrours but rather as a King of Comforts not as an object to be dreaded and trembled at but rather to be rejoyced in and triumphed over by thee it vvill appear to be not loss but gain For me to die is gain says Paul Phil. 1.21 yea it vvill be thy great gain 't will be the period of all thy misery and the perfecting of all thy happiness and the truth is vve are never perfectly happy till death comes But for thy further encouragement I shall in a few particulars shew you vvhat Death come vvhen it vvill doth and vvill do for such as make all ready for its coming 1. Death vvhen ever it comes vvill translate thee thou ready soul from Earth to Heaven from a strange land to thine own home and Fathers house and vvill not this be a kindness as for this vvorld vvhat is it to the poor Saints but a strange land 't is Heaven is their home and Countrey hence they have confest and do confess themselves to be Pilgrims and Strangers upon earth Heb. 11.13 and the Psalmist in the words immediately foregoing my Text Psalm 39.12 owns it to God I am a Sojourner and a stranger here yea this world is not onely a strange land but a waste howling wilderness to such wherein they live among wild Beasts Lions Bears Wolves Tygers and the like Lusts within and Devils without ready daily to devour them but now when Death comes that carries them off from this strange land this waste howling wilderness to their own home and countrey which is Heaven yea to their Fathers house there to live with him to enjoy his presence and to adore his grace We know says the Apostle that when our earthly house of this tabernacle speaking of the Body shall be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 And you know how Christ speaks to his Disciples Joh. 14.2 In my Fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you and thither does death carry you when it comes Oh sweet Oh my Beloved to go home to go to our Fathers house and to possess our Mansion there that Mansion which our dear Lord and Head is gone before to prepare for us how sweet is this to think of and how many deaths may it sweeten Suppose one of you were some thousand miles distant from your home Country and Comforts and you were in a waste howling Wilderness among Lions and Bears ready to devour you a wide Sea also being between home and you and suppose withal that a Ship should come and take you into her and in a short time set you down in your own Country and among all your Friends and comforts would not this be a kindness why this is your case here O ye preparing souls and this is the kindness death does for you when it comes while here you are ten thousand miles distant from your home and Country your Friends and Comforts and in a waste howling Wilderness but Death that swift Sailer comes and in a moment sets you down in Heaven your home and Country O how welcom should it then be to you 2. Death whenever it comes will carry thee from trouble to rest from a tempestuous Sea to a quiet Haven there to lie at an eternal Anchor in the bosom of thy sweet Lord. This world ever was and for any thing I know ever will be a place of trouble to the people of God sure I am Christ hath told us In the world you shall have tribulation Jo. 16.33 And who of us does not find it made good This world is a tempestuous Sea wherein the Waves lift up themselves and the poor Saints are afflicted and tossed with tempests and oftentimes not comforted Isa 54.11 We read in Jonah 1.13 that the Sea wrought and was tempestuous and the Mariners were fain to row hard to get the Ship to shore And truly thus 't is often in the case in hand the Sea of this world is tempestuous it works and the poor Saints are fain to row hard to get safe to shore yea as we read Acts 27.14 that an Euroclydon a tempestuous East-wind arose and beat upon Paul and others in the Ship with him which was ready to break all in pieces So truly the Saints in this world do meet with Euroclydons tempestuous winds not a few which beat upon them and are ready to split all and sink all but now when death comes those stormes are all made a calm and they I mean the Saints are brought into the desired Haven Death sets them at rest 't is indeed their dismission to rest There says Job speaking of the Grave the weary be at rest Job 3.17 Death sends the body to rest it frees it from all sensible sufferings when Death comes thy weak body thy sick body thy pained body thy consumptive body shall have its dismission to rest and Death sends the soul to rest that rests in God and with God Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord henceforth they rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 and you have I think both together in one Scripture Isa 57.2 where speaking of the righteous 't is said They shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds Hence we read that there remaineth a rest to the people of God Heb. 4.9 indeed it remains 't is not here but when death comes that sets them down in this remaining rest Oh what a kindness must this be Rest O how sweet is rest how desirable is rest and rest too after long and hard labour and trouble how sweet is rest to the labouring man that hath wrought hand all the day how sweet is rest to the weary traveller that hath gone a long and dirty journey how sweet is rest to the solicitous Mariner and how
welcom is the Harbour to him especially after having been long toss'd and beaten with storms and tempests and how sweet will rest be to the poor troubled tempted labouring travelling Saint whose whole life has been little else but trouble labour and sore travel who here could scarce all his days find a resting place for the sole of his foot the world as to him being covered with a deluge 3. Death whenever it comes will turn your conflicts into victory this Aceldama or Field of blood for such is this world into a Mount of Triumph and a Throne of Glory What is this world but an Aceldama a Field of blood to the poor Saints Sure I am this life is little else but a perpetual war and conflict with lusts with devils with afflictions and with temptations hence 't is call'd a fight a warfare and the like and the enemies which they in this warfare have to grapple with are formidable enemies We wrestle not says the Apostle with flesh and blood but with Principalities and Powers and spiritual wickednesses Eph. 6.12 13. We wrestle not vvith flesh and blood that is vvith men or any thing that is frail and vveak no vve have more potent and formidable enemies to deal vvithal vve vvrestle and conflict vvith Devils vvho are potent subtile and indefatigable Enemies as Calvin observes upon the place which wound before they appear and kill before they are seen Enemies which deal not onely by force and power but who are dreadfully crafty and subtil yea enemies which have fiery darts to cast at us as afterwards he speaks and for my own part I think it vvere vvell for us over what it is if these vvere the vvorst enemies vve had to grapple and conflict withal but there are legions of lusts within which I look upon to be vvorse enemies vvhich vve do and must vvrestle vvith intestine enemies are in many respects the vvorst these war against our souls 1 Pet. 2.11 and vvere it not for these all the Devils in Hell could do us no hurt Thus this life is to the Saints a vvarfare a conflict and O the vvounds the bruises the bloodshed vvhich they are exposed unto in this War now their Peace and then their Grace now their Comforts and then their Consciences are sorely wounded and they lie a bleeding for days and weeks and months together yea sometimes like him that vvas travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho they are vvounded and left half dead and did not the good Samaritan pass by take compassion on them and pour in of his Wine and Oyl his Blood and Spirit into their vvounds they vvould soon be vvholly dead Well but now when Death comes that puts an end to this War and sets them all down upon a Throne of Triumph To him that overcometh says Christ will I grant to sit with me upon my Throne even as I also overcame and am sate down with my Father on his Throne Rev. 3.21 When death comes then you begin an eternal Triumph with Christ then the Palm vvill be put into your hands and you shall triumphingly cry Victory Victory for ever O how sweet vvill this be how sweet is the Victory to a Souldier that has been long and hard put to it in the Battel and indeed the harder the Battel the more glorious the Triumph 'T is a sweet and a great saying which I have read in Aug. to this purpose The Conquerour saith he triumphs and unless he had fought he had never conquered and by how much the greater his danger and difficulty was in the battel by so much the greater is his joy in the triumph O Sirs not only will death set you upon a Mount of Triumph but know for your encouragement the sharper your conflicts and warfare have been here the more glorious will your triumph be when Death shall set you upon the Throne 4. Death whenever it comes will change your bondage into liberty your spiritual thraldom into glorious freedom and is not this a kindness Poor soul one thing which here thou bleedest and groanest under is that spiritual bondage and thraldom which thou liest under And indeed this world is no other than a Prison a Dungeon an house of Bondage to thee the Land of thy Captivity Here thou liest in Chains and Fetters the Chains and Fetters of Sin and Guilt yea and the iron sometimes enters into my spirit Hence we read of the bondage of corruption which indeed is the forest bondage in the world a worse bondage ten thousand times than that which Israel groaned and sighed under in Egypt who yet were made to serve with rigour and whose lives were made bitter with hard bondage Exod. 1.13 14. Truly this lust and the other lust this corruption and the other corruption are as so many Egyptians cruel Task-masters which make thee serve with rigour and thy life bitter to thee with hard bondage and oh how dost thou groan and sigh under the bondage of a proud dead hard carnal unbelieving heart an heart bent to backsliding from God And indeed who that is sensible of it can but groan under it This drew that heavy groan from Paul and bitter out-cry Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am says he Why Paul what is the matter Oh says he I find a law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin and death I am by sin brought into captivity to sin and I have a body of sin and death lying heavy upon me heavier than a Mountain of Brass or Iron and who can but groan and as 't was with him so 't is with all the Saints in their measure Well but when death comes Sirs that will turn all this your boudage into liberty yea into the glorious liberty of the Children of God Rom. 8.21 that will turn again this your captivity And oh how sweet will that be You have some little tastes of this liberty here for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3.7 and the tastes of it are sweet very sweet but O how sweet vvill the full enjoyment on 't be Paul breaks out into praises in the faith of it before-hand I thank God through Jesus Christ Rom. 7.25 O soul how should this make thee long for Death Can a Prison can an house of Bondage can a state of thraldom be pleasant to thee Canst thou be vvell-pleased to lie in chains and fetters of sin and guilt Shouldest thou not rather vvelcom that vvhich alone vvould vvork thy deliverance 5. Death whenever it comes will be the death of all your sins and the perfection of all your graces and will not that be a kindness Poor Saint how dost thou here bleed and groan under the sense of the life and vigour of thy sins on the one hand and of the weakness and imperfection of thy graces on the other hand yea how great are the conflicts and holy contentions of thy spirit to
kill and bring down the one and to quicken and perfect the other How dost thou with the holy Apostle of old forgetting those things which are behind follow after that thou mayst apprehend that for which also thou art apprehended of Christ Jesus pressing towards the mark c. Phil. 3.12 13 14. O the watchings the warrings the wrestlings of thy soul for more grace more holiness more victory over and cleansing from sin Oh the many prayers and tears sighs and groans that thou pourest out between God and thy soul in order hereunto These things are the business of thy life yea and after all sin is still strong and lively and grace is still weak and imperfect the sense of which breaks thy heart almost and makes thee go mourning all the day long What daily cleansing thy self and yet still unclean daily perfecting holiness yet still imperfect Oh hovv fad is this Well but Soul vvhen death comes things vvill be strangely alter'd vvith thee that vvill do that for thee in one moment vvhich thou by a vvhole life of prayers tears faith vvatching vvarring labouring couldst not do ' t vvill make thee perfect Hence those above are said to be so the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 then all that is imperfect will be done away and that which is prefect shall come 1 Cor. 13.10 perfect grace perfect holiness Novv there is much lacking in thy faith thy love thy obedience thy humility thy heavenliness thy joy and delight in God but death vvhen it comes vvill make up all in a moment yea novv thou art stained and defiled vvith sin and this lust and the other lust stirs and vvorks and vvars vvithin thee but vvhen death comes that vvill purge avvay all Death is the Saints only perfect cleanser through Christ Indeed 't is said of vvicked men and hypocrites that their iniquites shall lie down with them in the dust Job 20.11 vvhich is a dreadful vvord indeed Death does not kill their sins no they live in the grave they go vvith them into the other vvorld and vvill there live in them for ever vvhich vvill be a great part of their torment 't will be indeed however they may now think of it the one half of hell for vvhat is hell but sin at the highest and vvrath at the hottest but though it be thus vvith vvicked ones yet 't is otherwise vvith the Saints Death through the Grace of Christ vvill for ever put a period to your sin and perfect your graces Oh sweet vvho vvould not vvelcom death 6. Death vvhenever it comes vvill set thee above all afflictive distances between God Christ the Comforter and thee and vvill set down thy soul in the full constant and immediate vision and fruition of all for ever and is not this svveet Poor Saint here thou complainest that God is as a stranger to thee and as a way faring man that turneth aside to tarry but for a night Thou hast only novv and then a short visit from him Jer. 14.8 Thou complainest that thy Beloved withdraws himself and is gone Cant. 5.6 Thou complainest that the Comforter that should relieve thy soul is far from thee Lam. 1.18 thou complainest of many sad and woful distances from God and of the lowness of thy communion and well thou maist for indeed how little a portion is there here seen or enjoyed of him by thee well but when death comes that will lift thee above all those distances between God and thee Christ and thee and set thee down in the full constant and immediate vision and fruition of him for ever the thoughts of which made Paul and others to desire to be gone and to chuse death rather than life 2 Cor. 7.6 7 8. We are confident says he knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight we are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Pray observe Paul enjoyed as much of God and Christ here as most did and yet all that communion he enjoyed here he accounted as no communion to that which he should enjoy after death While we are present in the body says he that is while we live in this world we are absent from the Lord absent from God and Christ our communion here is but distance and estrangement so low and unconstant is it in comparison of what we know we shall enjoy after death and therefore says he we had rather be absent from the body we had rather be gone hence and be present with the Lord Death will bring us to anotherguess presence and enjoyment of God and Christ than here we shall ever be able to reach unto Alas all we enjoy of God and Christ here is but as an earnest so the Apostle speaks in the verse foregoing He that hath wrought us for this self-same thing is God who also hath given us the earnest of the spirit but when Death comes we shall enjoy the full inheritance all we enjoy here is but as the first-fruits we that have the first fruits of the spirit says the Apostle Rom. 8.23 but when death comes we shall have the full vintage full incomes of love full manifestations of light and life and glory fulness of joy and pleasure in the Divine Presence Psal 16.11 full embraces in Christs bosom full views of his face full visions of his glory Death when it comes will bring us to the Beatifical Vision which is all good and happiness in one Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Mat. 5.8 They do see God now they see him by Faith and those sights of him are sweet glorious soul-ravishing and transforming sights but after death they shall have other sights of him such sights of him as will even infinitely surpass all that ever they had or were capable of here Here they see him but through a glass darkly that is they have but low obscure mediate sights of him they see and enjoy but little of him but when death comes then they shall see him face to face that is fully clearly immediately 1 Cor. 12.12 The sum is as a learned man gives it us that in this life we have but low and slender sights and enjoyments of God in comparison of what we shall see know and enjoy of him in eternal life Glas Rhet. Here they see but his back parts as God said to Moses but when death comes they shall see his face that is his glory here they see him but negatively as it were what he is not but then they shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 we shall see him as he is in all his glorious excellencies and perfections In short they shall then have such sights and enjoyments of God and Christ as shall eternally fill delight solace satisfie and set at rest their souls for ever such sights and enjoyments as shall so